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A session collating more website content.

An enjoyable jam session with my friends Al Summers and Simon Farr.

Further website work with Darren Haines.

Overnight at Chatham ahead of Zac’s final Club100 kart races of the year at nearby Buckmore Park. An “OK” day, but not a great day. Roll on 2026.

An overnighter in London to catch the quirky Chicago-based alternative band Tortoise perform at the Barbican Hall.

A website session with Darren Haines.

A business trip to Versailles. No time to have a look around.

An overnighter at Frampton On Severn ahead of a Wiltshire Ornithological Society group visit to the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge. It was a good day, with many species seen.

A website session with Darren Haines. We’re getting there with all the content.

An overnighter in Bristol to catch Shaun Ryder’s Black Grape, supported by indie-pop band Dodgy.

A website session with Darren Haines in Warminster.

Happy New Year!. An early start watching the sunrise over the Imber Ranges, then a day of sorting and organising.

A visit to Poole and Sandbanks, for a Poole Harbour birding trip with some fellow members of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society. We got 69 species on the trip including rarities such as Spoonbill, Greater Scaup, Black Throated Diver, Great Northern Diver and Black Necked Grebe. Also, we visited Studland and had a good walk through… Continue reading 3rd – 5th January

A good night at the Cheese & Grain in Frome to catch (in order of appearance) The Gg, The Orb, the Ozric Tentacles and System 7 (featuring Steve Hillage). It felt like the old days.

A day trip into London by train, to catch a screening of a film about the late avant-garde guitarist Derek Bailey at the Barbican. Bailey was one of the pioneers of free improvisation and free jazz.

A website session with Darren Haines.

A pleasant stay in Dartmouth on the South Devon coast. We also enjoyed visits to Slapton Sands, Kingsbridge, Salcombe, Totnes and Kingswear just across the water.

A website session with Darren Haines.

A weekend of mostly organising and writing, with a brief visit to the Langford Lakes Nature Reserve on the Sunday.

Attending an “Evening With Damon Hill” (the 1996 Formula One Champion) at The Forum in Bath.

A website session with Darren Haines.

An excellent weekend trip to North Cornwall, staying at the fabulously located Scarlet Hotel. Amanda was pleased with her Christmas present! On the way home, we visited the Carnewas Viewpoint and Padstow.

Some evening website prep work.

Website and other project work with Darren Haines. Later, an enjoyable jam session with Al Summers at Matt’s 5-O rehearsal space. Matt also joined in.

Working on various website content, plus finalising a Dive Log book.

A morning visit to Langford Lakes, working on a long term writing based project, a bit of website content creating, followed by an late afternoon visit to the RSPB Ham Wall reserve near Glastonbury, to catch the stunning Starling murmuration.

A meet up with Darren Haines and Kimberley Watts to collaborate on a project.

Collecting my new machine, hopefully it’ll be the source of some more explorations of here, there and everywhere.

An overnighter in Glastonbury, with visits the following day to RSPB Greylake and RSPB West Sedgemoor (both flooded and inaccessible), and a lunch stop in Langport.

Catching jazz guitarist Bill Frisell perform with his excellent trio at the Wiltshire Music Centre at Bradford-on-Avon. A very warmly received performance from an appreciative audience.

A session with Darren Haines, working on website content and print materials.

A nice stay in the village of Sidlesham in West Sussex adjoining the salt marshes of Pagham Harbour on the South Coast. We enjoyed a couple of good birding walks on the edge of the marshes in the RSPB Pagham Harbour Reserve. Our accommodation at the Crab & Lobster at Sidlesham was really enjoyable, run… Continue reading 6th – 8th February

Working with Darren Haines on website content and other project work.

A flying visit to Ronnie Scott’s to catch Polish band Bloto, then a dash down to Chatham ahead of Zac’s opening Club 100 race. Good driving all day on his part.

An overnighter in London to catch the stunning Nigel Kennedy perform with a trio at Ronnie Scott’s.

A ride down to Fuzz’s place in Devon to spend a night. Good food at the Holman Clavel Inn in the Blackdown Hills.

1st Service on the new machine at Bahnstormer Alton.

Some project work with Darren Haines.

Catching Seb Rochford perform at St. Georges in Bristol with his band. Cool gig.

