Shop Junction Blog

I don’t buy as many CDs as I would like but those that I do buy usually become favourites pretty quickly in my CD collection. That’s certainly the case with Lessons To Be Learned by Gabriella Cilmi.

It’s a great album from a relative newcomer who is being groomed for bigger and better things. I really like her voice and, although there a few echoes of Amy Winehouse and Duffy about Gabriella Cilmi’s singing, on the whole it’s a voice that you can easily recognise. Usually that’s a good thing!

Lessons To Be Learned contains the catchy title track but I like most of the songs because they are all quite different. From the slow piano and haunting melody of Safer through to the upbeat Got No Place to Go [my second favourite track after the title track] and the Echo Beach cover [the opening soundtrack for the recent ITV soap], the more I play it, the more I like it!

I am a bit of a mountain bike fan. Nothing too extreme you understand but I do like to get out and about on my mountain bike into the Sussex countryside near where I live. Despite living in quite a built-up area, it’s easy to get away from it all with a few miles cycling so that you find yourself in the middle of a forest with only the sounds of the birds for company. Great!

I know most of the trail routes near here but I am always looking for new routes to explore. A new book called Cycling in Sussex: Off-Road Trails and Quiet Lanes seems to be just the book I need to find some new rides!

The book is very nicely designed and each route has a map with some excellent and easy-to-follow directions. The routes are graded from family/easy rides through to medium and hard rides and the distances for each route varies from 4 km to 28 km. There should be something for everybody whatever your cycling experience or fitness.

One other useful feature is that each route has several nearby pubs highlighted! I always find that a beer stop is an essential part of any ride….

Related: Horsham Pub Guide