Hobbies
South Devon, Part One
It takes a week to cycle from Penzance to Berwick. It took me 40 years. Because on the way, I wanted to include every town in England, in what amounted to some two years of [more…]
Travelogue
19th Century
A Voyage to India, 1888
In October, 1888, Miss Kate Pettitt sailed from Liverpool to Bombay in the steamship Eden Hall.She was going to India as a governess with an English family from Manchester. The voyage took five weeks, and [more…]
Hobbies
The Wolds, Part Two
It takes a week to cycle from Penzance to Berwick. It took me 40 years. Because on the way, I wanted to include every town in England, in what amounted to some two years of [more…]
20th Century
European Journey 1953, Part Eight – Sezanne
This small French town of Sezanne is one of those places — like Crewe — that you are always passing through but somehow never get to know. Three routes nationales converge on it like the [more…]
Literature
A Letter From India
After qualifying, I’d worked in Basildon for four years before deciding that there was more to life than staring into people’s mouths. I’d met a girl and we decided that we would give up our [more…]
20th Century
European Journey 1953, Part Seven – Trogen
The village lies in a sheltered fold of the mountains, 3,000 feet above sea level. On a fine day you can see clear across to Lake Constance, a bit of burnished silver under the strong [more…]
Hobbies
The Wolds, Part One
It takes a week to cycle from Penzance to Berwick. It took me 40 years. Because on the way, I wanted to include every town in England, in what amounted to some two years of [more…]
20th Century
A Distant Monument to Unrequited Love
If breaking a journey between Nairobi and Kampala, gentlemen and lady travellers might like to give the city of Nakuru a chance. If it becomes tiresome you can always take a tuk-tuk for a day [more…]
Culture
A View From The Greenhouse, Edizione Apulia; Seconda Parte (All In It Together)
The hotel outside Matera is new and consequently very modern, the food in the restaurant was pretty good, but the waiting staff knew we were a tour party and treated us accordingly. Not rude, as [more…]