Updates and a Lego cathedral

Hello readers! Apologies for the recent lack of posts, but I have been very busy with work – not only of the “earn-money-to-stay-alive” variety, but of the “unpaid-but-career-imperative” variety. Thankfully, I’m still enjoying my somewhat quirky real-life job, but there can be no denying its erosional effect on my free time… I’m working on the fourth Highmoor book whenever I can, but for now, the blog posts have been put on the back burner. Hopefully, things will calm down by mid-July.

As for this week, I thought I would share a Lego model that I have been constructing very slowly over the last few months:

Some of you might recognise this iconic structure, but just in case you’ve never seen it in real life (or can’t see past the cubes), this is Durham Cathedral! Which (in my opinion) is the finest cathedral in the UK. Maybe even the finest in the world.

Even though I made this perfectly proportioned replica at micro-scale, it ended up bigger than I was expecting. This little model is almost 40 cm long! That’s slightly too big to fit on my desk, although it’s probably just small enough to squeeze onto my bookshelf.

I think I just about managed to capture the details of the cloisters and the towers, but unfortunately, much of the intricacy has been lost, especially in the smaller outbuildings. The cubic form has also ironed out the real-life misalignments of buildings and streets – but hopefully the higgledy-piggledy nature of this sprawling complex still comes across. Most of the buildings are incredibly old: the main body of the cathedral was built between 1093-1133, whereas the western towers were added in 1200, and the central tower was built in the 1400s.

I’m sorry for stating the obvious, but Durham Cathedral is an incredible building. I may be slightly obsessed with it. Thankfully, there’s no better way to get an obsession out of your system than to spend several hours (probably longer, who am I kidding) building an overly complicated Lego model.

In summary…

I aim to resume regular blog posting by mid-July, once I am alleviated of my other work commitments. I’m currently working on a review of Mary Shelley’s The Last Man, which I finished reading not too long ago, and I already have a couple of ideas for six-minute summaries later this summer. Happy reading, and have a lovely week!