Yes, I realise that this sounds like the opening line clipped from some back-page obituary, a precursor to the details of a tragic loss. Nothing, however, could be further from my thoughts. There is nothing tragic here, and certainly no […]
I think I’ll just stop here a moment and rest. As good a place as any, and probably better than most others, in fact, I’ve had this little nook in mind since I started my walk. It’s nothing special to […]
Not many people visit Cardiff to see the salmon leaping. The Taff’s not had a positive image. Robert Minnhinnick wrote that the river was once ‘a quilt of iron dust…a coal vein broken open to the light.’ Many think that […]
On the south-facing slope of the large hill behind my home there is a cluster of trees, larch in fact, that stand sentinel above the other trees on the slope facing out into the bay. True, there are other, more […]
As we are swept into February – the most sensible mode of transport being a coracle based on recent downfalls in west Wales – we emerge dragon hearted and hopeful that Welsh rugby might pull something out of the bag […]
“If only these walls could talk” is a phrase commonly uttered by those who visit old buildings such as stately homes and castles, heads tilted back and eyes agog, taking in every small historical detail and turning them into make-believe […]
The last time I checked, it was indeed, still January. The seemingly endless, dank, dour month, when we are encouraged to embrace all those new years resolutions that seemed such a good idea before the clock struck twelve. Meditate at […]
“W-w-wow!” A gasp burst from between my daughter’s lips. “Wow!” That gentle, whispered exclamation again as her head swivelled from side to side, tipped backward to look up and then down, as though attached only by a loose spring. […]
Happy New Year! What?! I can imagine the mutterings. Has he finally lost the plot? To tell the truth, I am not entirely sure that I ever ‘had’ the plot in the first place, but the answer is No. I […]
Ah, lovely. Everything is arranged just as I like it – word processor on my lap, mug of coffee (with a hint of maple this morning) steaming at my side. I’m ready to begin writing. Until, that is, I’m distracted […]
One of the great cultural peculiarities of living in the British Isles is our intrinsic relationship with the weather. Close connections with the elements are not particularly unusual in themselves: just ask the Canadian farmer working to the coming of […]
Shree! Shree! Shree! Shree! Shree! Shree! Shree! Shree! Shree! I glance up from my garden-table breakfast to the source of that piercing racket and see there, on the roof, the baby herring gull. Clearly, it’s hungry. I am not normally […]
