Grand Union Canal, Paddington Arm – urban kingfishers


Continuing the route taken a few weeks ago, I kayaked from Park Royal to Little Venice  today, as the conditions were good. I’ve cycled along this route every week over the last year, so it was nice to see everything at a slower pace. And I was rewarded with a Kingfisher sighting near Kensal Rise Cemetery. Just a blue flash, but I’ll take that as a definite! The canal does appear to be cleaner along this stretch, so there is obviously enough food to support it.  

Fromelles Military Cemetery


Fromelles and Rue Petillon Commonwealth War Cemeteries in the Somme region of Northern France. It is quite sobering seeing how big some of these are. And also finding the large number of small sites, where soldiers were buried fairly close to where they fell. From 2010, where the first Commonwealth War Graves Commission for over 50 years was constructed at Fromelles, after the discovery of 250 British and Australian soldiers buried near Pheasant Wood. These were casualties of the Battle of Fromelles in 1916. 1. Rosa ‘Remembrance’ at Fromelles and pink roses at Rue Petillon. 2 & 5. Fromelles 3. […]

Rosa ‘Remembrance’ at Fromelles and pink roses at Rue Petillon.

Beth Chatto biography


Pleased to see my portrait of Beth Chatto used on the cover of her biography, written by Catherine Horwood. The book will be launched in September 2019 at The Garden Museum, but is available to order in advance on Amazon, or from the publisher, Pimpernel. (Sorry for being old fashioned, but the term ‘to pre-order’ is just wrong!).

Print tests


Paper tests. If you still miss rummaging through the stationery in Woolworths, pay a visit to Shepherds Bookbinders in Victoria. More paper stocks than you can dream about! Uncoated and not meant for inkjet printers, but some produce lovely soft-tone monochrome images. But make sure you test ;-).