Some of my interests are briefly described below in no particular order, just how they came to mind as I was writing this. There are separate sections on many of them - either on the two sections of this site or my other site Trains, ferries, buses.....
Horse driving - is one of my main interests. We were members of the Old Somerset Horse Driving Club, their site will tell you more about the club. All my family drove our ponies, purely for pleasure - we don't go in for competitive events as all we want to do is quietly drive around the peaceful country lanes around us here in Somerset. There are photos of our ponies on Horses, dogs....
Pets - I enjoy having animals around me, at present we had two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels - litter sisters, one of whom is no longer with us, a Standard Poodle and a Miniature Poodle - a budgie, and some goldfish. There are photos of them on Horses, dogs....
France- I love visiting France, whether for day trips or a holiday with the caravan. Living as I do in the south west of England I usually use Brittany Ferries . Following on from that I've become interested in the ferries themselves, contributing articles to Brittany Ferries Enthusiasts
which has details of the ferries, ports and routes of the respective companies. Linking from my page France there are pages devoted to some of my favourite places in France. These range from La Rochelle and the Loire Valley via Normandy to Paris, some pages are for the tourist, some more for those on a quick visit to some of the Channel ports.
French - following on from enjoying visiting France I've been trying, with varying degrees of success, to learn French for several years. My biggest problem is that I simply can't spend enough time in a Francophone environment as when we're over there as a family it means there is always English being spoken around me.
Pen friends- Ihave several E-mail "pen friends" around the world, both English and French speakers.
Nature - I enjoy seeing wildlife and unspoiled places, I'm not a "twitcher" but I am a member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The Quantock Hills and Exmoor are not far from us, both areas have large herds of Red Deer as well as a variety of smaller wildlife. I have also been lucky enough to have seen dolphins in the Moray Firth near Inverness, seals in Loch Linnhe near Fort William and an Osprey at Findhorn, also near Inverness, but the wildlife doesn't have to be out of the ordinary, it's nice just to watch Sparrows and Starlings around the bird table in our garden. A horse drawn vehicle can be a good grandstand to observe nature from, herons seen over a hedge, a snake crossing the road...
Railways - Ever since I can remember I've been fascinated by trains, as a child this rapidly led to me starting train spotting back in the days when there were still steam engines in everyday service. I've many fond memories of Bulleid pacifics and N's around Exeter - the sound of the ballast trains climbing from St David's up to Central station with two bankers and a pilot is still fresh over 30 years later. These days I still can't resist any chance to watch trains whether old steam engines on a preserved line or modern diesels and electrics on the national system. However I regard the privatisation of Britain's railways to have been an expensive disaster..... read on on Railways, on my other site.
World affairs - not on a party political level, just on some random factors that I feel strongly, even passionately about. I'm not a believer in the Thatcherite ideal that Privatisation is good, public service is wrong and profit is the only motive for doing anything. On a more general level perhaps the easiest way to explain my feelings is to suggest that you visit the Trade Justice Movement web site. The statistic that has most horrified me is that the UN calculate that 19,000 children die every day due to third world debt.
