Travels through the literary landscape: a guide to places of literary interest in the British Isles and beyond.
Agatha Christie is famed throughout the world for her murder mystery stories: 66 novels and fourteen short story collections, featuring some of the most enduring characters the genre has ever produced. She also wrote poetry and Romance stories as Mary Westmacott, as well as a number of plays for the stage and for broadcast. She [ ]
I am settling in Amiens, a wise and polite town, of equal temperament. The society there is cordial and literate. It is close to Paris without the unbearable noise and sterile agitation. – letter from Jules Verne to Charles Wallut, 1871 Amiens is a beautiful city. The high-Gothic cathedral dominates the town, and little [ ]
Read about my recent visit to Exeter, to discover the literature of Devon
Read about my recent trip to Dublin, in search of James Joyce...
Literary Britain takes a trip to the seaside Sandycove is a gorgeous little seaside town in the suburbs of Dublin. During my trip to Dublin this spring, I decided to take a train down the coast to discover the little town that James Joyce once called home. Leaving the train station, you could be in [ ]
Literary Britain takes its first trip to distant shores
A walk around Manchester in search of libraries and pubs Mrs. P and I love a city break. As my wife has a particular interest in shopping, she is able to indulge her love of artisanal stores, whilst I wander about looking at interesting things and finding out about the city’s literary heritage. We were [ ]
I was late. The minibus was already at the stop. I did something I very rarely do and broke into a run. I was the last one there. I was shown into a minibus that, at first glance, appeared to have no spare seats in it. The driver indicated a space at the back that [ ]
Robert Burns was born in Alloway, near Ayr on January 25th, 1759. For the first years of his short life, he lived in a cosy but humble cottage, which he shared with his expanding family and their cattle, who also shared the small space. The house has been preserved by the National Trust for Scotland [ ]
Lichfield is a pleasant little midlands town. In fact, I ve liked all the little towns I ve visited in this part of the world. There is some grubby, late 20th Century development of course, but pre-victorian building dominates. When we visited, on a bank holiday Monday in 2022, the town was buzzing.There was nary a parking [ ]