Now we know where Harrogate is. The first day of the 2014 Tour de France, which took palace in Yorkshire was an event of Olympic proportions, and enthusiasm. Was there ever a televised road journey with such massive, joyous support? The race started in Leeds and ended in the sedate spa town of Harrogate. The… Continue reading
Browsing Category Travel
Could new clean, green trolleys spark up city centre transport?
Public transport belongs in the heart of the world’s historic towns and cities. But what sort of transport? Underground trains are best. Then, as you move above ground, the cleaner, the better. Trams, gliding elegantly through ancient streets, are one clean public transport solution. But creating a new system in an old city can… Continue reading →
Dylan Thomas’s worldwide party centres on Swansea
A shorter version of this piece appeared in the Mail on Sunday, May 18, 2014. The helpful app on my smartphone treats my request as just another random A to B walking route. Those navigational algorithms may be clever, but the Muse is missing. Without any comment, Google delivers me 5 Cwmdonkin Drive to Swansea Grammar School. Don’t they… Continue reading →
Restaurant revolutionary serves up taste of 21st-century Turkey
Turkish restaurants give you a wonderful welcome, but too often I wonder if they either find visiting summer tourists too easy to please, or they didn’t think we are worth the trouble. The country has an immense supply of home grown vegetables and fruit, available in even the smallest village. Yet in the standard tourist place,… Continue reading →
Stonehenge heads for the future: new visitor centre welcomes the world
A new visitor centre opened at Stonehenge six months ago, in December, 2013. Its purpose was to “restore the dignity” of the monument. Mission accomplished? —- The A303 is one of the few major roads in Southern Britain that, in my opinion, is still a pleasure to drive. This is the alternative route from London… Continue reading →
Tour de Swaledale – fast ride through a quiet Yorkshire valley
Around 2.21 on Saturday, July 5 this year (2014) the first of the riders in the first stage of the Tour de France will pass down through Buttertubs Pass in Yorkshire, picturesquely renamed Côte de Buttertubs for the purpose, and will then bear east along Swaledale, through Muker and on to Reeth. It will be… Continue reading →