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Prophecy, witness or waste of time?
Beach pondering with OscarEarlier this week I attended an online poetry evening, themed on the environmental threats (many would say crisis) we are facing. Three excellent writers gave readings and...
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Full circle
Above Corvus on Raven Crag, Borrowdale.Somewhere in our album of family photographs is a picture of my father being held aloft as a baby. He must only be a few months old and presumably, the arm...
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Brighton Rock and all that.
The first serious book I ever read was Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. It was the compulsory text for my English Literature O level and I still have the thin Penguin Classic edition with passages...
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The Sound of Being Human
My book of the year so far - brilliantly done.I’ve long held the view, that when writing from experience — be it for books, blogs or essays — it’s the inner story, rather than any outer narrative,...
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The traces we leave...
Earlier this week I disposed of an old bedside cabinet at our house in France. It was one of those items you feel guilty for dumping, but deep down know the charity shop won't want either. For the last...
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Hope
Cwm Idwal - photo by Saskia JanickiWhy would anyone climb a mountain? 'Because it's there,' was George Malory's famous riposte when asked about attempting Everest. And to some extent he's right. But...
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Fractured
The thing about whippets is that almost everything is quick. Or slow depending on the clock. Oscar spends an hour at full pelt, followed by twenty-three on the sofa... watching me from the corner of...
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Metal heads
In my twenties, I suffered a great deal from anxiety, caused I now realise by a sense of dislocation, a too-rapid and ill-grounded coming to terms with adulthood. That's long in the past now, but I...
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Black Friday blues...
How many coats does one man need?I write a column for an alpine club newsletter each month and thought I'd share my latest missive here on Views From The Bike Shed too. November reflectionsLast week,...
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Back up and running
Back where he belongsFour weeks ago my little whippet fractured his skull in a head-on full-speed collision that left me feeling sick with despair. Fearful that my companion of these last three years...
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New Year Re-slow-lutions
Wide horizons for the new yearIn the days when my children were toddlers, I remember railing against the limitations that little ones invariably impose. Let’s go to the beach this morning I’d say, then...
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Lapses and love of our memories
At the summit of the Serles on that first visit to Austria.Early in the new year, my wife was describing to our friends how a house in a nearby village was being converted into a...
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Views From The Bike Shed - and a writer's guide to blogging
To be released, 1 March 2023It's been quite a journey...But, at long last, I'm delighted to confirm that my new book will be released on the 1st of March. Views From The Bike Shed is a retrospective...
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Not-a-lotta' otter!
In a lifetime of nature watching I'd never seen an otter in the wild. I've found their tracks, identified their scat, and missed their presence by seconds on countless kayak trips and river walks....
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Ticks and trails
Walking in the Haute SavoieRecently, I was telling a friend how I planned to walk a path north from Chamonix towards Lake Geneva this June. It would take about 6 days and I wondered if he’d like to...
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An invitation to join me online... please register!
My new book - available here Earlier this month my latest book Views From The Bike Shed - and a writer's guide to blogging was published by Cinnamon Press. Since its launch I've been delighted by the...
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The threads we weave
Cap de Formentor, MallorcaEvery month I write the editorial for an alpine e-journal. It's a task I enjoy, but this weekend, as I drafted my column, I had the niggling worry my words weren't concerned...
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Bike shed live...
As bloggers, we share our words but seldom our faces and even less so our voices. But when it comes to books, there's a tradition of authors promoting their work. Last week I did just that with an...
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Spring reflections and renewal.
Spring sunshine in the Haute SavoieIf I could choose the manner and place of my last day on earth, I think a high contender would be springtime in the Alps. It’s true that summer is the season of my...
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