I was recently sent this picture (a strange portent of things to come!) by my old friend Les Leszczynski. It was taken early in the first half of 1973 in my final year at UEA in Norwich. Les came to see me and we hooked up with his other friend from London, Dana Klimowska (left), and her housemate, who were also studying there. We spent an evening humouring Les, the budding photographer. The picture of me with the pipe was also taken then.

Les's love of embarrassing photographs has not waned, as this more recent one taken while I was with him and his family in Paris. Also in the photo (left to right) Iza, Ewa and Lykke.

On the way back I noticed that St Nicholas Street was almost deserted, leaving poor old Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (of Henry VIII fame) looking very lonely. For those who don't know, this statue of him, seated with one of his cats (he was a great cat-lover) was erected very near to the place where he was born. Some of the buildings that would have been familiar to him are still there, indeed the one on the corner pictured here was once thought to be his family's home, but now we know he lived opposite in a house that no longer exists. It is not widely known that Cardinal Wolsey had ideas about education that were ahead of his time, and said that it should be an enjoyable experience. This idea had still not been implemented when I was at school...