…yes, we were caught out at home by the hour going forward. It seemed such a good idea (to me) at the moment of decision two nights before – why not arrange for the groceries to be delivered at 08.00 on Sunday morning? I had overlooked the fact that as British Summer Time commenced in the early hours of Sunday, 08.00 was actually 07.00 and so that terrible knock on the door at 07.01 caused chaos and confusion. I was dispatched downstairs in a dishevelled mess to take in the bags, and the delivery man from Waitrose was very understanding when he was greeted by a confused householder who clearly had been awake for no more than 45 seconds…!
The change of the clocks which still seems as nonsensical to me now as it did as a child in the 1970’s had done me again, and it took some time for my personal stability to be regained. I do however see and appreciate some of the benefits these days as the evenings lighten and, with some sunshine and warmth tipped into the mix suddenly spring seems to be turbocharged. That’s certainly the case now; on early morning cycle rides round Bentley Woods to the East of Salisbury I am met with a wall of bird song and the woodland carpet surrounds the tracks with the lurid green promise of bluebells to follow. It’s a lovely time of year, provided of course that the rain will let up a bit.
Time will surely race by now into the summer, and having made my recent decision to retire from Bishop’s at the end of the next academic year (August 2024) I found my mind turning back the time to when we first arrived in Salisbury some 25 years back. Memory suggests that things were different then in many ways; physically the school was smaller, much more dilapidated, inward-looking and a little insecure. That’s all changed of course creating a new constancy to add to the enduring character of BWS. There will always be things to do, battles to fight and win and opportunities to grasp, as the Book of Ecclesiastes tells us in poetical form. I was struck by the analogy used by Rev. Rob Marshall in Radio 4’s ‘Thought for the Day’ on Saturday morning, where he compared time to an ever-rolling stream; We have to go with the flow he said, and I guess that it will ever be thus. I suspect that over the next 18 months the speed of the water will probably quicken for me…
In the meantime the shopping is now put away and I have made a pot of tea. Normal service has been resumed after the 07.01 dramas; let’s see what time brings in the final week of this term.
SDS
