Steve’s Soujourns: Cruising on the West Coast of Scotland
The scenery of western Scotland has got to be to be some of the finest in the world. If you are very lucky you will see it from its...
Rachel´s Wanderings in Spain – 11 – Long and Winding Road and Stunning Views of Inland Andalucia
Now it´s been over four weeks since our new estate agency office opened its doors. We finally have received the furniture ordered at the beginning of August (see article...
Gareth Butterfield pokes round the cavernous new Vauxhall Combo Life XL
LOOK around any car supermarket these days and you’d be forgiven for thinking the once prolific MPV has completely disappeared from the options list. The SUV boom appears to...
Environment Issues: Cruise Ship Captain takes plastic problem personally
Seeing the problems caused to oceans and beaches by plastic bottles and other flotsam and jetsam prompted Captain Antoniou Leontios, Master of the Variety Cruises vessel Panorama II, to...
The transformation of Toyota Mirai from (very) ugly duckling to beautiful swan
IAIN ROBERTSON Something very positive has occurred within Toyota’s design department, suggests Iain Robertson, as the Japanese firm’s most recent run of models is not only stand-out attractive but...
A Place to Stay; Aspens BnB, Southborough, Tunbridge Wells
Ann and Peter Day, the owners of Aspens, were waiting to greet us and sat us down for a welcome cup of tea. We were exhausted after a day...
A Stranger in Vegas Public Us : Shakshuka with Za’atar
Breeze is sweeping the summer heat, it’s a good day for a café and a cigarette. It’s a good day to go public. “Public Us”, I don’t know if...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 9 The Fetish Market
Boar skulls, calcium white with worn teeth and small tusks, had been lined up with the same passion for precision as a greengrocer. Though they had no eyes, one...
Steve’s Sojourns; Cruising : Noble Caledonia’s new brochures.
Noble Caledonia have announced their latest brochure releases for land and cruise tours. If you are interested in a cultural river voyage for example there are details of their...
British specialist develops militarised Ford pickup
IAIN ROBERTSON Based at Shoreham, on England’s south coast, Ricardo Engineering has a longstanding and well-deserved reputation in the Armed Forces, explains Iain Robertson, which makes its special version...
More than pork pies in Melton Mowbray
Melton Mowbray, or just Melton, is a small county town in the north east of the English county of Leicestershire. It lies close to the picturesque Vale of Belvoir,...
Upgraded HS replaces outmoded GS in MG line-up
IAIN ROBERTSON As one of the Sino-pioneers into the UK new car scene, MG has enjoyed something of a head start over a rash of future Chinese brands, states...
Gareth Butterfield tests the Volvo V60 Cross Country
THE Volvo range is properly sorted now. In fact, you could argue it’s better than it’s ever been. We’re still waiting for a “small” car to replace the V40...
Trevor’s Wildlife Week. Rescuers Battle to catch Fox at 200 year old Martello Tower
RESCUE & RELEASE VIDEO: Rescuers from East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) were called to help rescue a fox which had fallen into the...
Steve’s Sojourns : Berwick-upon-Tweed
They used to be big on fighting in Berwick-upon-Tweed. In fact they once declared war on Russia. Probably no other town in Britain has had such a long and...
A Place to Stay : Mallory Court, Warwickshire
Nestled in the heart of Warwickshire, Mallory Court Country House Hotel & Spa is situated just outside Royal Leamington Spa and Warwick, home to the famous Warwick Castle, as...
Taxi Noir: Y Viva Espana
Many of us enjoyed a week or two away this summer. As ties with our European neighbours have become a bit strange with Brexit looming I was sensitive to...
Karl’s Chronicles; Article 8. Across the Volta, (well almost!)
Standing at the muddy shore of the milky brown waters of Lake Volta it became glaringly obvious, that any pretence of catching the Yapei Queen south to Akosombo was...
Loaded DS3 Crossback takes avant-garde route to compact car sector
IAIN ROBERTSON If you were moved by the swan-like DS7, as Iain Robertson was, then you will fall in love with the ‘ugly duckling’ DS3, as much for its...
Steve’s Sojourns: Under sail along the Italian Coast.
