Chambers at Large

One of my favourite towns in Ireland is Donegal, set on the coast in the North West. It isn’t a big town, but it is a very welcoming one and there are lovel...

In 2003 The Arigna Mining Experience opened its doors to the public and I was one of the first people to visit the coal mine, which closed down in the 1990s....

Fermanagh is a beautiful lakeland county in Northern Ireland, with plenty to explore. I took a walk around the shores of Lower Lough Erne this November (201...

Thirty years ago I went to Cairo to see the pyramids. Today, I visited tombs older than this Seventh Wonder of the World and they are only 150 kilometres or...

Set in the south east of England, the county of Suffolk is a very picturesque place to visit and its villages inspired me to write the It Out series of books...

Goritsky is a town in the middle of nowhere and my first chance to catch a glimpse of rural, Russian life. The houses are all different, mainly wooden, some...

My second day in St Petersburg was not as jam packed as the first, but it was equally as interesting, entertaining and exhausting. The tour group left on tim...

Making the most of a free weekend, with absolutely no commitments, I decided to head west from my homeplace to County Galway. I have visited the city of Galw...

To say my initiation to St Petersburg was a whirlwind is an understatement. I was shown so much my head was reeling with Russian history, splendid architect...

The afternoon in Yaroslavl was dampened by rain, but spirits were not. It seems to be an affluent town thanks to the petro-chemical industry. It boasts a b...

The island of Kizhi stands on Lake Onega, in the north of Russia, further north than Iceland and only 200 miles or so from Finland. I had little sleep that ...

Mandrogui is not in the guide book as it is a man-made village filled with artisan shops and a vodka museum. Some may call it a tourist trap, but in fairnes...

There is Ireland and then there is County Kerry. I say that because the Ireland tourists see in this beautiful county is, in my humble opinion, a little dif...

I’ve explored most of Ireland’s coastline, thus I thought it was time to move inland and see what was happening in the heartland of the Emerald Isle. I staye...

Captain Francisco de Cuellar was one of the few sailors to wash up onto Streedagh Beach in North Sligo, Ireland in 1588 following a fierce storm. He wrote a...

Bury St Edmunds claims to be the Jewel in the Crown of Suffolk and who am I to argue, although the roads and pavements are decidedly rough around the edges. ...

On July 20th 1969 I can clearly remember being woken in the early hours of the morning by my father to watch Neil Armstrong step onto the moon. Only a few d...

I am a staunch supporter of Dublin Zoo, thus when I heard there was a zoo in Belfast, I had to go. Belfast Zoo, a 55-acre site which plays a “vital role in c...

According to a recent documentary I watched, the Great Wall of China was once almost 10,000 miles long. My guide told me it was over 5,500 miles, which is s...

When it comes to Peking Opera, words fail me. Let me say from the get go, I love Western opera. Carmen, Aida, The Magic Flute, I’ve seen them all and go as...