Blog
The Shepherd’s Life: A Tale of the Lake District – book review
By James Rebanks The Shepherd’s Life is just what it says on the cover, a memoir of the life of James Rebanks, the son of a shepherd, as was his father and grandfather and so on for generations. However, it’s more than that in that as well as describing how he relates...
The Handmaid’s Tale – why I had to stop watching it on TV
The Handmaid’s Tale, that multi award winning 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood, is in the news again. It’s in the news for its sequel being nominated for a Booker prize despite it not being released yet, for Amazon sending out copies before today's official release date...
Memories in raindrops
Since the announcement of Rutger Hauer's death last week there's been a lot of comment about his part in Blade Runner. I've not heard much said about his very surreal Guinness adverts though. I'm sure, at the time, I remember hearing that they conceived the campaign...
The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places – book review
By Neil Oliver Back in 2010 I asked for a copy of A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor for Christmas. It’s a great book although, I have to admit, I’ve not read it so much as browsed it. However, I know what’s in it as I, like so many other Radio 4...
Ask an Astronaut – book review
By Tim Peake People outside the UK might not have heard of Tim Peake but here in the UK he’s a bit of a celeb. Tim is the second astronaut to come from Britain after Helen Sharman who went into space in 1991 but most people have forgotten about her, which, somehow,...
What’s in a name?
They've built a new block of flats near where I live, you might know them as apartments. As blocks of flats go it’s much like any other, it has plenty of parking, it’s within walking distance to some shops and an Indian restaurant. These are all the sort of things...
An unwatchable expanse of endless brilliant TV
I recently started watching Series Three of The Expanse, the brilliant Sci Fi series about a future where humans have colonised the solar system, Mars is an independent planet in a cold war with Earth, and The Belt (asteroid belt) is inhabited by people who live...
Dungeness
Dungeness is strange and fascinating. I’d lived in Kent for a year or so before I went to Dungeness and at the time I’d expressed an interest in visiting after work one long summer evening. However, I’d been discouraged when I was told that there’s ‘nothing there.’...
Kingmaker: Winter Pilgrims – book review
By Toby Clements This is a historical adventure story set at the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. Starting in the Priory of St Mary, in Lincolnshire in 1460, it charts the lives of two members of the priory, Brother Thomas and Sister Katherine as they leave the...
Transporter Bridge
“Poking over the rooftops I could see a bright blue structure. At first I thought it was a shipyard crane, then the penny dropped. Kathy had brought me to Middlesbrough & I was looking at the famous Transporter Bridge. I resolved to get a closer look. Having...
Relationship bonds
“Interactions with people, strangers or otherwise, are important. Maslow’s next level of need is emotional fulfilment. He talks about love & belonging. You can’t really make space for that in life unless you have food & shelter sorted & safety from danger....
Whitby
“Graham has always been a bit of a trickster and claiming he lived in Bram Stoker’s old house is just the sort of thing he’d be likely to make up, especially for a callow youth as I was at the time. So, I went looking for a house that looked like Bram Stoker’s...
Humber Bridge
“I’d never crossed the Humber Bridge before which, when it was built in the 70s, was a major engineering achievement, the largest single span suspension bridge in the world. There were all sorts of astonishing facts such as the two towers are so far apart that they...
Louth
“After a coffee I paid my bill and headed back to the Truck with my head and hood further down than before. The day had not been going well, the weather wasn’t going to improve, I’d not found an alternative camp site and I wasn’t looking forward to cooking inadequate...
The Beast of Rutland
“I’d catered for what Maslow would have considered the first level of the pyramid, shelter. In the increasing breeze I pitched the Khyam & in the lee of a hedge with the Truck across the entrance. The downside was that the farm had lots of birds: peackocks &...
Happisburgh
“Rolling into #Happisburgh I discovered it to be one of those ever-eroding coastal villages that you hear of when some poor soul's house falls over a cliff. The campsite was deserted but, clearly, it was possible to walk down the field & straight over the cliff. I...
Pig farm
“Crossing the border into Norfolk I saw my first pig farm and, until I spotted the almost invisible electric fence, I was impressed that they didn't just wander off up the lane as there seemed to be nothing to keep them in. The dry bare soil extended almost to the...
Hippie Campsite
‘“Would you like to camp over there?” asked the farmer pointing to a thin patch of grass. “That looks like it’s just been reseeded,” I replied. To be honest I was surprised that a farmer would offer me such a spot as the grass looked so delicate and thin that I...
Don’t set up a Facebook PAGE based on your domain name
I can now reveal, it’s official, Facebook are actually evil. I’m not just talking about the misuse of your personal data, possibly allowing foreign powers to interfere with democratic processes or even all those pictures of cats. Worse than that, if you allow them to,...
Ely Cathedral
“After a coffee I ended up in Ely Cathedral. I find cathedrals quite difficult to resist and Ely Cathedral, at 5.30 on a bank holiday afternoon, has very little competition. I also have a bit of a thing for meditating in cathedrals although I'm not very good at it,...
Rational anxiety
“On the other hand the anxiety I had about charging my devices was rational as the situation could have scuppered the whole trip. Anxiety at the logistics, the effort of the driving, finding somewhere to camp, time to write and two hours of packing and un-packing each...
Irrational hematite
“I’m using the term rational to define that which can be scientifically verified whereas the irrational has, or seems to have, no basis in scientific terms. Rational is that which is based on facts or reason, often referred to as evidence based. There are no facts...
Neil Oliver
Last week I was out with my muse and we attended Neil Oliver’s lecture tour in which he talks about his new book The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places. (Smiley face) Apart from the fact that he’s a historian, and a top bloke to boot, what was interesting was...
Telephones as tools of social isolation
I don’t visit my friends any more. When I were a lad we used to have callers. We had a living room with the TV and the coal fire, it was somewhere to live and entertain. When people arrived, the TV would be turned off and the kettle would be turned on. Years ago,...
Scary Hatching
Kathy brought me in through the Northampton rush hour traffic with ease, though I was a little perturbed by the apparent smell of poo as I swung around the final roundabout. I suspected that it was just a local phenomenon, an unfortunately placed sewerage works...
Has GDPR ruined the Internet?
You clicked on that link on Facebook, you know that link, possibly clickbait but you wanted to see for yourself, after all it’s only a picture of an old shoe dug up from Roman times. But you don’t get the world’s most interesting shoe, you get a brief, tempting flash...
Moondog – if you’re out there get your people in touch!
I’m in music hell! There was a guy who lived in New York in the fifties and sixties called Moondog. He was a street performer and composer, a busker I guess. He was blind, at one time homeless although he later had a country retreat, but he made his money by selling...
Major Tim doesn’t not believe in God, or does…
Tim Peake was on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning answering the question of, “Was the universe designed by a higher intelligence?” This was the way the question was posed to Britain’s latest astronaut by the BBC’s Justin Webb. Tim Peak’s Soyuz capsule is...
The first feedback from my new publisher
I've been reviewing the document from my new publisher that outlines the publishing plan for #InSatNavWeTrust. This is the first time I've seen anything from them that describes the book at they see it. Here's how they've described it in their synopsis: A...
R2D2 has been having a tantrum and, frankly, I’ve had enough
There’s been a bit of an incident with R2D2 recently. He’d been unaware that there had been another Star Wars film, only really paying attention at the run up to Christmas when he’s become accustomed to being taken out on a few expeditions in preparation for his...