Running from women with reindeer and other obsessions.
The U boats lay in wait for us as soon as we rounded North Cape. There was only a narrow passage between the tundra and the ice, and as they closed in on the convoy underwater, Stukas from their Norwegian bases, dive bombed us from above. It was hell! The sea was always rough and water washed over the guns froze immediately. If anybody fell overboard, they didn’t last more than 3 minutes.’ I listened but couldn’t identify with Ron’s experience. It felt disloyal to do so. Hadn’t Dad been sent... Read more »
Can you miss Angkor Wat?
You cannot go to Cambodia and not see Angkor Wat, Suzanne responded, wide eyed and incredulous that I could even think about it. But I wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was the tourist thing. I don’t like being shown around by a guide, the same inane chatter, the same non-... Read more »
The trainspotter’s guide to survival and forgiveness
What was it about Eric Lomax that enabled him to survive the most extreme imprisonment and torture when so many of his colleagues died? What strength of character allowed him to return to normal job in Edinburgh after such devastating trauma? And how could he actually bring himself to forgive... Read more »
Back to Basics
The cottage peers anxiously over the terrace wall to where the road leaves the rushing Esk and winds up the hill to the rocky platform upon which the Romans built their marching fort and complained about the rain. Then the focus is taken up again, up the repeating green slope... Read more »
A cabin in the forest.
I have always yearned for a space to write, my own space, a place where I could close the door away from the obligations and responsibilities and just think and be. . It was just a few yards from the river, on it's own small peninsula, where the dark stream from... Read more »
If you go down to the woods today …….
Dark eyed, tired, seemingly bored with life, they lumber salivating out of the forest dark, enticed by the sound of the tractor and the scent of one hundred kilograms of salmon hidden under logs in four caches. Ursus arctos may have a muzzle like a dog, but it also bears some... Read more »
It’s summer; so follow the geese, go north!
Exhausted with the pressure of work, the bustle and clutter of city life? Then don't head for the crowded beaches of the Mediterranean, follow the geese; go north to Finland. Arola farm is in the region of Eastern Finland known as Suomussalmi, just south of the Arctic Circle and within sight... Read more »
From Mount Wehni to Kentish Town
‘They say you will all die!’ Mulu’s cries add a chill to the low afternoon sun. The villagers had been on the hillside opposite the ambo, the basaltic stele that we were attempting to scale, all day, laughing and shouting cries of encouragement. But now it was late, night was imminent and... Read more »
