Talk: The 70th Anniversary of the Great London Smog

Today - yep, the London Chess Community again looked like the best option. Hmm. But just lately - hallelujah! I was saved by London Social & Cultural Meetups (LSCM), who attended a talk on The 70th Anniversary of the Great London Smog. (Although oddly, we were meeting outside - perhaps the venue was hard to find?) Anyway, I'm delighted - this is that friendly group I joined a while ago for Evensong at St. Bartholomew the Great, and I was glad to be seeing them again.

And I could walk to the meeting point, near Chancery Lane Station. Which meant I was passing The Lucas Arms. And since the evening meeting for my new job was cancelled for the day.. I had time to eat there! and was swiftly fed by the friendly lady at the bar, who's starting to recognise me, I think.

And so down to the meeting point, where I arrived in good time:

And completely failed to recognise the organiser, who was sat at the adjacent bus stop! Well, actually, I thought she looked familiar - but didn't equate her with the person I was supposed to be meeting. :-) Happily, she twigged that I was on the walk.. and we chatted away merrily, waiting until the others arrived. When everyone was there, off we set - and no, it's not obvious where to go! It was one of a series of free, public lectures in Gresham College, which is in Barnard's Inn, one of the former Inns of Chancery, and therefore - discreet. And we'd needed tickets, which our organiser organised for us - certainly, it was full!

Our speaker was in position long before.. which must have felt awkward. If that'd been me, I'd have waited behind the door. Ah well.. Now, subject matter aside, this was one of the best speakers I've heard in a long time (and I've heard a few!). Pitching plenty of stats at us (with graphs), he also made sure to make the material accessible, with real-life stories. And even threw in a few jokes. Also in the Q+A afterwards, he deftly fielded every question - I definitely got the impression he's both given this talk, and fielded similar questions, before.

Having said that, there was a lot of stats - which was perfect for me, as an ex-statistician, but perhaps not everyone's bag. As it was, I was rather unimpressed by the medical photos, showing cross-sections of lungs infected by pollution, and such. However, the message conveyed in the talk was unmissable - it's not brief exposure to pollutants that does the damage, it's over the longterm. And the stats - as presented, at least, and I of all people know not to take stats at face value - are undeniable. Yes, a powerful message indeed about the dangers of pollutants, and these days, that means traffic.

Quote of the night, though, must go to his response to an audience member who wondered whether the diesel manufacturers weren't in cahoots with the people who make the pollution gauges, showing lower pollution rates than you'd expect around traffic. As he said, he knows the people who make the gauges, and if they were getting payoffs, they'd look better!

Some of us repaired afterwards for a nightcap to Penderel's Oak - while it's there; apparently, Wetherspoons is closing several branches, and apparently, this is one of them. Hey-ho, it's the cheapest sauvignon blanc I had in an age! And happily, I was still close enough to walk home afterwards.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Reading for a face to face with my boss & co-writer. Happily, only for the first half of the day - so it shouldn't impact on my evening. And they're taking me for lunch at Thai Square - gosh, it's ages since I had Thai!

In the evening, well, Free Stuff and Free Events are holding another online singalong. Again, I cancelled my attendance at the last of these I booked for, so was reluctant to rush off and book again.. Or the Garden Talks have one on How Did Language Begin? Unfortunately, my free trial has long since expired, and they won't let me take out another. Well, I might have paid - but I'd be paying for a month's worth, so I figured I might as well wait until closer to the date, and get the value.. And yay, then Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) jumped to the rescue again, with a comedy called Dinner with Groucho, at the Arcola. The setting is a dinner, somewhere in heaven, with Groucho Marks and T. S. Eliot the guests.

On Wednesday, I'm back with UITCS for Baghdaddy at the Royal Court. About a little girl, realising she's half Iraqi, just as the Gulf War is raging. I see CT now has tickets for this.. unusually for this venue!

On Thursday, I've signed up for another Watkin's Bookshop talk! This is Colin Stanley on Colin Wilson's Introducing the Occult. Well, the last talk I was at here was interesting, so..

On Friday, I'm heading to Lightopia, at Crystal Palace Park. As suggested by Over 40 Living the Life, who are not actually hosting a trip themselves, but just wanted to advertise it. 15% discount if you subscribe to Lightopia's mailing list, 20% discount for purchases of 10 or more tickets. And durnit if Groupon hasn't just advertised cheap tickets..

On Saturday - well hallelujah, Bucket List London has finally scheduled something I want to go to, at a time I can make! He's off to see the Wallace Collection that morning - and so am I.

In the afternoon - LSCM has a bevy of Christmassy stuff! They're off for afternoon tea first - I should get there in time for that; we have a choice of the Garden at the Lane (at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), or, if people prefer, the Willows on the Roof terrace bar at John Lewis. Which, as she says, might be chillier!

So, then we're off to King's College Maughan Library, for an exhibition of old manuscripts. Followed by a trip to the Knights Templar pub, time permitting.

And finally, we're hitting the Christmas markets! All part of the Southbank Winter Festival. First is the Southbank Christmas Market, where I hear rumours of white mulled wine.. then I'm not sure whether I'll have time, but we're off to the Christmas by the River Market.

I might have to duck out early because that evening - I've bravely scheduled another meeting of Those who Do Not Come. It's my last weekend in London before Christmas, you see. Well, so far Ivan and my first boss in London are actually coming! while the one person who came the last two times probably not, for once. We shall see - I've booked The Lucas Arms - O' Neill's isn't taking bookings for that day. Deposit payable, refundable with cancellation up to 72 hours beforehand.

On Sunday, I was vaguely thinking of heading to see Carnaby Street's Christmas lights.. but now LSCM is off to the Museum of the Home, followed by carols by candlelight at Westminster Chapel.

And for that evening, CT advertised tickets for Love Factually - a kind of rewriting of one of the relationships in that classic Christmas romcom, Love Actually. Sadly, all their tickets were gone - but I got a full-price ticket from the venue. It sounds good. Showing at 2Northdown.