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A Magazine for Sheffield

Andrew Wood

Writing on the fuzzy edges between fact and fiction

Andrew Wood

My professional background is in architecture and planning, and I work in the murky world of environmental campaigning. I like to write on the fuzzy edges between fact and fiction, between the city and the wilderness, between harsh reality and absurd nonsense. In an ideal world my writing would be a mixture of Douglas Adams and Haruki Murakami, but you don't need me to point out that this is not an ideal world. I'm also a drummer in several bands you probably won't have heard of, including Waldo Reset, Batman's Treaty, Pisco Sour Hour and occasionally some other ones.

The Imaginary Crane

Did I imagine a huge mechanical beast in the city centre? Did it just come out at night – or was it still beavering away in a parallel city I couldn’t normally see?

Only ideas can save our climate

Humans are endlessly creative, and creativity is about having space to fail and try again. Our government's climate policy needs to open up that space – by leaving coal in the ground.

Danger: Zones

Planning does need to be improved, but the Government’s planning reforms announced this week are an attack on local democracy, says a local planner, activist and former architect.

Headless in Deep Time: The Long Story

I've probably spent twice as much time outside during lockdown than I did over the winter that preceded it. Yet I feel like my world has narrowed.

Technology: What is it good for?

"If you think technology is the answer to your problem, you don't understand technology, and you probably haven't understood the problem."…

Stow-aways: Where has next door gone?

Jed was certain, the house with the battered old sailing boat outside wasn't there. The entire house had vanished. The street had squeezed…

Exile: In An Untethered Time

It had been unseasonably warm and sunny all week. Daffodils and crocuses dug out their springtime headdresses, café chairs shuffled…

64 Lanterns: WWI Vigil in Crookes

At school, I learned about the First World War. It was long ago. The battles had strange names and cost countless lives. It was supposed to…

Geocaching: Pay Close Attention

My daughter and I are standing in the Ponderosa Park, staring intently at a bench and tentatively running our hands round the edges of it…