Squiffy

United Kingdom \ Member since February 2018

#344 161 32 4

I can't believe I only discovered this site in 2018. I discovered the World Heritage List back in 2004 and it formed a major focus of my free time for a good decade or so. I never knew that there was such an active community of fellow like-minded nerds out here.

My visits have pretty much fallen off a cliff since 2015 as I have discovered there is a limit to what is responsible or feasible with a young family. Since my honeymoon I've only managed to visit three or four new sites (the 'maybe four' being Pont d'Arc where I visited the replica cave but didn't sneak into the actual inscribed area). So my reviews will be limited to newly-visited sites or ones I have previously visited but are lacking in reviews on the site.

And as my family grows up, hopefully I'll be able to drag them along as I recommence my quest ("Hey kids! Who wants to go and see some German Modernist housing estates?") 

My most impressive site: Petra. Not very imaginative I know, but I just love ancient sites

My proposal for a new site: I definitely believe there is scope for a transnational serial nomination of Brutalist buildings.

Recent Visits
  • 1
    4
    Jan. 1, 2024
    Visit nominated site: Birkenhead Park, Central Park, City of York ...
  • 0
    2
    Jan. 1, 2020
    La Moneda Palace, Torres del Paine and Bernardo O'Higgins NPs
  • 0
    1
    Jan. 1, 2020
    Trakai Historical National Park
Top 10 Missing
  1. Angkor 4.72
  2. Galapagos Islands 4.60
  3. Rapa Nui 4.49
  4. Yellowstone 4.49
  5. Victoria Falls 4.47
  6. Tikal National Park 4.46
  7. Bagan 4.44
  8. Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks 4.41
  9. Grand Canyon 4.40
  10. Granada 4.39
Completed Countries

About Squiffy

Member since
February 2018
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Visits
Rank
#344
WHS
161
Tentative Sites
32
Website Participation
Reviews
37
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
Tentative Sites
83 27
Locations
0
Zones
0
Reserved for members.

Reviews by Squiffy

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Tombs of Buganda Kings by Squiffy

Tombs of Buganda Kings (Inscribed)

Tombs of Buganda Kings

It wasn’t much to look at. Some concrete pillars, some buckled girders, some plastic sheeting. Beyond it, the compound was scruffy and dilapidated. Old women in trances lay on the …

Keep reading Squiffy 08/09/19
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park by Squiffy

Bwindi Impenetrable National … (Inscribed)

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

There’s a reason the film wasn’t called Gorillas in the Dazzling Sunshine. My first view of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest was of a wall of foliage climbing the valley wall …

Keep reading Squiffy 07/09/19
Stone Town of Zanzibar by Squiffy

Stone Town of Zanzibar (Inscribed)

Stone Town of Zanzibar

We arrived in Zanzibar late at night. Exhausted, I set the alarm, assuming that – unlike on the savannah – there would be no dawn chorus. Incorrect. It just would …

Keep reading Squiffy 26/08/19
Kilimanjaro National Park by Squiffy

Kilimanjaro National Park (Inscribed)

Kilimanjaro National Park

The white-necked raven eyed us beadily. It was not an attractive bird. Its feathers were scruffy and its heavy beak was all too obviously designed for scavenging on carcasses. All …

Keep reading Squiffy 24/08/19
Ngorongoro by Squiffy

Ngorongoro (Inscribed)

Ngorongoro

The giraffes stared down at us. We stared up at them. Animals that had seemed gentle and almost comic from a vehicle were much more imposing when viewed from on …

Keep reading Squiffy 20/08/19
Serengeti by Squiffy

Serengeti (Inscribed)

Serengeti

The buffalo were nervous. Their ears twitched as they shifted uncomfortably. Visibly reaching a collective decision, they turned and started to walk away from our vantage point. It was at …

Keep reading Squiffy 19/08/19
Crac des Chevaliers by Squiffy

Crac des Chevaliers (Inscribed)

Crac des Chevaliers

I squeezed my way out of the tiny van. The last section of the cramped ride had been the worst, with the van straining in first gear up a seemingly …

Keep reading Squiffy 03/08/19
Aleppo by Squiffy

Aleppo (Inscribed)

Aleppo

Late afternoon, the first day of Ramadan, and the heat was intense. It was a blessed relief to duck into the shade of the Souq al-Attarine. The brickwork radiated coolness. …

Keep reading Squiffy 02/08/19
Damascus by Squiffy

Damascus (Inscribed)

Damascus

Damascus is a city of stories and a city of story-tellers. I met the first on the plane, somewhere over Germany. His name, he told me, was Anwar. His little …

Keep reading Squiffy 01/08/19
Bosra by Squiffy

Bosra (Inscribed)

Bosra

The old sunken roadway still held its north-south bearing. The stubby remains of columns lined my way to left and right as I walked, my feet kicking up puffs of …

Keep reading Squiffy 31/07/19
Palmyra by Squiffy

Palmyra (Inscribed)

Palmyra

The sun was already setting. In all likelihood I had arrived too late. But I climbed, regardless. The road wound around the hill and up it I ran. Loose stones …

Keep reading Squiffy 30/07/19
Te Wahipounamu by Squiffy

Te Wahipounamu (Inscribed)

Te Wahipounamu

The incessant rain dripped from my sunhat. My jeans were clinging clammily to my legs. My surroundings lay lost in the cloud banks that enveloped the little boat, creating an …

Keep reading Squiffy 05/06/19
Saltaire by Squiffy

Saltaire (Inscribed)

Saltaire

The sustain of the organ juddered to a halt as the hymn ended. The bare handful of worshippers in the Saltaire United Reformed Church lowered themselves back into their pews …

Keep reading Squiffy 01/06/19
Kew Gardens by Squiffy

Kew Gardens (Inscribed)

Kew Gardens

The last week of March and Spring had arrived in England as suddenly and as unexpectedly as it does every single year. People emerged, pale-skinned, from their houses, blinking in …

Keep reading Squiffy 23/04/19
Edinburgh by Squiffy

Edinburgh (Inscribed)

Edinburgh

The first discarded leaves of autumn crunched underfoot where they lay scattered amongst the graves of Greyfriars Kirkyard. They served as a thematic link to the tombstones – proper 18th …

Keep reading Squiffy 04/10/18
Forth Bridge by Squiffy

Forth Bridge (Inscribed)

Forth Bridge

The spume sprayed high up over the bow of the Maid of the Forth as she cut through the giddy swells of an incoming tide. Ahead, the choppy grey water …

Keep reading Squiffy 01/10/18
Jodrell Bank Observatory by Squiffy

Jodrell Bank Observatory (Inscribed)

Jodrell Bank Observatory

South of Manchester, looming over golden fields and wind-tossed oaks, the superstructure of Jodrell Bank’s Lovell radio telescope dazzled in the July sun. A local landmark, it is visible from …

Keep reading Squiffy 13/08/18
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