Author Archives: East of Elveden

About East of Elveden

Hidden places, secret histories and unsung geography from the east of England and beyond

Riasg Buidhe – an abandoned village on the Isle of Colonsay

Posted on July 21, 2019

It is not that easy to find but if you go to the recycling depot at the highest point on the road between Scalasaig and Kiloran on the Isle of Colonsay, then follow the rough track that leads towards the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Islands, Scotland | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Black Sea, Blue Sky – Balkan Rain

Posted on June 12, 2019

This rain that has been falling almost incessantly here for the past 48 72 hours seems to have followed me back home from the Balkans. Travelling coast to coast, from Adriatic to Black Sea, over a three week period I … Continue reading →

Posted in Balkans, Eastern Europe, Travel, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Ghosts of Mattancherry

Posted on April 15, 2019

The best of India is often seen in the slow hours before breakfast, the time of day when the subcontinent’s multitude of people and gods stir themselves in the cool mercury light that follows dawn. On my last day in … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Palani – a temple town

Posted on February 19, 2019

  Palani, a temple town in western Tamil Nadu, barely gets a mention in the guidebooks. Too close to the hill resort of Kodaikanal to be of much interest other than as a transport hub, the town was a necessary … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

A Berlin Interlude

Posted on January 13, 2019

What do you do on a drizzly grey day in Berlin? A midwinter day when the sun is enfeebled and hidden, cowering somewhere beneath a thick duvet of cloud. What do you do in a city that you do not … Continue reading →

Posted in Cities, History, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

(Thirty-)Six Views of Bass Rock

Posted on November 12, 2018

‘It is just the one crag of rock, as everybody knows, but great enough to carve a city from.’ Robert Louis Stevenson Catriona Japan’s Mount Fuji is a dormant volcano that looks just like a volcano should. An almost perfectly … Continue reading →

Posted in Islands, Scotland, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Rule of Home

Posted on September 26, 2018

As a few of you may know, I have been working on a much longer project, a book in fact, for quite some time. This work is centred on a walk made coast to coast across England and Wales, from … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Travel, Walking | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

On Stiffkey marshes

Posted on August 30, 2018

On August Bank Holiday Sunday we drove east along the coast road from Cley-next-the-Sea. The coastline was bathed in hazy sunshine; the sky, milky white and unthreatening. Rain and wind had been forecast for later – typical bank holiday weather … Continue reading →

Posted in Norfolk, Walking, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Beside Song-Köl Lake

Posted on August 4, 2018

There are places that stay in the mind long after visiting. Places that haunt the mind’s memory cache to prevail even years after having set foot there. Such places might be mountains, or rivers, or stretches of coastline; or even … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Travel, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

Beneath a Concrete Sky – to Gravelly Hill Interchange by canal

Posted on May 30, 2018

Where’s Birmingham river? Sunk. Which river was it? Two. More or Less.  Birmingham River Roy Fisher The idea was to follow the Birmingham canal system north to Spaghetti Junction. I had already traversed the city by means of the Grand … Continue reading →

Posted in Cities, Human Geography, Midlands, Walking, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments