It’s August, so where better place to be than the English seaside? Although truth be told I like our coastal areas much more in the winter months and maybe even more so in spring and autumn.
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When I first started visiting in the early 1980s Newcastle did seem like a city in black and white. Once a great industrial hub it had been hard hit by the closure of the shipyards and coal mines of the region.
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Hurst Castle sits at the end of a long shingle spit, jutting out into the Solent opposite the Isle of Wight. At its heart is a Tudor castle, built by Henry VIII to guard the Needles Passage, the gateway to the trading port of Southampton and his new naval base at Portsmouth.
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We’ve had more than our fair share of cooling showers this month, not to mention the odd downpour. But heat has been in short supply. After June’s heatwave our weather seemed to flip and many days this month have felt more like October than July!
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Despite its name, the New Forest isn’t a densely forested area. Yes, there are plenty of trees but also wide open spaces of heathland. The name is historic, dating back to the Domesday Book of 1086. Back then it was the Nova Foresta, declared a royal hunting forest by William the Conqueror.
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If the small Hampshire village of Buckler’s Hard is a little busy today, it is only so with tourists. But there was a time when it would have been a hive of activity. It was once home to a bustling and successful shipbuilding industry. Here three of the warships for Nelson's fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar were built, as well as many other naval ships.
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There is something very intriguing about ferns. Almost prehistoric in nature, it is easy when among them to imagine dinosaurs walking the earth. Unsurprising perhaps, as these often-beautiful plants actually predate those dinosaurs!
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Yes, London can be different things to different people, and different parts of London can be different to each other. Contrast Mayfair with Camden Market, or Soho with the South Bank. As a Londoner I have lots of favourite areas of course, and love to visit all of them. But I always enjoy a walk in London’s Spitalfields and Brick Lane areas, and even better when I can introduce a friend to this lively area.
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For me this past June has been one of more than usually changeable weather. I started the month inside the Arctic Circle where in the first few days of meteorological summer the temperature didn’t rise above six or seven degrees Celsius and was often colder than that. I then returned to a London going into its first heatwave of the summer, hitting thirty degrees on a couple of days. Towards the end of the month the temperature dropped to the more usual, and comfortable, low to mid-twenties.
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May is an especially lovely month in England. At the start of the month spring is at its height, while by the end there are hints of the summer to come. With spring being late this year, the early part of May felt more like April, with chilly winds and frequent showers. But the trees were green at last after the winter bareness, and there were flowers everywhere!