In March 1988...

Among other things, a hole appeared in Earlham Road, Norwich and swallowed the back end of a double decker bus. If you Google it there are photos. When I rang Jon at 11 for our coffee chat, he said he was in Norwich. I had to dig for more details, and it turns out he was overseeing the removal of a tarmaced drive/car park to ensure no damage was done to the two trees which were there. The location was a hotel by The Plantation Gardens, and almost exactly where that bus had been swallowed up 30 years ago. The job was being done due to damage to the properties because of subsidence, all stemming from the same problem. There were originally chalk mines, and the resulting tunnels made a weakness to various bits of Norwich. These sink holes have appeared in other locations too. It is all quite interesting providing you're not the one falling in a hole, or suffering damage to your property.

My book The Norwich Book of Days details something significant that has happened in the city for every day of the year. It was pure coincidence that I had read this week about the bus! I walked up at lunchtime to meet Jon at Earlham Road and we chatted while watching the digger. Very expertly manoevered and Jon said no roots were damaged, although the tree was dying anyway. Basically due to the fact that it had no soil anyway and it's root area is encased in tarmac and concrete.

Stupidly busy at work trying to get on top of things. Left at 4.45 as I have tap tonight and I hate getting in, then driving straight out again. Looking forward to my week off. 2 more days...