Hesp Out West - an Introduction
It was a quarter-of-a-century ago that I began working for regional daily newspapers in South West England and in doing so I found myself following in the footsteps of my feature-writing father who spent his entire journalistic career preferring to avoid hard news… He used to say: “If the truth be known, I don’t care which councillor or politician said what - I’m not even interested in who murdered who. But I am fascinated in all those incidental stories and activities which are either deeply meaningful or which give people great joy.”
One thing I learned from writing features for the West Country’s daily newspapers has been that, if I have thoroughly enjoyed working on some subject or other, then the likelihood is other people will tend to enjoy reading about it.
Low tide pop-up, between Tresco and Bryher
Hence the entirely selfish - but hopefully inspirational - idea behind this new series, Hesp Out West. This weekly offering will be devoted to things which are delightful or interesting or pleasurable - and preferably all three. So there’ll be plenty about food and drink, because media-industry research shows that a great many people love to read about culinary delights at weekends. But we’ll also travel beyond those carnal delights and feature all manner of different things we humans love to do in our leisure time. Like, for example, walking in lovely places or perhaps enjoying a stay at some special location, like a wonderful hotel or a cottage by the sea.
In short, if it is likely that most readers would think to themselves, “I would enjoy that…!” then it’s the sort of thing which will appear in this series.
The articles will often focus on the kind of subjects that you might not see in other newspapers - like foraging for, and cooking, some delicious morsel collected from the wild; or visiting an uninhabited island; or walking through some long-lost ruined village. We will visit places that’ll fascinate even the most world-weary and unadventurous of readers. We will try things that will make folk want to give it a go for themselves. And we will celebrate the kind of special food and drink that is more or less unique to this region.
Why embark upon such a series? Well, as the writer, all I can say from a personal point of view is that I have reached an age in my 60s when, very selfishly, I just want to do what I want to do. Time is perhaps running a little short, so let’s enjoy filling our days with the good and interesting stuff rather than the boring twaddle. Knowing the demographic of this newspaper, I believe there’ll be many readers who will feel the same way.
However, there is a serious reason for the series... And that is to do with something I’ve taken to calling CARE - or Campaign for Real Experiences. As Artificial Intelligence makes increasing inroads into our every day lives, so more and more of the stuff we see and hear is likely to be generated by some algorithm or other.
Until very recently, many of these AI generated wonders would have been impossible. Today, though, you can get the robots in your phone or computer to do the most incredible things - like “write” entire articles on just about any subject at a touch of a button. AI can also create amazingly realistic photographs of just about anything the human mind can imagine. It can compose music, edit videos, perform voice-overs, create recipes… The list of things robots can do is becoming endless.
But what AI will not be able to provide for a long time yet is absolute authenticity. It’ll have a damned good go - the robots are becoming ever more adept at pretending to be real. But they are a long way from having the ability to genuinely emulate the human experience.
AI can borrow, or copy, or approximate, the writings or thoughts or images created by real people who may have experienced a particular moment or occurrence or circumstance, but it cannot describe in very human terms what happened in a particular place on one specific day, under those very skies, in those temperatures, with those emotions, as well scents, touches and flavours…
And it won’t be able to do it for a long time to come because, to do that, AI would have to send out some kind of robot-driven drone full of amazing sensors in order to report on, say, what visiting a place was like at a particular time, or what something tasted or smelled like fresh out of the oven. The drone would have to be capable of talking to people. To do the feature writer’s job properly, it would need to be able to sit down and listen to their stories and perhaps share a joke with the folk concerned. It would be required to feel empathy for whatever it was the humans in the situation were experiencing.
Beach picnic with Dan Garnett on Lundy Island
As yet, no such drone has been invented. And why would you want to pour millions of pounds into creating such a machine? It’s already here - in the form of a human journalist who’s got the T-shirt and been around the block a few times.
Having said that, I sometimes do use AI to help me write what could be described as very factual, “non-experiential” articles. But if you wanted an entire feature to be trite, boring and full of cliches and ridiculous superlatives you could let the robots write the article entirely. Indeed, I can tell when lazy editors have allowed robots to deliver the finished item - and it is not a good idea.
