Category: places
- Exploring Ebble Valley ()
As you head towards the southern end of Wiltshire, the hills and the landscape get more interesting. We went down that way for a walk along the Ebble Valley, one of the many valleys the radiate outwards from Salisbury. This one points towards Shaftesbury, to the west. We had a foggy start but that made […]
- Burrington Combe on a wet Thursday ()
Burrington Combe is an atmospheric cleft in the rocks in north Somerset, about an hour’s drive from my house. To most visitors it’s just a nice scenic bit of road, but to lo-fi geology nerds like me it’s a fabulous playground of fun. Today, it’s green and wooded and has a not-too-busy road down the […]
- Sitting doing nothing on Charmouth beach ()
There was a pandemic, so we cancelled our holiday and spent a week “not working” instead. On Monday the weather was amazing, so we got up early and drove to Charmouth for a laze on the beach. Charmouth is the place where you go to find fossils. I went for a wander along the beach […]
- Sicily ()
A warm winter break K and I spent a long weekend in Sicily, because even in winter it’s blue and golden gold, and the stone benches are warm to sit on, at least in the afternoon, and you can still drink coffee outside, and even a cup of tea, and in the evening you can […]
- Tides in Tenby ()
We went to Wales for a week; to Tenby, a place I’ve visited many times before but never stayed in. So we stayed there. The first few days were glorious. Hot sun, a gentle breeze, accommodating tides. Perfect beach weather, and we beached accordingly. Later in the week the weather cooled a bit and we […]
- Visiting the New Art Centre ()
Today we went to the New Art Centre at Roche Court near Salisbury, about an hour’s drive from our house. It’s a privately owned sculpture park and art gallery, open to all for free. It reminded us of the Louisiana museum in Denmark. Only smaller. Interesting contemporary art in a spectacular natural setting. There’s also some lovely architecture, contemporary […]
- Mooching around Munich ()
I went to Munich for a few days for some work. Munich’s nice. The weather was hot. I got the chance, for the first time, to work closely with Lawrence Kitson, who is a gent and a friendly feller and a pleasure to work with. So that was nice. He and I both had a chance […]
- Driving through Tywi Forest ()
If you drive directly east out of the small Welsh town of Tregaron, you soon find yourself climbing the mountains that lurk there. You climb gradually up one side of the Afon Berwyn valley, and already you feel like you’re somewhere special. The road gets narrower and more hairpinbendy, and there are steep drops and […]
- Tulips in the city ()
Visiting the garden at 120 Fenchurch St We went to London to do some things, and one of those things was a visit to the new Garden at 120 Fenchurch St. And it’s lovely. We arrived first thing in the morning, which was a good idea. We had the place all to ourselves for the first half hour […]
- Perpignan, etc ()
We stayed in a tiny village a few miles from Perpignan. Smack in the middle of wine country – getting to the village from any direction means driving for at least 20 minutes through miles and twisty mountain roads, with vineyards filling every possible piece of usable land. Down the road was the Lac de […]