Monday 19th October 2026

And so, once again, I am on my travels.

And Monday was brought to you by track defect at Stratford International.

I actually laid in to gone six, so late it was nearly seven. Giving me two hours to get my act together.

I had coffee, had a shave and shower, dressed, before packing and getting the camera gear packed, checking memory cards and batteries.

A post from Southeastern suggested ten minute delays at Stratford due to a track defect. No worries, I have 40 minutes to get my connection at St Pancras.

So, come quarter past eight, Jools drove me to Priory station, so I could catch the ten to nine train.

The train was eight minutes late, but could make that up after Ashford, no?

No, the track defect issue was ongoing, and would delay us further. But up to Dagenham all was fine, as we plunged into the tunnel under east London.

The the train slowed.

To a crawl.

Time passed, continents moved.

We crawled into Stratford. Half my 40 minutes was gone, any more crawling then I would miss my connection.

But soon after leaving the station, all horses were engaged and we sped up, but I had seventeen minutes to get along the platform, through the gates, across to the other side of the station, up again, then find a seat on the 11:35 train to Nottingham.

I made it with 4 minutes to spare, my hands shaking so bad I couldn't get my ticket in the reader at first.

But then did.

I got a seat at a table, opposite a student who took notes, tapped at her computer, laughed at her phone, then wrote more notes, tapped furiously at her laptop. And so on.

We slipped through London, I saw West Hamstead, but after that we were going to fast to see names of stations. And suddenly out into the countryside.

At Leicester, loads of folks got on for the fifteen minute rattle up to Nottingham, but they all got on, and I looked out of the window.

There was a refreshment trolley, so I bought some crisps, but they had no Coke, only diet. So I bought wine instead.

Wine in a can.

We arrived at Nottingham on time, but I had forty minutes to kill, so found a micropub on the corner of the main street and made a half of maple porter vanish in a couple of gulps.

Now, where to meet the coach and the leader? His mail just said Nottingham station. Its a big place.

So a couple of others on the tour and myself, stood on the side of the street watching buses come and go. No coach.

John appears like the shopkeeper in Br Ben, and says to go down the side of the station, and the coach will be down there.

So our little flock, dragging cases, made our way through the students and shoppers, and there on the left was a half sized coach.

The driver loaded our cases, and we climbed in. And once we were all aboard, we set off across the city, over the tram tracks into a housing estate that used to be meadows.

Water meadows.

And there was the Victorian pile of St George.

The driver let us off outside, and we filed in, to see what had been created at the height of the industrial revolution to serve the rows of workers' houses.

St George is an Anglo-Catholic church, with all the bells and whistles you'd expect. But in a good way.

We had a warm welcome from the priest, who waved enthusiastically as described his church. The large golden curtain behind the altar was very fetching.

I foolishly left my big lens on the bus, so didn't get close up shots of the fine windows, but that wasn't a mistake I'll make again.

Back on the bus again for the short hop to Gotham.

Yes, you read that right, Batman!

We drove for half an hour through countryside filled with fields and small sandy-coloured stone built villages, until we came to Gotham.

Parking near a shelter, bedecked with flowers, the church rises with its spire pointing to the sky.

Inside, two impressive memorials were our main point of interest, on walls stripped of plaster so showing the rough-cut stone from which the church was built.

The cooling towers of the now redundant Ratcliffe on Soar power station are visible for miles around, but our way to the final church of the day was right past them, and the spire of the fine village church could be glimpsed as we joined the dual carriageway heading, possibly, west.

The church of Barton in Fabis is very simmilar to that of Ratcliffe, set down a quiet village street, and the same stone spire we saw at Gotham.

Inside there were tombs, an ancient clock mechanism, and a heraldic memorial, quite splendid.

But time had now beaten us, we were behind schedule, and had to get to our hotel near the university. And getting there meant mixing with the rush hour traffic.

Towns and villages blur into each other, as the main roads leaps from roundabout to roundabout, but our driver knows the way and the correct lane to be in, so gets us there for half five.

A modern pile, four star, with a large lobby and dining area.

We get our keys, and so have an hour before lunch to unpack and freshen up, before meeting at seven for drinks and taking to our tables.

Talk was of churches, of course, as we waited for our meals to arrive, it being busy meant that we didn't finish until well after nine, by which time Spurs were 2-1 up, and as I listened to the radio, score a third in injury time.

Three churches down, just seventeen to go!

Sunday 18th October 2026

Sunday again.

And with my brain not letting me lie in, I was up at half five, when its still technically night as its dark outside.

But accept coffee from my dear Jools and try to wake up.

The day was supposed to be filled with thunder and rain, only no one told Mother Nature, and we got only rain.

