Newquay is coming back to life

Newquay is starting to wake up and come out of winter hibernation. Easter is early this year, which brings the start of the season forward. People who went away for the winter are starting to trickle back. The main pubs and bars are getting livelier. On a sunny weekend with decent surf, there are more […]

What dropping out means to me

I’ve just come across a very thoughtful essay about “dropping out” by a chap called Ran Prieur. It chimes with a lot of things I have been thinking about in recent days. I don’t always agree with or entirely understand everything in the essay but it is so good (and all too rare) to be […]

The 2007 season is over

We’ve hit September and the season is over, as suddenly as nightfall in the desert. It builds and builds from Easter onwards until the peak on the August bank holiday weekend - and then everyone goes home. I was out in Newquay a couple of weeks ago and the bars were packed. Last night I […]

A trip to London and some yoga

I had to return to London last week to see family. I hadn’t planned to be back in the big smoke so soon after leaving, and if I hadn’t been so eager to see my sister and little nephew, I wouldn’t have bothered. Here is the handsome young fella, wearing a little t-shirt I bought […]

Sunshine and showers - from London to Porth

This describes my mood as much as the weather, on Monday 2 July, my last full day in London. The day began sunny (in all respects) as I hit upon the idea of going with my mother to the Anthony Gormley exhibition Blind Light, about which I had heard good things. Serendipitously, it was half […]

Taking my leave of London

I’m recovering from a whirlwind of leaving do’s, phone calls, messages etc over the last few days. It has been great, actually - an opportunity to meet up with people I haven’t seen for a while and bring different groups of friends together. Like Giles and Arvind here, who have never met before but are […]

People coming to stay

I’ve had quite a few friends and family talk seriously about coming to stay over the next few months. Far from being a lonely retreat where I lock myself in a room and work on my masterplan, I may spend the summer entertaining.
Of course, this would be great, as I am excited to share my […]

No longer a Londoner

I moved all my stuff down to Newquay at the weekend. It was an epic day as it took about seven hours to drive there. I had my youngest sister, Ellie and a man-with-van, John to help me. John turned out to be a super guy, which was a relief as we had to spend […]

Cornwall - hotbed of terrorist activity

Apparently the Cornwall National Liberation Army is threatening to firebomb the Cornwall restaurants of celebrity chefs Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver. As Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant is just up the road from my new place, I could be in danger. And I thought I was leaving all that behind in London!

Leaving do’s

Finally I’ve managed to cobble together an effort to organise a work leaving do, with just over two weeks to go. There must be a psychological reason why I’ve left this so late.
As for a personal leaving do, I feel that I ought to have one but I will have that awkward situation of having […]

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