Heaven in Trieste
It’s unlikely, for a number of good reasons, that after my death I shall end up in heaven. But if it happens, and if – an even more remote possibility – St Peter offers me a choice of where exactly in that fine place I’d like to be, I’d ask whether he could arrange for […]
In praise of the dash
A few weeks ago the Observer columnist and internet technology expert John Naughton – one of the few columnists left who’s still worth reading after the Guardian carelessly disowned its Sunday sister – wrote a fascinating article – fascinating to a nerd like me, at least – about that chameleon of punctuation, the dash, or […]
Haf 1975: adeilad newydd, gyrfa newydd
Ym mis Medi bûm ym Mhrifysgol Caerdydd ar gyfer dathliad pen-blwydd – hanner can mlynedd ers agor Llyfrgell y Celfyddydau ac Astudiaethau Cymdeithasol (ASSL). Dathliad arbennig i mi, achos dyna le dechreuais i ar fy swydd broffesiynol gyntaf – yn syth ar ôl i’r drysau agor yn yr adeilad newydd hwnnw. (Doedd y dodrefn heb […]
Snowdonia Slate Walk, day 4: Beddgelert to Tanygrisiau
I’ve not slept well in Beddgelert. The reason, I think, is that our B&B is beside Afon Glaslyn, and I’m not used to sleeping with the constant noise of running water. Today we’re going to be following the river downstream towards Nantmor, before turning to Croesor and beyond. Yesterday’s heavy rain has begun to turn […]
Snowdonia Slate Trail, day 3: Y Fron to Beddgelert
There’s no room for doubt. The Met Office’s app shows black clouds and two black raindrops, every hour from mid-morning to the end of the day. Other weather apps say the same. But we’re stoical, as we wait for the taxi to take us back to Y Fron for a twelve-miler to Beddgelert. The taxi’s […]
Snowdonia Slate Trail, day 2: Llanberis to Y Fron
Today’s a rare day: no waterproofs needed, and sun forecast for the afternoon. We set off from Llanberis and climb up the lane towards Waunfawr. On average, each day of the Trail crosses two watersheds, and this is the first of today’s two ascents. Sheep outnumber people by some margin, as usual. Their fleeces are […]
Snowdonia Slate Trail, day 1: Bethesda to Llanberis
I’ve had my eye on Llwybr Llechi Eryri, the Snowdonia Slate Trail, ever since it opened in 2017, and especially since two seasoned long-distance walkers, Eirlys Thomas and Lucy O’Donnell, told me in 2021 that it was one of the best long treks they’d ever tried. So the three of us, C1, C2 and I, […]
The artist from behind
What’s happening when artists choose to portray themselves in their work? The self-portrait was an invention of the Renaissance, but it’s just as common today, in painting (Jenny Saville’s work, now on show in a big retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery, is a striking example) and in many other forms. Perhaps the most famous […]
On the buses
A couple of weeks ago Transport for Wales invited people to come along to Swansea Bus Station to give their views on the routes that buses in the city should take, once TfW takes over full responsibility for decisions from the existing bus companies. We went along and had some interesting chats with TfW staff […]
George Bowring: murdered by Welsh magic
The Victorian writer R.D. Blackmore, if he’s remembered at all today, is known for his three-volume novel Lorna Doone. It’s an adventure story, set on Exmoor in the seventeenth century, about the feuding and violent Doone clan and the love between the narrator, John Ridd, and the eponymous Lorna. The book sold badly on its […]