For once, the weather forecast for Easter was for sunshine and light winds, so we packed a picnic and headed west early to miss the traffic. We left Uplyme in brilliant sunshine, and were somewhat dismayed as we crossed the Exe to see louring clouds towards our destination.…
Category: genius loci
Although it’s only about 25 minutes’ drive from my house, Branscombe is one of the few local beaches I’ve never visited. Today was a very low tide so I planned a trip with a friend. We were expecting to spend time rockpooling, but discretion was the better part…
I’ve just returned from a short stroll down our lane in the cool of the evening, to see the glorious harvest moon rising from behind the trees over a pale shimmering field of oats. Like a ripe apricot as it first appeared, and surrounded by a faint halo…
… in this case, muted fall colours that matched my mood until I spent a couple of hours wandering in the forest with a friend. Time spent outdoors and concentrating on the natural world improved my outlook no end. “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit” –…
We were lucky to choose a sunny day for exploring some South Devon beaches – not so easy this summer, which has been alternately cold and wet, grey and humid, sunny and dry. Starting at Ayrmer Cove (which I visited last year), we enjoyed the beautiful rock formations…
Poltimore House, near Exeter, has a very chequered history – a Tudor mansion made over in the C17th, added to in Victorian times and set in grand grounds; the seat of the Bampfyldes until its slow decline, via use as a school, wartime billet, hospital, care home and…
If the last ghastly year has taught me anything, it’s that life is not an endless procession of opportunities, and I need to get on and do as many wished-for things as I can manage. (Actually, it’s taught me a lot more, but I’m not going to rant…
I last visited this Iron Age hillfort at the end of March (see here), and have just returned to see the bluebells at their peak of perfection, on a very chilly but bright morning. In past years I was saddened to see those on the lawns much crushed…
I thought twice about the title of this page, having found Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name quite dire! But what the hell, that’s where I was on a cold, windy but very sunny spring day. We started off at the beach car park and walked along…