How Old Do I Look?

What’s happened over the last month? Well, there’s the election. Can’t come up at the moment with any suitable trenchant commentary, but Dave’s probably said it all here and here.

Turning to more trivial amusements to divert myself, had a go with the ‘How old do I look?’ tool at http://how-old.net after becoming aware of it popping up several times on my Facebook newsfeed. Unfortunately, became so incensed by its first couple of assessments of my age, that I decided to conduct a scientific study of its accuracy, by plumbing into it a dozen photos of me taken over the course of the last 30-odd years.

Here they are, arranged in the order that How-Old.net had me, with my actual age (approximate, in the case of the non-digitally-dated photos) below them. The first and last photos are indeed the earliest and latest taken, though the first has me six years older than I actually was at the time, and the last I don’t want to talk about.

Actual age: 13	Actual age: 22	Actual age: about 27
Actual age: 18 or 19	Actual age: about 35	Actual age: 40
Actual age: 40	Actual age: 40	Actual age: 45
Actual age: 40	Actual age: 40	Actual age: 45

Further fascinating observations testifying to the crudeness of the tool:

• The two photos that have me as 27 were actually taken sixteen years apart, the first (the one in which I look like a hostile Sue Lawley on steroids) was taken in 1987, the second in 2003. In the first, the preceding few years hadn’t gone that well, whereas in the second I’d obviously re-discovered some youthful joie de vivre. 
• Photos 6 and 10 were taken within a few seconds of each other on the same day. One may conclude that a smile takes years off you? Though that’s then contradicted by photos 7 and 8. 

Obviously, am not going to take any of the above seriously. Though perhaps it's time to start going to bed with blobs of night cream over face. Did/do women actually do this?

Various walks

River Ouzel near Woolstone

My app-aided walk motivation continues. Have been continuing the early morning walks to work, taking the bus part way and then various permutations of a quite pleasant walk along the canal and via Woolstone and Ouzel Valley Park. Have been occasionally meeting Matt en route, as he has abandoned his usual bike two days a week due to back problems. Spotted this sheep-like installation close to the Neath Hill Roundabout South bus stop.

Brief rundown of selected walks lately, with accompanying fascinating snippets:

Walk Saturday 28 March, to Whiteknights and back, about 6 miles in total 

Took a walk up to Whiteknights a few Saturdays ago intending to purchase kimchi at Seoul Plaza, though in the event it was closed – should have twigged that the university term might have ended. On the way, noticed that the former Wells Hall on Upper Redlands Road is being demolished. It has I think stood empty for a number of years. According to this blurb about the site development, the hall was built in 1974, so not sure why its age renders it no longer suitable as student accommodation given that there appear to be no plans to demolish the much older Wantage Hall on the neighbouring site. As ever, one suspects a bit of a campaign against 1960s and 1970s architecture. I always thought Wells was quite a pleasant-looking building and from memory of going into it a couple of times while I was a student at Reading, well-designed enough.  The hall as was can be viewed on this aerial pic taken from Haslams website, with Wantage Hall to the left of it in the picture:

Walk Good Friday, around Caversham and Emmer Green, about 3½ miles

Trotted out early on Good Friday to get some air before driving to Wales to see family. Wondered, as I often have, how the really quite old-looking Tudor Cottage on Surley Row must have looked before any of the much newer housing around it was built. This Geograph photo has a bit of interesting blurb. This Caversham Heritage Map mentions Tudor Cottage and notes that Surley Row “gives a glimpse of Caversham before the Industrial Revolution”.

Walk 4 April on the Clytha Estate, about 3 ½ miles 

Went for a pleasant walk on the Saturday of the Easter weekend with Ruth and my parents, starting from the Clytha riverside car park and going along the Usk for a bit and then through some attractively flower-bespattered woodland, over fields etc to the Clytha Arms, where we had lunch. After lunch we walked up the road to Clytha Castle, an ornate folly “considered one of the outstanding 18th-century follies of Wales” (surely that’s a pretty small demographic – how many are there?). It was built by William Jones of the nearby Clytha House, apparently with the purpose of 'relieving a mind afflicted with the loss of a most excellent wife'. Fair enough - who among us, after losing a loved one, hasn't wanted to rush out and build a pointy building on a hill?

The picture above right features my parents both having a bit of a snoop beyond the board that said ‘Go No Further’. Being exceptionally law-abiding, I was lurking behind it to take the picture. I think Ruth had sloped off into the woods.

