The weekend is all about London Herstory Guided Walks, the walks from a female perspective, as guided by Mandy Morrow. Today, it was Women of Mayfair from Monarchs to Mistresses & More. Mercifully, not too early.
Google Maps was being weird - if I asked it how to get there starting at the current time, whatever time it was, it gave me bus routes, as I wanted. If, however, I wanted it to get me there at the appointed time - it only gave me Tube! As it turned out, I left it late enough that Tube was the only reasonable option anyway. I had a choice of two - the Piccadilly Line was a lot busier, so I just went with the Victoria Line. Which whisked me there nice and quickly. We were to take the Stratton Street exit - from the map, I could see that was on the north side of Piccadilly, which helped; when I saw exits for the south side, I just headed for the other side of the station.
Outside, she was waiting with one other - a fourth arrived some time later. Now, this left a few people who just hadn't shown up - fair enough, one later apologised, said there were delays, and of course it can be hard to get signal. But it is bad form to leave people hanging, with no word. Well, we waited a bit, and off we went. A couple did later comment on the event page - but it's a funny thing, perhaps because she's the organiser, but the page view on Mandy's mobile doesn't seem to display regular comments, but only the "event chat", which displays in a separate folder. Ah well.. does make it hard for her to pick up messages, though.
Now, my weather forecast didn't say it'd drizzle - but it did, all day. Just as well my coat has a hood! First off, I learned something new - that Piccadilly was originally called Portugal Street, in honour of Catherine, the Portugese wife of Charles II! and that she popularised tea drinking. We had a little bit more about spies.. and saw many enormous edifices. This, for example, is the Spencer family's London pad:
and this is where Lady Hamilton, Nelson's mistress, laid her hat:
We hadn't much luck with churches; both that we entered had things going on. However, I did manage to get a shot of the stained glass window in St. James' Piccadilly. It was fascinating, also, to hear about the social initiatives that the (female) vicar of this church has initiated:
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And as advertised, from monarchs to mistresses - it's interesting to see what women of humble origins could achieve:
On another theme entirely, it's shocking to think how recently women could not own property, or retain custody of their children in a divorce; we saw a plaque to a woman who fought tirelessly to get that changed, inspired by her personal circumstances:
A fascinating walk - but as she admitted, perhaps a bit long; she's considering splitting it. Certainly, my niggling chest complained, and I got a coughing fit at one point. (Had anticipated this and brought Strepsils, which calmed it down much quicker than might otherwise have happened.) This is the thing - there's just so much you can say about even a small part of London.
Well, I joined her in Pret - it was good to sit, and to have a sandwich, as I had walked up an appetite. And we had a lovely chat. I caught the bus home - traffic was dreadful, but I wasn't in a hurry. Curiously, TFL was warning about some stops being closed.. which weren't.. Well, by the time I got home, I was hungry again, and as I was passing O' Neill's, I nipped in there. Where I had no trouble getting a seat upstairs - service was iffy though, so I ordered on the app. Naturally, as soon as I was finished, the server appeared, asking what I'd like.. never mind, it was as delicious as ever. And with a very nice glass of wine, I didn't feel like leaving early, so had a second.
Tomorrow, a new walk for Mandy - Bloody Brilliant Bermondsey Women. Oh, and if you sign up to her newsletter, you get the next walk half price! I saw that offer in time for this walk.
On Monday, thinking film again - and what's coming up looks really interesting. Continuing on a women's theme, Women Talking is, apparently, based on real-life events in a Mennonite community, where women were being drugged, and sexually assaulted as they slept. Some ended up injured, some pregnant, some with STDs. The film is based on a book, imagining the women's response - in a community that doesn't even teach its women to read and write, the women mobilise to form a response to a group of uncaring elders, whose dictat is that they must forgive their attackers, or forfeit their place in heaven. Stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Ben Whishaw, and Frances McDormand - against type, as has been mentioned - as an older woman who does not support the younger women's rebellion against staying quiet. Also nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture. Closest showing to me is in the Everyman King's Cross.
On Tuesday, back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group, for an English Concert of Bach, at Wigmore Hall. Lovely, it's ages since I heard Bach..
On Wednesday, it's film again - this one is a BFI presentation of Joyland, an Indian film about a young man who joins a burlesque show, and becomes infatuated with the trans lady who runs it. I'm normally suspicious about Indian film, having had some bad experiences - but this trailer looks excellent, so I'll risk it. Showing in the Vue Islington - which I've booked, for once, as they now have theatre-style seat pricing, different seats in different locations at different prices!
On Thursday, back with TAC for Feel More X Lately, showing at the Lion and Unicorn. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.
There follows a mostly Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) week. On the 27th, back with them for Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, at the Harold Pinter Theatre. This is a rom-com about a couple living in a dystopian state, which limits the number of characters they can speak. Lots of body language then, I guess! Frankly, I was delighted to see that, by the time I booked, the Balcony was sold out - the legroom there is woeful, and good luck to those who've booked up there. The cheapest price bracket left when I booked included some in the Dress Circle - and thanks to Seatplan, I seem to have identified a decent seat among them. Watch this space.. cheapest tickets from the official site, but I booked with From the Box Office, which had tickets at the same price, but without the booking fee.
On the 28th, my one non-UITCS day that week - back with Over 40 Living the Life, for a dinner at Greenwich Yacht Club. Ooh la la..
On the 1st, back with UITCS at the Arcola for Afghanistan is Not Funny, the true story of a British comedian and photographer in war-torn Afghanistan.
On the 2nd, with them again at the Peacock (think I can walk to that!) for Bat Out of Hell, a musical based on the music of Meat Loaf. Awesome - just a pity it isn't one of the singalong nights..
On the 3rd, ending a run of UITCS with Lucrezia Borgia, by the English Touring Opera Company, at the Hackney Empire.
On the 4th, back cat-herding - Ivan suggested that whole day for, well, a lot of drinking. And food - he wanted to go back to O' Neill's. Well, he must have been reading the blog - because yesterday, he got in touch. To say that, unfortunately, he can't now make it. My other coworker from that company still can, though - as they've both said, it's been so long since they actually met each other! They can never seem to coordinate..
On the 5th, back with Discover London at last - she does excellent walks, but sometimes they clash, and sometimes they sell out before I get to them! This one is Discover Historic Chelsea: From Quaint to Quant - 1660s to 1960s.
On the 6th, back with - you guessed it - UITCS, for Romeo and Julie, at the Dorfman.
On the 7th - not so much appeals on Meetup. Free Stuff and Free Events does have Free Community Singing with Ros Hone and the Global Fusion Sound Singers, which you can attend on Zoom, or in person at Fossdene School Community Hall. Which sounds just fine - except that this is the sort of thing I keep cancelling! So I'm not confirming until nearer the time.
On the 8th - back with the Crick Crack Club, woohoo! for Goddesses in the Garden, at the Chelsea Physic Garden. Features my favourite, Clare Murphy, along with Sarah Liisa Wilkinson, Laura Sampson, and Xanthe Gresham.
On the 9th, my final booking - for now - with UITCS, for Brilliant Jerks at Southwark Playhouse. And wouldn't you know it, I still had credit on my Pay as you Go subscription, so got it for free! And then it's back to Ireland for the weekend again.
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