I’m delighted to be able to bring you the cover reveal for my new book, Paranormal Warwickshire, which is due to be released by Amberley Publishing on 15th November 2020. I’ve been looking forward to this for several months, as I wondered which of the photos (taken either by myself, by my son Jamie orContinue reading “Cover Reveal: ‘Paranormal Warwickshire’ by SC Skillman”
Category Archives: buildings
Australia and New Zealand Mini Series Part 22: North Island, New Zealand: An Artistic Vision Arising from New Zealand's Worst Earthquake in 1931: Napier, and Hawke's Bay
This is the twenty-second in my series of short reflections on different places in Australia and New Zealand, as experienced during my November 2019 visit. Today is the sixth of my posts on New Zealand’s North Island. In my last post I wrote about our visit to the enchanting Lake Taupo. From Lake Taupo, weContinue reading “Australia and New Zealand Mini Series Part 22: North Island, New Zealand: An Artistic Vision Arising from New Zealand's Worst Earthquake in 1931: Napier, and Hawke's Bay”
Australia and New Zealand Mini Series Part 18: North Island, New Zealand: Paihia and the Bay of Islands; and Kawakawa and its Famous Hundertwasser Landmark
This is the eighteenth in my series of short reflections on different places in Australia and New Zealand, as experienced during my November 2019 visit. Today is the second of my posts on New Zealand’s North Island. In my last post I wrote about West Auckland and the spectacular beaches of Karekare and Piha .Continue reading “Australia and New Zealand Mini Series Part 18: North Island, New Zealand: Paihia and the Bay of Islands; and Kawakawa and its Famous Hundertwasser Landmark”
Australia and New Zealand Mini Series Part 13: Bellingen, Charming Small Town in New South Wales
This is the thirteenth in my series of short reflections on different places in Australia and New Zealand, which I visited in November 2019. In my last post I shared some stories about the history of Hat Head National Park and Smoky Cape Lighthouse on the New South Wales coast. Making our way north fromContinue reading “Australia and New Zealand Mini Series Part 13: Bellingen, Charming Small Town in New South Wales”
Australia and New Zealand Mini Series Part 12: South West Rocks, New South Wales – Hat Head National Park and Smoky Cape
This is the twelfth in my series of short reflections on different places in Australia and New Zealand, which I visited in November 2019. In my last post I shared some stories about the history of Trial Bay Gaol at South West Rocks, and today I write about Hat Head National Park and Smoky CapeContinue reading “Australia and New Zealand Mini Series Part 12: South West Rocks, New South Wales – Hat Head National Park and Smoky Cape”
Australia and New Zealand Mini Series Part 11: South West Rocks, New South Wales – Trial Bay Gaol and Charlie’s Ghost
This is the eleventh in my series of short reflections on different places in Australia and New Zealand, which I visited in November 2019. In my last post I shared my thoughts about the beautiful, dreamlike seascape and wetlands surrounding the Urunga Heads Boardwalk on the Coffs Coast region of the New South Wales northContinue reading “Australia and New Zealand Mini Series Part 11: South West Rocks, New South Wales – Trial Bay Gaol and Charlie’s Ghost”
London Scenes Through Different Eyes
I visited London one day recently and whilst there took the opportunity to do a bus tour of the city. London was my home in the past (in the Bayswater area) for eight years. Also I was a regular visitor from Orpington during my childhood and teens, since I lived twenty five minutes train rideContinue reading “London Scenes Through Different Eyes”
The Foundling Museum, London: Poignant History of Those Working to Overcome Eighteenth Century Social Injustice
Few things in this world can be more heartbreaking than a lost, abandoned or mortally-endangered child, in a world where there is precious little compassion or social justice. Some of our most well-known archetypal stories play into this fear: Babes in the Wood is one, and Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel or TheContinue reading “The Foundling Museum, London: Poignant History of Those Working to Overcome Eighteenth Century Social Injustice”
The Royal Naval College Hospital, Greenwich – Place of Refuge for Sick and Disabled Ex-Sailors between the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries
As you disembark from the Thames clipper at Greenwich you will enter a grand building in which is housed the excellent Visitor Centre for the Royal Naval College – built above the foundations of King Henry VIII’s favourite palace, Greenwich Palace. Magnificent and imposing as the college buildings are, they were used as a hospital toContinue reading “The Royal Naval College Hospital, Greenwich – Place of Refuge for Sick and Disabled Ex-Sailors between the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries”
Ian Hislop’s Search for Dissent: ‘I Object’ Exhibition at the British Museum – Brilliant and Cheeky Tribute to the Spirit of Independent Thought
Free will means that even in the most totalitarian regime, individuals keep within their hearts and minds their secret thoughts and views: but with ingenuity they will find a way of expressing it. When Private Eye editor and TV personality Ian Hislop stepped out of his Private Eye offices – as shown on video atContinue reading “Ian Hislop’s Search for Dissent: ‘I Object’ Exhibition at the British Museum – Brilliant and Cheeky Tribute to the Spirit of Independent Thought”