Curry Club; around Whiteknights; weeny churches

Got together with Claire at the Back of Beyond after work on Thursday for what was supposed to be one quick pint, in view of my economy drive, but inevitably turned into several plus a chicken tikka masala courtesy of the Wetherspoon's Curry Club. Tried something called Fortyniner.

Took a walk around Whiteknights Lake on Friday lunchtime, although it was a bit muddier than expected - was passed by a number of scornful-looking students in Ugg boots while tripping along cautiously in my office shoes. Didn’t see any of the pretty Mandarin ducks – they must all have been in hiding, but took a few pictures including this one (left) of Foxhill House, built by Alfred Waterhouse and apparently used as his own home before he moved to Yattendon Court. Waterhouse built a number of buildings in Reading, including the Town Hall and Reading School. In my day Foxhill was student accommodation but it now houses the School of Law. Flickr has a lot of photos of Foxhill, including this night-time shot.

The Wikipedia entry on Whiteknights Park mentions Foxhill and also refers, albeit not by name, to Temporary Office Building 1, our new home (see last paragraph under 'History'). Foxhill was one of the 'new' houses built in the second half of the 19^th century after the estate was split up. There's a piece here on the Region 6 War Room - the nuclear bunker is, indeed, not far from where I sit typing this. Surely it could be converted into something - a nice café? - rather than being demolished. Some people have no sense of history.

Took the train down to Abergavenny on Saturday to visit my parents. Dad cooked a chicken curry in the evening and I spent much of the post-dinner period luxuriating¹ on the sofa in front of the woodburning stove. On Sunday we drove into Wales via Llyswen and Aberedw and parked by the River Edw whence we walked to the Church of St Padarn in Llanbadarn-y-garreg, a diddy wee church that according to this, might be 13^th or 14^th century but it’s not very clear. There's a picture of the interior here. On Sunday evening Mum cooked a dish that I remember enjoying as a child, leeks wrapped in ham and baked in a cheesy sauce. Took this picture before we dived into it.

Discovered the chocolate orange in my rucksack while getting ready for bed on Saturday night.

Dad took it into his head to drive me home on the Monday, so the three of us had a smooth and speedy motorway journey back to Reading, stopping off at Hungerford to have lunch at The Bear, where Mum and I had club sandwiches and Dad took the opportunity to have lambs' kidneys on a bed of champ. I had never heard of the latter but apparently it's essentially mashed potatoes and spring onions.

¹ = snoozing