Belinus#2: Of Chapels and Cairns
It is no more than a thirty-minute drive from where I live to the Clava Cairns. Or if, like me, you have no car, it is half an hour on foot into town, followed by another half hour on a bus, then a near-hour long walk on side roads and through wooded glades, to reach the Cairns. If you are busy, then this seems like a total waste of time. But . . .
Dr. Rashid Buttar, With Thanks
I was saddened and more than a little shocked to learn a few days ago of the death of Dr. Rashid Buttar. He was just 57 years old.
In case you do not know of Dr. Buttar, it can be put in a nutshell: he was one of the good guys. A man of courage and integrity, with the interests of all life at heart. 
I first became aware of . . .
Blog#55: Heretics, Part Three
Part One
From early 2020 I found myself embracing a far wider range of sources within the field of 'alternative' or 'independent' people and media than had been the case previously. Needs must, I suppose....
Since then, I have found a galaxy of courageous souls, prepared to sit up and speak what they consider to be . . .
Blog#54: Heretics, Part Two
In September 2021 Martha and I stayed for a few days in Edinburgh. It was unusual to be in Edinburgh at that time of year; typically accommodation is so expensive that it's out of the range of folk like us. However, in September 2021 many people were feeling the after-effects of spending much of the previous eighteen months as voluntary . . .
Blog#53: Heretics, Part One
Part One
It was Easter recently. When I was a kid, this was a time for eating, not to say pigging out. On Friday, there were hot cross buns. Nowadays you can buy hot cross buns all year round, but then they were a treat reserved for not-so-good Friday.
I would have recovered from the bun feast just in time for the main . . .
Blog#52: A Summer's Walk
I guess I was sixteen when I decided to walk the Pennine Way. It was 1969, and this long-distance footpath had been opened only four years beforehand. It was early days, and I felt something of a pioneer. Nowadays, I believe, most of the trail is clearly waymarked, and some is all too stone-and-concrete. In 1969, however, large . . .
Belinus#1: The Scottish Border Lands
Part One
Monday March 20th, this year. 2.50pm. My wife, Martha, and I catch the train heading south. In our case, 'south' means Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders.
There is a reason for going right now. It's the last chance before much of Scotland becomes too expensive for us to stay there. Until November, most likely.
. . .
