A visit to Hockney’s East Yorkshire
Did you see the exhibition of David Hockney’s paintings at the Royal Academy earlier this year? Many of the pictures were of the landscape of East Yorkshire wolds near Bridlington where he lives. If you have never been to East Yorkshire you won’t know that it is probably the best kept secret in England. The [...]
The death of Captain James Cook – 14 February 1779
“Do just once what others say you can’t do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again.” Whatever you may think about British colonial expansion, its impact and subsequent noxious effects, you have to admire the bravery, spirit and ambition of farm labourer’s son Captain James Cook. When he sailed away from Blighty [...]
Easter Island stoneheads
A lifetime’s ambition was achieved last month when Moth and I visited Easter Island, the most isolated inhabited place on the planet, rightly famous for its giant stone sculptures. It was a joy to sit and sketch them. On this page of my sketchbook, I drew in the bougainvillea garland I was presented with when [...]
Sketches of Chile
We returned from our travels in Chile yesterday. I made lots and lots of sketches. Here are just three. If you want to see more, check out my Facebook page, you don’t need to be a Facebook user to see them. If you are a FB user, don’t forget to ‘like’ me – I’ll be [...]
The death of Jane Digby – 11 August 1881
On This Deity proudly presents a bodice-ripping love story of sex and adventure. The story of Jane Elizabeth Digby, who died 130 years ago today, a woman who did her own thing, when doing one’s own thing was very much not what women did. During the course of her lifetime, today’s average British woman will [...]
Swimming with dolphins in Cuba
Two years ago I had a beautiful encounter swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura, New Zealand. A pod of perhaps 500 dusky dolphins swam wild and free around me. Their choice. When they’d had enough or didn’t find we snorkellers amusing enough any more, they buggered off. In Cuba last month when we got the chance [...]
The birds of Cuba
Although our recent holiday in Cuba wasn’t the typical exploratory journey through the planets natural wonders that Moth an me normally take, we couldn’t but help notice the beautiful species of common birds flying about all around us. We arrived in Cuba at night and I woke before dawn but couldn’t stay in bed for [...]
Guns ‘n’ roses: the murder of Joan Root
This item also appears on Dorian Cope’s wonderful blog On This Deity. Five years ago today, 69-year-old Joan Root lay alone bleeding to death from gunshot wounds at her home on the shores of Lake Naivasha in Kenya. Whodunnit? Who cut down this Kenyan-born English rose? And why? As a young woman, Joan was shy [...]
Machu Picchu magic
Of the many iconic sights the world has to offer, Machu Picchu is on the ‘A’-list, up there with the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids and Petra. And so we knew that it would be a highlight of our trip to Peru last month. The legendary ‘lost city of the Incas’ is surprisingly modern, built c1450 [...]
The birds of Peru – jungle
After watching the birds of the coast and mountains of Peru we flew east to Puerto Maldonado, a frontier town in the jungle on the Tambopata river. The Tambopata is a tributary of the Amazon, and is absolutely vast. We were to stay a jungle eco-lodge on its banks, about an hour and half away [...]
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