October 2012 – STUFF HAPPENS

Notes on Exmoor’s local names

“There are many locally distinctive names for landscape features: ‘ball’ for a rounded hillside spur such as Wimbleball, which means the ball where the windle grass grows; ‘cleave’ for a steep valley side such as Myrtleberry Cleave, which is the cleave where whortleberry grows; ‘gut’ such as Great Hangman Gut, means a gully; ‘girt’ such […]

Notes on Skyfall

My friend Luke Douglas-Home, freelance film maker, journalist and well-known Bond aficionado, recently attended the premiere of Skyfall. Here is a short report to whet your appetite: “In the first 10 minutes you’ll think ‘this is a James Bond film back to form, the intricate splendour of settings, character and plot From Russia with Love […]

Notes on Al

A couple of weeks ago I found myself in Long Island staying at a country club. It was a prosperous, old fashioned sort of place surrounded by acres of woodland and a beautiful golf course. I was the guest of a member who generously organised for us to stay in a cottage just a few […]