A Squint at Wool and Brass: A Trip to Northleach, A Medieval ‘Planted’ Town
Last week I had another of my mini excursions. I love doing these small trips because there is always something new to see, and I often pick up ideas for locations to use in my stories. It’s also amazing how many delightful and interesting places there are on my doorstep (mind you, I’m lucky to […]
What Time Does My Coach Depart? Researching Stagecoach Travel in the Regency
Recently, I’ve been looking into stagecoach travel in the early 1800s. I already knew basic facts, but in order to get what may turn out to be a very small part of my next book absolutely correct, more research was required. The problem was that I have to get one of my characters from London […]
A Trip Back in Time: Railways and… Rhinos?
Last week saw another of my whistle-stop trips. It’s amazing what you can pack in when you have limited time. Husband and I visited Bridgnorth, Shropshire, a small market town in the Severn Valley, bisected by the River Severn. It was very much a short visit, we spent even less time there than we did […]
A Trip to Worcester: Art and Architecture
The other day husband and I made our first visit to Worcester, a lovely, small cathedral city in the Midlands, skirted on its western side by the River Severn. The weather wasn’t great, but at least the rain wasn’t torrential. First stop, after finding a parking space, was the Tourist Information Centre on the High […]
Deceiving the Enemy
Read my article on the Art of Deception during the Napoleonic Wars on Mary Anne Yarde’s blogspot
Books, Shakespeare, and Coffins: A Trip to Brum
A couple of weeks ago, the husband and I went to Birmingham for a bit of a break.What’s special about Birmingham, I hear you ask? Let me tell you. Having lived there in the past (over twenty years ago now) I know the centre fairly well — most of it, anyway — a lot has […]
Austen, Heyer and Regency Romance
No post today, but read my thoughts on Jane Austen on Tom Williams’ blog here
Drawing the Past: Hugh Thomson, Illustrator
I might have mentioned previously that one of my favourite illustrators for the works of Jane Austen is C. E. Brock (1870-1938). Several weeks ago, during my visit to Bath, I was fortunate to find an edition of Pride and Prejudice illustrated by Brock, and snapped it up. Happily, it did not cost a lot. […]
A Walk on the Wild Side: St Thomas’ Parish, Oxford
There’s nothing like exploring on foot to get a real feel for a place, so I was very pleased to join a guided walking tour earlier this week. The tour in question was around a part of Oxford that was completely unknown to me — and I have worked in that city for almost twenty […]