February can feel like a funny month. Its shorter, changeable length gives the impression whoever was making up the months tried to make the best of a slightly botched job. The weather is usually foul, this year opting for the three W’s: warm, wet, windy. However, the days are lengthening. The spring bulbs are pushing …
The parish of St Buryan is home to many ancient monuments. Lob a piece of granite, and you’re bound to hit one of the many stone circles, standing stones, or tombs dotted about in the landscape. The stone you picked up probably had some historical significance too! How do we know this ancient area was …
Mention Bran alongside crows or ravens, and most people will immediately think of the youngest Stark son in Game of Thrones. GRRM, like most writers, dig around in ancient history and rework old, misshapen pieces into something new. This blog isn’t about an inquisitive boy who had the misfortune to be pushed out of a …
Cornwall is steeped in folklore and being a peninsula means it has plenty of fey creatures making their home in the sea. Come with me on a trip to Zennor to meet one mermaid and discover how the folklore has inspired my writing. A day trip to Zennor Past St Ives, the picturesque coastal road …
Independence Day Hello Boys GIFfrom Independence Day GIFs I’m Back! I’ve done a Baggin’s and disappeared only to reappear again sometime later. There was a journey, adventure, peril, fear and enough anxiety to last me quite some time. In short: I moved house. As you may know, the process of moving home is fraught with …
The schools are out, and here in the UK, summer is proving to be a bit of a washout. It’s interesting to see how ancient festivals based around the seasons still play out in our modern-day lives. We still tether school holidays to Christian festivals. These echo older traditions based around the agricultural year. The …
Read more “Lammas, the Harvest, and an eccentric Cornish pastor”
Rough Tor I have walked to the summit of Rough Tor countless times. In the snow. In the blistering hot sunshine. With a full-on gale robbing my breath away. Suited and booted in the rain washing down the slope in streams. I have been going up here when I was probably too small to walk …
Read more “Murder on Bodmin Moor: The Tragic Story of Charlotte Dymond and Matthew Weekes”
I must admit, I never used to be the keenest of fans on the classics such as Thomas Hardy. Yet, after watching every conceivable adaptation of Far from the Madding Crowd, I gave the book a go. The impetus was also spurred on by the fact my Dad keeps sheep. After this, I kept seeing …