justthoughtsnstuff

pruning, biking, lag, festivities, tons

2012-06-02T10:51:00.000+01:00

Great to get out on the bike earlier, despite it being a misty-grey morning.

Took longer than expected to get the bike from the shed--had to prune back rambling rose and philadelphus that had grown over garden path beforehand.

I've not been up to the allotment since returning from the US but will try to do something there later. The overnight rain hasn't helped my chances of working the ground, though. Meanwhile, I'm hoping that the spuds, shallots and onions have grown as much as everything in the garden. (I imagine the weeds have not been slow in coming forward either...)

Feeling less tired today but have been very surprised by the effects of jet lag, which I've never experienced before. Disorientating, apart from anything else.

Well, Bampton is gearing up for the Shirt Race, the Morris dancing on Monday and the various street parties on Tuesday. The folk musicians will be in the pubs throughout.

Surprised when cycling btw by the difference between Bampton and Clanfield, as far as bunting is concerned. Tons in Bampton but not much at all in Clanfield--north end, at least.

sea lions vid, back home, english pen's: big writing for a small world

2012-05-28T23:35:00.000+01:00

Forgot about this video of the sea lions.

Now back home--to find the excellent English PEN publication, Big Writing for a Small World, waiting for me. It features poems and prose from adult refugees from centres across the UK.

I'm a little puzzled about how non-English PEN members can get a copy--presumably from the society direct. Anyway, the ISBN is 978-0-9564806-7-5. Well worth tracking down. Actually, just found Scribd online copy!

show dogs, leaving sf, ace film

2012-05-27T18:32:00.000+01:00

Having breakfast at Show Dogs on Market (coffee, poached egg and spicy sausage) before checking out of the hotel and heading for the airport.

Sad to be leaving--loved the LASA Congress and the city. Looking forward to being home too, though.

Grey, overcast sky today and chilly.

Some last photos of SF from yesterday. The cityscape one looks a bit spotty, having been taken through a window at SFMOMA (tut-tut).

Chilean film Nostalgia de la luz was amazing btw--beautifully filmed and very moving, juxtaposing meditations on astronomy and archaeology and memories of people imprisoned in one of Pinochet's concentration camps in the Atacama desert, as well as film of the women who still dig in the desert, hoping to find the remains of their loved ones who disappeared during the dictatorship.
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sfmoma, photography in mexico, romance, iguanas, che, saying goodbye, nostalgia

2012-05-26T23:13:00.000+01:00

Visited SFMOMA this morning to see the Mexico in Photography exhibition that by happy coincidence is on just round the corner from the LASA congress.

The exhibition has been assembled from photos held by SFMOMA and covers the 1920s to the present. From wonderful patterned images influenced by European 1920s photographers to edgily poignant aerial shots of contemporary Mexico City and the attempts by Mexicans to cross the desert to the US.

Highlights included the work of Tina Modotti and Edward Watson who lived and worked together in Mexico in the 20s (how romantic is that); Manuel Alvarez Bravo (especially Diego Rivera pintando un mural, 1930s); Manuel Carrillo's extraordinary image of a vast pack of wild dogs, 1975 (thought I could spot Tufty's cousin a few times removed in that one); the photos of Rodrigo Moya, icluding Che melancolico, La Habana, Cuba, 1964; Graciela Iturbide's images of festivals--for example, Nuestra Senora de las iguanas (woman wearing an amazing hat made of iguanas!); and Oscar Fernando Gomez's wonderfully quirky colour shots from the 2000s.

Last visit to the book fair followed. Bought, amongst other titles, Remembering Che: my life with Che Guevara by Che's widow, Aleida March, new out from Ocean Press and already well received. Sad to be saying goodbye to SALALM friends who have been so welcoming.

Seeing the Chilean film, Nostalgia de la luz later--which is about memory, astronomy and archaeology, amongst other things.
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sutter, marti, lineamientos, time passing, sf city hall

2012-05-26T06:53:00.000+01:00

Sitting in the Sutter Pub on Taylor, after a day at the LASA Congress. A pint of Sierra Nevada IPA is going down well and a house special burger is on the way. The four TV screens, each showing a different channel make the solo widescreen in Bampton pubs look a bit tame but apart from that, this is a pretty authentic US take on the pub theme. Very warm and welcoming.

