Kind of ironic, that a walk is entitled "Transportation in London". But anyway, that's what London's Secrets, Tales & Legends had on the menu for today. This is a new Meetup group for me - I got the name of it from a fellow attendee at another Meetup, and thought it sounded interesting. And that's what they call cross-pollination..
They had originally just had a walk scheduled for 10.30 this morning, but then put on an extra one this afternoon, for people who couldn't make the first. Hallelujah! I wisely changed my booking for the later one. I was out late last night, and frankly was feeling very creaky today. In fact, I didn't even wake until 10.20, so that wouldn't have been much good. As it was, I rushed a bit even to get myself to St. Paul's Station for 3PM.
At least it was a beautiful, sunny day, and warm in the sunshine. Google Maps had me take the Tube to Mansion House and walk from there - St. Paul's itself isn't on a convenient line for me. So I got to Mansion House, where I usually get off for the Globe. This time, I decided that the exit for St. Paul's would be appropriate.. sadly, when I got up to surface level, I didn't recognise anything from Streetview. I crossed the road, looked around for the familiar dome of St. Paul's.. and finally saw it, back behind where I'd just come from. Complicated, these stations.
So I headed back that way, around the back of the cathedral, and got to St. Paul's Station entrance. I was slightly early, and looked around but didn't see any sign of the organiser, who'd said he'd be holding a Meetup sign. There were quite a few groups of people, and I didn't really know whether I should join any of them - or which! And 3 o'clock came.. and went.. and still no sign.
I checked my phone, and saw there was a message from the organiser, emphasising that we should meet at Entrance 1. Now, that's not much good if you haven't come through the station, and aren't familiar with it! There was nothing at surface level to indicate which was which. I finally thought I'd try across the road, and sure enough, there was a small group of people, including one with a Meetup sign, and one with a dog - someone had asked to bring along a dog. Seems we all had the same idea at the same time, because all of a sudden there was an influx. One woman said she'd been waiting down the road for 10 minutes. Really, this guy needs to describe better where to meet!
Anyway, after a rocky start, we were off - on a tour that described the old Royal Mail methods of transportation, moving on to the London Underground. Some photos here. We saw places that used to be coaching inns, and disused Underground stations. The most interesting fact I learned was the life expectancy of the horses that pulled the London omnibuses before they were motorised. Want to take a guess? My most extreme guess was six months. In actual fact, the life expectancy of a horse, once it started working with a London omnibus, was.. three weeks. Yes, you read that right. They worked them that hard.
We passed through Smithfield Meat Market - the dog loved that - and on to our conclusion at Farringdon Station. Where I wouldn't have bothered hanging around for his "ghost story" if I'd known how it was going to be. He knows many things - telling ghost stories isn't one of them. Anyway, we mooched around awkwardly at the end, and after a moment I gave him a few quid - he did know his stuff. I have no idea whether the others did - they seemed a dull lot, to be honest - and I scurried off home. A longish walk, in my creaky state, got me to Blackfriars, and although I passed eateries, I was keener to eat at home.
Tomorrow seems set to be a film - which means I have to trawl through what's on. Watch this space. Meantime, I'm headed to Guildford on Tuesday, and have Meetups on Wednesday and Thursday - on Wednesday, I'm seeing another instalment of the Bunker Trilogy, in Stratford, with the London European Club. This time, it's Agamemnon. And on Thursday, I got a free ticket to a classical concert - nice and close, in Cadogan Hall - with Kensington Classical Music. This is actually a new Meetup group, apparently founded by someone in the London European Club.
Back to Ireland at the weekend, and on Monday 5th I'm off to Barcelona! for a U2 concert the next day - they are playing on the 5th too, but I couldn't get a ticket. :-( I fly back on the 7th, and on the 8th I'm off to see People, Places and Things at the National. Good job I booked early - apparently they're completely sold out now. On the 9th, I'm back to Barcelona for another couple of U2 concerts..
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