Almanac: How to scare a storm away

The air is heavy when we awaken, there must be a storm coming. I open the skylights and a sudden gale whistles down the stairwell. My autistic 11 year old, still in pyjamas, is absolutely delighted. He sets up directly underneath the velux with an old Thomas the Tank Engine book and watches as the…

Almanac: Winter Days – Trains, Flooding and Bird Song

When driving through the countryside in Charnwood we watch out for a line of steam trailing through the fields and up beyond the hedgerows. If we spot it, we will make a diversion for the heritage railway station and watch the train pull into the station. We had a lucky day, this January, and managed…

Almanac: The Old Treehouses

Just a short journey from home there are vast acres of parkland, with rocky outcrops, banks of bracken, gentle streams and, near the top of one of the many rolling hills, a cluster of trees known in my family as “the treehouses.”  These are ancient trees that are hollowed out with many years of rough…

Almanac: Waiting for spring – stream walking the forest

When the forest paths turn to slippy, ankle-deep mud in the winter months, we like to take our four children stream-walking.   This is one of the forests to the north of the village we live in and we like to visit after heavy rain, when the tiny streams are full and running much more…

Almanac: Finding the Sleeper Bridge

It strikes me that being the youngest of four boys is a tricky thing.  You get swept up along with the rest of the family from the moment you arrive.  So every few days, I like to take our youngest for a walk, just the two of us, and see where he chooses to go….