Blogs from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Woolly says – With fluffy clouds littering the sky, I took my role as navigator very seriously in Zoe’s absence, following the third wrong turn Jo stopped listening to my instructions for some unknown reason! My choice of destination for the day was situated on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, when built it had been considered the countryside, now it was clearly in the suburbs of the city as housing had gradually seeped into the green belt. Wightwick Manor is a Victorian manor house built in 1887 and is one of only a few surviving examples of a house built and furnished under the influence of the Aesthetic movement and Arts and Crafts movement, with heavy influences from William Morris, on paper it was enough to wet anyone’s curiosity. The house had been built for Theodore Mander, ... read more

I can’t believe the time has flown so quick, I was talking to my Nan earlier and it dawned upon me I’m off ‘ next Saturday!’ . So what am I doing on this amazing adventure? If truth be told, I don’t really have too much of a plan. Considering I could be over there for perhaps two years I only really have the first two weeks sorted. I’m excited to have no itenary and just to ‘go with the flow'. Anyway, I have a two day stopover in Dubai where I’m having a dabble at couchsurfing. I was introduced to couch-surfing by my friend Paul at work. Paul has couch surfed all over the world and as I write he’s probably on some sofabed somewhere in China or Japan. Couchsufing or Sofa Surfing is an ... read more

What a little gem!!!! What can I say? I feel a little lost for words trying to find the right things to say about Wightwick Manor. How did we end up visiting. Well it sort of came out of the blue. We had been out and about on Saturday and today was going to be a day of doing very little. A visit to the optician and a flu jab appointment booked . Having suffered from swine flu a few years ago I had no intention of suffering again. We had a few wreaths to take to graves at Telford and then planned to have dinner in the Bridge Builder before coming home. After lunch we suddenly had this rather good isea of travelling the 24 miles from Telford to the heart of the Black Country ... read more

In roughly forty-eight hours time, myself, Ben Dawson, Mike Rhodes and Pete Linstead shall be boarding our plane destined for Rio de Janeiro. Having spent a few days in the Lake District planning our itinerary, we have (quite literally) soaked up our last experience of English winter weather for at least five months. Watch this space for updates from Rio through to Bogata and everything in between.... read more

“Turn towards the light” Down by the Sea was, at the offset, among the easiest of the songs chosen to relate to a place. Its writer, David Ford, holds an annual charity Christmas bash near his hometown, which just happens to be down by the sea. All we needed to do was find out the date, buy a ticket and have a December seaside getaway full of milk, cookies and good music. Of course, nothing has quite gone to plan since around about the third song in on our trips, and so, almost as expected, David Ford decided not to put on his annual charity bash for the first time in ten years. Not deterred, I decided to take the song apart and find a place from the lyrics. Clearly, down by the sea is a ... read more