literary

Winter, walking, water and birds

Last weekend I set off with a friend to walk a stretch of the sea wall around Arthur Ransome’s Secret Water, known to locals as ‘the Backwaters’. It was one of those glorious, crisp days with radiant blue skies, a subtle whirr of wind but nothing more, and calm water, with just the hint ofContinueContinue reading “Winter, walking, water and birds”

Book Review: ‘Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey’ by Madeleine Bunting

‘’Many people travel in search of the exotic and the unfamiliar. I was travelling in search of home, in the hope of knowing and understanding where I could call home.’’ Love of Country tells the story of several journeys made by Madeleine Bunting to the islands off the west coast of Scotland, known as theContinueContinue reading “Book Review: ‘Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey’ by Madeleine Bunting”

Book Review: ‘H is for Hawk’ by Helen Macdonald

Before reading this book I knew very little of the life of TH White, acclaimed author of The Sword in the Stone (1938) and schoolmaster at Stowe for many years. He is a central character in Helen Macdonald’s story, for he was a trainer of hawks, and published The Goshawk, with a mixed reception, in 1951. Macdonald readContinueContinue reading “Book Review: ‘H is for Hawk’ by Helen Macdonald”

Reflecting on Rain

The Scots have a word for weather that is dull and damp: dreich. I adopted it into my vocabulary upon first staying in Scotland for a lengthy period of time a few years ago. It’s a lyrical onomatopoeic truth that really hits home in the British Isles. After all, we have a lot of rainContinueContinue reading “Reflecting on Rain”