Category: Life

Holding a nearly 2,000 year old Roman shoe at Vindolanda

I’ve been so busy with my tours that I haven’t had a day off since April 16th and so my blog posts are currently a bit shorter than usual.  Even last week when I would be walking for up to 11 hours a day, I still had to start and finish my day with what… Continue reading Holding a nearly 2,000 year old Roman shoe at Vindolanda

The Memorial To Heroic Self-Sacrifice At Postman’s Park

One of the places I really enjoy visiting on my Secret Churches, Gardens and Ruins walk in the City of London is Postman’s Park. The small park was converted in the 19th century from being a cemetery for the adjoining church and is largely unvisited by the swathes of tourists to London.  Apart from the… Continue reading The Memorial To Heroic Self-Sacrifice At Postman’s Park

So long Harlan Ellison, writer of my favourite hour of TV ever… The City on the Edge of Forever

On Saturday I was sad to wake to the news of the death of the writer of my favourite hour of episodic television and indeed many peoples favourite hour.  Harlan Ellison the writer of the beloved original Star Trek episode City On The Edge of Forever has died at the age of 84. Harlan is… Continue reading So long Harlan Ellison, writer of my favourite hour of TV ever… The City on the Edge of Forever

An Outlander Day Tour of Scotland

During my recent 9 day tour of Scotland with 7 lovely ladies from the USA, one of the top priorites was to see as many Outlander sights as we could.  For those who are unfamiliar with Outlander (and that is most people in the UK) it follows the story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse… Continue reading An Outlander Day Tour of Scotland

All about driverless cars!

Today (or yesterday when you read this), I was taking a walk outside Parliament and I had the opportunity to jump in a driverless car!  More about that later but it made me think of how in just a few years, autonomous cars have gone from science fiction fantasy to reality or at least very nearly… Continue reading All about driverless cars!

Rebuilding Battersea from the ground up.

A little bit of a different post today as I’m supremely busy as will become clear in the coming days! Last week I was in the unusual situation of visiting Battersea and the neighbouring Nine Elms neighbourhood. It isn’t very high in the tourist route and there aren’t many hotels there either. All of this… Continue reading Rebuilding Battersea from the ground up.

Trooping The Colour

This saturday sees the annual national event known as Trooping The Colour and is the centrepiece for the official birthday celebrations of The Queen and will see The Mall, royal parks and Horseguards Parade backed with Union Jack waving crowds hoping to catch a glimpse of the Queen and members of the Royal Family, The… Continue reading Trooping The Colour

A Death Warrant from King Henry VIII

The little tat that King Henry VIII is one of the most famous arguments in history, it not only pitted one of the most powerful men of all time the representative of God on Earth, or the Pope but it also led to the creation of a major world religion in the shape of Anglican… Continue reading A Death Warrant from King Henry VIII

The largest glasshouse in the world re-opens at Kew

Founded in 1840, The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew is one of the most extensive and important botanical gardens in the world, housing the “largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections” around the globe. It’s quite frankly one of the most incredible gardens in the world, a stunning sanctuary less than 30 minutes from… Continue reading The largest glasshouse in the world re-opens at Kew