Still here...

Despite the depressing and relentless litany of obituaries of my contemporaries—this week Ian Lavender (‘Private Pike’), younger than me—I am still here, moderately invigorated by seven days in a nice hotel in Lanzarote. Sunshine, daytime temperatures between 22°C and 24°C, and far too much to eat and drink... What’s not to like?
 
I note while updating this website that I published nothing in 2023. I have not, however, been inactive. For several years now I have been working on and off on my memoirs, very brief snippets from which have appeared from time to time in this blog. Short biographies of my mother and father are also being worked on.

What has occupied my fairly constant attention for the last six months has been an in-depth investigation into the ‘Iron Bridge’ at Hanwell in West London. This austere structure, which carries the Great Western Railway across the Uxbridge Road, is a landmark I grew up with. The current steel girder bridge is in the form of a ‘Pratt Truss’ (yes really—“Pop Con” movement, please note...), but it started life as one of I K Brunel’s most curious, imaginative, and troubled creations. I will reveal some of my findings in the coming posts.