De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

So yesterday, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, put forward three proposals to increase airport capacity including a four-runway hub on an artificial island in the Thames Estuary, previously dubbed Boris Island. He also proposed a hub on the Isle of Grain in Kent or expanding Stansted Airport. Today Heathrow Airport has unveiled three options for a new runway, saying each one would be "quicker and cheaper" than plans for a rival hub airport. I think Boris' plans are just what the country needs and would throw my weight behind it whole-heartedly. I think one of the biggest problem with Heathrow has always been road infrastructure. It is very risky travelling to Heathrow on the busiest stretch of the M25, which is often congested. Everyone I know builds in extra time for delays whenever they fly from Heathrow, and even then the pitiful tales of missed flights due to traffic jams are plentiful. By contrast, the Isle of Grain has the necessary transport links large...

Hadleigh Castle, The Mouth of the Thames - Morning After a Stormy Night'  by John Constable, 1829 In this picture you can see the piece of wall running along on the left and the tower on which Constable stood to do his painting on the right. There would have been more of it in his time. This weekend was the first couple of days this year I actually felt a bit summery. It has been the wettest June since records began, and although we did enjoy a bit of a dry spell way back in April/May, it didn’t have that real summer warmth that makes you smile. This was the first weekend I sat out in the garden and read for a bit, the first time I wanted to wear shorts and Birkenstocks. We had the junior school summer fete and I even came away with a bit of colour! On Sunday evening, William and I visited Two-Tree Island to take Harry our Border Terrier puppy, out for a wander. Looking up the hill towards Benfleet, Hadleigh Castle stands prominent a majestic relic of bygone glo...