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We went to the “tankfest” at Bovington tank museum yesterday and watched some historic armoured stuff rumbling round the arena. At eighty tons this behemoth nicked named “the tortoise”, is the heaviest tank ever built.

Behind us sat an elderly man in a wheelchair. He was receiving quite a lot of attention so I asked a chap why and was told that Joe Ekins – his name – famously destroyed three German tanks in a single morning during WW2. He is regarded as a living legend.

Nice to see the scarlet coats of a group of Chelsea Pensioners at an occasion like this. I overheard a conversation between two blokes who were referring to one of these great characters “Where’s Alf ?” one asked – “he’s in the beer tent getting as much free ale down him as he can manage!” . Good for you old boy I thought, you deserve it.

Picked up a nice framed and glazed colour print of an engraving at Dorchester boot on Sunday. The border is annotated in pencil “Weymouth Bay engraved by J. Bluck from a J.W.Upham original – 1821”. If you know Weymouth you may wonder where the Nothe Fort has gone to. Well, it wasn’t completed until the 1870’s – quite a long time after this was painted. The picture is much nicer than my scan but yer’tis anyway.

I have just done a little googling on the artist and engraver and found that a gallery in London are offering similar plates for around £300. Investing in the purchase of this picture in the sum of one quid has left me with a deep feeling of contentment. In fact, the phrase"dog with two willies" springs to mind. Oh happy day.