City by the Sea – Le Havre
From the ship’s balcony, I saw the terminal, warehouses and shipping containers. Not the most inspirational aspect. Then, over the rooftops, I noticed scenery and a multi-coloured arch. A shuttle bus was laid on to...
Snippets of Edinburgh and South Queensferry
Some of the best views of our cruise greeted us as the ship sailed into South Queensferry. Illuminated at dawn, two of the bridges spanning the Firth of the Forth shone resplendently, and onshore, the...
Good All-Rounder
Inspired by the summer when my grandson and I grew pumpkins in a teeny patch in our garden, and in the autumn reaped a minute but joyful harvest. I was also thrilled to see the...
Beyond Invergordon
A church spire, craggy peaks and a gossamer of purple mist. All to be expected when sailing toward a town in the Scottish Highlands on the 9th day of our British Isles cruise. It was...
Tenement, Tearoom and Batman
Beautiful views of the River Clyde set the mood for the day as we disembarked from our cruise ship at Greenock and wended our way from the dock to the train station. Only a short...
Liverpool’s Beatles Trail
Yeah, yeah, yeah! The words shouted in my head as soon as I opened the curtains and saw Liverpool’s skyline and an extraordinary ferry crossing the Mersey on day six of our British Isles cruise....
The Port of Cork – Cobh
The weather was overcast, but that didn’t dull the Irish town’s charisma or our optimism. After disembarking from the Majestic Princess on the fourth day of our British Isles cruise, we arrived at the Titanic...
Precious Seashells
I bought the latest People’s Friend Special and was delighted to read a feature about collecting, including a piece about my seashells and the poem I wrote about them, The Gift of Shells. You might...
A Wander Around Weymouth
At last, I’ve been to Weymouth. A place on my ‘to-go-to’ list for decades. On day two of our cruise around the British Isles, Mr Word Loft and I disembarked at Portland and took the...
A Store of Memories
‘There it is.’ I pointed to the cherry-red frontage of Elliott’s Stores in Saltash, Cornwall. My eight-year-old grandson is enthusiastic about history, and I had told him about the licensed grocery that had closed and...