Saw a great film late this afternoon: Marti, el ojo del canario, directed by Fernando Perez. As the LASA programme says:

'The formative years of Cuban national hero Jose Marti are explored in a historical epic set during the 1890s in colonial Havana. The film follows "El Apostol" from the age of nine to seventeen, as he experiences firsthand the often brutal inequalities of Spanish colonial rule, feels the fire of injustice rise within him, and navigates personal conflict with his Spanish father.'

The film was compelling from a historical point of view but also from the point of view of its portrayal of conflicts within a family. You could really understand Marti's determination to affirm his Cuban identity but equally you sympathised with the plight of his father and mother as their family got dragged into the terrifying consequences of their son's political activism.

Meanwhile, a great panel earlier examined the fascinating economic changes going on in contemporary Cuba: What does the future hold for Cuba?: the Lineamientos, guidelines for economic change in Cuba, (approved, April 18, 2011) and Cuba's VI congress. Lots of info and food for thought during this panel discussion, some of it contradictory. Check out an intriguing blog, written by one of the speakers: thecubabug.blogspot.com.

Can't quite believe how fast my time in SF is passing.

Pic btw if City Hall, just up the road from where I am staying.
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two interiors, stanford, lasa launch

2012-05-24T05:44:00.000+01:00

Met fellow SALALM (US Latin American librarians association) members and caught a train to Palo Alto for a visit to Stanford.

This was a real treat, not least because I used to teach students on the Stanford in Oxford programme.

Was struck by the vast sense of space, how beautifully kept everything was--both outside and inside--and how welcome we were made to feel. Great to discuss library business and to learn how similar the challenges are on both sides of the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, back in SF, LASA XXX launched this evening. An astonishingly full programme over the next three days!
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golden gate, alcatraz, sea lions, pacific breeze

2012-05-23T00:11:00.000+01:00

An after work wander through Chinatown led to San Francisco Bay and Pier 39.

First glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge (75 years old this Saturday) and Alcatraz Island. Wondered what all the deep barks were, then realised it was the sea lions! A friend had mentioned these but I'd forgotten exactly where they were. As I stared at the Golden Gate they were behind me, basking and occasionally squabbling on huge wooden pontoons.

Great to see them--and great to spend some time by the sea for a bit. Refreshing breeze. Searing light, though, off the water--glad I brought my shades.
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san francisco

2012-05-22T18:40:00.000+01:00

Well, got to San Francisco. Still a bit jet lagged, though not too much.

Great flight over, made all the more fun by lovely person, Tonia, I sat next to. Being able to chat the flight away was great--in between typing library work into my mobile. Also watched The Iron Lady. Astonishing performance from Meryl Streep, it goes without saying, although it was weird seeing the set pieces like the rubbish piling up in the streets in the late seventies, the footage of the Falklands' War and the Poll Tax riots. Flying tends to prompt me to look back over my life in any case and this time I had the panorama of those crucial decades' news reports rolling by too.

Beginning to work out where things are in the centre of town, hopefully, and looking forward to meeting cousin Nathan at 6 this evening.

Enjoying poached egg and sausage breakfast just now--very spicy and herby sausage btw. Then I'll get down to some more library work and online teaching.

Sunny here, though a colleague has emailed to say it's 25C in Oxford. Don't think it's that here...
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freezing may, bluebells, sf, flying crows, golden gate, wierd

2012-05-20T20:29:00.001+01:00

Good to get out into the countryside on the bike this morning, even though it was freezing. Where did our summer go?

Still, much beauty to be seen this week--including the May blossom on the Oxford Canal and the bluebells on the verge of the Black Bourton road, above.

Feel a bit weird about going to San Francisco tomorrow for the LASA congress. I've only moved about 20 miles along the Thames Valley over the last 30 or so years, as the crow flies, and haven't been abroad much in that time, apart from Scotland and Ireland, so this impending long flight seems a bit strange.

Still I've been reading about the place and was particularly interested in the Independent article that my boss Ruth sent me the link to yesterday--I'll be in SF for the Golden Gate 75th celebrations, it seems, next Saturday.

Also looking forward to meeting my cousin Nathan on Tuesday over there.

I guess the next time I post will be from the west coast of the States. How odd.

wolvercote green, wio, reviewing the past, john wain, waterman's arms

2012-05-17T20:41:00.000+01:00

This was the view across Wolvercote Green from the entrance to the Plough on Tuesday night.

