From blossom trails to bluebell woods, and foraging to farm stays, here are some of the finest seasonal getaways
Category Archives: travel
10 of the best British walking festivals
This year’s hiking events cover everything from vineyard strolls to foraging safaris and coastal routes with spectacular views
New life buzzes from all directions: why Pembrokeshire in spring is a nature-lover’s dream
South-west Wales is a naturalist’s playground, and early spring is the perfect time to explore its coastal paths, wild flowers and treasured birdlife
Pogo Stick Marathon – Morocco
An extract from the book – Sports the Olympics Forgot.
=========
The modern pogo stick was invented just after World War I, although there is some debate as to whether it was first created in America or Germany. The German inventors were Hans Pohlig and Ernst Gottschall and the first two letters of their surnames do make the word POGO. A German patent was registered in Hanover in March 1920.
Pogo stick racing has been gaining in popularity in recent years, but the longest race for pogo stick competitors was started in 1970 by a group of backpackers in Essaouira in Morocco. They started pogo sticking along the Atlantic coast in the late 1960s and even tried reaching Marrakech but the wear and tear on their sticks was too great. In April 1969, one of the backpackers Kevin Duffner of Great Britain pogo sticked all the way to Ounagha, a distance of around 25 kilometres, without stopping, other than for a drinks break
The pogo stickers sent out word that the first world championship of pogo stick racing would take place on April 6th, 1970 from Ounagha, down to the coast at Essaouira. Around 200 competitors duly arrived for the event and were transported to the start of the race in camper vans. At 7am the starter shouted “Yeah, you can start now, if you want” and the contestants headed towards the coast at a speed of roughly 2.5 miles per hour.
Ahead of the racers a VW van crawled along the road looking out for stray sheep or donkeys and making sure they didn’t interfere with the race. Interested Moroccan bystanders watched the progress of the racers with some incredulity but didn’t get in anyone’s way. Another VW van brought up the rear and acted as a drinks van and ambulance for those who couldn’t continue. A dozen volunteers also walked along by the side of the racers and gave them drinks if they were thirsty.
The winner of the first race was Herbie Jones from Adelaide in Australia in a time of 5 hours and 49 minutes; he was one of only eighteen finishers as most people found the physical effort too much and decided to walk to Essaouira instead. Jones was surprised to win: “Yeah, for sure it was a surprise, especially as I didn’t practice that much, but I am a fit guy – I run marathons and halfs – so I have the endurance and this isn’t as tough on your legs as running, but the jarring on your back can be bad, so I think between now and next year’s race I will be doing some core work to make me stronger.”
After this first race, the organisers decided to introduce a rule that people couldn’t get off their stick and either walk or run a certain distance before getting back on their stick. From 1971 onwards, anyone who started to walk or run had their stick confiscated and took no further part in the race.
Herbie Jones conditioning for the 1971 race obviously worked as he won again in 5 hours and 46 minutes. 350 people entered the race and 39 finished despite a small crash on the outskirts of Ounagha when a contestant landed on a small rock and was pitched sideways into four other racers; despite their bruises they all continued with the race.
The biggest accident was in 1976 when a donkey carrying firewood saw another donkey on the other side of the road and headed towards it to attack; the donkey knocked over a dozen people with its firewood, three of whom had to go to hospital for concussion-related injuries.
There have been considerable improvements in the construction of pogo sticks in recent years, which has meant that the winning time for the race has come down by nearly thirty minutes since 1970. The record time is now 5 hours 18 minutes, set by Henry Morganeau in 2012, his third victory in the race. He celebrated by jumping 10 feet on his stick and clearing the banner at the finishing line. Of the 782 entrants in 2013, all but five finished the race, showing how fitness levels have improved.
Kevin Duffner has seen every race since 1970 and is amazed at how fitness levels have improved and how professional every racer is. “It shows how the race has changed; in this year’s race not one person was smoking weed before, during, or after the race. In 1970 everyone was on the wacky baccy during the race and I miss that, the smell as you head towards the Atlantic – it used to keep me going.” The winning trophy, the Duffner Cup, is named in Kevin’s honour.
