Boy on a train

Bank Holiday Monday, Heritage Railway... we ignored the bigger ones (Watercress, Didcot) and took our not-so-little-anymore train fan (yes, that's him) to Cholsey and Wallingford. This is my favourite sketch of the day.

I also drew the engines (it's kind of expected, if you're going to draw anything at a heritage railway - although my activity appeared to be quite novel to the volunteers I spoke to). This is Northern Gas Board No. 1:

Newbury Racecourse

...Station. Drawn while waiting for the steam train. Complete with soon-to-be-demolished, tallest-building-in-Newbury, derelict-and-dangerous, interesting-industrial-relict Sterling Cables.

Thatcham... from a couple of car parks

From Waitrose's car park
(Japanese calligraphy pen and blue gel pen)

From The Swan's car park
(Derwent Graphik Line Painters)

I had cause to be in Thatcham for just over an hour this afternoon. Not long, but long enough to buy some oddments from Waitrose, grab a free coffee and sketch the backs of some of the premises on the town's markeplace from the corner of the supermarket car park. (The view from my car was less than inspiring, so I stood outside and ignored the other shoppers almost as much as they ignored me).

And I had some time left over, so I drove to the outskirts and parked in a pub car park for ten minutes. I didn't dare go further out of town in case I got caught the wrong side of the level crossing; I had to be somewhere in Thatcham promptly! The canal was invisible, the hills nearly so; but there were plenty of trees and the footbridge over the railway mad an interesting focal point.