Permanent Collection

Banburyshire Rambles Journal, Beltane 2021:

‘Banburyshire’s Ancient Sites’ – A historic landscape to experience across the local area

In one sense this is a collection of memories. Of walks which produced some of my favourite photos. As I look through the images in my collection though, I realised it described something more. A skeleton; a super-structure of places on which the essence of the local landscape sits. Its collection of ancient sites.

Click here for the ‘Banburyshire’s Ancient Sites’ collection.

Banburyshire Rambles Journal,
Sunday 16^th June 2019:

To Adderbury Gathering… Without Distress

I skirt the town centre to Banbury Quaker Meeting House, and after checking for walkers it's time to head-off cross-country to Adderbury – via the ‘alternative route’. Flooding prevents use of the shorter, prettier route (precisely because it crosses the flat, wildflower-rich flood meadows). There's a brisk wind and the animated cloudscape promises heavy rain. I'm going to get wet!

Banburyshire Rambles Journal,
30^th April to 2^nd May 2019:

‘A Beltane Backpack’; Revisiting a once much-walked ancient landscape

Confined in bed for ten weeks after last November, I hatched a simple plan to get back into multi-day backpacking again: Wild camp for four days across the Wessex Downs; stopping only twice for water in Avebury and Marlborough; and all along the route, photographing as many of the lesser-known prehistoric sites as possible. 35 years after I first backpacked around the area, I’m looking forward to the walk with anticipation.

Banburyshire Rambles Journal, 20^th March 2019:

The Anomalous Megalith

Due to eye problems, from the end of November to the beginning of February I spent most of the time laid flat on my face in bed. During that time I still went on a lot of walks… in my head. Quite often those walks would come back to the same spot – one of my favourite local megaliths, The Hawk Stone. Given today’s auspicious astronomical events it seems a good day to visit it in person, and take care of another ‘anomaly’ along the way.

Banburyshire Rambles Journal, 14^th March 2019:

Betwixt the Nortons

As I leave Hook Norton it begins to rain again; hard. A steady fifteen or twenty mile-an-hour wind, gusting in wet squalls to thirty or more, is blowing. It’s been raining hard off-and-on for the last day or so. It’s nice to go out in weather like this, "because it’s there"; if only to check your wet gear still works for the time when you really need it. Rather than struggle in the mud of the wet valleys the best option is to find a long ridge, with a free-draining geology, to traverse. Today’s ridge walk, though, is rather special.

Banburyshire Rambles Journal, 1^st May 2018:

A Beltane Megaliths Trail

This walk started with a comment from a friend a couple of years ago. When I pointed out that there were far more megaliths in West Oxfordshire than just the Rollright Stones, he wondered if it were possible to walk to them. That thought has been in my mind ever since; today, as a fitting tribute to Beltane – traditionally marking the beginning of the ancient Summer – I thought I'd give it a go.