England has a reputation for being a cold, wet country. There are plenty of references in literature to the prevalence of rain in the English weather. The Canterbury Tales opens with a line referring to April’s sweet showers – but it also refers to the “drought of March.” It is a surprising feature of the [...]
The Roman period in Britain is an intriguing time and one of my favourite eras to read about. The fact that there are still many Roman sites to visit as well adds depth and colour to research into the period. Last week I visited Chedworth Roman Villa near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, one of the largest [...]
Over on the Word Wenches blog today I am chatting about the visit I made last week to Highclere Castle, the fabulous Victorian mansion that is used in the filming of Downton Abbey. Please do drop in to the Wenches to read all about our visit and get some of the behind the scenes Downton [...]
First of all a big thank you to those of you who entered the Notorious contest. The winner is Amy who wins a selection of books and some goodies from Highclere Castle, the home of Downton Abbey. Congratulations, Amy! I’ll be blogging about Highclere/Downton next week. Don’t miss it! Here is Rochester the Guide Dog Puppy with [...]
Happy April! As I sit at my desk looking out over the Oxfordshire countryside it’s a beautiful day with the mist starting to vanish in the sun and the hills a patchwork of green and brown against the blue of the sky. Notorious is published in the UK this month and to celebrate I am holding [...]
Over on the Word Wenches Blog today I am talking about my neighbourhood and the changes it has seen over the past twenty years. And the past two thousand years. Come and drop in to tell me what life is like where you live and how things have changed!
As Spring arrives and many British stately homes open to the public for the season it’s natural that lots of the big and famous houses such as Blenheim and Chatsworth attract a lot of interest. They are spectacular, of course, and well worth visiting. But it’s also nice to share and celebrate the smaller, quirkier places [...]
To many people cricket is a mysterious and not particularly interesting sport with bizarre field settings – long on, silly dog, short fine leg, to name but a few. I adore watching cricket, though. Taking a delicious picnic to a cricket match on a sunny summer day is a great pleasure. The history of cricket is [...]
A week ago I was lucky enough to stay in this beautiful farmhouse for a reunion of my college friends and today at the Word Wenches blog I am chatting about old friends and reunions. Meanwhile over on the Ashdown House Blog there is an update on the conservation project and the treasure we found in the [...]
Still on the subject of cats today, although of a size larger than Dr Johnson’s pet, Hodge, and your average domestic cat. Interest in “big cats” in the UK has been sparked again by the case of “the wild cat of Woodchester,” a big black cat thought to be the size of a puma which is [...]