Always a pleasure to break off from copywriting, drive into Bowland and stop off at the Inn at Whitewell for lunch. It’s not just that Whitewell is such a fantastic pub, with wonderful food, beer, views and ambience, it’s that when you
My Yorkshire Book of the Year – An Almshouse for Linton by Jane Houlton
My Yorkshire Book of 2018 has to be Jane Houlton’s fascinating An Almshouse for Linton, an architectural history of one of the Yorkshire Dales’ most iconic buildings. The Fountaine Almshouse at Linton-in-Craven, a masterpiece of Baroque architecture, has long intrigued
Arncliffe and ‘English Landscapes’
Sometime in my teen years I suddenly discovered I loved the countryside. Perhaps all those walks up fells in the Dales and Lakes paid off – and if so, to my parents much gratitude. But it wasn’t just the greenery I
Ramsons and Jack-by-the-Hedge
Sometimes it’s good to break off from the heritage copywriting and just go for a wander in the woods of Yorkshire. After all, this is the best time of the year for it. The leaves have fully unfurled now, and
Mythic Wharfedale
A wander into Wharfedale today – my favourite valley of them all. It’s not just the beauty of the scenery, or the built heritage; it’s the stories that cling to the place. The Wharfe is the domain of Verbeia, Roman
St George’s, Everton: the first 200 years
Today one of England’s most remarkable churches celebrates its 200th year. St George’s church, Everton, is the famous ‘Iron Church’ of Liverpool, the world’s first to be built around a frame of cast iron, and a special service will commemorate two
A visit to Wigtownshire
We visited Wigtownshire, the wonderful little county at the west of Galloway. I had an excuse: Ian Niall (aka John McNeillie), one of my favourite writers, was a native of this area. My wife’s reasoning was that it was once