From the editor: Joe goes wandering, but not too far away

Here is a spiritual successor to previous Joe-goes-to-other-places columns such as the Hastings, Manchester and Venice missives. The next target for this rover: Chichester.

The main reason for the visit was for Minerva Theatre and The House They Grew Up In, but my partner and I like to make the most of a theatre outing: making a day of it when possible. We pottered through the town, plundering charity shops for bits. I was chuffed with a garishly sleeved but strangely appealing solo violin CD, but happier when we found Kim’s Bookshop.

Kim’s Bookshop was a surprisingly voluminous bookshop, stacked in a narrow building over three or four floors. The frontage wouldn’t have suggested such a large stock, which is a nice Diagon Alley-esque touch, although they might profit from publicising their abundant wares more effectively. An idiosyncratic choice also to put popular books such as fiction and biography right at the top of the building.

Then, a visit to the cathedral: a welcome quiet spot in the middle of the city, and with a great modern art exhibition by Frieda Hughes to browse too. Pallant House Gallery was the highlight of the day however, our first visit unearting an extremely generous and varied art gallery to frequent. The John Minton exhibition alone (running until 1 October) would justify a daytrip; I was particularly struck by his ‘Surrey Landscape’, created with pen and ink on paper. I was also moved by his melancholy portraits and surprised by the vibrant contrast with his more colourful Caribbean works.

The Minerva Theatre was a great in-the-round auditorium, with impressive moving sets for a fairly intimate space. You can read my thoughts on the play at bit.ly/2ulwzAF.

Joe Fuller
editorial@thelatest.co.uk