Passacaglia and Fugue

We haven't rushed back to travel after the pandemic hiatus, but decided to take the opportunity of a week's holiday in Sussex - no passport required, of any colour.

Sun 22nd: The roads haven't been too bad, and we stop for a late lunch and garden visit at Nyman's, which has been on the bucket-list for a while. Later in the afternoon we press on to the outskirts of Eastbourne, which has been designated reasonably central for the places we intend to visit. The sea air is bracing, the pier is decaying, but we find mussels and craft beer at The Belgian Cafe.

Mon 23rd: Mostly Roman. The weather forecast isn't great, so we plan for an indoor day. It's quite a trek to Fishbourne Roman Palace, and there are alarming school parties doubtless serving as vectors of disease, but it's worth it for the spectacular mosaics (albeit on somewhat subsided floors). After lunch we move on to Bignor, another Roman villa, and later in the afternoon, to Petworth.

Tues 24th: Mostly Norman. The weather forecast remains unsettled. We start at Herstmonceux Castle, which has attractive grounds and gardens, then move on to Pevensey Castle, where Romans and Normans through the ages have set up fortifications. In the afternoon, after an alarming misting-up in the car during heavy rain, due to fiddling with the ventilation options, we visit Battle Abbey. As the weather clears, we end the day at Bateman's, the sometime home of Rudyard Kipling, fitted out in Arts and Crafts style and reminding me somewhat of Blackwell in the Lake District.

Wed 25th: Slightly awkward scheduling where pre-booking is still required means that we visit the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill first, where there's definitely a sea breeze. Then it's on to Charleston, where Vanessa Bell and others set up their Bohemian home for most of the twentieth century. There is some disagreement between Google Maps directions and the actualité, so we skip a church on the Firle estate and move on to Standen in the afternoon. It appears the owner made enough money as a lawyer during the Railway-mania era not only to build a country house, but also to go on a world tour and furnish it with several Japanese artefacts.

Thurs 26th: Heading a little further afield, we start at Bodiam Castle, then on to Great Dixter, and finally to Sissinghurst Castle. For once it is the Old People who have to be corrected by the guides on not touching the furniture. Kent is known as the "Garden of England" but today it seems more like the "Waiting Room of Heaven".

Fri 27th: Ironically, the weather has improved for our final day, when we're somewhat mopping up the things we haven't visited earlier in the week. We start out at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, which has a collection of Eric Ravilious works (some of which I recall from the exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery some years ago), and an interesting temporary exhibition featuring paintings of and by Eileen Mayo. Next it's Ditchling Museum, where the traffic proves to be excruciating (evidently due to a wedding in the nearby church), and the museum itself is rather small. We spend the afternoon in Arundel Castle before heading home into the evening.

Last Saturday, I ventured out to the garden centre. We had run very low on compost and I really wanted to get some more; it's one of those low-value things that are too bulky and expensive to order online for delivery. I arrived just after 9am and joined a distanced queue of three or four people. It was quite straightforward, though I noticed the queue was much longer when I left.

On Monday we went for a walk in the Aldermaston area. We encountered very few people on the paths away from the canal, but our return leg along the towpath was relatively busy.

Today I had the overdue car service. The garage had called last week to re-book, and I had to take the car in myself (usually it is collected). It took longer and was more expensive than I'd hoped, but that is normal for such things. The experience was a bit surreal, with distanced chairs and disposable coverings, and wiping down of the PIN pad on the card machine in-between transactions. At least it's done now. My impression today was that the roads were scarcely less busy than normal; evidently for some, life may be returning to near-normal. No-one has committed to a plan at work, but the indicative hints are that we will be working from home until at least September, and possibly until the end of the year.

Yesterday the delayed announcement of the curtailed Proms season was hardly a surprise. I think it's sensible to postpone making a final decision about the last two weeks of the season until nearer the time, but even if there are live concerts, it seems very unlikely there will be any audience. There's a rich archive, we'll just have to see what comes of it.