Aidan Cottrell-Boyce, whose first novel, The End of Nightwork, was published earlier this year, is one of the speakers at the BeaconLit book festival, 2023. He is one of two authors at BeaconLit this year who were on the Observer’s annual list of the ten best debut authors for 2023 **** ‘Yes, I’ve always written, I… Continue reading
Posts by Gareth Huw Davies
Pop star takes the train. Will the fans follow?
There is a famous image, taken in 1966, of Bob Dylan waiting for the Aust Ferry on the Severn Estuary, in the shadow of the still unfinished Severn Bridge. Dylan was already a big star – it was just after he switched to the acoustic guitar. Barry Feinstein photographed him during his tour of the… Continue reading →
Will the Australians’ preposterous world record score ever be beaten?
Few records in cricket can be regarded as unbreakable – although six sixes in an over has to be one – but I find it hard to imagine, in a two innings per side game, any team surpassing the Australians’ monumental total on a sunny Saturday in May 75 years ago. We are used to… Continue reading →
The great (rail) way west – to Pembrokeshire
Update – May 23rd, 2023. The holiday express is back. In 2020 through trains from Paddington to Tenby and Pembrokeshire were suspended. They were not re-introduced in 2021 or 2022, breaking a link which has endured with only a few gaps since the days of Queen Victoria. But this year, 2023, they are back. You can board a… Continue reading →
Fully open Elizabeth Line a rare British triumph
Can a new road any longer ‘transform your journey’? Or simply shift you faster to the next jam? But trains certainly can. —- What was the brightest and best news in travel and transport this week? Anwhere? Visitors to the World Travel Market (WTM) at the Excel Centre in East London would have being given… Continue reading →
Why does National Trust back damaging Stonehenge tunnel plan?
Suppose you had a problem on or around your property. A leaking roof, an awkward neighbour, a noisy road. And someone with clout, the council perhaps, came along and said it had a scheme – at no cost to you – to make life better. Considerably better. After checking that the few obvious snags… Continue reading →