The hottest place on earth

Well, that's what the pundits said but I imagine there are places that are hotter still. We had 45C on Campus today and although one can't photograph temperature, I hope that you can feel the heat coming off this photo of Campion College today. It's quiet at present - we're in the middle of the summer holiday season - and the Campus is bestilled by the heat. Thank goodness for the airconditioning which changes life so much at these temperatures.

Today, being my birthday, I remember, as I always do on this day, the judicial murder of Mary Queen of Scots, which took place on this day in 1586; an event which changed the course of history and helped especially to lay the foundations for the myth of England which the whole world has had to breath since then - about an ethos and a way of looking at things which claims a certain superiority. A couple of years ago I was out and about in deeply rural Lincolnshire and walked into the ancient village church of Glentworth. There I encountered the tomb of Sir Christopher Wray (pictured), the judge who had prepared the death warrant of the Catholic Queen of Scotland. I'm not pointing a fingure at him particularly - it was the decision of Elizabeth I to execute Mary. I was surprised however on that day to discover this remnant of history tucked away in Lincolnshire, but I am not surprised that the "Elizabethan Settlement" is taking such a long time to disintegrate.