| Copyright Mark Williams. |
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Food for thought
Marco Pierre White was the youngest
British chef ever to attain Michelin’s
three stars. But restaurants aren’t his
whole life – fishing is, he says, equally
important
By reputation, Marco Pierre White should
now be cursing his restaurant empire
and shouting at the cooks.
Kept from his fishing for four hours by an
appointment at London restaurant Planet
Hollywood - in which he has a stake -
Marco has also had to negotiate the
London traffic for 90 minutes to reach
the Wasing Estate, near Aldermaston. He
is, however, completely unfazed
more...
Marco Pierre White was the youngest
British chef ever to attain Michelin’s
three stars. But restaurants aren’t his
whole life – fishing is, he says, equally
important
By reputation, Marco Pierre White should
now be cursing his restaurant empire
and shouting at the cooks.
Kept from his fishing for four hours by an
appointment at London restaurant Planet
Hollywood - in which he has a stake -
Marco has also had to negotiate the
London traffic for 90 minutes to reach
the Wasing Estate, near Aldermaston. He
is, however, completely unfazed
more...
Here's a brief sample of my writing, most of which has been published.
Blown in
A wintry day and a chance encounter
with nature in the raw
In February, the limestone cliffs of
Portland, in Dorset, bear the brunt of
battering-ram south-westerlies which
sweep in from the Atlantic.
Huge swells born in open sea hoist to
twenty feet or more as they hurl towards
Chesil Beach, made angry by the
shallowing shelf that rises into Chesil
Cove. From my viewpoint now at
Southwell, almost 200 feet above this
marine mayhem, the swell looks like a
ripple, and Chesil a white ribbon fading
west into the sea spray.
more...
A wintry day and a chance encounter
with nature in the raw
In February, the limestone cliffs of
Portland, in Dorset, bear the brunt of
battering-ram south-westerlies which
sweep in from the Atlantic.
Huge swells born in open sea hoist to
twenty feet or more as they hurl towards
Chesil Beach, made angry by the
shallowing shelf that rises into Chesil
Cove. From my viewpoint now at
Southwell, almost 200 feet above this
marine mayhem, the swell looks like a
ripple, and Chesil a white ribbon fading
west into the sea spray.
more...
Trout high school
The craggy peaks of Languedoc-Roussillon
are
a fine way to cut your trout fishing teeth
Of all the spectacular rivers we have fished so
far, Serge Rollo today leads us to the most
dramatic.
We are walking along the gravel shores of the
River Tarn, in Southern France, at the base of a
vast cleft in the mountains. Despite the shade
cast by the trees it is hot, and walking in chest-
high waders is grinding effort. The footpath
turns to the left and we emerge into a glade
filled
with meadow flowers and vivid, orange lilies.
Countless Marbled White and Fritillary
butterflies
dance in the sunlight as if bounced on a
puppeteer’s string.
more..
The craggy peaks of Languedoc-Roussillon
are
a fine way to cut your trout fishing teeth
Of all the spectacular rivers we have fished so
far, Serge Rollo today leads us to the most
dramatic.
We are walking along the gravel shores of the
River Tarn, in Southern France, at the base of a
vast cleft in the mountains. Despite the shade
cast by the trees it is hot, and walking in chest-
high waders is grinding effort. The footpath
turns to the left and we emerge into a glade
filled
with meadow flowers and vivid, orange lilies.
Countless Marbled White and Fritillary
butterflies
dance in the sunlight as if bounced on a
puppeteer’s string.
more..
On two moonlit nights
Binckes and Malcolm Brindle at the
dead of night under a Dorset bridge…
and witnesses an annual spectacle.
When trout anglers yearn for a new target
for fly fishing, they usually try to up the
ante.
Take bonefish, for example. Here’s a fish
which tests the mettle – and the metal –
of your rod and reel, and demands your
full attention. Taking pike on the fly may
not be sophisticated, but get stuck into a
15-pounder and you’ve got yourself a
battle royal.
So why, I asked myself, does a truly
expert angler like Steve Binckes want me
to have a crack at catching scad on the
fly?
more...
Binckes and Malcolm Brindle at the
dead of night under a Dorset bridge…
and witnesses an annual spectacle.
When trout anglers yearn for a new target
for fly fishing, they usually try to up the
ante.
Take bonefish, for example. Here’s a fish
which tests the mettle – and the metal –
of your rod and reel, and demands your
full attention. Taking pike on the fly may
not be sophisticated, but get stuck into a
15-pounder and you’ve got yourself a
battle royal.
So why, I asked myself, does a truly
expert angler like Steve Binckes want me
to have a crack at catching scad on the
fly?
more...
Marbella
Just a few miles from sun-drenched
Marbella, playground of the rich, is a
towering national park with
snow-capped mountains. The problem
is, to get there you need to go
upwards... very, very steeply upwards.
There are two types of danger for the
adventurous off-roader.
The most common is the danger of
damaging your Land Rover; a badly-
handled hill climb, the slightly-too-steep
side slope or the sideways slide into an
obstinate tree. The second kind of
danger is that which I face now, as our
vehicle climbs high into the Spanish
mountains.
more...
Just a few miles from sun-drenched
Marbella, playground of the rich, is a
towering national park with
snow-capped mountains. The problem
is, to get there you need to go
upwards... very, very steeply upwards.
There are two types of danger for the
adventurous off-roader.
The most common is the danger of
damaging your Land Rover; a badly-
handled hill climb, the slightly-too-steep
side slope or the sideways slide into an
obstinate tree. The second kind of
danger is that which I face now, as our
vehicle climbs high into the Spanish
mountains.
more...
Rovering with
theSwedes
A window for off-road driving, banned in
Sweden since 1975, opens once every
summer. Mark Williams draws back the
curtains and takes in the sun
It was unseasonably hot in Sweden, with
temperatures challenging the national
record of 38 degrees.
The sun beat down relentlessly on the
day’s crop of off-roaders at the Swedish
Off Road Tour, its organiser Peter
Öjerskog enjoying the shade of the
Dunlop awning as he issued his daily
instructions with a loudhailer. British
minds wandered as the Swedish version
went on, and on, and on.
I reached into the borrowed V8 Disco for
a swallow of now super-heated water.
more..
theSwedes
A window for off-road driving, banned in
Sweden since 1975, opens once every
summer. Mark Williams draws back the
curtains and takes in the sun
It was unseasonably hot in Sweden, with
temperatures challenging the national
record of 38 degrees.
The sun beat down relentlessly on the
day’s crop of off-roaders at the Swedish
Off Road Tour, its organiser Peter
Öjerskog enjoying the shade of the
Dunlop awning as he issued his daily
instructions with a loudhailer. British
minds wandered as the Swedish version
went on, and on, and on.
I reached into the borrowed V8 Disco for
a swallow of now super-heated water.
more..
For my blog, please click HERE