Where We Live is a poetry anthology created by local poets. Helen Sadler has written poems about Barrow upon Soar; Jill Simpson has written about Markfield; Angela Yates about Ruddington; and Liz Nash about Shepshed and wider Leicestershire.

Writing about Barrow came about because Helen started to wonder why Slash Lane is called Slash Lane – it’s not like Cossington Lane or Sileby Road, so where is Slash? She asked many people, mainly long-time residents of Barrow, and they all said the same thing – Slash Lane floods*. So, she wrote the poem from a time when we used to have rain, unlike this last summer!

What everyone knows about Slash Lane
Exhausts discharge noisome fumes into dank, damp air. Traffic’s at standstill.
Clinging odours drift towards homes built back from road, fill lungs.
Vic, the white van man, watches his clock.
Tez in his truck knows that he’s late, thinks of his boss.
Cat in her red car rose early, knows what it’s like, makes up in her mirror as the queue edges on.
Shoulders are tensed, blood pressures rise;
Jerusalem’s gridlocked, High Street is heaving.
Slash Lane is flooded again.

Helen Sadler

If you are interested in buying a copy of the book it costs £9.50, makes a great Christmas present and £1.00 for every book sold is donated to Rainbows.
To order your copy, please email: villageverse2022@gmail.com or hesadler17@gmail.com

*Editor: I was told that the fields had been a site of a battle during one of England’s civil wars. Does anyone know more?