Five top writing spots in Bedford

Bedford, a small town about 50 miles north of London, is the place I’ve been calling home for nearly two years now. I can’t claim it’s my favourite place in the world (or even up there in the top 40!), but it does have its pleasant spots, including for those of us who like to get out of the house to do our writing. Here are five I’d recommend.

Frescoes, Mill Street

I first discovered this café on a bitterly cold Good Friday during my first week in Bedford, when in search of free WiFi. I found not only that, but good coffee and amazing cake, with a warm welcome for this lone soul who knew no one in the town. I have been back many times since and this is probably my favourite place to write; the WiFi connection is always great, the food and drink on offer is good (although I can no longer eat the cakes, being dairy-free, they’ll make hot drinks with soya milk, and they offer gluten-free bread for those who need it too), and I’ve never felt hurried along whilst in there. 

The Ship, St Cuthbert’s Street

No WiFi (or at least not the last time I was there), but if you’re working with pen and paper on a sunny day, you can’t beat a glass of something cold out in the expansive beer garden here whilst you thrash out your words. I went one Sunday afternoon when I had a 500 word flash fiction to pull into shape, but it was too lovely outside to stay indoors. The lack of WiFi actually means fewer distractions!

Bedford Central Library, Harpur Street

Don’t forget your local public library! Join (for free!) if you haven’t already, and you can use the computers or the free WiFi. You can find a spot to work amongst the shelves, or go and grab a coffee in the cafe and people-watch over the market whilst you write.

Coffee With Art, High Street

It feels like a bit of a cliché to recommend a café with a whole wall made of books as a writing venue, but it really is a fabulous place! Great choice of tea and coffee, lunch foods are available, and the cakes look amazing. The WiFi works well and on Sundays they sometimes have live acoustic music to accompany your scribbling. Plus a wall made of books. And art. What more could you want?

It had to be done!

River Great Ouse, The Embankment

Alternatively, leave the coffee, booze and WiFi behind, and take a seat on one of the benches along the river in town. Watch the people strolling/jogging/cycling past, or the wildlife and boats gliding by on the water, while you wait for inspiration to strike. 

  

 What do you think – is there a great writing spot here that I haven’t discovered yet?

Five literary spots to visit in the UK

This is re-posted from my other blog where I talk libraries, books and writing...as it's about travel too, I thought I'd share here too.

Yesterday I spotted a Buzzfeed article on “19 British Places all Book Lovers Must Visit”. It’s a great list, and I was slightly ashamed to have only made it to four of them, but it did miss out some of my personal favourites…so here are five UK literary spots I’d add to the list: 

The West Yorkshire Moors

Although they all left home at various points in their lives, the Bronte sisters were all very much attached to their home of Haworth (itself now a much-visited destination, featured in the Buzzfeed list) and the West Yorkshire Moors are a major feature of most of their novels, perhaps most famously in Charlotte’s Jane Eyre and Emily’s Wuthering Heights. You don’t even have to brave the elements to enjoy this literary setting; take the train from Leeds to Manchester and you’ll be certain you spotted the imposing Wuthering Heights up on a cliff amongst the breathtaking scenery.

St Peter’s Church, Bournemouth 

If you know me well, you’ll know that Mary Shelley was always going to feature in this list! She is buried in the graveyard here, along with her mother, the famous feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, her father, the philosopher William Godwin, and the heart of her husband, the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (he died in a storm at sea and his rotting body was recovered and cremated…it is said that his heart did not burn, and Mary took it and kept it in her desk drawer, where it was discovered by her adult children after she died). As a Mary Shelley fan, this was a bit of a pilgrimage for me. If you fancy a drink after a wander around the churchyard, there's a Wetherspoons called The Mary Shelley next door!

  

St Pancras Old Church, London

Just one more Mary Shelley one, I promise! She grew up in Somers town and her mother was originally buried in the graveyard here (first Mary’s remains were moved to Bournemouth after the second Mary’s death). Mary would often visit her mother’s grave to think and to write, and after she met Percy Bysshe Shelley, this is where they would meet in secret (he being married already). It was here that they admitted their love for each other and, it is suggested, erm…acted on this (well, they didn’t really have anywhere else to go!). There is still a memorial stone for Mary Wollstonecraft here but I have never been able to locate it; however I love walking round the churchyard, following in Mary’s footsteps.

