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

I met perhaps the most famous tree in the world at Sycamore Gap

If you think of how many trees are famous; there are quite a few of them but compared to the countless billions of trees on the planet they are really few and far between.  Some famous trees are no longer here such as the cherry tree that George Washington cut down or the famous Californian… Continue reading I met perhaps the most famous tree in the world at Sycamore Gap

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

A visit to Clava Cairns

Everyone knows I like my history and the older it is the better.  I spend much of my time visiting prehistoric and neolithic monuments. Everyone knows of Stonehenge but there are hundreds of other stonecircles across Britain as well as countless other monuments.  In fact as I write, I am preparing to go to Avebury… Continue reading A visit to Clava Cairns

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.

Photos of Edinburgh

This week I’ve been away from my usual haunts in London and leading a 10 day tour around Scotland. Naturally the place to start of at is the beautiful city of Edinburgh. Like many other great cities, Edinburgh takes great pride in remembering those who made great impacts on the world or who contributed positively… Continue reading Photos of Edinburgh