A few stunning days spent stomping through fresh snow around Loch Lomond. Luss and its surroundings, much like Pepper’s abundant joie de vivre, never fail to impress.
Lunan Bay & St. Andrews
A family New Year spent on the East Coast. Beach walks, blue skies, doggie dilemmas and abundant snacking.
Lot & Dordogne – France
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France are always a holiday highlight and Lot & Dordogne have more than their fair share. That and more offensively cheap, top notch vin.
Hérault – France
For lovers of quaint hilltop villages, green rivers, spectacular vistas, slate rooftops, an explosion of nature and spectacularly cheap, quaffable wine, Hérault cannot be beaten.
Callander – Perthshire
Callander is the eastern gateway to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and is a joy for walkers, cyclists and outdoor adventurists. Fab route to Aberfoyle via Loch Venachar highly recommended.
Beast from the East – Edinburgh
After living in Scotland for seven years, at last… a proper cold and snowy winter! Pepper loved the fresh snow and no buses meant walks to work across Arthur’s Seat. Bliss.
Bournemouth & Mevagissey
A wee jaunt back to my home town and a visit to my folks. As far as quaint Cornish fishing villages go, Mevagissey hits the spot perfectly.
Pepper
Rescued from a horrific kill shelter, Pepper came to us from Serbia via Liverpool. She is utterly adorable and brings us joy every day. These are from her first 10 days…
Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park
A final break for bike training through the glorious Trossachs. The most beautiful region in the UK? Quite possibly.
Nice – France
Can a multicultural society work? In Nice, yes. Blessed with a culture, cuisine and climate close to perfection, it would appear its residents all realise how fortunate they are.
The Jam – ‘Going Underground’
I was looking for inspiration, for excitement and a hero to worship, and like many other impressionable teenagers who sought a role model from their TVs, radios and record players, Paul Weller was that man. A good choice. A very good choice indeed. Paul Weller was a passionate, gobby, working class, mod-obsessed, Beatles-inspired super cool motherfucker.
Isle of Mull – Inner Hebrides
Mull is a gem of an island and Tobermory the jewel in the crown. Stunning scenery and and even in winter best explored on a bike.
Isle of Arran – North Ayrshire
A 100 mile cycle challenge for Shelter meant a few trips to remote, magnificent scenery with undulating roads pleading to be ridden.
Women’s march against Trump – Edinburgh
An honour and pleasure to share this protest amongst those not accepting sexism, racism, bigotry and homophobia from anyone, least of all this scumbag.
The Beat – ‘I Just Can’t Stop It’
It’s with far more than a large dose of dewy-eyed nostalgia that I can listen back to I Just Can’t Stop It, and still love it. I remember a constant stream of happy, innocent days full of naive and romantic positivity, and the sheer voyage of musical discovery was already an all-consuming passion, but quite simply this is an exceptional album, brilliantly of its time and forty years later as socially relevant now as it was then.
