About Us — Beacon & Babble

Corner turn along a paved passage with low lintel

England has always been a land of wandering voices, crooked lanes, bright beacons, and stories that grow taller each time they are told. Beacon & Babble was born from this restless heritage. We are not a travel agency, nor a literary society in the strict sense. We are something smaller, lighter, and perhaps stranger: a pocket-sized project devoted to nonsense tales that bloom in ordinary settings.

Our base is Nottingham, a city known for legends of Sherwood Forest but equally rich in back-alleys, surprising courtyards, and uneven cobbles that bend underfoot. From here we trace modest routes, rarely longer than half an hour’s walk, and frame them as prompts for playful story-making. Instead of historical timelines or strict heritage tours, we offer a chance to look sideways: a lamp left on in daylight, a slate step that echoes like a drum, or a painted sign half rubbed away by rain. Each detail is an excuse to imagine something ridiculous, lyrical, or both.

Why Nonsense?

In England, nonsense has an old and respectable lineage. From Edward Lear’s limericks to Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat, nonsense is not mere silliness; it is a method of bending perception. It allows the familiar to become new, the safe to turn gently strange, and the ordinary to gain unexpected dignity. By encouraging visitors and readers to jot short lines, sketch odd images, or invent impossible dialogues between paving stones and clouds, we honour this tradition while keeping it accessible.

Our routes are designed to be low-pressure. There are no grades, no right or wrong answers, no expectation of literary polish. A child’s scribble is valued as much as a retired teacher’s paragraph. The measure is not beauty but attention: did you notice the gate, the hinge, the crooked shadow? Did it spark a line you would not otherwise have thought? If so, nonsense has done its job.

How We Work

We prepare pocket notes for each route. These notes are usually no longer than a single A5 sheet if printed, or a few scrolling screens on a phone. They contain directions, markers, and playful prompts. A typical entry might read: “Turn left at the lintel. Whisper three synonyms for ‘drizzle.’ Write them down. If you cannot think of any, invent words that might serve.” The instructions are modest, but their results can be surprising. Visitors often send us fragments: “The drizzle is feather-fall, snail-silver, and hush-dust.” Such fragments, collected and shared (with permission), form our Story Log.

We also hold occasional small gatherings. These are not formal festivals but simple walks with notebooks in hand. Sometimes two people attend, sometimes twenty. We wander, pause, write, sketch, and then trade our odd results in a circle before parting. There is no judging, only sharing. The act itself is the reward.

Roots and Inspirations

Beacon & Babble draws on several inspirations. We owe much to England’s coastal culture of signalling: beacons, lighthouses, and bells used to guide ships. These physical markers embody both safety and strangeness. A beacon is practical, but it is also mysterious—why does a fire on a hill feel like a story waiting to be told?

We also learn from local nonsense traditions: street rhymes, pub riddles, overheard chants at football grounds. Each of these contains playful illogic. Finally, we acknowledge the quieter influence of natural observation: watching how rain darkens slate, how mist curls in an alley, how pigeons gather on a warm vent. Such details, while mundane, are fertile ground for nonsense when treated as characters rather than scenery.

Our Team

Beacon & Babble is a small collective:

Mara Whitcomb — Editor & Prompt Maker, who frames tiny instructions that tilt reality just enough.
Colin Farrow — Field Researcher, who walks endlessly and records crooked signs, tilted bollards, and shiny cobbles after rain.
Neve Harbury — Illustrator, who turns quick doodles into visual anchors for our notes.
Rowan Pritchard — Archivist, who keeps our Story Log tidy, indexing fragments and granting permissions.

We are united less by profession than by temperament. Each of us is drawn to odd details, patient observation, and playful exaggeration. Together we weave these into routes and logs.

What You Can Expect

Expect short routes, between twenty and forty minutes. Expect playful tasks that might feel childlike. Expect a tone that is light, but never mocking. We respect nonsense as a serious tool for joy. Expect also a lack of polish: some of our prompts will not work for you. That is acceptable. They are invitations, not demands. You are free to adapt them or ignore them. The point is not compliance but attention.

You may also expect honesty in our communication. We will not make false promises of transformation or creativity. We only offer opportunities. What you do with them is yours.

Location and Contact

We are based at:
23 Hounds Gate, Nottingham NG1 7AB, England
Phone: 441 115 284 673
Email: [email protected]

We welcome messages, sketches, and fragments. Please use the contact form on our site or write directly to our email. If you wish to visit, note that we are not a public venue; our base is simply an office and archive. Most of our work happens outdoors on ordinary streets.

Ethics and Responsibility

Beacon & Babble observes relevant laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. When you share a story fragment, sketch, or personal detail, we treat it with care. We will not publish or distribute your work without clear consent. If you change your mind later, you may request removal. We keep contact information secure and minimal. We do not sell or trade personal data. These standards are not optional; they are core to our practice.

Looking Ahead

Our aim is modest: to keep noticing. England is full of nonsense, from the way gulls patrol inland car parks to the habit of giving alleys names that sound like novels. Beacon & Babble will continue to frame such oddities as prompts, to gather fragments, and to share them. We may expand routes to new towns, publish small booklets, or host workshops, but our spirit will remain: light, playful, and attentive.

We thank every participant, reader, and passer-by who has joined us so far. Your fragments form the real heart of Beacon & Babble. Without them, our notes would remain blank.

Whether you are a lifelong resident of Nottingham, a visitor from abroad, or someone scrolling late at night, you are invited to join. Take a short walk, notice a crooked sign, write something odd. That is all nonsense requires.

Final Note

If you have read this far, you may already share our inclination toward wandering attention. That is enough. There is no membership, no fee, no obligation. Only the willingness to treat a beacon as more than a signal and a babble as more than noise. From such small turns, nonsense begins.