Suave and sophisticated, Robert Palmer is known as much for his well-tailored image and stylish videos as he is for his songs. I’ve admired his music ever since he released his first solo album back in 1974 and followed his career which spanned fourteen solo records, plus various greatest hits compilations, live albums and his supergroup project with members of Duran Duran.

I also got to see Robert Palmer live, once at the beginning of his career when he was singing with Elkie Brooks in Vinegar Joe and then some year later at the Hammersmith Odeon at the height of…

Originally hailing from Turkey, ever since the Tulipmania of the 17th century elevated them to collector status, tulips have created a special place among the world’s species of flowers.

Not only do tulips come in almost every colour, but in many different shapes, sizes and styles. In fact there are now some 3,000 registered varieties, so many that when different varieties are seen side by side, it’s often hard to believe that any two are the same specie.

Indeed, tulips can be divided into no less than 15 different groups or categories. The most rudimentary being the classic six-petaled single…

A few years ago I was asked by the Littlehampton Heritage Group to look into the history of two Littlehampton streets: Pier Road and Bayford Road.

Over several weeks, I did a lot of research and began to compile my findings. However, as often happens, other things took over and it looked like the work would never see the light of day.

With time on my hands, lockdown has allowed me to reassess so much of what I’ve done, from the tens of thousands of live music, automotive and floral photos I’ve either never shared or those that I’m giving…

Almost 50 years after it was recorded, All The Young Dudes Bowie’s anthem for displaced kids, still sounds fresh today and continues to be covered by artists of every genre.

To this day, many claim it’s the best song he ever wrote. But why did Bowie write it, what’s it all about, what makes it such a special song and why did he give it away? Let’s take a deep dive and find out.

The background: 1972 was the year that Britain officially joined the European Union, year the Watergate scandal broke and the year when terrorists killed nine Israeli…

I’ve been to Bath once before, many years ago, so a return trip was long on the agenda. With lockdown easing, it was one of the first places I wanted to visit. It’s such a photogenic city, there are photo opportunities quite literally around every corner. Indeed, one has to be sparing on what to shoot in order to focus on the most interesting and most deserving subject matter.

While this is a photographic impression of what I got to see, I only spent an afternoon there in July at a time where much of the city’s attractions were either…

Since the end of March, one by one, I’ve witnessed every single event I was expecting to attend, review and photograph either get cancelled or postponed. In some cases, these were annual events that have been running continuously for years. But as my diary kept getting emptier and emptier, one event stubbornly remained on schedule: the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace. To be honest, it was one I fully expected to eventually go the way of all the others.

That it was taking place at all surprised me because the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, originally due to…

In 1932, Edward James inherited the 6,350-acre West Dean Estate near Chichester in West Sussex. He was just 25, the youngest of five children and the only son. His father, William Dodge James, had made a fortune in America through copper mining and in the railroad industry.

A lifetime supporter of surrealist art — Edward was the major benefactor to the Spanish artist Salvador Dali, whose career would not have taken off without his financial assistance. After travelling extensively in America promoting Dali, he began building Las Posaz, a vast property in Mexico. The project became so consuming that by…

With the Chelsea Flower Show and Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, as well as Arundel Castle’s Tulip Festival and Allium Extravaganza all victims of COVID-19, until recently, my floral fix this year had amounted to just a single trip to West Dean Gardens a week after it reopened from lockdown.

Plans for a long-overdue visit to Kew in June were delayed when I learned most of its big features would be closed. The world-famous glasshouses reopened on 4 July so I booked my slot. …