Into Borough Market where we bought some Comté, the second youngest, in a new-to-us wrapping from Charles Arnaud. The cheese was, however, the usual stuff, very good, if rather dear. Cut with a two handled knife, a sort of long thin hachoir, which looked to be easier going than whatever they struggled with at Waitrose when I was last there, when these last did not use the wire. Must remind myself what that was.
Next a card from Mr Madiba, a gifted African spiritual healer and advisor, the sort of chap for whom you get lots of small ads in French newspapers and who is able to help with a surprising variety of personal and financial problems. Sufficiently traditional that he offers no web site. No freebies.
Splendid view of the Shard in the cold winter afternoon light, which the telephone failed to capture. Perhaps I should have tried telling it to focus on the tower, rather than the street leading thereto. Even I could have done that. Wondered once again on the weight being carried by the slender corner columns - while BH sensibly pointed out that the serious weight was probably carried by the core up the middle. But what was the torque on the base of that core when the wind got up? From where I associated to the puzzle of why obelisks stand up without any kind of attachment to the ground at all, beyond a good seating. See, for example, that on the embankment, which has been there for years and shows no sign of falling down any time soon. Much less of a taper than the Shard.
Entrained at London Bridge. There no longer seemed to be direct trains to Sutton, never mind Epsom, so we had to change at Norwood Junction, a place at which we had never changed before. On the way to the Junction we passed the Milwall football ground, not very big, not in the same league at all as the Emirates of Arsenal, so presumably not the force in football that they once were. I seem to remember a time when the Millwall fans were the terror of the terraces. The stadium was surrounded by lots of what looked like sixties housing estates, presumably taking over from the slums which were there before.
Having got onto our Sutton train we were entertained by a couple of young people in the next compartment discussing chemotherapies they had known. The young lady seemed to know lots of hospitals.
We also had a couple of smartly turned out, but slightly shy, black children from the CHS school of South Croydon. A member of the Cognita family of schools which should not to be confused with Croydon High School - which last I had heard of. See reference 2 - from where I learn that 'Cumnor House School is part of Cognita, a global leader in independent education that is committed to enriching the lives of children to achieve more than they believe they can ... Founded in the United Kingdom in 2004, the Cognita family now includes over 65 schools worldwide. Thanks to the efforts of our talented educators and support staff ...'. School branding is getting rather like that of restaurant chains.
The waiting room at Sutton was dominated by a clutch of young girls, perhaps 13 or 14, who were sitting in a tight circle, heads together and who reminded us of the priorities of girls of that age. From the top: friends, phones, school, family. I admired the large canti-deck, probably from reference 3, sticking out of a tower block while waiting for our ten-coacher to Epsom. Southern, unlike Southwest Trains, having made it to the world of ten-coachers.
PS: (some days later) I have just noticed that I have noticed canti-decks before, at least implicitly. See reference 4.
Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/it-is-forbidden-to-blow.html.
Reference 2: http://www.cumnorhouse.com/.
Reference 3: http://cqegroup.com/cantidecks/cantideck-home/.
Reference 4: http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=purgatory+heaven.
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