Doing the best that I can, at writing, running and living
What is written on the house are the first verse and last lines of the John Donne poem, 'The Sun Rising'. The house looks out to the east, just up from the tip of Dungeness, so they are fitting. You get the words as if in a whisper: they’re written in black letters against a black weatherboarded… Continue reading Kent – Prospect Cottage, Dungeness
Without primogeniture we would not have had the delightful grounds at Sissinghurst. So that is one tiny plus point to an arcane law that still exists for some English titles. Having spent the last half hour trying to work out if Vita could inherit Knole House if she were alive today, it appears that this… Continue reading Kent – Knole House
It’s a long drive down to Kent, especially when the heavens intermittently dump great vats of rain onto our little Toyota Yaris so that we need to crawl along with the wipers swishing diabolically. It was sometimes so loud that we had to pause the audio book that was playing in the car. It was… Continue reading Kent – Sissinghurst and Biddenden
It’s Monday. Two weeks since we drove down to London town to mind the dog, and two days before we drive ourselves back home again. I had enormous ambitions to stay on top of my running and my weights and my writing, and two of those ambitions have fallen by the wayside. Yet the dog has… Continue reading Half Training – (not really) London Town
On slow runs you have the time to admire the view - the 'Swiss Bridge' in Birkenhead Park Cut back week. Or is it? The mileage is down from last week but is knocking around the same ballpark as the previous two. I’m not quite sure if I want to increase to much more than… Continue reading Half Training – Week Seven
We returned from Valencia on Monday evening but didn’t get home from London until yesterday evening. This is my explanation for my late training report. I wanted to get it out of the way because I don’t want you to think that I’ve been slacking. Although I have been slacking. I managed a mere 8.7… Continue reading Half Training – Week 3 and Valencia
Anne asks me a random question. ‘Can you describe the talks we’ve seen with words beginning with “C”?’ ‘Why the letter “C”?’ ‘Because the first words I thought of all began with it, so I wondered if I could create a theme.’ It’s hard to bring a coalescence to such diverse speakers as Emma Barnett… Continue reading Hay Festival 2025
15.85 miles (15 miles officially) Back row: Brian, Ian, me, Paul; Front row: Val, Simon, Julie, Sally, Heather, Derek After three shortish days, our last leg is officially the longest at around fifteen miles. By the end of today we will be in Fort William, our West Highland Way will be complete, and our merry… Continue reading WHW: Day 8 – Kinlochleven to Fort William
9.14 miles (8.9 miles officially) The Inn with a mahoosive extension Outside, as forecast, there was barely a cloud in the sky as I attempted to take the majestic drops of the mountain sides into my phone. I failed. We gathered on the grass for several morning group photos and then headed off back along… Continue reading WHW: Day 7 – Kingshouse to Kinlochleven
Day 5 - Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy 7:12 miles (6.8 miles officially) The next day was a mere seven-ish miles, so we treated ourselves to a lazy start. Because the Tyndrum Lodges is essentially a campsite, our breakfasts were in paper bags (croissants, yogurts, cheese and crackers) which made it easier to keep them… Continue reading WHW: Days 5 and 6 – The Moorlands
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