Peter Underwood's Page

20/11/2025

I tell stories

18/11/2025

This is no longer just the Tern, threading its way through the landscape for beauty's sake. No, at Attingham, the river and the flood plain have been given a crucial, modern duty, a sacrifice of stillness for the greater good of the downstream people on the banks of the mighty Severn

16/11/2025

Morecambe A Seaside Story

The rain comes in sideways here. It always has. The wind off Morecombe Bay doesn’t ask permission—it takes liberties with umbrellas, with carefully styled hair, with any notion of staying dry.

But there’s something honest about Morecombe in the autumn. It strips away pretence and shows you what this town really is: a place that’s weathered far more than storms.

14/11/2025

Step into a fairy story, because this is Little Moreton Hall—the moated Tudor mansion that looks like it’s been having a few too many centuries. Affectionately called a "gingerbread house" by some, its black-and-white timbers tilt and tumble in a way that truly defies logic. In fact, when modern engineers first studied it in 1990, they could barely believe their eyes!

13/11/2025

Mention a National Trust property, and a specific image often comes to mind: a magnificent stately home, perfectly manicured gardens, and the promise of a picturesque day out. Ilam Park, nestled in the heart of the Peak District, certainly delivers on that postcard-perfect promise with its rolling green hills, historic buildings, and views of the stunning Manifold Valley.
But like many beautiful places, its most interesting and useful truths lie just beneath the surface. Beyond the charming facade are a few surprising facts and practical details that can completely reframe your experience. To help you plan we'll reveal why the grandest building is off-limits, how the park is a secret portal to a more famous adventure, and how the park is finally making strenuous efforts to be more accessible

12/11/2025

For whom does the bell toll now that the National Trust are about to take over the museums of the Ironbridge Gorge?
It tolls for a new beginning—a new chapter in the preservation of the past, here in the valley that forged the future. Welcome to Coalbrookdale, the undisputed cradle of the Industrial Revolution.

19/10/2025

Autumn in Britain brings not only colour to the leaves, but a profound quiet to the ground below. In the woods of Trentham Gardens, the air hangs damp, carrying the rich, earthy scent of decay.

It is here, in the shade, that a hidden world prepares to unveil itself. This is the realm of the fungi, a delicate architecture that blooms when the summer light has finally faded.

19/10/2025

They say familiarity can breed contempt - but sometimes the familiar can still surprise you.

26/09/2025

Moving Boats as the morning drifts by at Norbury Wharf on the Shropshire Union Canal

24/09/2025

Sign for the future

It takes just 30 seconds

24/09/2025

The Tories - yes, the Tories - have received email leaks over McSweeney - but they beg the question, is the bigger crook him or Starmer?