I recently had the chance to walk the Broomway, a public byway six miles long that connects the foreshore at Maplin Sands to Foulness Island when the tide is out. When the tide is in, the way
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Last ten blog entries. As new ones are created, the older ones are filed out of Recent.
This is Boring: Boring V at the Conway Hall
For the second year in a row, I went to the Boring conference: The Boring Conference is a celebration of the minutiae of the mundane. Last year, speakers discussed things like why all national anthems
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Face to face with Jane Eyre
Had a lovely day – I had decided yesterday to pitch up at the Folio Prize Festival at the British Library. I was late and missed most of the first panel, so I lunched vaguely and turned up for the first
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Tidings from London
So, rather wonderfully, Michael Joseph are publishing Dear Amy in Spring 2016. Michael Joseph are an imprint of Penguin Books I must say that I met a load of cool people during the auction, but I was blown
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The Chronophage – the Eater of Time
One of the Cambridge landmarks that features in the latest book is the Corpus Clock. The clock is this large, imposing creation set into the corner of Corpus Christi College where Trumpington Street and Bene’t Street meet.
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Adventures in Cocktails: Harry’s Bar in Venice
Harry’s Bar is famous for its dry martini, and speaking as an afficianado of dry martinis, this seemed the perfect destination for me that first night in the city. I had booked a weekend on the
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Visiting Felbrigg Hall
One of the things that I did this year, while writing Dear Amy, was get out to visit some country houses. One of these was Felbrigg Hall. At the centre of the book is a
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Medieval Cookery: Roo Broth
Roo broth – I know, right? What is it, some kind of medieval kangaroo soup? Well, no. Roo broth is more of a bruet – a kind of thickly sauced meat dish – a bit
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Medieval Cookery: Frumenty
So, for a while I’ve been promising myself I’d have a go at making frumenty. For a start, it’s easy, and also, it’s ubiquitous. It was a very common thing to serve in medieval times.
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The Black Squirrels of Girton
On Saturday I went out on my first ever solo geocaching expedition. Someone recently showed me how it was done, and I was quite enchanted with the whole idea of it. There’s a marriage of
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