The day the clocks go back brings a sense of disorientation. This is a story about how I overcame a cold and lethargy to go for a cycle ride, my destination the ruins of a church in Clophill, Bedfordshire. Old buildings evoke past lives, yet the church’s sad history includes vandalism and decline. Ultimately, cycling uplifts the narrator’s spirits, making the day worthwhile.
Tag Archives: History
Revisiting the Hardy Tree
A return trip to the Hardy Tree in St Pancras Old Churchyard, associated with author Thomas Hardy. It was created when gravestones were piled around an ash tree during the 1860s. After contracting a disease, the tree fell in December 2022. This is what it looked in June 2025…
Church-crawling
A post all about “church-crawling,” visiting churches for the purposes of their architecture and other feature, a term possibly originating from poet John Betjeman. I confess to being a church-crawler. This church is St Mary Magdalene’s church, a 14th-century site maintained by the Friends of Friendless Churches.
Tyburn
A walk from the Old Bailey to Marble Arch, the route once taken by executed prisoners, marking the site of Newgate Prison and Tyburn Tree, notorious for mass executions. Despite the gruesome past, memorialization is minimal, highlighting the stories of the forgotten.
Capturing Time: Photography in Hertfordshire
A reflection on capturing time through photography, in the Hertfordshire countryside. I visit an ancient church tower, symbolizing decay and history, and the Greenwich Meridian line, which represents the human construction of time. The photographs taken aim to encapsulate this interplay of time and landscape as I journey through history.
Photographing the over-photographed
How do you photograph something that has been photographed many times? Here are a few ideas.
Easter Sunday
A cycle ride in Dorset on Easter Sunday to hunt out the spirit of a place.
St Giles Bicknacre
On a country lane in Essex a few miles south east of Chelmsford a lych gate stands amongst the trees. Behind the lych gate is an almost uniform set of gravestones which reveal a tragic story, but also a story of passion and devoted caring.
Good Friday
At Easter 2023 I spent a few days cycling in Dorset, exploring a few of my favourite places in the south of the county. Here is the first of a short series of articles on the each of the rides. On Good Friday I headed out east to explore some of the county’s literary and artistic associations.
Greenwich
A visit to Greenwich to explore some of its lesser know landmarks