I'd gone there to attend the Writers in Oxford (WiO) AGM--the first I'd been to since standing down as chair in 2010.

It was lovely to see old friends, catch up on what the society is doing and chat about writing and this and that. The evening brought back memories and added to the sense I have at the moment of reviewing the past, somehow. Not sure why I am doing it--I can't help it, I guess--but I am aware that this is what is happening.

Oxford is in any case so full of overlapping memories and connections. John Wain, the novelist and Oxford Professor of Poetry, lived on Wolvercote Green for many years and he regularly used to walk down the canal that runs past the village to the Thames and on to Osney, where he would drink at one of his favourite pubs, The Waterman's Arms (now, the Punter...though the water running by is really too deep for punting). The pub features in my novel The Lock (as the Narrow Boat) and was one of the key settings in John Wain's wonderful Where the Rivers Meet trilogy. It was John's son Will who published The Lock under his Smaller Sky Books imprint in 2001 (ebook) and 2003 (paperback). Memories, connections...

moaty thing, awash, lasa, swan at radcot, robert gibbings

2012-05-12T23:58:00.000+01:00

Loved seeing the sun today--and feeling its warmth.

Great cycle ride early-ish this morning. A lot of water lying on the meadows down by the Thames. The weird moaty thing near Tadpole Bridge that I said back on 6th April was drying out like never before is suddenly awash. The water is also out on the Great Brook lane. Not quite as deep as it was a few years ago during the floods but I wouldn't expect to see water there at all at this time of year. (The water-level during the floods was too high to cycle through, though I did try--and got very wet feet!)

Busy week, as always, just now. Rewarding, though. Next week there's a lot going on too, including preparations for my trip to San Francisco and the LASA conference.

Meanwhile, hoping to be able to fork through more ground on the allotment tomorrow.

Had a drink at the Swan at Radcot Bridge earlier and caught sight of our friends with the narrowboat on the opposite bank. They still can't move on to Oxford because the currents are too dangerous. Had good fun catching up over a pint.

Talked in part about Robert Gibbings and his books, Sweet Thames Run Softly and Till I End My Song. About his anecdotes about the Thames hereabouts in the thirties and his wonderful woodcuts done for his Golden Cockerel Press.

bank holiday walk, new bridge, thunder, downpours, hophead, suits, back to work

2012-05-07T20:15:00.000+01:00

We went on a great walk this morning. There was no chance of any allotmenting, so headed for the green lanes and the water meadows by the Thames.

We're lucky round us because styles and bridges are well kept. Don't know who's built this new bridge over the Sharney Brook, just to the north of the fields where the curlew nest, but it's much appreciated. Farmer or council?

Later, after some pretty spectacular thunderstorms and downpours, we headed for the Bell at Standlake for a pint of Dark Star Hophead. Back home, lazed in front of the fire.

Before the pub, spent a little time putting away Dad's suits and overcoats, which have come back from the dry cleaners. Bit sad.

Back to work tomorrow.

kind weather, spuds, edzell blues, highland burgundy reds, dibber, shallots and onions

2012-05-06T17:00:00.000+01:00

Weather has been kind the past couple of days, so I was at last able to get onto the allotment and plant the spuds.

I prepared the ground when I had a week off after Easter but have had to wait three weeks for a break in the rain to coincide with some time off.

Spuds have gone in much later than usual. In 2010 planting started on 11th April and last year I put in the lot on 9th April... But, as Keith said this morning, 'They'll catch up.' Hope so.

The varieties this year are Desiree, Estima, Kestrel and Maris Peer. I also put in a row each of Edzell Blue and Highland Burgundy Red, which we haven't grown for years. When we stayed in Comrie back in the 90s we used to visit Mrs MacLean and order a selection of unusual varieties which would arrive by post in the spring. She grew well over a hundred different kinds.

The Edzell Blues are the nearest ones in the bottom photo and the Highland Burgundy Reds, the ones at the back.

The wonderful old potato dibber had its annual outing.

Also managed to get in our shallots (Red Sun) and onions (Sturon and Stuttgarter)--again very late.

frozen, signs of spring, clematis, green alcanet etc, family biz!?

2012-05-06T00:24:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday, drenched. This one, frozen. What's going on!?

Good cycle ride, though, once I got going. Signs of spring, even if it felt like the middle of winter. Loved the clematis and green alcanet by the above garden wall by Kencot and the cowslips and red dead nettle along Calcroft Lane (aka the gated road--the one without the gates).

