Hot on the heels of being taken out for dinner by my aunt Carolyn on Thursday night, the very next evening I was feeding (quite literally) off Lucy's generosity in Brighton. (Sentence framed this way to draw attention to the issue of card machine sexism!) Touring the Sussex campus, I was torn between loving the ability to walk around in a virtually car-free environment and never quite being able to escape the thought of The Village, which is common to all campuses. However, it was lovely to visit and see more of 'real' university life

The next day we went back to Brighton and visited a wonderful second-hand bookshop with plenty of old, old books. Naturally, I headed straight for the children's section and it was there that I made The Discovery: My Mates and I, by a Mrs. O.F. Walton and published by the Religious Tract Society. According to the British Library it was written in 1870 - although published later - and is by all accounts a terrible, terrible book... from the absurd title and woeful characterisations to the paper-thin plot which barely makes any effort to disguise its Jesus-leanings. I just had to buy it. And now, in what I anticipate will become an irregular feature, I would like to inaugurate the first in a new series: The Wit and Wisdom of My Mates and I.


Part 1: On The Temptation of a Noisy Game
Having received expert spiritual guidance at the house of old Mrs. Payne, the lads depart and soon find temptation... "just outside we met with a number of our companions, who were talking and laughing at the top of their voices, and who wanted us to join them in a noisy game. However, with Mrs. Payne's words ringing in our ears, Frank and I refused, and went quietly home; though I am sorry to say our two mates were over-persuaded, and left our company for theirs".