The interval

This is the first moving picture ever made - by a Frenchman (boo!), using British equipment (hoorah!).

It was shot in 1888 when Jack the Ripper was about his business in Whitechapel, London. It took me a while to notice that they are doing some sort of dance, and only then after I saw that one of the women walks backwards for a couple of steps. The men dance in exactly the same way as I do, particularly the one in the dark suit in the forefront, who simply strides in a circle around the others.

Early photos have a strange fascination for me. Fox Talbot - a 19th century pioneer in photography - lived near here and Bath also has a strong connection with cinema. There is a bronze plaque on a wall stating that the first cine camera was developed on this site, though it is contested by some. Like the atom bomb, people were working on the same project in different places at the same time. We credit Fox Talbot with the first proper photos, but the Japanese have unearthed an earlier one of a Samurai warrior in full traditional dress, staring dolefully into the lens.

Now it is all digital, we will never know how many photos of us exist in the virtual albums of foreign tourists around the world. Living in a place like Bath must mean that there are thousands of me (and others, of course) floating about.

The other  day, H.I. and I were sitting beneath a huge tree in a small park nearby. It was in full blossom and attracting the attention of a handful of young Chinese people who, as we all know, hold tree blossom in extremely high regard. 

One of them began taking photographs on his phone, and when he saw that I had noticed that the angle of it meant that the pictures must include us, he came forward and belatedly asked permission to take our photo. I was a bit bewildered but said that was ok.

Eventually we got up from the bench and I looked back at the tree. Then I understood. The two of us have our own large canopy of white hair which mirrored the vast canopy of white blossom just above our heads. It must have been quite an amusing image.

I think that photo must be racing about worldwide Instagram as we speak. Let me know if you spot it.