Clytha Castle is available for holiday lets via the Landmark Trust and is advertised on their website thusly. Though the LT, from the random selection of properties I browsed, are not quite as expensive as I’d imagined, they are a bit up themselves for my taste, not providing televisions, radio, telephones or any similar new-fangled nonsense. Well, if one can't amuse oneself for a week's worth of evenings playing Halma and embroidering things, one presumably should buzz off to Pontins.

Walk Easter Sunday in Abergavenny, about 3 miles 

Took a bit of early morning exercise on Easter Sunday before driving to Lambourn for lunch with Ruth’s aunt. Pootled up the Monmouth Road turning into various side streets for a snoop, before completing a circular walk along the water meadows. Was struck by this imposing (and somewhat scary) house on Belmont Road, which was so odd-looking and so much bigger than the houses around it that I did a bit of Googling later to see if I could find out more about it. According to this article from Wales Online, the house is called Fairlea, and was once the childhood home of the crime writer Ethel Lina White – whom I had to confess to not having heard of, but turns out Dad’s mum was a big fan. White’s novels seem to have inspired a couple of films, one the 1946 thriller The Spiral Staircase, which Mum, Hannah and I subsequently watched last Sunday. The SS is apparently based on White’s novel Some Must Watch, and the Wales Online piece has it that the layout of the staircase at Fairlea inspired some of the scenes in the novel. (Bit sad about Dr Huw – hope he found somewhere else nice to live.) This ad via Prime Location has pics of the interior, including the staircase.

Walk before work, 24 April, about 3 ½ miles

Had to climb over a fence. Near the Middleton allotments. Am becoming ever more intrepid.

Walk with Ray to Cosgrove, Saturday 25 April, about 6 miles

Wolverton Viaduct

Ray on the aqueduct

Ray hasn’t been too well lately so I was keen not to overdo it, but he arrived yesterday full of enthusiasm to get out, so we set off up the road to Haversham and then turned left into Ouse Valley Park, where we proceeded under the viaduct and then turned right to join the Ouse Valley Way past an extensive caravan park on the other side of the river, before meeting the canal at the aqueduct. Turned right and walked northwards up the canal past a wad of boats – mainly narrowboats but a few others in addition – until we reached the junction with the ‘Buckingham Arm’, a stretch of canal apparently abandoned in 1964 but evidently now under renovation. The restoration project sounds interesting though challenging given that the A5 now blocks the route. Install a lift bridge??

Horse tunnel

We walked up as far as Cosgrove and used the horse tunnel to cross the canal and have a pootle around the village, which is quite pleasant and seems to have gone in for a Cotswold stone-type look. Unless we missed it the village doesn't have a shop, but there is a pub, The Barley Mow, where we would have gone for a drink if we hadn’t been too early. After a quick circuit of Cosgrove we retraced our steps to the aqueduct and then carried straight on along the canal back to Wolverton Park. We had a quick lunch at Buskers before Ray left to set up Maurice at Laurence's place, where he was apparently doing the overnight security.

Have spent the rest of this weekend pleasantly mooching about the flat (bar a couple of hours' shopping this morning) and enjoying the view from my balcony now that it's (almost) warm enough to sit out there. Increased numbers of narrowboats chugging past, which I assume is a sign of impending summer.

Alys; quality theatre; assorted trivia

British Summer Time is here again, though I can never remember which end of the day that renders lighter – evening, I think. It also means our kitchen clock at the house is once again showing the correct time, as we never got around to adjusting it when the clocks went back last October. Have managed to adjust my car radio clock, but there’s some truth in this tweet from @innocent.

Big news since last post is the birth of Dave and Hazel’s second daughter Alys on 28 March, only a week away from Nia’s third birthday on 4 April. Visited on 3 April and had an introductory cuddle of the babe, followed by a follow up at Mum and Dad’s last Sunday. Prior to my trip on the 3rd, I had ventured into Mothercare for a gift for Alys and – never having spent much time in there – was a bit thrown to discover that clothes for newborns come in three different sizes. Which I suppose does make sense, but I’d never thought about it. As Alys was a ten-pounder I abandoned the first outfit I picked up, aimed at the ‘tiny’ category, and chose something more substantial.