  

Perrott’s Folly and Edgbaston Waterworks, Birmingham

I grew up in north Birmingham, and as a teenager I played trombone in a jazz band which met on the south side of the city every Monday night. I was a bit of a Lord of the Rings fan, reading the books around the time that the films came out, and one evening my Dad took us on a detour home, to see Perrott’s Folly, which is said to be one of two towers in Edgbaston (the second being Edgbaston Waterworks) which inspired Tolkien’s Two Towers. There’s no solid evidence that this is true, and there are many articles and blog posts out there arguing otherwise, but as someone with an active imagination, I loved standing there and thinking about how Tolkien may have pulled these ordinary industrial urban features into his fantasy land.  I’m no longer a LoTR fan but I’d still argue it’s a must-visit for those who are.

Newnham College, Cambridge

The poet Sylvia Plath first came to England on a scholarship to Cambridge University, studying at this women-only college. She wrote lots and published work in the student newspaper, and it was while she was here that she met and married Ted Hughes. I discovered Sylvia Plath, as many girls do, when I was about 17 years old, and around this time I went on a school trip where we stayed overnight at Newnham College, learning about life at the university. I was completely taken by the idea that I was wandering the same corridors that Sylvia Plath had, and that perhaps I or one of my friends were staying in her very room...

Corfu, Greece

Every July I go away for a week somewhere hot and sunny, to ensure that whatever happens with the British weather, I will get at least a few days of sun! I wasn’t sure where to go this year, so I did a bit of searching, and cheap apartments and hotels on the Greek island of Corfu kept coming up, so, having never been to Greece before, I decided to give it a go.

I wouldn’t normally go for an apartment as it feels like too much space for one person, but this was by far the cheapest option accommodation-wise this time. I booked in at Minore Apartments in Messonghi, in the south of the island. I was initially a bit concerned that there were no TripAdvisor reviews for this place (there is one now!), but I reasoned that most people will generally only bother putting reviews on TA if something is very good or very bad, so there was probably nothing to worry about. It turned out to be a great decision; the studio apartment was basic but had everything I needed, it had a balcony with a bit of a sea-view, it was a few minutes’ walk from the sand and the beach-side restaurants and bars. And the owner was fantastic; I had emailed to ask if they could help me to arrange an airport transfer, as I was finding them expensive and their blurb on the booking pages said that they could help with this; their aid was actually the owner himself turning up to collect me from the airport, and dropping me back there the next week, and refusing to accept any payment for it! Once settled in on the Wednesday night that I arrived, I relaxed on my balcony drinking some local beer and listening to the Greek music drifting up from the tavern below, watching the sun set over the sea, and ready to start my holiday.

I spent Thursday lazily, just adjusting to being on holiday; lots of lying on the sand, swimming in the gorgeous but chilly sea, and eating and drinking: gyros (legitimate doner kebab!) and Greek beer for lunch, and prawns in tomato and ouzo sauce and feta cheese, with local wine, and baklava for dessert, for dinner…yum. My initial impressions of Corfu? How green it was…it looked like a tropical island with the forest enveloping the hills. I was also struck by the friendliness of everyone I had encountered that day; in the  restaurants and the shops they welcomed me to Corfu, and no one questioned or commented on the fact that I was alone. 

On the way back to the apartment that evening I stopped off at the supermarket to buy some bottled water (tap water in Corfu should not be drunk) and local wine to drink on my balcony, and was presented with a shot of kumquat, the local liqueur, at the till – lovely, but bizarre!

