Small round temple-style structure among trees
King John was not a good man: Runnymede

King John was not a good man: Runnymede

The barons of early 13th century England would have agreed with A. A. Milne (the creator of Winnie the Pooh) that ‘King John was not a good man’. In 1215 England was in political turmoil. King John had become vastly unpopular; his disagreements with the Pope over the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury led to a papal interdict against the country and the king’s excommunication, while the imposition of high taxes to fund the war with France led to mounting anger.

Restaurant with pavement terrace
Bologna la Grassa: a foodie’s delight

Bologna la Grassa: a foodie’s delight

Not for nothing is Bologna known as ‘La Grassa’, the Fat One. A visit here is truly a foodie’s delight! The city has had the nickname since medieval times, indicating that it was already famous throughout Europe for its wonderful food and drink as far back as the 1300s.

Man in white African dress walking past painted building
Wide Open Walls in a Gambian forest

Wide Open Walls in a Gambian forest

It has become quite usual to see murals on many of the walls of our cities. Whether we call it graffiti or street art; whether we love it or hate it; it is part of the urban landscape. But do we expect to see it in a remote rural village in the Gambia?

Black and white kingfisher eating a fish
Gallery: some birds that eat fish

Gallery: some birds that eat fish

I sat motionless on the deck of our beautiful bungalow at Souimanga Lodge in Senegal. The Pied Kingfisher on the nearby fence gripped his just-caught fish in his long bill. I hoped to see him flip it and swallow it; my camera was poised to capture the moment. But suddenly the fish flapped its tail and twisted out of his grasp. Fish gone, the bird flew off, and I like him was left ruing the one that got away.

Lady in Indian dress with a goat
Meeting the locals in Narlai, Rajasthan

Meeting the locals in Narlai, Rajasthan

The village of Narlai in Rajasthan would be completely off the tourist track were it not for the hotel that has been created in the former hunting lodge of Jodhpur’s royal family. It is a small village which faces some of the same challenges as rural communities everywhere. Its population is declining as younger people drift away, tempted by big city life and its wider opportunities.

Faded photo of low stone house set in a garden
Out of Africa: visiting Karen Blixen’s home

Out of Africa: visiting Karen Blixen’s home

‘I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills.’

With this sentence Karen Blixen opens her account of life on a coffee plantation just outside Nairobi. It was the 1920s, and this was British East Africa, not Kenya – part of the (by then fading) British Empire. The book presents a vivid, if at times uncomfortable, picture of African colonial life and the relationships between colonists and native inhabitants.

Black and white photo of a man in a turban
Gallery: Seeing the world in black and white

Gallery: Seeing the world in black and white

The world as we see it is full of colour. So it may seem counter-intuitive to take black and white photos, but by draining an image of colour you can draw attention to its other qualities. Texture, contrasting tones, patterns and shapes can all be more obvious in a monochrome shot.

Mountain scene with caption
My love of travel: some special moments

My love of travel: some special moments

It feels as if I have always loved travelling, but where did that love come from? Not my childhood experiences, for sure, although the seeds may have been sown then. My first holidays were of the ‘bucket and spade’ variety, on the Kent coast within easy reach by train of our London home.

Two men in a rowing boat
Keeping North Korea clean and beautiful

Keeping North Korea clean and beautiful

It was the morning after the storm in Pyongyang, and even quite small children, dressed ready for school, assembled on street corners armed with buckets, mops, brooms – all doing their bit to keep the city clean. They were engaged in a civic duty that will be theirs for the rest of their lives. Elsewhere, on the Taedong River that runs through the centre of the city, a flotilla of small boats was gathering weeds that had accumulated, washed down by the heavy rain of yesterday.

Lamp post shaped like alien head
The truth is out there: the Roswell Incident

The truth is out there: the Roswell Incident

Roswell would be a totally unremarkable town were it not for a single event – an event that quite possibly didn’t even happen, or at least not in the way that many believe it to have done. In the summer of 1947 a local man found some odd-looking debris on a ranch some 30 miles north of the town. Many of those who believe in UFOs are convinced that he had found a crashed spaceship, complete with its alien pilot who died in the crash. Sceptics are equally convinced that it was no such thing. But whatever the truth of the matter, one thing is certain; today, Roswell is a town obsessed.