Atop a Staffordshire Hill, surrounded by formal gardens and complete with two sets of stables, swimming pool, tennis courts, orangery and chapel, at its peak Ingestre Hall had all the grandeur associated with a house that spent centuries at the centre of British power. I came to Ingestre to help organise a conference for UK […]
Photo: Protestors march on Donald Trump’s half-built golf course at Menie, Aberdeenshire, 2010. Copyright Aaron Sneddon, used with permission. Scotland’s fight against Trump wasn’t about his bulging personality, but corporate power. Earlier this year Scotland was engaged, if not enthralled, in one of the more progressive parliamentary election campaigns in the wee Parliament’s short history. […]
Painting above: ‘We Are Making a New World’ by Paul Nash 100 years ago today began the Battle of the Somme. Few episodes in human history are remembered with such a grand sense of supreme awfulness. But with this grandeur comes distance and incomprehension. As time passes the gulf widens: we need personal stories to […]
St. Fittick’s Kirk, Torry, used to look out across a wide open beach: the Bay of Nigg. A popular bathing spot in the early 20th century in more recent years it was a haven for dog walkers and surfers. That was until the Scottish Government and Aberdeen City Council decided to concrete the bay over […]
This summer I travelled with my bike from Derby to Kidderminster cycling along some beautiful lanes and canals, stepping off a new train and finishing on an old one. Beginning at Willington, my route followed the Trent and Mersey Canal, Coventry Canal, Birmingham & Fazeley Canal then Birmingham Main Line Canal before leaving the waterways […]
Last night we had the most gorgeous velvet simmer dim in Leith. I thought I would dip into the science of twilight because as it turns out, 1st June – 11th July is the gloaming time at 56˚ north! For most of the year the night is bordered by different depths of twilight. “Astronomical Twilight” […]