Senate House, London

Back in the UK, after cruising overnight from Antwerp to Tilbury.

However, before heading back to Edinburgh on the train in the afternoon, we had the opportunity to wander round London in the lovely autumn sunshine. It was such a beautiful day and quite warm too, which was nice.

Anyway, here is Senate House, which is the administrative headquarters for the University of London.

The Art Deco building was constructed between 1932 and 1937 as the first phase of a large uncompleted scheme designed for the University by Charles Holden. It consists of 19 floors and is 210 feet (64 m) high.

During the Second World War, the building's use by the Ministry of Information inspired two noted English writers. Graham Greene's novel The Ministry of Fear (1943) and its film adaptation Ministry of Fear by Fritz Lang (1944) set in Bloomsbury. George Orwell's wife Eileen worked in Senate House for the Censorship Department of the Ministry of Information, and her experiences inspired the description of the Ministry of Truth in Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Evelyn Waugh, in Put Out More Flags, describes it as "the vast bulk of London University insulting the autumnal sky”. I’ll leave that one up to you, but I rather like it, but then again, I love Art Deco.

It’s the weekend now, enjoy!