You could not, for example, ask AI to help write an article about a beach picnic. I single out the subject because, of all the features I’ve written in the past 25 years, those describing various beach picnics I have enjoyed have been among the most popular. We did several of these down the years with North Devon’s Dan Garnett, who used to be known as Dan the Fishman before he retired from running his roving seafood stall. We prepared and cooked fabulous seafood in all manner of maritime locations - from wide sandy Atlantic beaches to muddy estuaries - and several times on the wondrous shores of Lundy. And I know people loved reading about those far-flung culinary adventures because of the massive feedback.
In order to describe it, you had to be there to fully experience the joys of beach cookery. If you weren’t there - if you were a reader - then you wanted to emulate the experience for yourself. If I had a fiver for every time a reader told me the articles had inspired them to have their own beach picnic, I’d be able to afford lobster lunches for the rest of my life.
The same, I recall, happened when we carried a feature about joining Lyme Regis fisherman Harry May on one of his hour-long mackerel trips out of the harbour. Photographer Richard Austin and I caught a few, then set up a portable barbecue on the beach to cook the fish while they were still almost flapping. Anyone who has ever eaten mackerel when it is that fresh will know it is one of the most delicious fish in the sea. We were inundated with requests from readers asking us to recommend other mackerel fishing trips around the South West region.
Seaside adventures on the Scillies remain some of the most memorable in my entire journalistic career. Days out like the amazing Tresco Low Tide Picnic pop-ups, held on a sand bar between two islands that would normally be under 20 feet of water, proved to be hugely popular. These low tide picnics would attract more than 300 people to one of remotest corners of the UK.
Razor claim hunting in the Scillies
On the same bit of seabed, I recall going razor-clam hunting with my friends, the Pender family, who run their first-class Island Fish business on Bryher. Back on the mainland I recall spending a day out with seaweed expert Rachel Lambert harvesting edible delights on a beautiful beach in Cornwall…
Seaweed foraging with Rachel Lambert
These are very real and hugely enjoyable human experiences. Try getting a robot to describe going to Lyme Regis for a day-out that included bumping about on the high seas while dealing with hand-lines taught with flapping fish, then lighting a BBQ to cook and eat that wondrous seafood back on the beach. A robot couldn’t do it. All it could do would be to nick one of my old articles and dress it up with double the cliches.
The point is, that Hesp can. Which is why he’s going to be out and about sharing all manner of wonderful things for you to enjoy.
Having knocked AI just a little in the main article, I have asked the robots to outline why it’s such a good idea to have a series like Hesp Out West -
Feature Writing in South West England will include…
Real Experiences Campaign - Highlighting the series’ unique angle against AI-generated content.
Culinary Adventures in the West Country - Attracting food enthusiasts interested in regional cuisine.
Beach Picnics and Seafood Cooking - are activities that have shown popularity among readers.
Authentic Travel Experiences UK - Such articles have a broad appeal for travellers looking for genuine experiences.
Weekend Culinary Delights - Targets weekend readers interested in food articles.
Walking Tours South West England - For outdoor enthusiasts looking to explore on foot.
Unique Hotels and Cottages by the Sea - For those planning vacations or special stays.
Foraging and Wild Cooking - Attracting readers interested in sustainable and natural food sources.
Visiting Uninhabited Islands UK - Appealing to adventurous travellers and explorers.
Leisure Activities in the West Country - Broad, appealing to those looking for various recreational activities.
Lundy Island Adventures - Example of a specific location that has been popular in past features.
Mackerel Fishing Trips Lyme Regis - Example of an article which targets a specific and popular past activity.
Low Tide Picnics Tresco - Example of a unique event that draws interest from niche audiences.
Seaweed Foraging Cornwall - Example of an article combining a location with a unique activity.
Stories of South West England - emphasizing a unique narrative and regional pride.
Campaign for Real Experiences - Highlighting the series' philosophical backbone.
AI vs Human Journalism - Engaging readers interested in the impact of technology on media.
Enjoying the Good Stuff - A lifestyle-oriented phrase that conveys the positive outlook of the series.
