A journal by Peter Hargreaves
We left Luang Prabang by van. Unwisely, I offered to sit in the back of the van and, as the journey continued, felt increasingly travel-sick. It was a good road to avoid cycling on, as road and landscape had been desecrated by China Power damming the river valley. From mid-morning we were back on Bikes … Continue reading South East Asia (mostly) by Bike Part 2 Luang Prabang to Hanoi
Tim Cresswell is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Edinburgh. He considers the meaning of place for geographers, philosophers, artists and architects. He explores radical ideas in geography, for instance “Queer Places” and the occupation of Tiananmen Square, Tahrir Square, Cairo and Wall Street as significant moments of protest at significant places. I … Continue reading Review: Place; an Introduction by Tim Cresswell second edition (2015) Assessment 9 out of 10
Fleeing the Atlantic storms in January and February, Anne and I travelled extensively in SE Asia. Initially, we flew to Chiang Rai in NE Thailand, where we enjoyed a couple of tourist days. We had arranged to meet our friend, Jill, who joined us with two companions during a break in their course on yin … Continue reading South East Asia (mostly) by Bike Part 1 Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang
Angkor Wat is a truly impressive world heritage site. The central temple covers 1.6 sq km, apparently the world’s largest religious shrine. However it is only the most visited place in a sacred landscape, comprising 1,000 temples and shrines, and extending in an archaeological park over 1,000 sq km, some eight times the size of … Continue reading Angkor Wat; Cycling through a Sacred Landscape
A Jersey Heritage pamphlet lists the 12 best known Megalithic Sites in the Island. Société Jersiaise’s website records a cycle route linking 11 sites, which it owns, of which 10 are included on the Heritage pamphlet. The route has been accepted as a European Megalithic Cultural Route. I have been asked to help develop the … Continue reading Megalithic Traces
On the Friday after Christmas, with friends from Jersey Canoe Club, my son, Jonny, and I descended the slope below Sorel, St John. Our destination was the square rock pool known as Le Lavoir des Dames. It appears around 2 hours either side of low water. Its regular shape means it was thought it might … Continue reading Le Lavoir des Dames and other stories
A work of reflection, in which the Chinese-American master, Yi-Fu Tuan, looks back on his life. He considers how ideas in, and the idea of, China and the United States have affected territory and landscape. In China there was both cosmos and hearth. Chinese élites looked down on the peasantry who were attached to their … Continue reading Review: Cosmos and Hearth, a Cosmopolite’s Viewpoint by Yi-Fu Tuan (1996) Assessment 10 out of 10
The Book was generally well received, although some took to Nietzsche more than others. Wendy said she found it easier to read after first reading “Nietzsche – A Very Short Introduction” by Michael Tanner on N’s philosophy, then returning to the Biography. She also found N misogynist, his constant change of genres frustrating, indicative of … Continue reading Discussion: I am Dynamite; a Life of Frederich Nietzsche by Sue Prideaux (2018)
An extended study in political and cultural history Cycling across the harsh and beautiful wilderness which is Namibia and the northern Cape Province of South Africa, you occasionally come across a well-maintained dorp, or small town. The remaining Afrikaner population found there, while very much in the minority, are tough, humorous and welcoming. These people … Continue reading Review: the Afrikaners; Biography of a People by Hermann Gilliomee (2003 expanded 2010) Assessment 9 out of 10
A work of great scholarship. Published over 30 years ago , it is a Book on which the authors had worked for the previous 30 years. It was produced in a limited print run. I had sought to acquire a copy, but this proved impossible. in 2017 the Societe Jersiase produced a Second Edition, which … Continue reading Review: Jersey Place Names: A Corpus of Jersey Toponymy Volumes 1 and 2 by C. Stevens, J. Arthur, J. Stevens and F. Le Maistre (1986) Assessment 9 out of 10
Of Books, Bikes & Islands 