Thames Path: Maidenhead to Datchet I had originally intended that our next leg of the Thames Path would take us from Maidenhead to Staines or Shepperton, with an overnight stop en route. But, owing to time pressures, we opted instea…

We really have been dawdling along the Thames Path, a project we began seven years ago, in 2019.
Earlier this month we squeezed in a day trip, completing the section from Maidenhead to Datchet.
There is so much to see on this comparatively short stretch of the River.

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Thames Path: Maidenhead to Datchet I had originally intended that our next leg of the Thames Path would take us from Maidenhead to Staines or Shepperton, with an overnight stop en route. But, owing to time pressures, we opted instead for a day trip, arriving at Maidenhead by mid-morning and progressing to Datchet, or possibly beyond. It was a bright, warm day in early April.

It was high time we returned to the Thames Path. This is my account of a one day walk from Maidenhead to Datchet, a section that is steeped in history but with several contemporary touches.

But the fact remains that Starmer wanted Mandelson appointed at the time, thinking he'd be the pre-eminent 'Trump whisperer'. And of course he was...
It is only belatedly that Starmer has come to realise that toadying to Trump in that fashion is morally wrong, and not benefiting this country either.

And now Starmer reveals that he asked Cabinet Secretary Wormald review the full Mandelson appointment process in September 2025 and Robbins STILL didn't tell Wormald the fact of Mandelson's failure to pass developed vetting.
It will be interesting to hear Robbins explain why not tomorrow.

That's even before he - Robbins - allegedly then decided to keep shtum during the entire humble address furore. That stretches credulity even further.

Starmer would have us believe that, two weeks into post as FO Perm Sec, not only did Robbins decide not to tell his Foreign Secretary, Lammy, that Mandelson had failed vetting, he also kept this information from his Cabinet Secretary boss Chris Wormald.
That stretches credulity beyond all limits.

Underworld – Don DeLillo Donald Richard DeLillo was born in November 1936 in New York City and grew up in the Bronx’s ‘Little Italy’. He graduated from a private Catholic high school and attended nearby Fordham University, emerging in 1958 with a degree in communications. While working as an advertising copywriter he began to publish occasional short stories, leaving his job in 1964. He began writing his first novel, ‘Americana’, in 1966, but it wasn’t published until 1971.

This latest book review deals with 'Underworld' (1997) by Don DeLillo.

This mishmash of contradiction and hyperbole is desperation writ large.
Trump increasingly resembles Kurtz, corrupted by power.
Bombing Iran to smithereens isn't some third way out of his self-inflicted dilemma. It's a vicious war crime.
In attacking a pariah state, the US is fast becoming one.

Iran war latest: Trump issues expletive-laden threat to Iran demanding Strait of Hormuz be opened In a post on social media, the US president says in Iran “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one” if the key shipping lane is not reopened.

He's angry at himself really, isn't he? And, though half deranged, he's still self-aware enough to know that his own hubris led him into making such a catastrophic mistake.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...

The cost mounts daily, as does the case for other nations to demand reparations from the US, to compensate for the huge costs of this illegal war.
Meantime, despite our own financial pain, we can enjoy Trump's impotent rage, for he is still impaled on the twin horns of a dilemma he alone has forged.

I hear that all other NATO members will be pressing for reparations from the US, equivalent to the impact of its foolhardy illegal war upon their economies.

It may end up a Pyrrhic victory, economically speaking, but Trump is now hoist by his own petard. He has no good choices: either a humiliating climbdown via negotiation, where Iran holds all the cards, or losing military lives in a risky ground invasion that will likely escalate into a forever war.

Northern Lake District: HF Holidays, February 2026 Having spent the latter part of February 2025 at HF’s Monk Coniston country house in the Southern Lake District, we decided to repeat the experience in February 2026, this time further north. When …

In late February we spent a week with HF Holidays near Derwent Water in the Northern Lake District.