Splashes of warm Mediterranean spray rose up and slapped across my face as the bow of the ship dipped into the swell. Until that point, I had been blissfully...
Ford’s Ranger pickup truck benefits from rapturous Raptor package
IAIN ROBERTSON Following a growing trend for pre-packaged new models, according to Iain Robertson, the latest Ford Ranger Raptor tops the pickup truck lot with a seriously comprehensive specification...
Volvo’s roller-coaster ride rolls on with new XC90
IAIN ROBERTSON To be frank, Iain Robertson believes that ‘roller-coaster’ is inappropriate for Volvo Cars’ current and inexorable rise to the top, registrations of which are outstripping every luxury...
Tanks for the memories…
IAIN ROBERTSON If you have ever wondered what the five most powerful battle tanks in the world are, writes Iain Robertson, wonder no longer, as ‘’ has created a...
Don’t dump oil down drains.
East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service were called out on the morning of Saturday 28th September to a pair of swans covered in waste engine oil swimming in...
Steve’s Sojourns; Cycling in Greenland
Keen cyclists looking for ultimate bragging rights can really step up a gear on Swoop-Arctic’s six-day fat biking adventure across West Greenland in the Arctic Circle. Relatively few people...
Thoroughly British Bentley basks Bentayga in hybrid technology
IAIN ROBERTSON It is almost too easy to dismiss the latest Bentley SUV as an over-priced excess, writes Iain Robertson, when it carries a price tag of over £133,500,...
A Place to Stay; Premier Inn, Leek
Situated in a busy little market town of Leek in the Staffordshire Moorlands, this hotel features new generation bedrooms, each with an impressive 40″ flat screen TV, fresh new...
The torrents did NOT stop play at SMMT North!
IAIN ROBERTSON The supportive body of the UK Motor Industry, the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders Ltd (SMMT), hosts several events throughout every year that both Iain Robertson...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 7 Where The Wild Beasts Roam.
He jumped from the vehicle and pursued a trail through the undergrowth like a bloodhound on the scent of a fox. Reappearing minutes later, doused in perspiration with his...
Steve’s Sojourns; Emerald Waterways
Emerald Waterways has exclusively chartered a small-ship which has been designed to sail the Dalmatian coast from April 2020. Book one of its two insightful Dalmatian coast itineraries today...
Medieval Michelham Priory
I recently visited Michelham Priory, near Eastbourne, East Sussex. I discovered it many years ago on a school trip, and I fell in love with it as I was...
Origami ID.3 may have insufficient identity for the VW brand
IAIN ROBERTSON As the biggest car company in the world, Volkswagen has a notional responsibility to lead the new car market, opines Iain Robertson, although he is concerned that...
Gareth Butterfield drives Honda’s new hybrid CR-V
THERE’S a lot to like about the Honda CR-V. It’s a stylish, practical, comfortable and refined SUV that has evolved well and has become one of the best options...
Steve’s Sojourns: Jura, France
Thinking about walking and cycling in France? Before you book, have a look at the Jura Mountains on the Swiss border. Great scenery, fantastic food, superb wines and...
A Place to Stay, in the West Country
So you want to nip down to the West Country then? Why not amble down and stay in a series of hotels and get the full flavour of...
Taxi Noir: Cab Passengers
This week I’m going to talk about relations with the passengers I get in my taxi. I’ve talked a fair bit about the Knowledge of London and the part...
Volvo V60 T8 is a fast but frugal express
IAIN ROBERTSON Volvo’s mid-size executive estate car is a paradigm for both business and private motoring demands, writes Iain Robertson, providing space, pace and agility but now incorporating plug-in...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 6 Creative Minds
It doesn’t take long or with much effort to soon discover the various forms of artistic temperament beavering across this highly creative land. Ghana possesses a varied mantelpiece of...
Steve’s Sojourns; Cruising: APT launch new Myanmar River cruise.
APT have launched a new itinerary for their Myanmar departures River cruising and touring specialists APT have launched a new itinerary for their Myanmar departures which set sail from...
Serving the Ford-approved needs of the customised van scene
IAIN ROBERTSON You would be exceptionally myopic to miss the impact of the custom van scene in the UK, diagnoses Iain Robertson, epitomised as it is by a growing...