Welcome to the Lucky Bag - so called because I couldn't think of another name for all the bits that don't fit in the other categories. Lucky Bags, of course, were around when I was a kid - you got a novelty, some toffee and/or chewing gum and some other kind of sweet for your tuppence. Unlike real Lucky Bags, this one is destined to get bigger...

Contents:
Links
My Top 100
The 10 Greatest Albums
Ghostly Goings-on at Glynceiriog
Far From The Sodding Crowd

Links

Here are a few to try:
My nephew Stuart's blog. It's primarily about his daughter, Millie, who was born premature in 2005, and science fiction, of which he is an authority.
The official website of my nephew Trevor's band, Your Robot Overlords. He's the lead singer and guitarist.
SwindonWeb has everything you ever wanted to know about good old Swindon.
The official Swindon Advertiser site, including my column (on Tuesdays).
The official site of George Monbiot, Guardian columnist and campaigner, which has interesting, extremely well researched and often eye-opening articles on issues such as the environment.
The truly stunning Google Earth has to be seen to be believed. Requires easily-downloaded software.
The BBC News website is probably the best of its kind in the world. Check out the lively Magazine section.
The official website of singer-songwriter Al Stewart. What? Never heard of him? But he's one of my heroes...
The Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter is all about coming up with interesting websites for you to website - and never fails.
For years I used Multimap - until I discovered Google Maps is much better.

My Top 100

For some reason, in 2005 I decided to list my favourite 100 music tracks of all time. It proved much harder than you might think to get it down to 100. There are two rules - no band or artiste is allowed more than 10 entries, and they're not in order of preference. Here's the latest list:


Night Train to Munich - Al Stewart

Sergio - Al Stewart

Fields of France - Al Stewart

The Coldest Winter in Memory - Al Stewart

Delia's Gone - Al Stewart

Running Man - Al Stewart

Always The Cause - Al Stewart

Murmansk Run/Ellis Island - Al Stewart

Rain Barrel - Al Stewart

Soho (Needless To Say) ['Folk/hop' version] - Al Stewart

I am the Walrus - The Beatles

All My Loving - The Beatles

You Won't See Me - The Beatles

Hey Jude - The Beatles

Your Mother Should Know - The Beatles

Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles

Day Tripper - The Beatles

Within You Without You - The Beatles

Tomorrow Never Knows - The Beatles

Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows [From 'Love'] - The Beatles

