Mike Parker

@mikeparker

Writer in the damp Welsh hills. Books include All the Wide Border, Map Addict, On the Red Hill, The Wild Rover, Neighbours from Hell? "No-one maps the secrets of the UK quite like Mike Parker" - Ayesha Hazarika, Times Radio

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Mike Parker@mikeparker· 18d

This was one of Kyffin Williams’ pieces in the auction. Didn’t make me warm to him at all. Seems quite…loaded, to say the least.

Self portrait by Kyffin Williams, showing the artist in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, walking nervously past 5 black men.

Catalogue description of the Kyffin Williams sketch shown in the previous picture.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· 20d

Mesmerised by the scene of early C20 Newtown, Powys, in the window of an empty retail unit there. So much going on in it! Proper Wild West vibe.

An early twentieth century shot down Broad Street, the main thoroughfare in central Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Wales.

An early twentieth century shot of Newtown enlarged to fill the window of an empty retail unit there.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· 26d

Always love a stop at the mega Co-op (former Harry Tuffin’s) at Churchstoke. You get a few essentials, and can also pretend you’re in some weird dystopian drama set in a completely deserted supermarket.

The Co-op store at Churchstoke, Powys, haunted by ghosts and fruit on the turn.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Jul 13

Sam Neill's death has made me realise that Peaky Blinders began its slow nosedive after his departure from the series.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Jul 9

At its best, Bill Mitchell's stuff is wonderful. Here's the Wool Secretariat building that I mention in the podcast:

The canopy over the entrance to the Wool Secretariat building in Ilkley, Yorkshire, designed by Bill Mitchell in 1968.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Jul 9

Huge fun nattering with @grindrod.bsky.social about two Midland manifestations of the 70s: the Great Wall of Kidderminster, brutalist Bill Mitchell's masterpiece, plus the fragrant mama of cottagecore, The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. Podcast here: johngrindrod.substack.com/p/monstrosit...

The 1973 'Great Wall of Kidderminster', a 320 metre long concrete retaining wall designed by William Mitchell, alongside the town's inner ring road

One of William Mitchell's 1970s brutalist climbing walls, under the Hockley flyover in Birmingham

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden, nature notes from 1906 published in 1977, which became the bestselling book of the 1970s.

Two pages from the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, showing her nature drawings from the month of July 1906.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Jul 5

That is glorious! Can smell the crimplene. Here’s a voxpop in the Bull Ring when they abolished the ten bob note a few years earlier.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Jun 29

The eternal 'second city' conundrum! I wrote about Brum v Manc in my forthcoming book, Mid Land:

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Jun 26

I'm after a photo or artwork from #Birmingham, the #BlackCountry, #Worcs or #Warwicks, to make the perfect front cover for a forthcoming book. Something with a real sense of place, intriguing and witty. Of the last 50 years, perhaps especially 90s/early 00s. Any pointers to artists/photographers?

Ozzy the animatronic bull, on the forecourt of Birmingham's New Street station, a.k.a. Grand Central.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Jun 23

The very fine folk at Aberration are holding a LGBTQ+ storytelling day this coming Sunday at Aberystwyth Arts Centre. Bring your tales and let them fly! All that, and a lovely cool sea to dip in afterwards... Details: www.aberration.org.uk/story-worksh...

Flier for Aberration storytelling workshop on 28.06.26.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Jun 14

As expected, a glorious weekend @montylitfest.bsky.social. Enjoyed my session with @shedworking.bsky.social, catching up with dear friends and being thumped AGAIN in the legendary festival quiz. Here are the winning team in their moment of victory. Next year, comrades…

The winning quiz team at the Montgomery literary festival.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Jun 5

RIP Anthony Head...No-one under 40 can appreciate just how big the Gold Blend TV adverts were in the 1980s - the will they/won't they storyline spun out for years, over endless cups of milky 'coffee'. Kind of the 80s in a nutshell - big hair, big promises, bitter aftertaste.

Anthony Head and Sharon Maughan as the 'Gold Blend couple', an advertising series aired on UK TV between 1987 and 1993.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· May 28

11pm on a street in Italy. Times have surely changed!

Mike Parker@mikeparker· May 9

Down the generations on our kitchen wall: top pic Dafydd Iwan and Preds’s dad Baldwyn (30 yrs gone) canvassing for Plaid in the 80s, bottom pic me as candidate in Ceredigion 2015, in Borth. Bottom left of the lower pic, with shoulder bag, @matthewtorfaen.bsky.social, new Plaid MS for Torfaen. 💚

Two black and white photographs of people campaigning for Plaid Cymru in the 1980s and in 2015.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· May 8

Last of the Summer Labour in Orkney.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· May 2

Beech, bluebells and beast.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· May 1

Happy Beltane!

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Apr 15

The main story of the day, really, BBC News? A handy little fash-booster (just three weeks before so many elections), plus giving them their favourite side order of homophobia. You do spoil them rotten!

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Apr 9

A great read about a fascinating subject, @jonwoolcott.bsky.social’s The Tattooed Hills is out today. Come for the chalky wonders and beautiful scenery; stay for the excursions into pop culture, politics and identity. Looks good on my office steps too eh? See: www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/...

A book - The Tattooed Hills by Jon Woolcott - out today.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Mar 12

Trist iawn clywed am farwolaeth Lloyd Jones, awdur anhygoel a dyn hyfryd iawn. Lloyd Jones RIP - one of my finest reading memories is devouring his Mr Vogel on a backpacking trip around Thailand. The bizarre combo of far tropical beaches and his phantasmagorical version of Wales was unforgettable.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Mar 10

"Glyn Preston's Lib Dems" sounds like the band member that lost the High Court battle over the name, and who's now gigging at every holiday camp in the land to try and pay the legal fees.

Montgomeryshire Lib Dem leaflet distributed in March 2026.

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Mar 7

I’m searching for the original and/or rights owner of this fabulous picture of Birmingham in the early 1970s. It popped up on my Instagram feed, but I’ve been unable to track it down. Any leads? I’m really hoping to use it in a book. (And would much appreciate a RT please)

Photo from the early 1970s of a man on horseback negotiating the Birmingham inner ring road at Holloway Head

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Feb 22

Anyone know of any good / popular / sarky nicknames for the Selfridges building in Brum?

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Feb 11

Anyone got an opinion of the mighty ten-part series of books called Places of Worship in Britain & Ireland? I’m toying with buying the full set at a good price, but would value any thoughts or insights.

One of the ten-part series of books called Places of Worship in Britain & Ireland

Mike Parker@mikeparker· Jan 30

Anyone know when the Wolverhampton - Walsall railway is to be reinstated, with its new stations at Darlaston and Willenhall? Opening date has been stated as 2023, 2024 and latterly "early 2026" but it all seems to have gone quiet?