Wot No Sun?

For the first time in what seems like weeks, we opened the blinds this morning to see not a hint of sunshine. This state of affairs continued for a lot of the day.

There was a brief moment when I thought that the mists might part and the clouds might lift, but it was not to be.

These daffodils are coming to the end of their time. Mells holds a Daffodil Fair every Easter weekend - at this rate they are going to have to rename it!

The sky kept teasing us with hints that it would clear up.

Spent the morning getting a connection to Usenet sorted out - only when I did not put in my (optional) ISP username and password, did the application I am using let me download a file. Counterintuitive or what? The assignments from my students in Hong Kong have all arrived - most impressively ahead of the deadline. After lunch, the skies finally cleared. We went up to Bath racecourse for a walk, parking in the car park of the newly refurbished Blathwayt Arms.

You can actually walk the dogs up there on race days, when you definitely would want to stay off the race track.

Coming up towards the finishing line, and the transmission mast for TV footage to be sent from.

A very wide range of enterprises advertise along the side of the track - from Bath Ales to Linen Hire...

Great patterns in this ploughed field. Loads of rooks were working their way across it as we approached. The collective noun for rooks is a parliament - they certainly make as much noise, but probably more sense:-). 

We came up to the far corner of the race course to Prospect Stile, and looked across to Kelston Round Hill.

There is an engraved metal plate inset on a trigonometry point there, showing direction and distances to towns and points of interest, such as the White Horse at Westbury, the Severn bridges, Wells, Kelston MIll etc.

We got talking to a chap from Cheshire whotold us that the other day he had been walking along in a daydream following the rail at the side of the track. He had assumed that would bring him in a circle back to where he started. It was only when he ended up at the road at the end of the race course that he came to his senses and realised that he had been following the rail leading to a straight section of track, rather than the circuit of the main track.  He had a much longer walk as a result, and now pays much more attention to his whereabouts!


The ground at the end of the course is very hard going.

Coming back to the stands, the clouds were most impressive.

Resetting part of the rail alongside the track (not the bit the chap from Cheshire went astray with).

This day a year ago, saw my final year project students for the last time before they submitted their work. Then I put a load of books I no longer needed on a table outside my office for students and colleagues to help themselves to - most gratified that they nearly all went by the end of the afternoon. Came home and did a bit of time on our patch of allotment, meeting this rather distinctive cat on the way.