Very Victorian or beware of the Glue Man

It is one of those bright afternoons, where faces are marked with a frown to shade out the sun. There is a scene in A Canterbury Tale where the military visitors to the Twin Peaksy-type village that is the centre of the story, visit what I think was a carpenters shop. It was a day like today, bright and balmy but in the film, the relaxed atmosphere was contrasted with the trials of the main characters against the backdrop of the war.

I've just finished reading Ben Fogle's first book, The Teatime Islands which details his travels to the last island outposts of the UK. You might expect Mr. Castaway to be rathe rlight and fluffy and he is quite a lot of the time but in a way which seems to get under the skin of places, much in the same way that Louis Theroux does but without the knowing winks to the camera. Ben has a wonderful ability to understand when being a bit more forthright is required for the sake of the flow. It was sad to see him denied a day on Pitcairn (due to all the recent issues of that island). You know exactly who's side he is on though you might not guess until afterwards. I am looking forward to the next book - Offshore which is about a simliar island odyssey though a bit closer to home with a chance that I may have actually been to some of the places. A sudden desire to visit St. Helena came over me until practicality reasserted itself. I've been to the Outer Hebrides and Shetland (as well as the boring close-in ones like Anglesey and The isle of Wight). However, my wife is reading Offshore first which means I'll probably have the next Harry Potter before I get my hands on it.