Railholiday Blog

I was recently incensed by an article in a mainstream paper. The columnist chose to use his piece to complain about how inconvenient and unpleasant it was to visit his father-in-law’s second home in Cornwall. He went on to say they used to go there for a week every summer with his family, but now […]

I have to confess, I have very mixed feelings about Christmas. I have always struggled with the spend-fest and waste element, which I think for many of us is stressful. The pressure for perfection, and having the best ever Christmas, only adds to the anxiety. It can also be a time when loved ones are most […]

I read an interesting article recently that suggested that we should forget about our own carbon footprint and focus instead on the places we work. I don’t entirely agree with the statement; I think our carbon footprint is something we own and can do something about. By working on our personal footprint we can learn […]

I’ve just come back from a weekend in London, where I, plus my husband and son, took part in a weekend of climate change action organised by Extinction Rebellion, raising the profile of the crisis and talking to people about what we can do. Because Saturday’s action included an Earth Day march, we chose to […]

Cornwall is a wonderful place; not only for the beautiful scenery and access to wildlife, but also for the people. I have often thought that although in Cornwall we tend to have low incomes, we have a better quality of life. Instead of expensive holidays, we have beaches at our doorstep to access at any […]

The journey to becoming more ecologically aware, and acting upon it, is a multi-faceted one. Sometimes it can be empowering; it feels good to do something positive. However sometimes it can feel lonely and frustrating. In these times I’m really glad for the support of friends who are on the same journey. I’m reading an […]

It’s certainly winter storm time, and the beaches are, as might be expected, full of plastic washed in with high tides. This needs to be cleared as quickly as possible, before it finds its way back into the water to play havoc with fish, birds and other sea farers.  Some of the plastics washed up […]

I love autumn. I love the turning leaves, the gentle rain, the windswept beaches and the bonus warm days, but most of all I love autumn for the harvest. Nearly thirty years ago my parents planted two hundred apple trees, and two fields of cobnuts and walnuts. At this time of year I find myself […]

I have to admit I start this column feeling furious. As you will no doubt be aware Rishi Sunak has agreed to over 100 new licences for drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea. Presumably he’s banking on securing a one-way ticket to Mars for his family, because these licences will undoubtedly worsen the climate […]

Inspired by a friend I’ve recently taken up jogging, using the free NHS Couch to 5k app. I’m not a natural runner; I’d much rather be out on a bike, but I figured it would help me to keep fit as I could slot in a 30 minute session from time to time into my […]