Creative Connections

Welcome to Creative Connections — where we join the dots between songwriter meanings, across the decades, and spin them into a new narrative.
Today’s episode is Stepping Stones: seven songs about crossing from one position to another. Not in one leap. Not by suddenly becoming wise. Not by winning an argument and declaring the stream crossed forever. But step by step — one stone, then another — moving from a closed world towards a more generous one.
Watch the full music-in-sequence video version of this podcast including the seven songs at: https://unmask.us/creative-connections/stepping-stones/.
Individual Song Links on YouTube:
Merle Haggard - Irma JacksonSarah McLachlan - ElsewhereAlanis Morissette - PerfectOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Women IIIRickie Lee Jones - The Evening Of My Best DayHeather Nova - Stop The FireArkells - What Are You Holding On To?
 
You can watch all of our Creative Connections episodes on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CreativeConXPod

Welcome to Creative Connections — where we join the dots between songwriter meanings, across the decades, and spin them into a new narrative.
Today’s episode is Shipbuilding: The Price Is Paid Elsewhere - seven songs about profit, comfort, labour, inequality, moral distance, and the terrible convenience of not having to see who pays the cost of that which benefits us.
Watch the full music-in-sequence video version of this podcast including the seven songs at: https://unmask.us/creative-connections/shipbuilding-the-price-is-paid-elsewhere/.
Individual Song Links on YouTube:
Elvis Costello - ShipbuildingMary Gauthier - Sugar CaneR.E.M. - Welcome to the OccupationBon Jovi - Hey GodThe Eagles - Business As UsualChris Rea - MoneyTom Petty - The Last DJ
 
You can watch all of our Creative Connections episodes on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CreativeConXPod

In this episode of Creative Connections, we look at some curious buildings and structures whose original purpose is no longer always obvious. From dovecotes and ice houses to village pounds, lock-ups and lychgates, we explore the practical jobs these places once did — and the hidden histories that still survive in the buildings around us.
If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe and share it with others who enjoy the natural world and the stories behind it.
The video version can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4KnucjHnKs
Image and video credits:
The video and some of the photographs were created by Creative Connections.
Additional images were sourced from Wikimedia Commons and are listed below with full attribution and licence details.
Finger Post Signs, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
South Downs Way, dew pond nr Ditchling Beacon_AndyScott, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Kissing gate, Henbury by Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The dovecote at Nymans by Marathon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Nymans, March 2020 5, Poliphilo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Nesting boxes, Kinwarton Dovecote by Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Nymans House by The Saunterer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Muntham Court Ice House, Hurk87, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
An illustration from Curtis, Charles Henry, 1869- The book of topiary, by Charles H. Curtis ... and W. Gibson ... London, New York, J. Lane, 1904. Illustration is credited to: "(By courtesy of “The Agricultural Economist”)", Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Brighton Pavillion - panoramio, ianpudsey, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Interior of the High Elms Ice House, Ethan Doyle White, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Illustration of the Ice House at Muntham Court, Ivan Bandura, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Oast House by Oast House Archive, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Cocking Lime Works 018, Daemonic Kangaroo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Cocking Lime Works 012, Daemonic Kangaroo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Village Pump at Birdham by Dave Spicer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Isfield Pound by N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Isfield Pound (3674430377), Simon Harriyott from Uckfield, England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
West Clandon Village Pound by Brian Henley, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Lock up on Church Road, Wheatley by Bill Boaden, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Lych Gate, Hunston Church, West Sussex by Jeff Gogarty, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Lych Gate for All Saints Church in Beckley, East Sussex by John P Reeves, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Lych gate at All Saints church by Dave Spicer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
#britishhistory  #hiddenhistory  #historicbuildings #creativeconnections

