So where’s the cuckoo? For the third successive year, I haven’t heard it call in the fields around where I live in rural southern England. That is after hearing it, without fail, every spring for more than 20 years. There is still the outside chance that the bird may yet arrive, but it really is… Continue reading
How the Proms are celebrating dazzling Welsh musical talent Morfydd Owen
Update: April 24th, 2018. The 2018 BBC Proms season will include, for only the second time, a performance of a work by long-overlooked Welsh composer Morfydd Llwyn Owen (Fri 20 Jul 2018). The last piece by her was performed there in September 1917. The composer died, tragically young, shortly afterwards. The Proms piece is the short Nocturne, lasting about 15 minutes. It… Continue reading →
Exit cuckoo, pursued by climate change?
‘The cuckoo then, on every tree, Mocks married men; for thus sings he, “Cuckoo; Cuckoo, cuckoo!” O, word of fear, Unpleasing to a married ear!’ (When Daisies Pied and… Continue reading →
How Guernsey welcomes the world with Potato Peel Pie
The film was actually shot at locations in London, Bristol and Devon. The scene where German soldiers march through the streets of Guernsey was filmed in Bideford, in Devon. In Bristol, Princes Wharf, alongside a dockside museum, with cranes, steam railway and transit shed, was the location for a 1940s harbour – to represent Weymouth Docks. In London the cast… Continue reading →
How the Tecnica Forge walking boot delivers the perfect fit
Tecnica Forge, a walking boot that should fit you better than anything you’ve ever worn, moulded to the shape of your ankle, instep and arch, has gone on sale this spring (2018) in sports and outdoor shops equipped with the specialist equipment to fit it. Once we all wore off-the-shelf boots and shoes. If we… Continue reading →
The Durrells back on ITV to promote Corfu in 1930s time capsule
The third season of The Durrells began on ITV on Sunday 18th March at 8pm. The programme, set in 1937, follows Louisa Durrell’s attempt to make a new life for herself and her family in Corfu, after her husband died. The series stars Keeley Hawes, Josh O’Connor, Daisy Waterstone, Milo Parker, Callum Woodhouse, Leslie Caron, Yorgos Karamihos, Alexis Georgoulis and Christopher… Continue reading →