The Nov 2024 workshop run by Julie Stevens included a Brian Bilston poem - America is a Gun, his poem listed what various countries are known for and each verse compared them to America. My version contrasts some English cities I've visited, compared to how I feel about where I was born.

York, undoubted cultural heritage and England’s oldest City they might claim

Stoke on Trent known as The Potteries, where Wedgwood is a famous name

Bristol, has a history of social comment, predating Banksy’s fame

All well and good but London is my home

Nottingham, Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood and the centre of making lace

Birmingham has a chocolate museum and more canals than a famous place

Peterborough, where Mary Queen of Scots had her initial burial space

All well and good but London is my home

Liverpool a football City, both divided and unified in being Red and Blue

Newcastle proud with special passion, a separate Geordie Nation, is the locals view

Manchester with the history of United and now the achievements of City too

All well and good but London is my home 

Cambridge with renowned academics, as well as the punts of course

Oxford another seat of learning, and the mysteries solved by Morse

Cities all around the country, to visit when I choose to roam

All well and good but wherever I am, London is my home