Tomorrow I’m off to meet some friends for an overnight in
Reading, home of Reading Gaol, which acquired fame from Oscar Wilde’s long poem
The Ballad of Reading Gaol. He wrote the poem in France following a two year term
served in the prison as his punishment for loving men. I’ll make a point of seeing
the gaol and walking down the path beside it to the River Thames and the words “Oh,
beautiful world” on a sign, because these are claimed to be what Wilde said
there after his release.
The path is called Chestnut Walk because of the trees that
line it. You can see their shadows on the high buttressed walls of the prison
in the photo, which is by Andrew Smith
No other writing for me today – I proofed an article that I had to send
off first thing, and spent the rest of the morning preparing a fish pie for
tonight, and a curry for the lads to eat tomorrow when I’m not here. Jade will
be taken care of over the weekend by my long suffering hubby, who is always
invited on my jaunts with friends, but for some reason never accepts. Perhaps
he thinks we should spend some time apart as absence makes the heart grow
fonder.
Original Articles. Constant-Content.
4 comments:
For a minute I thought that was "reading" as in "reading books"! I used to go to school in Reading but never thought of the jail, and nobody ever told us about it. I suppose they thought we shouldn't be considering Oscar Wilde, as "sweet" little schoolgirls!
Have a great time, it sounds like much fun. And, that is an amazing photo, well done.
Jenny
There will be more on Reading and reading in another post. While travelling I was reading an unusual novel about Guernsey and by a wonderful coincidence fictional letters from Oscar Wilde featured in it.
Jo - it was indeed great fun. I'll be writing more about it.
Post a Comment