Spirits of Place, a new book edited by John Scanlan and Katie Milestone has recently been published. The origins of this book were in a coach trip / workshop that we organised in June 2023 to mark the creation of the new Cumberland Council in April that year. We visited two places that could be taken to represent different facets of the new Cumberland with the aim of stimulating conversation on the role of the arts and culture in the new local government settlement. We invited participants with an interest or stake in the culture of the region, or academic expertise in place and culture, to reflect on the discussions that took place during the workshop and contribute views and perspectives of their own for a publication, which eventually became this book.
