Hot buttered rum
That uncommonly balmy December has given way to a frosty new year. In our little cottage by the sea, E and I have had the fire roaring from 4pm pretty…
My favourite posts of 2014
A lot of things happened in 2014, which seems a bit contradictory when I consider that I didn’t feel all that busy – rather the opposite, in fact. For much…
Why people with nut allergies should avoid British Airways
I’ve written before about the occasional trials of living with a nut allergy, and how it’s generally not all that bad. That was until I found myself flying long haul…
Over the other side
If it seems like I might have disappeared off to the other side of the world for a while, it’s because I did. I’ve just returned from three and a…
Remembering
The fellow in the picture below is my great uncle Joe. It was taken in 1916, when he was 17 years old. Family lore is that he never fully recovered…
Not-so-logical Levisham
There are few tests of clutch control quite like coming up against a hefty and stubbornly immoveable highland cow as you’re climbing a 1-in-5 slope. But then the Victorian villagers…
Dress like it’s Downton
Is anyone else getting a bit bored of Downton Abbey? I used to quite like it, but I think it’s probably gone a season or two beyond its sell-by date.…
Hawthorn sauce
The valley between Goathland and Grosmont is a prime foraging ground. In the spring it’s an excellent place to find wild garlic, and lately it’s been rich in sloes, haws,…
To me, to you
A former colleague of mine (and all-round splendid bloke) was leaving his job for a new life in Glasgow the other day, and someone asked if I wanted to scribble…
In search of pubs and the picturesque
My most recent moorland walk was a fact-finding mission. I’ve realised two things lately: 1. Though I spend a great deal of time roaming around on the moors and in…
