Exploring Swedish design in the context of broader Nordic design.
When attempting to define Swedish design it inevitably becomes enmeshed with the broader notion of Scandinavian design. Added to this is the fact that Scandinavian design is often confused with Nordic design. Yet…
...Also known as ‘Mucky Mouth Pie’.
Has there ever been a fruit with as many different names: wimberry, whinberry, winberry, windberry, bilberry, fraughan, hurtleberry, whortleberry, blaeberry, black-heart and myrtle berry (after the wimberry’s Latin name Vaccinium myrtillus)? They are…
A comparison of British and Nordic interior design styles.
British Interior Design Given a blank sheet of paper and asked to describe British interior design presents a somewhat awkward dilemma. Where exactly do you start? There is, in this writer’s opinion, no…
A brief look into the history of cocktails over the years.
Are you a purist; scientifically measuring and decanting, carefully studying the recipe? Or are you more relaxed; guesstimating a slug and hoping for the best? Or do you pretend to be ‘Bond, James…
Interview with Yvonne Green, Principal of the Boat Building Academy, Dorset.
One of the most iconic yet familiar embodiments of the triumph of mankind over nature is the boat, an invention borne out of necessity, dating back to prehistoric times. The expertise and craftsmanship…
An overview of the work of Irish-born designer Eileen Gray.
Eileen Gray was one of the early pioneering modernists and a designer whose work was without parallel and notably avant-garde. There are many remarkable luminaries of modern design. Famous surnames include Eames, Jacobsen,…
A wintry Valentines night alone 3,000 ft high on Pen y Fan.
I’ve just finished reading The Arctic Grail. Tales of slightly unhinged explorers in the 17th Century spending multiple winters in the high arctic in their quest for the North West Passage, it somehow…
Five tips on gold panning by a world champion gold panner - Vince Thurkettle.
It is not quite as dramatic as the Hollywood film ‘Paint your Wagon’, or quite as harsh as real-life prospecting would have been in the mid-1800s in Gold-Rush California, however, standing up to…
An overview of the work of Jersey-born glass artist, Henry Thomas Bosdet.
After being given The Glass Rainbow – a guide book to the art works of Henri Thomas Bosdet written by Aidan Smith OBE, I visited Jersey churches to view Bodset’s stained glass windows. …
