No pictures.

A day to recuperate after wandering across London yesterday. So I read what the paper's had to say about Alistair Darling's budget; murdered some music on the treble recorder (had to bring something to play as I don't have the dulcimer); went to the bank for some money (no, it wasn't a hold up); and I finally plucked up the courage to go hire a car so I don't have to rely on other people to ferry me about the countryside. It's a Vauxhall Astra. I was a bit nervous about driving here again and kept telling myself, "Keep left; look right. Look right; keep left."

So off I went bell-ringing again this evening. Tollesbury, a village at the end of a series of creeks on the mud-flats between Maldon and West Mersea; or if coming by land at the end of a twisty-turny country road; why are Essex roads so twisty-turny? Because the navvies that built 'em kept their backs to the everchanging wind. Then a whole string of village names comes to mind so indulge me whilst I list them as some of the names evoke Essex for me: Feering, Inworth, Messing, Tipree, Tolleshunt Knights, Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Salcott-cum-Virley, Goldhanger, Wigborough, Peldon . . .

. . . I'd met the captain of the Tollesbury ringers at Kelvedon on Tuesday and she invited me to come ring on their practice night. Tollesbury have a light ring of ten bells, tenor a shade over 7cwt or about 800lbs don't ask me to convert to kilos. Compare this to the original six at Kelvedon where the treble (or lightest bell) was 7cwt and the tenor (the 1951 Festival of Britain bell) just over a ton or about 2240lbs. Now I've been invited to ring at Inworth on their practice night next week. The drive back from Tollesbury was fun. The art of driving from the 'wrong' side of the car on the left side of the road soon came back to me, after all I did learn to drive that way.

Tomorrow we'll be busy preparing for the wedding . . .