Don’t know about you, but I tend to find major river confluences a bit of a disappointment. In Lyon, though, we got to see the Rhône meet the Saône and, well, chapeau, les fleuves! Rhône on left, Saône on right. Not sure about the train tracks, but I think that motorbike’s got serious SatNav issues.

Despite being of good Bethnal Green stock, I’d not come across the novel Bethnal Green till I saw it in that Mick Jones exhibition the other week. Going by the blurb, it's set in a post-war East End my parents would’ve known all too well in their courting days – it could almost be their story. [1/2]

Having accidentally acquired a groundhog from a bloke in a pub (look, I thought it was a big guinea pig, OK?), I seem to be permanently trapped in last Monday, forced to either listen to @brianbilston.bsky.social and The Catenary Wires in session on 6 Music over and over again [1/3]

Man sidles out of Mary's Cafe on Camberwell Road as we're passing at 9.30 this morning. "Want a few bits of salmon?" he mutters. Well, sir, no. I don't think I do. #Camberwell #Walworth

And the third Sarah-related release is… A Life In Numbers, the beautiful new album by Blueboy, with Gemma now on lyrics and on vocals that slip in the flicker of an eyelid from note-perfect confidence to something more vulnerable, fragile and raw, while Paul’s guitars [1/3]

I know it should be really easy, given what he went on to do, but for some reason I can never remember whether Robert Redford played the Sundance Kid or whether he played Butch Festival.

“Swallowing lies as history repeats. Not a single care for those they put at risk…” Songs with lyrics provoked by the state of the world always run the risk of being left to sound irrelevant or foolish by the time-lag between composition and release; sadly, pretty much the opposite is true in [1/3]

Stopped off in Mile End on our way to see the O’s on Saturday to visit the Rock & Roll Public Library, the personal pop culture archive of Mick Jones from the Clash, bits of which he occasionally lets the public have a nose round. Posters, fanzines, records, books, magazines, [1/2]

Not sure why but, no matter what the result, whenever I leave Brisbane Road at 5pm I always have an inexplicable urge to buy some bricks. Bit wet today. #leytonorient #lofc

Back in 1989, having a band itching to do an album was a tad awkward for a 7”-only label like Sarah. But losing that band to someone else would’ve been unbearable, so… we compromised: we’d do our first LP, just as long as it didn’t measure more than 10” across or contain more than 8 songs. [1/4]

Last Friday, the Great Orrery of Indiepop produced one of its more unlikely syzygies when no less than THREE records with Sarah connections ( #TheFieldMice, #TheOrchids, #Blueboy ) were released simultaneously (and quite coincidentally). [1/3]

Well, that didn’t go well. Hopefully no Northampton fans will be joining us in the pub. Though, as Chas & Dave once almost sang… I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care if they come round here, I’ve got my beer and my @leytonorientear.bsky.social, got it all sorted out in the Engineer. #lofc

Not sure there’s much I can add to what Clare says, but… if you’ll forgive a little self-indulgence, here are the ads we took out in NME and Melody Maker at the time. The paper’s yellowed a bit over the years, but… the words still seem to say what we meant them to say.

Just thinking again about this post from Sunday, I should probably make clear that, to the best of my knowledge, Elton John has never dug up a dead dog. Also, if he *were* ever inclined to do such a thing, I’m sure he wouldn’t do it in Pinner. Way too obvious.

Yes, download this for less than the price you could’ve refused to pay for a 12” single in 1987! Sound/visuals are stunning, by the way, so don’t let the thought of “live recordings” put you off – this is not Alive In The Living Room. Even though Phil from @thejunebrides.bsky.social was on that too.

The thing to remember about the U2, of course is that it doesn’t run on Sunday bloody Sundays. Thank you. I’m here all week. Try the fish. #uxbridge #Hillingdon

Our lovely twelve-mile riverside walk (see earlier) appears to have been spoilt by someone deciding to build a high-speed railway line in Ickenham rather than, say, from Liverpool to Hull via Bradford. Also, has anyone round here seen a low bridge? #Ruislip #Ickenham #CelandineRoute

Pinner's most historic car wash. #pinner

How better to start a lovely 12-mile walk through north-west London along the River Pinn than by paying respects at the small dog cemetery in Pinner Memorial Park? I’m sure the young Elton John often came here in search of musical inspiration. Or to bury a dog. Or dig one up. #Pinner #CelandineRoute

Sometime back in 1991, our friend Paul sent us a copy of an enigmatic 7” he’d found in a second-hand shop in Manchester and bought because he'd liked the words on the sleeve. The song, You Don’t Want A Boyfriend, seemed to be by a band called Brian, and we thought it was utterly magical, [1/4]

As a Leyton Orient supporter, I tend to pity fans of all the Uniteds, Cities and Albions out there – teams with off-the-peg names as undistinctive, I’m sure, as their football. At the same time, I’m always uneasily aware that deep in the Pyramid’s murkier depths swim teams who’d no doubt think [1/4]

Ever since it was unveiled, there’s been something naggingly familiar about Orient’s retina-bothering 25/26 season third strip, and… I’ve just twigged what it is: bizarrely, the inspiration seems to be the Field Mice’s dandelion-tastic 91/92 For Keeps tour T-shirt. #SarahRecords #TheFieldMice #lofc

Instead of the view of a mostly empty East Stand and some grim-looking people from Stockport you were probably expecting, here's a photo of some baby coots on the Hertford Union Canal - we passed them on the walk here. I'm hoping they're a metaphor. Not sure for what yet.

