About Us

Back at the start of 2008, I was 'between jobs', having a break after a hectic and stressful 2007, and looking for a job that would be less soul destroying that merchandising crap for the Tesco Metro in the centre of town.

My efforts to relax involved going for a lot of walks in the surrounding countryside, and exploring places off the beaten track. I was also reading and investigating the idea of psychogeography at the time, which seemed to coincide nicely with my own wanderings. Psychogeography, for those of you in the dark, was defined in 1955 by Guy Debord as the "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals.” From other materials I read, this definition has changed and been adapted over recent decades, but to me it's about who you are and where you live - and how each can affect the other.

Inspired by the books I was reading at the time, I began to think about writing my own walking blogs, diaries and observations, and how best to get them out in the world. I'd always wanted to write a book since I was a child, but it's a specialist area, and even even doing a website devoted to pyschogeography in and around Canterbury wouldn't really be a crowd puller. But it was then that the name The Canterbury Wanderer came to me, and sounded better than the Canterbury Explorer, which is a bus ticket. Wandering fitted in well with the ideas behind psychogeography – losing yourself, not following set maps or instructions, doing your own thing – and after some thought, I realised that the idea could be applied to all of Canterbury.

In addition to this, I've never been able to find an all-in-one definitive, online guide to what's happening in Canterbury, one that includes music and events, local retailers, and, essentially, an independent point of view of the city by someone who lives here, but isn't affiliated to the local council, or any particular organisation or event.

Yes, there are plenty of organisations and magazines and sites all dedicated to promoting Canterbury, but there generally seems to be a bias towards the historical aspect of the city, or towards the tourism side of things. Which is all well and good but there's more to Canterbury than the Cathedral and Whitefriars shopping arcade.

And yes, there are plenty of people and groups out there doing their own thing, promoting interesting and non-commercial endeavours, but you really have to look hard to find some of them or just be lucky enough to find a flyer in a bar. What Canterbury needs is a central hub for all this information, so that people can find out about the less publicised areas of the town, and help to promote small independent businesses, as well as showcase bands and musicians and maybe help people find each other.

Which is where The Canterbury Wanderer comes in. We're not doing this for money. We won't ask you for any payment for listing your business or event. We'd just like your help in making this the best site it can be, so that we can cover all the aspects of Canterbury that we ourselves like or admire, but don't receive enough coverage for whatever reasons.

The only thing we ask in return is that you help promote us, and help us reach more people, and we'll try and do the same for you.

I'll write more about the site and it's aims as they become clearer – we're well aware that this is an experiment, but we're determined to make it work. Doubtless the nature of the site will be defined by the people we find and we're always happy to take on board ideas and suggestions, or ways that the site might be improved in the future. Bear with us, though, as this is our first time running a site!

Mark @ The Canterbury Wanderer

Please email canterburywanderer@hotmail.co.uk