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  • Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park walk – Maine

    We have not long returned from a trip back to the States, and are still fighting to get over jet-lag. The motivation was of course to visit family, but also to introduce the other half to parts of New England he had not yet visited. While we have done plenty of exploring around Marblehead, Boston,…

  • My thoughts on – Tudors vs. Angevins

    Full disclaimer: this post should not be considered anything other than pure geeky historian fun. I was trained in Medieval History at St Andrews, where for the most part, the dividing line between Medieval and Modern History was about 1500; in the British Isles, this can be marked by the Battle of Bosworth Field in…

  • Commando Memorial and the High Bridge walk

    I came across this walk while exploring hikes near Spean Bridge and Fort William, particularly hoping for one that would be scenic but not overly strenuous. As it turns out, this trail was both – around 2 hours in total and with a few inclines but nothing as serious as climbing one of the many…

  • My thoughts on – the great Sharon Kay Penman

    While there are plenty of writers out there who have tackled the Middle Ages and indeed my favourite period of the Angevin kings of England, not one has done it as well as Sharon Kay Penman. I was first given one of her books when I was 16, and while it was seriously weighty –…

  • Scarborough Castle

    Several years ago as part of our summer holidays, I convinced my other half to come with me to the International Medieval Congress in Leeds, a massive medieval interdisciplinary conference spanning five days, hundreds of sessions and thousands of papers given by academics from early postgraduates to lauded professors. I was giving a paper, we…

  • Scotstarvit Tower and walk

    Yesterday was a positively gorgeous sunny day – in the morning anyway – and so I got myself going early to finally explore this tower, which we drove by on our daily commute for years. I had been led to believe that you could not go inside, but was excited to discover that fact had…

  • West Sands walk, St Andrews

    West Sands in St Andrews is a destination beach for many reasons, and it never disappoints. A close friend of mine walks the beach almost every day, and he agrees that it never looks exactly the same. The beach is well-known as the location for the opening scene in Chariots of Fire (check it out…

  • Caerlaverock Castle

    I have to admit that when I first thought about Caerlaverock, it wasn’t top of my list of castles I had to visit. But several years back we decided to go south rather than north for our holidays, and spent a few days exploring Dumfries. I definitely missed the hills and dramatic scenery of the…

  • My thoughts on: medieval historical fiction

    A list of favourite medieval historical fiction.

  • Mottisfont estate and walled gardens

    Gallery of pictures from a summer visit to Mottisfont walled gardens

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