Walk: Clerkenwell - A Village of Contrasts

Today, I was back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners again! This walk was Clerkenwell: A Village of Contrasts - not so far from me. How fortunate am I, to be living close to so much history.. Now, I had half a suspicion that I'd done this walk before - and I was right. Under a different name, mind - that last time was Down and Out in Clerkenwell, but the blurb was copied straight from there. Ah well, I figured I might get something new from it - and actually, I was right! Anyway, I love coming with these folks.

So, off I schlepped - slightly late, as always when I can walk it! And I ended up being slightly overdressed, for what turned out to be the first day this year that I could really call warm. I found our group fighting for space beside another tour group - and the day got off to an interesting start when I accidentally paid Laurence in Euros! Lordy, I don't know whether I'm coming or going - well, as it happens, he's heading off to Amsterdam for a few days shortly, so he said they'd come in handy!

Well, we started at the Barbican, moved on to Smithfield and the church of St. Bartholomew the Great - which is always worth a look, and where they turned out to be having a modern art exhibition!

We were still being shadowed by that other tour group - and as we waited for everyone to finish inside, I overheard an interesting tidbit - someone once asked me where the street Little Britain got its name, and I didn't know: but that tour guide confidently told his followers that it was from the Dukes of Brittany.. now, looking that up further, it seems he is probably mistaken. Ah well, the mystery continues..

And so on to St. John's Gate:

on the other side of which we passed a group of chess players! 

And witness the sad and strange tale of Thomas Britton:

The chap was best known as a concert promoter - but someone decided to play a practical joke on him, employing a ventriloquist to pretend to be the voice of God, communicating with him! The superstitious Thomas believed it, so the joke worked - but the event affected him so that he took a turn and expired, a couple of days later..

On Clerkenwell Green, we had to look at the Karl Marx Memorial Library across a building site - but there was no mistaking its distinctive red door:

On the way to lunch, we passed the Betsey Trotwood - apparently, they were booked up today, or we might have eaten there. Nice that they have a picture of the lady on the scaffolding:

And so to The Marian Anderson, which was the Bowler last time - now named for the lady whose striking portrait gazed down on us as we ate, who was a singer and civil rights campaigner:

I had steak, which was decent - the sauce was lovely though, and the chips very moreish. And the chenin blanc was tasty, so I was happy. A few of us then repaired to the Old Red Lion, whose dog is now in nappies (the American decor is in honour of the play they have upstairs):

And a most convivial afternoon was had. Look forward to my next meeting with these folks! A sunny walk home followed (mercifully downhill), and I see the town is starting to show some interest in the coronation:

For tomorrow, I got a free ticket for David McSavage's new show, Lazy Bastard, at the Top Secret Comedy Club. Still available, still free, if you're interested..

On Monday - well, there's a ton of stuff on Meetup! I finally decided that the most attractive thing was the Vintage Soho guided walk with Barrie, again with the 45+s (it's a bank holiday, you see). As with so many of his walks, however, tickets are also available with TAC - and even though I still have to pay him £5 cash on the day, it represents a saving!

On Tuesday, I was thinking film again - but another late listing has the World Music Meetup (WMM) advertising Sounds of Sudan, at St. Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace. At a time when Sudan is in the news for all the wrong reasons, this sounds a lovely concert by Sudanese artist Mo Sarrar. So now I'm going to that.

On Wednesday, again, loads of stuff on Meetup - but two of my groups are running events that would interest me, but are sold out. The Horror Book Club, meantime, is reading The Yellow Wallpaper - a novella that I found on Kindle, and downloaded a free sample for. Mind you, it came as part of a collection.. and is so short that its entirety was included in the free sample! so I read the whole thing in half an hour. How different from our last assignment.. I wasn't that keen on it - although the ending is good. So I'll probably head to yet another film that night. That blasted film listings site still has, as of now, partial listings up for it. So - subject to change, as so many films are listed with the caveat "no information available at the moment" - Wednesday's film is looking like How to Blow Up a Pipeline, the fictional account of climate activists attacking a pipeline in Texas. Showing in my local cinema - not that the listings site let me in on that secret, but from experience, I tried the cinema website myself directly..

On Thursday, I booked a livestream from the Crick Crack Club, from the Story Museum Oxford. This is King Lear Retold. However, these tend to be available for a week after - so I've taken the opportunity, also, to book another concert with the WMM! This is La Chinganera, in the Finnish Church - and the concerts organised by Eleanor Salter Thorn of TunedIn London are always good!

