I’ve recently been to see the film Tolkien about the early life of the great author who created The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. As one who has loved the creations of Tolkien, both his writings and his art, since I was at university, I looked forward greatly to seeing this film. IContinue reading “Film Review: ‘Tolkien’ 2019 Film Starring Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins: A True Picture of Tolkien’s Inspirations?”
Category Archives: English countryside
Film Reviews: ‘Tolkien’ 2019 Starring Nicholas Hoult
I’ve recently been to see the film Tolkien about the early life of the great author who created The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. As one who has loved the creations of Tolkien, both his writings and his art, since I was at university, I looked forward greatly to seeing this film. IContinue reading “Film Reviews: ‘Tolkien’ 2019 Starring Nicholas Hoult”
Book Review: “The Making of Us” by Sheridan Voysey
Here’s a book which should appeal to those of you who feel as if you’ve reached a point in your lives where all that you hoped for has not been achieved; maybe it seems you have to let go of your dreams; and perhaps you simply don’t know where to go from here. The MakingContinue reading “Book Review: “The Making of Us” by Sheridan Voysey”
Great Gardens of England: Hidcote Manor Gardens, near Chipping Campden
A great garden is an image of paradise, in more than one religious outlook. Perhaps this is because within such a garden, all the very best of the natural world is taken by human ingenuity, and then gifted and skilled gardeners weave their own design and creativity into it. Our dreams become realised through aContinue reading “Great Gardens of England: Hidcote Manor Gardens, near Chipping Campden”
Stoneleigh Abbey – a Glorious Restoration and a Fascinating Historical Tour
We recently made another visit to Stoneleigh Abbey, very near where we live in Warwick: a stately home that has been beautifully restored since it was devastated by fire in 1960. Originally home to an order of Cistercian monks granted land by Henry II in 1145, this later evolved into a gracious seventeenth century residence,Continue reading “Stoneleigh Abbey – a Glorious Restoration and a Fascinating Historical Tour”
Stoneleigh Abbey: A Setting to Inspire Jane Austen for Her Novels
If this be error and upon me proved I never writ nor no man ever loved. Shakespeare: Sonnet 116 Certainly, among novelists living and working in the centuries following Shakespeare’s outpourings of genius, it can most truly be said of Jane Austen that if anything she wrote be error and upon her proved, then sheContinue reading “Stoneleigh Abbey: A Setting to Inspire Jane Austen for Her Novels”
Hattton Locks, Warwick: The Stairway to Heaven
I have long felt that canals are like a parallel world, a shining ribbon running through our towns and countryside, often hidden from us by lush greenery. All the haste and anxiety and stress of our frantic, driven lives seems to melt away for those climbing the steps down to, walking alongside, boating on, orContinue reading “Hattton Locks, Warwick: The Stairway to Heaven”
The Throckmortons of Coughton Court, Warwickshire: A Family Forever Linked to those Who Conspired to Murder their King
Approaching Coughton Court, the ancestral seat of the Throckmortons, near Alcester in Warwickshire, we may admire the mellow sandstone sixteenth century house with its dramatic battlemented gatehouse tower and lovely timbered north and south wings. In front is the most exquisitely laid-out garden packed with abundant lavenders. Everything about this house and its surrounding groundsContinue reading “The Throckmortons of Coughton Court, Warwickshire: A Family Forever Linked to those Who Conspired to Murder their King”
Felix Dennis, Eccentric Millionaire Poet – a Man with a Vision for the Future, and Founder of a Great Forest in the Heart of England
In an age of information where we are bombarded with news and facts and false facts and opinions, both genuine and prejudiced, I find we tend to select our own blind spots, to filter out the onslaught. Which is why, sometimes, although something and somebody can be publicised hugely in innumerable ways, it’s still possibleContinue reading “Felix Dennis, Eccentric Millionaire Poet – a Man with a Vision for the Future, and Founder of a Great Forest in the Heart of England”
The Power of a Picture: the Burton Dasset Hills Country Park, Warwickshire
It’s said that an image is much more powerful than words; which is rather a shame for authors who write books that don’t have any pictures! And so an author’s alternative is to paint a picture with words. Because, as author Isamu Noguchi says, We are a landscape of all we have seen. In myContinue reading “The Power of a Picture: the Burton Dasset Hills Country Park, Warwickshire”
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