Recently did my bit for keeping in touch with the youth by watching Frozen, which I’d added to my LoveFilm list in a bid to find out what all the fuss was about. We were staying over at Mum and Dad’s that night so Ruth and Mum watched it with me; Dad sidled off to his front room as strains of ‘Let it GOOOOOOO’ wafted through the house. It was enjoyable enough though I can’t say I quite get why it’s become quite such a big thing – but then I appreciate I’m not the target audience. Older sister Elsa is the more interesting character – how did she get that way? Did it run in the family? – but it’s the somewhat annoying younger sister Anna who has most of the screen time. On the plus side, it’s undoubtedly a Good Thing that a film with two female leads – albeit animated ones – has become such a phenomenon, and the ‘act of true love’ is between the sisters rather than kiss bestowed by prince, etc.

Cupcakes and Bertie

Spent last Saturday and Sunday in Abergavenny in part for a birthday lunch/tea for Hannah on Sunday. Had roast lamb - which I've not had in a long while - and then some strawberry cupcakes that Hannah had crafted and then transported on the train. Close up of cupcakes left, plus Nia's rabbit Bertie who seemed to have been left face down next to them. The one symbolic candle was duly re-lit for Nia to have a go at blowing out.

Prior to the tea party, helped Dad plant some cuttings of the black bamboo - aka phyllostachys nigra (I speak Latin) - that Ruth had dug up from our garden with some difficulty, eventually resorting to an axe, despite Dad's assurances that it would be a quick matter of just slicing a bit off with a spade. The cuttings were quite tall and didn't have all that much root attached, so I'm just hoping they stay upright throughout the next strong breeze.

Have not yet given much thought to the impending general election, but should no doubt do some research. Mark Lancaster, the incumbent MP for Milton Keynes North, appears to have made little effort on his campaign leaflet to avoid looking like the stereotypical smug Tory git, but I should of course get past that and read about policies etc. Only Conservative and Labour literature received so far, at either of my addresses. Given that the election's on a weekday, am likely to be voting in MK so should read up on Lancaster and the Labour parliamentary candidate Emily Darlington.

Day in London on 11 April to catch the last day of the play My Night with Reg. In fact we saw the matinée rather than the evening performance, but that was quite nice as we were able to go for an early dinner afterwards and get home before it got too late, don slippers and light pipes, etc. Glad Ruth persuaded me to see the play as it was one of the best things I’ve seen in a while – great cast including the v. dishy Julian Ovenden; his brief appearance nude in one scene was the icing on the cake. The audience included a larger number than I expected of straight couples of around my parents’ age, which surprised me slightly though for no good reason; the grey-haired duo next to me were laughing particularly uproariously. There's a Telegraph review of the play here.

Before the play we had lunch at itsu, followed – to counteract the healthiness – by tea and cake at Caffe Concerto on Shaftesbury Avenue. Afterwards, we wandered and into Foyles, which evidently moved premises last year though it's still on Charing Cross Road. It's now v. glam inside, with lots of pale wood and glass. When I first went there, which must have been at least 25 years ago, I seem to remember stacks of books everywhere and a peculiar system for purchasing whereby you took your chosen book to a desk on one floor, collected some sort of ticket, then had to take it to another desk on a whole other floor to actually pay for it. Needless to say that system was abandoned some time ago. We bought a few books we hadn’t planned on buying and then went, via a brief drink in the Soho Theatre bar, to have an early dinner at Cabana Brasilian Barbecue near Tottenham Court Road station, where Dave and Hazel went on a recent visit to London and which I had been keen to try after seeing the photo of a splendidly rare steak that Dave posted on Facebook. Dinner was very nice, including the cubes of Parmesan dipped in honey that we were persuaded by the comely if beardy young waiter to have as a starter.

In Caversham, the saga of where to build permanent premises for The Heights Primary School continues, with a public consultation currently open until 1 May. The whole issue is arousing strong emotions locally, to the extent that members of the Facebook group Caversham Gossip Girls, of which I am one, have been banned from discussing it on the group’s page. Have responded to the consultation giving my opinion of each of the five proposed sites - Mapledurham Playing Fields is probably my preferred option, but I'll freely admit to being influenced by the fact that I neither live near it nor use it. Classic conundrum of most people thinking the school’s a good idea, but no one wanting it on their local piece of greenery. I’m also personally a bit baffled as to where children in Caversham Heights have been going to school up until now, though given that Caversham Heights is the poshest part of Reading, I’d guess not a few of them are at independent schools.