In this episode of Creative Connections, we look at some of the clues to the past that are still sitting quietly in the countryside around us. From fingerposts and milestones to benchmarks, trig points and dew ponds, we explore what these familiar — and sometimes easily missed — features were actually for, and the stories behind them.
If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe and share it with others who enjoy the natural world and the stories behind it.
The video version can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzNJIfetIL8
Image and video credits:
The video and some of the photographs were created by Creative Connections. Additional images were free images from unsplash.com or if sourced from Wikimedia Commons they are listed below with full attribution and licence details.
Finger Post Signs, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Dave Spicer / Finger post at junction with Hurstwood Lane / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Plaque, Toll Gate House, Spaniards Road NW3 by Robin Sones, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
18th Century Toll Gate House, Spaniards Road NW3 by Robin Sones, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Blue plaque - Copse Cross Toll Gate - Pauline Eccles, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Spaniards Inn and Toll Gate House, Spaniards Road NW3 by Robin Sones, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Plaque and window, Toll Gate House NW3 by Robin Sones, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Old Direction Sign - Signpost by Top Road, Tyes Cross, West Hoathly Parish by Milestone Society, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fingerpost, Wriggle River by Richard Webb, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Peter Trimming / Milestone Near Lower Beeding, Sussex, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Old Milestone by the A286, Milestone Garage, Cocking Parish by Kevin David Agent, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Peter Royle / Milestone on A22, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Kissing gate, Henbury by Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Kissing gate and footpath by Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Pete Chapman / Stile on Public Footpath leaving B2110 at The Warren, Near Handcross, West Sussex, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
All Saints Church, Church Road, Herstmonceux (NHLE Code 1353333) (September 2023) (Mounting Block)_User:Hassocks5489, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Mounting block, Herstmonceux by Maigheach-gheal, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Martin Dawes / Mile Stone and Mounting Block with O/S Bench Mark, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Boundary stone on Ditchling Beacon_Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Milestone Society / Old Boundary Marker by the A638, north of Tunstall, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Boundary Stone at Whitehawk Road, Brighton (IoE Code 481456)_The Voice of Hassocks, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Ordnance Survey Bench Mark by V1ncenze, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Ordnance Survey Bench mark by The Saunterer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fallowfield Station OS map 1899_Ordnance Survey, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Peter Trimming / Trig Point on St.Roche's Hill, Sussex, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
CTS Tavistock 1_Colgill, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Trig point S8696: Top by Bob Harvey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Ordnance Survey GPS Station by Calum Young, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Trig point S8696: GPS network notice by Bob Harvey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Galileo IOT L-band antenna at Redu ESA219283_ESA/C. Lezy, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons.
South Downs Way, dew pond nr Ditchling Beacon_AndyScott, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Peter Holmes / Mile Oak Dew Pond / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
#creativeconnections  #Countrysidehistory #southdowns

Welcome to Creative Connections — where we join the dots between songwriter meanings, across the decades, and spin them into a new narrative.
Today’s episode is Necessary Dualities: seven songs about the opposites we live with, the contradictions we carry, and the paired truths that shape us.
Watch the full music-in-sequence video version of this podcast including the seven songs at: https://unmask.us/creative-connections/necessary-dualities/.
Individual Song Links on YouTube:
Janis Ian - Society’s ChildJoni Mitchell - Both Sides, NowSupertramp - The Logical SongDeep Purple - Perfect StrangersThe Grateful Dead - CassidyTracy Chapman - Fast CarBill Withers - Lean On Me
 
You can watch all of our Creative Connections episodes on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CreativeConXPod

