Walk: Movers & Shakers of Marylebone

Now, my boss suggested - quite a while ago - that we might have a jaunt to the head office in Tel Aviv today! I hadn't heard anything since, though - so I finally asked him. He confirmed that it won't be until at least next month now - wants to get the latest release out. (Just as well really, with all the unrest over there.) So I'll be in London this week. And in fact, for today, I finally found something good to do - London Herstory Guided Walks was doing Movers & Shakers of Marylebone! Great to be back with Mandy again.

Also nice to have a later start - why, I didn't even have to rush! much. She had mentioned that she'd be outside the Globe pub, across from Baker Street Station - the bus let me off just down from there, and Google Maps pointed me in the right direction; had I directed myself by Madame Tussauds, mentioned in the event description, I'd have gone wrong. Perhaps that's what happened to the one of our group that got lost.. apparently wandering around looking for us, but we never found each other! despite Mandy's best efforts. Ah well..

Speaking of which, did you notice that there is no apostrophe in the name? Turns out that's deliberate - because that family doesn't own it any more, but obviously wanted to keep the name..

Anyway, this, as she said, is a huge area, and we had some long walks between stops. Also, I didn't take so many photos.. well, unless you're a fan of architecture (or art, as one of the group, who went around snapping things that were blue!), what's there to photograph isn't that varied. Interesting, and certainly pleasant to look at, but not, perhaps, to photograph. Having said that, we next came to the parish church, which is striking.. and also where Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning were married! in secret.. for some reason, her father disinherited each of his children who married. Imagine..

We were later to come on her house - rather than a plaque, they decided to carve her name into the fabric of the building:

Most curious plaque of the day was the one about the Queen of Haiti:

This lovely piece of architecture apparently started life as a Debenham's!

And lo, for the computer fans among us:

Used to hang out with Ada Lovelace - I was intrigued by the story of how her mother encouraged her interest in science, to make sure she didn't follow in the footsteps of her feckless father, Lord Byron!

This is an exclusive part of town, full of attractive mews and courtyards:

We heard about other interesting women, such as Christine Keeler, where we stood outside the house where she created the fuss that brought her affair to light. And saw the house where Emmeline Pankhurst really died! (contrary to her Wikipedia entry). But this is the thing about London - it's not only packed full of history (and herstory..), but interesting people continue to live here, and interesting things continue to happen. So many stories..

We finished on the site of the "hanging tree", where we learned the origin of the word "hangover". The site is now marked by a plaque, on a traffic island, on a busy junction.. but hey, they did plant three trees around it, to commemorate the triangular gallows!

And so we repaired to The Carpenter's Arms - where the sauvignon blanc is incredibly good value! so I had two. And we sat outside - my first time this year, and boy, did it feel good. And the company was excellent.

So to food - I ended up in the nearest Spaghetti House, where, funnily enough, I didn't feel like pasta! So I had a veal escalope, which was gorgeous- far from the one I remember in Malbun, years ago, where - in a highly expensive place, and keen to keep the price low - I had the cheapest option possible, which was dry as a bone. This one, today, came with a slice of lemon, and was very moreish - I had the option of sautéed potatoes or spaghetti, and chose the spuds - which were served as wafer-thin slices! For starter, minestrone - for the first time in ages - and, of course, chocolate cake for dessert. And sauvignon blanc that was more expensive than the pub. Naturally. When I finally rolled home, I was exhausted - ended up falling into bed, and sleeping the rest of the evening away! It's a while since I did that..

There isn't honestly much coming up that interests me on Meetup - so I'm thinking of heading to the cinema for the next two days. I've been having terrible trouble with that film listings site, though - even with the new week's films started, listings weren't complete! and new listings were being added over the weekend. Anyway, for tomorrow, what it's looking like is The Beasts - set in Galicia, in Spain, this is the story of a French couple who move to a rural area, only to spark an argument with a couple of their neighbours.. I hear good things. Showing in my local cinema, the Curzon Bloomsbury. Not that you'd know it from the listings site, which - last I looked - had no listing for that, in that cinema, for tomorrow!

For Tuesday, what's coming up is a Ginger Rogers film - the BFI is doing a season of her films. This one is a comedy called Bachelor Mother - daring for 1939, it has her as a single mother! Mind you, in her case, she finds the baby abandoned outside an orphanage.. also stars David Niven, and Charles Coburn as her father.