I’ve just realised that I completely forgot to post a photo of the toilet-roll holder in our hotel room in Taunton last NO, WAIT, COME BACK! – we were in the old station hotel, and it’s an actual Great Western Railway toilet-roll holder… see? And this is the coat hook. [1/2]

People kept telling us there was nothing to see in Taunton, but it’s simply not true: there are these two rocks. The one on the left is 251 million years old and the one on the right is 180 million years old. Makes you think, doesn’t it? At night, they light them up.

The wyverns are dancing and all is well with the world. (Orient 2 Wigan 0). #LeytonOrient

So, after making it through four days in Taunton with all marbles still present and correct, the ultimate test of mental endurance: ninety minutes in the West Stand watching Orient fail to beat Wigan. Sigh. It all begins again. This is East London. Come on you O's. #leytonorient #lofc

Taunton, Day Four. So I found this sword stuck in a rock behind the Museum of Somerset, pulled it out, and now it seems I'm king of England. Which is embarrassing.

Not having lived in the West Country for a while, I'd forgotten the joys of a small pub where the wall behind the bar is composed of a (literally) dizzying array of local ciders in boxes with taps on. This is The Plough on Station Road in Taunton. And THAT lovely thing is a pint of perry.

(Still Taunton, still Day Three.) Ah, Somerset street food, I remember it well from my Bristol days... you can't beat a nice hunk of badger poached in scrumpy oh, wait, I'm getting "street food" muddled with road-kill again.

Taunton, Day Three. Chapeau, Ms Armour Trading!

Taunton, Day Two

Taunton, Day One. "Go and see Mr Taunton," they said, "he'll see you right." "Don't be silly," I said, "there's no such person as Mr... oh ."

Everyone finds their own path to enlightenment. Some use self-denial and meditation, emptying their heads of workaday clutter to leave space for deeper, more spiritual truths. And some hole up in caves, shunning temporal affairs and communing only with the mystical. [1/4]

Burgess Park earlier today. I think something might be going on. People laughed at me when I bought that 30-foot selfie stick. #BurgessPark #Camberwell #SE5 #SE17

Most Bristolians will recognise this (fig. 1) as the Ashton Avenue Bridge, scene of many a fraught spy-swap between Gloucestershire and Somerset during the 50s and 60s when the Cider War was at its most tense. More relevant here, though, is the fact that the bridge is now used by buses from [1/5]

Just had a recce of our new Sainsbury’s Local on Walworth Road and, beyond the chilly cabinets of pre-assembled lunch pots, microwaveable sachets and film-wrapped trays of already-mashed potato, found a small section headed “food for later”. Or “shopping”, as we used to say. #Camberwell #Walworth

I guess they just got fed up with people constantly asking them what it was.

That poor cyclist…

Noooooooo!!! What unholy abomination is this, Camberwell? I mean, don’t get me wrong, the Full English is not immutable – that’s part of the joy. Sometimes there will be bubble, sometimes not. Sometimes there will be hash browns, sometimes not. Often, in this more refined age, [1/2]

Just to say that I was wrong last week when I said that Review in Peckham had copies of my Deptford book, as it turned out they'd actually sold out. But I've just popped over on the 171 and given them some more, so... we can all stop worrying. #Deptford www.reviewbookshop.co.uk

Sigh. They grow up so fast these days. Even faster, in fact, as I actually took this second photo last week, and keep forgetting to post it. #BurgessPark #Camberwell #SE5 #SE17Fam

A big thank you to Rob and @heavenlyamelia.bsky.social and all others involved in making the @skepwax.bsky.social Weekender a truly special few days. Highlights? Oh, yes, definitely. Loads of those. Also, we bought ourselves a Heavenly tote bag (fig. 1), which means we can now take our [1/2]

Indeed. First time I’ve seen the Orchids do no Sarah songs at all, but why wallow in nostalgia when you can make I Never Thought I Was Clever (off the Dreaming Kind album on @skepwax.bsky.social) even more meltingly magical by adding some trumpet… I wouldn’t have wanted to miss that for the world…

Taking off my musical hat and donning my literary London one – I have so many hats, it’s no wonder people often point at me and shout “hatstand!” – here’s a box of freshly-reprinted Deptford books; if you’d like one, either pop over to The Word bookshop in New Cross, [1/3]

Re the wager in yesterday’s post about the @skepwax.bsky.social Weekender, a few people have told me to put my penguin where my mouth is, so… this is for them. #HowManyPeoplePrecisely?

Wondering what all the cool kids are going to be doing this coming weekend? Then why not head on down to the @skepwax.bsky.social Weekender in Islington (ticket link below) – I’m sure either John or Nick on the merch stall will know. [1/2]

Re my last post: OK, I’m an idiot. Gromit did NOT die in the 2005 fire at the Lysaght works; in fact, he had a new film out last year. And the “celebration of his life” was Gromit Unleashed, a charity art trail for the Bristol Children’s Hospital. Sorry. [1/2] www.grandappeal.org.uk/sculptures/

Just tidying up some loose ends from my trip back to Bristol, starting with this photo of the former Lysaght galvanising workshop on Silverthorne Lane. After the galvanising had stopped the building was taken over by Aardman, who remained there until a catastrophic fire in 2005 reduced it to [1/5]

Bristol is famous for its suspension bridge. #GaolFerryBridge #Sarah530