 

I had decided to take a boat trip on Friday. There are several travel centres in the area but the TripAdvisor Messonghi forum suggested that it was cheaper to go down to the Messonghi River in the early evening and book direct with the boat owners, so on Thursday night before dinner I had done this, booking with Captain Homer, again on the recommendation of posters on the TA forum. The trip departed at 10am, sailing out from the beautiful river and south along the coast. The Captain and his wife were both welcoming and friendly – again, no comment about me being on my own – and there was a really lovely atmosphere to the whole trip. Our first stop was Petriti, a little fishing village, which was wonderfully isolated and peaceful; boats, sand, a solitary taverna, a few people walking along the road every so often. I took lots of photos! Back on the boat, we headed out into deeper water for a swimming stop – blissful – being greeted with a little cup of ouzo and lemon after clambering back up the ladder; it was only 11.30 in the morning, but it was perfect after a swim! Another swimming stop in shallower water – a bit chilly – and it was time for lunch; a delicious spread prepared by our host – Greek salad, tuna salad, bread and olive oil and tsatsiki, with some local wine to wash it all down with. It was all very lovely.

Our final stop was at Notos, which was like a tropical paradise; palm trees and flowers everywhere, hammocks to laze in at your leisure, and the sound of crickets filling the air. I climbed up the hill for a bit to enjoy the view, then chilled out in a hammock until it was time to board the boat again to head back to Messonghi – a glorious way to spend the afternoon.

We arrived back at 4pm and I was left really sleepy – must have been all that sea air – so I went back to the apartment for a nap before heading out for dinner; sofrito, beef in garlic sauce, a Cofriot speciality, and then back to the apartment to chill out on the balcony with a book.

I slept badly (partly due to an epic dream in which I was in the Hunger Games!) and didn’t wake until late on Saturday, so I decided to have another lazy day; beach, swim, food, wander. In the evening I walked along the beach after night had fallen and there was the most beautiful full moon, shimmering over the water; I tried to take photos on both my camera and my phone but sadly I couldn’t get any of them to come out. I stopped at the supermarket for water and wine again and was once again given kumquat at the till; I could get used to that!

On Sunday I woke up with my skin feeling a bit dry and sore, despite all the suncream and aftersun I’d been using, so I decided to stay off the beach today to give it a bit of a break. In the morning I walked up to a little village called Chlomotiana; a very steep two-mile climb from the Messonghi-Moraitika road, but one which is totally worth it for the amazing views and the pretty village at the top. It’s a proper little Greek village; white houses, flowers everywhere, old women in traditional clothing chatting in the street (I would really have liked to take a photo of them but felt it would be too rude to do so without asking, and my Greek is pretty much non-existant!). I found a café and sat outside with a couple of other tourists and some locals, drinking my first (and last) Greek coffee – disgusting stuff, like the granules left at the bottom of a filter coffee mixed with sugar – no wonder it’s always served with a glass of water! After taking a few more photos, I headed back down, walking into Moraitika to have a wander and some lunch. 

My plan for the afternoon was more walking, this time to Boukari; I had read that it was a pleasant three-mile walk along the coastal road. However, not realising this meant the minor road right by the shore, I walked along the main road and ended up heading inland on a very steep climb…after a while of panting my way around another corner to find yet another winding hill, I realised I’d very much taken a wrong turn! It was such a trek and scorching hot, but the views of the coast were wonderful, as were the close-up views of the forest and crags as I climbed higher, so I kept going for a while! After all of that the lure of a swim in the cool blue water was too strong, so I reneged on my plan to stay off the beach and went for a quick late afternoon dip.

After dinner I decided to treat myself to a cocktail in one of the beach bars, choosing one – “Barocco” - with lots of comfy-looking sofas and cushions right on the beach. It turned out to be a gorgeous way to spend the evening; sipping a cheap but strong Black Russian, watching the sun set over the sea. Feeling very blissed-out, I headed to the supermarket for my usual bottled water and shot of kumquat before taking up position on my balcony. It was World Cup final night – Germany vs. Argentina – and I heard a cheer rise from the village; there were lots of German tourists around!

I got up early on Monday to catch the bus into Corfu Town.  I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing with the bus, but I figured if I stood at a bus stop and got on a green bus that stopped there, it would all work out! It turned out to be a very organised operation, with a conductor on the bus taking fares and giving change. It was just 2 euros and 20 cents for the 25 kilometre journey, which is super-cheap compared to bus fares in England! The journey took just under an hour and followed the coast for most of the way, so I was glad I had deliberately selected a seat on the sea-side of the bus just in case – it was a gorgeous view.

(It’s worth noting that, although there is officially no bus service from Corfu Airport, this bus was letting people off a few roads away, by the Avis car hire, and picked people up from there too on the way back).

