Category: Blog (the archive of everything)Page 5 of 12
The highlight of our visit to Nantes was standing next to the Great Elephant as it set off for one its walks around the former dock yards. The…
Salt has been harvested in the bay between Le Croisic and Guérance on the edge of Brittany for centuries. The industry had been in decline but in more…
The last leg of our journey along the Loire à Vélo cycle route, à 35km flat run into Nantes. It was misty as we covered the early morning…
A day for integrated travel! 70km from Ponts de Cé to Ancenis, and then 10km by kayak, our bikes carried to the downstream dock in a van, then…
The next leg of our cycle trip along the Loire took us from Saumur to Ponts de Cé, a town a little south of Angers. Again the river…
The one night we decided to sleep with out a tent and it rained. Only a few spots at around 5am, but enough to wake me and wonder…
We left Amboise, climbed the out of the valley of the Loire and over into the Cher, which runs parallel to the Loire and would be what we…
The second day of cycling along the Loire. A relatively flat 70km that would get steadily heavier going as the day heated up. The cycle path along the…
Today our trip shifted gear, away from the city and on the road again. We left paris from the Gare Austerlitz, which feels like it has been under…
From stage one of the Tour de Femmes in Paris to a very different stage two finish in Provins. The stage in Paris was of ceremonial importance, but…
One of the anchor points for our trip this summer is to catch the start of the Tour de Femmes, which coincides with the end of the Tour…
Today we had a proper tourist day in Paris. We’ve been numerous times with our daughter but now she’s old enough to remember we decided to take in…
The port of Ouistreham is about 15km from the city of Caen. Journey today began with a cycle along the canal de Caen à la Mer. The canal…
Today we begin our summer #surfacetravel continental adventure: from Caen in Normandy to Santander in Northern Spain. We are travelling via mixture of bicycle and train. The adventure…
Serendipitously, as I was preparing for my first dance teaching workshop this morning at the Idler Festival, I spotted a quote in one of my other open browser…
This post is a message to all the lovely people who joined one my dancing lessons at the Idler Festival. You were such a lovely crowd. I had…
A day of two halves: book writing this morning and then swing dance teaching at the Idler festival this evening, with some hair engineering in the middle. Enabling…
On the programme at the Idler Festival, by workshops are simply listed as ‘Dance Teaching with Oliver Broadbent’. One participant came up to me at the end and,…
Sometimes when I write on this blog I like to distill my thoughts around one topic. But when there’s lots going on I prefer to write in more…
A multimodal stage on our journey through France, with 70km by bike, 7km by kayak and another 2km uphill to finish the day. We crossed the Maine river…
Here are my notes from reading the RESTORE report ‘ (REthinking Sustainability TOwards a Regenerative Economy) Sustainability, Restorative to Regenerative – edited by Martin Brown and Edeltraud Haselsteiner…
If we want to think really regeneratively about engineering and the creation of buildings, then maybe we should consider building materials as a common resource. I realise that…
As James and I start to delve into the writing for our book on regenerative design for structural engineers, I am gathering my thoughts on what regenerative practice…
This month I am writing an article on that explores what if we restricted construction material use to those from a local catchment. Rather than a global supply…
At our local allotments, permaculture teacher Mike Fiengold re-distributes food waste in the community. Even after he has sent food to various local charities there is lots left…
After a two-year break I am back on my bike in London. This morning a short hop from Paddington to Kings Cross. Having moved to Bristol almost four…
Please, take the meat out of meetings. Then you can say, no animal died in the making of this decision. Some meetings are pointless. Don’t add to this…
Restorative and regenerative are two words I am hearing used interchangeably. Both are relevant to engineering and design. Both are approaches to design that are valuable. But they…
I am a connoisseur of email-reduction strategies, so I share this for friends and colleagues of mine who I know are struggling with this at the moment. The…