A DOCUMENTARY on screen at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, on Wednesday 6th November at 7pm, offers a rare aerial perspective of the world’s longest man-made monument, the Great Wall of China, a spectacular visual journey from the Yellow Sea to the Gobi Desert. A Slow Odyssey: The Great Wall of China is filmed in…
A NEW festival celebrating the joys of travel and travel writing has been launched in Somerset, a year to the day before it will open on the Sparkford Hall estate in September 2020. The not-for-profit Vicarious Festival is described as a celebration of cultural diversity and the transformative power of storytelling. With patrons Joanna Lumbye,…
A NEW exhibition of photographs at Tyntesfield near Bristol offers an oblique but fascinating insight into the history of the National Trust’s Gothic Revival mansion and estate near Bristol. Photographer and academic Olli Hellmann has created the series of diptychs and triptychs, called Stow High in Transit, juxtaposing scenes from Tyntesfield and from the remote…
THE popular Banff Mountain Ocean Film Festival returns in September and October with dates at many local theatres, continuing at Wimborne Tivoli Theatre on 18th, Exeter Corn Exchange from 19th to 21st and Salisbury City Hall on 24th. October dates are at the Regent Centre, Christchurch on 2nd and 17th October, Weymouth Pavilion on 8th,…
WE went up to Edinburgh for a concert at the festival (John Eliot Gardiner conducting West Side Story, if you are interested, and it was brilliant) and stayed somewhere new to us – Portobello. On the Forth coast, between Leith and Musselburgh, Portobello is a slightly faded 19th century seaside resort that has not been…
MICHAEL Palin, actor, Python, traveller, comedian, writer and broadcaster is coming to Salisbury and Bath on 4th and 7th July with a show coinciding with the paperback release of his acclaimed history and travel book, Erebus: The Story of a Ship. The much-loved globe-trotter and television star will be at Salisbury City Hall on Thursday…
IF you thought Sardinia was just about sun, sea and sand, think again. It’s got all those glorious holiday basics, of course, but this Mediterranean island has plenty more to boot. It’s part of Italy, after all, so it was certain to have layers of history beneath its shiny surface, but it can also boast…
BANFF Mountain Film Festival returns for the tenth year, with screenings at many of this area’s arts centres and cinemas, starting at Poole Lighthouse on 13th February and Weymouth Pavilion on 15th February. The festival tour features two different collections of new films from some of the world’s most intrepid film- makers, starring pioneers and…
SOME of the country’s finest cheese makers, including Montgomery and Westcombe, will be featured on a special five-day tour, Cheese Journeys, introducing cheese lovers to the unique culinary culture of Somerset. The Cheese Journeys visit in April 2019 will include cheesemarkers and affineurs, and begins at London’s historic Borough Market, including a visit to Neal’s…
THE beaches of Normandy may resonate around the world with the history of the D-Day landings but before and since those momentous days of 1944, its sands have been associated with happier events. Just along the coast from the likes of Omaha and Sword, the little town of Trouville – correctly Trouville-sur-Mer – and its…