I'd be a little late by bus, but decided to go that way anyway - he was to be in the pub for half an hour, which I'd easily make, and people don't generally arrive on the dot. Typically, I got to the stop just as my bus pulled away.. the next, despite Google's gloomier prediction, was only five minutes behind.
I got off at Cannon Street - the second right took me down Bush Lane, and there was The Bell. Not hard to find them - they had the tables just inside the door, and wouldn't you know it, it seems I was the last to arrive! As the organiser claimed, this was the first time everyone who'd said they'd show up had done so! Well, I went and got a drink - unfortunately, this is a place with a £10 minimum on cards, so I ended up getting not only a glass of wine, but also a packet of crisps and a portion of chilli rice crackers!
Well now, I didn't realise they were waiting on me to leave - when I got back to the tables, the organiser and I were the only ones drinking, and he was nearly finished. I was instructed to drink up - not a problem, as I said; the crackers would be the hardest to get through! They were quite spicy, but very moreish. The crisps were a rather odd, ox flavour (all they'd had) - as the organiser got up to leave, I gulped my drink down and tipped my crackers into the nearly empty crisp bag, finishing them soon into our walk. I ended up carrying the empty bag home with me, of course - rubbish bins are scarce in London. I'd recommend the crackers, but otherwise not the pub - way too crowded of an evening, even on a Wednesday. City drinkers don't care what day it is, I suspect - and anyway, the place is tiny.
We started, as usual, right outside, where Stephen, our organiser, pointed out that the origin of the street name might be in the ancient practice of hanging a bush outside a house to denote that it's a pub. Now, there ain't much that remains to see from Chaucer's time, but he did a good job of evoking it for us. He pointed out how there was an underground river where we were standing.. as we passed the Tallow Chandlers Hall, he pointed out how plague was common at the time, how it was spread by fleas, and how tallow chandlers, making candles from animal fat as they did, were among the most likely to catch it, from the fleas living on the animals they were dealing with. We also stood on the site of one of the attacks during the Peasants' Revolt, which occurred during Chaucer's lifetime, and which he must have witnessed.
Chaucer had a more privileged upbringing than most - the son of a merchant: so we spent much of our time down the docks, talking about the Hanseatic League. Unfortunately, this meant that we were assailed by a bitter wind over the river - we spent much of the night absolutely freezing, and I can tell you that I caught an absolute stinker of a cold, which has been plaguing me all day. We'd already lost one of our number by this time, who just found it too cold. It was worth it, though, to see the fascinating mosaic at Queenhithe (the only remaining Anglo Saxon dock in the world!), outlining the whole history of London, using the shape of the river:
More photos here.
Also of interest to me was the London terminus of the Camino de Santiago!
We might have headed into The Three Cranes, but for it was so deserted as to be unsettling. Hey, maybe that was a side-effect of the sign..
And that was that, as nobody fancied the pub, it seemed - too damn cold, I guess, and I couldn't argue. How glad I was that Google was proved pessimistic again, and my bus came almost immediately.
Now. I was rather distracted for most of the walk, following a couple of bombshell emails in my inbox. The Man with the Hat will soon - far too soon - be hanging up his Hat for good. Yes, both London for Less Than a Tenner and Let's Do London - for less! will close on Saturday. Last event tonight - Romeo and Juliet, at the Globe. To hammer home the point, he's changed each group name to include "Closing Down -" before the title, and has changed the event name to read "Last Event:" before that title. Going out with a bang, it seems, as this production is supposed to be quite avant-garde. Dear me, I'm going to miss these groups.. I was looking at my Meetup stats, of which I present a snapshot below:
The numbers speak for themselves, as they usually do. I'm losing the two groups I attend most - and if you take them as one, they far surpass the next in the list. Frankly, going forward, most of my Meetups are like to be Funzing or Crick Crack events - both to be recommended, but neither with a social element. This is a sad, sad day. Not to mention the fact that I still have this cold, and am headed to the Globe tonight! Brr...
On Wednesday, London Literary Walks is off to Highbury. And so am I.
Next Thursday, I'm booked for free comedy in Hammersmith, with Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon & Greenwich, Random London, and London Live Comedy. Something, frankly, that I usually cancel, but you never know - nothing better has yet come up for this night!
On the 19th, I saw that London Social Detours (a side-shoot of Ken's Events) were charging £3 to go to the free jazz concert at the Royal Academy. So I was going to go on my own. Free. But then the London European Club (LEC) advertised a Norwegian Dixieland concert at Jamboree.. well, that sounded like more fun, so now I'm going to that instead.
On the 20th, I'm doing something local - a guided walk on Residents, Rascals & Riots, in Holborn. With London for a Tenner or Less.
The 21st, London Dramatic Arts (LDAM) is headed out of town. We're going all the way to Northampton, to see a couple of Shakespearian plays, one directed by one of her members. Richard II, to be precise, with Titus Andronicus to whet our appetites. No-one has signed up apart from me, but what the hey I've never been there, so it'll be interesting.
On the 22nd, I'm off to Ugly Lies the Bone, at the Lyttleton.
On the 23rd, I'd booked with Funzing UK for an Infinitease Burlesque Show. In Leytonstone, so if anything better came up in the meantime, I was up for it! That's a terribly long way out. Anyway, yesterday I got an email about cheap tickets - apparently there's a burlesque festival on - in Hackney, which is a bit closer. And a lot cheaper. So now I'm going to that instead - Funzing can be cancelled up to 48 hours in advance without penalty.
The 24th was supposed to be the Man with the Hat's last event, but he had to cancel. Instead, I discovered that the UL Alumni Association (UL is my alma mater) is holding a talk on Brexit that night. And I was going to go to that - but lo, Funzing came up with something better! So now I'm going to Urban Legends of London.
The 25th, Crick Crack is back - at Crouch End Arthouse again, unfortunately. It's just so far! Still going, of course - the more especially because it's Michael Harvey! He's worth the trip. Then I'm back to Ireland for the Bank Holiday weekend again - and taking the bank holiday, this time!
On the 30h, LDAM are at the Olivier to see Common. So am I.. on a cheap Travelex ticket, which I booked direct with the venue. So I'll be avoiding them, since they don't appreciate that.
On the 31st, free comedy in Hammersmith was up again (temporarily), with the above groups, plus London Art Comedy & Culture Lovers (another offshoot of Ken's Events). But yay, it's now been replaced by another Funzing event - a Luxury Chocolate evening! Helen's popping along, too. The code Fun_Day10 got us a 10% discount.
On 1 June, I eschewed the free comedy in Hammersmith for the Ghosts & Executions Tour, with London for a Tenner or Less - even though that guide wasn't great the last time, so I cancelled this previously, he's better than that free comedy! Oh, and I forgot to mention, the code WELLBEING30 got me 30% off this. How it qualifies as "well-being" I don't know, but I'm not complaining!
Then I'm off down to Helen for the weekend - she told me about this Living History Festival, and I said yes please!
The 5th, I'm back to Soho Theatre with the Crick Crack Club, for something called The Frog Princess - Punked. Ben Haggerty, the mc and co-founder of the club, told us last night that there's going to be a full punk band - goodness, who would've thought that Sally Pomme Clayton had a hidden punk side!
And the 6th June, I'm with the LEC, to see the Images Ballet Company at the Arts Depot.
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