Ned Williams Website, Black Country Author and Historian

I have been very fortunate in that I have managed to enjoy quite a bit of travelling and it is quite an interest of mine. At the end of the sixties I was able to join a group of young people travelling round Europe in two old Leyland buses. The first journey in 1966 took us to Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Italy, Switzerland and France. The second trip in 1968 took us to many of the same places plus Bulgaria and Greece.

My first trip to America was in 1970, followed by another trip in 1978 when Jane and I went north to south from Canada to Mexico and east to west by rail, and west to east by road. 1972 saw an overland "Minitrek" adventure that took in the USSR. 1975 took in Portugal, and 1977 included a memorable trip to Albania. We managed to visit Australia twice - in 1976 and again in 1994. One of my "favourite" trips was to Patagonia, in Argentina, in 2000. During the 21st Century Terri and I have made holidays and travel quite a priority - starting with a railway journey to Vienna, Budapest and Prague. Since then we have been to places like Egypt, Norway, A Baltic Cruise, and in 2007 to the Ukraine. There are many other places to mention but the key point is that visiting places creates a life-long interest in them so I am always keen to hear from anyone who can give me up to date news of the Patagonian railway system, Albanian politics, or corrugated iron buildings just about anywhere.

Ever since childhood I have had a fascination with Tibet. In 1979 Jane and I managed to reach the Tibetan world by travelling to Ladakh via Kashmir. Now the Chinese have opened their new railway to Lhasa but I am not sure how I feel about visiting Tibet by courtesy of China - an occupying power! Meanwhile I support the Tibetans living in exile and feel satisfied that at least Terri and were able to attend a lecture by the Dalai Lama a year or two ago in London.