Mark Howells-Mead, self-portrait January 2024

Permanent Tourist

The personal website of Mark Howells-Mead

  • Blog
  • Photographs
  • Video
  • Internet
  • Bio
    • Curriculum vitæ
    • Selfies
    • Monthly reviews
  • Webcams

Welcome to

Permanent Tourist

This is the personal website of Mark Howells-Mead, a British photographer and WordPress web developer/designer in Switzerland.

Latest blog posts

  • Niederscherli

    Niederscherli

    June 2025

    Bern band Tschuggr sings critically about stereotypical folk from a small village near Bern.

  • Finding light in Turin

    May 2025

    Probably my favourite thing to do when visiting a city is to seek out special light with my camera. It helps me truly see the details of the place I’m visiting.

  • WordCamp Europe 2024 in Turin

    May 2025

    Attending WordCamp Europe in Turin in 2024.

  • WordPress expert Mark Howells-Mead

    Adding a custom sidebar in the WordPress Block Editor

    May 2025

    A short example of how to add a PluginSidebar to the WordPress Block Editor, and how to get WordPress user capabilities from the REST API.

  • Waisenhausplatz

    May 2025

    It’s been a while since we’ve sat in the city centre of Bern to take a break amongst running errands and visiting shops. And even longer since we’ve managed to snag one of the few benches amongst the market stalls outside Starbucks on Waisenhausplatz.

  • Burying a road for the sake of a neighbourhood

    May 2025

    Encasing a dual carriageway to provide a less polluted local environment in Zurich.

  • Notting Hill and Bayswater

    April 2025

    A set of monochrome photographs documenting a walk I took from Notting Hill to Bayswater in March 2025.

  • That London

    April 2025

    Spending an afternoon in London, paying attention to the city itself without reminiscing about the past.

  • WordPress expert Mark Howells-Mead

    Responsive viewport height workaround for the WordPress Cover Block

    March 2025

    Working around a problem on the WordPress Cover block when the viewport height is too small.

All blog posts

Photographic archive

Recent additions to an ever-growing collection of photos I’m sharing publicly here on the site. (Don’t be surprised if the latest additions are older. I’m adding them from my personal archive in a pretty random order.)

  • Hazy morning on Lake Thun

    Hazy morning on Lake Thun

    June 2025
  • Poppies near Müntschemier

    Poppies near Müntschemier

    May 2025
  • Poppies at Villars-le-Grande

    Poppies at Villars-le-Grande

    May 2025
  • Poppies near Villars-le-Grande

    May 2025
  • Poppies near Müntschemier

    May 2025
  • Twisted Scots pine at Seewlin

    Twisted Scots pine at Seewlin

    September 2023
  • Lauchernalp from the Lötschentaler Höhenweg

    Lauchernalp from the Lötschentaler Höhenweg

    September 2023
  • Werizstafel, near Lauchernalp

    Werizstafel, near Lauchernalp

    September 2023
  • View along Lötschental from the Höhenweg

    View along Lötschental from the Höhenweg

    September 2023
  • Lötschentaler Höhenweg, Lauchernalp

    Lötschentaler Höhenweg, Lauchernalp

    September 2023
  • Lötschentaler Höhenweg at Tellialp

    Lötschentaler Höhenweg at Tellialp

    September 2023
  • Lötschental from near Kippel

    Lötschental from near Kippel

    September 2023
  • Lauchernalp

    Lauchernalp

    September 2023
  • Lauchernalp

    Lauchernalp

    September 2023
  • Hotel Fafleralp

    Hotel Fafleralp

    September 2023
  • Green water in the Schwarzsee

    Green water in the Schwarzsee

    September 2023
Complete archive

Blog posts about hiking and walking

All posts about hiking and walking
  • Silver How and Lang How from Grasmere

    March 2025

    A wet and cold walk to a small Wainwright fell in January 2019.

  • Winter sun at Sunnbüel

    March 2025

    Hiking in the snowy mountains above Kandersteg in February.

  • Jo photographing the view from Loweswater Fell to Crummock Water

    Low Fell from Thackthwaite

    March 2025

    A gentle autumn walk to wonderful views across Lorton Vale and Crummock Water.

  • Alone at Hardendale

    January 2025

    A short break and brief drone flights above the farmland in the sunset near the highest point of the UK motorway network.

All posts about hiking and walking

Videos

  • Part of the Grand Bisse d'Ayent irrigation system

    Random things in July

    September 2023

    Lots of work stopped me from going out so much, but we did get in a great trip to canton Wallis.

    Watch the video

  • Random things in June

    Random things in June

    July 2023

    Making more of an effort to publish moving pictures, including one from Dartmoor in June.

    Watch the video

  • The Ice Path in summer

    The Ice Path in summer

    May 2023

    With a name like “Ice Path”, you know before you arrive that a hiking route is going to be a pretty spectacular one.

    Watch the video

  • Axalp in the snow

    Axalp in the snow

    November 2021

    Walking in the snowy landscape of Axalp, high above Lake Brienz in the Swiss Bernese Oberland.

    Watch the video

Video overview
My YouTube channel

WordPress

WordPress is currently the most popular content management system in the world. I’ve been using WordPress for personal and business projects since 2003, both as part of my day job and also as a freelancer. I have been an active member of the Swiss WordPress community since the first official Swiss WordCamp in 2014, co-organising and presenting at conferences across the country.

My work with WordPress
Mark Howells-Mead on stage at WordCamp Zurich

Keep up to date

Subscribe to my newsletter to get the latest blog posts to your email as soon as they’re published. Your email address and your personal details will never be shared with any third-parties, and you can unsubscribe at any time.


Mark Howells-Mead is a WordPress designer and developer based in Switzerland. Mark has been building websites and web-apps for nearly 30 years and has over 20 years of experience building websites for small and medium-sized businesses using WordPress. He is fluent in English, German and Swiss German, having moved to the Swiss Alps in 2001.

This website and its content is © 2004 – 2025 Mark Howells-Mead

Bluesky · Twitter / X · Instagram · Locationscout · Contact · Privacy policy

  • Blog
    • Archive
  • Photography
    • Autumn in the Alps
    • Car porn
    • Choo Choo
    • Edinburgh Castle of Light
    • In Public
    • One Frame Movie
    • Portraiture
    • Seine City
    • Courses and workshops
    • Complete online archive
  • Video
  • Hiking and walking
  • Internet
  • Bio
    • Curriculum vitæ
    • Monthly reviews
    • Selfies
  • Webcams