A number of railway bridges between Reading and Newbury are currently being either modernised or replaced as the process of electrification gathers pace

The passenger footbridge at Newbury Railway Station which dates from 1910 will shortly be replaced by the newer bridge at the western end of the station

I had made these notes whilst leaning over a railway bridge in in Hungerford which is about ten miles from Newbury

Electrification will not progress beyond Newbury for various reasons which has been greeted with approval within the town

Tomorrow a steam train will pass through Hungerford which will be something to look forward to

I have realised that this is likely to be the last steam train that the doomed passenger footbridge at Newbury Station will witness

I wonder how many steam trains have passed under that simple bridge

In my satchel there is a small pad with a question written on it

I must answer this question before term starts again next month

The question is –

Why did Jean-Jacques Rousseau one of the most influential thinkers of the European Enlightenment place each of the five children he had with Therese Levasseur in an orphanage and why later did he bitterly regret his actions?

I chose this question at random

But it has troubled me ever since

I was going to start my essay whilst watching trains

But today has been stormy so I have not opened my satchel

The question will not be answered today at all and most probably not for the next few days

About five minutes ago my good friend Emile rang me to tell me that Bruce Forsyth had died this afternoon

This was sad news

Maybe I should abandon my task completely and write about trains sadness and the passing of time

I was once told that

Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains

I cannot remember who quoted this to me

But I know that I was on a railway bridge at the time