Personal

Angel Lane

Here goes:

a last squeeze through from bedroom to bathroom;

a last chance to sit on the brick lounge floor - completely empty for the first time in nine years;

and finally, the last turn of the key in the lock of the three hundred year-old house that was my first home.

That's it. Goodbye Angel Lane. Turns out it is possible to leave.

Personal

The last day

At 9pm last night we sealed the last box. So what do you do on your last day in town?

We have:

• Enjoyed a favourite walk
• Taken in the mood of an annual town event
• Had a last Sunday lunch
• Got sunburnt on the beach

There's one last thing to do as a resident of Woodbridge...

Personal

The shipping

I remember a conversation with my sister and her daughter. It was a month or so after their family had moved back to the UK after living in the States. Joanna asked Isabel if she knew what was happening in the next week. Isabel thought a while, before breaking out into a wide grin and shouting "shipping!" - the possessions they sent by sea would finally arrive.

Today I know what that feels like. On Monday we'll be reunited with everything we left in Suffolk. But first there's a wistful weekend to get through.

Personal

Old and new

The upside of being locked out was telling the locksmith that breaking our back door would just give us a good excuse to replace it. When we bought the house we knew the wooden step had rotted; it'd only be a matter of time anyway.

The upside of having a neighbour who renovates houses is that he has a mate Bob who's a builder. (I kid you not.)

Today it's been out with the old, in with the new. Sure it'd have been lovely to fit a wooden replacement but at least U-PVC won't rot.

Visual Arts

Event Horizon

Waterloo Bridge is always a good place for a stroll. The classic London skyline opens up around you, from Docklands in the east to Westminster in the west.

For the next three months this is home to London's latest game: Spot the Gormley. Standing still on buildings across the broad sweep of the skyline are Antony Gormley figures gazing patiently back at you. As if bored by their view from the Sefton Coast they're taking a holiday in the city.

There's a Doctor Who episode in this one I'm sure: Invasion of the Iron Men. One sits on top of a tall block of flats towards Elephant and Castle, one is on the TV studios, three or four are on the South Bank Centre. Two stand on the bridge itself. Let your eyes rest on just about any building and you'll see one. Waiting silently. Hoping for a signal.

Thames Path

Cricklade → Lechlade

Distance: 11.3 miles
Ascent: 143 metres
Duration: 4 hours 9 minutes

Transport
« Not walked | Not walked »

Different modes of transport provided the theme for today's walk. Five miles downstream from Cricklade we saw our first boats on the river - a family in bright blue canoes.

A short distance further, a tractor and trailer stood by the roadside frozen in the past by a thick layer of rust. A mile and a half of walking along a busy road followed before branching off to join the river again.

Outside Lechlade the barges lined up in the sun. From here onwards the path is said to follow the old Thames tow-path. Hopefully the A361 will be the last fast road on this walk.

We met the other end of the speed scale on that road, and later in Lechlade. Three horse-drawn caravans did their best to remind us to stick to the more gentle pace of the river.