The National Trust is a much loved friend to those who like to visit stately homes, industrial sites and the UK’s heritage. I had been to Styal Mill many years before when I lived in Altrincham. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a converted (and cold) woolen mill in Wales that I like industrial… Read More »
There is a fever around Wrexham AFC thanks to the Disney+ docuseries Welcome to Wrexham. It seems like the football club now has hundreds of thousands of fans in Canada and USA from where the new owners come. After 15 years in the National League Wrexham got promotion to the football league (Div 2) and… Read More »
Three weeks in south Devon. What is there to do? Well there are a few little towns and villages to visit and then there’s bigger places like Plymouth but mostly people come here for the walks and the coastal scenery. My adventuring was curtailed in the first instance by Storm Noa which kept me indoors… Read More »
My friend begged me to go and stay in his holiday house in South Devon as it doesn’t get much use. I didn’t have any where to live so I took him up on the offer. It has been many years since I was in Devon and I had forgotten just how nice it is.… Read More »
Not sure why people always sat “Up to London” even when they are south or east of the capital. Maybe it’s because they envisage the city in an elevated position on a hill, like a shining jewel. It’s only half an hour on the train so I thought I would plan a day out in… Read More »
The last time I visited the KGB museum in Vilnius, my guide was a former inmate. I found this very touching and I was pleased today when I could guide myself around. Even though it was 29 years ago, the one enduring memory was of the padded cell with blood spattered walls. I was not… Read More »
When I calculated how long it had been since I lived in Kaunas I couldn’t believe it was 29 years and I first visited on my way to the Siberian expedition some time before. At that time it was a pretty difficult place to live. There were only 6 foreigners in the4 city and we… Read More »
I was very impressed with Montenegro when I was here in the summer and promised myself I would come back for longer next time. So when I was leaving Tanzania it provided a perfect opportunity. i was also keen to see the country off-season because I had an idea that I could get a cheap… Read More »
Quamped = Disappointed, downhearted. Derives from an old English dialect word, quamp, meaning “to dampen someone’s spirits.” My planning was perfect. I had been to the central train station – Beograd Centar – to carry our a recce, find the right buses to take and to check which platform I needed. The following day I… Read More »
When I lived in the Balkans back in the late 1990’s I never made it as far as Belgrade. But Croatia and Serbia are not dissimilar. As I walk the streets of the capital the road layout, the tree-lined streets, the trams and the graffiti are familiar. The time I spent in Poland and Croatia… Read More »