Home at last. And, really, I had it easy. The tv pictures of the stranded thousands at Frankfurt airport, a few kilometres from my hotel, were heart-breaking. Families with young kiddies; the old and infirm; the once-a-year travellers, desperate to get to a wedding, a celebration, an anniversary. They all told their stories and I listened with a heavy heart. We managed to book pretty much the last seat on a Eurostar for Monday, and I arrived at Ebbsfleet last night, after moving on to Brussels for a night and a couple of days.

I remember now, sitting at breakfast at London City airport on Thursday morning (April 15^th), and the breaking news of the volcano eruption and the disruption to Scotland’s airports was playing out on a tv set. Could not have guessed how serious it would all become. Have heard and read letters from those seeing the positive side to all this: birdsong in the garden; clear, noiseless skies overhead etc. etc. But if you live under a flight-path, what can you expect, as a rule? And it seems less than Christian to cheer this act of nature, when so many have suffered seriously. Those in transit, squatting at airports, in no-mans-land are the ones we should concern ourselves with. They can’t see any end to it. Over-reaction by the weather people to suggest complete air-space closure? Well, I can tell you I wouldn’t want to be up there knowing what we do about that ash and how it works like a sand-blasting machine on the aircraft body and engine parts.

Home in time to catch the Jools Holland Radio 2 show. Played a few “Stranger Comes To Town” tracks. So now the baby has been handed over.....It was all mine until then. Now it’s in others’ hands and the real worries begin!

We will play most of it on tour. All tracks have been recorded for Live play, so maybe 5 or 6 each night, juggling them around?