Conference: SHERF 2021 & Cabaret: Marie Lloyd Stole My Life

Today, back with the Surrey History Meetup group - nominally - for yet another Zoom call. This time, it focused on SHERF 2021 - a day-long conference based on the work of the Surrey Historic Environment Research Framework, and specifically on church archaeology. As promoted by the Surrey Archaeological Society. Didn't think I'd quite be awake for the start, given the time I went to sleep!

And I wasn't. But after I got myself somewhat sorted, I turned it on in the background, and made a few talks.. there was one about the medieval practice of consuming stone dust! Yes, that was indeed a thing - they used to chip away at the stone walls of holy buildings, and save the dust to put in drinks. Hmm. (And nobody objected!) Then I watched a talk about how they think they've discovered the skeleton of some Anglo-Saxon saint - which was interesting - and a talk, massively abridged apparently, about the analysis of graffiti found in some old church. (The lady who kept nodding off during that one should really have turned off her camera.) Gee, imagine, this talk was once half as long again. But I will say this, there is a terrific amount of information to be gleaned in these old churches - they're a fantastic resource. And it's great that Surrey has such a rich historical tradition that they can make a conference around it! More power to them.

But gee, the London International Meetup belatedly advertised something good for this evening. They were off to a cabaret, at the Canal Cafe Theatre - this was Marie Lloyd Stole My Life! Now, TAC got me to a couple of shows here recently, at a cheap rate - pity they don't seem to have tickets for this! Never mind, I bought full-price, for once..

I had to go by Tube, but mercifully skirted the ongoing strike. And when I got there, the organiser was already in the bar, with another - after I'd got a drink, I joined them. Convivial chat followed, and when the time came for us to head upstairs, some loud-voiced person left us in no doubt. I was trying to juggle my drink and phone (complete with e-ticket), but never fear, giving my name was quite sufficient! And with a jazz version of The Little Drummer Boy on in the bar at the interval, and tinsel decorating the banister that led upstairs, you could say they are in the Christmas spirit, I guess..

We got tables near the front (there were five of us, in the end). And what a fun night! So, this is loosely based on the life of music hall performer Nelly Power - she takes the stage for the first half, regaling us with numbers as she describes her story, and how an upstart newcomer (the eponymous Marie Lloyd) nicked her most popular, as well as her manager. The second half, in contrast, concentrates more on the numbers.

Now, I'd heard of some of these - but didn't really know the words to any. But it was lovely to be in the midst of lots of people who did! I love 'em. Had a lovely time, and it was nice to meet all the folks. Very glad I made this last-minute decision! This show finishes tomorrow - very highly recommended, for those who fancy a traditional, music hall vibe.

Also very glad to be in from the cold, now - it's vicious out there. Now, while that conference was on today, I got an email from the Top Secret Comedy Club - advertising limited, £8 tickets for a David McSavage show tomorrow afternoon. Woo, I love that guy! So I've booked - jeez, haven't been there since the heady days of the Man with the Hat..

And I'll be done in time for evening, when I'm back with London European Club - we're off to Immigrant Comedy (standup comedy in English) at the Camden Comedy Club. Tickets from Eventbrite.. two shows, we're going to the later one. So, a Day of Comedy, indeed!

Global Evening Comedy

Whew, made it! I left it as late as possible to tell my mother that I was leaving - which turned out to be a good thing, as she had less time to be miserable! And she was in bed for the afternoon, which is probably the best place for that. Anyway, by the time I had to go, she was back in full nagging mode, telling me to do this and make sure not to do that.. and so we're back to normal.

I have to hand it to Ryanair - their customer service has improved. As I was getting ready to go, they texted me to warn me about roadworks, and waiting in the airport, they texted me what my gate was probably going to be! and so it proved. Mind you, so much for having to be there 2.5 hours beforehand - an hour would have been plenty. Of course, the fact that not one person asked us for our Covid certs, or proof of testing, helped. Meantime, the nice lady in the duty-free reminded me that I can claim duty now, flying to the UK! Gee, I'd forgotten that - and it'll prove very handy, one day.

D'you know, I'm so out of practice at this, I nearly forgot to book the Stansted Express. But I remembered, and have now booked tickets to correspond to all my flights. We actually got in ahead of our scheduled time, and so swiftly to Liverpool Street Station, where I see they've now introduced satisfaction rating meters and more (and comfier looking) seating! Which will probable help the approval rating.

Wow, it feels weird to be back - like reliving a past life. Anyway, it's fantastic to get to book stuff again. Sadly, Meetup is a bit bare, these days.. used to be, there was hardly a day when they didn't offer something decent! Anyway, best this evening seemed to be an online Zoom quiz with Free Stuff and Free Events. I signed up for it. And afterwards, I signed up to a free comedy gig - again, online - with London-International.

