How many of you have had to learn a poem by heart as a child? It’s strange that something that was perhaps a chore at the time can become a fond memory, especially if we grow to love the poem. One of the most often learned English poems might just be Edward Thomas’s Adlestrop, first published in 1917. The poem describes an uneventful journey Thomas took on 23 June 1914 on an Oxford to Worcester express.
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Owls are hunters, birds of prey. And like all birds of prey they pursue other animals for food, something that not everyone is comfortable with. But they are also very beautiful, with delicate markings on their feathers – spots and stripes that frame their faces, adorn their wings and bodies. They are among my favourite birds.
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As much as the sights we see, it is the people we meet who make travel so rewarding and so memorable. Whether close to home or on the other side of the world, an interesting encounter can really bring a place to life. A few years ago we had just such an encounter in Seaton Sluice, a coastal village north of Newcastle in north east England.
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Everyone knows about the iconic sights of Paris. The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Sacre Coeur, the Seine … And they are not to be missed, for sure. But if you have the luxury of a second visit (or a third or a fourth or even more), why not get off the beaten track to explore some of the city’s neighbourhoods?
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Koprivshtitsa is not a regular sort of town; all the buildings of the town centre constitute a museum. Together they form a sort of time-capsule, encapsulating the atmosphere of the Bulgarian National Revival period of the 19th century. Wandering its streets you can feel yourself transported back in time; and exploring its historic houses opens your eyes to a difficult period in the country's past.
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‘We'll always have Paris’ – true not only for Rick and Ilsa (in Casablanca) but also for me and my husband. We spent our honeymoon there; I’ve celebrated several significant birthdays there; and with a short journey by train on the Eurostar, it is the easiest European city for us to visit.
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As mind-boggling statistics go, reading that there are estimated to be 10,000 waterfalls in the relatively small country of Iceland is up there with the best! From tiny streams trickling down a hillside to cascades as wide as they are tall, Iceland has everything a waterfall lover can want.
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With travel photography impossible right now, I challenged myself recently to see how many interesting details I could photograph within a mile of my own front door. I followed a path I have taken almost daily over the last year or so, and very many times before that. It took me along a couple of suburban streets, past the tennis courts and into our favourite local park, Walpole.
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What better position for a monument to one of the country’s greatest seamen than this, high above the mouth of the Tyne with a view out to sea? Yet in many ways Collingwood is something of a forgotten hero, barely known outside his native North East.
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In recent years the development that first started around the central part of Newcastle’s Quayside has spread eastwards. And the area around where the smaller Ouseburn flows into the Tyne, in particular, has benefitted from regeneration. It makes a great destination for a stroll along the river, and there’s plenty to see when you get there. It’s only about a 15 minute walk from the Tyne Bridge to the mouth of the Ouseburn, although you’re bound to stop along the way.
