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The civic bench
During a recent walk, I discovered a simple, handmade bench in a secluded spot, offering much-needed rest. This gesture, created by an unknown individual, highlights the importance of civic acts devoid of transactional value. We need more of this.
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Pictures of snow
This post is simply some of the images that I’ve taken over the last few days. We’ve had an unexpectedly large amount of snow fall (for where I live), and I’ve been out with my camera capturing it.
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Walking on my ancestors
On a recent walk, I found myself in a churchyard. I’ve been here dozens of times before. Because it commands wonderful views of the coastline, I’m usually looking up and out across the sea. Today though, it was cloudy and I found myself looking at my surroundings more, looking at the ground more. For the first time in this place I noticed that the path is made up of unusually large stone slabs. They’re all slightly different to one another, some are taller, others taper in unexpected ways. Upon further inspection, I noticed that some of them had marks on…
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An English seaside town in the winter
I’m exploring the beauty of the charming English seaside town nearby. It’s filled with lovely winter walks, historical sites, and captivating photography opportunities.
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Weird English stone carvings
Explore the captivating gargoyles of York’s churches, offering a glimpse into the rich history and architectural beauty of these iconic structures.
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Recycled churches
In the UK, church attendance has been in decline for decades, possibly a century. Almost nobody I know, including myself, go to church for it’s intended purpose. Our villages, towns and cities are peppered with thousands of churches. Many of them are very old, expensive to maintain and trying to find a place in a world in which their old role has been all but washed away. This past week I attended two events. One was a ‘festival of light’, and the other was a group of Armenian musicians. Both events took place in churches. Both were remarkable. One of…
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The ubiquity of walking
I’m lucky enough to live in, what we call in the UK, the countryside. There is very little of the UK which does not have the stamp of humanity upon it. Our countryside is composed of farmland, stone walls, managed forest and the like. In other parts of the world you have the chance to visit places where there’s no evidence of humans anywhere. People have not built things, knocked things down or altered things in any way. It’s the same now as it would have been hundreds of years ago. Given the huge population to space ratio of the…
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Walk in the Howardian Hills
A few weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to walk more. Long walks through the magnificent countryside near where I live. However, I did not want to do loads of research into which walks I’d like, map out a route etc. Lucky for me that in the UK, there’s a thriving community of walkers already in place. It’s called Ramblers, and you can find their website at ramblers.org.uk. You sign up and just start to attend walks which have been planned out by current members who share a love of walking. You just turn up, walk, chat, take in…
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Nice weekend
Some weekends are better than others. I’m sure that you can agree. This one was exceptionally cool.
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I went to see Hogwarts
I turned up, got my trolley ready, but it would appear that Hogwarts is only open during office hours.
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Snowy break
We decided that we’d go away for a few days after the New Year. We went here, and were lucky enough to get some snow. I feel very lucky indeed.
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Little break in Wales
We’re lucky enough to be friends with the owners of a fine hotel in north Wales. Most years we get invited to stay there, and this year it’s fallen between Christmas and the New Year. It’s wonderful, and I’m in love with their place and where they live.