Paddington Railway Station ... and a bit of Brian Eno

My search for space this week has been somewhat thwarted by it being my first full week back at work, the weather, and also by feeling a bit under the weather. I had intended to go walkabout after work on the Friday but ended up leaving early not feeling too good. However, as a small pick-up, I managed to get a reasonable picture of the restored canopy at Paddington station just before my train took me home. There's something about station architecture that always impresses and inspires me, and Paddington station is no exception, especially after such a wonder restoration.

Restored canopy at Paddington railway station, London

Feeling a bit better today, I ventured out to continue my exploration of places near where I live that I've either not been to before, or haven't been to for a while, and today's choice was Wallingford, in Oxfordshire. The grey weather meant that I did not take any pictures, but had an enjoyable stroll around the town, and a good lookaround the antiques centre. I didn't buy anything as I'm still processing a lot of the vintage postcards I picked up before Christmas.

On checking the 6music schedule when I returned home, I was delighted to discover that there was a 2 hour Brian Eno special, hosted by Tom Robinson. I was initially disappointed when I realised that it was about his more recent career, but found myself captivated by the music played, the conversation and his outlook on life. Of his recent material, I think the latest I have is Small Craft on a Milk Sea and had not even realised that there were more recent releases, such as Lux.

    

I'm hoping next week will bring more better opportunities for exploration. I have a trip out to docklands during the week so hopefully will get a bit of an opportunity to see someof the areas I've not yet been to.

The Hollington loop

One of our favourite walks we can do from home is something we call the Hollington loop which leaves Woolton Hill and takes us up through Highclere (now famous because of Downton Abbey), through some wonderful copses and on to Hollington Lane before heading back towards Woolton Hill. It takes about an hour and a quarter depending on how sticky the mud is underfoot. My favourite part of the walk is pictured below. This is an open area somewhere between Ireland's Copse and Long Copse. I've often seen deer in this area but I think today we were a bit too noisy, making the most of a child free atmosphere to catch up on various things.

So, this was a great start to the day. Unfortunately things went a bit downhill after that with my son's football team being totally out played this afternoon, but hopefully a learning experience. Back home now though and looking forward to a nice hot bath followed by beef casserole, and maybe a glass or two of red.

Only 15 working days left until the Christmas break for me, and to be honest it can't come soon enough. Not because I particularly look forward to Christmas as such, but more because I need a decent break from work which has been manic, often pointlessly so, over the past few months. My vintage postcard advent calendar is up again this year - take a look and see what's behind each window throughout December.

Thanks to BBC radio 6, 6music, I have "discovered" a band called Public Service Broadcasting and have just downloaded as many of their tracks as I could find. Basically they take 1940's/1950's audio recordings and set them to a soundtrack ... can't recommend them enough !!