Travel
I'm lucky enough to travel a lot but I also aim to understand a place in some depth. So I like to find out about the local history, sociology, wildlife and local arts. I prepare for a trip by looking up photos of the famous sights, they're usually a good guide both about the local visual interest and also a warning of what has already been done or over-done.
I try to use the tools of modern photojournalism and photography to communicate how I feel about a place. You’ll see that I have used Portrait, Street, Interior, Historical, Abstract, Landscape, Historical, Wildlife, Phone-camera and Selfie genres at different times for specific effects.
My thoughts on driving a hired Fiat Grande Panda LaPrima Turbo 1200 ch for a week in the Alps and the South of France
The Grande Panda LaPrima is the SUV version of the ubiquitous Fiat Panda, the resemblance stops with the name, the shape is SUV not the blocky half-van seen on rural school runs and farms. There’s no way this is a “Panda on steroids”. It’s high, the profile is SUV and looks big, so is competitive in the arms race of road presence. Visually striking, the Grande Panda LaPrima turns heads. The style is blocky, like a Lego car. It looks like it might go off-road but it’s very much a suburban SUV.
Read more: Giant Panda - Fiat Grande Panda LaPrima Turbo 1200 ch
A small beach on the Mediterranean on the Côte Bleue, west of Marseille. Multi-coloured box beach flats, wild birds and a sandy beach.
Lowgill Viaduct carried the Ingleton branch line from the West Coast Main Line to Sedbergh until the railway was dismantled in 1967. Lowgill Viaduct is within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Arnside is on the estuary of the River Kent, which feeds in to Morecombe Bay. The estuary is inside but Arnside is just outside the Lake District National Park.
Also available in black
2026 PEUG 208 5H12 GT (2026)
So now I’ve had a few days with these hired 208 GT cars, this model is on my “Can I have one of those again next time please” list. Precise on the road, holds the line on bends. Gearbox smooth and positive. Fully petrol, the engine idles at 800 and red lines at about 6000 but seems less willing after about 5000. But 5000 is enough and there’s a lotta fun between 3000 and 5000 so confident on overtakes. Pedals a bit close together, that’s a Peugeot speciality. Peugeot 205 and 206 had that. Heater and aircon controls OK. So not a bad one.
Major disruption on my travel on the West Coast Main Line, said to be Europe’s busiest mixed-traffic railway line. The train was held for more than two hours whilst railwaymen from the permanent way division tried to clear cattle from the tracks just south of Rudgeley in the Trent Valley. It looked like a whole herd had strayed on to the railway going for the untouched grass; the railwaymen cleared many of them in to adjacent fields but a group of four and another group of three remained nonchalantly munching the fresh grass besides the tracks. Eventually the train I was on proceeded at caution (5 MPH) until the area was passed and we encountered all the trains waiting in the other direction.
