Despite a challenging year in many respects, here are some highlights of 2022.

1. Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria in two weeks with H by train [Travel]
Taking in places I’d wanted to visit for years: Hundertwasser’s house/museum and flats (above, top left) in Vienna; the thermal baths (top right) and ruin bars of Budapest; Bran Castle in Transylvania (bottom left), Romania and, of course, the Buzludzha Monument (bottom right), more commonly known as Bulgaria’s concrete UFO.

2. Satish Kumar talk on Soil, Soul, Society [Event]
A sell-out, inspirational talk by Satish, followed by a wonderful dinner party with Satish and other guests in a converted farmhouse where we all bought tasty dishes (I bought my girlfriend, bom bom).

3. Infrabandoned and Diskudha Skeusenieth Kernow [Exhibitions]
Possibly the only time I will have two Cornish photography exhibitions running simultaneously.

4. Carclew House, Mylor, Cornwall [Architecture]
I’d been wanting to visit this abandoned building – described as one of Britain’s great ‘lost’ mansions – for a while. I’d thought about how to get in illegally many times, like a proper ‘urban explorer’ would. In the end I wrote a nice letter, had a phone call with the owner to arrange a date, and got a wonderful guided tour. It will be years – if ever – that it will be open to the public, so unstable is the structure. Though I could take photos I wasn’t allowed to put them online, so here’s an illustration instead (below, left).

5. Visiting the Venice Biennale with my daughter [Travel/Art]
Despite the tourists and the prices, Venice is still a magical city (picture, above right). No cars!

6. Extraordinary walks around St Austell’s china clay area [Adventure]
Here and here. Still my favourite place in Cornwall to explore.

7. Cornish choughs [Birds]
We love them!

8. Paddle-boarding with my daughter at Flushing [Activity]
No, there’s no photos. I managed to stay on anyway, just. Hilarious.

9. Amazing chips and sunset on the beach at Gwithian with the family, then a giant moon rising too [Event]

10. Cat Power Plays Dylan at the Royal Albert Hall [Concert]
Self-confessed ‘God’ Dylan obsessive Chan Marshall recreated Dylan’s infamous 1966 ‘Judas’ concert in its entirety.

11. Pizza and fogou on the Trelowarren Estate [Food/architecture]
I blogged about pizza and fogou over a year ago. Since then I’ve been a few more times with family and friends. Excitingly the fogou has been open, and H has played her didgeridoo in there, creating an amazing, otherworldly feeling.

12. Hazaar! at the Drapery, Redruth [Concert]
A raucous orkestra of klezmer mayhem.

13. A year long pass to Enys Gardens [Event]
We tend to buy an annual pass to a different garden every year. Enys was marvellous.

14. Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters at The Box, Plymouth [Exhibition]

15. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain [Film]

16. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time [Play]

17. 18 Folgate Street [Architecture]
Actually, 2022 was not a bad year for doing things I’d wanted to do for years. This is another one – a tour through Dennis Severs’ dark, creepy recreation of an 18th century Spitalfields townhouse, where an imaginary family of Huguenot silk weavers might have lived.

18. Jarvis Cocker – Good Pop Bad Pop [Book]

19. Fairy HQ on the Enchanted Trail in Coosebean Woodland, Truro [Walk]

20. Courtney Pine at the Hall for Cornwall [Concert]

21. Visiting Battersea Power Station [Architecture]
Despite it feeling like going to a posh shopping mall, it was pretty cool to finally step inside the once-derelict London landmark.

22. Goonhilly Earth Station celebration [Concert]
I’d been keen to explore the Goonhilly Earth Station for some time, and this musical celebration of 60 years since its creation seemed like an ideal opportunity. H performed in the amazing gospel choir (above, far right in the red beret).

Previously on Barnflakes
Barnflakes’ top 20 of 2020
Top 30 of the year (2019)
Barnflakes’ top 20 of the year (2018)