Does veganism make you anaemic? Boost your testosterone? Make you B12 deficient? Lower your cholesterol? It’s been almost a year since I decided to give veganism a try, so last week I bought myself a late Christmas present: a battery of blood tests covering 58 different biomarkers. Not everyone’s idea of fun, but, as a … Continue reading What me and my body learned from 324 days of isolation veganism—including blood tests
Last week I mentioned the research of Miles Richardson and the Nature Connectedness Research Group at the University of Derby. Specifically, I was intrigued by their recent study, which suggests that it’s ‘moments, not minutes’ that influence how we feel after our encounters with nature. It’s quality, not quantity. Richardson et al. suggest that ‘simple … Continue reading Drawing on the power of nature How art outdoors can help enhance gains in positive wellbeing
You’d have thought that, living alone for a year in a medium-sized town without access to powered transport, I would have explored every corner of greenspace within a five kilometre radius of where I live. Not even close. This week, by opening my eyes and following my nose, I discovered pockets of unexplored nearby nature … Continue reading How connection with nature beats time in nature for your happiness and wellbeing Unexpected adventures in the millionaire’s jungle ravine
I think everyone can use a mentor. Someone to listen, support and guide you when times get rough or the way ahead is shrouded in confusion. Mentors are usually human beings, older and wiser than you. But what being could be older or wiser than a tree that has stood firm through wind and rain, … Continue reading Meet your tree mentor
Episode 1 of Foiled, a radio sitcom written by me and Beth Granville, airs on Monday. Bleach for the Stars is thriving under the guidance of local baguettes entrepreneur Tariq. But the baguette mogul’s new world order is seriously threatening Tanisha and Richie’s historically lax working life. Will they be able to oust Tariq and … Continue reading Foiled Series 4: On air
If you’re one of the two billion people who use Whatsapp, then you have probably noticed the new terms of service. You might already have accepted them. You might also have heard that these new terms of service consolidate and extend Whatsapp’s surveillance of your behaviour. You might be worried. I think you’re right to … Continue reading The Great Whatsapp Stink
It is with some pride that I announce that Martin, my 2011 Marin San Anselmo touring bike, has finally met his match. At some point in the last few months, the chain stay of his frame cracked and snapped in two. The fact that neither I nor a professional bike mechanic noticed anything wrong apart … Continue reading Brutal! Look what happens to a bike after 18,000 miles On the importance of stuff
As you know by now, I love this time of year because of the artificial opportunity for self-reflection and, above all, STATS. One of the difficulties of STATS, however, is making sure that the thing you are measuring is a genuine correlate of the thing that is actually important. For example, it’s easy for me … Continue reading 100 Days of Adventure
I love looking back over time past, especially as a writer, when my follies are etched in permanent print for all to admire. On 3 January this year, for example, I wrote the following: My 2020 is—absurdly—already mapped out. I went on to predict that Foiled would be broadcast this summer and that I’d then … Continue reading 52 things I learned in 2020
Shouldering a much-too-heavy backpack, I finally set foot in the Cotswolds on Monday afternoon. Four days, and 131,000 metres of claggy stomping later, I arrived at Bath Abbey. It was sort of a pandemic-friendly hiking of the Cotswold Way national trail, skirting the Tier 3 troubles of South Gloucestershire. An alternative trail demands an alternative … Continue reading Burnt Norton and the Catswold Way Four Quartets (Part The First)
Back in the summer of 2001, I spent a week exploring the temple complex at Angkor Wat. It was a short scooter ride from where we stayed in a village on the outskirts of Siem Reap. Side note: For many years, I treasured an amber ring that my Cambodian scooter-guide had given me as a … Continue reading The $3 Stories of Mr Aki Ra
Egyptians use the same word for bread as they do for life: عيش—‘aish. Bread, quite literally, is life. Street bread in Egypt عش بلدي—‘aish baladi—translates just as well as ‘rustic loaf’ as it does ‘live my country’. More broadly in Arab culture, عيش وملح—’aish w melh, bread and salt—is used to celebrate an alliance of … Continue reading Thought for Food #2: Bread of Life
The majority of the English countryside is out of bounds for most of its population. 92% of the countryside and 97% of rivers are off limits to the public. Private Keep Out signs are a personal hatred of mine. In England, we forget that private ownership of the land is an abomination in most of … Continue reading Trespassers Welcome
This week your humble writer is brought to you by the Rogue Welsh Cake Company, a mother and son hot-plating duo, flogging morsels of ‘is-it-a-bread-is-it-a-biscuit’ goodness to astonished foodies in the South Wales area. The menu boasts nine audaciously rogue flavours, from coconut and mixed spice to Marmite and cheese. The young company’s Head of … Continue reading Unsponsored Content: Going Rogue
Welcome to the 311th day of the 5520th year of human recorded history. I know it’s going back a bit, but do you remember, five thousand years ago, the furore surrounding the Pharaonic election of the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt, King Narmer AKA The Raging Catfish? Phew-ee! I mean, I know the mace-wielding … Continue reading Nowstory to history
This might look like a story about football, but it’s not. It’s a political parable with a footballing backdrop. Misquotes Folkloric Liverpool Football Club manager Bill Shankly once said: Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much … Continue reading Shankly’s Life and Death Food banks not football
If we want to leave no trace when we’re out in the countryside (and we do!) then we should never (ever) throw our banana skins into the undergrowth. Banana skins are a big problem for conservation: especially in natural beauty spots haunted by humans. I don’t want to make anyone feel bad: I’ve definitely been … Continue reading Leave no trace: don’t drop banana skins
If I’ve learned one thing about eating vegan in the past six months, it’s that I need to make more of an effort if I’m not going to die—not of malnutrition, but of boredom. I’ve often thought of this as a bad thing, but it’s actually an extremely good thing. (When I can be arsed.) … Continue reading Thought for Food #1: Making an effort
When I saw these panels in the Tintin adventure The Seven Crystal Balls, I confess to thinking, ‘Gah, I hate it when Tintin goes all sci-fi—I much prefer it when he’s fighting real baddies!’ As this particular bande dessinée was first published while Belgium was under Nazi occupation, I can understand why Hergé went for … Continue reading Tintin versus the foo fighters (not those ones)
My sister is a speech therapist who works with people who have suffered a stroke. A stroke is what happens when the blood supply to your brain gets cut off, usually by a blood clot but sometimes after the bursting of a blood vessel. By the way, the etymology of the word ‘stroke’ is completely … Continue reading Stroke Values
Dartmoor demands from its ramblers an ancient glossary: kists, reaves and leats; logan, staddle and bond stones; clitter, cleaves and clappers; growan, pluton and tors. The map could be read as a found poem; the land invites explorations historical, geological and botanical. Here you’ll find not only the eponymous moorland, but also featherbed bog, heathland … Continue reading This Means Moor
This is a takeover! Legendary school strike movement Fridays For Future have declared today a global day of climate action. As Eric Damien from Fridays For Future Kenya says: The pandemic has shown us that politicians have the power to act quickly and consistent with the best available science. But not even amid a pandemic … Continue reading Happy Global Day of Climate Action!
I’m currently reading Feel the Fear… And Do It Anyway, a classic of the self-help genre, by Susan Jeffers. It was written in a fever of enthusiasm back in 1987 and you can kind of tell. Although there’s plenty of practical wisdom in there—clearly inspired by the Stoics I might add—there are also moments of … Continue reading Feel the Fear… And Give Future Readers a Hard Time By Not Referencing Your Sources Anyway!
This episode of BBC CrowdScience looks at why people believe conspiracy theories and how empathy is a better approach than argument when trying to understand and talk these people into a different reality. Even better: the episode also tells how the modern concept of the contemptible ‘conspiracy theorist’ was created by an actual conspiracy of … Continue reading Why do we theorise a conspiracy?
I’ve cut my hair off! I started growing my hair long back in the summer of 2011—coincidentally the last time I cycled around Britain. My central reason for donating my hair to make wigs for children with cancer is, as you could guess, guilt. But it wasn’t guilt felt for the injustice of being a … Continue reading Hair loss
Philoxenia is the Greek idea of generosity and friendship towards strangers. During my cycle ride around the south of Britain in the summer of 2020, I was the happy recipient of many, many acts of generosity. This page is so that I can thank some of them publicly. Thank you! Part 1: The Southeast On … Continue reading Philoxenia around Britain Huge thanks to everyone who hosted me or simply made me smile
On Tuesday, I kind of rolled into Bristol, after cycling 1,012 kilometres around the southwest of the country. That means that, since the easing of lockdown, I’ve pedalled the whole of the south of England: from Britain’s most easterly point at Ness Point in Lowestoft to its joint-most photographed signpost at Land’s End. Combined, the … Continue reading Cycling around Britain: Why is this happening? 2,210km DONE // Southeast and southwest Britain COMPLETE
Welcome to Wadebridge, pride of the Camel Trail – a former railway line that’s been converted into a busy cycle path, following the gentle curves of the estuary from Padstow. It’s most glorious for families pulling trailers of toddlers and for tired tourers who win respite from the havoc of the Cornish verticals. While sitting … Continue reading Cycling around Britain: Detours
Once I’ve recovered a faculty or two, I’ll be cycling across Dartmoor to a wild camp spot at Foggintor Quarries, following the trail of two awesome tourers I met/accosted in Exeter. Will and Daryl have cycled the opposite way to me, down from Liverpool, around Wales and through Devon and Cornwall. It was a real … Continue reading Cycling around Britain: Leave no trace
Sunday evening. It was getting late to find a camp spot. I’d run out of water and I only had rice cakes in my panniers for dinner. Southwold was full, with queues for chips snaking down one-way street pavements. My last hope for an open shop was a rumoured ‘filling station’ in Wrentham. I rolled … Continue reading Cycling around Britain: A cheese sandwich in a rainstorm Finding philoxenia in modern Britain
What were you doing nine years ago? Please, have a think. What’s changed? How have you grown? I know exactly what I was doing: cycling around Britain. There is something physically, intellectually and spiritually potent about repeating a ‘once in a decade’ journey. The same routines of cycling and camping give ample space for reflection … Continue reading Cycling around Britain: Nine years
A thought crossed my mind as I walked through town yesterday: I’ve never knowingly littered. Then I doublechecked my thought: it’s completely wrong. I have. I used to chew gum: Wrigley’s peppermint to be precise (never spearmint—I’m not a monster). When I was in school, I often enjoyed the satisfaction of spitting the gum out … Continue reading Love Litter Or: How corporate litterbugs shamed us into taking the blame
After about 10 hours, I’ve come to the end of George the Poet’s inspired piece of radio. One couplet particularly struck me and has stuck with me: When artists become advocates The audience become activists I wouldn’t call myself an artist, but this message captures the best of what my writing can achieve. Worth remembering … Continue reading Two Georges on art as activism
The last three weeks of lockdown have been difficult. I know there are people who have been and still are in much worse situations, but Covid-19 gave me 90 straight days without human contact and nothing to do really other than work and exercise—a reliable recipe for stress-related illness. And for three weeks up to … Continue reading Stress and the search for the antischedule
I grew up in a swathe through beech forests so it’s no wonder that I find the pines, redwoods, sequoias, cedars and cypresses of the south coast alluring. Today, Bournemouth is famed for its vigorous tree culture — famous enough in 1948 for poet laureate John Betjeman to take the piss out of the modernising … Continue reading The trees knees A walk in the gardens of Bournemouth — once desolate heath — now home to famous sequoias, cedars and cypresses
Transcend #1: Spring Trees Last weekend I spent four, five, six, seven hours a day rambling in the Peak District. It’s the perfect isolation activity. Solitary, wondrous: an easy way to free yourself from the invisible bonds that are tying you down. Staggering down from Bamford Moor, I stumbled into a shady grove of stripped … Continue reading Two ways to transcend isolation
For the past few years, I’ve contributed to The Next Challenge grant to help ordinary folks go on extraordinary adventures. The grant is run by adventurer and accountant Tim Moss and every year I’m flabbergasted by the audacity of the dozen or so winners. People like Katie Marston, a swimming teacher from Cumbria, who is … Continue reading The Next Challenge grant winners
I’ve been listening to an excess of the Rule of Three podcast recently. As a podcast about comedy writing, it’s pretty much perfect audio for a comedy writer. I make a lot of notes. (For those of you who are new here, I am one half of the comedy writing duo behind BBC Radio sitcom … Continue reading The Rule of Three: Sitcom Families
This morning I spent 60 seconds staring up into a tree. On a circuit of the local park, I broke off my run to stand and stare at bark branches twigs sky. I felt looks from dog walkers. The first time I attempted this task, I checked my watch at barely 40 seconds. 40 seconds. … Continue reading The Men Who Stare At Trees
When invited to volunteer doing DIY for a paramilitary youth organisation last week, I politely declined. ‘Paramilitary youth organisation’ is a deliberately precise way of describing the Sea Cadets, but I’ve had enough of euphemisms in the service of killing people. From Wikipedia: A paramilitary is a semi-militarised force whose organisational structure, tactics, training, subculture, … Continue reading Do we need a belligerent military?
‘Have you got decent bins?’ I’m asked by a man wearing a cagoule. Well, isn’t that an intrusive question! And I’m about to muster indignant excuses for forgetting to take the recycling out when the man waggles a pair of binoculars and adds: ‘They really help you get up close.’ I’m on a boat in … Continue reading The Bins on Brownsea
Hi there. My name is David Charles and I have over 10 years’ experience in the words industry as a writer and editor. I’m one half of the comedy-writing duo responsible for perennial BBC Radio sitcom Foiled and spend some of my time scripting funny lines for acting royalty including Ralf Little, Miles Jupp and … Continue reading Writing Services Structural editing and proof-reading for books and beyond
We are thrilled to announce that together this year Thighs of Steel have raised a staggering £87,184.40 for grassroots refugee organisations. A big thank you to everyone who donated – it means a lot! Guided by expert advice from Help Refugees, that money has been granted to five organisations we believe will do justice to … Continue reading Merry Thighsmas!
Some parts of the Internet don’t seem to age. My website is not one of them. This was DavidCharles.info in June 2010 (courtesy of the Wayback Machine): There’s something unmistakeably 2010 about this image. It’s hosted on Blogspot, for one. ‘Follow me on Facebook’ and ‘My Flickr PhotoStream’ – I haven’t used these services for … Continue reading RIP 2010-2019: A New Davecade Begins
Your gut behaves like a second brain of over 100 million nerve cells called the enteric nervous system, which can communicate with your head-brain through the vagus nerve, and also by releasing bacterial metabolites into the bloodstream. We are what we eat, in other words. Read a digest of the science on my blog. Fingerspitzengefühl … Continue reading 52 Things I Learned in 2019
The big news from my keyboard is that Foiled has been recommissioned for a record-breaking fourth series on BBC Radio Wales. When we put down our deposit on a flat in Edinburgh during the 2016 Fringe Festival, who’d have thought that, four years later, we’d still be writing about a little hair salon in the … Continue reading Foiled IV Commissioned
On Monday, I was stomping through the Millennium Wood in Cholsey when I spotted that it was the nineteenth birthday of this pretty little clutch of hazel, birch and ash. Growing up as I did in Cholsey, I remember the close-cropped grass that used to occupy this land; banishings for cigarettes and fights on the … Continue reading The wood for the trees
Hi there, stranger! Chalk + Charms is a series of comedy writing courses run by BBC comedy writers Beth Granville and David Charles. We exist to help people write the funniest scripts of their lives and get those scripts performed and broadcast. Sign up for our January 2020 weekend course in Cardiff Can’t make this … Continue reading Chalk + Charms Comedy Writing Courses for Stage, Screen and Radio
Listen on Substack. It used to be said that the Greek islands were a place where time stands still. The waves and the shore, the sun in the sky, old men in the plateía, the stars. Well, time certainly doesn’t stand still on Samos any more. It’s only 24 hours since my last audio from … Continue reading Samos: Open Cards and Protests
You can now listen to my first audio update on Substack. I wish this first edition could be more fun, but this morning I was at a demonstration led by hundreds of refugees from Africa and Afghanistan. They were protesting the deplorable conditions at the Samos Vathí refugee ‘camp’ and in particular at the injustice … Continue reading Audio: Samos Refugee Protest