In the bus station I picked up a map and a bus timetable, intending to take my usual approach of just wandering around to explore the town. First I came across the magnificent New Fortress, then the port; brilliant blue sea, with gigantic cruise ships parked up, and ferries arriving, I think from the mainland. I then found myself in the Old Town, where I was continuously taking photos – so pretty! It reminded me a lot of the nooks and crannies of Naples last year. There were lots of shops selling jewellery, trinkets, olive oil etc. too. I found St Spyridon’s Church (the patron saint of Corfu) but couldn’t go in as I wasn’t appropriately dressed; I was wearing short shorts, and hadn’t thought to bring a scarf or wrap to cover myself up with. 

After lunch I headed up to The Liston – the elegant esplanade that was once reserved for royalty only – and then the old palace, finding next to that the gorgeous Old Fortress sitting out in the bright blue sea, ships all around it, and people bobbing around in the water. I spotted one guy swimming out from the beach to the fortress, and really wished I’d brought my bikini and towel! It was absolutely beautiful and reminded me a lot of Malaga and Naples; that Mediterranean city feel.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you have probably noticed that my lack of direction and spatial awareness is a general theme throughout any trip of mine; coupled with my inability to read maps, I got totally lost navigating my way back through the town to the bus station; I have no idea how I managed it in the end, but I did!

That evening I finished off my souvenir shopping in Moraitika before dinner, then followed my new routine of dinner and a cocktail on the beach. There were two little girls playing at the edge of the water, and slowly they began to play together; their parents were enjoying a drink and they were both amusing themselves. They had only just met and didn’t seem to speak the same language, but they bonded over picking up handfuls of wet sand and chucking them into the sea; it was really sweet to watch!

I woke on Tuesday with the feeling that I must make the most of my last day! I decided to try walking to Boukari again, taking the correct road this time! I was hoping to find a bit of beach along the way but had no luck finding anywhere decent until about two-thirds of the way along the road, when I spotted a little rocky cove, with what looked like a swimming platform (it had a ladder) past a rickety plank, extending over the rocks into the deeper water – obviously I was going for this! The water was surprisingly warm and I had a wonderful swim, with the whole thing to myself. Afterwards I lay out on the rocks, enjoying the sun and listening to the sea. 

When I eventually could bring myself to move, I completed my walk into Boukari and located some lunch; now with sore feet – I should have worn trainers for this three-mile walk! Boukari was exceedingly picturesque; lots of little boats and fishing platforms, and the water was a fantastic blue in between the darker shades of rocks and seaweed.

When I stepped out of the tavern, I realised it was raining – boo! It was a cold drizzle and there was a wind getting up. I started my walk back to Messonghi, and by the time I’d reached my little cove again, the drizzle had stopped, so I decided to sit there for a while. The sea was rough and was tossing the swimming platform around, so as much as I wanted to swim, I decided it would be silly to attempt it, with no one else around. So I just sat, enjoying being out on a rock amidst the choppy water, a little crab tickling my toes. It was very peaceful and I sat here for ages – I spotted Captain Homer’s boat coming back in for the day, but not close enough for them to spot me waving sadly!

After getting back to Messonghi, I went for one last swim in the calmer shallows, before dinner and a final cocktail (OK, maybe two, as it was my final night!) on the beach.

I was leaving first thing for the airport on Wednesday, but I got up early to watch the sun rise over the sea from my balcony, then walked down to the beach for one final view of the sea. It was scorching hot already and shaping up to be a beautiful day. I really didn’t want to leave, but was struck at how lucky I was to be enjoying that view that morning, and to have spent the week there; to be seeing the world very slowly, one country at a time.

You can see the rest of my photos on Flickr.

Culture 'n' stuff

So I tend to only write about foreign trips on this blog which, on reflection, is a bit daft really, as I have plenty of adventures here in the UK…so I’m going to make an effort to write about some of those too.

When I moved to Bedford last year I thought I’d be off to London every weekend as it’s only 40 minutes on the train, but I’ve not been anywhere near that often and I definitely have more exploring to do. I’ve been down there a couple of times recently to do some interesting stuff. My friend A has just bought membership to the British Museum which includes a guest pass, so we decided to go and see some exhibitions. 

