In Salford, the gardening gods chisel away at the anguishes of men

‘We’re not a group of axe murderers or anything’

Dear members — today’s story is by Jack Walton, who spent some time at Garden Needs, a community garden in Salford established to help people with their mental health. Among others, he speaks with Brian Anderson, an autistic ex-engineer and veteran, who finds solace in gardening’s low-stress simplicity. It’s a really lovely read.

Some news: Our one-off print edition of The Mill is going to emerge from the printers on Monday. It includes some of our favourite stories we’ve worked on over the past year, plus a new long read about Sir Richard Leese’s career by Joshi, which you won’t find in our newsletters or online for another week or so. Sophie has been patiently reading through to ensure all the design and writing look perfect and we’re so happy with how it looks. You will be able to pick a copy up at our fundraising concert at St Ann’s next Thursday (16 December at 7.30pm). If you haven’t booked yet, go ahead and do so now — this booking link has the £4 members’ discount already loade…