Sandown Antiques Market

Yesterday, back with Bucket List London (BLL) - this time, it was a trip to Sandown Antiques Market. Well, I'd never been to Sandown, so decided this could be interesting. Crikey though, with the temperatures forecast for this weekend, I'd have to be careful in the great outdoors..

It was just the night before that I thought to check how I was getting there - well, I've been busy! Some investigation revealed that Esher, where I needed to get the train to, is outside the Oyster zones, so I needed a train ticket. And that would be Southwestern. Ooh, it's a while since I last travelled with them! They've developed an app since, which I could get my ticket sent to - happily, they did warn me, before I selected the electronic ticket option, that I'd need the app. So I duly installed it, and got my ticket without issue. Very good value, the Sunday return - just remember to select the open return option if you don't know what time exactly you'll be returning. Doesn't cost any more.

Google Maps told me when I'd need to leave - and lulled me into a false sense of confidence. I had to get the Victoria Line to Vauxhall, you see. And lo, it turns out to be an awful trek from where I get the Underground to where I can catch that line. Which they didn't consider. Sure enough.. by the time we pulled into Vauxhall, my train had already left. And the killing thing is, they're only half-hourly: very vexing for someone used to Tube departures every couple of minutes.

Well, at least it gave me time to buy some water for the journey - which was very much needed. I messaged the organiser, who gave me his number and told me to call him when I got there. I caught the next train without incident. At Esher, I was consulting my phone about where to go next when I was passed by an elderly man and his dog. The human asked me where I was looking for - when I told him, he pursed his lips and said that was a very long walk - at least half an hour. Anyway, he pointed me the right way, and off I set. At a reasonable pace, in the heat. And no, it didn't take half an hour! (Perhaps it would have for him. Or the dog.) Lots of houses for sale or let along the main road, I recall - well, it's a busy road.

Inside, I was delighted to see the entire thing wasn't in the sun - I'd had visions of a hot day. But there were stalls in the building as well. I phoned the organiser, got directions to where they were - but wow, with that vivid shirt he'd have been hard to miss! Well, this is the weather for the shirt, to be fair. Now, it transpires that he - and the other person attending - are more antique affionados than I am: but I enjoyed just mooching around. I even did see something that I'd have loved to buy! They had a stall with old maps and charts. But Where Would I Put It? So I was the only one of us not to buy anything.

For lunch, they'd brought food, I bought a bacon roll from the food stall. And of course I had water. And we found a lovely spot - on seats in the grandstand, in the shade, and with a view that encompassed Heathrow to the left, the Wembley arch in the middle, and the City to the right. Ah, lovely. I even got to talk about U2. B-) The market itself wasn't as big as they'd expected, and we left for the 1.55 train. Except.. when we arrived in the station car park, the train was already stopped at the platform. The far platform. And thus, I missed my second train of the day. :-) Never mind, the company was excellent, and I had a lovely day out.

Needing more food, I decided the handiest thing to do - unsure of where to eat around Vauxhall, although I did buy another bottle of water - was to head to O' Neill's, near home. Turned out to be an inspired choice - they were, of course, showing the All-Ireland Hurling final between Limerick and Kilkenny, and the place was packed. A lot more Limerick supporters than Kilkenny, it turned out - many in county jerseys. I was lucky to get a table in the corner, even if I couldn't see the screens that were showing it - just the golf.

With the pub so packed, I was glad to have the app and order from the table. The food came without delay - and meantime, I knew by the crowd's reaction when someone had scored. I even knew which team, given that there were so many Limerick supporters! Now, I didn't have skin in the game - neither is my county - but hey, Limerick are neighbours.. so.. With all of this excitement, I had to know what was going on, so followed the live feed online. And wow, it was a close one - Limerick with the advantage in the first half, but of course Kilkenny had a hell of a pep talk at halftime, and came out fighting. It was a close-run thing - but Limerick carried the day. Hell, a woman at a nearby table, overcome with the euphoria, even made an attempt at Limerick, You're a Lady..

Lovely end to the day, and I spent the evening in. