History
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St Albans: Romans, Saints & Boudicca
With no opportunity to leave these shores just yet, we continued our exploration of our own country this week with a brief visit to Hertfordshire, centred on time in St Albans, an ancient city steeped in fascinating history. After a motorway closure made our journey somewhat tortuous we rolled into St Albans around lunchtime and set about exploring a city with some of England’s most dramatic history. St Alban the man was a religious martyr executed on the spot which today houses the cathedral, itself originally an abbey which was ransacked and all but destroyed by Henry VIII’s men during the Reformation. From a distance, the wide central tower of…
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Nostalgia Trip #2: Warwick
Leaving Brownsover we avoid motorways and take the short countryside route via the appealing Dunchurch to our next destination, Warwick. So many visitors to England make Stratford-on-Avon a high priority; we have to say it’s their loss if they miss out on visiting the splendid nearby town of Warwick. Steeped in history, packed with gorgeous historical buildings, straddling the River Avon and boasting one of England’s most magnificent castles, any visitor would surely be thoroughly enchanted by Warwick. So why are we here on our nostalgia trip? My (Phil) parents moved here in 1979 and lived in the town for their remaining years, with Dad dying three years ago in…
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Atlantic Views
Sunday morning brings gloomy light, dark clouds and the threat of rain, the forecast is less than encouraging. By the time we’ve had coffee and breakfast the rain is pounding the windows and gathering in puddles on the decking outside the cottage, and we start to weigh up braving the elements versus staying indoors. The spirit of adventure wins, and we get rewarded on our trip down the coast, starting at Porthcothan. Remarkably we dodge the showers all day, with a cliff walk above the beach at Porthcothan, followed by a visit to Carnewas, more familiarly known as Bedruthan Steps. The “steps” are a sequence of rock pillars isolated from…
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Three Takes On Man Versus The Sea
Our next Cornwall road trip explores three very different elements of man’s relationship with the sea – in fact it’s hard to imagine three more disparate aspects than the three we explore on this single day. Our first destination is the delightfully attractive town of…… MOUSEHOLE To UK inhabitants of a certain age, the very word “Penlee” still stirs the memory of an awful disaster which took the lives of those trying to save others. On December 19th 1981, the Penlee lifeboat was scrambled to assist the stricken Union Star, a bulk freight vessel on its maiden commercial voyage from the Netherlands to Ireland, which had suffered engine failure in…
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Coastal Paths And Tin Mines
When you’re walking the North Cornwall section of the coast path, it goes something like this. You can see the next headland what looks to be not too far ahead, but then you realise that to get to that headland you have to descend the steep ravine and then make the long climb up the opposite bank until you reach the summit of the next headland, from where you can see the next headland what looks to be not too far ahead, but then you realise that to get to that headland you have to descend the steep ravine and then make the long climb up the opposite bank until…
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Way Down South…
Having had 10 rainless days here in April, we get payback on first day this time which is pretty much a total washout. So we get a few housekeeping issues at the cottage sorted, watch the rain fall, listen to the wind, until we go to meet Joy & Charlie for a beer at The Shipwrights as it threatens to clear up. Somewhere around the third sip of Tribute the rain comes in horizontally across the harbour and the pointlessness of an outdoor beer in this weather becomes apparent very quickly. COVID restrictions mean indoor beers are banned, so the day is basically over. Sunday is a little better and…
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Reunion In Constable Country
Dedham Vale is one of those quintessentially English locations full of charm and full of history; the countryside is gentle yet beautiful, the villages within the Vale the stuff of picture postcard perfection. You could film a period costume drama here without changing anything except the traffic. Straddling the boundary between the counties of Essex and Suffolk, this is where the world famous artist John Constable was born, lived most of his life, and was of course the subject of a large number of his most famous works. As you stroll around these parts it’s easy to see why Constable was so enamoured, it’s a lovely area to this day.…
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Joe Biden & David Bowie: A Thought For Friday
In recent days we have seen Joe Biden announce multi trillion dollar spending plans based largely around social welfare and other public spending, as the reverberation of the end of the Trump era continues. Just over fifty years ago,at the start of the 70s, David Bowie released the album “The Man Who Sold The World”, containing the track “Saviour Machine”, which opens with these lyrics…. “President Joe once had a dream The world held his hand, gave their pledge, So he sold them his scheme for a saviour machine. They called it The Prayer, its answer was Law Its logic stopped war, gave them food Oh how they adored till…
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Beautiful Places #8: Elba
The large house you can see on the headland in the picture above is reputed to be the site of Napoleon’s exile to Elba. When you think of exile, you might imagine imprisonment, but, in his case, Napoleon had the freedom of this beautiful island and lived in opulent luxury in this castle with a view. You might reflect that being in enforced exile on an island like Elba is an awful lot better than the last twelve months have been for many people. Even getting to Elba was special, flying in to Pisa and then taking the train out to the ferry port at Piombino from where the “Moby”…
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Beautiful Places #5: Zanzibar
Without doubt Zanzibar is one of those evocative place names full of romance, the very mention of which creates images of an exotic island, paradise beaches and the dreamy blue of the Indian Ocean. The reality doesn’t disappoint: Zanzibar is indeed an idyllic destination. We split our time on the island between the capital Stone Town and Nungwi on the north coast, and the two places proved to be very different experiences. Stone Town, aka Zanzibar Town, is a bustling town in an unmistakably colonial style with grand old buildings and ornate gardens standing shoulder to shoulder with cramped townships. If you want anything in Stone Town, from excursions to…
