UK Archives - Encircle Africa

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Anthropomorphic taxidermy

By Ian M Packham September 16, 2018 September 1, 2020 Latest, My writing, UK

4 minute read This taxidermy class is the most fun you can have with a dead mouse for The Londonist Continue reading

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One journey ends, another begins

By Ian M Packham October 18, 2017 July 6, 2023 Behind the lines, Latest, UK

Despite it being the middle of July, the weather was as dreary as when I had left the UK at the start of this journey in mid-September. A chill wind whipped across the waterfront at Calais, tearing at my hair and hastily-found jumper. The history of the town – British… Continue reading

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Message in a bottle

By Ian M Packham July 14, 2016 March 9, 2021 Adventure, Latest, UK, Walking

A few months ago when I was walking from the barren northernmost point of the Isle of Man at the Point of Ayre back towards some sort of civilisation along the lonely cold beaches, with only unrecognised seabirds and the very real risk of rock falls to keep me company… Continue reading

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A night on the Fens

By Ian M Packham June 16, 2016 March 9, 2021 Adventure, Latest, UK

Living in Cambridge has its advantages: friendly Nobel Prize winners, a near complete absence of hills, and countryside almost everywhere. So it doesn’t take long on my bike to end up in a small village of thatched cottages surrounded by fields where it will forever remain circa 1953, only with… Continue reading

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On Man

By Ian M Packham May 17, 2016 March 9, 2021 Adventure, Latest, UK, Walking

The Isle of Man may not be the most exotic place to begin an adventure, but it has its advantages. It is close by, friendly in an I’m-not-too-keen-on-strangers sort of a way, and spectacularly beautiful. It is the sort of beauty that really doesn’t come out in photographs and which… Continue reading

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Adventures at The Open Book

By Ian M Packham April 14, 2016 March 9, 2021 Adventure, Europe, Latest, UK

When everything is open to you: opening hours, displays, shelving even, where do you start? Not with a rhetorical question, according to one of my old English teachers. The name of Wigtown may not trip off the tongue in the same way as Hay-on-Wye, but since 1997 the former county… Continue reading

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Lost islands: A day on Ely

By Ian M Packham December 9, 2013 March 9, 2021 Europe, Latest, UK

After Cambridge, the road barely changes in height, with no noticeable rises or dips. As the landscape makes its slow conversion into water-saturated farmland, the only height amid the fertile arable land comes from stacks of hay climbing high on Ministry of Defence land. Driving through the landscape, with water… Continue reading

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Birmingham: taking its rightful place at the top table

By Ian M Packham October 31, 2013 March 9, 2021 Europe, Latest, UK

Since the First World War almost one hundred years ago, Birmingham has generally been considered Britain’s second city, though in recent years it has looked at risk of losing the unofficial title. The childhood home of Tolkien itself took the title from Liverpool – the ‘second city of Empire’, and… Continue reading

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Writing on the buses

By Ian M Packham September 8, 2013 March 9, 2021 Africa, border, Encircle Africa, Europe, Gibraltar, Latest, public transport, Spain, UK

There seems to be a publishing equivalent of waiting for buses: I wait weeks for a bit of my work to move from the ‘accepted’ pile, only for two pieces to make it to the ‘published’ pile in a week. However long it takes, it’s great to see my name… Continue reading

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On running

By Ian M Packham September 1, 2013 March 9, 2021 Adventure, Latest, philosophy, UK

I certainly wouldn’t have started recreational running (I say ‘recreational’ since I’m neither quick nor elegant) if I made any money from foot modelling. What made me start was a need to get out the house, improve my fitness, and counter my consumption of cake, biscuits, and any other foodstuff… Continue reading

Category: UK

Anthropomorphic taxidermy

One journey ends, another begins

Message in a bottle

A night on the Fens

On Man

Adventures at The Open Book

Lost islands: A day on Ely

Birmingham: taking its rightful place at the top table

Writing on the buses

On running

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