Atlantic Thread

Good afternoon all! Hope this finds you well and happy. I'm writing from Plymouth, awaiting the ferry to Spain, and killing time, I happened upon the only remaining independent yarn shop (simply called haberdashery, and ruddy marvellous) in this city, which I've always been fond of. And now it is another name to embroider on the map. People slag Plymouth off, as much of the centre is a bit concrete jungle, and it's nightlife is sneered upon...but I've been here many times, and have always liked the atmosphere, and it has some lovely spots. It is the twin city of Brest, and both these naval ports were heavily bombed in the war by opposing sides...it's always the little people that suffer most in wars...all of us little people have complex lives and intricate connections, but conflicts and interference from the rich and powerful can swiftly turn any of us into a statistic. My last stop in Brittany was Morlaix, my favourite town in the world. It has a huge railway viad

Good morning all, I hope this finds you well and happy. I'm writing in the town square of Douarnenez (land and island in Breton). It's a beautiful bay with a large wooded island in the middle, hence the name. My ferry crossing was super smooth, and I was met in misty Roscoff, by my friend  Gael, who I was so happy to see. We were formative friends, sharing a flat together in Brest in the mid 90s when we were about 19. It's a time in your life when lots is happening...I was living in another country for the first time, and he was living in a city for the first time. Although we only see each otheevery few years, it's great to have kept in touch, and we went through some very good times and very bad ones together. Now we're in our 40s, some things are better, some things worse of course, we all know how it is....just as you get to more comfortable in your own skin, it's the body that begins to rebel...but we are both still here,and nothing has fallen off so we c

Good morning all! Hope this finds you well. I'm writing from my very cosy little cabin on the ferry leaving Ireland....quite blissful to know I have 15 hours of not carrying stuff, no buses to catch, nowhere to find (or not find) on Google maps...even though this quite a large boat, with lifts. So I left you last time in beautiful Bantry, whose natural harbour of course has always had strategic importance in times of sea travel and trade, having very long standing links with Spain and France. There is a strange impression in England that Ireland is kind of tacked onto the side of Britain, and that the larger island is the bridge between it and the rest of Europe, but this of course is not the case...not now with air travel, and even less with sea travel before it, and this is certainly not how Ireland is seen from the point of view of the rest of Western Europe and North Africa- Britain and Ireland are just two different islands to the North (or the South for the Norwegians). Mo

Good afternoon all! Hope this finds you well and not too battered by whatever storm or hurricane might be around you. I'm at a bus stop in Bandon, West Cork, waiting for a connection so now seems a good moment to update. I'm shattered, and it's very grey, and I don't feel like walking around, even though I've never been here before, but I'm not tired of Ireland. It always struck me as a little bit trite that quote, 'If you're tired of London, you're tired of life' If you're tired of somewhere or something you like, very often you're actually just tired, and you need a rest. So my last post left off on my arrival in Dingle, energised by the sea air. And it didn't disappoint, quite the opposite. I had a lovely campsite attached to Rainbow Hostel, which I couldn't recommend highly enough...lovely people and a very sheltered place to camp, which was just as well, as that night the remnants of Hurricane Helena arrived, and it was rat

Good evening all, I hope this finds you well. I am writing from a rather joyless seating area in a campsite just outside Killarney. It has been relentlessly raining since I arrived at lunchtime...but this is what makes Ireland so green... I'll begin as promised by the story of Ennis. There is no campsite there so I had booked my only bnb in Ireland there through booking.com. I followed my map to arrive at a suburban street...there was no house number on the booking so I asked a woman who was doing her garden. She told me rather exasperatedly that she had told her neighbour time and again to put up a sign and there were always lost looking people. I was a bit, oh no...it's an air bnb...I had been looking forward to sorting all my stuff out and repacking and relaxing, and really didn't feel like interacting with people where I was staying...and was hoping it wouldn't be a whole family...I was in good spirits but not feeling sociable. I called the number which was unob

Good afternoon to you all, hope this finds you well. I'm feeling very luxurious, just set up my tent and windy enough to properly do the laybag, so I'm basically lying down on an outdoor chaise longue, and hoping I can finish this long post before it starts raining again. Because I really don't want to get up. Travelling by bus from Galway to Ennis, the landscape totally changed quite suddenly ...from mountains to rolling greens....like going from the lake district to Shropshire. So many borders are utterly arbitrary and totally ridiculous, but I could really see where Connacht ended and Munster began....two of the four ancient provinces of this island. The trees, the light, the landscape- all very different. I left Galway rather damp from drizzle, and quite emotional...I visited the Cathedral....possibly the most beautiful building I can remember seeing...I lit a candle and said a prayer for my mum, and then went to the riverside and tied some red thread to a tree. maybe

Good morning to you all, hope you're well and feeling blessed and/or hopeful... It's a rainy morning here in beautiful Galway, and Atlantic Thread has finally begun! Of course, like everything, it's not gone exactly to plan...some things way better, others not quite so much! I arrived here in Ireland on Monday, at Shannon airport and smoothly took the bus to Galway and walked through its really beautiful streets in the drizzle to be welcomed wonderfully by the aunt and cousin of my close friend Monica. I felt very lucky to be staying in such a beautiful home and treated so kindly by strangers. Kathrein is an expert knitter and has made many beautiful things in all kinds of craft, so it was great to spend my first evening here with a kindred spirit. The next morning I set off for the Connemara...two hours by bus to Clifden through an awe inspiring landscape of lakes, ponds, mountains and shadows. Both days I was there were a mix of drizzle and sun, I guess the perfect

Good morning everyone, hope this finds you well, as the bitterweetness of autumn arrives. It's been a searing hot summer in Europe; not to everyone's taste, but I was quite keen, and I certainly miss it now it's gone...at the same time, it is much better weather for getting to sleep in a tent now! And so, it's nearly here- in 9 days time, I'm off to Ireland to begin the Atlantic Thread- so much planning and organising, so much thought and focus, worry about if it's going to work, and have put off writing this for a while as I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed- not so much about the travelling, but a bit more inwardly. My mum's health has been pretty bad over the summer, and I'm very anxious for her and about her, and about the rest of my family. Coupled with a busy work couple of months, and spending a lot of time on my military planning of this, that going on has felt very painful, and as you will all know, there is very little you can do about s