Here's my contribution to Hallowe'en. I enjoyed taking the photos as much as I did carving the pumpkin. The best bit's turning off the lights once the candle's lit, to see the full effect. I read somewhere that the tradition came from Ireland, where people used to carve turnips for Hallowe'en. With the discovery of the New World, the Irish emigrants continued the tradition, but the pumpkin topped the turnip for Hallowe'en for ease of carving. Understandably really — somehow turnips as jack-o'-lanterns don't possess the same dramatic quality.

I've just got back from Lynmouth, a small village in Exmoor, on the north Devon coast. In August 1952 the village suffered a catastrophic flood (two rivers flow down off the moor to meet in the village), with buildings washed away and 34 people killed. One particularly grisly detail was the little boy's body found in the butcher's shop after the waters had subsided. This was a terrible event, and commemorated in a superb model in the village's memorial hall, showing how Lynmouth looked before the flood, built by a local man. I particularly like the way he's managed to depict the turbulent waters of the rapidly rising river. Elsewhere in the village there was a handsome model commemorating a dramatic episode in 1899, involving the village's lifeboat. And then there was the model railway housed in an old shop . . .

I noticed this vehicle one morning earlier this year, near where I live in London. I'd walked past and then thought, 'Hang on a minute . . .' and had to walk back to check. I saw it several more times over the next few months, parked in the same spot, but sadly never saw the driver or passengers. I like to think of them as thin, slightly vague people, not given to any sudden movement or much conversation, but with a general air of amiability.

After last week's post I've been thinking about school days. I started playing around with some old illustrations, and this one came together, as a kind of summary of my experience of school at the time. Still working on the commission, which is nearing completion, phew! So back to work . . .