I can remember my college days when I’d spend the day drinking in the pub down the road from where I was supposed to be studying. We’d discuss music, bands, the best way to play a minor ninth on the guitar, English, poetry and jazz.

Looking back now they always seemed sunny days. People would drift in and stay : college staff would come down and hold court with those who would listen. In effect it was an extension of the campus but with drink as a leveller between staff and student.

I rarely go to a pub now. They seem too loud and full of smoke. Today, however, I was taken out for a days drinking. It wasn’t supposed to be that but with time slipping by and after walking one end of Oxford to another we found a small empty Irish bar to take a late Guinness for St. Patrick’s day and make roll ups.

The rugby was a great game to watch. The company excellent and for a while I was back in my college days, until the shock of travelling back on the train.

In lots of ways I need to move on in my life but today was a pleasant trip back to a time when I was happy.