Good design is in the details
The people who made beautiful art in earlier eras weren’t focused on themselves, but on craft and how it fit into a greater whole. The rood screen of York Minster featured the kings of England from William the Conquerer to Henry VI. That’s the only reason these figures weren’t smashed, and they give us an …
Feel the Love
Kind Cumbrians cheered us on as we hiked the last few miles of the wall. Now on to the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations. The churches of Cumbria are built of reclaimed wall stone, including pagan shrines and inscriptions. The last few hundred yards of the Hadrian’s Wall path took us down the main street of Bowness-on-Solway, population 1126. It …
God Save the Queen
Here in the countryside, her subjects love her. Shop window display in Cumbria Every small town we’ve walked through has been decorated for the Jubilee. That’s not with big-box generic décor, either, although there are Jubilee flags and bunting everywhere. Every little shop window and many, many front gardens sport tributes from the …
The care and feeding of your dogs
Poppy discovered the joys of manure, but my feet were thoroughly blistered. The beautiful Northumbrian landscape. This is what I’d call ‘hill-walking’ but my friend Kenny-who was raised on the shores of Loch Linnhe, just a hop, skip and a jump from Ben Nevis-thinks of as a doddle. Shortly after leaving the Tyne at Newburn, we …
The Perfect English Holiday
I dipped my feet in the North Sea. It rained. I ate an ice cream. There was a dog. How much more British can you get? Dipping my toes in the North Sea, with the requisite British dog. Her name is Poppy and she’s a gem. Last week, I wrote here and here that nothing lasts forever. In Britain, …