All day.

At first there was no rain, then drizzle, then thick cloud swept over, and soon day was turned to night, and it did rain.

But before then there was the gym and phys.

It would have been easy to bail, but we went and did fifty minutes, with me on the higher resistance again.

Back home and had a brew and breakfast, but then the clouds came and brought rain.

Lots of rain.

So for the morning we did our hobbies to the soundtrack from Huey, that was until nearly two when the football began.

We had pizza before the kick off, while outside the rain came down, turning earth to mud. But it will do the garden good.

There was football. Man Utd at Leeds. Ended in a 1-1 draw with neither being very good. Then Arsenal at Forest, during which I swapped messages with my Gooner-supporting friend in the US. Arse scored in the last ten minutes to win, and just about deserved it.

Night came early, and was chilly. So we put the heating on.

On Monday I go travelling again, up north. Or halfway north.

Saturday 17th October 2026

It am the weekend. Again.

And I could lay in to six as the gym opens an hour later.

But my brain had me awake soon after five, so I do get up, and after coffee, we had time to go to Tesco again first, then to the gym for phys.

Which is what we do.

Tesco is pretty empty of customers, but lots of folks filling up shelves. So, we dash round getting stuff for the week, though I will be away for four days, so Jools gets stuff easy to cook.

And at the end, a bill of less than sixty quid!

We drive the four hundred yards to the sports centre, then go to wait the five minutes before the doors are opened, and we restless can sweep in, up the stairs onto our machines of torture.

I do fifty minutes again, so with the two loops round Tesco came to nearly 9,000 steps. Before breakfast.

Back home, and pack away, while we boil the kettle at the same time, so we can slump into our chairs for a relaxing brew.

I have a shower, and when done, the bright low sunshine pours in through the window, casting crepuscular rays in the steam.

I take a shot.

Get dressed, then downstairs to listen to the last of Radcliffe and Maconie, before switching to Huey on Virgin Radio. Five hours of cool music passes, and for the last two hours I watch Watford v Charlton, which the home team wins 2-0.

Then to the main batch of games, watching Final Score on the telly whilst listening to Radio 5 on the phone.

Norwich lost for the 6th game in a row, 1-0 to a poor Pompy, while Ipswich nearly cause an upset at Cheaters FC, losing 3-2 to Citeh.

Between games we have burgers for our main meal, then some Polish saltsticks as I watched Villa beat the Toon, in a fairly entertaining game.

And the day had passed.

Friday 16th October 2026

It's nearly the weekend again.

An attempt to lay in was foiled by my brain, waking me up just after five.

I tried to lay in bed and drop back off, but a cute black and white kitten jumped on the bed, so I got up so not to be pinned there for the day.

It was going to be a fine, late autumn day. Cool to start, but warming up quickly, and warm enough to sit on the patio.

Which I did.

As usual, Jools went to yoga, and I did the bins, then finished my coffee, and checked on the world.

Not much to report for the morning. Jools returned, had breakfast and was off an hour later to taxi her bevvy of ladies to the library, all the more difficult with the gas board digging up Kingsdown Road.

After lunch, Jen came round so we could find a way to upload pictures from her old phone onto her new on.

Was more difficult that it should have been, but buried in a sub-menu, there was a box to tick, then when connected to my laptop, I could import the 290 shots of her friends in that Australia from her last two trips.

She stayed for dinner. I made pasta bolognaise and garlic bread, as well as opening a bottle of XV.

Cheers.

I thought I had done well in the music quiz, but got the answer wrong to make it nul points in three quizzes, but taking part is the fun.

Some Championship footy in the evening, but I give up at half time and head to bed.

Thursday 15th October 2026

It's Thursday again, which means getting up at five for some phys.

Although this would be my last 5AM alarm call for phys for some 12 days, as I'm away next week snapping at churches.

I was awake anyway before the alarm went off, so I got dressed, went down to test and jab Scully, then feed her and the other three before putting the kettle on for my only coffee of the day.

I like coffee, but as its the only drink I have with sugar, I limited my intake to just one cup a day, and if I drink another during the day, then I can't sleep.

Anyway.

It's very dark when we get up, and dark still when we drive to the sports centre, where the car park is half full already.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jelltecks/55593009163/in/dateposted/ We do our fifty minutes, by which time it is getting light, so I take a shot outside of the contrast between the lights of the centre and blue light of the sky.

Not much to report for the day. A shower and change of clothes, then go to see Jen as it's the 9th anniversary of Tony's passing.

It hardly seems possible, but it was.

Tony passed when Mum was recovering from her second series of heart attacks, Tony had no such warnings, and yet Mum didn't change, and the third series of attacks did for her.

