Ffestiniog Railway - Dduallt Station



Pyromainia @ Dref Gerrig


Montgomery - has a fantastic set of cafes, a brilliant museum and
of course the castle.

Super Cat!
He sits here every morning - watching all the
birds and passers-by

From my walk to work through central Birmingham
Cuckoo Flower/Ladys Smock
(Cardamine pratensis)
Family: Mustard (Brassicaceae)
• Habitat: swamps, wet woods, wet fields
• Height: 8-20 inches
• Flower size: 1/2 inch across
• Flower color: pale pink or white
• Flowering time: April to June
• Origin: native

Cresent moon and planet (Jupiter?) from
Empire Cinema, Birmingham Great park

I can't remember the film -but I do remember this show

Reading V Liverpool - That Gerrard is impressive and so
was the singing from the away supporters
Reading need to get some better tunes!

Radio Orienteering - The ARDF Handbook

You can by my book on Amazon...
Click here to order,
though you will probably get it quicker from the RSGB... here

Milton Keynes - or is it "Any city you happen to think of on the east coast of the USA"
MK does not feel like England at all - is just "generic-modern"

"We are just good friends"

Welcome to Albania
(how many bunkers can you count in this photo - scroll down
to check your score)

My hotel in Tirane

Driver and Guide

Mother Theresa Airport
Where everyone on my flight seemed to have British Passports
(though not all these document passed the several security inspections and certain 'British' travellers looked like they had never been near an escalator, airport, plane before let alone the UK!)

I can count 52 bunkers in this shot - I am informed that
there are probably MORE!

Another country another rather nice soup - the food in my Macedonian Hotel was
VERY VERY GOOD!


Read this sign out aloud "in the style of Stavros... hello, peeps!"



Lake Ohrid was nice



This just about sums up Macedonia - Poor but Proud

Heading for Prishtina... after much consulation with locals,
we determined that for an Albanian taxi with an Albanian
driver the correct route to take was the little back road to Pec

Welcome to Kossovo/Kossova - A nice piece of paper from the UN

On the Boulevard "Bill Klinton" you can have a Doner Kebap "Bill Klinton"
under the giant poster of a smiling "Bill Klinton"...

City Tour of Podgorica, Montenegro: "And here will be the parliament building"

Hotel "Cerberus" - you should see the guard dog!

Dubrovnik (still raining, still very pretty though)

Mr Big's Mercades outside my hotel in DUbrovnick

Welcome to Nevesinje

Not very welcoming at all, we drove from spring in Bosnia
over the mountain back into winter in Republika Serbska
We didn't stop long, car had the 'wrong licence plate',
curtains began to twitch and we both got twitchy
and went to Croatia instead.

A pre-lunch in a cold and wet and rainy Mostar...
The Balkans do very nice soups

Reconstructed bridge in Mostar

'Second-Lunches", still in, a by now even wetter and colder,
Mostar with Mustafa/Michael (Bosnia/Republika Serbska)

Oh no! It's Martin Bell, and we are are both on the same plane to Sarajevo...
Suddenly I am less keen on my big balkan adventure.
If the man-in-the-white-suit is going I don't want to be.


At the mosque... lots of things you must not do!


Old town - spinach and 'feta' cheese pastries are good.


From my hotel window


Iconic TV transmitter tower (if you watched the war reports you will know what I mean

Please Santa, I want this for Xmas!
(Ed Layfield, Outdoors Show, NEC)

Ephemeral pool at Habberley Valley and navelwort growing on the cliff footing...