Well, four people signed up for the quiz - which the organiser mustn't have thought enough, because she cancelled without a by your leave. We never got formal notification - I just suddenly noticed it wasn't on my calendar any more. Well, no great sadness - and it left me free to eat out. I debated about what to do, and finally decided on Nando's - the nearest to the office being in Farringdon. I didn't bother with a mask, and wasn't asked. I did discover, however, that all ordering and payment is now done online - blasted QR code to scan, and my scanner always takes three goes to get it right! when all it does is redirect you to a website, which you could access directly. Never mind, it worked in the end - and despite rumours of shortages due to Brexit, they had my usual, which was what I ordered. Except that I decided to try their new, garlic and BBQ sauce - a combination I couldn't really imagine, but I was feeling adventurous. Oh, and they now only have one brand of wine - happily, it's mine, but I switched from sauvignon blanc to chadonnay, as the sauvignon now comes in a can!

In due course, someone came along to apologise - sadly, he was soft-spoken, and I couldn't hear him terribly well over the music, but it turned out that I was going to have to wait longer for my chicken, because he'd have to cook up a fresh batch - what was there was "bad"! Well, I have to praise his honesty. He also wanted to give me a complimentary starter, but I don't really fancy the starters there.

When it did come, it was lovely. That sauce is a curious combination, the garlic tempering the spiciness of the BBQ sauce, I guess - I'm kind of undecided about whether I'd have it again, but I did enjoy it. Now, I'd also ordered the choc-a-lot cake for dessert - and ordered them all at the same time. So a while after my main course had been cleared away, I began to wonder whether they knew about the dessert.. after all, I had to get back for the comedy show! Meantime, the soft-spoken guy came back to apologise again, but again I didn't quite catch what he was saying.

Sure enough, I ended up having to go up to the counter to tell them about my dessert - which, of course, came as a complete surprise to them. Well, it came in due course - and that is a damn good chocolate cake! The gelato that I ordered with it had a very strange taste though - I should have known better than to order gelato. Anyway, never mind - wouldn't you know it, I subsequently got an email to the effect that the entire order had been refunded to me! Well, wow, that was a good value meal.. I guess that was what he was trying to tell me, at the end.

Off I scurried, aware that I was going to be late getting home, what with delays to both courses. And I got lost in the City - well, it's been a while! Not to mention that I'd already had more exercise today than in the last year and a half - well, I needed to shop, but figured I'd better leave that till after. Sure enough, I arrived to my room 10 minutes late - booted up my laptop for the first time in a year and a half, and discovered - of course - that I didn't have Zoom on it! So I started the call initially on my phone, about 15 minutes late, at about 9.15, just as they were introducing a performer, filming in what looked like his bedroom - whether there'd been another before that, I don't know.

I guess this is a good idea, a way for inexperienced performers to break into the business. Dear God though, I'm glad I didn't pay for it! There were a few chuckles from the handful of us that showed up - not from me, and given what I was saying about him, I'm glad I had the presence of mind to go on mute. He had time for basically one joke, a lame thing about having sex with toys, and that was it - finished in 10 minutes, and.. so was the show! That was it! despite it being advertised to continue for another 20 minutes. Mind you, if that was any indication, I'm glad it didn't. I'm now reminded why I stopped going to free comedy..

Never mind, it was a cheap night, and I'm stuffed (and exercised). Tomorrow afternoon, one of the many that were hired by our company during lockdown, whom I've never met in real life, has invited me for coffee, yay. More optimistic about tomorrow night than tonight, when I've decided to take myself off to - gee - the cinema again! When I was checking the film list during lockdown (and how happy was I to see that back up and running again, these days - there was literally nothing on it before!, and it was shocking and saddening to see it completely empty. Well, it's pretty full now - and I do like their new policy of listing films in columns, across the page - it makes it much quicker to read. I was also glad of the number I saw in Ireland, which cut the total down a bit.

Anyway, having excluded the arty films at the top that were either not showing tomorrow, or just not interesting to me, I was delighted to come up with Another Round, in which Mads Mikkelsen is a disaffected schoolteacher, who, with a group of like-minded teachers, decides to test the theory that humans do much better slightly sozzled (i.e. having consumed a certain minimum amount of alcohol). This is a theory I've heard before, that small amounts of alcohol help with concentration. Anyway, initial results are so good that they take it a step further - but how much is too much? This is one that I seem to remember was showing in Ireland, but only in the evenings, which I couldn't do, because of having to keep my mother company. Anyway, its gone from my local cinemas there, but still showing in the Curzon Bloomsbury, yay! Nice cinema, with a nice price.. Interestingly, doesn't seem to have social distancing - unlike the cinemas in Ireland.

On Wednesday, my social life creaks back into action at last - the social group of ex-employees of my last company had two members suggest meeting me for drinks that day or the next. Great! Mind you, try getting a response from anyone else.. or a decision on the day, or the venue.. so we've provisionally got as far as "somewhere in Farringdon, on Wednesday." Herding cats, indeed.. s'pose I'll have to decide on the venue, too.

On Thursday - delighted to be back with Up in the Cheap Seats! Seeing Oleanna, a play about a professor who has a sexual harassment claim brought against him by a student, at the Arts Theatre. Always a topical theme.

On Friday, woohoo! Seeing NewsRevue at London Wonderground, courtesy of one of my cheap ticket sellers (CT). For less than 1/3 of the price, thank you.. and I really thought I wouldn't get to London Wonderground at all.. and it's at Earl's Court, which will be a blast from the past - I miss the job I had (and the office environment) when I was staying there, in the nicest flat I've had in London!

And on Saturday, meeting Helen! for lunch at the Bear & Staff, followed by leisurely secondhand bookshop browsing.

The Weekend!

Yep, all of the past weekend. I mean, it started quietly enough - as previously mentioned, I'd booked a ticket for Garnet's Gold in the London Independent Film Festival. That didn't start till late on Saturday evening, so I had all day to laze around before I headed back to Bermondsey for 9.15. It was great to know the way this time, although I wasn't quite so lucky with transport; I had a wait for my Tube, had to change at Earl's Court, and must have just missed my bus, because I had to wait nearly 15 minutes for another. Still, trust them to start late - I arrived about five minutes after scheduled start time, and although the door was open, they still hadn't started. And, of course, they again waved me through without checking my ticket. This screening was pretty full, but not completely, and it wasn't hard to find a decent seat.

This being a film festival, before we started we had a little speech from the director, who told us that the star was present, and would be doing a Q+A afterwards. The film is a bit over an hour long, and is a documentary about a chap called Garnet, who, approaching 60, wants to do something with his life. So he follows up on something that happened to him 20 years ago, when he was hiking in the Highlands, got lost and nearly died - but he did find a mysterious staff, wedged into a cleft in a rock by a stream. He kept the staff, and over the years developed the theory that it marked the spot of buried treasure - specifically, the hoard brought for Bonnie Prince Charlie's campaign, and hidden on the shores of nearby Loch Arkaig - as by the time it arrived, he'd already been defeated at Culloden.

It's an absolutely beautiful film, and I highly recommend it if you get the chance to see it. The cinematography is wonderful, and the Highlands have never looked more beautiful - or, when a storm blows in, more menacing. But it's also a tender and intimate portrait of one man and his dream. With an early start the next day, I didn't stay for the Q+A - but as I was leaving,  I caught sight of him entering, looking nervous. Really sweet, the whole thing - and I think I spotted some other people in the audience who'd featured in the film.

I'm glad I caught the end of this festival. Looking at the awards round-up, I see that two of the horror shorts I saw on Friday won awards: Best Horror Short for The Herd (can't fault that, it was very disturbing), and Best Short Short for Killer Road (well deserved, it was really witty). On my way home, I tried to enter the Tube station by the way I'd come out, but it was closed; continuing determinedly, I spied something interesting at the other end of a hotel entranceway:

Turned out to be a section of the old London Wall (part Roman, part medieval construction) that the hotel paid for the conservation of. It was also a detour I didn't have time for, but I did waste some happy minutes reading the history, and taking the walkway through an arch in the wall. An intriguing find!

As I say, I had an early start the next morning (yesterday). So, no blogging on Saturday night. Although I didn't exactly get to bed early - Microsoft did its usual thing of not working, and in trying to fix it, I stupidly followed their advice and proceeded to mess up my temporary internet files. Again. There's a moral there. So I was a bit groggy when the alarm went yesterday morning.

I skipped breakfast, taking some KitKat Chunkys with me instead. Well, whatcha gonna do.. so, this was a trip to Salisbury and Stonehenge, courtesy of the London International Meetup - whom I'd never done anything with before - and we had to meet at Waterloo for 8.45. On the way, I came across two main groups of people. First, those dressed in sports gear, carrying sports bottles and looking determined. (The London Marathon was on yesterday.) Second, those dressed casually, carrying cases and looking depressed. Really depressed. Well, I suppose you would be, travelling so early on a Sunday!

