Ian

Our guests from the Netherlands left this afternoon. All the final design decisions have been made. It is now down to us to implement them all. For reasons which I can't go into here, the clock is ticking. There is a small amount of respite before it all kicks off again with the final, much more systematic round of testing before we go into a proper live trial. The rewards should be great on a number of levels if it all works out. Only time will tell. We can't really do much more at the moment.

Once they had left for the airport I took a little walk around the Market Square with an eye to some street photography, but it was very quiet. I spotted this fellow in his traditional white vest, one of Shipley's own you could say, and couldn't resist asking if I could take a shot. We talked about Shipley people and he said that the place was full of great characters - quite oblivious to the fact that he is certainly one of them!

The only news of importance today is that the Ashes started. And how. This is a Test Match on speed. I was finding reasons to excuse myself the table so that I could catch up with events. They unfolded pretty fast. I could so easily have spent the whole day watching in front of the television. Cricket is the only thing that can really grip me in that way.

Off now to make dinner and catch up with the Apprentice with the boys. Hope to show my face here later, for the first time in ages!