Fantastic News for This Website Fantastic news! For me, at any rate. This website has earned me the position of finalist at the British Guild of Travel Writers annual awards . Along with two other people, I am up for Travel Blogger of the Year. So I am over the moon - partly because I began the website six years ago merely as a bit of fun and as a challenge to see if I could do such a thing. And that is exactly how the website has continued.  Oh, and I’ve also been shortliste

Here is a copy of the weekly newspaper column I write for the Western Morning News and Western Daily Press - as published on Saturday October 12, 2024. I then cut and pasted it into an A.I. app asking it NOT to rewrite anything but to present it in a way which would be more fitting for this website. It kind of did what I asked, but disregarded my request and totally rewrote the thing. I put the two versions up here for anyone who is interested in what AI can and will do. I wo

Many years ago I wrote an article about my father’s great friend, one Harry Horrobin, who was a well known figure with his wife Betty living in the village where Iu reside now. The article was published in The Guardian and recently someone sent me a cutting… He are the words I wrote, taken from a very old file of mine filled with old bit of copy paper… HARRY HORROBIN is a retired blacksmith who can’t resist a symbolic cut when he’s out snowballing. Once it’s done, he gives h

<p class="">The first in the Hesp Out West series</p>

<p class=""><strong><em>Discover the eerie lore of West Penwith and the haunting celebrations of Punky Night, the Somerset term for Halloween, where the rural traditions of the West Country come alive. This intriguing article delves into the spectral figures that roam the moors, like the notorious Spriggans, the Black Dogs, and other phantoms that are part of the region's spooky folklore. Once marked by the simple carving of mangel-wurzels into lanterns, Halloween in Somerset

<p class="">This is an article I wrote about Watchet in the year 2000. <strong><em>Watchet, a town boasting a history as rich as its sea-shanty heritage. Perched on Somerset's cliffs, it seems like a northern town displaced to the West Country coast. Known for its eccentricities, from its official swine-herd to the ancient Court Leet that convenes over rum punch, Watchet is a community of paradoxes. Home to Yankee Jack, a mariner who enriched maritime culture with iconic shan

<p class=""><strong><em>In this thought-provoking article, the author reflects on the state of their own country and their experiences in a developing nation. They highlight how many citizens in developed countries often take their good fortune for granted, assuming entitlement to wealth and financial superiority. The author cautions against this complacency, warning that influential status can slip away due to poor decisions and leadership. They contrast the challenges faced

<p class="">A few notes about my novel The Lemon Tree Forest </p>

<p class="">August 15 and 16 seem to be fateful days in the West Country where some of the worst weather events on record have occurred on those dates - including the Lynmouth Food Disaster exactly 70 years ago and the terrible flood at Boscastle 18 years past… the rains nearly caused havoc again this year…</p>

<p class="">My sound recording made at Helwell Bay for BBC Radio Four’s Today programme Best Beaches feature - but it was messed up by them and broadcast under someone else’s name</p>

<p class="">There’s a new book called The Deer park launched this week - and it’s immediately proving to be very popular. Martin Hesp explains how the story came about… The Deer Park - a children's fairytale inspired by the magical woodlands above Dunster and includes references to local history and legends, intertwined with the author's personal experiences and family stories</p>

<p class="">A new arts and cultural festival is underway on the Isles of Scilly - Martin Hesp enjoyed a sneak preview just before the autumnal series of events began</p>

<p class="">Martin Hesp celebrates the new Taste East Devon Festival with lunch at a very special country hotel - The PIG at Combe serves a 25-mile-menu which more or less sums up all that is good about eating and drinking in the East Devon area</p>

<p class="">Martin Hesp pays tribute to his old friend, the potter Johnny Leach who passed away on Sunday August 29, 2021</p>

<p class="">Martin Hesp pays tribute to the llfe of his old friend Brendan Sellick - sometimes billed in the media as “The World’s Lat Mud-Horse Fisherman”</p>

<p class="">Martin Hesp remembers the filming projects he used to do with ITV Westcountry and digs out a load of old photos from the various episodes </p>

<p class="">The G7 Summit is to be held in an obscure corner of Cornwall called Carbis Bay in June - Martin Hesp reflects on the West Country railway journey that will take delegates to this special place</p>

<p class="">Martin Hesp tells a Christmas Ghost Story from Somerset </p>

<p class="">The Lemon Tree Forest is a novel set partly in Greece and partly in West Somerset’s Brendon Hills. Here writer Martin Hesp reproduces a single chapter after hearing about the death of a rather lonely middle-aged man on the other side of the hills.</p>

<p class="">Martin Hesp recalls the days when he used to be a TV presenter taking the cameras on hikes and other adventures across the West Country</p>