Raceweek

Cheltenham High Street is, as ever, filled with strangers this (race)week.  Not just from Ireland, but also from Scotland - this piper was blowing for Help for Heroes - and who knows where else?

Though the dafodills have not obliged, the sun is shining, some of the potholes have been filled in, and Cheltenham is ready for the tills to ring. Extra masses have even been laid on for St Patrick's Day.

When Cheltenham was a more remote destination, I remember making for it myself, in the hope of supplementing my pocket money. But living on the doorstep I don't feel in the least drawn up towards the course: it was the same with Shakespeare's Birthplace, when we lived near Stratford-on-Avon.