Today’s little slice of exploration took me somewhere I have driven past countless times on the way to Lyme Regis but never stopped to see. The lure of a castle sharing my family name, paired with the childish delight of visiting anywhere with “Bottom” in the title, was enough to point the car towards Dorset …
Read more “Lambert’s Castle and Fishpond Bottom: The Joy of Wandering Spontaneously”
I’ve never been a big fan of using the word journey as a metaphor, despite its connotations of travelling a personal path of discovery. It therefore felt fitting to embark on an actual, physical journey while catching up with an old friend. What better way to continue embracing my encroaching levels of middle-aged madness than …
Read more “The Watercress Line: Steam, Streams & the Luxury of Time.”
Living in a place as beautiful as this makes it easy to take the familiar for granted. Yet Glastonbury Tor has a habit of demanding attention. At 518 feet it isn’t a mountain, but it dominates the landscape for miles, a constant presence you can’t quite ignore. Set within the mystical Isle of Avalon and …
Read more “Glastonbury, Revisited: Scratching under the Spiritual Surface.”
Last weekend, a long overdue reunion brought me face to face with five men I had not seen for nearly three decades. Standing there, unsure whether the years had built quiet walls between us or left something familiar intact, I realised how easily adulthood convinces us that the past belongs in a sealed box. Yet …
Read more “Croyde and Baggy Point. Letting the Sea offer some Perspective.”
Today, though, was one of winter’s rare gifts. Cold, still, and inviting. The kind of morning that feels like a clean slate. Perfect for clearing the head and exploring a landscape that wears each season like a different coat.
It is fair to say that if I asked you to name a town in the UK beginning with ‘Y’, you’d say Yeovil. You might struggle to name three others. Yeovil has a special place in my heart. It was the town that kick-started my teaching career nearly thirty years ago, which may explain why …
Read more “Hidden Yeovil: Jack the Treacle Eater and Nine Springs.”
Walking for wellbeing doesn’t require grand plans or distant horizons. Sometimes it begins by asking how well we really know the place we call home.