Words by James Harris
Walking through an autumn day, I come across an empty bench in a park surrounded by a carpet of fallen leaves, whilst above it overhanging branches dressed in fire and gold shelter and frame whatever memories may be made beneath. It promises something worth stopping for, inviting a pause into distracted lives spent with heads too often held down, the splendour around us blurred beyond recognition by haste. It brings to mind romance and friendship, enough space to sit two people close, side by side, hands held lovingly between. Warmed by intimacy and thick clothes wrapped like safety around bodies braced against an invigorating chill, secluded couples in a quiet corner of a park can look out together at this quintessentially autumnal scene, in the reassuring realization that solitude, unlike loneliness, can be shared.
For me, autumn safeguards a familiar happiness recalled from my deep rooted past. It reminds me of the comforting certainty of a warm, loving home, always there waiting. Its dependable return, easing summer into winter at the end of each year, reassures me that, even things that seem forgotten and erased by the persistent march of days following days, even though things leave us, they can still come back.
Photographs by Neil Harrison
By Megan Levick A new exhibition celebrating female cyclists and tackling issues around women’s safety in urban spaces has launched at Manchester Central Library this month in celebration of International Women’s Day 2025. The aAh! Magazine X Lights Up Exhibition will run from 03 March to 29 March 2025 and showcases a range of multimedia…
Featured image: Alison Hall Future Media Production student Gracie Hall takes home top music photography award A Manchester Metropolitan University student has claimed a top national photography award, winning the Photographer of the Year title in the music category at the London Camera Exchange 2025. Gracie Hall, a BA Future Media Production student, impressed judges with her…
Featured image: Edward Firman There is no better combination than a good book and a hot cup of coffee; it’s the ultimate feeling of cosiness no matter the season. However, there’s something comforting about rainy days in Manchester, when the skies are gloomy and you stumble upon an independent bookstore. Over the years, bookstores have…
Featured image and gallery: Eden-Hopkins Fermo Manchester Met’s GoGlobal Week initiative continued on Wednesday with an event featuring award-winning poet Jason Allen-Paisant and acclaimed writer and Contemporary Fiction Professor Monique Roffey. Launching his first non-fiction book, The Possibility of Tenderness, Allen-Paisant and Roffey explored the themes of his memoir, dissecting his personal history and the…
Leave a reply