“Be careful”. Usually I ignore it. But this time, I bite: “Do you say that to all your friends heading out, or just the ones cycling? Do you like my new cycle cap?” “Why a cap and not a helmet?” Cyclists head out on their rides and journeys knowing that if someone in a fewContinue reading “Cycling up Ditchling Beacon”
Category Archives: Places
Wimpy #4: Worthing
A hiatus! A palpable hiatus! It has been ten months since my last Wimpy visit, before Lockdown III came along and made burger restaurant-based geographical sagas tricky. It’s been ages since the government’s specific ban on travelling up and down the country reviewing Wimpys was lifted, but I’ve been busy running comedy nights, walking dogsContinue reading “Wimpy #4: Worthing”
Open House: South Norwood Library and St Bernards, Croydon.
My understanding of London’s Open House began with a vision of queues: hoardes at the gates of the Foreign Office or some other shining city on the hill grudgingly opening up for the hoi polloi for one weekend a year; to reveal where all those tax dollars go. The social media moans about the waitContinue reading “Open House: South Norwood Library and St Bernards, Croydon.”
Cycling in Kingston
Desperately trying to memorise words, I took a walk around Kingston Upon Thames yesterday, repeating things to myself and attracting curious glances from passers-by. Was I mad, or had hands-free mobile technology reached the invisibility stage? The council has made assorted efforts to encourage more people to walk and cycle around town; if you’re onContinue reading “Cycling in Kingston”
I walked to Canterbury in the snow by mistake
I walked to Canterbury today, to make the most of the snow and its hated enemy, the sun. A lot of my life is staring at slightly differently sized rectangles of light. I sleep surrounded by them, and I spent my days pressing bits of them with my thumbs. I’m sure this is a lifestyleContinue reading “I walked to Canterbury in the snow by mistake”
Snow falls on Herne Bay: midnight edition
I went back out, because the snow was still falling. I haven’t experienced many snowy beaches in my lifetime, so it felt good and right to run along this one while it is conveniently a few streets away. I ran to the pier along the shoreline, and then beyond, to the clock tower, before headingContinue reading “Snow falls on Herne Bay: midnight edition”
Snow falls on Herne Bay
I am told it doesn’t snow very often in the Bay, so here are some photographs for the public record, so that future historians can pore over the dusty pages of WordPress for evidence of such an event. And while you’re here, future historians: how do websites gather dust, exactly? Or is this a knowingContinue reading “Snow falls on Herne Bay”
Further up and further in
I wrote up a blog post about going for a walk, climbing a tree, nationalising the golf courses, poorly maintained public footpaths, and how leaving a town or city via any means other than the car makes you feel like a second class citizen. Unfortunately all of this was lost, thanks to the vagaries ofContinue reading “Further up and further in”
Walthamstow Wassail 2021
Sunday was the 11th Walthamstow Wassail: online this year, like so many other events and traditions that break up the year and help give life some narrative and meaning. Conspiracy theorists view Covid as an agent of state control, and vaccines as containing microchips designed by billionaires to make the masses more pliant. These peopleContinue reading “Walthamstow Wassail 2021”
Walking to Sainsbury’s
After a few days of not leaving the house, I went to the Sainsbury’s on the other side of town. A big box by the dual carriageway [1], the trip to this mahoosive shop felt a bit like a holiday, or at least a day trip. Such are the narrowing of one’s expectations during aContinue reading “Walking to Sainsbury’s”
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