• Ruined stone church
    England,  Monday walks,  Ruins

    A stroll around Fountains Abbey

    In 1132 a small group of monks left their Benedictine Monastery in York, fed up with the extravagant and rowdy lifestyle of the monks there. Seeking a more devout and simple way of life, they were granted a parcel of land by the River Skell where they built a small wooden church and applied, successfully, to join the Cistercian order.

  • Tombstones in a field
    England,  History

    Eyam, home to the original lockdown?

    When Alexander Hadfield, a tailor, ordered a bale of cloth to be sent from London to his home in the small Derbyshire village of Eyam, he cannot have dreamed of the dreadful consequences. Nor could he have dreamed that this simple action would be remembered centuries later.

  • Elegant stone buildings and a large church with a lawn
    Architecture,  England,  History

    A visit to King’s College Chapel, Cambridge

    When I was a child my mother, despite being the most unreligious person I know, would always insist on listening to (and in later years watching) the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s on Christmas Eve. That pause for beautiful music amidst the frenetic preparations for the big day was as much part of our family’s Christmas traditions as Mum’s recipe for Christmas pudding and the Morecombe and Wise show in the evening.

  • Small boats on a river with grassy banks and old buildings
    Architecture,  England,  History,  Monday walks

    A sunny day out in Cambridge, part one

    The universities of Oxford and Cambridge (often shortened to ‘Oxbridge’) are known the world over for the quality of the education they provide, their many illustrious alumni and their long history. They dominate the towns in which they are based, giving each a unique atmosphere. Both towns are within easy reach of London and make for an interesting day trip from the capital.

  • Large stone in a field
    England,  History,  Monday walks

    A stroll around Avebury’s stone circle

    I find it a little odd that Avebury is not as well known, nor as visited, as nearby Stonehenge. Personally I find it just as impressive and in some ways more atmospheric. Its stone circle is so large that over time people have built their houses around and among the megaliths; so that today it seems almost as if the somewhat unearthly stones are slowly encroaching on human space.

  • Ornamental gate
    Cambodia,  Dark tourism,  War

    The Killing Fields of Cambodia

    This post contains images and descriptions that some may find disturbing. The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek are not a place that everyone would choose to visit, despite being firmly on the tourist trail in Phnom Penh. But this is part of the recent history of Cambodia, still vivid in the memories of its older generation, and if they can't run away from that past then arguably nor should we.

  • Stone circle in a landscape with blue sky and white clouds
    England,  History,  Monday walks,  Sunday Stills

    A visit to Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain

    Nowhere in England is the summer solstice more famously celebrated than at Stonehenge. This ancient site has been a place of worship and celebration of the solstice for thousands of years. Every midsummer it draws crowds, some committed Druids, others merely curious observers, to watch as the sun rises behind the Heel Stone to the northeast, and its first rays shine into the heart of the stone circle.

  • Large castle on a rocky outcrop
    England,  History

    The great fort of Bebbanburg

    One of the grandest sights on the Northumbrian coastline is that of Bamburgh Castle. It is a view that I never tire of. The castle stands on a massive outcrop of rock and towers over the sands below. Unlike many castles on this coast, it is still a family home, and thus far more complete than the ruins elsewhere. It is truly an impressive sight.