Advent is the season observed in many Western Christian Churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term is an anglicized version of the Latin word adventus, meaning ‘coming’. Advent is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, […]

Shadowlands is a 1993 biographical film about the relationship between the Oxbridge academic C. S. Lewis and the American poet Joy Davidman, her tragic death from cancer, and how this challenged Lewis’ Christian faith. It is based on an 1985 television production and an 1989 stage adaptation of the same name. The original television film […]

I have just celebrated my 70th birthday! Originally the plan was to go to Sicily for a week – to follow the Inspector Montalbano Trail – to mark such a significant birthday. However the weather is not that good, even in Sicily, this time of the year so we have postponed this venture until next […]

Back in the 1960s, whilst a student at Spurgeon’s College, I was privileged to study under the Rev Dr George Beasley-Murray. At that time George marked papers for London University. One day he told us that he had received a paper to mark and discovered that the only thing written on the said paper – […]

It is our last day on our wonderful campsite at Le Porte de Limeuil on the banks of the River Dordogne. Tomorrow we will be packing our tent away for a final time and starting our four day meander back to Caen, and the ferry home to the UK, after nine glorious weeks here in […]

One of the favourite pastimes amongst a good number of our fellow campers here at Le Porte de Limeuil campsite – situated on the banks of the River Dordogne at Limeuil – is ‘tubing’ down the river from just above the bridge into the town right down to the farthest point of the beach that […]

The beach is quiet now, almost deserted, with just one or two people paddling in the shallows about 50 yards away from where I am sitting. It wasn’t always the case today. Earlier this morning there were lots of people swimming, paddling, playing about on inflatables of various sizes and descriptions, or just lying around […]

‘Quick! Quick!’ cry the children, ‘You have got to see this!’ We all rush from our tents and caravans and there are the children – Jasmine and Charlie, Daisy and Megan, and Ewan – with a dragon!? Well, it is actually someone dressed up as a dragon, but it is still a very good dragon. […]

We are sitting outside our tent enjoying the early morning sunshine after a night of rain. We are drinking our first cup of tea of the day. Jasmine (aged 8) comes over to talk to us. Jasmine is camped with her family on the pitch opposite ours. We have moved campsite again – this time right […]