I leave Zennor on a road that turns into a track that turns into a path. The sun is out and revealing the brown and green coat of the land and the grey rocks that people every part of this landscape. My step and mood are lighter today. What a difference a day can make.Continue reading “SWCP. Zennor February 14th 2023”
Author Archives: James Rogerson
Curry Rivel March 14th
The rooks are raucous today in the trees opposite the farm. I can hear their constant squawking all the way up the path past the tennis court and to the top field. The hawthorn trees along Holden’s Way are suddenly snowy now with their little star shaped flowers. Their petals dot the path like confetti.Continue reading “Curry Rivel March 14th”
SWCP – Zennor. February 13th.
It’s February half term and I’m back in Cornwall, back on the coast path. I’m staying at The Tinners Arms pub in Zennor in a little room next to a dead end lane which looks directly onto the small, squat tower of the church and an ancient wall made of great blocks of granite soContinue reading “SWCP – Zennor. February 13th.”
SWCP Zennor February 14th
I woke in the middle of the night, got dressed and let myself out of the old building attached to the pub. There was a wind whipping the ivy on the granite wall just outside my bedroom window. Behind it the squat block of Zennor church was silhouetted against the sky; stars burned above itContinue reading “SWCP Zennor February 14th”
Curry Rivel February 7th
It’s below freezing once again outside the cottage. I had an extra blanket, a hot water bottle and socks on in bed last night. The heads of the hydrangea outside the front door are brown and sagging while underneath them the heads of snowdrops bow in unison offering some hope of new life amongst theContinue reading “Curry Rivel February 7th”
The Slow Walker – Muchelney January 7th
As I arrive at the bridge over the River Parrett at Muchelney the near world transforms. The sky and abundant water are granite grey while lines of greens and oranges of the grass and plants are thrown into vivid detail and shocking brightness by the sudden emergence of the sun. The colours are saturated; theyContinue reading “The Slow Walker – Muchelney January 7th”
Night Walks Clifton December 15th
It is minus 2 and going to drop to minus 6 later tonight. It’s clear and the stars flicker at me up above. Am I feeling Christmasy yet? Well I haven’t done any shopping yet but that’s normal. The roofs of the cars glitter on Pembroke Road. Ice meanders across a bonnet like the metalContinue reading “Night Walks Clifton December 15th”
Curry Rivel December 13th
Minus temperatures outside and the finest dusting of snow in the garden, on the walls and my newly made log pile. When I look at the sky it reminds me of Ronnie Blythe’s line ‘the clouds are full of it.’ It’s got that dirty grey colour to it while the sun is a pale presenceContinue reading “Curry Rivel December 13th”
Curry Rivel December 7th
The day is clear, cold and bright. Marie drops off a truck load of wood from Wiltown Farm and we talk about the cold and the rising price of everything including the wood. She has three hundred sheep now. The price of a lamb has gone up from £70 to £150 but so has theContinue reading “Curry Rivel December 7th”
Curry Rivel December 6th
It’s cold but clear. The pale face of the moon is up already in the blue sky in the east looking a bit aghast at how early it is for him. It’s quarter to four. The air is cold on my hands and legs. The owl and the pussycat barn is only a hundred metresContinue reading “Curry Rivel December 6th”
Curry Rivel November 29th
There is a freezing fog this morning that cloaks everything and doesn’t shift the entire day. It brings a dreamlike quality to the world – nothing is quite as it seems. Straight lines of gossamer connect the saddle stone outside my front door to the bin – they look like silver tightropes. The air isContinue reading “Curry Rivel November 29th”
Night Walks, Clifton Nov 17th
The air is cooler now and out with the scarf and hat for the first time in six months. Yes, the air has more of a bite as I step onto Pembroke Road. The leaves – crisp and beige like parcel paper – scuttle along the pavement. They mass into drifts that gather under theContinue reading “Night Walks, Clifton Nov 17th”
The Monarch’s Way Charmouth September 18th
It feels like late summer: the wind is cooler but the sun still has its strength. Swallows flit overhead flying in arcs showing the white of their breasts. They always seem like they’re having such fun. Suddenly the buzz of a bee is a loud shock in my ear before it drones clumsily away. OutContinue reading “The Monarch’s Way Charmouth September 18th”
Night Walks Clifton November 9th
In the village for the turning on of the Christmas lights. Someone says a melodramatic prayer and the lady Lord Mayor makes a speech. Isn’t it all a bit early? I like Christmas but not if I’m bashed over the head with it everyday for two months. Bah! It’s buzzing tonight. Little pockets of mostlyContinue reading “Night Walks Clifton November 9th”
SWCP. Portheris Beach to Porthmeor Sept 11th 2022
I don’t sleep well above Pendeen Cliff. I keep waking up. I’m aware that other people are sleeping next to me and one person is clinging onto me. I wake up and have that horrible immobility which seems to last ages as I try to move in my twisted sleeping bag. The person huddled upContinue reading “SWCP. Portheris Beach to Porthmeor Sept 11th 2022”
Night Walks Clifton to Portland Square November 1st 2022
There’s a sheen on Pembroke Road. Cars splash past and the electric squeal of Voi scooters whistle along at their fixed limit of 10 mph. On Oakfield Road a family of pumpkins, their crooked smiles forlorn after the revelry of last night, stare from their place on a low wall. The beeches are still inContinue reading “Night Walks Clifton to Portland Square November 1st 2022”
The slow walker. SWCP Porthmeor October 24th
I disembarked from the pilot cutter, Mascotte, at Falmouth yesterday at 5 pm. I spent two nights in the sumptuous mahogany panelling of that old beauty and two long days sailing from Falmouth to Fowey and back again. When I got back to my car I booked a last minute room at The Beach ClubContinue reading “The slow walker. SWCP Porthmeor October 24th”
Night Walks Clifton October 21st
Going to The Christmas Steps to meet a friend of a friend. The wind is fresh – truly autumnal – and there’s been a sprinkling of rain on the streets. The leaves are still mostly on their branches. On Oakfiekd Road the copper beeches whisper to each other like waves as the clouds scud overContinue reading “Night Walks Clifton October 21st”
Night Walks. Clifton Oct 12th
It’s relatively mild outside the flat. There’s a moist stillness in the air. A three quarter moon bangs over Buckingham Vale blurred by a veil of cloud. the road is unusually quiet for a city. A car passes vaguely like an old memory. Someone laughs somewhere. The first yellow leaves are under the apple tree.Continue reading “Night Walks. Clifton Oct 12th”
The Monarch’s Way, Charmouth September 18th 2022
Driving along the lanes of South Somerset and Dorset, the road is lined with union jacks at half mast as well as the now ubiquitous blue and yellow colours of Ukraine. Beside the A35, before I descend the steep hill to Charmouth, a Jolly Roger hangs limply, the skull staring blankly above his bones. It’sContinue reading “The Monarch’s Way, Charmouth September 18th 2022”
The Slow Walker 