Silence in the countryside is usually a good thing. If that means the absence of road traffic, aircraft noise and man-made bustle allowing us to better appreciate the sounds of nature. But not if silence is a gaping aural void left by something as familiar as the cuckoo. We are too far into the decline… Continue reading
Green stay – the hotel that will produce more energy than it uses
As the world seeks a path to net zero over the next crucial decades, travel must play its part too. There are many areas where action is required, such as reducing the impact of flying and other carbon-based transport, and making accommodation greener and food and drink more sustainable. But as the tourism industry prepares for… Continue reading →
How Cornwall’s ‘lost’ Beeching railway beats the car to St Ives
Sometimes the case for rail over road is so overwhelming it scarcely needs to be argued. The short branch line from St Erth to St Ives in Cornwall is a shining example. It now carries more passengers than in any year since it was opened in the 1870s. That’s an awful lot of cars taken… Continue reading →
Ferry force – two villages linked by swift boat across the Towy
For years Llansteffan has been a tantalising prospect for people in Ferryside and the many tourists who pass through on the railway that hugs the coast and the Towy Estuary in Carmarthenshire, Wales. So close, with a line of prettily-coloured waterside houses and the magnificent ruined Norman castle on the hill, yet quite out… Continue reading →
Now is the time for our leaders to be brave on climate change
“Fossil fuels are a dead end – for our planet, for humanity, and yes, for economies.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s message to the Press Conference Launch of IPCC Report, 28 February 2022. https://www.un.org/sg/en/node/262102 – – – – – We know the definition of brave. It’s on display every day in Ukraine, from the president and… Continue reading →
Clever birds clean up a town, and other avian skills
Biologists have long known the corvid family – it includes crows, ravens, rooks, magpies and jackdaws – to be among the smartest of all birds. Corvids, and other birds, have been seen to solve problems by insight and learn by example, as human children do. On the Pacific island of New Caledonia, crows have demonstrated… Continue reading →