2016 is the year to celebrate Garfield Sobers, probably the greatest all-round cricketer who ever played the game. He was born and still lives on the Caribbean island of Barbados, and that connection is reason enough to pay a visit. I suspect, however, that this scintillating island would be noticed and remembered by more people this… Continue reading
Browsing Category Travel
St Petersburg, City of War and Peace where bedtime is abolished
St Petersburg is vying for a place among the world’s great short-break destinations, after the BBC’s War and Peace. I remember this city from long ago, as black and white Leningrad. But I much prefer the remastered Technicolor version, with its fine palaces, canals to match Amsterdam, wide boulevards on a par with Paris, and… Continue reading →
How people of Jericho built Britain’s daftest, most heroic railway
The ITV “Yorkshire Western” Jericho celebrates the men and women who built the Ribblehead Viaduct, centrepiece of the wild, fabulous and slightly mad railway, running over the top of England in the 1870s. The viaduct, that heroic vindication of their labours, still stands, part of a living, working Settle-Carlisle Railway, one of the great scenic… Continue reading →
Rough Guides lists Jordan as one of its top 10 countries to visit
Jordan is a proud and welcoming nation, keen to show off its spectacular landscape and fabulous history. In 2016 it won a special accolade. Rough Guides included it in its top ten list of countries to visit. I was there recently. This is my must do list. It includes an outstanding Roman city, the fabulous rose coloured… Continue reading →
BA drops plan to power flights with municipal rubbish
Just three weeks after the world’s governments signed a deal to cut Co2 emissions to slow global warming, BA has announced that it has been forced to mothball a project to create 16m gallons of jet fuel from London’s rubbish every year. It cites a number of reasons, (speaking to the Guardian) including low crude oil prices,… Continue reading →
A new age of rural railways promises big benefits
As well as building better defences against floods, in response to the destructive storms of December 2015, the UK government, and the governments of Wales and Scotland, should consider building new railway lines. Some of these lines would back up routes closed by the waters. There is one obvious candidate for a new link. Rail… Continue reading →