Nobody visits home pages any more but, if you’ve arrived by accident…

this site is my virtual notebook.

The World War 1 battlefield of Bullecourt, the Cassini and Maraldi astronomer and cartographer families, graphic design, Islamic design of the Arabian peninsula and my photography are, at present, the particular subjects of the site. More may well be added in future… However, the Islamic design section is the main focus of the site.

This is the second design for my site. The photography pages have at last been dragged into the same design framework as the other subjects, but I intend to redesign them again as the way I have coded the pages is not the best way of dealing with photographs.

The illustration above is one of a small number of photographs that should rotate on each loading of the page. For more photos go to the photography section.

If you’d like to start with the latest notes I’ve made, I suggest you begin by looking at the updates page. If not, just browse. The background to this paragraph will indicate the latest notes I’ve made on each page.

As for the different areas of the site, Bullecourt deals with the small town in northern France which, in May 1917, was the site of two fierce battles in which Australian and British troops faced a strong, professional German opposition. It was here my grandfather and granduncle were killed – others were killed elsewhere – and, hence, my interest in this element of our history.

The Cassini site looks at the Italian/French astronomer cartographer family together with their Italian cousins, the Maraldis, together with the Babaud family.

I have always had a professional and personal interest in graphic design. This part of the site sets out some of my work in this wide-ranging discipline.

My interest in Islamic design or, perhaps more accurately, Islamic/Arabic design, developed from my work in Arabic countries. Here I have tried to set out information, and develop ideas on architecture and planning with particular reference to the Persian/Arabian Gulf that I have formulated over many years and, perhaps, rant a little. The work here is only a part of what I have so far produced, and should be constantly evolving.

Finally, I have been interested in photography most of my life. So this part of the site shows a selection of photos.

Throughout the site, and particularly on the Islamic design pages, there are many photographs for which I have asked and received permission to use. I should like to thank all those who have kindly contributed to my site in this way.

Now, here comes the warning which all web sites need. This site will be, by its nature, under construction on a continuing basis. If you spot anything which looks like Latin, it is a device called ‘greeking’ by graphic designers wishing to place text to fill in where writing has yet to be incorporated. I shall attempt to flag the latest entries but you should think of it as a sort of note book. Errors of ommission and commission are my own. Tell me about them if you really must…