-
Polished Paris
Brass Effects Friends and followers know that Paris is my ‘wish I lived there’ city. I visit as often as I can. Each time, I get obsessed by the weighty brass doorknobs and knockers gracing the doors to apartment buildings and offices. They are truly works of art. Polished to within a centimetre of their probably…
-
Silver Trees and Wooden Angels
A visit to Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens What comes to mind when you think of Penzance? Pirates, pasties, pilchards, pints? Perhaps, if you’re an art lover, you think – Penlee House Gallery, home of many Newlyn School paintings. You probably don’t think of Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens – twenty-two acres of rolling landscape, luscious sub-tropical planting, and…
-
Sunrise Shopping
Granville Island Market Vancouver BC Canada Granville Island is just waking up. The rising sun casts an orange glow on the former industrial buildings of Vancouver’s favourite market. Vendors, artisans, bakers and boatmen prepare for a busy fall Saturday. The ‘Island’ is an urban peninsula jutting into False Creek, a watery cul-de-sac in the shadow…
-
Time for Two

(I lovingly wrote this piece in my Parisian hotel room in 2018 – before Brexit happened. Enough said!) As the countdown to Brexit continues with a yet unknown form or function, travellers may want to take advantage of one of the best things about living in a member country before any unexpected travel obstacles appear…
-
Undercover Activities

Surviving Vancouver’s Rainy Season It rains in Vancouver. A lot. An annual average of 1153.1 mm (47”). That’s twice as much as London. It’s not surprising. It’s set in The Great Bear Rainforest, a temperate rain forest on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. When I moved to Vancouver it rained for three solid weeks. Unrelenting,…
-
LOST STORIES-ALMOST

In 1913 Elizabeth Evans (23) sailed from Liverpool to India to marry her fiancé in Bombay Cathedral. In the winter of 1923 Geoffrey (9) raised the alarm after witnessing a boat capsize in rough seas off the coast of Cornwall. On a sunny day in August 1942 Maureen (8) was playing in the sand in…
-
ANKLE DEEP IN ORANGE PEEL

This a strange way to see Paris. I’m ankle deep in banana skins, orange peel and crushed plastic water bottles. My suede loafers are soaking up fruity run-off from the gutter. The air is filled with the pungent scent of citrus and sweat, and a rhythmic rubbery squelching sound fills my ears. Cameras are clicking…