No news yet on the Lodge at Exeter Castle, which we hoped might be a candidate for the new Syntagma Towers. It’s looking unlikely as I write, for a variety of reasons.

However, since my short, mocking piece on photographs of desks, I’ve been inundated with … pictures of desks.

I’m just going to publish one of them to show you what splendid readers we have here.

This is the “office” — or library — at Humdrumming Mansions, a stately pile in Shakespeare’s Stratford on Avon, occupied by Steve Newman, a Syntagma author of peerless works of literary magnificence, including a novel, The Crime of the Crimea; a fictionalized biography of Ernest Hemingway; and his “blog”, Our Man in Stratford.

Note the volume on Elgar on the table (2007 is Elgar’s 150th anniversary year), and the picture of John Wayne on the wall-to-wall bookcases. A man of many talents clearly.

Apart from being Senior Director and Editor of the Humdrumming Publishing House, Steve is Director and driving force behind the Stratford International Festival of Literature, the first of which is to be held in September this year. The event will feature such mega-luminaries as Colin Wilson and Guy Adams (another Syntagma author), and is being jointly sponsored by Syntagma Media.

What more could you possible desire?

It’s been wet and windy for days here so my customary morning walk has been disrupted for a week. Today though, I braved the elements as a startling piece of intelligence assailed my ears.

You may remember that I rather fancied Rougement Castle as our new HQ – a bit fanciful even though it was up for sale. Then it sold to a property company. End of story? Well, not quite.

First off, I spotted this banner draped over the splendid admin buildings in the courtyard of the ancient pile — now renamed Exeter Castle.

Rougemont becomes the “Covent Garden of the West” with “Exceptional Retail and Entertainment Opportunities”. William the Conqueror must be twirling in his tomb, not to mention the Roman Proconsul who built the original walls nearly 2000 years ago.

But my real reason for going there this morning was because of the Lodge, neatly situated just within the main gates.

Now that is a very nice building indeed. Lots of space and wonderful views of the castle ghosts walking the ramparts at night. And guess what?

It’s for sale or to let. I’m going to inquire after the particulars to see if it’s suitable for us. The only thing that might put me off is all that entertainment billed for the place. It might be a tad noisy at night.

I’ll tell you tomorrow.