Morning commute

..on the London/Southampton line. Winchester station to be precise!
I thought I'd go for a complete change of mood after yesterday's bluebells and have always wanted to photograph this great cutting. On the other side of the road from where I'm standing the railway slices through the hill incredibly deeply, dividing for ever the planned triumphal way from the Peninsula Barracks (now housing, originally Charles II's new Versailles) from its destination at the west door of the Cathedral. Folie du grandeur - isn't that what such things are called?

Now what comes over most strongly are not the number of people with their iphones and laptops and take-out coffee, but the Victoriana of it all - the bridge still looking smoke blasted and the confidence that carried those builders through, only crumbling now with the flaking brickwork. You can almost imagine the original engineers standing on the platform wearing stovepipe hats and pointing to their great works. Me, I have to love them..