Jenn Ashworth - The Abiding Mental Riches of Preston

Available for over a year

As an injured soldier under house arrest, Xavier de Maistre staved off boredom by imagining every step around his drawing room was a step across a country; Virginia Woolf’s writerly wandering around central London to buy a pencil exposed the city's transformation in darkness. Inspired by these ironic quests and symbolic expeditions, five contemporary writers embark on walks of entertaining eccentricity. Lancastrian writer Jenn Ashworth begins these imaginative journeys with a trip to Preston's Harris Museum, Gallery and Library, retracing her teenage footsteps and pondering the mental riches promised within. Producer: Ciaran Bermingham