...to St Mary's University, my first visit back since the Spring, when of course we had to cancel all plans for the celebratory launch of my History of the place.
I loved working on the history, and it was a project well worth doing. Various follow-ups now being pondered...
It was good to go into the chapel and to feel the same sense of belonging that I have always felt there over recent years,, as post-graduate student and as Research Fellow...
Walking dry-shod along the Twickenham bank of the river it seemed almost absurd to think back to Sunday and our extraordinary splashing and sloshing at High Tide on the Richmond side. Moral: check tide-tables before any walk. The Twickenham side offers lots of history, and will be the route for the next Walk: Marble Hill House and Orleans House...links with the Georges and Mrs Fitzherbert and Alexander Pope and more...
Attempts to crush honest study of history are frightening. This was how history was treated in Eastern Europe in the 1950s-80s. I remember Polish people talking about how infuriating it was to be told about their country in jargon-laden rubbishy lectures...the Church has a role in countering this and encouraging honest and authentic discussion and debate. In this, as in so much more, St John Paul gave us useful lessons...
Golden leaves postively glowing in afternoon sunshine, people exchanging friendly nods and greetings, light piercing through trees and turning ripples on the Thames into silver, children shouting and playing on Richmond Green...oh I do pray there isn't another lockdown.
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