When it comes to the British countryside, we don’t know which way to turn.
In the 17th Century it was something we feared – a chaotic, violent place where Nature, red in tooth & claw, vied for a taste of your blood with bandits, highwaymen, smugglers, murderers and the clinically befuddled. Mention the countryside to Thomas [...]
Posts Tagged ‘england’
Soft and Prickly: Our Fickle Love Of The Countryside
Go Home Again: 4 Ways To Love Where You Are
One of the best points of any journey?
The second day back home.
It’s like this. Being wise, you’ve taken an extra three or four days off work for a post-holiday holiday, just enough time to battle jet-lag and sort through the mail. The first day is all about sleeping – and on the second day, in [...]
Green Meant Busy: Amber Means Clever
Autumn is the most complicated season, the most detailed. There’s simply too much for the eye to see.
That’s why walking turns to strolling, strolling turns to sauntering. We want to slow down and look closer. Except that doesn’t simplify things at all.
(Here’s the root of all the trouble).
What Is A Staycation?
As the leaves turn golden and Christmas approaches, our thoughts naturally turn to what truly sucked about 2009.
Top of my list? “Staycations”.
Oh, you horrible, horrible word – a wretched portmanteau of “stay” and “vacation” (and perhaps a silent “bullshit”).
British media coverage has been intense. Every newspaper, every radio presenter – such as this one – [...]
Nithering
Hornsea – the Bahamas of England’s east coast.
Some folk say Hornsea can be gloomy, dank and bitterly cold. They’re fools.
Growing up as a child, I used to look out of my window and watch the sun come out in all its radiant rosy-fingered beauty.
What fascinated me was that it always came out at a great [...]
Train Travel In The New World Order
For some time now, I’ve been working diligently behind the scenes to secretly bring about a brave new global order.
(I haven’t talked about it before now for hopefully obvious reasons).
There will be many sweeping changes, and I look forward to discussing them with you – or, to be more specific, telling you about them in [...]
Foundations
There’s one rule you should always follow when dining out in York, and it’s this: look up.
My home city is head-scratchingly complicated. Thinking of opening a restaurant within the walls of York? Welcome to a heritage minefield, where you can’t unlatch a window without applying for planning permission first. Everything around you is deeply and [...]
Workin’ on the Chain: 16 Reasons We Need Bikes
It’s the British National Bike Week – and on Thursday, I’ll be attending the University of York Cycle Fair (PDF).
Please excuse me while I enthuse wildly on this subject.
A Matter Of Fact
Remember those long summer holidays where you bronzed your limbs by cycling helter-skelter down country paths, enjoying the movement of the pit of your [...]
An Afternoon At Josie’s
(January 2005)
A lot of people pass through Bempton. The village, a little to the north of Bridlington and a little inland from Flamborough Head, is the site of the ornithologically famous Bempton cliffs, one of England prime seabird nurseries (particularly gannets). The cliff walk is spectacular, so you’ve be forgiven for not lingering in Bempton [...]
