Halloween. It is one of the oldest festivals of all, and represents a curious mixture of many different traditions. The Celts called it Samhain, a festival that provided a boost for people as they entered the long dark winter months when the countryside seemed dead and the days seemed so short. Over time it became…
Author: gbadmin
Returning from the Aghan Wars
Strata Florida is such a lovely name and I was always keen to go there. It is 14 miles from Aberystwyth and has a beautiful position just outside the village of Pontrhydfendigaid near Tregaron. In Welsh it is Ystrad Fflur, which means the Vale of Flowers. It is neat, well -tended and atmospheric. The arch…
Perillos
In Search of the Big One To be honest if you are a grave hunter they don’t come much bigger than this. We were in the Corbieres and we had driven beyond the spectacular hilltop castle of Salvaterre, deep into the abandoned garrigue. The castle lies above the quiet and prosperous village of Opoul-Perillos and…
Serrabona
It was as remote as you can imagine. We were in the foothills of the Canigou, the most important mountain in the Pyrenees if you are a Catalan. We were there for the Romanesque architecture. Well ,it is the sort of thing you do on a Sunday when you are on holiday. We had left …
Channel Tunnel
Finally our summer holidays have arrived and we are off to France on Sunday (26 July 2009). We are looking forward to it immensely, for all the usual reasons. The beautiful peaceful countryside, the dramatic scenery, the fantastic food and the lovely wine. We are particularly looking forward to some sunshine! We had a good…
All Souls Langham Place London
Why does it take such a long time to get out of Wales on a train? It seems to take forever. There are frequent stops as the train ambles across South Wales and the M4, when it is on its best behaviour, can be just as quick. It makes you realise how impenetrable Wales must…
Mr. Melville and the Actress
Actresses had a bit of a reputation in Victorian times. I can’t imagine that it was entirely fair. There must have been some very serious and talented women on the stage. But the rest were not always taken seriously and seemed to provide professional males with hours of endless amusement and innuendo. I found an…
More information on Eleanor Williams
New information now included at the bottom of this post When I look at the stories I have written so far I am convinced that some of them will never be finished. There are always new and important details to be added. Time has frayed the details sometimes and it isn’t easy to restore them…
From May 2009
On Saturday I was out once again, meeting my public. This time it was Border’s in Cardiff, a shop in the old David Morgan building on The Hayes. It is a nice shop, large and busy and I was certainly very well looked after by the staff, especially Vicki. However, promotion remains hard work.…
Cnapan
I was booked to do a book signing in Aberystwyth and we didn’t fancy going up there and then back again in one day. So we looked for somewhere to stay. The first couple of places we tried were full and so we ended up in a lovely place we haven’t visited for a…