In this time of lockdown, quarantine, restricted travel and isolatoin from people and places, many of us are exploring what’s on our doorstep. We’re also resorting to armchair travel to escape to our dream destinations. I’m rereading some of my favourite travel writers and searching out travel poetry that takes...

‘Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe’ has got to be one of the quirkiest openings to any piece of literature in the history of writing … Jabberwocky, penned by Lewis Carroll, first saw the light of day in 1871 when Through the Looking...

It’s the heart of winter here and January has its got its gnarled fingers well and truly into our souls. Some days its cold and wet, others it’s mild and windy, others icy and sunny, and a few snowy and beautiful. At this time of year, many of us want...

Oh, to go to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat … The classic children’s poem, The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear, has been a family favourite for many years; I used to read it to my son, Alex, at bedtime. It weaves its quirky magic in every line, taking us...

Boating on the River Avon Stratford-upon-Avon On a sunny summer’s day Stratford-upon-Avon is the epitome of Englishness. Families picnic on the grass. couples canoodle under trees, canal boats moor up beside a pub, ice-creams are scoffed, dogs are walked and swans are a-swimming.  Children splash beneath an elegant sculpture of...

Say the name ‘Beatrix Potter’ and no doubt images of cute bunnies, dim-witted ducks, sailing frogs, frisky squirrels, naughty kittens, mischievous mice and perky pigs come to mind. Her little books have had a place of many children’s hearts for over a hundred years. At my son’s birth he got two copies...

‘The Jumblies’ illustrated by Ian Beck When my son was young, like many parents, I used to read to him at bedtime. Such a special point in the day, when we could snuggle up together, him all warm and cosy after a bath. He loved stories but also poems and...