Angels

Angels over Central

A couple of Angels from my walk across town on Saturday:

Arts

My new favourite group

It seems I was right. If not directly a Drummond/Cauty project, The Pipettes are at least a spin-off. According to The Daily Telegraph, an early impetus for the group was The Manual.

They don't appear to have followed the Golden Rules perfectly, but the result is still cheesily wonderful.

Walks

The centre of the Central

My meeting ended at four o'clock today near Liverpool Street. I had to be at Paddington by eight. With four hours to kill, what better way to cross London than follow the path of the Central Line from the east side of the Circle to the west?

Distance: 5.1 miles
Ascent: unknown
Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes

I love this walk, even though I've not done it in maybe ten years. Navigation is easy yet it threads together places that many never feel are connected.

In the City I watched a bright blue crane being lifted to the top of the old Stock Exchange Tower. Past the Bank of England the walk takes in some of Wrenn's finest churches.

I turned off by St Paul's to visit the Watts Memorial in Postman's Park. (What interests me most here is not the individual stories of heroism told on the plaques, but the hidden story about the memorial. For example, why have no plaques been errected since Watt's time? Especially since there's so much space available.)

Back on the main route the dragons carved into Holborn Viaduct called me on. The British Museum and Oxford Street were next followed by the Angels carved into Marble Arch. Turning off the route of the tube line I finished the walk by heading up Edgware Road before dropping down to the canal-side developments at Paddington Basin.

Much has changed since the previous time I was here. The all-night newsagents which supplied me with chocolate and Coke during my student days have become posh restaurants. Paddington Basin - then a derilict tract of land - is now a mini western version of Docklands.

I love taking time in this city. I know it so well, but am also constantly surprised and delighted by the people and pockets of change I find each time I actually open my eyes to look.

Walks

Daring hay-fever

I've not been at work today. Instead I've been over on the west side of the county enjoying the fantastic weather (though hay-fever's never been far away).

Distance: 4.9 miles
Ascent: 47 metres
Duration: 1 hour 20 minutes

Walk 8: Nowton Park and High Suffolk

Good walks always take in a summit - a place to pause and survey the land. The summit of this walk was perfect: a little shade and a crumbling triangulation point. The view stretched for miles with no-one else in sight. It may only be 84 metres above sea level but in Suffolk that's nearly a mountain.

Distance: 6.3 miles
Ascent: 94 metres
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes

Walk 9: Forest and riverside from West Stow

On the other side of Bury St Edmunds my second walk was a bristling with nature. From the perfectly-named hamlet church of All Saints Wordwell a narrow path took me between two fields, barley on the left and plump wheat on the right.

Later the hedgerow of an ancient byway burst into vibrant colour with poppies of every style imaginable. If this was a film you'd accuse the set-dresser of going overboard.

On the final leg alongside the River Lark, bright blue dragonflies darting in and out of my peripheral vision.

Summer's here.

Personal

Let there be light

I feel like a D.I.Y. king.
I've finally fixed the outside light.
It's not worked in the eight and a half years I've lived here.

But don't let me get too carried away.
All I did was change the bulb.

Personal

Power of two

The task was to select a number between 101 and 132. Selecting 128 was easy - it's the only power of two in the range.

The task was the random draw for the office World Cup sweepstake. Selecting 128 was perfect - it turned out to represent Brazil.

So today for once I'm happy to know a football match result. Keep it up boys.

Coastwalk

Anglesey, Wales, ... Britain?

More interesting than today's opening of the Anglesey Coast Path is the suggestion that it may soon be followed by a complete Wales Coast Path.

If this gathers momentum, a recognised path round the whole of our island would be the next logical step. If nothing else I can dream.

Greenbelt

Home at last

I left Iona on the nine o'clock ferry on Friday morning. I've only just now got home - sixty hours later.

On the way back I've seen:

• Balamory Tobermory
• A lot of whisky bottles
• Sunset over Oban harbour from a rather lovely restaurant
• Three teenage girls getting two hours' entertainment from a fly
• Kites and balloons over Cheltenham Racecourse marking our friends' festival
• At least one potential new place to live

It's been a restful week. And taking our time on the return trip was the perfect way to end it.

Greenbelt

Just showing off

A stomach bug meant I missed today's trip to Staffa. I'm gutted: the weather was perfect for it. Still, after one hundred puffin pictures you pretty much know what the next one will look like.