I am a very novice member of a UK doll collectors forum on-line, and recently discovered that another member lives only half an hours drive away from me. I got in touch and we agreed to meet one afternoon for tea at "The Polly Tea Rooms", a very popular venue in the old market town of Marlborough in Wiltshire. The tea rooms are, according to one of the magazines given with our Sunday broadsheet papers, one of the "Fifty Best Places to Take Tea in Britain". (Who decides such accolades, I will never know).

After a wickedly indulgent cream tea, Margaret told me that she lived but a little way from the centre of town and invited me back to her house to see her own collection of dolls. When I asked her how many she had, she just said "a lot" and left it at that. It was only when I arrived at her home that I discovered what "a lot" can really mean. Oh, my goodness! I have told her since that entering her home was like stepping into the Land of Make Believe - nothing prepared me for the fantasy land that lay within.

Her home itself is a most intriguing, ancient house (apparently there has been a buiding there since the 12th century, with the present house dating from the 1500's) and it is filled, brim full, with all manner of fascinating items, chief of which are her doll and dolls house collections. I felt like a little girl let loose in paradise.

An account of Margaret's collections would easily fill a one hour film documentary - my photographs camn give only a glimpse of the delights that I enjoyed there. But I would ask you to note one thing if nothing else - look at the delight and love with which Margaret's pride and joy, one of her most beautiful dolls is held. This is no mere collector, this is a lady who has a love and a passion for her subject, a passion and a knowledge for which, I might add, she shared with me most knowlegeably and generously this afternoon.

Journal prompt. Do you know a man, woman or child with a passion? someone who is not just academically interested, but truly in love with the objects of their desires or the less tangible pursuits of their hearts? How do they exhibit it? What can you learn from them? Are YOU the person with the passion? If so, how does it feel, and how do you share it with others?