WATERLINES December 2016 1. The year’s shortest day saw me at Budle Bay just north of Bamburgh in Northumberland . It is a favourite place. The small estuary with its inlets and mud flats can be scanned from the adjacent layby so, depending on the tide, mud or water and the bird life these attract […] Continue reading → 
‘LE BOTIN’ AND AN ‘UNEXPECTED EVENT’ November 1st 2016 “Inspiring Impressionism” was the title given to a recent exhibition of art at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. It claimed to bring together for the first time paintings by Monet, Van Gogh and Daubigny. “Who” I hear you ask, “was Daubigny”? Surely, a super […] Continue reading → 
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE October 2016 “What have you been up to Dad?” inquired our daughter Beth when she phoned. “Very busy” was my reply and I gave her a quick run down of recent events. “Wow, life in the fast lane” was her verdict though delivered with a chuckle. I laughed too given […] Continue reading → 
SEASONS “the past was like a great ship that has gone aground and an archivist and writer must gather as much of the rich squandered cargo as they can” (1) More often than not the cargo I draw on when writing recalls old songs and lyrics. It’s not that they were ever neglectfully squandered but […] Continue reading → 
“Watching the wheels go round and round I really love to watch them roll” (1) Three hot days in mid August called out for John Lennon’s lyric to be put into bicycling practice. Fittingly inspired, I set out on ‘Hardrock’ for an exploration of the old railways around Cornhill. With a warm wind behind me […] Continue reading → 
Note from Formentera We had left Innisfree on July 14th surprisingly colourful with lupins and sweet williams still fresh thanks to periodic cool, damp days. These are two of my favourite flowers with their unique scents and array of shades, special too as they always bloom on our daughter’s birthday. So before we left for […] Continue reading → 
Mid Summer Bird Moments Near, Further and Afar. Near : An early morning walk to Yetholm Loch on June 14th revealed a placid, tranquil scene. Seventy mute swans were swimming idly, unmoved, unhurried, just leisurely floating . A shelduck, groups of mallard, a few gadwall, a heron and moorhen shared the open water. Nearer the […] Continue reading → 
FRUITION In April 2014 I read an article on auriculas in the Guardian Weekend magazine by Ambra Edwards. She spoke of their “exquisite, neat round faces and rich colours” and how these could best be displayed in small pots in an “auricula theatre”. Inspired, I contacted the secretary of the Scottish Auricula and Primula Society, […] Continue reading → 
OUT AND ABOUT Kielder Water: May 18th. It was to be a big day in my ‘Hardrock’, off road, cycle ride calendar: the circumnavigation of Kielder Water just over the border in Northumberland. In prospect was a ride of twenty seven miles around the largest man made lake in Northern Europe. The fifty mile drive […] Continue reading → 
HETHPOOL NORTHUMBERLAND March 24th 2014 Although fifty five years have past, I still have clear memories of my schooldays in deepest Oxfordshire. Particularly vivid is the end of day hymn we all sang; “Now the day is over.” While singing me and my schoolmates stood before a somewhat gory yet fascinating picture; the death of […] Continue reading →