Author | Writer | Photographer
Out now in the February 2020 issue of Country Walking is my 7-mile wander around Lower Whitcliffe and Wheelers Vallets – just west of Ludlow.
It’s a gentle wander, perfect for taking slowly to explore the surrounding landscape, and offers some wonderful views, as well as the opportunity to spot some pretty impressive Victorian engineering.
Well, that was a surprise! A nice way to round off 2019 with a WeatherWatcher photo on the evening regional news forecast.
Issue 185 of The People’s Friend Special has just hit the newsstands, and it contains my feature on the Centre for Alternative Technology, near Machynlleth, Wales.
It really is one of those places that you have to visit for yourself, to get a greater understanding of what they do there. I was fortunate to visit back in June, when they were open to prospective post-graduates, who were looking to expanding their knowledge of sustainable building. Many of the potential post-graduates already had a degree in architecture, and were looking to augment their knowledge with gaining a greater understanding of how to make our buildings more sustainable for the future.
Snow! We didn’t have much, but there was enough in places on top of Ragleth Hill to feel like you’d trudged through it. It was one of those gorgeous days …
In this week’s bumper, double issue of The People’s Friend, there’s an article about my visit to Europe’s biggest tinsel-making factory: Festive Productions, near Cwmbran, Wales.
They’re a fantastic bunch of people there, and we had a laugh as they showed me round the factory. Cheryl Roach is the Production Manager, and she gave me the guided tour. Here are a few photos that didn’t make it into the published piece.
The front cover image of the bumper, double issue of this latest issue of The People’s Friend is of Ironbridge in the snow. It’s inspired by an image the magazine found a few years ago. When they commissioned me to write the piece, I asked them what colour the bridge was in the picture. Answer: grey. I then had to tell them that the Iron Bridge had recently undergone some restoration work and English Heritage had painted the bridge in its original colour: reddy brown. So, they had to change the colour of the bridge in their image!
I’ve been producing walking route descriptions for Country Walking magazine since 2004 (so my feet ache a bit now 🤣), and I always hope that my route descriptions are easy to follow.
It’s not that writing route descriptions are difficult – they’re not. It’s editing them to fit the 500-word count set by the magazine (and then hope they still make sense) that’s the challenge!
Have you signed up to my occasional newsletter yet? As a thank you, you’ll be sent a link to download a free collection of some of my previously published short …
The December issue of Outdoor Photography magazine has one of my images in their Viewpoint section. It was taken during Christmas week last year, while I was staying in Grasmere. …
