Yesterday, my friend and I walked the land around Ireland’s oldest linen fabric mill, Clarks of Upperlands, in Mid-Ulster. A section of it is still working after 300 years, but much of it is disused and abandoned, but for a few dog walkers, quiet explorers like ourselves, and more than the odd ghost. We walked … Continue reading Strolling With Ghosts
She gave us another creative writing exercise to complete: describe the night, apply images, and use detailed observation. Then, lightly, in a voice tinged with an affable threat, the teacher added these words: ‘and, whatever you do, leave the moon alone, it has suffered enough.’ She’s right. It’s hard to describe the moon without falling … Continue reading Moon
“And how do you think you are going to cope when I cast you off to this island, alone?” That’s often the final question on Desert Island Discs, before the guest chooses his or her favourite song, one book, and a luxury item of their choice. (Did you know that Sue Lawley – as guest, not … Continue reading When I’m Alone
I’m heading into York soon to catch a train north. The sound of suitcase wheels clicking over the cobbles will forever remind me of this city. I suppose it is the combination of the place having so many visitors, and a city centre that is largely closed to traffic, thus forcing people down the two-legged … Continue reading Look Up
The Bayeux Tapestry is coming to the British Museum in 2020 on loan from the French. It might seem to be too early to be talking about it, but two years is a blink of the eye when you consider that it hasn't left France for 950 years. The museum in Bayeux, Northern France, where … Continue reading May I Borrow It?
Walking around Edinburgh at any time of the year, but especially at summertime on the Royal Mile, I’m a sucker for groups of people gathered around street performers. Over I’ll trot, sheep-like, blindly going with the flow and I’ll stand, watch and wait. I linger waiting for the interminable preamble of performer/crowd banter before we … Continue reading Turner in Edinburgh
The Pentlands, a range of hills to the south-west of Edinburgh, are just about eight miles out. We went up them yesterday for a walk. Or, I might borrow famous Scottish hiker, Nan Shepherd’s better fitting expression: yesterday we went into the hills for a walk. Nan Shepherd’s mountains were further north, and she wrote … Continue reading Pentlands
Edinburgh is filled with beautiful buildings, some unquestionably so: Edinburgh Castle, the Usher Hall, Holyrood Palace. Some are more controversial, bound to divide opinion: the Parliament Building, or the modern glass-fronted flats at the Quartermile on the edge of The Meadows, new housing mixed in through the old Royal Infirmary. However, there are two edifices … Continue reading Imposing
K. has a little poster in her room, stuck up above the desk where she does her homework, that reads: “A smooth sea never made a skilful sailor.” She’s only 12, it seems like a hard lesson for one so young to learn. I hope it is many years before she has to leave the … Continue reading Swimming With Sharks
Sydney has just had its hottest day since 1939 – it sizzled in at 49 degrees C. Meanwhile, on the other side of the hemisphere, up some mountain in New Hampshire a group of crazy young meteorologists have measured the temperature plunging to -67 degrees C. Neither is very conducive to humans going about their … Continue reading Extreme
My Edinburgh Press 