History
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Legends, Myths & Mountains: This Is Delphi
“Welcome to Delphi”, says the taxi driver as we enter the small town, “the centre of the world”. The reason for that comment will become clear, but as we look out of the car window at the unbelievable scenery which has been unfolding for miles, we feel more like we’re on the edge of the world than in its centre. The modern town of Delphi lies just a few hundred yards from the ancient civilisation of the same name, perched precipitously on the steep slopes of Mount Parnassus and looking across the spectacularly deep valley of the dry River Pleistos to the Gulf of Corinth. One first stroll around its…
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Cafes And Culture: Five Days In Thessaloniki
How typically Greek it is of our host to thoughtfully provide stocks of decent coffee and proper filters for an apartment where the coffee machine is broken and doesn’t work. You have to love the Greeks! Our other quirk here is a shower which, when placed in its holder, slowly drops down so as to shower the back wall instead of your body. Thus, to get my head in the water, it’s necessary to hold the shower head in its holder with one hand whilst approaching the water face up. I can’t help but think that I must be the spitting image of a naked Liam Gallagher coming to the…
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Framlingham Castle
If someone asks you to name ten English castles, our guess is that unless you live in Suffolk, you won’t have Framlingham on your list. Certainly we didn’t know much about it and only stumbled on it this week whilst fitting in a last minute visit to Michaela’s Mum before we head off to Greece, yet it turned out to be an interesting destination. Like many of England’s castles, Framlingham was granted to and confiscated from the gentry in equal measure depending on whether the monarch required the support of the local barons. As it happens, this was the sum total of any conflict seen at Framlingham: its walls were otherwise…
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Ramsgate Tunnels
In these last few days as we allow ourselves to get excited about our prospects of making it to Greece, we enjoy trips to a couple more destinations in England, both of them slightly out of the ordinary. The first of these is Ramsgate Tunnels. The port of Ramsgate, less than 20 miles from our home in Kent, has a rich maritime and wartime history including being, as we have posted before, part of the amazing “little ships” story from WW2. Tucked around the corner from the harbour, hidden now by the new hotel and apartment complex currently under construction which will further enhance the quickly developing seafront, lie the…
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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…