She had 23 months left.

And maybe she could have changed and lived longer. But she hadn't changed in the 19 years since I moved back to Norfolk, so was an hour away from home, as each year she moved less and less.

Anyway, it is what it is, and what it was.

Jen is fine, time heals, and is overjoyed to see us, doubly so when I offer to make a cuppa.

Back home then at eleven, where we do our hobbies: Jools is doing a beading course next month, so is learning the techniques by watching videos and beading along.

We had lamb steaks for dinner. With the leftover pasta salad, which lasted most of the week. The final dregs went in the bin.

We wash up, listen to music, and so the afternoon passes.

Another day draws to an end, though with no football on TV, or none that I can see. Nor is it on the radio, so we head to bead early, as darkness takes us from this world.

Brexit update

I said a few years back that I would only write about Brxit if there were any new policies, or movement on the issue.

Well, during the Labour conference, Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, called for closer links to the Eu, though what exactly those closer links could be wan't explained. He also repeated this in the House of Commons.

Last week, in a TV interview he revealled he had been told that there was Russian interferance on the Brexit Referendum, this again he repated in the HoC earlier this week.

There will be "reset" talks in November, however, these have been much postponed and delyed since July, so how much store we should put into this is unclear.

What it has done is started the national discussion regarding Brexit, whether it has been a success or failur, and the consequences of that vote.

As I have also said previously, this is the discussion we should have had before the vote, but here we are.

Lead Brexit negotiator un Boris Johnson was David Frost, and he said that if we were still talking about Brexit after five years, then t would have failed.

So, by his words, Brexit has failed.

And yet the ills of the country and economy are still being blamed on migrants. Robert Jenrick this week called for lethal force to be used on those crossing the Channel.

If such an order were given to UK Forces by a Farage Government, this would be an illegal order, and should be refused. That Farage had rowed back from that is at least something.

For the economy, lower than expected numbers of people coming to live and work in the UK means there is a £7billion hole on the Chancellors finances. I mean, who'd have thought that would be the consequences?

For now, Reform vote share has been falling, and more by-elections and local elections have failed to elect candidates from his party. And in elections, voters seem to vote for whoever will defeat those candidates from his party. Of course, whether this will be carried out in a general election is unknown, but with his popularity stalling at the polls, the media still talk to people from Reform with a handful of MPs, rather than say the Lib Dems of Greens who have many more times the MPs in Westminster.

Currently 57% of people think it was wrong to leave the EU, while 30% still think it was a good idea.

So, let's see what November brings in those talks with the EU.

Wednesday 14th October 2026

It is nearly the middle of October, and yet the spirit of summer lingers on.

When days have clear skies, temperatures climb into the late teens or early twenties, warm enough to sit on the patio with cats but sans jumper or coat.

Most trees have yet to done the colours of autumn, and are still mostly green. And when the sun sines, insects like Hummingbird hawkmoths can be seen, zipping around, though their time is drawing near.

Days now begin sometime after seven, and end shortly after six once the sun has set. But the warmth will have left the day before then. Mostly.

On Wednesday, we were both up and about well before six, though Jools up first. The cats were tested and fed, coffee made, and after an hour spent online, Jools went for her class, and I was left home to make a fresh brew, have breakfast and tidy up.

When she returned just after ten, and another heartening brew made and consumed, Jools asked if we should go for a walk.

I didn't really feel like it, but had the idea of scattering verbascum seeds around the neighbourhood, so that in 18 months time, grand, yellow-flowered spikes would reach for the sky. And people would wonder where they came from.

Thing is, bare soil is hard to come by, but I do my best, scattering and stomping them into the earth.

We don't go far, up Station Road, then along the first track past the war memorial, before cutting back to Hardy and out along the lower track, before heading up to Colling wood and home.

Not much seen on the wing or in flower, but an hour wandering, scattering, and stomping was good.

Clear blue skies above, and hedges filled with autumnal fruit, at least those the farmer had so far failed to flail.

Back home we have a fresh brew, sit outside before thoughts turn to lunch and the long afternoon of the soul.

By three the day had cooled so that the door and windows were closed, and the heating turned up a notch, just in case.

For the evening there was Norwich on the telly, and Citeh on the radio. I wanted to listen to the Villa game, but it wasn't on the BBC, so Citeh it was, and were soon 2-0 down to an equally financially suspect PSG after just fifteen minutes.

It was 3-0 before half time, and Norwich did OK, until the second half were poor defending let Southampton in to score the only goal. It was an improvement, just. though five defeats in a row, and only a point above the drop zone.

Citeh lost 4-2, after improving after the break, but still, got to laugh.