It might be a dragonfly or possibly a damselfly: apparently they are very similar. Whichever one it is, it’s a predator, and imagine (if the scales were different) this thing coming towards you intent on murder, for surely what it actually is, is a flying Egyptian mummy/vampire.
Lately if I am to be found in either Oxford or Kew then I’ve gone back to the archive. These days I much prefer making enquiries of archives than of actual people. I don’t have to go through the university ethical approval procedure, and believe me, that is reason alone.
Besides, if looking back into history, any written record is an insight into the minds of the people who made it and so much more reliable than asking someone what they remember about events some 50 years ago. This document was part of a big file recounting the saga of Tony Thornton and the short-lived St Helena Labour Party (1974-1976) is a fine example of what can happen to you if you piss off the British Government too much (and don’t imagine it’s some anti-left-wing thing: in fact, Mr. Thornton was more like what we would now call a libertarian): here is not the place, but see the entry for Thornton on John Turner’s web site.
You may or may not have gone to university but if you did, and lived in a hall of residence, unless you did in fact go to Oxford or Cambridge I will bet it did not look like New College, or indeed any one of the other medieval halls that lie around this great seat of learning. Statues, cloisters, that kind of thing. It says a lot that this can be called “New” when it was founded in 1387.
The alley of China Lane lies on the shortest walking route between Victoria and Piccadilly stations in Manchester and when I’m walking between them — as I was this morning — it is always worth looking down to see if the opportunity arises for a shot — specifically, this one. Why is it called China Lane? No idea, but as it is lined with warehouses and located right beside Piccadilly Basin on the canal, maybe it’s a tea reference.
Well, the football season as a whole didn’t necessarily start today (do these things ever really ‘start’ and ‘finish’ these days, anyway?) — but England’s League One certainly did. Bradford City’s fans seemed cautiously optimistic at 2:55, but this was justified: they won 2-0 v Peterborough, with yours truly in the press box for the afternoon.
“I just want to run. Chase a small animal. Maybe drop a turd somewhere! HELP ME!!”
The dog pram: another step backwards for canines. Millions of years of independent evolution, then they made the mistake of hooking up with humanity.
I am not saying that I think James Clavell’s Shōgun is the greatest piece of literature ever written, but I will happily, and, I believe, consistently claim that it is my favourite novel. It’s a rollicking good story and despite 1,243 pages there’s not a dull moment in it. It singlehandedly turned me into a Japanophile and I’ve read it at least ten times down the years. However, as you can see, I think it’s time I picked up a new copy. If anyone’s got a first edition…. let me know and suggest a price.
Prior to this evening, this blog had featured two solar eclipses: one annular, witnessed in Laura, Queensland, in May 2013, and the total one seen from Ullin, Illinois, in August 2017. Both of those I had travelled specifically to see. This partial eclipse, however, came to me (and the rest of the UK) rather than the other way around. I did get a photo of it through the eclipse glasses but not a particularly sharp one, so let’s document it this way.
This was, more or less, the peak — I was in Leeds, and it peaked there at about 91% totality — and while it was definitely a noticeable dimming of the light there is still plenty of sunshine coming through and the moon is not at all visible without the eclipse glasses. Going on what the media, particularly social media, was touting to those who had never seen such an event before (and the UK’s last really significant one was in 1999), many people seemed to assume things would be getting pitch black. So, welcome to the difference between hype and reality. Eclipses are still pretty cool though: as I say on one of the other two pages, the fact that the apparent sizes of the Moon and Sun are so nearly the same is a massive cosmic coincidence: we may be one of the few planets in the galaxy that can possibly experience such an event.
Time to go home, and from London, journeys home invariably start at King’s Cross. Platform 5 for us today, though still with half an hour to go from this point in time before the 9:40 departure to Bradford Forster Square, changing at Leeds.
Our journey home from Bristol is being done via London, as we had cause to visit the capital for the David Bowie archive and exhibition which has recently set up home in the V & A’s ‘East Storehouse’, built on the former Olympic Park site. And here it is. It is like some giant retail warehouse, a huge Ikea or B & Q, only for art, not flatpack furniture or tins of paint. And, in fact, B & Q might well be more clearly organised. Obviously there will be some logic behind it (I guess the people running the V & A do know what they are doing after a century or more of professional work in this area) but it’s certainly not obvious to the casual visitor. All the various stairways and walkways just add to the impression of this being some giant labyrinth, a massive Escher print.
Being 42 