I’m in Oxford for a few days, staying in Headington in a small estate of inter-war houses, many of which – like ours – have been extended and turned into HMOs.  So not Brideshead Revisited – but neither is it Jude the Obscure. After all there is a Waitrose nearby. (Bicycle helmets in many wire baskets.) I suppose this is just urban living nowadays in the over-crowded south-east. Hemmed-in and concreted over – but somewhere I can hear a bird singing. I lived like this in London 40 years ago, but I’ve grown used to space and light since then.

It’s an easy bus ride into the centre of Oxford. Today we went on a boat trip from Folly Bridge past Christ Church Meadows to Iffley Lock. (Three Men in a Boat popped into my head at this point.)