facttime

If you follow me on Instagram , you may have noticed that I bought a bike a couple of months ago. I cycled a bit at university, but living in a small, second-floor flat in London with nowhere to safely keep a bike and the busy London roads put me off cycling in The Smoke. As lockdown progressed, however, I felt increasingly limited in the places I could visit on foot, and I finally pushed the boat out and bought a folding bike: a Brompton B75 , to be more exact. The B75 is the 'cheaper' Brompton model (NB: it's not cheap), and it comes without some of the standard Brompton features — mudguards and a front luggage block, for example — and with lower-end versions of others, such as the saddle. But it was in stock in late May when I ordered it, and it only comes in my favourite colour: turquoise, or water blue, as Brompton puts it. I've added a few upgrades — a more comfortable saddle, a folding pedal, a luggage block and mudguards — as well as the small Borough bag , a w...

It's been six years since my last post about the  speciality coffee scene in Brighton  and I've been meaning to do an update for some time. One of the Brighton and Hove coffee spots that has long been on my list is Pharmacie Coffee Roasters , whose coffee I've enjoyed on many previous occasions, but whose Hove roastery only opens to the public on Saturdays. As I made my recent visit to Brighton and Hove during midweek, hoping that it would be quieter, Pharmacie was out, however. As was Redroaster , a speciality coffee spot and all-day eatery, which re-opened, post-lockdown, two days after my visit. Nonetheless, I was able to visit several new-to-me coffee shops in Brighton and Hove during the day I was in town, all of which were open for customers who wanted to drink in — at a suitable distance — as well as takeaway. Wolføx Lab I came across Wolføx while strolling down the lovely Western Road in Hove. There were a few people enjoying their coffee in the morning sun at the t...

I was supposed to be on holiday in Montenegro this week, but my flights were cancelled some months ago and, in any case, a flexible staycation seemed more doable in the present COVID-19 circumstances. Instead, I went to stay with my parents in Oxford for a few days, where we strolled in Port Meadow, visited a few coffee shops  and recreated Molineux in the garden . On Tuesday, we drove down to the South Coast for some sunshine and sea air, and luckily, both were abundant. Coincidentally, while researching the trip, I had spotted some stunning photos of Birling Gap and Seven Sisters by Finn Hopson on Twitter, and we decided to head for the National Trust car park at Birling Gap . The car park was quite busy when we arrived, despite our early start, and there was a bit of a — physically distant — queue for the one working loo. We bought some sausage rolls and hot drinks from the cafe, which was open for takeaway, and climbed down the steps to the pebbly beach. Several people were al...