When a long, hot summer day ends with a light shower of rain, step out into the garden and inhale the aroma. You’ll detect the same odour when rain falls on warm silica-rich rock, or when damp ground dries under…

Yesterday, the day after my outing to Longnor, I drove two hours north to Howarth, famous as the home of the Brontë family. I’d been invited by the local group to do an evening’s storytelling; a good gig in the…

After our storytelling gathering in Buxton last Sunday (11th September), the organiser of the “Discover Buxton” tours approached me to ask whether I’d tell traditional local tales at one of the Village Walks she’d planned around the area. Netta is…

It hardly seems five minutes ago that the birch tree at the end of the lane opposite the hospital was coming into leaf. Now its leaves are turning ochre and the swallows are gathering, preparing for their long migratory flight….

Yesterday (10th September) was the start of the North Lees Hall Heritage Weekend. Since North Lees is rarely open to the public and the activities included a creative writing venture entitled “Take your Imagination for a Walk”, I went along,…

Racism is alive and well in “multicultural Britain”. Like most civilised people in the UK I hate to say it, hate to face the facts, because the facts are uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. Many of us respond to tales of racist…