Category Archives: travel

smells like we’ve all all been here before – maybe.

Posted on November 3, 2025 by j futrell

All of it seems so, well familiar. I barely make a turn without knowing, or think I know that I’ve been there before even though in all probability I haven’t. Or there is the possibility that I have. Could it … Continue reading →

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The case for porkies – Harlyn House

Posted on August 2, 2023 by j futrell

  I knew I was going to like this place the second I heard Little Feat’s Dixie Chicken coming over the tannoy; one of several notable firsts at The Pig. That’s not entirely true because I knew I was going … Continue reading →

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Taking To The Hills – Malvern

Posted on January 25, 2022 by j futrell

  The most significant change to my life since being dumped from The Sunday Times by a man with a name synonymous with lavatory cleaning is no longer automatically being shown the best room in the hotel. Nowadays I must … Continue reading →

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no goodbyes

Posted on November 5, 2021 by j futrell

Friends and those on the fringes of friendship don’t walk out on you overnight, they just sort of fade away, like sunsets. Okay, there’s a handful of I would and have crossed to the other side of the street to … Continue reading →

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Coronavirus – a September view from Padstow

Posted on September 28, 2020 by j futrell

Kim and I went blackberrying today to an evidently not-so-secret spot near Constantine Bay: our source heavily pre-picked by the look of the denuded brambles.  It had been chilly when we left the house, passers-by in puffa jackets and woolly … Continue reading →

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coronavirus – an April, May and June view from Padstow

Posted on April 2, 2020 by j futrell

June 12, 2020 With everyone and his dog claiming that ‘lockdown’ is somehow making us better more caring people with an enhanced sense of community is overlooking the bald fact that it’s also turning us into caricatures. Today Kim and … Continue reading →

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The Quiet Life – or a hell of a holiday by Robin Banks

Posted on November 19, 2019 by j futrell

  I ought have known something was wrong when the guest I was expecting insisted on the telephone that I am a “nasty person”. The woman, her mother and partner, had flown down for a short break and wanted to … Continue reading →

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where am I? A very meaty issue?

Posted on October 31, 2019 by j futrell

I don’t know how many times I have driven east towards London over the course of 25 years on the A303, passing Stonehenge making for the M3? Let’s settle for 150 times, it can’t be far off. So imagine how … Continue reading →

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The last Port Eliot Festival?

Posted on July 30, 2019 by j futrell

  I was surprised at how much I enjoyed what may easily be the very last Port Eliot Festival.There was a look and feel and smell amid and among the rolling grounds, woodland and elegant Port Eliot House and gardens … Continue reading →

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Never Not Never Go Back – a taste of Viareggio

Posted on June 1, 2019 by j futrell

My life is one of stringent rules: Never wear aftershave; always polish my shoes; stand up for elderly people and women with young children on the London underground; never vote tory; spread the jam on top of the cream upon … Continue reading →

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