Category: Columns

We know what you’re thinking: why would we choose a humble Italian restaurant as our subject for this month’s Time Travel? Because, as is the case with many buildings in York, it’s not just a humble Italian restaurant. The building at number 45 Goodramgate has quite a colourful history – and it’s not just red, […]

Starting from the old cross in Dunnington this route heads across fields to follow a quiet lane into Warthill with its church, pub (currently closed) and pond. Heading across a few more fields it passes the well-known Balloon Tree Farmshop & Café, to pick up the Route 66 cycle track. Heading down a tree-lined lane […]

This walk of about seven miles circles the large and very salubrious village of Boston Spa. Starting in its main street it drops to the river Wharfe, following it downstream and passing the converted spa buildings. Heading into the countryside it goes under an old railway viaduct to follow the line of an old Roman […]

You know when you’re chatting to someone and the subject of music comes up? The general response when asking them what genre they listen to is: “oh, I like a bit of everything”. That’s all well and good. I mean, I love ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ by the Spice Girls; but I equally […]

What do the stars have in store for you? Some wide mood swings during February: nothing happens quickly enough for you and your impatience works against you. There’s a dash of romance around the 14th but it won’t be enough to create a novel. Other folk may wonder what’s troubling you and you’ll be hard […]

For this month’s Time Travel we’re going way back to the year 1556, when Thomas and Jane Middleton gave birth to a baby girl that we know today as Margaret Clitherow. Margaret’s story is a tale of religion, self-sacrifice and bravery, and is a truly harrowing tale to have once befallen on our beloved city […]

The world of technology is full of mystery. From my previous tale about the legendary arcade unit Polybius, to the dark web. And none of us want to know the secrets behind the dark web. Let’s all just pretend we don’t know it exists and crack on with our innocent and mindless scrolling of Amazon […]

What do the stars have in store for you? You enter the New Year on a calm and even footing, knowing that this is going to be a pivotal mile stone year in the span of your life.  As such, January brings a fresh breeze of self-confidence, which allows you to practice the gentle arts […]

It goes without saying that a lot can change in ten years. But when it comes to technology, ten years is a lifetime. It’s hard to imagine that it was only the 90s when technology started becoming a ‘thing’ in general – from the launch of the World Wide Web in 1990 to the first […]

With the Council still batting around ideas about how to change and improve access to our dear old train station, we decided to look back to the beginnings of that iconic building. Trying again Our current station is actually something of a second attempt by civic leaders to get it right. As we’ve detailed in […]

Gordon Bennett, it’s 2020. A whole new decade, sings Aladdin, on his time-travelling magic carpet. I’d say I can’t believe it’s January, but that’s getting old now. I couldn’t believe it was December, November or October either. As a nation we always seem surprised by the autumn and winter months. You don’t hear people being […]

By the time you read this there’s a good chance that episode nine of the Star Wars saga, The Rise of Skywalker, has been released. You might already have seen it, and the chances are strong that I will have, too. Normally I reserve my column in the January issue for a Christmas piece; some […]

January.  The month of even less money than usual, following all those Christmas purchases from the Middle of Lidl (a whole ham for £24.99? A complete bargain. Until you chuck away 7/8 of said ham in January, and realise the two slices that actually got eaten cost £12.50 each). Yes, it’s the time to try […]

What do the stars have in store for you? Quite an easy going month without too many hassles. Some niggles with a partner regarding Christmas arrangements, but there’s always a compromise if you go looking for it. Work routines steady and relatively uneventful, giving you plenty of time to concentrate on more personal issues, and, […]

What do you get when you cross a tech column with the month of December? You get a gadgety Christmas wish list, that’s what. And that’s exactly what I’ve got for you – with the added bonus of Black Friday and Cyber Monday to ease the strain on the purse strings. Black Friday has officially […]