A Visit to Swarovski Kristallwelten
Not so much a brand museum as an art installation
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Forgotten WW1 Aerodrome to be Revived
Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome, near Maldon in Essex, has won £4.3m of National Lottery funding that will enable it to be transformed into a major visitor attraction. The near-complete example of a First World War aerodrome, untouched and largely forgotten for 60 years, was built in...
Review: Menorca Military Museum
Despite Menorca’s key military position in the 17th-19th centuries, I hadn’t really expected too much from the Museu Militar de Menorca in Es Castell, but it’s actually rather good. Like many islands in the Mediterranean, Menorca was a fortress and its military history reflects that, not only...
A Room with a View
I love a good view from a hotel window or balcony, but I especially love interesting views where you can watch activity – on the street, in the harbour, on the ski slope, etc. This is a great view for a geek like me. It’s from our...
Walthamstow Marshes: where AVRO began
I didn’t know this until I happened to go for a Sunday walk in east London recently and stumbled on the plaque and signage – the very first flight made by a British aeroplane, with a British engine and a British pilot was made here by Alliott...
Review: National Museum of Flight, Scotland
"To be of full value to its user, a parachute must inspire absolute and implicit confidence in its correct functioning." - Air Ministry Manual. A masterclass in under-statement!
New Tourist Train in Japan
A new, specially designed, luxury tourist train was launched yesterday in Japan. The Royal Express will operate from Yokohama station in Yokohama and Itokyu Shimoda station in Shimoda City at the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula with its full of hot springs and picturesque coastlines. Around...
Historic Apollo 13 Flight Manual for Sale
On Thursday this week, an amazing piece of space history goes on sale at Sotheby’s Auction house in New York – the original flight plan from the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission. It’s one item in a ‘Space Exploration’ auction of space memorabilia and artifacts, some of which...
Star Wars Land unveiled
Yesterday, Disney Parks & Resorts unveiled a detailed model of Star Wars Land, scheduled to open at Walt Disney World and Disneyland in 2019. Star Wars Land is not based on a specific location in the Star Wars canon, but instead recreates a remote trading port on...
Malta Mystery
Here’s an interesting and puzzling piece of history that I stumbled across recently. It makes me think it might be time for a return visit to Malta! I came across the anecdote in Stuart R. Scott’s 1996 book: Battleaxe Blenheims – 105 squadron RAF at war 1940-1 *...
Review: Metallurgy Museum, Ardennes
Most travellers think of the French Ardennes, and the Meuse valley in particular, as a ‘battlefield’ landscape, but its longer heritage is ‘industrial’. This was the heart of the coal and iron industry in France and just as in the valleys of Wales, the story is one...
Electric Menorca
There are plans to turn the Mediterranean island of Menorca into an eco-electric hub, and they don't just stop at renting electric cars to tourists.
Paddle under the Pennines
Foulridge Tunnel, on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, is to become the longest canal tunnel in the UK to open to canoes. The mile-long, the 200 year old tunnel, looked after by the Canal & River Trust, is regularly used by canal boats, but from Saturday 03...
Review: Culloden Battlefield Site, Scotland
If there’s one thing a visit to the Culloden battlefield reveals, it’s what a poor choice of ground Charles Edward Stuart (aka ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’) selected for the last major battle fought on British soil. It is flat and open moorland, that’s a start. But, given that...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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