Delighted to discover after taking the Tone Deaf Test recently that I am not tone deaf. Next step might be actually attempting some sort of singing. Although I have belonged to a couple of choirs in my lifetime, both some time ago, I've never had any faith in my ability to actually carry a tune, so, as part of something akin to a bucket list, am determined to find out whether I can.

Car failed its MOT on Tuesday, partly through my own fault in not checking the windscreen washer fluid – who knew you could fail an MOT for that? – though in this case it would have failed anyway as the two front tyres were below the minimum tread and both of the side lights were out, which I’m sure I dimly knew but had filed the thought away in the back of my head. Spent lunch hour yesterday at B and T Tyres in Bletchley, getting the tyres replaced. I may ask Halfords to do the bulbs as I don’t fancy spending a large chunk of the weekend figuring out how to do it myself.

Good Samaritanry; Last Supper; health efforts

Two instances of police involvement the week before last, the second unplanned. Phoned the non-emergency 101 number to report criminal damage to one of the entry doors to my block in Wolverton Park – I suspect some of the other residents had also reported it but there seems to be a feeling that the more people who report these things, the better. Hoping it gets fixed soon but it was still detached when I left MK on Friday morning. There seems to be considerable frustration on the Wolverton Park Noticeboard with the block management company RMG, who appear to be claiming that even basic security maintenance is going to mean doubling the flat owners’ service charge. Much animated discussion over the last week re whether one of the residents should go ahead with an interview with the MK Citizen that he has provisionally arranged, with some residents concerned about impact on their property prices if the development’s issues get publicized.

The second instance was the following day when, arriving at the Langland School bus stop on the V8 to catch the bus back to Wolverton after work, I encountered a young man approaching the stop from the other direction, who then lurched and grabbed the end of the bus stop and started calling me towards him. Stopped where I was out of self-preservation and asked him what had happened, keeping a safe distance. Got the response that he’d just been seriously assaulted and could I call an ambulance. Although he didn’t look very seriously injured to me, I didn’t like to argue the point so phoned 999 – first time I’ve done so. I will say that the phone gets answered very quickly. When asked what service I required, I suddenly realized that I wasn’t sure which service one requests for attacks that have supposedly just happened, so not liking to dither I asked for the police, though with hindsight I suspect the chap involved would have preferred that I’d just asked for an ambulance. In the event the police operator I spoke to said they’d send an ambulance as well. Another woman appeared while I was on the phone to the emergency services and tried to get more detail out of the chap, though he was pretty uncooperative all round. The ambulance did eventually turn up, though took longer than I expected given that the local A&E was pretty much just around the corner from the bus stop.

When the ambulance crew had carted off the chap, the other woman told me that she’d tried asking him a number of questions including whether his attackers had been black or white, which he claimed not to be able to answer. All a bit suspicious, we thought. As I’d given my details to the police over the phone, they duly phoned later that evening and took details of what I’d seen, and then phoned again the following morning asking if they could take a formal statement. Seemed overkill given that I hadn’t actually witnessed the assault, but I agreed, thinking I should do my bit. Luckily the PC agreed to come to campus so I spent an hour and a half in a meeting room reiterating what I’d said the previous night, while she scribbled pages of A4. Didn’t sound to me as though it’s going to go anywhere given that the chap was apparently refusing to give the police any details of his alleged attackers – when I expressed surprise at this, the PC advised that it often depends on what they were doing at the time they were assaulted. You live and learn.

Went down to Abergavenny on Friday 13th to spend a couple of nights with Mum while Dad was away in Ireland with his MSc students. On the Saturday we drove to Crickhowell and went for a walk up the oddly-named Pregge Lane and on up towards the Table Mountain (or Crug Hywel, if you will). We cut the walk shorter than planned, in part through confusion over which path to take, and retraced our steps back down to the town to seek lunch. On the way down we met a woman walking two small dogs – one a tiny seven-month-old dachshund – who asked us if we’d seen a lost Bichon Frisé that had apparently been spooked by another dog and run off. The owner of the BF could be heard calling for it the other side of the valley. We didn’t see it so hoped it had made its way home. We had a nice lunch at Number Eighteen on the High Street. In the evening we watched the Hammer film Taste of Fear, which I hadn't seen before. Quite good actually.