Honey Hush - Paul McCartney

Young Boy - Paul McCartney

Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five - Paul McCartney

Let Me Roll It - Paul McCartney

If You Wanna - Paul McCartney

Brown Eyed Handsome Man - Paul McCartney

Wino Junko - Wings

Nobody Told Me - John Lennon

Oh Yoko! - John Lennon

Faster - George Harrison

Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys

Then I Kissed Her - The Beach Boys

Sloop John B - The Beach Boys

God Only Knows - The Beach Boys

I'm Waiting for the Day - The Beach Boys

Good Vibrations [Smile version] - Brian Wilson

Heroes and Villains [Smile version] - Brian Wilson

Surf's Up - Brian Wilson

Wonderful - Brian Wilson

In Blue Hawaii - Brian Wilson

Cabin Essence - Brian Wilson

Ways and Means - Dave Cousins

Witchwood - The Strawbs

On Growing Older - The Strawbs

Queen of Dreams - The Strawbs

Autumn - The Strawbs

Benedictus - The Strawbs

Simple Visions - The Strawbs

Moving - Kate Bush

The Red Shoes - Kate Bush

Under Ice - Kate Bush

Somewhere in Between - Kate Bush

Downside-Up - Peter Gabriel

The Time of the Turning/The Weaver's Reel - Peter Gabriel

I Have the Touch - Peter Gabriel

The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul - XTC

Across This Antheap - XTC

Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her - XTC

Better Off Dead - Elton John

Funeral for a Friend/Loves Lies Bleeding - Elton John

Conversation - Gary Numan

My Shadow in Vain [2002 version] - Gary Numan

Bed and Breakfast Man - Madness

Night Boat to Cairo - Madness

Erie Canal - Bruce Springsteen

Eyes on the Prize - Bruce Springsteen

A Town Called Malice - The Jam

The Eton Rifles - The Jam

Keeping the Faith - Billy Joel

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel

No Fish Today - Kid Creole and the Coconuts

Stool Pigeon - Kid Creole and the Coconuts

Fields of Gold - Sting

Message in a Bottle - The Police

I Want to Break Free - Queen

He's Misstra Know-It-All - Stevie Wonder

Pulling Mussels from a Shell - Squeeze

The Female of the Species - Space

Hole in My Shoe - Traffic

Left Foot Stepdown - The Bees

I'm The Man - Joe Jackson

Walk Between Raindrops - Donald Fagen

In France They Kiss on Main Street - Joni Mitchell

Echo Beach - Martha and the Muffins

Copacabana - Barry Manilow

Gangsters - The Specials

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves - Cher

Angie Baby - Helen Reddy

Tour de France Theme (Channel 4) - Pete Shelley

UFO (TV Theme) - The Barry Gray Orchestra

The Persuaders (TV Theme) - John Barry

Govinda - Kula Shaker

Tokyo Melody - Helmut Zacharias

Morningtown Ride - The Seekers

Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie C Riley

Nothing Rhymed - Gilbert O'Sullivan

America - Simon and Garfunkel

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft - The Carpenters

King of the Road - Roger Miller

Singing the Fishing* - (Ewan MacColl)

*This is a bit of a cheat because Singing the Fishing is actually a documentary about the history of herring fishing (believe it or not), which is set to traditional folk music. It's therefore a whole CD - but qualifies by being one long, continuous track. Well, sort of.

The 10 Greatest Albums

Again, not in order, but easy enough for me to choose:
Smile - Brian Wilson
OK, I said they weren't in order, but this is my all-time favourite album. Yep - even above Al Stewart and The Beatles. Finished 30-odd years after it was started, it was worth the wait.
Revolver - The Beatles
A sort of limbering-up before Sgt Pepper, which combines the rawness of the early Beatles with the creativity of later years. The amazing Tomorrow Never Knows is a perfect example of this.
St Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
Obviously the most influential album ever made. You sometimes forget just how imaginative it was, until you play it again. The best track is by George Harrison - Within You Without You (the Indian one you either love or hate).
Abbey Road - The Beatles
The Fab Four's last explosion of genius before they split up. It includes Ringo's best drumming (on Come Together) and his only solo (The End).
Past, Present and Future - Al Stewart
The album that marked the start of Al Stewart's phenomenal phase of writing songs with historical themes. This is the best of those so far.
Down in the Cellar - Al Stewart
Al's themed album about wine shows how his music has... um, matured over the years. It includes beautiful melodies, catchy tunes and elaborate lyrics. Typical Al really.
Time Passages - Al Stewart
Choosing a third Al album for this list was a challenge, but Time Passages just gets it instead of others - probably for sentimental reasons (I saw him live for the first time in 1979, just after it was released).
Band on the Run - Paul McCartney
His most complete solo album, which maintains a high standard right through and includes several under-rated tracks as well as hit singles.
Witchwood - The Strawbs
The album that best captures The Strawbs' dreamy, other-worldly folk-rock style. If it was a book it would be Lord of the Rings.
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
The groundbreaking 1960s classic - sort of The Beach Boys' Sgt Pepper. It shows off Brian Wilson's genius for writing and producing.

Ghostly goings-on at Glynceiriog

This bit is not for the faint-hearted, so if you are of a nervous disposition, look away now. Back in 2003, during one of our annual February weekends with our gang, we inadvertently disturbed a ghost in a cave while out on a walk near Llangollen. At least some people (ie me) thought it looked like a ghost in the pictures, although certain other people (ie everybody else) said they disagreed. By clicking here, you can see the original page I uploaded back then, and decide for yourself. Below is a picture of brave souls close to the mouth of the haunted cave, including a very young-looking Sean.

Far From The Sodding Crowd

This section is inspired by a brilliant little book called Far From The Sodding Crowd which celebrates off-the-beaten-track touristy places in Britain. I thought it would be fun to compile my own list of places (in no particular order) that we've visited, which meet the same criteria as those in the book. That's mainly that they look fairly naff but turn out to be interesting and even charming. My list includes one that actually is in the book (Dunsop Bridge).

