The skies are leaden, there is a fine drizzle. A northerly wind, which the weatherman describes as blustery, blows a fine rain horizontally. He says, with masterful understatement, that it will feel a little chilly today. Spring seems late this year. No daffodils, to me the first sign of spring, are showing. I recently bought … Continue reading A Week in Tenerife
We haven't had much of a summer this year. A grey cold damp winter flowed seamlessly into an equally grey summer, albeit warmer, with only a few sunny days. Our recent trip to Norfolk had been damp and cold. Normally, we would book somewhere with guaranteed sunshine, but overseas travel has meant a confusing mass … Continue reading Cambridge
We can see Norwich cathedral from our hotel bedroom window. Actually, I'm being a little generous. If we stand by the window and peer sideways we can see the spire over a brick wall and a building or two. We normally stay in one of the budget hotel chains but, invariably, find ourselves fronting a … Continue reading Norfolk
We’ve been lucky with the weather the last two weeks. We have had the odd shower but it has been mostly dry and warm. As we headed into the outskirts of Glastonbury the following morning the rain started. It was a steady light rain that signalled its intention to go nowhere fast. We parked at one end of … Continue reading Glastonbury and Wells
“It doesn’t taste anything like American cheese!” exclaimed Madam. We were heading to Wells in Somerset for a couple of days and stopped off at Cheddar on the way and, after a brief look at the end of the gorge, had gone in to the only cheese shop to actually make Cheddar cheese in Cheddar. … Continue reading Cheddar Cheese
Madam had wanted to visit Padstow for some time, mostly because it is the home of a celebrity chef. I couldn’t find a single hotel in Padstow with availability that wouldn’t make my credit card squeal with pain, so I booked one in nearby Weybridge for a couple of nights. After checking in to the hotel, … Continue reading Padstow and Newquay
Madam was sitting on Thracian Horses 1969 and I was on King Richard III 1969. I moved to Twelfth Night 1970 for a better view of the practicing orchestra and she came to sit beside me on South Pacific 1970. We had stopped at the Minack Theatre on the way back from Land’s End. In 1929, a local … Continue reading Minack Theatre to St Michael’s Mount
The sea spray splattered my glasses and the wind tugged at my hair causing it to stick up in an unusually expressive and interesting manner. I looked like a cross between a mad scientist and just plain mad. I zipped up my jacket. “Amazing! It’s like something from National Geographic!” Madam shouted above the wind. She was pointing … Continue reading Land’s End and a Snow Globe
We reached Penzance and I went up to the hotel reception to check in. We had booked into a more expensive hotel for tonight, mostly due to a lack of availability on a Saturday night rather than a desire for a better hotel. The hotel was probably upmarket fifty years ago. The world has moved on since then … Continue reading Grandma’s Bedroom in Penzance
I woke in a state of some anticipation for today we are going to the Eden Project. I had wanted to visit for several years but due to a certain geographical inconvenience had never managed to get here. In 1996, about three miles from St Austell, there was once a very large hole in the ground. It was … Continue reading Eden Project and Lost Gardens of Heligan
Travels With Madam 