Began last week with breakfast at Julia’s Meadow with Ray, who has been trying to adopt a healthier diet and has apparently lost five pounds in the past two weeks. Bloody typical – I’ve lost a pound and a half in the past three. Was hoping for something far more dramatic at this Monday’s weigh-in but no, no change. I should no doubt perceive it as some sort of test of my perseverance rather than assuming that I must have some as yet undiagnosed glandular problem which means I’ll never shift weight again.

Matt organized an Information Office ‘Last Supper’ last week at which, strangely enough, there were actually 12 of us. We dined at the Akasaka in Wolverton, a little Japanese restaurant that looks to be one of Wolverton’s very few eateries that aren’t just takeaway joints. Menu full of lovely-looking raw fishy stuff, as well as tofu, beef teriyaki etc. Will go back. Before the dinner some of us had a drink in The North Western on Stratford Road - not somewhere I'd rush back to; have to say none of Wolverton's pubs looks exactly enticing.

Friday morning’s eclipse drew quite a crowd of OU staff out onto the sports pitch. Those who got there early managed to snaffle a limited supply of special eclipse glasses; I wasn’t among them but Harvey, John and Claire, who’d got there early out of our lot, generously passed theirs around. They certainly made a big difference to viewing it. Matt did try and construct a pinhole camera out of a £20 note and a receipt from his local; the pic is of him and Galina trying it out but I don’t think it worked too well. Here are instructions for how to do it properly. John did take some photos through his eclipse glasses, as per the one on the right.

Failed to persuade Ruth to accompany me out for a wallk on Saturday so struck out on my own to explore some new routes locally. Took the bus to Sonning Common and got off on Wood Lane, then walked down Kidmore Lane to Kidmore End, which is quite posh-looking and has a duck pond and a church with a bizarrely-trimmed tree/bush-thing (poss yew?) in front of it. Walked through the churchyard to come out on Tokers Green Lane and then turned right into the narrow Mill Lane. Passed one house on Mill Lane that caught my attention because of the blaring music playing; glancing through the hedge there was a man lolling in a sunken hot tub on the patio. Looks from a quick Google search as though the house, The Copse, is available for rental. The home page describes it as a “luxury cottage”, though the 'cottage' part seems a slightly odd description of a property that sleeps 14 and includes its own cinema. The per night price range is given as between £800 and £1750, so I don’t think I’ll be staying there any time soon.

Crossed the A4074 near The Packhorse and continued down Sheepways Lane, turning left at Lilley Farm onto Pond Lane, and then cross-country via the path across Caversham Heath golf course back into Caversham. Just over six miles in total.

Another day in London yesterday, this time at an NSS Stakeholder Workshop led by Sami from Ipsos MORI. Actually the workshop was only for the morning, so like anyone would I booked the afternoon as leave, originally thinking I should make the most of the train ticket and do something cultural, though I didn’t in the end. The workshop was held at an obscurely-placed venue on the Edgware Road, so armed with MapMyWalk I strode out healthily westwards from Euston, visiting the Marylebone branch of Carluccio’s en route. After the workshop, fitted in another 3 miles or so walking back to Euston via Regent’s Park.

While waiting for my supply of toasted posh breads to arrive, I pondered the renaming that seems to have been going on on Carluccio's breakfast menu (doubtless as a way to delay looking at my notes for the workshop). Their full English – formerly named the ‘Colazione’ – appears to have been renamed the Carluccio’s Breakfast. Conversely, as though suddenly worried they might be dumbing down, their former ‘Breakfast Bread Tin’ – served, rather appealingly, in a tin – is now called the ‘Pane con Marmellata di Fichi’, and comes on a board. (Digressing, Ruth has moaned at tendency of gastro-type pubs to serve food on boards, pieces of slate etc, as though the establishment is so posh it has gone full circle and reverted to a time before plates.)

Picked up lunch from a branch of itsu on Baker Street - had an itsu tuna & salmon from their sushi menu, with a quite nice green tea-flavoured water drink. Have some way to go though before I become one of those trying people who exist on fish and vegetables (my fondness for pasta and toast should keep that at bay).

While approaching Euston on my return walk, I was struck by this imposing dilapidated building on the corner of Hampstead Road and Cardington Street. Looks from a Google search as though it’s the former London Temperance Hospital, now standing derelict. Seems amazing it hasn’t been converted into luxury apartments, though the area that side of Euston is still a bit down at heel, which seems amazing really. The Wikipedia entry seems to suggest that the building may be demolished to make way for HS2.