In this Creative Connections episode, we look at what we might grow in our West Sussex garden — from vegetables and fruit we actually enjoy eating to flowers and shrubs that can cope with dry summer spells, damper winter conditions and our chalky South Downs soil. We’re also looking for plants that are reasonably low-maintenance and don’t demand constant watering or attention. This is simply a look at the choices we’re considering for our own garden, alongside some of the plants that are already growing happily here.
If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe and share it with others who enjoy the natural world and the stories behind it.
The video version can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-OmKw9-eGs
Image and video credits:
Some of the photographs were created by Creative Connections.Additional images were free images from unsplash.com or if sourced from Wikimedia Commons they are listed below with full attribution and licence details.
Rote Beete im Hochbeet (36974382445).jpg.Maja Dumat from Deutschland (Germany), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Beetroot, spinach, rocket, goat cheese and pumpkin seeds salad.jpg.Chris Olszewski, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Vegetable garden in The Dingle - geograph.org.uk - 5870841.jpg.Vegetable garden in The Dingle by Evelyn Simak, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A vegetarian stew cooked using a slow cooker.jpg.Viguple 007, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Pastinaca sativa 2018-08-29 7366.jpg.Salicyna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Pastinaca sativa kz06.jpg.Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Parsnip with honey and mustard.JPG.Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Cucurbita pepo zucchini trattati.jpg.nociveglia from Appennino Emiliano, Italy, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Phaseolus coccineus by Danny S. - 001.JPG.Danny Steven S., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Globe Artichoke - Green Globe - geograph.org.uk - 4056091.jpg.Globe Artichoke - Green Globe by Richard Hoare, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
British apple crumble 04.jpg.Jonathan Harker, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Ribes uva-crispa6 ies.jpg.Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Les fruits du cassis viaouest.jpg.Viaouest, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Blackcurrant in basket 2021 G1.jpg.George Chernilevsky, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Apple_and_Blackcurrant_crumble.JPG.Goddards Pies Ltd, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
More raspberries (50111914646).jpg.Hefin Owen from Wales, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Rubus idaeus 2018-04-24 9362.jpg.Salicyna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Raspberry Trellis - panoramio.jpg.Carl Belken, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
BuddlejaDavidiiStrauch.jpg.IKAl, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Heavenly Blue' 2016-09-04 02.jpg.Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Ribes nigrum a1.JPG.Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
#CreativeConnections #gardeningideas #WestSussex #vegetablegarden #gardenplanning

Welcome to Creative Connections — where we join the dots between songwriter meanings, across the decades, and spin them into a new narrative.
Today’s episode is The Shape of Loneliness: seven songs about being alone, feeling alone, trying to reach someone, learning to live with yourself, and discovering that sometimes the thing that breaks the silence is another voice telling the truth from somewhere else.
Watch the full music-in-sequence video version of this podcast including the seven songs at: https://unmask.us/creative-connections/the-shape-of-loneliness/.
Individual Song Links on YouTube:
The Beatles - Yer BluesJohn Prine - Donald & LydiaELO - Telephone LineJoan Armatrading - Me, Myself, ILindsey Buckingham - Street of DreamsSoundgarden - The Day I Tried To LiveLou Reed - Turn To Me
 
You can watch all of our Creative Connections episodes on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CreativeConXPod

Welcome to Creative Connections — where we join the dots between songwriter meanings, across the decades, and spin them into a new narrative.
Today’s episode is Rich Enough To Forget My Name: seven songs about working people, and what happens when the systems above them — government, war, industry, banks, policy, capital — treat them as disposable.
Watch the full music-in-sequence video version of this podcast including the seven songs at: https://unmask.us/creative-connections/rich-enough-to-forget-my-name/.
Individual Song Links on YouTube:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son
Bob Dylan - Masters Of War
John Prine - Paradise
John Mellencamp - Rain on the Scarecrow
Billy Joel - Allentown
Bruce Springsteen - Youngstown
Keith Reid - A Common Thread
 
You can watch all of our Creative Connections episodes on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CreativeConXPod

