The latest selection of bits and pieces we’ve been digging here at Caught by the River HQ…

Haymaking – Trebettyn, Cowbridge (1949)

As part of their Britain on Film project, the BFI have released a collection of over 750 films, dated 1900 to 1999, which depict rural British life. The films are available to watch for free on BFI Player via an interactive map.

Robert Macfarlane explores how writers and artists are responding to Generation Anthropocene in this Guardian article. ‘ “What will survive of us is love”, wrote Philip Larkin. Wrong. What will survive of us is plastic – and lead-207, the stable isotope at the end of the uranium-235 decay chain.’

Over on their blog, We Made This stroll along the South Downs and pay a visit to the Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft – ‘our new favourite place in the whole world.’ As well as getting nerdy about fonts (‘check out this lovely set of Ws’), they make a compelling case for the latest issue of St Judes journal Random Spectacular, which, published in association with the museum, explores the variety of letterpress print submitted to an open call. The journal is available to purchase here. A list of the Ditchling’s current exhibitions – including one celebrating 100 years of Edward Johnston’s London Underground font – can be found here. ‘If you do one thing this year, go to Ditchling. Twice.’
Frank Cottrell Boyce wrote this concerned but inspiring piece in The Guardian: “What’s the point of culture in Brexit Britain?”

Helen Macdonald shares her 6 favourite books. Unsurprisingly, all make reference to the natural world – ranging from environmental ethics to American avifauna.

In her Telegraph review of new collection Falling Awake, Charlotte Runcie poses the question: is Alice Oswald our greatest living poet? – ‘Magic, the music of nature, the resurrection of the dead: all these things feel real when you read Alice Oswald.’

The long-awaited DVD release of Paul Kelly‘s Lawrence Of Belgravia is finally upon us. ‘Weighed down by the chips on his shoulders while still dreaming of being a pop star who rides in limousines and dates supermodels, [Lawrence] appears as, perhaps, he always has; a man out of time, touched by rare genius.’ (Michael Hayden, BFI.) Order a copy here via Heavenly Films.

In the first of his ‘People You Find In Record Shops‘ columns, Pete Paphides visits The Little Record Shop in Crouch End and gets to know its owner, David – as well as crossing paths with Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor.

And finally, a selection of Radio 4 progammes and soundscapes featuring Chris Watson have been helpfully collated onto a single iPlayer Radio page. Lose yourself in the sounds of icebergs, starlings and trains.