For Wednesday, I've booked For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide.. at the Apollo. I have a front-row seat in the Dress Circle - now, I seem to remember ridiculously tight legroom, here - so I'm at the end of a row, and Seatplan says it'll be OK if I lean forward.. Just yesterday, they asked me to "check in", and thereupon sent me my ticket..

On Thursday, I'm with TAC for a talk on Arab & Islamic Roots of Europe's Architecture, at St. Mary Magdalene Church.

Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend. On the 24th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for The Secret Life of Bees, at the Almeida - no seats left in the stalls, when I booked! Seatplan made me wary of the cheapest seats, so I'm in the next bracket up..

And on the 25th, back with Over 40 Living the Life, for dinner at the Greenwich Yacht Club again. Well, it was good last time - good food, cheap prices, good company. Four of us going so far - I'm sure there'll be more!

Walk: Bloody Brilliant Bermondsey Women

The weekend is all about London Herstory Guided Walks, the walks from a female perspective, as guided by Mandy Morrow. Today, 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.

Went to bed in decent time, for once - and got the bus down there. Not much difference in travel time from the Tube, actually.

Weirdly, again, Google Maps was telling me that the bus stopped just past the bridge - now, I was checking, and no it doesn't! It'd have been handy if it did, of course - but no, it stops in the bus station. Whence I made my way down to Duke Street Hill, and schlepped up the road until I found the guide. Who was where she'd said she'd be - not where the Meetup map had her, mind, but hey. We all found her.

I adore this part of town - was most jealous to find out that others in the group do live there. Tons of history - and just that bit disreputable. We went into King's College, where Virginia Woolf apparently studied:

and no tour of the area would be complete without a stop at The George!

Soon, we were at Crossbones Graveyard - once for prostitutes, then for the destitute in general:

The prostitutes of the area were known as the Winchester Geese - licenced by the Bishop of Winchester, and paying him tribute. Now, for all the times I've been past here, I'd never been inside - as it happens, today, we came across the guy locking the gate. And he was only delighted to take us in and show us around! The entrance is in the shape of a goose's wing:

One statuette was donated by a Mexican diplomat!

There's some poetry:

There's a poignant suicide corner:

There's a statue of a trans angel:

and oh! this is lovely. Apparently, it's a Japanese tradition - if you lose a child - to erect a mizuko in the garden, in remembrance:

The little one in the picture? Thrown over the wall, when the graveyard was closed - they decided it was appropriate to erect it with the others!

The donation box is a reproduction of the skull of one of the last people buried there - Elizabeth Mitchell, who died in her late teens, of syphilis. Hence the pockmarked skull - this one, however, was made from 2p coins!

Seriously, this was a highlight of the walk. Highly recommended that you visit, if you have the chance.

This was an area obviously keen to be of assistance - we couldn't stop anywhere, but someone was out and ready to add something! Like in Red Cross Garden:

Also has a library - one of those bring a book, leave a book initiatives. Fantastic community spirit, which we could do with more of in general.

The Church of St. George the Martyr incorporates part of the old Marshalsea prison, where Charles Dickens' father was imprisoned:

Sometimes, the female connection led us to some interesting sights. This, for example, was designed by a female architect, who had a thing for blue people:

Some plaques speak for themselves:

One of the most enjoyable features of the walk was the streets we walked through, lined with converted warehouses. And with surprising views:

Terrific walk, I have to say! A real winner. And for all the times I've been in the area, this was an almost completely new route.

Afterwards, we repaired to the Dean Swift for a drink - or several. At the cheapest price I've seen since I came to London, who could blame us? And a most convivial evening was had. When we parted, I headed for the nearest eatery - which turned out to be Cote. Where I was well fed - but in order to get the bill, had to get up and put my coat on. Usually works! In all though, an excellent day.

Tomorrow, 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 the other day, 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.

Walk: Women of Mayfair from Monarchs to Mistresses and More

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:

A curious trio of sculptures commemorates Twiggy:

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.

Glorious Greenwich Walking Tour (#2), Pub: O' Neill's, & Walk: Deeds Not Words! Suffragettes, Spies & Warrior Queens

Yesterday, well, Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners were back to Greenwich again. Now, I was there with him before.. not sure how "new" this one would be, but hey, it was a great day last time! So I signed up, and dragged myself out of bed to make the long trek. Enjoyed the views from the DLR en route, even if it was a grey day..

Arrived, found the group, went to pay. Now, I'd checked before I came out that I had enough cash - glory, it had disappeared! Had to source a cash machine - which was right across the road. Annoyingly, it's a busy road, so that took a while - as he said, "She's run off without my money!" Made it back before he left, anyway - as usual, he obligingly waited 15 minutes for stragglers. Some no-shows - ah well, can't be helped. Lots of faces familiar to me, anyway - and I see I wasn't away long enough for them to forget me! :-)

We actually started with an audience of pigeons:

Honestly, I appreciated hearing most of the facts of this walk again - many had become hazy. Like the story of Tam o' Shanter, who disturbed a coven of witches - one pretty, young one wearing a short skirt, known as a cutty sark. They chased him as he galloped off, coming close enough that the one wearing the cutty sark ripped a bit off his horse's tail:

It's always good to hear the story of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had a chequered career:

And even on a cloudy day, the views here are expansive:

I'd forgotten how much information is included in this relief! Some details about Nelson's battles - his prone corpse is seen cradled in the centre, and to the right are three figures depicting England, Scotland, and Ireland:

More wide expanses:

Inside, as well as outside:

As the walk continued, we got hungrier.. and finally, it was time to eat. And back to the Coach & Horses (inside, this time). Where I had a decent steak and ale pie - which I didn't quite finish, mindful that I'd be eating out again later. Anyway, Laurence wanted to try out The Gypsy Moth pub, so a couple of us went there with him - but they had no seats. So we ended up in The Spanish Galleon, which was blissfully uncrowded, and where we had a convivial one for the road. They have an interesting, curved bar - which the barman claims to be haunted. "Yes, the drinks slide away from you.." Perhaps it's to recreate the experience of drinking on a ship that's listing to the side!

Glad I came - it was great to see everyone, even if this was a repeat for me. Anyway, he has promised to try and schedule some walks I haven't done for weekends when I'll be available.. watch this space!

Yesterday evening, was to meet Ivan - and another ex-boss with whom I'm still friendly, Martin, for dinner: and wouldn't you know it, I actually managed to book O' Neill's. Wonders shall never cease.. of course, Christmas is over now, so things might calm down. Also, although the Six Nations was on that day, the matches were in the afternoon.. Handily, I just had time to shop beforehand, then scootched up the road, getting there about 5-10 minutes late for the booking. No need to book, really - there were about four tables upstairs that would have done. Unfortunately, Martin couldn't make it, in the end - his wife banged her head in the cab she took home from work, and he didn't want to leave her. Next time, hopefully.

Ivan wasn't too long after me - although, typically, he didn't actually eat. Unless you count Guinness as a food group! Me, I was only delighted to get back to that delicious katsu - it's been so long! I see the buttermilk chicken now comes with twisty fries, by default.. and I barely remembered to order onion rings. But it was delicious, and I scoffed the lot. And plenty of wine. Meantime, happily for me, Ireland won their Six Nations match, and happily for Ivan (whose family live there), Scotland won theirs. We could watch on the three large tvs in the room - they're big on sports in this pub. Upstairs closed at 9.30 - but we were to find that downstairs had plenty of space! So we stayed a while longer there, listening to the live music. It was his first time in an Irish pub, and he was bemused to see the people at a nearby table playing cards.. hey, as I said, that's the thing about Irish pubs, as long as you're not bothering anyone, you can do as you please! With a good playlist as well, it was an excellent night - and he's determined we should go back there, next time.. Naturally, I was too tired to blog last night, though.

