Category Archives: Postcards 2023

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It was a hot drive into London today

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Today felt warm, and then hot almost as soon as the thin morning cloud lifted. Driving into London in the afternoon felt hotter still, and it was – 31°C on the outskirts, and the air still as the sun. Around Trafalagar Square the pavements were full of shorts and flip-flops, and tourists melting their way around the sights, one or two wobbling into the road like bambis on their Lime Bikes.

It is only now, after midnight, that the temperature feels a properly pleasant 21°C. The moon, dusted orange with Sahara dust, is hanging on its side above the city, and the hot dog cart is still doing business outside the station where our train came in at the end of an evening with friends. From the station we wandered up the street to see the Smithfield Meat Market with its bright lights and white vehicles loading and delivering. Witnessing the traders at their work felt a little like stepping into a slow motion time warp, especially knowing that their move out of the area will happen in the next few years.

Their absence will change this slice of London.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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A late night thought about concrete

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The news in England over the last few days has had a lot of concrete in it. And accusations. The problem seems to be around the possibility of concrete failing, particularly in schools of a certain age, built with a type of concrete known as RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete).

Since all the chat I’ve been looking at concrete with deep suspicion, and no knowledge at all to back me up. However, I am a little more confident when it comes to words, and I’m wondering if it is time for certain expressions to be levered out of our daily use in the same way as RAAC.

The word concrete, like the building material, has got everywhere – in English at least. For instance, there is “set in concrete” and “concrete decision”, and in pyschology terms such as “concrete thinking” and “concrete emotion”. Have these also become a bit wobbly? Do we avoid them? Or should we just put on our hard hats, and muddle on through our concrete jungle?

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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A little heatwave and a little bird

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Here in England, the seasons should be changing, heat giving way to damp autumn. This year, in the south of the country, the normal weather track to Christmas has been diverted via a September heatwave. Lovely if you like the sun, but a little confusing even for us.

I wonder how it feels to the house martins? I imagine that by now their mud nests under the eaves are unusually hot and crowded, and possibly a little crumbly. Will this sudden heat muddle their timings? Delay their departures? Is it the heat or the hours of sunlight that tells them when to leave? Do the young birds know the route they will take? How far must they travel?

It is almost impossible to imagine that these small birds, bombing across our September skies, will make it all the way to Africa. And yet they do or, at least, so far they have.

I hope this year will be no different. That they will find all the insects they require to gather their strength for the long journey south, and that they’ll find enough of what they need to bring them all the way back.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023