Woke to the promise of another sunny day. Out on the 0640, changing at Reading for economy's sake once again. Some delays on approaching London Paddington, and further frustration since the Circle was out of use once again - I have an incredible aptitude in selecting just such weekends it seems.

Set out across the City from Farringdon, and hopped on a Kent bound service at Cannon Street just as far as London Bridge. Out of the station, and along Druid Street in search of the remains of St. John Horsleydown. The short walk through deteriorating neighbourhoods ended abruptly as passing under the railway, I saw the telltale ashlar blocks and strange vents and portals of a Hawksmoor church. From the midst of the remains rises the red brick of London City Mission, the whole thing being set in a busy little park beside a small housing estate. Passed a few moments, then off again via Tooley Street to London Bridge.

Next, to Greenwich. From the station into the High Street, then a long and rather hot walk before once again accidentally stumbling upon St. Alfege. Again, a buidling on an impressive scale with particularly curious stairs at each side, a small passage running into each raised stair area. Rather incongrous lantern on the tower (tacked on in 1730 by John James it seems). Very much a working church, with a pleasant and welcoming groundsman and vicar in attendance.

Onto the DLR here, and a quick high-level glimpse of St. Anne Limehouse and St. George In The East. Alighted at Shadwell, and made the swap onto the East London Line, then the (incredibly crowded) Hammersmith & City to get to Liverpool Street. From here, a strange crabwise crawl through the oddly bleak hinterlands of the City to Commercial Street, haunted by occasional glimpses of Christ Church, Spitalfields. This time, the hoardings were down, but the work continues. Couldn't access the grounds, but managed to get some pictures of the massive forbidding spire.

Back on the hoof now across Finsbury Square and Bunhill Fields, and then via familiar old Whitecross Street to St. Luke, Old Street. Now the home of the LSO this small and rather plain Hawksmooor church still has a mighty presence. The grounds too, were slightly populous - with students writing postcards home, a merry group of singing drunks, and a colony of roadies unloading musical gear for the Orchestra - all under the shadow of the rather unnerving obelisk.

The purposeful part of my wanderings done for the day, struck out for Smithfield and a well-deserved pint or two of ESB. A hot, tiring but rewarding day of trekking. Another gallery will follow at some point...

A chance to use the final day of the Severn, Avon and Wessex Rover. Set out late, on a service delayed due to an incoming track machine heading for the Carillion 'depot' which seems to have gained a semi-permanent base at Weston recently.

Over to Newport, and then to Swindon via Bristol Parkway and Wooton Bassett - a bit of track I see very rarely indeed. Shaping up to be a warm day by the time I arrive, and tempers seem frayed. Firstly, a couple of people arguing about whether you get paid if you are on strike (why do people think this?! still amazes me!). Secondly, a Freightliner driver who gets himself entagled in the crowds trying to get a seat on a Bristol-bound Adelante started cursing and swearing when his progress along the platform was impeded!

Short hop to Bath Spa, with an intention of getting a Salisbury-bound service. Saw the number of passengers on board and flagged it. Caught a following 150 to Weymouth as far as Westbury. Thought about going the distance, but figured I'd save that for the Class 31 haulage which would start with the Summer Timetable. During my wait the miserable Freightliner guy passed by at a crawl at the controls of a 66.

Got a look at the 31s at Westbury, and also witnessed a rare (for me) Class 59 among other movements. From Westbury to Taunton, via the unusual Wessex service from Portsmouth which splits here. Coincidentally, back to Weston on the same unit I set out on this morning. A short, pleasant and uneventful day of wandering.

Spent much of today with our software supplier, looking at the new features which will enable us to coordinate school admissions with other Local Education Authorities. In fact, today was pretty successful - achieved more than we'd hoped, and actually got the bare bones of a Primary Offer Scheme working which reflects our policy, doesn't mess with Voluntary Aided schools, and produces the expected results when things are oversubscribed. Felt good to see it working after much talking about it in the past! Need to work out how to manually enter the ranking for the VA offers now, then on to the slightly more complicated Secondary School scheme. We also need to test it with something a little more substantial than the contrived little situation we set up today, but indications are that we are on the right track.

I've also hopefully also secured a day off in the week to use the last day of my Wessex Rover, but I'm loathe to commit that to print, as nothing is certain yet.

After work, met a friend for a pleasant drink and some catching up. I think for me in my rather insular little life, its easy to forget how important people are. Felt really good to talk about all kinds of random things. Was also able to share some tentative good news on my nephew too, who seems to be making excellent progress, and may even be home later this week! My sister sends regular and welcome SMS messages with weight gains, milestones passed. He's made such incredible progress in such a short time. Inspiring stuff.

Pleasant walk home in the evening sunshine afterwards too. A good day, all in all.

Up and out on the 0640 in what promised to be strong sunshine. Opted for a Severn, Avon & Wessex Rover - will try to use this as an incentive for a day off in the week. Time for coffee at Bristol, and also a moment to note that 'Crowd Control Measures' would be in use at Cardiff Central, due to the Challenge Cup Final at the Millenium Stadium. The positive side of this is that lots of additional services are running. Noted 'Nunney Castle' still on Barton Hill Depot as we passed en route to Cardiff.

One particularly intriguing service was my target - the 0934 Cardiff Central to Cardiff Central, via Gloucester and Bristol Parkway. In other words, a big, Class 37 hauled circle! Arrived at a rather quiet Cardiff in good time and spent a while trying to photograph the 37s working the Rhymney services. Pretty soon, 37419 arrived and we were off - it was practically all cranks up front, with a few familiar faces. The journey up the Western bank of the Severn in wonderful weather was very pleasant, and 37419 appeared to be in good form. At Gloucester, it appeared thousands of Rugby fans wanted to get on. The small group who ended up in the front with us seemed a bit perplexed by what was happening!

Back to Cardiff via the Severn Tunnel. Out into the sunshine to get a picture of 37419. Then, in quick succession the other excursion trains started piling in - 47197 on a service from Manchester Oxford Road, a pair of 67s on a Wigan service, and 31454 top and tailing with 31452 on a Westbury-Cardiff. Even as the Rugby fans disappeared towards the stadium, the platform got busy with photograhers!



Could have hung around for the return leg, but felt that the mass exit of thousands of fans (at least half of whom would be disappointed!) was less likely to be pleasant. Since another hauled service was due tomorrow, decided to bid Cardiff goodbye. Headed back to Weston to get a long-promised haircut, then over to Highbridge for a brief visit. Considered wandering back up on the offchance of getting 31s back to Westbury, but decided I was too hot and tired.