Firth of Forth: walking the coast of witches and war
War machines, tav avoiders, climate change. If you want to escape politics, walking along the Firth of Forth is not the place to do it.
Walking 450 miles to freedom
In 1918, my grandfather and seven other British officers escaped from a Turkish prisoner of war camp. That was the easy part. They then faced 450 miles of deadly heat, hostile terrain and trigger-happy brigands.
London, I remember: horses
Once, London was a city of horses. Humans lived cheek by jowl with the 300,000 horses of cabmen, traders, laundrymen, grocers and rag-and-bone men. You can see the traces of that time everywhere: old stone drinking troughs, hidden cobbled mews, mounting blocks, slips and ramps.
Tea: its strange history and curious folklore
Dreams, gods, ghost guards, emperors, a lovestruck moon – tea has a rich and often macabre heritage of superstition and stories.
Finding our ghosts: at a Victorian séance
Finding ghosts and spirits at a Victorian séance in one of Britian’s oldest music halls.
Lord of the Seas: Pablo Neruda and a Scottish naval hero
How a friendship inspired the great Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, to write a poem about a Scottish naval hero.
Is this the quirkiest town in Britain?
This town has an abandoned harbour, lost-in-time cafes, a train junkyard, old-world cinema and an astonishing annual fair. You’ve probably never heard of it (unless you live in central Scotland).
Why football IS coming home…to Glasgow
Celebrating new English football, drunken tales of the Tartan Army and looking forward to a football homecoming to Glasgow in 2020.
In search of family history: empire, war and horses
Submarine commander, sailor, governor of Burma, prisoner of war camp escapee and politician – my grandfather served a fascinating public life yet remains an elusive family figure.
The abandoned ruins of Lennox Castle
Lennox Castle is an impressive ruin, lost in the woods, gleaming in winter sunshine and overlooked by the snow dusted Campsie Fells.
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