Category Archives: wildlife

Murmuration

Posted on January 19, 2015 by

Norwich, mid January. At dusk over the past few weeks an avian spectacular has been witnessed taking place in the sky over St Stephen’s Street. As the daylight dwindles around the four o’clock mark a swirling murmuration of roosting starlings … Continue reading →

Posted in Cities, Norfolk, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Snettisham

Posted on December 1, 2014 by

There’s a good omen as we leave Heacham before dawn: the sharp cry of a tawny owl emanating from somewhere in the woods. Fifteen minutes later, walking from Snettisham RSPB car park towards the beach at The Wash, there are … Continue reading →

Posted in Norfolk, Travel, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments

Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh!

Posted on May 30, 2014 by

I don’t quite know what it is that has made me think of Vietnam recently. Maybe it was a casual mention in a conversation that made me realise that I don’t have a very vivid memory of the short time I … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Travel, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Slow Travel Norfolk

Posted on March 7, 2014 by

Well, it is finally out – my new book Slow Travel Norfolk. Here is a brief extract from the book about an extraordinary rook roost that takes place at Buckenham Carrs each winter: A  large  wooded  area  just  east  of   Buckenham  … Continue reading →

Posted in Norfolk, Travel, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 21 Comments

The Turning of the Year

Posted on December 31, 2013 by

(This winter’s berries) The turning of the year. These past few days mark the interregnum that sits uncomfortably between Christmas and New Year – a week of virtual Sundays and a period when some of us – those who are self-employed … Continue reading →

Posted in Norfolk, Uncategorized, wildlife | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Crossing the Yare

Posted on April 15, 2013 by

It is the second Sunday in April, the warmest day of the year so far. Shirtsleeves weather at last despite much of the landscape still looking bleached and lifeless thanks to a long winter that has only just finished. Look … Continue reading →

Posted in Norfolk, Walking, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Berney Arms

Posted on March 31, 2013 by

Good Friday, Breydon Water, Norfolk. A feature in last Saturday’s Guardian reminded me of a Norfolk long-distance walk I had been contemplating for some time – the Wherryman’s Way that roughly follows the course of the River Yare between Great Yarmouth … Continue reading →

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

Scratching the Earth

Posted on January 5, 2013 by

To begin the New Year, here is a piece on something close to home and close to heart – allotments. I touched on this subject briefly last year in my post on Dacha. The feature below originally appeared in Issue 3 of the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Norfolk, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk

Posted on November 25, 2012 by

I did a circular walk at Winterton-on-Sea a couple of weeks ago, striking out from the beach car park that looked a little forlorn out of season – largely devoid of vehicles, its wooden hut cafe bolted shut for the winter. Winterton Dunes immediately … Continue reading →

Posted in Norfolk, Walking, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Botanising the asphalt

Posted on November 1, 2012 by

The German philosopher and literary critic Walter Benjamin referred to the unwitting psychogeographical practices of the urban flâneur as that of ‘botanising the asphalt’: a way of experiencing the city as a repository of collective memory by means of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Geography, wildlife | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments