My train journey to Suffolk on Wednesday morning was a conspicuous success. Hitherto I took the tube to overcrowded Liverpool Street and caught the train. This time I did it differently.
My friends advised going to Tottenham Hale. It is a Top Tip. It is on the Victoria Line but I took Pickers to Finsbury Park and changed to Victoria for two stops. The interchange is ridiculously simple; you only need to walk across the platform, unlike Green Park which is a long walk through a tunnel. Then, another innovation: I downloaded my ticket to my ‘phone and scanned it at the barrier. So you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Ironically, as I become increasingly paperless, the same friends have persuaded me to buy a Bluetooth black and white printer on Black Friday. My plan to make room for it is to throw away all the defunct tablets, computers and one iPad that are cluttering the study. But how to dispose of them? My head of IT (Robert) recommends emersing them in the kitchen sink before throwing them in the bin. Perhaps I should then put them in the freezer to be on the safe side?
I am in Newmarket to visit the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art – what a mouthful. It was opened in November last year by the Queen. The permanent art collection is housed in Palace House, what remains of a palace built at the beginning of the 17th century by James I and that remained a royal palace until the mid 19th century. There is a plethora of equestrian art by Munnings, Stubbs, Herring, et al as well as fine pictures by lesser known artists. You can see too many horses and it came as a relief to find a portrait of Mrs Hone fishing by William Orpen and a John Singer Sargent of Mrs Ormond, also fishing. The latter is on loan from the Tate.
There is a lot to see and do and it would be easy to spend two or three hours making a thorough tour. I was encouraged to have a go on a racehorse simulator but declined. This winter there is a special exhibition of pictures by Munnings on loan from the Munnings Art Museum in Dedham – an added reason to pay a visit.