“I’m coming to the Lake District on holiday. What book would you recommend?” Well, that really depends on what kind of book you’re looking for. There are so many Lake District books: traditional guide books, walking books, novels, biographies, photography books, children’s books … Here are four of my favourites....

Brontë Parsonage Museum The ‘Pillar Portrait’, half way up the stairs of the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, says it all. The most famous sisters in the world gaze enigmatically into the distance, dressed in simple Victorian dresses, drab colours reflecting what might be perceived as their drab lives. They were...

Star Trails; Exmoor – image darkskytelescopehire.co.uk “Starry, starry night …” Don McLean and Vincent Van Gogh would love Exmoor at night. I have NEVER seen such a star-studded sky in the UK, as the one I saw whilst staying at West Withy Farm Holiday Cottages. On arrival on the edge of Exmoor,...

Apples at Snowshill Manor APPLES by Helen H. Moore Apples, apples, what a treat, sweet and tart and good to eat. Apples green and apples red, hang from branches overhead, and when they ripen, down they drop, so we can taste our apple crop. Helmsley orchard and castle As memories of...

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...

Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away! The opening words of ‘Oh, the places you’ll go’, a delightful little book by Dr Seuss, are positive and life-affirming. They also epitomize the philosophy of many of us who choose to set off to Great Places as...

Sunset at Petra is a mystical time. The imposing buildings blush pink in the fading light as the seering heat fades and the day gradually cools down. The Treasury at sunset Earlier on, the rainbow colours of the striated stone glow in the midday sun and the disant mountains shimmer in a...