It was already dark when we reached Jetwing Surf. From Pottuvil on the east coast of Sri Lanka, a fleet of Tuk-Tuks ferried us to the little seaside hotel – the coach could not negotiate the narrow roads. With twenty cabanas in a seven acre coconut grove, Jetwing Surf looked pretty. We checked-in, sipped chilled…
Matara is a quaint seaside town hundred miles south of Colombo. The roadside Shrine of Our Lady of Matara facing the Indian ocean houses a 400 year-old statue of the Virgin which Catholics claim, is miraculous. It was found floating in the sea in a wooden crate by fishermen of Mirissa who handed it…
Friday We spent the 2019 August bank holiday weekend in London. The A1 was slow with delays, accidents and diversions and the drive from Harrogate took over six hours. Stuck in traffic, we ate cheese sandwiches, drank black coffee from a flask and listened to Ashes Cricket Radio 5. Eating Old Cow That evening we…
In the summer of 2019 we holidayed in Menorca for the first time The morning Jet2 flight from Leeds/Bradford reached Mahón, the capital of the tiny Balearic island of Menorca in two hours and fifteen minutes. Nick, Renu and Seren arrived fifteen minutes later on a flight from London. Nick drove the rented car…
The 2019 Fathers Day weekend was spent in London. On Friday, we took the A1 from Harrogate to London, stopping in Blythe for lunch. It was a warm and sunny in London, a perfect evening to sit on the terrace and drink G&Ts (London No.1), munching long, thin Catalan sausages. Lamb chops, asparagus and…
Wasgamuwa National Park in Sri Lanka was created in 1984 as a refuge for wild animals displaced by the Mahaweli Development Project which was a government scheme for generating hydroelectric power, controlling floods, making irrigation facilities for dry zone cultivation and developing physical and social infrastructure for human habitation using the waters of the Mahaweli River. The…
It was like no other Boxing Day We were in the little wine village of Kleinbottwar in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was 3 degrees below zero that morning but the air was still and there was no snow. Some from our party drove across the border to Austria to ski. The rest of us walked along…
It was a cold, crispy day in Harrogate and autumn leaves carpeted the Stray. One man’s greed engulfed Sri Lanka – the land of my birth, in the most serious constitutional crisis since independence from. British rule in 1948. It was also my birthday but there was no mood for celebrations. As tradition demands,…
It is a beautiful, sunny autumn’s day in Yorkshire. It is also Remembrance Day and a small group of us, old friends and colleagues, are having lunch together at the Golf Club. We sip Louis Roederer Brut and talk about old times. The table was already laid and at twelve thirty, John serves lunch.…
We spent the Spring Bank Holiday weekend in the little Cotswolds village of Notgrove. Our four-bedoomed farm cottage had all the mod cons. Robins frolicked in the garden and Roe deer peered at us from the hedge. One day, we hired Hasan, an Iranian chef to cook us a festive meal. He first served a…
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