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The Saturday paper · 19 September 2026
The city, read at walking pace.
Block by Block covers the hours between errands — the library after dark, the last bus stop, the market bench, the upstairs stage. Eight short dispatches, written to be finished over one coffee.
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Field notes · how we work
We report from the bench, not the balcony.
Every piece starts with somebody standing somewhere ordinary for longer than necessary. Writers ride the whole route, eat at the edge of the market, and stay until the kettle goes on. Stock photographs in this edition are illustrations only — the reporting is the evidence.
- i.Whole-route rule. Movement pieces are reported end to end, in both directions, notebook open.
- ii.Counter time. People pieces require at least two full sessions beside the subject — no fly-bys.
- iii.Closing-time test. A Places story isn’t filed until the writer has seen the room lock up.
From the letters column
“I took the longer walk home because of page three. Same dog, same window. You were right.”— R. Okafor, reader since No. 31 · Southside
Block by Block
A weekend journal of everyday city life, set like a broadsheet and read like a note from a neighbour. All stories, people and places in this edition are fictional benchmark content — the benches are real in spirit.
Desks
- Culture — stages & signs
- Food — markets & counters
- Movement — routes & walks
- People — repairers & keepers
- Places — rooms & gardens
Fine print
- Photography is illustrative stock, not documentary evidence.
- Saved stories live in this browser only.
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