On our first trip we went to Vikings: life and legend (running until 22^nd June so get in quick if you want to see it). Before we went into the exhibition we went to explore the Members’ Lounge, where there’s a lovely little café – perfect place for a coffee before we went in – and a “study area” with some reading tables and books (obviously I geeked out over this bit!). Free Wifi too, another nice perk of membership; this would be great place to come and do some research or writing.

We both enjoyed the exhibition but would have liked to see more on the mythology; the exhibits were very much about everyday life, which is of course also fascinating. My favourite piece was the remains of a longboat which they have laid out towards the end of the exhibition, and I also enjoyed learning about the women who were sorceresses, offering herbal cures and potions; I think I would have been one of those had I lived then! A came away wanting a drinking horn; they had some in the gift shop but they were very expensive and we were unsure whether they’d actually be suitable for drinking out of!

Afterwards we headed to Sade, a Mediterranean restaurant on the corner of Exmouth Market, where I ate far too much food in the form of stuffed vine leaves and the “Sade Special”, a minced lamb kofte in a tortilla with yoghurt and tomato (getting ready for my trip to Greece next month!). Good wine, friendly service and a relaxed atmosphere; would recommend.

Our next trip took place a few weeks later, when we headed back to the British Museum, this time for the Ancient Lives exhibition – mummies! I’ve loved Ancient Egypt, but especially mummies, since I was a kid so I was really looking forward to this one, and it didn’t disappoint. The exhibition contains eight mummies and their stories, or what we think their stories are; some Ancient Egyptian, others not.  It was an amazing exhibition and brilliant to get so close; I liked the Egyptian ones of course, but in a way the other mummies, not wrapped up or encased, were more fascinating, as you can see the actual remains of the person. Maybe I’m just a grisly soul, but I couldn’t stop looking at them! This was my favourite of the two exhibitions and I’d definitely recommend going – it’s on until 30^th November. 

Oh, and being a cat lover, I couldn’t resist buying an Ancient Egyptian cat in the gift shop!

We were then off to the New London Theatre on Drury Lane that evening, to see War Horse, a show we’d both wanted to see for ages. A is great at finding bargains and had found a dinner and theatre deal through lovetheatre.com, where we got a two-course dinner at a participating restaurant and our show ticket for £47 each. There’s quite a big choice of restaurants and they offer a set menu for this deal, but they all have the menus online so you can have a look beforehand.

We had a bit of spare time between collecting our theatre tickets and going for dinner, so we popped into The Angel on St Giles High St for a drink, which is a lovely pub. I enjoyed a raspberry beer in the pleasant beer garden with a view:

We’d chosen The Noodle House on Shaftesbury Avenue as it was close to the theatre and had a good variety of food we both fancied on the set menu. We went early – 5pm – and had the place almost to ourselves, with very good service again. I had calamari for my starter and Pad Thai for my main, both delicious, and A went for duck dumplings (I tried some and they were fab – took me back to Chinatown as written about in my previous blog on NYC!) and Singapore Noodles. We both agreed we’d like to go back and try something from the full menu sometime.

Onto the theatre, and we were pleased with our seats – back row of the rear stalls and we had a full view of the stage, so the £47 deal was great. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the show (other than weeping!), having not read the book or seen the film…but I was riveted from the opening scene. I can’t even fathom the amount of rehearsal that must go into operating the horses; the actors were perfectly in sync and the horses seemed real, in the way that they moved, breathed, mooched around in the background. The story was wonderful, and yes, I cried copiously, along with the rest of the theatre I think – there was definitely a near-universal breakdown at one point! I wrote in my previous blog post about seeing a show on Broadway and how appreciative and vocal the American audience was in comparison to the British audiences I’d experienced; during this show it felt much more like the American audience – people clapped and cheered at every appropriate point, no one was playing on their phone or chatting, everyone gasped in unison at one particular tense point right at the end (you may know what I mean if you’ve seen it!), and there was a standing ovation at the curtain call. Highly recommended!

I have more London plans coming up over the summer, but my next trip is not far away; a week by myself in Corfu next month…I can’t wait!