I think I got to Waterloo about five minutes early. Directions were to look for our organiser, Mark, under the big clock, where he'd be wearing an orange scarf - and he did indeed prove easy to find. However, we found ourselves waiting a while for the others. Three more showed up - and Helen would be meeting us down the line, closer to where she lives. But we were expecting several more! Eventually, he started trying to chase them down - some hadn't given him their phone number, although he'd asked, and one had already cancelled. He rang another, whom I believe he woke up, and who obviously wasn't coming now. The others were just no-shows.

Out of 13 who booked, eight didn't come in the end. This was generally ok, and Mark was philosophical about it - the train tickets were bought at the last minute anyway, after he knew who was there, and I think the same was true of the cathedral tickets. He cancelled one of the taxis he'd booked to take us from Salisbury to Stonehenge. All ok. Unfortunately, he'd also had to book Stonehenge tickets in advance, which are, of course, non-refundable: so I think it was bad form of people just to leave him hanging like that. It doesn't take long to let someone know you're not coming, after all..

Anyway, with our reduced numbers, we had no problem getting seats on the train, which was waiting on the platform. Unfortunately, one of our group had decided he wanted a bottle of water - when Mark came back from getting the tickets, this fellow was missing, and when he wasn't back after a certain time, Mark went in hot pursuit. And wouldn't let him buy the water he was holding, but made him come straight back. I'll say this for him - he's good at shepherding his charges!

On the train, we got two adjacent tables, and had them to ourselves apart from one other guy, who sat in the corner. I had occasion to go to the toilet soon after we left, which wasn't a pleasant experience - this was not one of the more modern train toilets, and was both cramped and wet. Meantime, Helen was sending news down the line that there was a problem at Andover, and train delays. It turned out to be lucky, both that we weren't travelling any earlier - or we'd have been delayed - and that we weren't passing Salisbury, because that's where our train chose to break down. :-) Hey, we were blessed.

Mark was a fount of information, which he freely imparted for the whole journey. He had guidebooks, flyers, an itinerary of events for Salisbury, which was celebrating a belated St. George's Day. We were to go to the parade, then had a choice - all, or part, of a guided tour, or a variety of other things. There were mock battles, a trial of St. George vs. the dragon, and of course the cathedral and its Magna Carta exhibition, in this, the 800th year since it was drafted.

When we arrived, he set a blistering pace into town so we'd catch the start of the parade. Which we did! It was a small affair, just stiltwalkers, kids on unicycles (and one on a pogo stick), and the town dignitaries. The parade proceeded from the Guildhall, round the building, and back to the entrance from the other side - and took 10 minutes. Cute!

What with me, Mark, and Helen, we took a substantial number of photos of the day. Plenty are available on the Meetup page for the event, linked to at the top of this post. Mine and Helen's are also on Facebook:

Mine:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10206911830338559.1073741877.1361836980&type=1&l=c43733ea94

Helen's: St. George & Dragon:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153283048362433.1073741954.762887432&type=1&l=cb58153e0e

Salisbury: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153283039957433.1073741953.762887432&type=1&l=02c8ba350c

Salisbury Cathedral: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153283030867433.1073741952.762887432&type=1&l=0926ffb1bf

Stonehenge: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153283067472433.1073741955.762887432&type=1&l=c6859a3564

A couple of areas in the square were roped off for events. Directly in front of the Guildhall, the parade was immediately followed by some Morris dancing. When that finished, we headed into the Guildhall for a cream tea (or squash, and there was also tiffin). This was held in the banqueting hall, filled with royal paintings, with a ceiling decorated with chandeliers. Apparently it's available for hire. And apparently, haunted by three ghosts, although they didn't bother with us.

Afterwards, the others headed on a guided tour, while Helen and I watched a mock battle (no dragons involved) and then had a wander through the town, returning to the Guildhall for 1pm for the trial of St. George vs. the dragon. This was held in an old courtroom, and turned out to be a hilarious affair, with the poor dragon looking far too cute to be guilty of anything. A packed courtroom was encouraged in a singsong, and a highlight of the proceedings was when the jester (acting for the defence) threatened to sing himself if the crowd didn't, and the dragon at that precise moment fell off his perch! Much hilarity ensued. Oh, and you'll be delighted to hear that the dragon got off.

As we passed through town, we came upon St. Thomas' Church, which Mark encouraged us to enter. We were not prepared for the wonders within - it's crammed with medieval wall paintings, and must be quite unique. Medieval-lovers, take note. This is special, and I don't doubt it's often overlooked, what with the cathedral just down the road.