Flint is one of the most familiar features of the South Downs, appearing in fields, paths, churches and old walls. In this episode of Creative Connections, we look at how it formed, why prehistoric people valued it, and how it helped shape the landscape of West Sussex.
If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe and share it with others who enjoy the natural world and the stories behind it.
The video version can be found at: https://youtu.be/C3p7RyGQ6cA
Image and video credits:
Many of the images in this video were created by Creative Connections. Additional freely reusable images were sourced from Wikimedia Commons and are listed below with full attribution and licence details.The map image was sourced from Mapcarta, with the required attribution shown below.
Image FilesMap: Mapcarta © OpenStreetMap and Mapbox.
South Downs Way sign at Westdean - geograph.org.uk - 5530536.jpg.South Downs Way sign at Westdean by PAUL FARMER, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A berm of deposited flint and chalk at the Seven Sisters, East Sussex - geograph.org.uk - 6776236.jpg.A berm of deposited flint and chalk at the Seven Sisters, East Sussex by Adrian Diack, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
National park South downs.jpg.M. Gowland, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
View of the Seven Sisters cliffs.jpg.JohnIron64, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Palaeolithic sub-ovate handaxe (FindID 746689).jpg.Sussex Archaeological Society, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Neolithic flint scraper (FindID 731046).jpg.The Portable Antiquities Scheme, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Incomplete flint knife blade, Early Neolithic, 4500-3500 BC. (FindID 806767).jpg.The Portable Antiquities Scheme, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Neolithic flaked axe (FindID 799660).jpg.Sussex Archaeological Society, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Ancient Flint Mines on Harrow Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1631001.jpg.Dave Spicer / Ancient Flint Mines on Harrow Hill.
Cissbury Ring neolithic flint mine 1.JPG.Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Restricted Byway on Church Hill - geograph.org.uk - 2635616.jpg.Restricted Byway on Church Hill by Dave Spicer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Stone age prehistoric flint mining illustration.png.Anna Zinonos, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Workings at Cissbury Ring - geograph.org.uk - 1326767.jpg.Graham Horn / Workings at Cissbury Ring, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The inner wall of Cissbury Ring - geograph.org.uk - 2431258.jpg.The inner wall of Cissbury Ring by Marathon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Perfectly rounded Blackpatch Hill - geograph.org.uk - 2481609.jpg.Perfectly rounded Blackpatch Hill by Dave Spicer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Chalk pit on the NW side of Harrow Hill - geograph.org.uk - 7990260.jpg.Chalk pit on the NW side of Harrow Hill by Ian Hawfinch, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Lenham, St. Mary's Church, Detail of knapped flint construction in the sanctuary east wall - geograph.org.uk - 5529067.jpg.Lenham, St. Mary's Church: Detail of knapped flint construction in the sanctuary east wall by Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Attribution:Flint wall on Stoney Lane - geograph.org.uk - 3232058.jpg.Flint wall on Stoney Lane by Stephen Craven, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Coursed flint & pebble wall detail (1), Church of St Andrew, Netteswellbury, Harlow, Essex.jpg.Mutney, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Knapped Flint Nodule - geograph.org.uk - 2899884.jpg.Knapped Flint Nodule by Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
South Downs Flint - geograph.org.uk - 544850.jpg.Colin Smith / South Downs Flint, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Flint house in the South Downs National Park - geograph.org.uk - 4605353.jpg.Flint house in the South Downs National Park by Marathon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Welcome to Creative Connections — where we join the dots between songwriter meanings, across the decades, and spin them into a new narrative.
Today’s episode is What Mothers Leave Behind: Seven songs about comfort, sacrifice, absence, memory, and the traces mothers leave in us.
Watch the full music-in-sequence video version of this podcast including the seven songs at: https://unmask.us/creative-connections/what-mothers-leave-behind/.
Individual Song Links on YouTube:
Lenny Kravitz — Johnny Cash
Madness — Mrs Hutchinson
Travis — Coming Around
Bruce Springsteen — The Wish
U2 — I Will Follow
David Gilmour — Faces Of Stone
The Beatles — Let It Be
 
You can watch all of our Creative Connections episodes on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CreativeConXPod