Books and Cats Go Together

Monkshood / Wolfsbane

Monkshood, a.k.a. Wolfsbane, plays an integral part of the latest novel I am working on. It's a beautiful, but deadly plant! It is believed to have been used by Berserker warriors to increase their aggression and ferocity during battle. I found this particular specimen growing in the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

A Couple of Pics of my Writing Shed

Researching Viking Runes

Berserk! Story-boarding Chapter Nine

Berserk! Chapter Eight Done 'n' Dusted

Story-boarding and Writing Chapter 8

Raining in My Writing Shed

Sometimes, you just have to love the rain :)

  

Monknash and Nashpoint Lighthouse

I paid a visit to Monknash today. The path down from the village to the Jurassic coastline was billed as a beautiful secret walk on the internet, but the route was moderately busy in the Saturday sunshine. Along the track, which dips down from the Honesty Box car park (£3 at the time of my visit), I passed the ruins of Monknash Mill, and I spent a little time there to take the following photographs and make an audio recording of the trickling stream there:

 

It was on down to the beach then, where I discovered a rather lengthy strength of coastline, backed with a huge length of crumbling cliff that is apparently rich in ammonite and other fossils.

Monknash Beach

Monknash Beach is a stunning and picturesque beach but with only limited stretches of sand, so I didn't find any seaglass to add to my growing collection. The beach is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and forms part of Glamorgan Heritage Coast.

My next audio recording from the day was captured in the beer-garden of a reportedly haunted pub, whilst recovering from the sweltering climb back up from the coast. The Plough ad Harrow was built in 1383 and originally formed part of the grange of a local monastery. At one point the building was used by the monks to store the bodies of drowned sailors recovered from the beaches below. Some of the timber from the numerous shipwrecks associated with this neck of coastline were used to form the beams in the later restructuring of the inn.

 

My final stop off for the day before heading home was this gem of a lighthouse at Nash Point:

Nash Point Lighhouse

Nash Point Lighthouse Fog Horn

I will have to head back down to the lighthouse at some point in the future to do an audio field recording of the fog horn in action... :)

Berserk! A Tale of Vikings, Death Metal and Werewolves

Writing With My Eldest & Quietest Cat

Berserk! Half Way Through Chapter Seven

Story-boarding Chapter Seven

World Dracula Day

Me (or my shadow) Overlooking Whibty Abbey's Graveyard

It's #WorldDraculaDay today, so I thought this was a good opportunity to share some of my photographs of Whitby Abbey and its cliff edge graveyard. This Gothic location features strongly in Bram Stoker's Dracula and is certainly up there as one of the most atmospheric places I have visited in the UK.

Berserk! Chapter Six Done 'n' Dusted