Returned yesterday from a short trip to Thorpeness in Suffolk. A remarkable place recommended to me by Barrie who is a good friend of Ogilvie the developer. I was told, and I don't know how true this is, that there were severe storms in 1910 which flooded land around Ogilvie's mansion. He had the idea of turning the flooded land into a lake, now called the Meare, and developing the land around as a holday village. The houses etc. are in a sort of Arts and Crafts, mock-Tudor style. Better than it sounds. Anyway we had a good weekend, staying with the Morrells. Weather excellent. Cold during the day but not a cloud in the sky. Frosty first thing. Good walking area and plenty of wildlife to see - otters, red deer, marsh harriers, more ducks than you could shake a stick at. Strolled along the beach to Aldeburgh which is a pretty little town about two miles distant. Good appetite from fresh sea air.
I have been reading in Wells' "The Outline of History". Fairly staggered by it. It is about the most useful thing of the kind ever done. And it is jolly well done. Full of imagination, and the facts assembled and handled in a masterly manner. My only fault to find is with the proof-reading, which is sloppy. Quite apart from various verbal inelegancies (which Wells is prone to, and I have told him so) there are positive mistakes which diminish the pleasure of reading for those pedants amongst us. I shake my head though. How the fellow did the book in the time fair passes me. I can't get over it. It's a life work.
No comments:
Post a Comment