Journal

News of the World photo: Tim fourth from left

Tessa accompanied Tim as he was driven across the country to RAF Duxford yesterday, for a photo-shoot, the results of which appear in today’s News of the World. An interview here. Among the delights we discussed this morning were a Catalina (one of my favourite aircraft) and a Mustang (which he flew in WWII), plus he was able to scramble into the Spitfire (ditto), though with a bit more effort than would have been the case 70 years ago.

Tim, looking a little cold Tessa and Tim

Banc-de-pois

Came across the work of sculptor Edouard Martinet today, while reading the latest UK edition of Wired magazine. Wrote to him immediately. The pieces are made of all sorts of everyday debris, from car-lights and wheel-spokes to old typewriters. If only all our junk could find such happy afterlives.

Some people get their kicks out of driving 4x4s up country lanes, but I prefer 2x2s. My latest matrix, which I’m using to think my way through what Volans should be doing over the next 5-10 years, appears in an essay that McKinsey have just posted on their ‘What Matters’ platform, here. Part of a series published ahead of the upcoming Skoll World Forum.

They are intended to go out in a day-by-series shortly, but Fast Company has already internally posted the 7-blog series I have written this past week with Charmian (Love). This is my first effort towards getting our thinking sorted on how the social innovation and wider sustainability agendas intersect with the C-Suite world.

Cliveden clock tower Secret Garden Clock tower 2 War Memorial gargoyle Head Stairway to the Thames Boats 1 Boats 2 Boats 3 Facade Mistletoe

Fountain, detail 1 Fountain, detail 2

We dropped in at Cliveden – which neither of us had visited before – on the way home this afternoon, had lunch in The Orangery, then walked down to the Thames, where I was looking for boats for Caroline to paint. Not even the slightest whiff of scandal these days, which was slightly sad. The Profumo Affair was one of those pivotal moments in generational politics, but my main memory, as a schoolboy, was being fascinated by the sex. Industrial quantities of mistletoe festoon the ride of trees that run from the main house to the Fountain of Love, which seemed vaguely appropriate.

One thing that caught my eye, on the Duke’s Lawn, was the date 1668, marked in the lawn. The duelling sword included in the design was the clue to the story. That year, the Duke of Buckingham, who was building Cliveden at the time, fought a duel at Barn Elms (a stone’s throw from where we live) with his mistress’ husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury – who got the worse of both ends of the Duke, who killed him.