The picture here was taken in the ‘Picton Reading Room’ of Liverpool’s recently renovated Central Library and features a bust of Sir James Picton, who campaigned to have the library built and be the first electrically lit library in the UK. All way back in 1860.

It’s a beautiful place to spend some time, the kind of room where the slightest movement becomes an audible ripple and then tidal wave of sound. The audio recording was taken as I sat here leafing through the pages of a huge beautiful volume of artwork from the 1600’s.