Reporting from the Road
The Old Coastguard Cottage, Selsey, West Sussex.
We are snuggled up in an old coastguard crew cottage on the south coast of England, on a spit of land east of Portsmouth. We look out toward the Isle of Wight to the west, and it’s cold, blustery, rainy—real English weather, perfect for catching up on writing assignments for the upcoming issue of Exploration Quarterly while sipping tea in the morning and a hot toddy in the evening.
It’s been a whirlwind three weeks since we arrived October 22 and launched directly into events at the Royal Geographical Society’s Explore Week. Jonathan chaired and spoke on panels on expedition travel in deserts and on writing for explorers; I ran an Art of Exploration Collective event on Thursday with 12 other expedition artists and scientists, as well as chaired a panel on using creative works to tell stories about science and exploration. Our collective also has an exhibition in the Director’s Gallery of works from this summer’s Global GeoARTBlitz 2025 (see below).
While in London we visited Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, where Peter Bellerby and a small team of artisans create magic in every globe they craft by hand, from the painted gores to the iron stands to the wooden bases. Employing a delightful combination of old-world and new-world techniques, Bellerbys remains a fine example of how a venerable craft can be carried successfully through the 21st century. We will feature them in the upcoming Vol. 2, No. 3 of Exploration Quarterly.
Beach walks, searching for treasures among the dark cobbles
From London we ventured to Cornwall to visit a forest restoration project. The Hanbury-Tenison family are stewards of one of the few remnants of temperate Atlantic rainforest, an ancient habitat that once covered a fifth of England. We tramped the deep ravines of the forest at Cabilla Cornwall, fascinated by the 400+ year old oaks festooned with dozens of species of lichen and moss.
In Bath, we were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the workshops at George Bayntun bookbinders, who have been hand-crafting fine books since 1894. Edward Bayntun-Coward is the third generation to be carrying on the tradition. We will be featuring their art in a 2026 issue of Exploration Quarterly.
I’ve been diligently scouring charity shops and junk stores throughout the UK on our travels, snapping up as many old tins, curious containers, and field arts tools as I can. This haul came from an antique store in Chichester—tins, folding wooden ruler, and a dozen tools including writing points, compasses, and beautiful tiny mechanical pencil-lead holders with rings on the back, perfect for mini sketching kits. These will be featured in my annual Christmas store special offerings in early December.
