Author Archives: Martin

The Matthew is a replica of a caravel sailed by John Cabot in 1497 from Bristol to North America. It is having some New Year maintenance in the Bristol Underfall Yard (which is worth a visit at any time).

Boxing Day was a stunner! Blue skies and unseasonally warm. We fancied a walk so went to Swansea in south-west Wales (now part of The Swansea Bay City Region) where we walked from the east of the city, westwards along … Continue reading →

The town of Stroud in Gloucestershire (recently voted the “hippest” place in England outside Montpellier in Bristol) is always worth a visit, particularly on Saturdays when the market is held. Lots of choice of local food (and drink). It was … Continue reading →

Two recent musical evenings: one at the local monthly jazz club to see an excellent gypsy-style Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grappelli band, Swing from Paris; then, as a lifelong Dave Brubeck fan I couldn’t miss his son, Darius’s, quartet playing in Saint … Continue reading →

South of Weston-super-Mare, I’ve photographed this western end of the Mendip Hills before, but it’s always worth the climb from sea level, if only for the atmospheric abandoned 19th-century fort, jutting into the Bristol Channel (now documented on info. boards, … Continue reading →

These “whales” were last seen at the Bristol Harbour Festival, 2015. They are now further down the River Avon at a new Avon Wildlife Reserve site, alongside the Portway.

On a damp day on Walton Common we needed all the help we could get to start the bonfire: