Squiffy Profile

I can't believe I only discovered this site in 2018. I discovered the World Heritage List back in 2004 and it formed a major focus of my free time for a good decade or so. I never knew that there was such an active community of fellow like-minded nerds out here.

My visits have pretty much fallen off a cliff since 2015 as I have discovered there is a limit to what is responsible or feasible with a young family. Since my honeymoon I've only managed to visit three or four new sites (the 'maybe four' being Pont d'Arc where I visited the replica cave but didn't sneak into the actual inscribed area). So my reviews will be limited to newly-visited sites or ones I have previously visited but are lacking in reviews on the site.

And as my family grows up, hopefully I'll be able to drag them along as I recommence my quest ("Hey kids! Who wants to go and see some German Modernist housing estates?") 

Visited Sites Squiffy

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Legend

  • Cultural
  • Natural
  • Mixed

Recent Reviews Squiffy


Birkenhead Park, the pioneering People’s Park (T)

Squiffy UK - 06-Nov-23

Birkenhead Park, the pioneering People’s Park (T)

The soundscape of Birkenhead Park could almost have been the soundscape of any country park: the rustle of squirrels in the foliage, the quacking of ducks on the lakes, the sudden plosive eruption of a flock of pigeons bursting into flight. Two very English sounds intruded. The cheers of spectators heralded competing cricket matches. And over by the Grand Entrance morris dancers clonked their sticks against each other. They danced for the May Day weekend. And they danced for the last celebration of Birkenhead Park’s 175th anniversary year.

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City of York: historic urban core (T)

Squiffy UK - 16-Oct-23

City of York: historic urban core  (T)

I was in love with a wall. York is famous for having the longest set of medieval walls in the UK, but it was not these crenelated stretches and their impressive gate towers that most impressed me. It was not the overhanging upper stories of the half-timbered houses along The Shambles that caught my eye. It was not even the preserved Roman fresco displayed in the Undercroft of the towering York Minster. No, the wall that made me catch my breath was a short stretch of woven wooden wattles, maybe four feet high. People milled around, largely oblivious, before forming into a queue for a fairground ride. But this fragment of wall formed part of a domestic house one thousand years ago

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Archaeological Site of Delphi

Squiffy UK - 03-Aug-23

Archaeological Site of Delphi

Suddenly we were alone. The last of the tour buses charged back towards Athens. Looking down over the theatre and the standing columns of the great temple of Apollo I could not see a single other soul. The ever-present drone of the cicadas was our only company. So, on the one hand, after 2pm seemed a perfect time to be visiting Delphi without the crowds. However, I thought as I drained the last of my water bottle, after 2pm in July in the middle of a Mediterranean heatwave when half of Greece appeared to be on fire was also a monumentally stupid time to be visiting Delphi. And I didn’t need an oracle to tell me that!

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Painted Churches in the Troödos Region

Squiffy UK - 24-Apr-23

Painted Churches in the Troödos Region

The old stone houses of Kalopanagiotis crumbled down the hillside. Below, the bridge was out. I had to leave the car and gingerly inch across the span, trying not to focus on the gorge below. The monastery on the other side was deserted except for two black-clad and bearded priests. The younger greeted me with an unexpected Australian accent and ushered me into the darkness of the katholikon. Due to the lack of lighting and the netting that shrouded the interior to catch any errant flakes of paint peeling from the damp stonework it was hard to make out any details of the saints and Biblical scenes that coated the walls.

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Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal

Squiffy UK - 22-Mar-23

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal

We were 20 metres above ground as we crossed the border. The wide valley of the turbulent River Ceiriog below tried its best to demarcate where England ended and Wales began, but it was no match for man’s ingenuity. As we walked the towpath of the Chirk Aqueduct there was a steady flow of Welsh water down the canal to our left, helping narrowboats navigate their way south into England. And just beyond it, a train nosed north over the Chirk Railway Viaduct where its journey between the English cities of Shrewsbury and Chester took it through Wales.

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Profile Data

Name
Squiffy
Country
UK
Most Impressive
Petra. Not very imaginative I know, but I just love ancient sites
Proposal
I definitely believe there is scope for a transnational serial nomination of Brutalist buildings.

Recently Visited WHS

Update 06.11.23
Rating Stats
Petra 5
Palmyra 4.5
Serengeti 4.5
Aleppo 4
Iguacu 3.5
Bosra 3
Orange 3
Nessebar 2.5
Paphos 2.5
Pienza 2.5
Volubilis 2.5
Corfu 2
Meknes 2
Kernavė 1.5
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