Old Boot one

A week or so ago to take lunch at the Boot in Histon, a public house which, according to reference1, has existed since at least 1765 and was recently made over by the Raymond Blanc organisation. A name I have heard of, although I didn't know on what account until I asked Bing, when I found that he is slumming it a bit in Histon. Although he would not be the first to discover that there is more money to be made out of ordinary folk than out of the luxury goods trade. In which matter reference 2 does not help.

Started out in the Tesco's next to Ely Station where we made the discovery that the rice cakes used by slimmers the world over come with all kinds of flavours, including Marmite. A reminder that slimming is a big business.

Into the train to take us to Cambridge North, where we happened to sit next to someone who told us he had just been released from prison. He may have been having a lark, but both he and his young lady looked well up for it. We told him about Marmite.

Out at the shiny new station at Cambridge North, complete with a small encampment of travellers a little way down the road, a toilet suite which was out of action and a mathematical puzzle by way of a fascia. I thought maybe something to do with cellular automata, perhaps a tribute to the Cambridge mathematician who invented one called life, one John Conway. Although it may be that he is disqualified first for not being a Trinity man (the Science Park around the station is on Trinity land) and second for being a brain drain and currently located in Princeton.

Onto the Boot, to which I shall return shortly.

Out to coffee in Cambridge where I made an interesting town planning discovery. In our part of Epsom, people building residential sheds in their back gardens is the big issue. In the centre of London, people building underground complexes under their houses is the big issue. While in Cambridge, some of the residential streets face one proper road but have another, improper road along the back, used for cars, dustbins and so on, not so unlike the mews of the fancy parts of London. Here, the big issue is building one and two storey residential garages, complicated by the drains running out back rather than out front.

I also had my first sight of a Köchel catalogue (of the works of Mozart), the eighth edition as it happens, a fact proudly proclaimed on the spine. A fat tome with more than 600 entries involving continuing controversy about how to deal with works discovered after the date sequential Köchel numbers had first been set. I also learned that Mozart was into lists as well as numbers, and made a start on the catalogue himself, in his own lifetime. Perhaps, had he lived now, he would have been another spreadsheet enthusiast.

Caught the Norwich train which dropped us back to Ely. Lots of locals on board, not like travelling south from Cambridge at all.

Reference 1: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol9/pp90-94. We used to live a little to the southwest of the quaintly names Intercommon Furlong.

Reference 1: https://www.raymondblanc.com/.

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