I developed an intimate knowledge of outdoor loo’s, in case you want to know, when I was 12 years of age. Poverty saw my mother send me out to work on a milk-round. I was earning, paid a [...]

Going underground in the Peak District is rather easy. Derbyshire is riven with old mines and mining waste. Huge numbers of men worked out lead, copper and coal. However, humans don’t [...]

The coalman appeared outside my barn window, having stepped out of his truck. This was covered in full sacks ready for delivery. It could have been a carnival float but no, this was the genuine [...]

We left our campervan at Froggatt Garage for servicing and MOT. It was 8am, very cold and we had to get lost for the day whilst they did the work. With Covid in mind, we didn’t want to use [...]

Ah, life in the countryside. Back in Christchurch, my mountain jacket or duvet, and my big leather walking boots were, let’s say, overkill. Wearing them seemed odd and set me apart from [...]

My move to another pagan paradise, a new tribal area, is about to happen. Blame it on lockdown. Ann and I reconsidered where we should be for the next decade, assuming we survive, of course. The [...]

My friendship with a man fell apart some years ago and it still troubles me. When I first met him, he had recently married. Never, in the realms of human history, could you have met a more loving [...]

When I posted a short while ago about people surviving in the Stone Age, it triggered a thought. This was that we rarely appreciate how sophisticated Stone Age people actually were. The word [...]

Angels and prayers have become challenging topics since Covid arrived. For instance, they commonly appear on the leukaemia website which I frequently log on to. Consequently, every time a [...]

The Channel 4 programme Surviving the Stone Age really appealed to me. The reality was less so. The first, of three, was on Saturday 7th November 2020. The clothing of the eight participants [...]

I sit in the conservatory and scour the sky through the glass roof. No raptors. Outside, I constantly look upwards to the skies but still no raptors. Yes, I am looking for eagles, white tailed [...]

Strawberry trees in Friars Cliff sounds rather like a fantasy, yet it’s true. They are fruiting now and this is the best time to identify them. The fruits tend to drop onto the path and [...]

We are in sheep country and the farmer thinks walkers need shepherding. Or, does he think sheep can read? Oddly enough, the path seemed obvious, to humans, at least. It dropped through woods once [...]

Ah, ivy! A friend and a foe to gardeners I believe. There is some truth in that. If you need to cut ivy then you must wear safety glasses and a dust mask. The dust it releases goes straight to [...]

I sat at the dining table and stared at my toast. There was only one and a half slices; one half was missing. It struck me that I might have missed that half, might have left it in the toaster. I [...]

Horticulture and global warming in Britain are rarely considered together. Horticulture is a dirty word these days, as are all jobs that utilise the land. However, it has a long history in [...]

I had not given ancient myths too much thought until I read Gaia Vince’s bestseller called Transcendence. This complex read concentrated on how prehistoric humans see the world through [...]

Gardening is a sensuous hobby because it is all about fertility. Consequently, if we gardeners are not spawning vegetables and fruit then we are growing flowers. Success feeds the senses, not the [...]

You cannot imagine how vindicated I feel. A recent article in the Guardian featured research on the various artifacts found in Bronze Age graves throughout Britain. Their findings suggested that [...]

Deliveries of food and goods in Friars Cliff was entirely carbon free. They were delivered in relative silence and in clean air. However, that was because the river and sea were the highways and [...]

I needed some seed potatoes and could only buy 20 earlies, called Rocket, on the internet. The internet reviews were pretty bad; tasteless and bland was the summary. However, beggars cannot be [...]

My ears proved really functional in Poundland the other day. The fact that they stick out was key. Yes, it was putting on the mask to enter the shop. That mask sat firmly over my nose and mouth [...]

The garden is a joy on these warm balmy days. It is quiet too, and I look to the skies. However, although many people must see the gulls flying over Friars Cliff, few give them a second thought. [...]

It might be overwhelmed by its more famous neighbour, Stonehenge, yet Durrington Walls is the biggest henge in Europe. Beneath it possibly hides more archaeological interest than in all other [...]