All Points North, By Simon Armitage
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Armitage's northern rag-bag is an entertaining excursion through both memory and landscape. Armitage is better at being a poet than a probation officer (after rushing a baby to hospital with a suspected cigarette burn, a doctor pointed out "That's his nipple"), though his career switch was not without drawbacks.
Direct Line charges more for insuring poets than probation officers (explanation: "The public – nutters and all that"). This becomes understandable when you consider Armitage's all-male King Arthur in Bridlington: "It must look very weird, even for a pantomime."
From Headingley to Halifax, where a would-be record-breaker came down from a tree after a month "only to find that the world record was not 26 days... but 26 years", Armitage delivers a hilarious, spot-on view of the north.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments