Some things hit differently, but nothing hits as differently and profoundly as being in Dickens Corner at The Turks Head in central Exeter, England, in the run up to the France-England 2026 Fifa World Cup play off.
It was impossible for me, a literary enthusiast, travel writer, and hopeless, reluctant watcher of football, to not think about Charles Dickens; France, and England; and the global tournament, or divorce the three matters from each other. Being in the place where Dickens spent countless hours thinking, writing, and socialising (the Corner is named, aptly and respectfully, after him) at such a time as this was at once a surreal, once-in-a-lifetime experience, the ensuing 2026 heatwave notwithstanding. I could not help overthinking the significance of the collision of this place and moment in the city that Dickens lived and achieved his literary exploits.
