LGBTQ+ News COLUMN: Traveller’s Tales: Where will we go to this year? The world has cautiously opened up again and we can go almost anywhere including of course our closest friend, France. With all French government pronouncements there always has to be a health warning as they are quite capable of closing their frontiers at a moment’s notice without much warning. The By Roger Wheeler • 3 min read
Michael Wall R.I.P: 21.4.1975 – 8.8.2019 – Farewell my darling Back in the early part of 2004, in the bad old days of Gaydar, I was innocently surfing around when a young Irishman popped his head over the parapet and said Hi. By Roger Wheeler • 2 min read
An offer he couldn’t refuse! Don Vito Corleone’s famous quote from the Godfather followed us around Sicily. Mario Puzo the author of the book may well have been an American but he knew a lot about Sicily, its mafia the Cosa Nostra and La Camorra. You will see the technically fictitious name Corleone everywhere. By Roger Wheeler • 5 min read
Features & Longread TRAVEL FEATURE: From Manchester to ‘La Dolce Vita’ It’s 1990 in a gay bar in Canal Street Manchester, two young single guys met, with the potential of just a fleeting experience. Who ever knew what was to follow. This is how many relationships start; Bob and Ian liked each other – quite a lot. They got together and within a short space of time they By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
In The South TRAVEL FEATURE: Mallorca – a secret place? Millions of people, Brits included, visit Mallorca every year with most heading straight for the famous beach resorts of Cala Figuera, Illetas, Palmanova, Can Pastilla, or Palma with its magnificent Gothic Cathedral, there are plenty to choose from. By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread TRAVEL FEATURE: Go west, young man? Not anymore The Village People and Pet Shop Boys have been telling us to Go West for years, but today the mood in London is more Go East. Roger Wheeler and his husband Mike Go North to see what all the fuss is about. By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
In The South TRAVEL FEATURE: Rotterdam – A Revelation Everyone has heard of and most people have visited Amsterdam at least once and loves its beautiful architecture, canals and wonderful life style. I used to live there and while I had visited most of the major centres in the Netherlands, I had never been to Rotterdam By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Sifnos In The South TRAVEL: The Sea Gypsies of Sifnos We thought that we knew all about the Greek Islands of the Cyclades, having visited Mykonos, Paros, Ios, Santorini, Milos and yes we were told that they are all different, but after a while they do tend to look somewhat similar. By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
In The South Milos – just another Greek island? The name Cyclades refers to islands forming a circle around the sacred island of Delos and according to Greek mythology, Poseidon, God of the sea, furious at the Cyclades nymphs, turned them into islands. Possibly the most famous of this group is Mykonos but there are about 20 others that are rarely By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
In The South TRAVEL: Santorini – 2 Islands for the price of one Santorini, a mythical name with associations of Atlantis and ancient Greek legends, is the rim of a dormant volcano which blew up roughly 3,500 years ago, causing the entire centre of the island to sink into the sea. By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread TRAVEL: The Basque Country – another country South west France and north east Spain is the Basque Country where they speak an ancient and incomprehensible language, eat different food and have a different attitude to life. By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
In The South A large glass of Bordeaux with a slice of Biarritz Everyone associates Bordeaux with just wine, and yes they do produce some 700 million bottles of red wine a year, which English wine snobs call claret. But what of the actual place, being quite fond of a glass or two we thought it may be worth a visit, it was. By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
The Grand Canal Features & Longread Venice – ‘La Serenissima’ Millions of words have been written by some of the world’s most distinguished writers about Venice, undoubtedly one of the world’s most beautiful and romantic cities, so what can I add? There are hundreds of websites and dozens of tour companies wanting to help you enjoy the place, you don‘t need th By Roger Wheeler • 6 min read
Features & Longread TRAVEL: Winchester: In the footsteps of Alfred the Great Roger Wheeler visits the county town of Hampshire and former capital of the ancient Kingdom of Wessex. Most of us learnt about King Alfred at school and the mythical story of him burning the cakes, almost certainly he didn’t burn any cakes, but it takes us to the fascinating history of Alfred and hi By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread Добро пожаловать в Марбелье or Welcome to Marbella Roger Wheeler visits the Costa del Sol to sample the wine, the food and check out those burly Russian men. I have been visiting the Costa del Sol for many years and over that time nothing much has changed apart from the language spoken by a large number of new residents. Today most of Europe […] By Roger Wheeler • 5 min read
Features & Longread A pocket full of Rye! Roger Wheeler visits one of the real treasures of Sussex The ancient town of Rye is undoubtedly one of the historic gems of Sussex, just 55 miles from Brighton and 76 from London and on the main Brighton – Ashford International railway line it’s really quite accessible. Never having been there to ta By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread The green grass of Venice? Roger Wheeler pays a visit to South West France and finds a little paradise. Venise Verte or green venice is the phrase used to describe one of the most beautiful parts of France that I have ever visited. Down in the south west in the department of Deux Sevres lays this stunning area of water […] By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread Wisley – A great day out! Roger Wheeler visits one of Englands finest horticultural attractions. It’s a new year, no one has any money and its mid-winter, but we still need an occasional break. Some years ago we got an allotment, there’s a lot to discover about growing veg so, hoping to learn something we joined The Royal H By Roger Wheeler • 3 min read
Features & Longread Île de Ré – French beaches at their best Many years ago I heard about an exclusive French island resort called Île de Ré, which I had assumed was way outside of my price bracket. But I had always wanted to go, so this year, after our major road trip to south west France, we ended up in La Rochelle and realising that this […] By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
La Rochelle, France Features & Longread La Belle France! The British have been crossing the channel for hundreds of years; in the past it was to fight the French, today it is to live amongst them. Over the past twenty or so years we have been descending in our hundreds on many parts of France, from Normandy to Provence but no area has been […] By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread On the road to Le Mans Mention the name Le Mans to most people and all they can tell you that it is the place where they have a 24 hours road race every year, they are not even sure where it is. We were driving from Dieppe down to the south west of France and decided that we should break […] By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread Glorious Paros For many years the Greek Islands have been regarded as the expensive holiday choice, not any more. The Greeks with their well known financial problems have woken up to the fact that if they want tourists (and they certainly do) they had to adjust their prices and they have. Not having any real idea By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread Mykonos – An Aegean Pearl In ancient Greek mythology there was a race of people living on an island somewhere in the Aegean Sea who ate nothing but lotus flowers and lived a wonderful, sybaritic and relaxed life. This is a myth, or is it? I had never been to any of the (nearly) 3,000 islands of which 170 are […] By Roger Wheeler • 5 min read
Features & Longread Party On – Dutch Style! The Dutch love their Royal Family possibly more than we love our own. Every year since 1948 they have celebrated their Queen’s official birthday on April 30 (or April 29 if it falls on a Sunday) with parties all over the country. It was always known as Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day) and Amsterdam alway By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
