On days that I work from home I'll always start with a walk. Nothing special at all, just a way to get some fresh air and a little exercise before turning on the laptop. Today, leaving the house I looked at the sky and was confronted with a quintessential January day in southern England: it … Continue reading Winter dreaming: the Greco-Roman theatre at Taormina, Sicily
Public art and retelling a city story: St Kyneburgh’s Well, Southgate Street, Gloucester
Just above the docks of Gloucester at the end of Southgate Street where one of the old Roman gates into the city once stood, there's now an open space known as Kimbrose Triangle. Within this space is a large two-part installation in steel by the artist Tom Price, one a hollow tower standing to about … Continue reading Public art and retelling a city story: St Kyneburgh’s Well, Southgate Street, Gloucester
Wordless Wednesday #2: sunset and silhouettes, Woodchester Park, Stroud
Here be monsters: The Museum of Natural History, Oxford
We had a family day out to Oxford last week, to see the Ashmolean Museum's Spellbound exhibition – an evocative, surprising and dark exploration of folk magic and ritual from medieval to modern times – and to go to the Museum of Natural History where a new display has been installed. Photography wasn't allowed at … Continue reading Here be monsters: The Museum of Natural History, Oxford
Wordless Wednesday: Science Museum, London
Came across the idea of posting without words once a week, and thought it sounded like a nice thing to start doing.
An Englishman’s Italian-American Christmas
We all have our Christmas traditions and my family is no different. I count myself very lucky that I'm married to someone whose traditions are different from my own so over the years we've developed our own version of two ways of doing Christmas. As an American she has a heritage spanning Europe, the one … Continue reading An Englishman’s Italian-American Christmas
An Italian oddity in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Every town has its oddities and Cheltenham is no exception. Behind the Town Hall in Imperial Square, tucked away in a recess in one of the buildings is a fountain. It's not functioning, or even very clean, but there it sits behind a fence with a nice little ornate hedge in front of it. The … Continue reading An Italian oddity in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
People, pigs and picnics: Nympsfield Long Barrow, Gloucestershire
High above the Severn Valley at the top of Frocester Hill, where you can look west across to the Severn estuary and the hills of the Forest of Dean, is a small-ish structure made of stone, soil piled up around it. The stones form an entrance behind which are three chambers. This is Nympsfield long … Continue reading People, pigs and picnics: Nympsfield Long Barrow, Gloucestershire
In Photos: St Michael’s Mount and Mount’s Bay, Cornwall
Heading along the road towards Marazion, Cornwall, from the A30 affords the first view of St Michael's Mount. The huddle of buildings on the top of the island makes it look bigger than it perhaps is, but it's the obvious focal point of Mount's Bay. I visited a while ago with my family taking photos … Continue reading In Photos: St Michael’s Mount and Mount’s Bay, Cornwall
Venta Silurum: a Roman town at Caerwent, Monmouthshire
It would be easy to miss Caerwent, a small village in South Wales. You might glance up as you drive by the Northgate House Bed and Breakfast, see the vestiges of a stone arch in the garden and think nothing of it. Off you’d go, none the wiser. But that would be a shame because … Continue reading Venta Silurum: a Roman town at Caerwent, Monmouthshire
