Anglesey's Beacon

South Stack Lighthouse.

Wiltshire's Strange Place Names

The county of Wiltshire is famous for unusual ancient sites such as the standing stones at Avebury and Stonehenge, and the man-made mound of Silbury Hill. It also has its fair share of places with strange and amusing names. Blue Vein, Knockdown and Bleet are just a few. 

Escape To The Lake District

The early months in the lead up to summer offer the perfect chance for the first warm weather getaway of the year. Spring wafts in with the promise of summer bursting forward, and a trip to the mountains makes it extra special.

Music Makers

When it comes to ceremonial occasions nobody does it better than the British and there is nothing finer than a colourful procession supported by one or more military bands in full flow.

Then & Now

Banbury Market Place, Oxfordshire

On The Air

Well-loved programmes from the world of wireless.

Cinemagic

I love the history and grandeur of my little London retreat; some say it is too big for me alone, but I love the space.” Ava Gardner’swords might perhaps conjure images of some bijou bolt-hole nestled in the heart of the capital, but the beautiful Hollywood star was actually referring to her 3,000 square foot home on the first floor of 34 Ennismore Gardens in Knightsbridge. It was here in this elegant garden square flat that she spent the last decades of her life enjoying a surprisingly quiet existence.

Rural Rides

How many of us search for a dream, and then spend a lifetime fulfilling it? Clough Williams-Ellis spent 20 years seeking the ideal location to build his Italianate village and 50 years building it. Originally he thought an island might be a possible location, but it was only when he came to an untamed peninsula on the breathtaking Traeth Bach tidal estuary that he realised he had finally found his chosen spot.

The Literary Pilgrim

Browsing recently in a charity shop, I came across a copy of a book I had at home on my shelf of treasured children’s books. I was young when I first read it and it proved to be a seminal book, one to which I have been indebted ever since. First published in 1937, it was written by a Wesleyan minister who roamed England in a horse-drawn caravan, writing as he went of the countryside and its wildlife. He called himself Romany.

Almanac

The Lady Of Vision.

Rural Rides

The Charm of the COTSWOLDS

Countrycall

I felt a strong affinity with the naturalist and writer Mary Gillham. I’d spent many years cycling and walking the Taff Trail — a Sustrans cycle route, stretching some 55 miles from Cardiff to Brecon — observing, recording and writing about the wildlife of the area. I had also spent many happy hours exploring Forest Farm Country Park, somewhere which Mary had got to know so well.

Animal Magic

Roger Redfern was a true countryman who enjoyed nothing more than wandering through the hills of England, Scotland and Wales in the weekends and holidays he wasn’t teaching in a Derbyshire school.

Snow At Christmas

Christmas — that most magical time of the year — and what signifies it most is snow falling gently from the sky and creating a magical white carpet on the ground. This image can’t help bring out the child in us all — remembering a childhood of snowball fights, sledging and building snowmen in the garden.

Our Christian Heritage

In Colsterdale, North Yorkshire, 10 miles from the cathedral town of Ripon and two miles from the tourist haven of Masham, lies the small village of Healey. In most respects a typical Dales community of picturesque stone houses along a single street, it boasts an unusual and striking place of worship, the parish church of St. Paul’s.