Lincoln Castle
When we went to Lincoln, we thought it had an average sort of castle at first. That is, until we saw the chapel that inmates used to use when it was a prison, in the 19th century. It's a really weird place with a strange atmosphere. The authorities had a problem because on Sundays the church service was compulsory for all prisoners but they somehow had to maintain a strict policy of solitary confinement. The solution was a bizarre set of little stalls in which the prisoners stood, and from which they could only see the preacher. Because you can stand in the prisoners' stalls and the pulpit, it's well worth the entrance fee to the castle on its own. The only problem is it's impossible to do it justice in a picture, especially without a wide-angle lens.
Dunsop Bridge, Lancashire
This is one of those places that people like me go to just so we can say we've been there. It's supposed to be the geographical centre of Britain, except there are several problems with that. Firstly, it depends on how you work it out, and although they got the Ordnance Survey in to do it, Dunsop Bridge gets the honour only if you don't include the Shetlands (which they didn't, for some reason). Even then, it's the village that's closest to the centre, not the actual centre, which is really four miles away in a field. BT at least entered into the spirit of things by siting their 100,000th phone box there - thus providing visitors with something to point at when they pose for pictures.
The Point of Ayre, Isle of man
This is the weirdest virtually empty place I've ever been to. It's a pebbly and probably often windy point at the very northern tip of the Isle of Man and is made really special by having not one but two lighthouses and, best of all, a disused foghorn. This adds an even more bizarre edge to a place that already seems like something out of a science fiction movie - even on a bright, sunny day. I spent ages trying to capture this and the remoteness of the place. The picture-cum-logo at the top of this blog is one result. Perhaps most amazing about it is that nobody else who was there seemed to find it amazing. Not even the foghorn, which seemed strangely sinister in an attractive kind of way.
Nautical Museum, Castletown, Isle of Man
You can't go wrong with nautical or maritime museums (see below) but on the outside, the one at Castletown on the Isle of Man isn't very promising. However, it has two little secrets. One is a room with various trap doors and secret switches that was built by a smuggler (which the guide was especially good at showing us) but best of all is the main reason for the museum - a yacht called Peggy that was walled up in the building soon after 1796, wasn't rediscovered until 1935 and can now be seen in situ. Discovering such a lovely story in such an unpromising-looking place is fitting, given the story of the boat itself.
Lowestoft Maritime Museum, Norfolk
Don't ask me why, but I have a strange fascination with the history of herring fishing, particularly in East Anglia, so lovely little Lowestoft Maritime Museum is a must-go place for me. It's as if I'm somehow descended from deep sea fishermen - which I'm not. I can't even swim and I don't eat fish. The museum's collection of models of sailing luggers and steam drifters is especially unmissable. Lowestoft's other claim to fame (apart from its fishing heritage) is that it is the most easterly town in Britain - the actual most easterly point being unmarked on a scruffy industrial estate. It's also pure coincidence that there is a whacking great wind turbine - a one-mill wind farm - a stone's throw away, where people like me can't resist stopping and taking a closer look.
Big Dipper, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
I could pick several places at Yarmouth as among my all-time favourite places to go - all because of nostalgia for the times we went there as kids and found the whole place magical. Even now, when it seems a bit grotty, it's still nowhere near as seedy or as dirty or as tacky as Blackpool - sort of nice grotty. Best of all is The Big Dipper at the Pleasure Beach. It's an insult to call it a mere rollercoaster because that lumps it in with the white knuckle rides you get these days that do nothing more than give you white knuckles. This is a proper wooden ride and used to be called a 'scenic railway' when it was originally opened in France before being shipped over, piece by piece, in 1933.
Puzzle Wood, Forest of Dean
On paper, Puzzle Wood is just a stroll in the Forest of Dean, but for your entry fee you get to walk in a kind of JRR Tolkien landscape with paths between towering trees, rickety wooden bridges and loads of rocks with moss on. There are various routes to take and things to point at along the way, but running is not recommended, as Sean discovered when he tripped and broke his front tooth. There's also a sort of home-made maze on different levels inside a barn to negotiate before you get down to the more serious business of soaking up the Lord of the Rings-like atmosphere.
Beer Caves, Devon
I remember saying, just before we went into Beer Caves, that every time you go into caves, they're never as good as you imagine. Cheddar and Wookey Hole are prime examples. They're interesting enough, but not very big. But Beer Caves are different. They used to make cathedrals out of some of the rock they dug out at Beer - 24 of them, plus the Tower of London and Windsor Castle. That means there are cathedral-sized holes left, so it's really impressive, yet so understated. The local tourist office doesn't go out of its way to publicize it at all, even though they are sitting on (literally) caves that are better than all the other cave systems I've been in, put together.