Leptis Magna and Virginia Water

I spent a week in Libya in November 2005  ; I took  a direct flight to Tripoli to meet friends who were already in the country; I only had hand luggage; this had consequences.

May Hill

On Friday morning we climbed May Hill. It’s 971 feet above sea level and has a trig point at the summit.

Planting Trees

English gardens and parkland changed decisively in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as plant hunters brought specimens back from Asia. EH ‘Chinese” Wilson was one of the most famous, bringing around two thousand plants and trees back to Britain and America, while working for James Veitch & Sons in Chelsea and the Arnold… Continue reading Planting Trees

Scrambled Eggs

Brexit was inevitable. Breakfast in the British Isles is not like breakfast in Europe. If you can’t agree about brekker it’s time to part brass rags.

The Devil’s Pulpit

Many years ago I walked along the Wye (my grandfather caught a 41 1/4 lb salmon on the river in the 1930s) with Ingaret the Navigator; more recently along Offa’s Dyke with Robert. On Wednesday these two paths intersected at Brockweir.

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Going West

We drove to the Forest of Dean on a wet Tuesday. I am getting to know the green car better. Sometimes it is breathtakingly brainy, at other times exasperating; in fact just like Bertie.

Hanger Lane Gyratory

I have lived fairly contentedly in London for forty-three years and much of my happiness I now realise has come from avoiding the Hanger Lane Gyratory system.

Off to Sunny Spain

Books describing the authors’ walking trips are a genre I find irresistible. Today I want to narrow down the field to 20th century accounts of walks in just one country.

Train-spotting in Ukraine

We returned to Kiev via Poltava after the election and again stayed at the Palazzo Poltava. I had a first floor room with a balcony and a view.