home, circles, man

 Yes, I have photographed this window, and possibly even one of these pigeons twice before. For some reason I am often persuaded to stop beside the traffic lights at the top of Mount Pleasant and look up at the hulk of the abandoned cinema opposite the town hall in the heart of Tunbridge Wells (the site is still for sale by the way - anyone interested?) The attraction: broken windows, gaping shutters, fragments of former  human occupation, unofficial vegetation, signs of an extinguished fire, and of course pigeons, scruffy, bohemian pigeons camping out, you feel, in the wreck of a former pleasure palace.

At this time of year when schools have broken up for the summer holiday, teenagers gather in small circles in The Grove and Calverely Ground like petals in a corolla. I think of the Spanish word tertulia to describe an informal gathering of friends, when I see them, and it occurs to me that there can be few better things to do when young or old than sit in a circle and talk. I like the Irish expression, "the crack" which refers to conversation, fun and gossip. Hence "cracksome", jolly, amusing.

In The Pantiles I count  a party of nine woman sitting with drinks outside The Ragged Trousers, and one man. Dr Livingstone, I presume ...