We headed to the cathedral after that, and to the Magna Carta exhibition. The entrance to it includes a couple of video installations, one about human rights in general, the other more historical. Magna Carta itself is lodged in the Chapterhouse, in a covered marquee for protection, with various displays dotted about - and is fascinating to anyone with an interest in history. And the cathedral is stunning.

Afterwards, we all joined up outside the cathedral for our taxi to Stonehenge. It was a people carrier, room for us all, and we drove quite a distance - I overheard someone remark that public transport there is spotty. Given the cost of a taxi, as well as train fares, and entry fees to the cathedral / Magna Carta and Stonehenge, what we paid for the trip was very good value! And the scenery the whole way there was highlighted in yellow by fields of rapeseed.

Stonehenge has quite a comprehensive and modern visitor centre, and we busied ourselves in the gift shop while Mark picked up our tickets and audio guides. You can download the audio guide to your smartphone, which they encourage - but I didn't have headphones, so I went with the one you can pick up at the ticket office, as did a couple more. The trip starts with a 360-degree video presentation, which you stand in the middle of, and which gives you a flavour of the site, from the perspective of standing in the middle of the stone circle. Most atmospheric. Past that is a more conventional exhibition, with displays in glass cases, and info panels - another video at the end shows the evolution of the different parts of the site. Out the back door is a small display of Neolithic houses, which we left for later, instead heading straight for the shuttle buses up to the stones.

..and then we found ourselves getting off halfway (just our group). Mark's idea. There's a stopping point you can walk from, called Fargo's Wood - just ask the driver. O my poor feet! But it was worth it, for the walk over the hillside, with a good view of the stones in the distance - maybe not so much on a windy day, mind, in such an exposed landscape. When you get to the site, follow the numbers on the signs, which take you around to the left and correspond to sections of the audio guide, explaining the nature and history of what you're seeing.

They're imposing, brooding things, these stones - you can't get in amongst them, lest the site be damaged, what with all the people that want to see them. Instead, the marked path follows a circle around them, coming back to the start, from where we took the shuttle bus back to the visitor centre, had a mooch around the Neolithic village, tried our luck at pulling the sample stone they have there (not much success), and waited for our prebooked taxi out again. Well happy with ourselves, sated with history, and fairly exhausted.

Finally, we were promised food! The taxi took us to the Old Mill, just south of Salisbury. It's a pub/hotel/restaurant, in a tranquil setting (as described on the website) and in a fabulous old building. It was just a bit chilly to sit in the beer garden, and after we'd photographed the family of ducks in the mill pond, we nabbed a couple of tables in the bar, and after ordering at the bar, were shortly served by a friendly chap who insisted on calling all the ladies "My lovely". Which wasn't at all objectionable. Our food was well received in general, with my gammon steak being literally the finest I've ever had. I didn't much feel like dessert, but I would recommend this place to anyone in the area. Maybe not the Pinot Grigio, though - it was a bit insipid.

Afterwards, we made our way back past the water meadows, with sheep chasing swans on one side and iconic views of the cathedral on the other, on a gorgeous evening when the sun had finally decided to appear. A relaxed stroll took us back to the station, where we had a little wait before the train obligingly arrived - 10 minutes early - just to give us a seat! And we drowsily travelled back to town - except I could have done with more room to stretch my legs, which really needed some R&R. I would've disembarked in Clapham Junction and taken the Overground, but thought at the last minute to check the TFL website, and sure enough, it was closed yesterday for planned engineering works. So I continued to Waterloo with the others (sans Helen, who got off at the same place she'd got on, in the morning).

It's quite a while since I packed so much into one day, and what a fascinating day it was! Mark proved an accomplished and enthusiastic organiser - I couldn't have done better myself! ;-) And very good value, with delightful company. I'd be delighted to go on another of his trips - we'll see what comes up, for me and for him. In the meantime, I checked to see what was on tonight, and came up again with one of those Meetup theatre groups as the most interesting thing happening (Mark runs theatre trips too, but they're surprise shows, and frankly, I go to so many that odds are I'd have seen it already, so I don't go on those). Nope, this was with one of those groups that charge a membership fee - so, naturally, I booked my own ticket and will go on my own. (Theatre seems to be becoming a feature of Mondays!) Annoyingly, although they give the show name, they don't mention the theatre, so I had to Google it - and so it transpires that I'm headed to Everyman, in the National, tonight, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. They had only three tickets left - in the stalls, which is nice for a change - two at £35 and one at £25. So I took that one.

I might be headed to Guildford tomorrow - not sure yet - if so I won't go out tomorrow night, I'll be too tired. On Wednesday, though, I'm headed to another Meetup - my first with the World Music Meetup, who are headed to a Gypsy Jazz / World Music Jam at the Vortex Jazz Bar. Hmm!