Busy week--whenever isn't it? But a satisfying one. Felt I'd got some things done in the end.

Must say the essay I wrote about the sad family biz has been a 'good thing'--has helped to put a lot of things into perspective and has been pretty therapeutic. Looking back at what happened systematically, you think how the hell did everybody get taken in? There's a study in group dynamics there--that should keep a researcher or two going for years!

Pleased to have a couple of days off for the bank holiday. Feel I need it.

swan at radcot, cold ipa, spice, narrowboat, morris, red house

2012-05-01T22:52:00.001+01:00

Met friends at the Swan at Radcot this evening. A great pint of Green King IPA, chilled smoothflow version--'great' to my great surprise (not something I would try usually). Actually thought it tasted better than the ordinary. GK IPA's got a full enough flavour to withstand the cold--in fact the chilling seems to bring out its spiciness. Loved the new-look bar at the Swan too--though it's been like it for about a year, so they said.

Afterwards we visited our friends' narrowboat, which isn't going anywhere just now because of the high water level. Wonderful, standing in the boat and staring out at the river which, because of the perspective, seems almost at the windowsill. As we left, the mist was rising on the meadows.

A better end to the day, as far as the weather was concerned. This morning it was odd seeing the Morris dancers in front of St John's--and later in the Ashmolean courtyard (the first time the dancing has happened there, it seems)--in the pouring rain. Well done them for their perseverance.

Really enjoyed listening to the Mark Haddon interview on Radio 4's Front Row this evening--he was talking about his new novel The Red House, which is due out later this month.

fb friend, wind and rain, cherry blossom, magnolia, weather

2012-04-29T21:56:00.000+01:00

Earlier on Facebook a friend talked about how the overnight rain had pelted off all the blossom on a beloved cherry tree in her garden.

It was with this in mind that I took the above photo of the ground beneath the lovely magnolia by the bus stop in Alvescot when I was out on my bike ride. At the start of the month I photographed the tree's beautiful flowers that had survived a hard frost the night before. They did well to stay fresh throughout nearly the whole month. But last night's wind and rain caused havoc throughout west Oxfordshire, it seems. All part of nature's pattern, I dare say but the devastation felt unduly vicious and depressing somehow, this morning. It had taken all the will I could muster to get out there on the bike. As I pedalled into the wind, which appeared to come at me no matter the direction I was headed, I was confronted by leaves and blossom and twigs strewn across the lanes. In places there were branches down and along the gated road two trees had been felled.

Such a strange year--though they always are in the UK. Nothing is ever as you expect, as far as the weather is concerned!

mud, holiday payback, oclw, sf, st

2012-04-28T11:26:00.002+01:00

Hum. The allotment remains no further forward than at the end of the week after Easter.

Whenever I've had a free moment it's been raining or the ground hasn't had time to dry out.

The scenes in the countryside have gone from drought to huge puddles and acres of mud. Presumably forecasters are right, though, when they say that the rain isn't soaking into the ground but running off the fields into the ditches and streams.

Today was, I thought, supposed to be pretty fine--no sign of this yet.

I've enjoyed this week. The one before was a rush, catching up after the holiday--the wages of taking a holiday are the dozens and dozens of emails in one's inbox when one gets back.

Sadly, no time to go to the first Trinity event at the Oxford Centre for Life Writing (OCLW)--though I hope very much to go to some in May and June.

Online course started this week and other teaching commitments are kicking off.

Looking forward to going to San Francisco for LASA at the end of next month.

(Earlier in the week we watched Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd on DVD--love Tim Burton's work but this one was a bit too gruesome for me...)

bridges, graffiti, port meadow, puny, tarkovsky

2012-04-24T22:53:00.001+01:00

Had a great walk on Saturday, which I've not had time to write about since.

I had to work in Oxford on Saturday, starting at 10 but because there is no 8 am bus from Bampton, I had to get the 7, so had plenty of time in hand when I got to the top of the Woodstock Road before 8.

Loved walking down the canal then along Aristotle Lane and over the railway onto Port Meadow.

Funny doing this walk because it follows the melancholy path that the Oxford don Gerald takes when things are unravelling for him in my first novel The Lock. His walk in turn echoes one that his wife Elizabeth took when she was puzzling over his strange behaviour--he was having an affair with one of his graduate students. Graffiti features on the steel bridges over the railway line in the novel and the real ones are still covered with spray paint even now, over a decade on. Yet the images are new and refreshed.