Have been doing YouGov surveys for a while, mainly in the hope of winning one of their prize draws. Usually they confine themselves to asking fairly low-level questions on a variety of topics: whether you use Costa Coffee machines, whether you'd be embarrassed to work for Crosse & Blackwell, how many hours a week you spend idly watching telly, etc. However, worked through one this morning that took a turn towards more serious questioning, with the following:

Tentatively selected 'None', and was then faced with a follow up question along the lines of "What do you consider would be the most likely cause of such a disaster?", to which one of the response options was 'Zombies'. I forget the others. Not sure if this was an early April Fool or whether opinion polling is genuinely going a bit weird.

Miscellaneous burblings

Wolverton Park

Moved into flat at Wolverton Park on 6 February, re-using the efficient services of Bruce Wilkinson Despatch, who tactfully didn’t allude to having transported my possessions from Milton Keynes just over a year ago. Ruth hitched a lift up with the chaps and stayed over until the Sunday to help me get the place in order. It seems a nice spot so far, though there would appear to be a few snagging issues with the maintenance of the blocks along with an issue with lurking local youngsters making a nuisance of themselves. The Wolverton Park Noticeboard on Facebook appears a useful source of knowledge re what’s going on on the site.

Spent my final week in Travelodges at the MK Central hotel, where there was a brief flurry of snow on the Monday evening.

Xscape, Milton Keynes

Had a fun evening on 11 Feb joining several colleagues from both my office and the Strategy Office, with whom we are to be as one, for bowling at the Hollywood Bowl at Xscape. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to bowling as the last time I did it, some while ago, I was resoundingly crap. Went along essentially to be sociable and also because I hadn’t been to Xscape before. It’s an absurd structure that looks a bit like a giant top-heavy woodlouse and apparently houses a ski slope with actual snow. In fact according to their blurb, it houses the country’s biggest indoor REAL snow slopes. Photo from http://myhotelbookings.co.uk/listings/xscape-milton-keynes/.

Surprisingly, didn’t perform badly at all, perhaps because I was so keen to get the actual bowling over with, I just quickly chucked the ball down the lane as hard as I could. John from the Strategy Office won our lane, but Sara and I were a close-fought second and third, I think both surprising ourselves. John took this photo of the scoreboard, showing – if you squint a bit – my not-too-embarrassing-at-all score of 102.

After the bowling, several of the Strategy lot decided to go for food at Wagamama, and Matt, Guy and I went along with them, though Matt, a vegetarian, had a clash with the menu and accidentally ended up with a huge slab of fish. I had the yaki udon, which I think may be all I’ve ever had at Wagamama, but then it is delicious.

Ruth and I marked Friday 13th by going into town for a bite to eat at Tampopo – crowded, as was everywhere along the riverside; I suppose it’s good that it’s doing well. Image nicked from TripAdvisor. After that we made our way to the Global Café to join Claire and assorted friends to mark her birthday. The idea was to hear the Oubliettes, who were performing – unfortunately, there were two support acts on before them, the first of which (Decoda) was so loud that several of our party left claiming they couldn’t hear themselves think; the second was better but by the time they finished and the Oubliettes were warming up, it was 11.30pm and I was only half an hour off turning into a pumpkin. Ruth and I made our farewells and took a cab home. Perhaps I can catch a clip of the Oubliettes on YouTube.

We then spent a quiet weekend to recover from the trauma of going out. We did get around to watching August: Osage County, which Ruth had had from LoveFilm for the past month but hadn’t thus far been in the mood to watch. Pretty dark stuff – well acted though we did feel Meryl Streep chews the scenery a bit. Julia Roberts is excellent. Both were apparently Oscar-nominated, for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively.

Other movies watched recently have included the Disney movie Brave, which I had recently shoved on to my LoveFilm list along with Frozen (the latter just because I’m curious to find out what all the fuss is about). I’d not heard of Brave but Victoria mentioned recently that it’s one of her and her daughter Orla’s favourite films. Orla is six, so not sure why I thought I’d necessarily enjoy it, but I thought I’d give it a go. It’s pretty good. Story thus: Merida, princess of some Highland clan or other, gets narked at her mother’s attempts to find her a husband. An attempt to get her mother off her back goes badly wrong when she foolishly consults a witch for something that will make her mother ‘different’, resulting in Mum being turned into a bear. (Ruth and I digressed at this point to muse on whether there have actually ever been bears in Scotland. Must check that out.) The remainder of the movie features Merida frantically trying to find a way to get the spell reversed before her mother is faced to stay that way forever. It’s quite sweet and Merida has splendid red hair and is a whiz with a bow and arrow.

