> but everything we do is affected by history. The rich history of this place informs these poems, but whatever we write has culture in it--culture is accumulated history.<br>

Very true @agmoore... if I'm honest about it, what I should have said is that I don't usually enjoy writing history posts like this but I did enjoy this one. Maybe my tastes are developing to enjoy the research side of things a little more :-)

I'm glad you enjoyed this and it is gratifying that a History graduate liked it, as it convinces me that I didn't gloss over things too much ;-) I was convinced at one point that I hadn't gone into enough detail but then I thought, local history is quite niche so I'll keep it a little more general.