Free form: Simon Webb on Frederick Douglass and the Quakers of Newcastle

‘The Richardsons’ gesture did not just involve raising large amounts of money.’

‘Douglass’s ideas did not line up entirely with those of Friends.’ | Photo: Frederick Douglass (left) and Anna Richardson (right)

Our new neighbours are doing so much work on their house that I sometimes wonder why they don’t just knock the whole thing down and re-build. But I suppose that would mean even more noise and dust, and far more large vehicles of various types parked in our little cul-de-sac. And if the basic structure of the old house is sound, re-building would also be a far less eco-friendly strategy than their current approach of patching, replacing, refurbishing and re-modelling.

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