January is a gloomy time of year. The lights and joy of Christmas are behind us but spring is still a long way ahead. It’s a month to get through, not one to relish, and you’re probably making it worse by putting pressure on yourself to make a load of unrealistic life changes all at… More Illuminate at the Blue Pool
Welcome to 2022! Traditionally, the first or second post of any year is my Christmas Adventure With Tom, depending on whether I have time to finish it in time for the first post of the New Year, and this year here it is up first – with some changes. Of course there are changes. We’re still… More Two Bears and a Barnacle
While I was at my cottage last week, in a rural bit of Somerset, I wanted to go for a walk. I had my daily 2km to walk – yes, even when I’m on holiday – and I’d invested in the cutest map. I knew Ordnance Survey offer custom maps (see my Single Map series… More A custom map, a muddy field and an unexpected hillfort
In my last post, my cottage tour, you may have caught a glimpse of my oven. Yes, it’s an Aga. I live in the countryside. That is, I live in the worst combination of the countryside, in what the Bortle Scale (the measure of the night sky’s brightness) calls rural/suburban transition. So we don’t have… More Country girl battles with Aga
I’m staying in a cottage! An actual cottage in a quaint little English village! My parents planned to go to Austria but for… reasons… I decided not to go with them, and then they didn’t go anyway. But I did have vague ideas of having a “wellness break” in December and so this is it.… More Winter cottage tour
After my post the other day about the big rescue in OFD, I thought it was about time I did some more cave content. I picked this particular trip because it involved a nice “bimbly” trip with photos – underground photos from my caving days are spectacularly rare – but it also, and completely coincidentally,… More A long caving weekend in the Mendips
Welcome, come on in! This is Pip and Pip’s Cabin, my home for the weekend on the border of Devon and Cornwall. The place is actually called Spring Park and it has eight quirky little places to stay scattered around in their own private gardens. Duke, Duchess and Ragnarr are restored wagons, Hercules is a… More A tour of Pip and Pip’s Cabin | Glamping at Launceston 2021
Dartmoor is 70! Well, it will be the day after tomorrow, October 30th. And by 70, I mean it’s 70 years since it was designated England and Wales’ fourth National Park. The other three weren’t far ahead, all designated in 1951 too. The Peak District came first, in April, followed by the Lake District in… More Happy 70th birthday to Dartmoor! | Glamping at Launceston 2021
With half of Devon and Cornwall to choose from for my first day out on my Cornwall/Devon weekend away, I dithered over the guidebook for all of breakfast. There’s just so much to see and do and none of it quite on my doorstep, except Launceston (which I did last time I was in the area)… More Port Isaac and Port Quin | Glamping at Launceston 2021
Because I’m Doing A Badge, i stopped off at Roadford Lake on my way to my steamroller living van on the Cornwall/Devon border for a spot of paddleboarding. And because you never know what the traffic will be like, I left plenty of time. In fact, I reached the lakeside two and half hours before… More At Roadford Lake | Glamping at Launceston 2021