Someone remonstrated with me the other day, saying that I could do more to promote my books. Being the sort of chap that always takes advice, I have consequently embarked upon a brazen, crass, plug of the most vulgar kind. …
Attermire and the caves
Time for a walk in the Yorkshire Dales. We will stroll from the old market town of Settle, up into the hills and do a circuit of around 5 miles. The route will take in the lonely starkness of Attermire…
The Stone Circle at Mitchell’s Fold
Mitchell’s Fold Stone Circle is one of those places you think you should have arrived at much sooner than you do. “We must have passed it. Maybe I should turn round”. Surely, supernatural forces were at work, discombobulating me as…
World Heritage Sites in Britain
Britain has 29 World Heritage Sites. The United Kingdom has 30, including the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland but excluding overseas territories. It would have been 31, but Liverpool’s maritime mercantile city was, sadly, stripped of its…
Stumbling round old forts on Strumble Head
Clearly, something serious went on at Strumble Head. Pembrokeshire’s Strumble Head, aka The Pencaer Peninsula, is known for its stunning scenery and the Strumble Lighthouse. It was also the location, at Carregwastad Point, of a minor, unsuccessful, French invasion in…
A walk in the Weald
The Weald is an area of outstanding natural beauty in South East England that, broadly speaking, stretches through the counties of Surrey, Sussex and Kent, between the chalk of the North and South Downs. It is characterised by small farms…
English Heritage or the National Trust?
People often compare the relative merits of Britain’s two largest membership heritage organisations, the National Trust and English Heritage. In fact, there are several heritage organisations in the United Kingdom that offer membership, the main ones being Cadw, Historic Houses,…
Ten of the best in the west
South West England has two main draw-backs: it is popular and, as it’s on the west, it can suffer from wetness – particularly at its extremities. Other than that, it has pretty much everything, including mystery, prehistory, history, cuteness, grand…
Ten things you really should do in Britain
There’s no shortage of things to do and see in Britain. But if you were visiting for the first time, what would you recommend? Here are a few arbitrary suggestions, in no particular order, just to get the ball rolling:…
The first BREXIT
The last land bridge between Britain and mainland Europe gave way to the rising sea about 8,000 years ago. It is doubtful whether the significance of the event was widely recognised at the time – it was possibly the original…
Norber Erratics
A Bit About Britain’s geomorphological expert will know that erratics are rocks that have been transported by a glacier, and left behind when the ice has melted some distance from where they started. It’s a descriptive term, because ‘erratic’ means…
Long Meg in the afternoon
Meg was a witch, and an exceptionally tall one. One day, she was messing about with her daughters, as witches do, trying to get them organised into a nice, neat, circle, when along came a wizard and turned them all…
A Bit About Britain’s History repeats itself
Finally – A Bit About Britain’s History (From a long time ago until quite recently) is available as both an e-book and paperback on Amazon. A Bit About Britain’s History is a light introduction to Britain’s fascinating story. It could…
The importance of Eamont Bridge
It is hard to wrap your brain round, but the small Cumbrian village of Eamont Bridge was once an international frontier crossing. Well – kind of. At first glance, it seems a nondescript sort of place, stretching along the A6…