I pulled one of my routine excuses out of the bag this morning, when I looked out of the window and saw yet more black, threatening clouds looming overhead. "I need to do the bottle recycling today" I declared to Alec, not telling him thet the recycling dump that I use just happens not to be the closest one, but one that is only five minutes walk from the Antiques Arcade in my much loved town of Hungerford.

My dear friend Liz has been having a tough time with endless buiding work going on in her house for the past year, so I knew that she would appreciate "helping me" at the dump, and a phonecall later, we were both on our way to Hungerford (where I also had to collect an item that had been reserved for me a week or so by one of the antique dealers there).

Well, recyclng doesn't take long, and collection of my item from the Arcade took us only another half an hour. It seemed silly not to make the best use of our time, so instead of returning home, we decided to take lunch out of the town centre, and found ourselves once more on the way to the next town of Marlborough - a place I have not visited for a couple of years, only to have now visited twice in one week.

On the road to Marlborough, we spotted an isolated building with the magical word "Antiques" outside, so naturally we were not able to pass without a visit. The establishment turned out to be Blanchards country showroom. Antique dealers to some of the illuminati of the world of International interior design, Liz and I wandered around holding our breath as we glimpsed the stunningly unusual items around each corner.

The interior of the showroom was like four enormous barns joined together, giving the feeling of a cavernous Italian Palazzo, and all through the vast space were arranged fabulous items of furniture as one would find in such a Palace. We were transported to Venice and Tuscany, to fondle gilt and mahogany, marble and stone. Acres of paintings, sculptures, carpets and cabinetry, grandiose chandeliers and exotic woods. We gazed, we absorbed, and we spent not a penny!

Next door, totally different premises - the showroom of the Oka furniture and accessories company. Very eastern influenced, with a pervasive atmosphere of sophistication and serenity. Total contrast to the exhuberent decorators antiques, but in it's own way also very beautiful.

Our Mystery tour finaly led us into Marlborough, where we walked alnog the river to an old Chapel that is now converted into an Antiques centre. Half an hours browsing there, and I was just about to leave, when I spotted three very rusty but suspiciously intriguing tin boxes on the floor, under a chair. My hunter's nose twitched, (the grimiest, dirtiest items always being the most enticing to me) and I opened them up. Inside were 150 glass Magic Lantern slides, black and white photographs of stages in a European Grand Tour of the early years of the last century - mostly Venice, Switzerland and Holland.

Dear readers, I COULD NOT AFFORD THEM! and battled with my conscience for at least thirty seconds before a second expert opinion of "don't be daft, you'll never see the like of those all together again" from Liz convinced me. Five minutes later, we were struggling back to the car with the tins, getting covered with rust and dirt, and with very silly but contented smiles on both our faces.

Since returning home, and looking at just one tin full of slides, I have discovered that many of them are actually hand coloured, and date not from the last century, but, from the dresses worn by the women in them, to about 1880/1890. The Magical Mystery Tour for the rest of my day will be to work slowly through the glass slides and see what other places and delights are shown upon them. I plan to use them to illustrate a reading of the 1906 diries that I have, written by two English ladies on their visit to Venice. What magic *that* should conjure up - watch this space for further plans!

Journal prompt. If you had a Magic Lantern, where would you like it to shine for you? Where would you like to visit through the lantern say, 125 years ago? The canals and churches of Venice? The artists quarter of Paris? New York? Bombay? Your own town? Go to your local library and ask to see the local collections of photographs of your own area. Acquire one or two copies ans write about what has changed past all recognition? What has stayed the same? How do you feel about the changes? What of beauty has been lost - but what has also been created?"