Category Archives: Travel

Mellow fruitfulness

Posted on October 4, 2019 by

First frost this morning. The trees on Birnam Hill are starting to turn—though not, curiously, as dramatically as they were in the Lot-et-Garonne where we were last week. There the oaks that mantle the vast Quercy forest had taken on … Continue reading →

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Moon journeys

Posted on July 26, 2019 by

Fifty years ago last Saturday, in the crowded and sweltering public room of a cheap hotel, with an ancient fan creaking and whirring overhead, I watched the televised moon landing. I was in downtown Tehran. The commentary was in Farsi. … Continue reading →

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In Africa

Posted on June 14, 2019 by

Last year my work took me around the world, from Auckland in February, to Rhode Island and Boston in October, with several European countries in between. I vowed to try and slow down in 2019, my seventieth year. It hasn’t … Continue reading →

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Wine dark sea

Posted on August 9, 2018 by

In my last year at school I discovered that there was a small bursary for anyone studying Greek to travel to Greece. It was one of those things you had to find out for yourself; they didn’t tell you about … Continue reading →

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Spirit of place

Posted on April 6, 2018 by

It’s fifteen years since I first started to work with my Dark Angels partner John Simmons, and it must now be nearly a decade since we both started our regular blogs. We have a lot in common and it would … Continue reading →

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Of earth and sea

Posted on March 16, 2018 by

On Monday night I returned from Melbourne after a month spent mainly in New Zealand, the first ten days running Dark Angels workshops in and around Auckland, the following two weeks touring the North and South Islands. This is one … Continue reading →

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September

Posted on September 15, 2017 by

September is a month of renewal. People are back from their summer holidays. A new academic year is starting. Autumn is in the air. And it’s the month of my birth. In September I always have a strong feeling of … Continue reading →

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A trip to Serendip

Posted on June 8, 2017 by

Serendipity, once voted the nation’s favourite word, is an increasingly frequent visitor in my life. It means a happy accident, or a pleasantly unexpected turn of events. The word was coined by Horace Walpole in the mid-18th century, after reading … Continue reading →

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A fine balance

Posted on February 17, 2017 by

Over the last 20 years I’ve made nearly a dozen trips to India. Each time I find myself re-enchanted by it, and each time by some new or different aspect of the place. I was born two years after Indian … Continue reading →

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Time in Hampi

Posted on February 3, 2017 by

Even in Goa it’s hard to avoid politics. Apart from the constant temptation to check on the latest Trump outrage or Brexit dumbfoolery, it’s state election day here tomorrow. That means, among other inconveniences, that the whole place is dry … Continue reading →

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