Port Meadow remains its wonderful huge romantic, tragic, uplifting, louring self. On this occasion, quite wonderfully spacious and lit up.

As I walked I contemplated the 20k word piece I've written recently about what I went through between 1988 and the present within the family. I wrote this during the week I had off after Easter and had completed the revisions the night before my walk. My head was still buzzing that morning--trying to comprehend the enormity of the suffering that had passed during those many years and which was suddenly being made more-or-less portable through the writing of it. Suddenly made puny through the writing of it. The cruelty of others suddenly rendered in its proper proportion for the first time in over two decades.

It was a beautiful and strange walk that Saturday morning.

Finished off with the Tarkovsky-like underworld beneath the last bridge before the station that I crossed through on my way back to the city.

aldermaston, stories, lustre, nano-tech, quince

2012-04-23T08:52:00.000+01:00

Had lunch with Alan and Charlotte at near Aldermaston yesterday.

Fantastic drive between Wantage and the A34, cross-country, particularly on the way back when the view from Farnborough was even more dramatic than usual, April showers swinging over the Thames Valley like chain curtains.

Farnborough is the highest point on the Berkshire Downs and the view is said to be the one Hardy had in mind when, in Jude the Obscure, Jude sees Christminster, shimmering in the valley, for the first time.

Alan was at school with Dad. He founded the wonderful Aldermaston Pottery, a fictional version of which features in Invisible.

The pace of our time at Alan and Charlotte's home was gentle and relaxing and the conversation stimulating and fun. Lots of wonderful stories about people and trips to different parts of the world with exhibitions of lustre pottery.

Loved hearing about the three Umbrian lustre towns and Alan and Charlotte's trip to one of them for a recent lecture. (The importance of the ancient lustre technique to current nano-technology research was a revelation.)

At one point talk turned to the subject of theatre critics. Alan told us about a friend, one of whose plays had been savaged. The friend had lamented, 'Don't they understand how hard it is to write even a bad play.'

Before leaving with a dozen bantam eggs, we went into Alan and Charlotte's garden and looked at the old apple trees and the quince that was coming into blossom and is shown above.

walk, drought, hollow tree, end of the holiday, writing

2012-04-15T21:56:00.000+01:00

A lovely day which began with a walk into the Thames Valley then back round to Weald, Ham Court, the Plantation and the fields to the north of the village, which are bounded by the Shill and Highmoor brooks.

I'd not done much of this walk for several months and it was great to revisit places including the water meadows near the Thames in between the Sharney and Burroway brooks where the curlew come to nest. (The fourth and fifth photos from top show the Sharney Brook, which is low now, though not as low as the ditch shown immediately above them. This ditch is usually full until the middle of summer and often never dries out. The drought is certainly happening round here.)

Meanwhile, was fascinated by the hollow willow in the line of the old hedge along the green lane from the Burroway Brook to Weald. I wonder what happened to it--struck by lightening possibly?

The oilseed rape is full out around the village.

I can't believe the holiday is almost over but feel very refreshed by it. I've also enjoyed writing about the past couple of decades during the week. I've learned a lot from that and will continue exploring these experiences in writing over the next week. Also looking forward to working on another short filmscript and reading a novel draft about a First World War poet for StreetBooks.

gee's, standlake lakes, woodpecker, kingfisher, weather!

2012-04-11T20:54:00.000+01:00

Great lunch with colleagues at Gee's restaurant in Oxford. Sunlight streamed into the conservatory; the food was delicious; talking and sharing the meal together was great fun.

On the way home I met Jess and Tufty at Standlake and walked to Old Shifford via the Windrush path (which is decorated with mosaics--above).

I'd not walked around the lakes here since windsurfing days in the mid-1980s. I'd forgotten how exotic the lakes can look sometimes.

The promised rain held off, apart from one or two brief showers. A day when I could have been on the allotment, therefore. Wonder what tomorrow will be like!

sticky clay, sort out, flowering hedge, sunset boulevard

2012-04-10T20:01:00.000+01:00

Attempts to fork through the potato strip on the allotment were thwarted by overnight rain. The clay soil was sticky when I went up there at 11 and more rain during the next hour put paid to gardening altogether.

