New life buzzes from all directions: why Pembrokeshire in spring is a nature-lover’s dream

South-west Wales is a naturalist’s playground, and early spring is the perfect time to explore its coastal paths, wild flowers and treasured birdlife

Figueira da Foz – Seaside resort in Portugal

Figueira da Foz, also known as Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. I reached Figueira on the train from Coimbra. The journey takes an hour and the train starts from Coimbra station in the centre of the city before heading up to Coimbra B and then

Jura

I went to Jura in April and I really liked the place a lot, especially the staff at the Jura Hotel who are incredibly friendly and helpful. This hotel is opposite the Jura distillery and so it’s not that far to go for a tour, although visitors should try to book ahead. Visitors need a

Being Better – a book about Stoicism

Zeno of Citium founded Stoicism at the Stoa Poikile – the Painted Porch – a colonnade that stood outside the public market in Athens over two thousand years ago. Zeno’s followers took the name of the porch rather than Zeno’s name which says a lot about this philosophy. Zeno argued that there is only one

Lindisfarne Gospels

The script of the Lindisfarne Gospels is the work of one man – Eadfrith Bishop of Lindisfarne. The book is dated between AD 715-720. Before he could start he needed to obtain the skin of 150 stillborn calves to use as vellum to write on. He also needed to make his pigments from six natural

Rail route of the month: gliding past Finland’s pristine forests and lakes

A 300-mile train journey from Helsinki to North Karelia

Travels through History – France – Pezenas

Extract from the book ‘Travels through History : France” available here Pezenas is a wonderful old town in the Languedoc. The town has been in existence since Roman times and became wealthy due to the sale of woollen cloth. In 1456 the States General of Languedoc met here for the first time and then the

Murder on the Mauretania

This book is written by Edward Marston who writes the Railway Detective series. The style of writing is very similar, plenty of dialogue driving the plot strongly forwards like the engines of the Mauretania as it powers across the Atlantic Ocean in the November weather. I enjoyed the book immensely and will read another in

Emerald heart: a guide to Ireland’s six national parks

Fringing remote islands and the wild Atlantic coast, steeped in legend and home to exotic flora, these protected areas are a hiker’s paradise

Travels through History – France – Narbonne

Extract from the book ‘Travels through History : France” available here The Via Domitia was constructed in 118 BC around the same time the first Roman colony in Gaul, Colonia Narbo Martius (Narbonne) was founded. The Via Domitia connected Italy and modern day Spain. The road crossed the Alps by the Col de Montgenèvre, followed