10 of the best UK country pubs for a winter weekend
From the wilds of Exmoor to the blustery beaches of Northumberland, these characterful pubs offer walks on the doorstep, a pint by the fire, dinner and a bed for the night
10 of the best UK country pubs for a winter weekend
From the wilds of Exmoor to the blustery beaches of Northumberland, these characterful pubs offer walks on the doorstep, a pint by the fire, dinner and a bed for the night
Travels through History
I have written six books about the history of places I have travelled to. If you are interested in history and / or travel then you should check out these books. Please bear in mind the books are travelogues rather than travel guides and so cover only the places I visited.
They are as follows:
Armenia is full of monasteries, fortresses, and people who are passionate about their past. The traveller is always aware of the importance of religion and history in this little-visited country, whose only open borders are with Georgia and Iran. In the UK, I describe visits to Leicester, Derby, Manchester, Bristol, and Cardiff.
A truly fascinating part of the world. Most people are familiar with Provence and the Cote d’Azur, but Languedoc and Roussillon have much to offer, especially if you like mysteries and the history of religion. There are spectacular castles such as Montsegur, Peyrepertuse, Queribus, and Puilaurens, there are the cave paintings at Niaux, and the restored citadel at Carcassonne.
This book keeps it simple and covers nine Greek Islands: Symi, Patmos, Samos, Syros, Paros, Tinos, Delos, Mykonos and Rhodes.
A series of essays about visits to the murals of West Belfast, the award-winning Titanic Centre, The World Heritage Site of the Giant’s Causeway, the seven little-visited stone circles at Beaghmore, and the dramatically situated Dunluce Castle perched high on the cliffs in Antrim in Northern Ireland. There are further stories about the island of Lewis and Harris, Edinburgh, Dryburgh Abbey, and Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland.
The North Macedonians build a fountain and upset the Greeks. Villages on the road to Lake Ohrid fly Albanian flags instead of North Macedonian ones. Kosovan taxi drivers believe fundamentalists are being sponsored in their country by former foes. Dubrovnik is so popular a one-way system is now in operation on the city walls. In Sarajevo, the place the First World War started is not easy to find, but evidence of more recent atrocities is. Memories are long in The Balkans, contrasts and contradictions are all around. History is always in your face, reminding you nothing stays the same for long in this most fascinating corner of Europe.
This is a travelogue about my visit to certain parts of the North-East of England and all the history a visitor can see in a very short time. Places vary from the large city of Newcastle with its iconic bridges across the River Tyne to smaller gems such as Durham with its magnificent Norman cathedral. Tourists can find Roman ruins in abundance and large, modern sculptures along with lovely market towns, small villages with a Brigadoon feel to them, and vast swathes of open countryside that hasn’t changed since The Romans looked northwards from Hadrian’s Wall.
Where on Earth?
These places will NOT be found an any map or in any atlas.
This book describes a large number of little-known tourist sights from around the world. A book for the discerning traveller who has been everywhere else.
Read about the earwax museum called Monsieur Tussauds in London and the unhappy beaches of The Maldives. Discover small islands in the Pacific, Atlantic and Mediterranean. Read reviews of little-known museums in England and Canada.
East Uist, just to the West of South Uist, is a mysterious place. In amongst the peat bogs, crow-filled craggy peaks and lochans, archaeologists have found evidence of stone circles and cromlechs that were built on artificial platforms about two inches in height. The theory is that the people of East Uist were practising their skills gradually and learning from their mistakes on smaller projects, before heading off to the Orkney Islands where much larger and higher platforms were required.
I’ll level with you – I truly love Britain’s flat landscapes
Shingle beach, drained farmland or a bare plain under huge skies; flat spaces distort distance.
Google Reviews
I’m not sure if you write reviews on Google for places you’ve visited both at home and abroad, but it would appear the AI algorithm used to check the content has some very strange rules. I’ll provide two examples:
The first is my review of Avenida station in Lisbon, in which I said that “Avenida is on the Blue Line and is one stop north of Restauradores.” This was referred back to me by Google as not meeting their guidelines. I played around with the text and found that the problem was with the words ‘Blue Line’. I referred to ‘Blue Line’ as that’s the colour the line has on the maps.
The second is my review of the St Roch church in Lisbon. I wrote that ‘after the austerity of Alcobaca, this is a reminder of the wealth of The Jesuits’. Again this was referred back to me as it didn’t meet the guidelines. I played around with the text, thinking the wealth of the Jesuits had caused the problem, but no it was the ‘austerity of Alcobaca’ that I had to remove before the AI algorithm would accept it.
Julian Worker UK Blog 