This is the first of hopefully a few little videos, this one done about a week ago down at the area of the Severn here in the UK, where the river meets the start of the sea and where the canal that takes ships from the river up to Gloucester Docks begins. The Docks here at Sharpness are still used but very few freight ships go up the canal to Gloucester, the waterway being used more these days for pleasure craft. It makes for a good walk and has a great mix of industrial and countryside. I particularly like the … Continue reading Donkeys and Sharpness

This is the title of one of my most popular blogs, very strange. So jumping on the bandwagon and latching on to it’s popularity here are a couple of drawings from a short film I did a couple of years ago to accompany a song called ” Do you want us to win the war?” Can’t remember the particular lyrics but I suppose it must be about a loyal bovine, so here are the drawings. What will they make of this in Afghanistan? Someone from there dropped into the site just the other day. If it was you: “Hello”. Continue reading Cows sleep standing up.

I had no excuse. Prevarication is my middle name, actually it’s Edward, but that’s another story I’ll get around to boring you with in due course. To make me feel useful I did a series of drawings about social distance. Then I made some little videos of them. Dual purpose videos, first of all I hope they get the message across about keeping one’s distance. We British are supposed to be stand offish, we it turns out we are not stand offish enough. Second is to bring a modicum of cheer to anyone who’s watching and to illustrate exactly how … Continue reading What did you do in the shutdown Grandad?

To cheer anyone out there here’s a video of my friend Robin singing on the banks of the River Severn some months ago. We plan to do some more of these, but when it’s a least a little drier out there. Look out for them. Continue reading Surely the sky is empty by now

My walking friend Robin tell me that the stunning light at this time of year is down to dust and the reds in the air. I think that’s what he said but like in my maths lessons at school I was not concentrating enough. My mind has a habit of wandering off, it’s a little like my sense of direction. Rescue is at hand in the form of an App on my phone that tells me where we are, and where we should be. Of course the problem is making sure there’s enough juice in the phone to keep it … Continue reading It’s to do with the reds…

Thought I’d share these images taken over the last few days in rural Derbyshire. The September and late evening sunshine in two of them combined with a brilliant atmospheric light and cloudscape made for a high contrast photos. No photoshop on these at all, this is pure Derbyshire. So glad I took that early evening walk out of Tideswell last night. Continue reading Derbyshire in the sunshine

We all take odd things on holiday. I recall in my schooldays before airline security was a thing, my school friends and I put a house brick into a fellow schoolboys luggage when he was due to fly to join his parents on their airforce base in Cyprus. We were at a boarding school that had a clientele of boys whose parents were in the forces, mainly the RAF. So when we started school again we all wondered if he’d taken the brick to Cyprus and indeed he had. I’m not really that keen on practical jokes, many played on … Continue reading Taking lettuce to Derbyshire

A proper tap has at least three prongs and one spout for hot, and the other on the other side is for cold. It’s easy to grip with soapy hands and is a classic of its time. It has washers in the right places and it served the nation well, you can still get them but like almost all taps they are probably made in China. The modern tap can have all sorts of fancy ways to switch it on and can includes a bit that operates the metal plug for the basin. It’s not a proper tap. It has … Continue reading Taps, is this progress?

I’m in Derbyshire and this is a typical Derbyshire dry stone wall. Unusually it’s been very dry here and across the U.K. in the last few weeks. We didn’t get a green and pleasant land by having blue skies and sunshine. We are having a bit of a break before the weather starts to change and winter is upon us, and walls like these return to their normally damp state. A big thanks to all those lovely people who donated to Longfield in exchange for one or both of my recently published books for children. So far I have sold … Continue reading By way of a change…

The final page, perhaps the punchline page is more to the point. The idea is to have read this to your children or grandchildren, and to persuade them that they should stay in bed at night. I hope you enjoyed this book and my other one. If you would like a copy all the proceeds are going to Longfield. Read all about them here. You can buy copies of these little tomes either in their shops in Cheltenham and Stroud, where I’m hoping you will part with at least a fiver per copy for them, or you can buy them … Continue reading Who is this monster, is it you?

The fact that this little monster is wearing a cherry and white shirt is no coincidence. I was brought up in Wigan where the local rugby league club sported cherry and white shirts, and to a young lad these players looked like monsters. Later I supported my local grown up team at Gloucester and they too wear cherry and white. Coincidence or a plot? Continue reading Is this the real monster?

Longfield will benefit from every book you buy from me, either here where I will send on your donation, or directly from their shops in Bath Road, Cheltenham, and King Street, Stroud. Feel free to give a gnat’s more if you can. Continue reading Now we know what we’re looking for…