Then back to Ireland for the coronation weekend..

Walk: Down and Out in Clerkenwell & Concert: Les Concerts du Lac

Today, I "provisionally" booked with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners again - this time, for Down and Out in Clerkenwell, ironically very near to where I live. Again, I had to cancel this because, as he said, I've gone from "provisional" to "professional"! He kindly offered me the chance to come to lunch with them at least, if I could manage it, at the Bowler. But.. lo.. the job doesn't start until tomorrow now! (Perils of managing an IT system.) So.. sadly, I shan't be paid for a couple of days this week. Happily, I got to go on the walk! Every cloud..

Naturally, with it starting so close to home for me, I wasn't quite on time. :-) Happily, I wasn't too late either, and joined the group as they congregated outside Barbican.

Ah, the nostalgia of living closer to here.. funny how that kicks in, even though the room I had then was so small! I always used to want to live in Barbican, until I found out how much the service fees are..!

And then we passed by the office of my last permanent job:

I loved that we went to the church of St. Bartholomew the Great - stunning building, I always love coming here. The first time, of course, was my first ever event with TAC - a performance of Richard II, played down the nave, the audience sat in the pews on either side! What a setting..

Used in so many films, and you can see why:

On another note, glad to see they've installed handrails on the steps leading up to the graveyard!

On Cloth Fair, we saw London's oldest inhabited building:

It's so rich in history, all this area - we visited the Charterhouse as well; I hadn't realised that the name comes from the Carthusians!

Later, we visited the beautiful St. John's Gate:

Now, this is associated with the Knights Hospitaller, under their Grand Prior at the time, Thomas Docwra. And there was some discussion about the origin of the name - seems it's of Norse Viking origin, although the 1st Baron Docwra was a soldier in Ireland, and credited with founding the city of Derry! 

And so to our long-awaited lunch, at the Bowler - we had a few more than anticipated, which tends to happen, but managed to squeeze everyone around a few tables that had been put together. And although the menu isn't extensive, I had some very tasty chicken. No extras included, mind you, but an egg I didn't eat, and a container of chili sauce that was too spicy for me. You have been warned. V friendly service, though! and the person beside me, who had the mushrooms on toast, raved about her dish.

We went for drinks after at the Betsey Trotwood - where Laurence had apparently tried to book lunch, but no-one had answered the phone! Anyway, it was great to catch up with everyone - I was very glad to have had the chance to come along to this, the last daytime event I'll probably be able to do for a while.

Home then briefly, and this evening, I was with the 45+s again - this time for a classical concert, at St. John's, Smith Square. OMG it's years since I was last there - and they had discounted tickets! Apparently they got them for free, and the proceeds from what we paid are going to charity. Lovely that a couple of people from the afternoon's event were also going - as well as, it so happened, a couple of folks that I know from Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS)! Not that I really got a chance to talk to the latter, although I did run into one in the loo.

We got free programmes with our tickets, and ah, what a lovely programme - some Beethoven, two Schumann pieces, and after the interval, some Brahms. And not one, but two encores! Nice way to round off the day, and a very well-organised event.

Tomorrow, I "provisionally" booked for the Soho Comedy Factory again.. but lo, was saved from having to make another of those difficult decisions, when UITCS posted a trip to see The Boy with Two Hearts, at the National! Based on another true story, of a refugee family from Afghanistan, with a little boy who needs heart surgery. Interestingly, I thought to use my Theatre Token for this - since I was finally booking something during box office hours, and could ring them up; few theatres take them online. But with them, phone booking incurs a £3 fee that other booking methods don't! So I left it, and just booked a ticket online for full price. Was perplexed when it wouldn't accept my card - until somehow I was logged into my National Theatre account, and noticed I had an old billing address. When I changed it, I had no further problems. There's a moral there. (Interestingly again, I couldn't even cancel my attendance at the comedy club - they now close RSVPs very early!)

On Thursday, I was thinking film - but what was coming up wasn't as interesting as what the same group is advertising in Hampstead Theatre. So I booked to go and see Ravenscourt with them - a medical drama, centred on the failings of the mental healthcare system. And yay, for this I finally used my Theatre Token! (No phone booking fee, here.) Well, that's a weight off..

