We couldn’t stay near Hadrian’s Wall and not walk at least some of the Hadrian’s Wall Path. We’d had a taster of it the previous day, with short walks near Housesteads Roman Fort and Black Carts Turret, but we fancied doing one more walk before driving home.
Continue reading “A Wet Weekend at Hadrian’s Wall, Part II: Along the Whin Sill”
We Brits, or so the stereotype goes, like talking about the weather. And that’s how this weekend trip to Hadrian’s Wall begins. When we left Edinburgh, it was raining: fat raindrops filling the windscreen, no matter how fast the wipers tried to clear them. On the bypass, it felt as though the tarmac was going to disappear beneath swimming pool-esque puddles, as the clouds continued to empty themselves. And when we hit Northumberland National Park, it was still pelting it down.
Continue reading “A Wet Weekend at Hadrian’s Wall, Part I: Exploring Housesteads Roman Fort”
When I first moved to Cambridge, I hadn’t ridden a bike in years. I wobbled. I panicked. I fell off (more than once). I got back on again.
Fast-forward: it’s March 2020, and exercise is one of only four ‘reasonable excuses’ for leaving the house. Cambridge emptied: first of students, then of cars. Laurence and I couldn’t resist taking to the clear roads on our bikes. We’ve found new routes (some of which have become go-to rides), discovered picturesque villages and spotted adorable baby animals, clocking up 982km in the process.
Continue reading “Ready, Steady, Ride: Recent Bike Rides in East Anglia”
If you tuned in to London 2012, chances are you’ll have caught a glimpse of a cherry-red, spaghetti-like structure in the corner of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Designed by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond, the ArcelorMittal Orbit is a fusion of design and engineering; an icon of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
From afar, the Barbican Estate looks like a concrete jungle: a bleak mass of grey blocks, columns and towers. Cast aside your opinion of brutalist architecture for a moment, and venture inside. Greenery spills over the balconies; water features create an oasis of calm. But the best is yet to come.
Rewind to last summer: searing heat, endless sunny days (a stark contrast to the grey days and downpours this year). Sun’s out, bikes out. Destination: St. Ives. Cripes, that’s a long way, I hear you say. Fear not: I’m talking about St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, here, which is only 20-odd kilometres away from Cambridge on the world’s longest guided busway. (Yes, that is St. Ives’ claim to fame.)
Continue reading “Pedal Power: Cycling from Cambridge to St. Ives”
Postbridge lies on the fringe of Bellever Forest, right in the heart of Dartmoor National Park, and is best known for its medieval clapper bridge. We’d crossed it the previous evening, but as we hadn’t had time to admire it properly a detour first thing in the morning was in order. After eating our fill of cereals, we set off into Postbridge, opting for the dirt tracks instead of the main road.
Continue reading “Deepest, Darkest Devon: Postbridge to Bovey Tracey”
I was expecting bleak expanses of moorland, shrouded in fog. What I experienced was the polar opposite: blistering heat and clear, blue skies. If I had to choose a favourite day in Dartmoor National Park, it’d be the one spent hiking to Postbridge, via Princetown (for that all-important cream tea) and Wistman’s Wood (a magical spot which, in misty conditions, would be a dead ringer for the Forbidden Forest).
Continue reading “Dartmoor’s Heartland: Other-Worldly Woodland and Peat Bogs”
I’m used to waking up under canvas on hiking trips; on this trip, we branched out into the world of camping pods and B&Bs. I woke snug as a (fried) bug, toasted by the underfloor heating. Outside, blue skies, sunshine and footpaths (twenty-odd miles of them) beckoned.
First stop: Tavistock, a stannary and market town on the fringe of Dartmoor National Park. From Exeter, it should have been two trains (down to Plymouth, up to Gunnislake) and a bus ride away, leaving us with a short, scenic walk across the moorland to our accommodation. Two trains in, outside Gunnislake station, those plans unravelled.
La Grenouille Anglaise 