Long-distance paths. Now aren’t they a particularly British thing? Not really. France has a most intricate spiders web of ways, the Chemins de Grandes Randonnées, threading throughout the countryside, marked with regular flashes of colour painted onto rocks, on buildings, posts, or anything that stays still. Spain draws the various converging arms of the St… Continue reading
Shrewsbury, birthplace of Charles Darwin – handsome border outpost
February 2019. This is an update of a piece I wrote in 2010. Charles Darwin, Shrewsbury’s most famous son, was born in 1809 in this handsome border outpost within an almost circular loop of the River Severn. I took the train to one “England’s finest Tudor towns” and one of England’s most appealing day trip and… Continue reading
Carpe Diem – how to have a good day, every day
“There are many different ways to interpret the two words that have touched so many aspects of human culture. So many people know what they mean in Latin, and yet don’t apply them often enough in their everyday lives.” This is the time for good intentions, clean slates, things to do purposefully listed, firm resolution…. Continue reading
In the house where Dylan Thomas set “A Child’s Christmas in Wales”
Dickens started our passion for Christmas books, but who has time for the whole of Pickwick Papers, unless you just read the snowy, seasonal scenes? A Christmas Carol is a possibility, but, weighed down with Victorian sentimentality, it lends itself to cinematic or theatrical adaptation rather then a comfy read in an armchair. I turn to the accessible… Continue reading
Non stop Bach is the spirit of my Christmas
Eight days from 12:00 AM (New York time) December 24th, 2018, to December 31st, WKCR (89.9 FM and wkcr.org) will dedicate all broadcasting to the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/wkcr/node/21295 Many of us have a Christmas tradition, a favourite film, or a meal or a gathering in the pub with friends, the local… Continue reading
Is Bluestone green enough for national park Pembrokeshire?
I was at Bluestone in Pembrokeshire in December, 2015, on an important weekend. On the Saturday, the 12th, world governments concluded the Paris Climate Agreement. It was a pivotal moment in the story of the world about us. What would we, as individuals, do? What would governments and industries do, to met those targets of… Continue reading