Jerusalem

Dived into East Grinstead to bathe in its wonderfulness this morning. A handful of ad hoc meetings and a few phone calls while I waded through my mailbox and then I set off.

I came down the M3 and along the A30/A303 and the landscape was stunning. Bright sunlight lit the dips and clefts and higher ground. The sky was silver at times and the clouds etched on it. And that took me to Blake's wonderful poem and England's green and pleasant land and it was laid out around me. I'd love to tell you where this is exactly but I think it's somewhere in Hampshire and that's as close as I can say.

Arrived in Devon in the dark and heading up increasingly narrow roads I met a sign saying that the road was closed. I turned around and went a few miles back and round narrower roads only to arrive back at the same sign. I then asked the SatNav man to find an alternative route and ended up on lanes so narrow I was breathing in and turning my shoulders slightly to squeeze through. Finally got here and mentioned it at reception and she said that I'd have been fine to ignore the sign - there is a tree down but the gap it's left is wider than the lane I must have come along.

Time for food and a bit of reading in the bar. It's Tuesday, the hidden gem of the week, lavish it with love and HXBs and all good things - this is the final Tuesday of the month!