Weeknote 131

The Proms and Jane Austen's house

• On Monday, returning south from my trip, I had my first experience aboard the new Hitachi trains now operating on the West Coast Main Line. Unlike the 20-year-old Pendolinos, they don’t tilt and are marginally slower at top speed—but they feel noticeably more spacious and accelerate impressively. Despite a late departure, we still arrived in London on time.
• The dog I’m looking after this month has been mostly well-behaved, though he made quite a scene during a weekend visit to Bagheera the cat—chasing her off with non-stop ferocious barking that thoroughly disgraced him.
• On Friday and Saturday, I treated my parents to a BBC Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall, followed by a visit to Jane Austen’s House in Hampshire. Both outings were delightful in the sunny, warm weather we’ve enjoyed so far this month—though I’m already somewhat dreading the return of another heatwave next week.
• I also managed to fit in a peaceful early morning ride around Richmond Park over the weekend with my cycling friend.