A weekend of birding in the woodlands and heathlands of the New Forest, based at Lyndhurst. On the Saturday, in warm early Spring weather, I embarked on a solo visit to the Clay Hill Heath area in search of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker sighting; though a sighting of this species eluded me, the Merlin app… Continue reading 27th February – 1st March

A visit to Morocco with Amanda and Zac, staying for the first two nights at Lalla Takerkoust (at the excellent Capaldi Hotel) on the edge of the Atlas Mountains, and for the final three days in nearby Marrakech. A great place to visit, shame about the chilly and rainy weather for the first two days,… Continue reading 3rd – 9th March

Catching up with artist friend Kimberley Watts, working on a project.

An evening visit to Bristol to catch Echo & The Bunnymen at the Bristol Beacon.

An overnight stay in Weymouth with Amanda. Our visit included walk around the RSPB’s Radipole Lake and Lodmoor Reserves, and watching Zac participate in his first half-marathon (the Weymouth Half Marathon) on the Sunday.

Website and project work with Darren Haines.

A late afternoon walk to Battlesbury Hill and back in fabulous warm weather. Lot’s of birdsong and Spring butterflies (Peacocks, Brimstones, Commas, Red Admiral and a Small Tortoiseshell.

An overnighter in London to catch Emma Jean Thackray perform at Ronnie Scott’s in Soho.

A sleepover in the New Forest at Burley, followed by a Wiltshire Ornithological Society group trip to Blashford Lakes near Ringwood.

A session with Darren Haines working on website content and other project work.

Attending Zac’s Club 100 Sprint 40 and Sprint 60 races at the Clay Pigeon Circuit near Yeovil. Some competitive driving on Zac’s part.

A walk along the lakeside in the Fonthill Estate near Shaftesbury. The Merlin bird identification app picked up a lot of species, though seeing them was difficult due to the poor light and their elusive nature. Of the highlights were Hawfinch, Common Crossbill, Redstart, Willow Warbler, Grey Wagtail and Green Sandpiper – of these, we… Continue reading 29th March

A evening dash to London and back to catch elite drummer Chad Wackerman perform with his band at Ronnie Scott’s in Soho. Fabulous performance…

An evening jam session with friends Al Summers and Simon Farr.

An Easter visit to the South Downs, based at Dragons Green in the aptly named George & Dragon pub. During our trip, we visited the RSPB’s Pulborough Brooks reserve on the 3rd, took the train into London on the 4th to see the Madrid Philharmonic Orchestra perform a 100 years film score music centred around… Continue reading 2nd – 6th April

A website and project work session with Darren Haines.

An overnight stay in Lyndhurst preceded by a brief visit to Acres Down on the way down. In the evening, I passed the time working on a writing project. On the Sunday, I joined a Wiltshire Ornithological Society group trip to the Normandy Marshes Nature Reserve near Lymington. A good day, with 63 species seen… Continue reading 11th – 12th April

Website and project work with Darren Haines.

A mixture of writing, website work, and a ride to Devon to visit the Yarner Wood National Nature Reserve with Fuzz on the edge of Dartmoor near Bovey Tracey.

A weekend of collating images, writing and updating content for this website, and also bits of time on other writing related projects.

An overnighter in London, to catch the Australian jazz-fusion guitarist Frank Gambale perform with his band at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club. A fabulous performance was witnessed! Also, I had bit of time to hone a bit of content for this website.

A few hours organising, planning and doing a bit of writing.

A long awaited (Covid delayed) visit to the Bahamas in search of the Great Hammerhead and other sharks at the remote Tiger Beach site off Grand Bahama with Epic Diving. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any Great Hammerheads, but we did get to dive with the incredible Tiger Sharks, some as large as 15ft long. It… Continue reading 16th – 28th February

Website work, writing, testing underwater photography equipment and packing for the Bahamas

An overnight stay in Lyndhurst with Fuzz, who also wanted a chance to see the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. We diligently searched the Clay Hill Heath area (site of my previous week’s success), but it produced no sightings. I don’t know if it was the weather conditions (mild, but overcast), but the bird action in general… Continue reading 10th – 11th February

A return visit to the New Forest, again staying at Lyndhurst in search of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. And on the third attempt in 2023, on Sunday 5th February at 9.52am…..I found it! It was in the Clay Hill Heath area. I was very happy – a “bucket list” species ticked off. I had a… Continue reading 3rd – 5th February

An overnight stay at Lyndhurst in the New Forest followed by a search for the elusive Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the Clay Hill Heath and Rushpole Wood areas – a “bucket list” species for me. I didn’t find it, but I’m intending to keep going until I find it.

