This is a bridge over the River Tiffey at Wymondham, just down the road from the Abbey. Dot and I dropped by when looking at the possibility of taking the Murrays to Wymondham Station for a meal and going for a walk afterwards. Quite pleasant, but not totally convinced about either.

While on the subject of walking in the country, I took poet Lisa and her daughter Blossom out to North-East Norfolk on Wednesday to show her one of the Paston Walks. She will probably be doing a poetry walk at the upcoming Art Alive! weekend if she can find the time. I have declined on the grounds that the Murrays will be here that weekend. We started at the cliff beyond the uninspiring Mundesley Holiday Village and walked across the fields to Paston Church, then back by a slightly different route. Blossom (still not 3) did very well, but wanted the pushchair some of the time – which was quite a demanding push for Lisa over the field paths. Afterwards we had chips at Bacton. Now it seems that Lucy wants the walk to start at the church, on the grounds that there might be a ton of takers on the day. Not sure Lisa wants a ton of takers, especially last-minute ones.

Been to a couple of annual meetings: on Tuesday night it was a meal at St Luke’s, which was very tasty, followed by the usual rather bland discussion and the PCC agm – which passed swiftly and uncontentiously as usual. Yesterday it was the Archant agm at the Assembly House: lovely setting, exceptional buffet, though Hugh Gayler complained of the lack of cheese straws “like his mother used to make”. Surprisingly, no former EDP subs present, which rather detracted from the excitement. Still, found plenty of people to talk to, including Doug Bird, Keith Morris and Mike Almond (formerly of Royston), as well as Hugh and Peter Bright (both former EN subs). The forthcoming job cuts were barely mentioned. No questions, no pickets. Possibly because negotiations have reached a personal level, and no-one wants to rock his or her own boat, which would be understandable. Ivor Harvey sought guidance as to what happened at an agm: apparently it was the first one he’d been to.

The weather has been frighteningly good: Dot is afraid it’s peaking before the Murrays get here, and there is a risk that it will turn grey and rainy when they arrive. Strange. She is usually such an optimist. Anyway, she is continuing her clean house campaign, which includes painting anything that doesn’t move, so I only just escaped. At the moment she is rearranging the kitchen and washing everything on the dresser as we wait for Lucy, who is supposed to be picking up the Paston maps (or copies of them), which I seem to have. The visit of the piano tuner this week was clearly well timed, as an in-tune piano will be vital. It’s also clean, of course.