It cannot be denied that the banks of Loch Lomond are very bonny indeed. As you head up out of Glasgow to the highlands of Scotland, the road along the side of the loch is a taste of things to come. A combination of muted browns, burnt oranges and the deep plum of the silver …
Category Archives: travel
The Ironies of Progress
“What ideas individuals attach to the word “Millennium” I know not; but I know that society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little if any misery and with intelligence and happiness improved an hundredfold; and no obstacle intervenes at this moment except ignorance to prevent …
A Celtic View
Visiting the Celtic countries is always a sobering experience for an English woman interested in history. The long and bloody past of the Irish has always hung heavy on me. I came to understand quite clearly, with the instinct that a teenager has for bull-shit, the meaning of the word propaganda. I knew I was …
Marsh’s Library
Marsh’s Library The smell of ancient books; fusty, dusty and acrid. So deliciously noxious. As though with every breath, particles of history sweep into your lungs and enter your bloodstream. Mr Joyce (James of course) met Mr Stoker (nephew to Mr Bram Stoker that is) in October 1902 in the reading room. Apparently there were …
In Dublin’s fair city …
Can a city still be fair when viewed through a veil of rain and hail? It is a moot point, and on one of my more uncharitable days, I might come down on the side of no. However, I am very far from feeling uncharitable about having left the warm climes to land on this …
Is that real?
‘Is that real?’ asks Matilda, aged 8, whose sister, Róisín – aged five and three-quarters, or perhaps five and five quarters, Matilda isn’t sure – is currently doing back somersaults hanging onto the struts of the upper bunk bed. ‘Is what real?’ I reply. She fingers my hair. I look at her and grin. ‘Why …
Salatheel 