Then I'm back to Ireland again, because of the dates I have weekend things in London this month, and the date of my mother's birthday, which I want to be back in Ireland for. It all works out - but only if I switch weekends, which I'm doing by coming back to Ireland again this weekend. Film for the weekend? Currently looking like The Lost King, a comedy co-written by, and starring, Steve Coogan as the husband of the woman who found the remains of Richard III. Under a car park.. Only showing in the Omniplex, and a little late. Ah well.

Monday. Well. 👿 Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love horror. And am really excited that Darkfield is doing onsite shows this month. Mwa-ha-haa.. Five of them, in fact. I've booked the first of them for Monday, the first day I was free - the first they're showing, it's Intravene, nearby the BFI (actually, I think it's outside the National Theatre, but I'll figure it out - they're next door to each other). These are all held in shipping containers, and the unifying idea for all Darkfield shows is that they're aural - you have headphones, which are your main sensory input. The shows all take place in complete darkness. This one is about drug abuse, and focuses on the drug problem in Vancouver.

Next Tuesday, signed up for another of The Garden Talks' free online talks - this one is Does Dark Matter Really Matter?

On the 12th.. heehee. Back with Darkfield. (Cue scary music.) They're also doing shows in Canary Wharf this year - three, in fact. This is the first night for those.. and yes, I'm doing all three, that night. In fact, they allow for that when you're booking. So, I'm doing them in the following order: first is Eulogy, an unusual Darkfield concept in that it's somewhat interactive, at various points you have to say "yes" or "no"..

Second up, I chose Coma (they all have multiple showings, so you can decide exactly what you want to go to, and when. They just ask that you leave at least 15 minutes between, which I have.) For this one, we get to lie down, I think - which is nice - and get an option to take a pill. :-)

Final for the night is the one I've heard the best reviews of - Flight is a reconstruction of an aircraft cabin, and the show is based around - well, a plane crash! Booked all of these while waiting for my eternally delayed flight on Sunday - as I say, every cloud has a silver lining..

The 13th is the next of my busy days. See, first I booked with Civilised London (CL) for Tango After Dark, at the Peacock. All good, no-brainer. Then I was messaged by an ex-colleague - another ex-colleague is having leaving drinks that same night, in the Pelt Trader! Hellfire.. so, what I'm going to do is skip drinks with CL after the show and leg it over to the Pelt Trader - I've ordered her not to stop drinking till I get there!

On the 14th, something advertised with the Crick Crack Club (CCC) - they're celebrating all things Mexican in Kew Gardens, with Mexico After Hours! With something about the Day of the Dead, no doubt..

The 15th is another of those busy days. So.. first I'm headed on another of Laurence's walks - this one is Paddington - Proud, Perky & Picturesque.

But, for over a year now, I've had tickets booked, for me and Helen, for Dara O' Briain in the Hammersmith Apollo that night! Crikey, I'd never even have thought of it if it hadn't been noted in my calendar. So anyway, she can't come to the walk, but we'll meet for dinner beforehand in Bill's of Hammersmith. I can only hope for better service than I got in Bill's of Clink Street..

On the 16th, back with the CCC for Inisfáil, Irish storytelling courtesy of the wonderful Clare Murphy, in the British Museum.

On the 17th, I originally booked a free online talk about Railways of Surrey, from the Surrey History Meetup. But now I've finally seen (despite the fact that it was evidently posted months ago) an event from UITCS - Samsara is inspired by the Chinese novel, Journey to the West, and contains partial nudity, we're told. Tickets for this are quite cheap, and we're all in the Stalls, for once - they haven't even opened the Second Circle, where we normally are! So, no stairs, for a change!

On the 18th, I've booked for Iphigenia in Splott, in the Lyric Hammersmith.

On the 19th, supposed to have drinks with Ivan! Might go to O' Neill's, we could do worse.

On the 20th, back with CL for dinner at Le Sacré Coeur. Always good.

On the 21st, back to Ireland again - and the following Monday, it's my mother's birthday, so I'm staying in Ireland for that and flying back on Tuesday 25th. I've already cleared it with the job I haven't started yet!

And on the 26th, I've booked with UITCS again - for Mary, at Hampstead Theatre again. Political machinations in the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. Funny thing - there were two seats in the main seating section at the cheapest price, but the site objected to me just booking one of them. No problem booking an equivalent seat in a higher price bracket, though! So I booked one of the high seats, at the back, instead. At the lower price.