Category Archives: Grey Britain

Symi: looking back, connections and a bit of history.

Posted on October 22, 2012 by BarryH

Those who followed my ramblings while I was in Greece may remember photos of a flower which we found growing in profusion on the last walking day on Symi at the beginning of October.   I had no idea what it … Continue reading →

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The Llyn Peninsula: looking for variety.

Posted on October 15, 2012 by BarryH

For the last week I have been on a ‘travel and landscape’ writing course at the Welsh National Writers’ Centre at Ty Newydd near Cricieth on the south coast of the Llyn Peninsula, an area of Wales I have never … Continue reading →

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Surreal change to Autumn: A backward look from a cold climate to the Hot Rock.

Posted on October 7, 2012 by BarryH

The last few days on Symi were unusually hot and sunny for the end of September and beginning of October but there were signs of Autumn approaching. From Panormitis Monastery on Monday a strange layer of cloud could be seen … Continue reading →

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Manchester, Kos, Nisyros …. it’s all Greek to me

Posted on August 27, 2012 by BarryH

I travelled Up North en route to Greece on Friday.  If that sounds counter-intuitive, travelling north to go south, it was simply that I was flying from Manchester with the great bonus of seeing friends and family up there before … Continue reading →

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Greece: getting ready

Posted on August 19, 2012 by BarryH

In less than a week I’ll be back in Greece.  I can’t wait to leave the grey skies behind. Still desperately trying to sort the garden out before I go I finally managed to rescue the potatoes from the sodden … Continue reading →

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Looking back, looking forward: time warping

Posted on August 7, 2012 by BarryH

After two weeks of proper summer the weather has reverted back to grey and wet …. at times very wet. My efforts to get the garden back under control are now slotted-in between showers, waiting for the ground and foliage … Continue reading →

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Just add sunshine: gardens, cacti, thistles, Brecon Beacons, trig points.

Posted on July 30, 2012 by BarryH

Summers in Grey Britain aren’t as hot and sunny as they used to be.  Or are they? Is it that the pattern of summer has changed or it just that our memory of the past is coloured by a good … Continue reading →

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Getting the grey out of my brain: Kinder Plateau, trespass and a lot of history

Posted on July 18, 2012 by BarryH

After climbing Cadair Idris in Snowdonia on Friday, I stayed with my daughter and her husband in the Manchester area and, with a better-than-expected weather forecast, on Saturday I headed for the Peak District. I was brought up in Salford … Continue reading →

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Getting the grey out of my brain: Cadair Idris on a grey day

Posted on July 15, 2012 by BarryH

Concerned that having just arrived back from 2 months of completely new and very interesting experiences and activity in Greece I am determined that I do not want to slip back into old habits.  I need to inject new challenge … Continue reading →

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New habits dying hard: greyness in the brain

Posted on July 10, 2012 by BarryH

Whether we like to think so or not, habits are an integral part of life for most of us.  Apart from anything else they are the lubricant which we use to cope with the boring, everyday stuff.  It is also … Continue reading →

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