Today, for ages, nothing on Meetup appealed massively - I thought I might go for a walk along the Ken's Events route, if I felt like it! (on my own). Or Over 40 Living the Life advertised a walk along the New River.. I'd have to see, as I'd have to pay to sign up (refunds given to those who then came). And I might well change my mind.. which I did, when Free Stuff and Free Events advertised a blues concert at the Earl of Chatham, Woolwich. It was a way out, is all - but then, it was free, if I wanted to cancel. And.. finally I did, because London Herstory Guided Walks! finally advertised a walk I could go on. I was recommended this group by someone a while ago - they run guided walks with a female theme. Today's was Deeds Not Words! Suffragettes, Spies, & Warrior Queens. Delighted to be able to go on one of theirs, at last - they're usually on during working hours. Only thing is, they didn't specify how to pay - cash on the day, I guessed, as they didn't take payment on booking. Mercifully, it was in the afternoon - I needed the rest, after yesterday!

Still, I left it tight - ended up on the Tube, rather than bus. Which was just as well, really - made it a lot easier to find our guide, Mandy Morrow, who was stood right in front of one of the exits! So all I had to do was stand there and have a good look around before I moved - frankly, the easiest walk I've ever had to locate! And she turned out to be lovely and friendly - three others joined, all regulars as well, apparently, and one of whom I knew from Discover London. A good sign, repeat business. Anyway, we had one no-show - Mandy seems quite reasonable about latecomers, as long as they message her to let her know what's happening.

We started with the women who worked as spies during the Second World War - but much of the walk was concerned with the Suffragettes, so it's handy that I saw Sylvia - about Sylvia Pankhurst - just during the week, and had some context! Anyway - we had a look at Caxton Hall, where they held many meetings:

(There was some confusion over the statues - turns out that they depict Queen Victoria and Edward VII.)

And so to Christchurch Gardens, and the Suffragette Monument:

In due course, naturally, we came to the monument to Emmeline Pankhurst (and her daughter Christabel, the only one who did something of which she approved!):

She wasn't the only one whose statue we saw:

And particularly evocative was the prison in which they were housed - the original building is still there! And wow, would you believe, they used lapdogs to carry messages to prisoners, training them to take the messages to the windows:

I got to see St. John's Smith Square from the other side:

I see the scaffolding has finally come down around Big Ben! and how it glistens in the sunlight:

And we had a lovely view of Westminster Abbey:

Our last famous, historical, woman of the day was Boadicea:

On Whitehall, as usual, there was a demonstration - today, it was in support of Ukraine. With a strident speaker, not short of things to say. And we finished with the monument to the women of WWII:

Small nugget of info for you - did you know that Waterloo Bridge is also sometimes known as the Ladies' Bridge? Because it was built by women during WWII!

Anyway, afterwards we repaired to the Crypt Cafe in St. Martin in the Fields - after we successfully navigated the chaotic queueing system, I discovered that their hot chocolate is excellent! For future reference. Closes at 5 on Sundays, but we had time for a lovely chat. Really hope I get to do something else with them before too long.

Afterwards, I needed a proper meal. Tried The Chandos first, but their dining area was closed! And so to Prezzo, which was fine - I had garlic bread, and chicken in marsala and mushroom sauce, which comes with fries. All of which was good, but maybe short on flavour. Friendly and efficient service though - and I was to discover that was partly down to their online payment system! So, you order with a waiter, as traditionally: but when it's time to pay, you scan the QR code at your table, and pay online! Smashing, saves all the waiting for the bill - plus it frees up the waiting staff to take orders and serve food. Smiles all around - excellent idea.

Got the bus home. Oh, and remember that cash that went missing? Yes, predictably I'd stuffed it in amongst my Euros.. duh..

Tomorrow, my first actual event with the Over 40s. We're off to How Not to Drown at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East - the first event of theirs for which I couldn't get a cheaper ticket! So I decided, if I couldn't beat them, I might as well join them. True story of an unaccompanied, 11-year-old asylum seeker.

On Tuesday, excited to be headed to see Derren Brown in Showman, at the Apollo Shaftesbury Avenue. Cheapest tickets with Official London Theatre again.

On Wednesday, off to The Lehman Trilogy, at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. Based on the true story of the bank that collapsed. Got the last £39.50 ticket!

On Thursday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Winner's Curse, at the Park Theatre - an interactive show about a peace negotiation. Turns out North London Friends are headed to it the same night - what, are they now copying this group, as another group did some time ago? (since closed down). And then I'm back to Ireland again.

And on the 13th, I'm headed to Allegiance, starring George Takei in a musical based on the true story of his time in an American internment camp during the Second World War. Showing at the Charing Cross Theatre.