Tracks of the Minotaur

Author: Alan McWilliams

  • The Book That Came Back

    Synchronicity, curiosity and a journey that began in 1968 There are occasions when the past does not return gradually. It arrives complete. I was rummaging through a local book exchange here in Crete when a familiar cover appeared among the shelves. From the Silent Earth: The Greek Bronze Age, by Joseph Alsop. I picked it…

  • Objects Along the Way — Part 1: The Roadside Shrine

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    The small roadside shrines that mark remembrance, gratitude and personal devotion across the Cretan landscape This ride marked the beginning of a new series. Rather than following battles, myths or historical figures, Objects Along the Way turns its attention to the ordinary features of the Cretan landscape—the things that are seen every day yet rarely…

  • Kollitauros–Kryoneritis Mountain Ride

    High Ground, Resistance and Revolution Above Asi Gonia Some rides are measured by distance. Others are remembered because of the ground they cross. This is one of those rides. Beginning above Myriokefala, the route climbs into the high country between Kollitauros and Kryoneritis, remaining entirely off-road through one of the most isolated landscapes in western…

  • Erotokritos — Exile, Concealment, and Return

    The idea for this piece came during a ride through the broken limestone country of Apokoronas. There are times when the physical business of moving through the landscape brings an apparently unrelated story to mind. On this occasion it was Erotokritos, the great Cretan romance of Vitsentzos Kornaros, and particularly its recurring themes of departure,…

  • Escape from the Beehive SOE Hideout, Gournes

    Introduction The White Mountains of western Crete have always been more than a dramatic backdrop to history. For thousands of years they have offered pasture to shepherds, refuge to rebels, sanctuary to those fleeing occupation, and concealment to those determined to resist it. Their ridges, ravines, and hidden plateaux have shaped the lives of the…

  • The Last Stand of WOII William Arthur Knox

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    A Force 133 Battlefield Investigation in Crete. For the past several years I have explored the battlefields, mountain tracks and forgotten corners of western Crete on foot and by E-MTB. What began as an attempt to better understand the Battle of Crete gradually developed into something rather different: a continuing investigation into the relationship between…