Travel Writing

A selection of articles previously published in the UK and abroad with four complete articles for your enjoyment

Journeys in the UK - Journeys in Europe and beyond - Books

Journeys in the UK

Peak Times - the quieter byways of the UK's Peak District

To the Lighthouse - the loneliest road in Britain to its remotest corner, Cape Wrath

Another Land Across the Sea - end-to-end across the backbone of the Isle of Wight

Hollywood, Eire - Daniel Day-Lewis, Braveheart and the Celtic Tiger on the trail of film locations in Eire

The Sky's No Limit - exploring the eerie landscape of Lincolnshire in search of the "Yellowbelly"

The Great Pyramid of Wales - a figure-of-eight, up and over Ys Wyddfa, Mount Snowdon

The County that Time Forgot - weaving through Rutland, Britain's smallest county

The Whisky Trail - a hike down Scotland's Spey Way discovering distilleries and the history of "uisage beatha", highland whisky

Birmingham's Backwaters - travelling the canal towpaths of the Industrial Revolution

A Ride on the Wild Side - Thomas Hardy, stone circles, soldiers and tanks on Salisbury Plain

Sleeping with the Enemy - coast-to-coast shadowing Hadrian's Wall

Glastonbury Tales - a Celtic pilgrimage from Old Sarum (Salisbury) to the Tor at Glastonbury

No Man's Land - St Kilda, the most remote island in the North Atlantic, where the population were the original bird people

Between Hope and History - exploring Northern Ireland, The Troubles, the people and its hidden gems 

Journeys in Europe and Beyond

Central Characters - people and places, politics and culture on a tour of Central Europe immediately after the fall of Communism

Nightmare en route pour Paris - a weekend challenge cycling from London to Paris and back goes hellishly wrong

Saharan Margins - you don't need to be an explorer to ride the desert trail in Africa

Berlin Diary - a dash across Europe to Berlin as the Wall is being torn down

Booze, Beds, and Bulls - the Madonna, fiestas, and other surprises riding off the map in Andalucia

Lost Wilderness - the disappearing wildernesses, what they mean to us and the desire to ring-fence them against those laden with technology

China Cyclist - contrary to popular Western opinion, China is still very much the Kingdom of the Cyclist, but visitors need their wits about them.

Books

The Chalke Way - £9.95

ISBN: 1 897850-36-0

(Second edition in production)

Route Maps

To Order at Discount

A coast-to-coast hiker-biker guide tracking England's oldest green road, over 400 miles from Portland Bill to King's Lynn, passing some of the worlds greatest prehistoric monuments.

"More than a ride guide, the Chalke Way is written with a passion and understanding rarely found in a book of this type. Destined to become a classic route.." - Wunderlust

Also available as articles:

Pedalling with the Prehistorics - crop circles, lay lines and the ancient history of the Chalke Way

Ride Back in Time - an introduction to the Chalke Way

 

After the Gold Rush - £9.99

ISBN: 0 907123 406

(Publication October 2004)

Route Maps

To Order at Discount

From Washington, D.C. to Sacramento, CA across the heartlands of the United States following the route taken by the Forty Niners to Californian gold. Undertaken on the 150th anniversary of the first year of the Gold Rush, this is a journey through nineteenth century America as much as a one undertaken at the turn of the millennium.

Also available as articles:

The National Road - a journey down America's first and only federal highway from Cumberland, Maryland to St. Louis, Missouri

The California Trail - following the line taken by the gold seekers from the Kansas River to Sacramento, CA

Rider of the Storm - ten miles of terror caught in a lightning storm crossing Wyoming, USA
 

The above are selected from a larger catalogue of articles available on application. Most journeys were made by bicycle, train or on foot. Many were undertaken out of my own curiosity or commissioned by editors aware of my passion for heritage, the wilds and the wacky.

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive…"