Northern sojourn

Shocked by his mid-winter lassitude, Mr Gnome posts snaps to indicate that recent weeks have not been exclusively devoted to muffins and hibernation.


A splendid train journey took him (via the curving splendour of York Station) to the chilly grandeur of Edinburgh, where he relished breakfast with The Scotsman at Valvona and Crolla, and a breezy re-acquaintance with the Rev Robert Walker at the National Galleries of Scotland.

Athens of the North

'For those who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like.'

So said the incomparable Jean Brodie. And one hopes she might have relished this view of her glorious city captured on a crisp February morning, long, long after the end of her prime.

Gnome of the north

Mr Gnome is preparing for a tartan-tastic late-winter visit to Edinburgh.

The Athens of the North beckons.

Mr G is making a list of must-visit locations, mostly based on his recollections of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and the novels of Alexander McCall Smith.

But he's open to suggestions....