Walking through Trafalgar Square early on 19 February en route to another HESA seminar – this time on the KIS return – I was saddened to see that the blue cock has gone from the Fourth Plinth. It was undoubtedly the jolliest thing I’ve seen there and a wonderful shade of blue. Took the train from and back to Wolverton. Living right next to a station is a fine thing. As is not having to stock up on M&S sandwiches and/or fast food before returning ‘home’ to a hotel room. Luxury hotels where someone else is paying and there’s room service would be a different thing, obviously.

Had a day and night in London with Mum on 21 February, staying over in the Premier Inn London Southwark Tate Modern (where Ruth and I stayed for my birthday last year) as a belated 70th birthday present to her. We met at Paddington and took two buses over to Stamford Street and walked the short distance to the PI, where we left bags and set out to follow part of a ‘Cultural Walk’ I had found on the internet, heading east from the PI past Tate Modern. Digressing briefly, I hadn’t realized that Bankside Power Station as was was so comparatively recently built; according to this it was commissioned in 1947 and started generating electricity in 1952. There's a picture here of it under construction. Apparently it replaced a Victorian power station on the same site; this article has a picture. I remember walking past Bankside with Ray sometime in the 1990s and being quite intimidated by its then semi-derelict looming presence. Bankside Power Station closed in 1981, so stood empty for nearly 20 years before being reborn in 2000. To my mind, the gallery alone would stand as a fine Millennium project for the country – and the Millennium Bridge is quite fun now it’s actually open. The Dome project should, of course, have been abandoned in its infancy.

We walked eastwards along Bankside and passed the remains of Winchester Palace, apparently the London home of the Bishops of Winchester until the 17th century. The blurb I downloaded off the internet noted that the Bish licensed the area’s brothels in the 12th century. How public-spirited.

We passed Southwark Cathedral, though didn’t go in because we were looking for lunch by that time. Amazing to think that the incarnation of London Bridge that stood from the 12th to the 19th centuries had houses, shops and a church on it.

We had lunch at Jamie’s on London Bridge Street, at the foot of the Shard, then continued down Borough High Street where we had a quick look at The George Inn, apparently London’s only surviving galleried coaching inn, and then crossed the road to look at Cross Bones Graveyard – or what you can see of it through the fencing. Apparently it’s now become a shrine to the poor of London. The gates along one side are crammed with ribbons, photos, notes and other mementoes. There seems to be a campaign afoot to protect the gates and to establish a memorial garden.We walked past St George the Martyr Southwark, aka Little Dorrit’s Church, apparently, bringing to mind the Dickens novel on my A-level English syllabus that I completely failed to read, and then after a bit of faffing about in side streets arrived at Guy’s Hospital. We visited the Old Operating Theatre Museum, located opposite Guy's in the roof space of the former St Thomas Church. Very interesting; the museum displays included some scary gynaecological instruments and a little 'bedside font', presumably for administering the last rites.

We had a nice dinner at The Real Greek on the Saturday evening, and Sunday breakfast at the Albion, before taking a walk along the South Bank in the other direction, crossing the river and returning via a circuit of St Paul's churchyard and across the footbridge. Paid an extremely brief visit to Tate Modern, pretty much just to use the toilet, then collected our bags and I dragged us on an unrewarding walk to find a bus stop that would take us back to Paddington. Did eventually make it back, after I'd been forced to test whether contactless payment with a bank card really does work on London buses (it does).

St Mary's, Haversham, with snowdrops

Spent the weekend of 28 and 29 Feb in MK, as Ruth had to work through the weekend and I had to finish an assignment for the OU maths module I started last year and have recently picked up again. I had planned to sand my bike’s brake blocks (advised by Ray in order to get rid of current screeching noise) and take it out for a ride; in the end I did do the sanding, but failed to actually ride it anywhere. I did, however, take myself out for a walk on the Saturday to explore some of the surrounding countryside. Started by heading north out of Wolverton through the village of Haversham, which seems to be in two bits, with an older bit surrounding the church and the Greyhound pub. After a brief detour down to the church, trekked on out of the old village and turned right down Mill Road, hoping I could get down to the canal and back into New Bradwell. Mill Road is a very small road and in a moment of doubting that it was open to the public, I turned left onto a footpath heading across fields. As I crossed what seemed like a third field and the footpath signs ran out, my phone decided to pack in (seemingly the known Black Screen phenomenon) and I was left standing in the field ineffectually tapping at it. Was forced to retrace my steps to Mill Road and carry on down it the way I’d intended to go originally. Luckily, being over 40, I hadn’t relied totally on the GPS and had also brought two maps with me, so was able (eventually) to work out where I was. Returned south(ish) past the lakes, stopping to look at the ruins of St Peter’s Church. It had protective fencing round it on the day I visited, but there are photos here and here. Poor little place. There does appear to be a campaign to preserve it. Seemingly, there is also a local werewolf legend associated with it.