An overnighter at Chatham, ahead of the season Club 100 karting season opener at Buckmore Parkin which Zac competes.

A weekend visit to Manchester by train, to catch the band It Bites. Whilst en-route and in town, there was a chance for a bit of writing.

A visit to Saundersfoot on the Pembrokeshire Coast of Wales. On the “home day” we had a quick visit to Tenby. A couple of bits of time working on writings whilst there.

A dash to Alton to replace a tyre on the R1200 GS Adventure.

Website content work and other writings, dodging between Coffee One branches in Warminster and Shaftesbury.

Making plans for the year of 2023

Three days based at Bewdley on the River Severn, close to the Wyre Forest where I spent two days looking (unsuccessfully) for the rare and elusive Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

 A weekend in Totnes (Devon) with our friends Heidi, Derek and Debbie.

A meeting to discuss the new website in Trowbridge.

A writing session at Brixham on Devon’s South Coast – working mostly on ideas for re-Wilding. I travelled down on the R1200 GSA.

A writing session based near Haslemere in Surrey – tidying up a feature about motorcycling Salisbury Plain, re-viewing website content, and starting a piece of writing encapsulating how Warminster and its’ surrounds might benefit from a re-wilding project, entered into by local inhabitants and landowners voluntarily.

At the 02 in Bristol to see the Sleaford Mods; riveting angry rants set against a catchy and danceable set of beats.

 A weekend at Globe Cottage in Weymouth, working on website content, and writing. Glad of the new tyres on the R1200 GS

A night in Bristol’s 02 venue, to catch quirky indie legends The Wedding Present. A good night.

 A ride along the A272, to stay overnight at Maresfield. Originally, I was supposed to be seeing guitarist Jan Akkerman perform with his band at the Trading Boundaries venue at Fletchling, but it was postponed again, this time due to a Covid outbreak amongst the band. It was a pleasant ride up and back nonetheless,… Continue reading 20th – 21st November

A ride up to Bahnstormer at Alton, for desperately needed new tyres.

Attending the Cheese & Grain at Frome to see Fish (former singer/writer) for the prog rock band Marillion (now a long established solo artist).

Our new “Diving Dreams” and “The Butterfly Effect” Calendars arrive from Doveton press. They look good, I think.

A visit to London for a performance from guitarist Ralph Towner at Pizza Express Jazz Club as part of the London Jazz Festival. Very glad to have caught this show.

An overnight stay in Southampton.

An overnighter in Sittingbourne (Kent) ahead of Zac’s final Club100 round of the season at the Bayford Meadows circuit. A decent day “at the office” for Zac.

A day of writing, choosing to sit in Coffee One in Shaftesbury to get things done. In the evening, a visit to the Wiltshire Music Centre at Bradford-on-Avon to see Afro/dub/electronica group Fofoulah.

A day of “admin” and planning for the end of the year and into 2023.

An overnight stay at Rye, ahead of our son Zac’s Club100 Kart race at Lydd.

An overnighter on the R1200 GSA in London, to see Linda Oh’s band perform at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.

Working on writings and website content.

A ride down to Plymouth (saying in a nice apartment by the Barbican) for few days of writing and planning. Although I was productive, more time would have been good!

Signed off the proofs for our new 2022 Diving Dreams and Butterfly Effect Calendars

A visit to Bournemouth and Sandbanks, before heading to adjoining Boscombe for the Manic Street Preachers – good gig, good sound.

The circuitous ride home from Weedon that took me via Lutterworth, Market Harborough, Stamford (stopped for a break), Peterborough, Oundle, Corby, Fermyn Woods (where I briefly stopped), Wellingborough, Olney, Milton Keynes, bypassed Buckingham, Bicester and Oxford, then Wantage (final stop of the day), Burbage, Pewsey, Upavon, Larkhill and Tilshead – a pleasant day in the… Continue reading 9th October

 A ride up to Weedon, near Northampton – Zac was originally supposed to be racing at the nearby Whilton Mill circuit, but it wasn’t to be. I couldn’t get out of the motel booking, so decided to ride up and make a day and a half’s riding out of it. The ride up took me… Continue reading 8th October

 A night out in Frome’s Cheese & Grain venue to catch the “punk poet” Dr. John Cooper Clarke.