Why is there a standing stone and a burgeoning counter culture to be found on a pedestrian junction of the M32? And why are good second hand cardigans just so goddam hard to come by? Join me and writer Gareth E Rees to discover the mysterious haunted side of midcentury modernity.

Bristol, magnificent city of cathedrals, waterways and university cloisters. Also, home of Junction 3 of the M32, where a curious pedestrian crossing seems to feature any number of haunted objects and all sorts of human life. Gareth E Rees is the author of Car Park Life and Unofficial Britain, and here he kidnaps me so we can see one of the places he’s most enjoyed on his travels.

While we’re there he also gets to wax lyrical about the disappearance of the thin cardie, a staple of mods and sitcom dads now hard to find, even on Vinted. We recreate our youths as indie t-shirt wearing herberts, and discuss how Richard Briers is a style icon. In this edition of Monstrosities Mon Amour we talk psychogeography, Concrete Island and knitwear. Hot stuff.

Theme tune by Lorna Rees and Rufus Rees Coshan. Logo by Richard de Pesando. You can support Monstrosities Mon Amour by subscribing through Substack or through Ko-fi at https://ko-fi.com/grindrod

Get full access to Grindrodia at johngrindrod.substack.com/subscribe