Walked on past St Peter’s and followed the canal back down to New Bradwell, and then trudged along Newport Road back to Wolverton. This snippet from the MapMyWalk route tracker shows the point at which the GPS cut out. Plotted the rest of the walk manually when I got in. 5.7 miles according to MMW.

Prior to the weekend, had posted a plea on the OU noticeboard for a sheet of sandpaper to tackle the bike with, as I didn't want to buy a full pack. The OU being full of lovely people, I received loads of offers of sandpaper, including several sheets in the internal mail. Now have more than I'll ever need.

Continuing with increased walking, motivated by MapMyWalk. Very pleasant walking in the early morning now that it's becoming more spring-like. According to this notice in Campbell Park, the sheep have been re-released into the grazing area, which I assume means spring. Also in the park, took this dead artistic photo the other day of some snowdrops.

Dead artistic photo

Attended a lunchtime seminar the week before last entitled ‘Beyond Gay: Sexuality Research and Being ‘Out’ at The Open University. Was mildly curious about the content as I wouldn’t have thought that the OU was a particularly difficult place to be ‘out’. The content turned out to be substantially focused on bisexuality, as the OU turns out to be something of a hotspot for research on this topic – the three academics on the panel had evidently all been involved in authoring The Bisexuality Report. One of them, one Meg John Barker, has written an interesting-sounding book on relationships called Rewriting the Rules and has an associated blog of the same name, though this does include an alarming list of instructions on how she likes to be addressed and referred to. The panel also included Rebecca Jones of the OU’s Faculty of Health and Social Care – also a blogger - who seems to have done some interesting work on various aspects of ageing and later life.

Day in London with Ruth last Saturday as she had been wanting for a while to see Di and Viv and Rose, which I think started out at Hampstead Theatre but has now moved to the Vaudeville on the Strand. The play was enjoyable viewing on the whole, though there was a sense of the loud aggro in the last part of the play not really having had sufficient buildup not to seem all a bit randomly histrionic. Also - understandably, given that they're all in their 40s - none of the three actresses - Tamzin Outhwaite, Samantha Spiro and Jenna Russell - made a very convincing teenage university student, particularly not Spiro, though her character's 1940s outfits didn't help. It also probably didn't help that Ruth and I were sitting in the front row almost on top of them and their every minor wrinkle, though that did at least mean a decent amount of leg room. There's a Guardian review of the play here.

Before the play, we had arrived in London around midday and gone to visit the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, which Dave visited recently and which I had been wanting to visit for a while. The museum is a fantastic little place and doesn't charge for entry. It houses an amazing collection of exhibits of body parts from a variety of birds, fish, humans and assorted other animals. As Ruth noted, the specimens are so old that they've all taken on rather a uniform colour which doesn't help with identifying them, but luckily they're labelled in meticulous detail, e.g. "A sexually immature female house sparrow dissected to expore the genito-urinary system".

Popped into the Kimchee Restaurant afterwards where I had a light lunch of the Tofu Kimchee off the starter menu (delicious). Then had a go at getting over to the King's Road by bus, as Ruth fancied the idea, but were stymied by seeming bus chaos due to a) a large demonstration taking place in central London - they'd been mustering in Lincoln's Inn Fields as we came out of the museum; b) lots of roadworks. Ended up filling a couple of hours wandering around the Covent Garden area before having an early pre-theatre dinner at Bella Italia.

As of 1 March, am now relieved of my acting role as Senior Manager (Returns), due in no small part to my having declined to continue with it - I was asked if I'd extend the acting contract until the end of April but was concerned re vaguely open-ended feeling to the whole thing. Am quite relieved in both senses, and am now trying to remember what it is I do when I'm not responsible for four other people's work as well.