A series of light festivals were kicked off 28 November to 1 December in Plymouth, Boston, Dartmouth, Harwich, Rotherhithe and other pilgrim-relevant cities on both sides of the Atlantic coinciding with holiday season lights and plenty of great public art installations. The difficulty with such festivals is really to connect the celebrations with interpretations of historical events like the sailing of the Mayflower, which is the same challenge that we are facing in our own y

The words gold rush might bring to mind Alaska, or the Yukon. For some, the closest they’ve ever come to a historical gold rush is watching various television programs on the topic. It’s not difficult to understand why gold rushes capture our attention, even now, when cyber or tech booms are more likely to make the news than the discovery of gold. Gold rushes appeal to the treasure hunter and adventurer inside all of us. Before a recent trip to Monterey, California I finished