The Kilpeck Sheela

I couldn't get a decent photo, so here's somebody else's, from their very good site on Sheelas:

A few more pictures of today's Old Devils trip

(That's a Kingsley Amis reference, by the way - a step up from Last of the Summer Wine).

Bits out for the lads

Neal, Gerry, Mark and I went to sunny Herefordshire today to see the Sheela-na-gig at Kilpeck, a 12th-century church with a bit of castle left. The carvings were stunning the scenery was beautiful, lambs were gambolling and trees were blossoming. We arsed around a bit, then went on to Hereford, Ludlow and Bridgnorth via all the back roads through Richard's Castle and the Clees, taking in fine beer and food in the 14th-century wattle-and-daub Black Swan in at Much Dewchurch. Lots of photos here.

Monkey!

In my haste to depart the office, I forgot to wish you all a good holiday. I'm having a day off tomorrow, going to see a Sheela-na-gig on a Herefordshire church with some pals. Then on Saturday it's back to the bosom of my family to restart some old arguments and eat too much while I mark. I won't abandon Plashing Vole completely but may actually get some fresh air.

Tonight, I saw my colleagues and friends Ben and Frank, and with Hilary - an escaped colleague and friend - we got ourselves a little culture by seeing 3 Monkeys, a beautiful, sombre, Turkish film, at The Lighthouse, Wolverhampton's best arthouse cinema (only arthouse cinema). It's a mix of Eugene O'Neill, Strindberg, Ibsen and Pinter - with perhaps a bit of Huis Clos thrown in for good measure. The photography and pacing are stunning - and for the rest of you, there's a gangster, a murder and some trains.