Beautiful light though when the sun broke through, although the day never warmed up.

Went through carrier bags of papers which have been sitting under the bed for ages and found that most were hopelessly out of date and just gathering dust. Still quite a few bags left, even so, not to mention the ones under the spare bed.

Meanwhile, when I gave up gardening and took off on the bike, I found the recently laid hedge was flowering and in leaf--above. A strange sight, really, when you look at the bases of the stems and see that they're all nearly cut through.

Finished watching Sunset Boulevard--fantastic theatre and suspension of disbelief.

duxford, violets, shifford lock, tadpole bridge, perspective(?)

2012-04-09T23:28:00.000+01:00

A great walk to Duxford and Shifford Lock and back to Tadpole Bridge this morning.

The water-level in the arm of the Thames that passes near Duxford was higher than expected at the ford just to the north of the village, although it was low compared with the winter.

Violets were out in between the ford and the lock.

On the way back we passed through Chimney Meadows--see post of 27th December 2011 for more detailed information about this nature reserve. The land here--and generally on the walk--seemed quite parched and 'late', despite the intermittent light rain, and (as is the case from time to time throughout the year) somewhat melancholy. An atmosphere that was added to by the haunting cry of curlews, which have recently returned to breed.

Glad to have the rest of the week off. The period of getting family matters into perspective continues. Nature helps.

allotment, easter, blackthorn; and then something really unexpected happens

2012-04-08T23:39:00.000+01:00

Easter. Holiday. So pleased to have the week off.

Weather forecast isn't good, though.

Meanwhile, today was the first time I've managed to get up to the allotment this year, apart from taking peelings to the compost heap. I managed to fork through a couple of yards of the first strip. The soil is shaking out beautifully but I was aware that I'm unlikely to be up there again until next weekend because of the rain. Still , as Des said, the land needs rain.

Looking forward to relaxing and doing not much at all, therefore. Already feeling tons better than on Thursday.

Have redesigned frankegerton.com. Comments welcome.

Happy Easter!!

holiday, oilseed rape, drought, kelmscott, willow bark

2012-04-06T19:40:00.000+01:00

Can't quite believe it's Easter yet. Not least because it's holiday-time. The whole of next week off.

I'm not quite so shattered as I was at the start of the Xmas holiday but then the work schedule in Michaelmas Term was mad. I'm pleased I rationalised things a little for Hilary.

Dad's death was, of course, something that I could never have prepared for. It's not just the fact that he is dead that has been so shocking but the way his death acts on my mind and how all the awfulness of the past however many years is now suddenly put into relief--or should that be perspective. I'm not sure. In any event, I've started to write about life from 1988 onwards, which is so far, an unsettling, though therapeutic activity. It is something, come what come may, that I feel is necessary.

The holiday got off to a lovely start with a drinks party here last night. A low key but warm and enlivening evening.

This morning was unexpectedly sunny. I mowed the lawn before I set off on my cycle ride--how late I was in doing this, this year. Most people mowed their lawn for the first time two or three weeks ago.

Cycling was great--sometimes cycling involves being relaxed in quite a disciplined, forced way because it's time snatched from a busy schedule. But today felt luxurious. In the countryside around the village, a lot of winter oilseed rape is coming into flower. A striking but still, I feel, a synthetic-looking crop, somehow. Maybe my view of it is because I can remember it first appearing in the landscape. When I was a boy, a yellow field meant a mustard crop and was very rarely seen.

The middle photo above, shows that rather strange moaty pond down by the Thames near Tadpole bridge. Regular readers of this blog might recall other photos of this feature last year--see 12th January 2011, 10th April 2011, and 15th May 2011. If you click on the above photo, I think it's clear that the water level is low now and reflects the severity of the drought that has led to the hosepipe ban. The land generally round here looks like it's not doing well--struggling, I would say.

After a late breakfast we headed for Kelmscott for a walk and a pint of Hooky at the Plough. The bark of a huge willow near William Morris's manor is shown above.

When we got home, we watched the last few minutes of Four Weddings and Funeral on DVD (ace film) and the start of Sunset Boulevard. I remember we were allowed to watch the start of the latter film when I was at Heatherdown in about 1970. We were all sitting in the old library in our dressing gowns on a spring evening but had to go to the dormitories after about three-quarters of an hour. I've wanted to know what happened ever since but have never got round to finding out. I still don't know but hopefully over the next few days I will.