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#HFholidays
#HFDerwentBank
#HFNorthernLakeDistrict
#Penrith
#Keswick
#CapBells
#GrisedalePike
#CauseyPike
#Buttermere
#DerwentWater
#CrummockWater

Northern Lake District: HF Holidays, February 2026 Having spent the latter part of February 2025 at HF’s Monk Coniston country house in the Southern Lake District, we decided to repeat the experience in February 2026, this time further north. When booking in late November, we anticipated few problems, beyond the ever unpredictable Lakes weather, It was a bargain, too: we paid a heavily discounted £543 each for a six-night walking holiday in the Northern Lake District, at Derwent Bank, near Keswick.

During a difficult and stressful time, immediately following a family bereavement, we spent a week with HF Holidays near Derwent Water in the Northern Lake District.

The overwhelming natural beauty was occasionally an assuaging balm though, all too often, made abrasive by tempestuous wind and rain.

Trump is on the ropes now, ducking and weaving. His punches have no weight. The only way he can escape is by landing low blows, like sacrificing Ukraine to Russia maybe. Keep throwing punches. Don't let him escape. Be vigilant for incoming low blows. If he resorts to them, be sure to reciprocate.

Isn't that Tyson Fury's younger brother? The one with a glass jaw?

About as different from Chris Wormald as it's possible to be, but she will be equally hamstrung by the chaos at the heart of this No 10 operation - and even fairer game for the right wing press... And will Starmer's successor anyway prefer someone else?

The Chagossian Double Volte Face isn't a new ice-skating manoeuvre, but the latest sign that the most powerful man in the world has completely lost his marbles.

Braverman as Reform's education spokesperson...for crying out loud. Enough with this buffoonery!

The smart money's on a coalition. Hopefully a Lab, Lib, Green one!

Orchidry XIV

Orchidry XIV

Orchidry XIII

Orchidry XII

Orchidry XII

Orchidry XI

Orchidry XI

'Unwise' is civil service speak for 'utterly idiotic'.

Being a female perm. sec. isn't, of itself, sufficient qualification for the cabinet sec. role.

Even if these allegations are almost a decade old.

South Downs Way: Plumpton to Alfriston Six months after our last visit we returned to the South Downs Way, continuing the tradition of celebrating Tracy’s birthday on this particular trail. Despite threatened blizzards and deluges in the run-up to departure, the weather proved comparatively benign. Sun was in rather short supply, but we managed to dodge most of the showers and enjoyed comparatively mild temperatures for the time of year.

Our 2026 walking programme commenced with the stretch from Plumpton to Alfriston on the South Downs Way. It was a memorable excursion for many reasons, by no means all of them positive.

The Kites – Romain Gary Romain Gary (1914-1980) was born Roman Leibovich Kacew in Vilnius, then part of the Russian Empire. His parents, both Jewish, divorced in 1925. After periods in Moscow and Warsaw, he and his mother arrived in Nice. He studied law before joining the French Air Force in 1938, training as a pilot. Following the French Armistice with Nazi Germany he defected to the Free French Air Force.

The Kites – Romain Gary

Romain Gary (1914-1980) was born Roman Leibovich Kacew in Vilnius, then part of the Russian Empire. His parents, both Jewish, divorced in 1925. After periods in Moscow and Warsaw, he and his mother arrived in Nice. He studied law before joining the French Air Force in 1938,…

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It's good social media etiquette and it would save us all a great deal of wasted time.

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That Was 2025 If last year was lively on Eponymous (aka timdracup.com), 2025 has been positively manic. In 2024, I published 26 posts and thought that was good going. But this is my 41st post of 2025. That inclu…

That Was 2025 on timdracup.com

Two last expeditions to the South West Coast Path

Walking holidays in the Lake District, Swiss Alps and Gran Canaria

12 Ouroboros episodes about music that's important to me and 15 book reviews too

Old school; long-form; no paywalls!

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