When I visited York last year, I wasn’t there for the winding cobbled streets or the dramatic cathedral. Instead of my usual haunts, I took a trip into the Howardian Hills to stay at Ampleforth Abbey. Some might think a Benedictine monastery is too peaceful a setting for a writer who spends her days thinking…
I recently had the immense pleasure of attending Stockport Noir, a fantastic crime fiction event held at the Masonic Guildhall. There was something undeniably delicious about sitting in a room decorated with ornate Masonic symbols while discussing the finer points of fictional murder and the darker side of human nature! Hiding in Plain Sight Freemasonry…
I recently spent a wonderful afternoon at Belvoir Castle—pronounced “Beaver”, for my international readers! It is one of those classic English linguistic traps that we locals take great delight in. While the name translates from the French as “Beautiful View,” the earthy British pronunciation reminds us that our landscape is often far more rugged than…
There is nowhere in the UK—and perhaps the world—quite like Burgh Island. Sitting just off the coast of South Devon, it’s a place governed entirely by the moon. When the tide is out, you can walk across the golden sands from Bigbury-on-Sea. But when the tide rushes in, the island is severed from the mainland,…
I have just returned from a stay at Dunkenhalgh Castle in Lancashire, and I must confess, I spent far more time peering into the shadows of the long, velvet-carpeted galleries than I did relaxing by the fire in the lounge. While the building is now a magnificent hotel and spa, the grit of its 13th-century…