Bury St Edmunds

I spent an hour in Bury St Edmunds recently, on a warm autumn day, and was hugely impressed by the place - and by my own ignorance of it. I had no idea that its ruined Priory was once the 4th largest Benedictine monastic building in Europe - a mighty edifice that would have dwarfed what is now the cathedral and was once a mere chapel to the Priory. I also had no idea that the cathedral has a brand new tower, finished in 2005 and soaring impressively high above the otherwise modest building. It is good to know that we are still capable of doing such things, illogical perhaps when there are so many demands on our money and enthusiasms, but inspiring.

Bureaucracy V Humanity

I always delight in unexpected touches of humanity or conviviality. Train conductors, when they let slip their official masks, can put smiles on the faces of the most hardened travellers. I chatted to an especially cheerful conductor recently, and wondered why he had to stick so tediously to the company script when making his announcements. He explained: a colleague had got into trouble for doing just that. His crime was to refer in teasing terms to the train in front which was holding them up. A rail company director was on board and took offence. The poor conductor, who had probably cheered the whole train up and averted the likelihood of complaints about the delay, was moved to another job – saved from the sack by the union. Thus bureaucracy and caution conspire to keep unexpected dashes of colour out of our lives.