Unfortunately

"Meaning is not in things but inbetween them. You unfortunately don't have a free will."

Graffiti on the Lady Julian Bridge over the River Wensum, Norwich, named after Norwich's famed fourteenth century mystic.

Just Jump: Life Buoy by the River Wensum

One life buoy, two, ah, creative forces. On the front, poetry: the line "Sheltered with red sex & the scale of moonshine lips" made me think of Bukowski. The American spelling of 'favour' made me wonder whether the author is a visiting international student over at the UEA's creative writing department.

On the back, however, an approach much closer to my black heart: as well as the inherent dark irony of the words being scrawled across something intended to preserve life, the sheer no-nonsense minimalist bleakness of them are far more powerful: "Just jump. Nobody cares."

Friars Quay, Norwich, by the River Wensum.

Bicycles and Laundry: Derelict Cottage, Hellesdon

A semi-detached cottage in the Wensum Valley, between Hellesdon and Drayton. In pretty good condition, considering, although the overgrown garden suggests it may have been empty for a little while.

Urban Fisherman

Take the 'A' Train

The 'A' Frame bridge no. 249, crossing the River Wensum just outside Hellesdon. It was once part of the long-defunct Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway line, which closed in 1959. This strip of the former M&GN line is now a lonog-distance footpath and cycle route known as the Marriott's Way (itself named after William Marriott, the former chief engineer and manager of the M&GN).

Apparently no. 249 was one of only three 'A' framed bridges on the whole of the line, and is only a few hundred yards from the site of the demolished Hellesdon Station.