by Valerie | Jul 31, 2014 | art, General interest, history, travel
Rain from a grey Italian sky has brought me inside from gardening; it has put me in mind of what we humans do to the earth’s surface. Or non-humans, for that matter. A few years ago I was a ‘hanger-on’ at a conference in Paris. It was on the 18th-century architect... by Valerie | Jul 23, 2014 | childhood, General interest, people
It’s good to know your presence is needed for grandchildren, and that it leaves time for you to have your own life. We’re just back from Daniel’s first proper birthday party, shared with a friend Jago, a week older. (Here they are being photographed... by Valerie | Jul 16, 2014 | 1950s, childhood, General interest, history, people, travel
I had visited Nymans before, but it was some time ago and I liked the idea of wandering through gardens in the south of England on a lovely summer’s afternoon. And so we did. The roses were stupendous in the walled garden, but I seemed to be impelled towards... by Valerie | Jul 7, 2014 | art, childhood, General interest, history, museums, people, travel
We’ve climbed the tower which the eccentric William Beckford built so he could escape from the social whirl of early 19th-century Bath to contemplate, in solitary brooding, the hills around the city, the Mendip hills of the Neolithic inhabitants long before the...
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