Nicholas Reardon – författare

The Palladian Way is the brainchild of Cotswold walker Guy Vowles. It was born out of a previous idea for a long distance walk between Oxford and Bath but was extended northwards to Buckingham where the author was educated nearby. The realization that there was a Palladian bridge at Prior Park outside Bath to match the one at Stowe suggested a suitable title and the discovery of many classical houses and large estates along the route has helped to make the trail more than just another long walk. The majority of this 200km (125m) trail passes through beautiful countryside and many interesting villages with a wealth of historical background so that walkers can discover parts of England they would not normally visit. THE MAKING OF A LONG DISTANCE TRAIL The inspiration for a new long distance walk can come from many sources. In my case it was a loan of a book. "The Wayfarers Journal" is an elaborate production describing a number of routes which a small, rather quirky group of men who called themselves the "Viators" (Latin for "the travellers") started walking in the 1950s. They researched their routes and kept records.Some 30 years later a chance meeting with a journalist one lunch time at a pub close to Hadrian's Wall, led eventually to publication. Many of their walks or "iters" had Roman connections and ITER XXXVI particularly interested me. The cover pages contain a map of a route "South Cotswolds-Bath to Oxford 108 miles" but unfortunately there is no descriptive text. The book is out of print but I managed to acquire a copy and transposed the route on to modern OS maps. One January I set off to walk the first three days from Oxford. Their route was quite convoluted and I soon decided that I could plan something more interesting. I started the first walk over with a good friend with whom I had walked the length of Scotland and England a few years previously. We left Oxford via the tow path of the Oxford canal which we found to be rather unattractive with some of the houseboats described by my friend as "sinking assetsA". He also enquired about the length of the intended new route which now fell short of the magic 100 mile mark.By coincidence, about the same time, I was talking to another friend about my old school, Stowe, and he commented that his own old school, Prior Park, also had a Palladian bridge in the grounds. This was an eye opener to me and set me thinking. Stowe is north of Oxford and a route via Woodstock and Blenheim would not only avoid the difficulties around Oxford but would also take the distance down to Prior Park and Bath to over the 100 mile distance.

This very funny vampire novel is very different from your normal vampire book and not just because it is bursting with full color art fitted in with the text showing the life of a young vampire forced to walk about in a transparent nightdress all day without underwear because that is what female vampires are supposed to do! Unlike the undead sex mad vampire maids, Amy was a living vampire and the main difference apart from having better teeth and a pulse, meant she felt and suffered the cold invasive winds blowing along the corridors, most female vampire called them male winds due to the way they were always trying to rip the nightdresses off them. From fighting in skin tight painted on body suits to learning to hang upside down from a ceiling in a nightdress without showing the world what you had for lunch, was just the start of her vampire training program.And yes it's normal for a girl to dream about Guys, even if the girl happens to be a blood sucking denizen of the night - - - - It's just that this denizen wishes the dreams could involve chocolates and holding hands and not leaping out on someone, ripping his shirt off and demanding to know what blood type he is, well at least not on the first date.(Amy the vampire: - - "The massacre on 22nd and 3rd was greatly exaggerated by the human newspapers and not altogether my fault. It was my very first hunting trip, and a girl should not be judged by her first bite night. And no one ever talks about me saving the life of that cat. Besides, most of them kind of killed themselves without any help from me." - - - - - "And before tonight it was only one male that I killed by ripping his throat out with my teeth." - - - - "And no, I did not then eat him. I don't normally eat vampires. I think I just chewed and swallowed what I had in my mouth after I bit him. That was all, and it was not that he even tasted that good. Besides, it was only three or four mouthfuls before he threw me off.")

"The Cotswold Town and Village Guide": The latest fully updated edition of the "Definitive Guide to Places of Interest in the Cotswolds" as the author says this is the result of my continuing love affair with the Cotswolds, an area that I have known for most of my life and one that I have been visiting with my camera and notebook for well over fifty years. A glance at the maps contained in this book will soon reveal that the area covered extends well beyond the classic Cotswolds, but it never strays far from true limestone country with its typically lovely stone towns and villages. These are enfolded by rolling hills and quiet wooded valleys through which clear streams flow and all have a similar character to the better-known places of pilgrimage like Stow on the Wold, Cirencester, Bourton-on-the-Water or Broadway. Of course these favourites have not been ignored. The Cotswold countryside is as near to perfection as one could wish for, but it is still further enhanced by the treasures to be found within its towns, villages and hamlets.Here are some of Britain's loveliest medieval churches and domestic buildings, almost all of which are built of the marvellous honey coloured Cotswold stone that here lies so close to the surface. When setting out on your journeys of discovery, savour each day and not try to cover too much ground - it has taken me most of a lifetime to get round it all! If possible buy a good map or maps (preferably Ordnance Survey ones) and walk from village to village along a quiet footpath or bridleway, stopping beside a stream for a picnic, or at a pub for lunch. This is another book from Reardon Publishing the Cotswold Publisher.

An illustrated collection Of ghost stories covering the Cotswolds by Bob Meredith. And as Bob says: There still lingers in those pockets of the mind where shadows are turned into demons and where things go bump in the night, a flutter of the heart when the clock strikes twelve and a yearning for the firelight hearths where children listen to ghost stories on long, cold winter nights". The ghost story is not just a part of history. It is history! Another Book from Nicholas Reardon of Reardon Publishing

The Last Days of Ernest Shackleton, is a unique and fully illustrated account of Shackleton's death and burial in South Georgia from the personal point of view of a seaman on the Quest Expedition by the name of George Ross.George joined the Quest Expedition, at a place called Leith Harbour, in South Georgia, with the position donkey-man (a person in charge of a ships engine room) and he explains in detail the daily running of the ship after Shackleton's death as a first hand account from a below decks crew members point of view. Along with George's first hand account the book covers both the funeral arrangements, the Shetland Pallbearers, a short history of Shackleton's Scouts, and the speeches at the unveiling of the Shacketon memorial.This along with photos, maps, paintings and drawings of the expedition, crew, ship, Grytviken church, funeral and grave. To finish off the book the book contains an interview with the late Ernest Shackleton where he explains in his own words how his life at sea started and how he would like to be remembered.

Cotswold Seasons. These glorious hills, rightly described as anarea of outstanding natural beauty, contain a treasure trove of spectacularviews, along with flowers and wildlife just asking to be photographed. In thefollowing pages I take you through the seasons, offering just a taste of whatcan be seen, in the hope that it will tempt you to explore this wonderfulcountryside for yourselves. From hidden gems like the stone crocodile head ona fresh water spring in Compton Abdale, and fearsome gargoyles staring downat you from ancient churches, to the grandeur of castles and the splendour ofstately homes, I hope to bring the Cotswolds alive for you with the help ofmy camera. So as not to spoil the images with excess wording I have let thepictures speak for their selves but at the back of the book you will find apage-by-page explanation of the photographs, along with the locations. Thisbook was made possible by the help and kindness shown to me by the variousattractions, allowing me to roam freely over their properties in search ofinteresting views, fascinating artefacts and plentiful wildlife.