On Anglo-German Reunification and Reconciliation

A hundred years from the start of World War One, I’ve finally found the peg I’ve been seeking on which to hang my first Braynework blog post in nearly a year. It’s been the most extraordinary year, in which I left Cirencester and my former partner Sue, sold the beloved Wychcroft home which we bought in 2003, moved … Read more …

Forecast of 45mph headwinds – why am I doing this?

With departure set for the day after tomorrow, just 36 hours away, I was amused trawling old photos to find this first recorded evidence of my passion for spoked wheels. I guess I’m under a year on the left, and about three on the trike on right. The photos will have been taken in the summers … Read more …

Early MLB setting out in life

Continuing my journey back to the images of childhood, before setting out for six months on the road at 62, I can’t resist posting a couple of evocative pictures from the very early years, at Duckshole Farm near Holt in North Norfolk – causing my brother Hugh early grief, but already displaying the instincts of … Read more …

Looking Forward and Back

Having begun seriously to spread the word about the bike trip, including newsletters to EMDR colleagues and the Cantores Choir mailing list, I guess I need to start registering how the preparations for my own journey starting early April are coming along. Curious how looking back helps with the looking forward. As I peruse Google Maps … Read more …

Will We Save the World?

The occasional visitor to these pages may recall that last year, we installed a solar hot water system in our house in Cirencester. It’s worked brilliantly, meaning we didn’t need to use any gas at all through the summer and well into the autumn – admittedly helped by switching the Aga off as well (a beast … Read more …

Tandeming through the Berlin Wall, anno 1978

As Europe remembers the opening of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago this week, I can’t resist posting a picture of what it used to be like in the old days – as Jutta and I cycled through Checkpoint Charlie on a tandem. I was working for Reuters at the time, and we lived in … Read more …