Murk.

Light rain and a stiff breeze according to this mornings weather forecast. 'Murk' might be a better way of describing things. It's been wet and cold like this for the last three weeks and looks like there's at least another week of rain and chill easterly winds ahead of us. As we drive into town we pass a large German coach disgorging a group of forty or so glum looking Swabians onto the street outside chapel. A woman with a light wand is shepherding them down towards the golf course. Off season tourism can be a hit or miss affair for those involved.

The last of the new bunkers in nearing completion. In this unfinished state they look more like installation art than sand traps.

It seems bunkers have been built like this ( here at least ) in the same labour intensive way for centuries. The turf is removed from the top and then cut into thin strips that are built up, one on top of the other, to form the steeply angled side walls. Come the spring the grass will start growing and the new feature will look as if its always been there.

The Six Nations rugby tournament starts on Saturday. The savvier bar owners are offering reserved tables ( together with bar snacks and wide screen tv - drinks extra  ) at £25 a head . The offers went up on Monday and we pass three hostelries that are already sold out. The Tiger Wood / Justin Timberlake Bar is among them.

There must be some other way of collecting rubbish in medieval town centres. I know narrow streets and small courtyards don't lend themselves to modern commerce but the sea gull resistant bins outside the fish and chip shop are just plain ugly. You don't see this in Oxford or Cambridge - or do you ? How do other places deal with commercial waste ?

Expanding cities:https://www.worksinprogress.news/p/many-victorian-cities-grew-by-tenfold

Birds:https://birdhistory.substack.com/p/were-not-sending-our-best

What does this say ? :https://www.edelman.com/newsroom/richard-edelmans-6am-blog/insularity-next-crisis-trust

Brexit a decade on  :https://www.historytoday.com/archive/behind-times/brexit-britains-forever-war

The sound of Venice :https://youtu.be/aXBWrNN64z8?t=5

China :https://nbarkin.substack.com/p/watching-china-in-europe-february