Another room with a view

A couple of days ago I captured the scene from our new Cheltenham office.

Well, during the only 30 seconds' break I managed from a red hot phone and ice cold 'in'-basket on my computer, I captured the view from our Bristol office - where I spend most of my time.

And it's possibly not what you might have expected. This is the church of St Philip and St Jacob - or to use their ghastly nickname, Pip 'n' Jay - which apparently is the oldest centre of Christian worship in the Bristol area. The church's chancel stands on the site of a chapel belonging to a small Benedictine priory, which stood there in 900.

I could have done with visiting it today for heartfelt prayer, so slow and stuttering was the 'progress' we were making. But the trials and tribulations of life in a newspaper office are not worth recounting here.

Anyway, when we finally managed to get the paper away - seriously over deadline - it was back to the flat (via Smiths to buy the 'man c' mag) and an hour's recovery before Mrs Dailykeith and I were off in the car to our 'real' home in Gloucestershire.

I was expecting to find it in a state, with no washing up done, floor strewn with litter and discarded clothes and with rancid milk bottles everywhere, but far from it - our offspring had been very civilised.

I celebrated by watching my first TV programme for a week - my favourite show, Grand Designs. That Kevin McCloud is such an intelligent presenter and he gave us a fascinating tale of the conversion of a nationally important guildhall into a home.

Hurrah for mature buildings, mature kids and mature television.