Books of the ilk of Three Men in a Boat, which everyone knows, and Boogie up the River, lesser-known but a brilliantly-written account of Mark Wallington’s attempt to row to the source of the Thames, have romanticised the notion of river travel. My occasional longings for such an expedition were realised today. Cycling to Windsor, I met two…
Category: Writing
The end of the Isles
With 96 days to go to publication and some eight months after I commenced writing, Isles at the Edge of the Sea is, at long last, completed. I sent the manuscript – all 71,000 words of it – to my publisher, Sandstone Press, today. It has been a labour of love, but not always – at…
In praise of libraries
There has been much recent fuss – with good reason – over the closure of libraries as local authorities seek to cut costs. I’m all for libraries. When in an unfamiliar place, where else is there to go that is dry and free during a rainy interlude? As I waited for ferries to various Hebridean islands last…
Lord Hereford’s Knob
I am currently working through the edited script of The UK’s County Tops: Reaching the Top of 91 Historic Counties. I have got as far as Black Mountain, the highest point of Herefordshire, and for which my editor suggested I compile a ‘fact box’ on Lord Hereford’s Knob, a neighbouring mountain. I was scouring the web…
25,000 words
Another milestone – 25,000 words written, about a third of the way towards my target, and the book is beginning to take shape. Sandstone Press, my publisher, has put this on their website, which makes it all seem very real. Let’s hope I can live up to my billing of bringing ‘wit and intelligence’ to…
Heights of Madness 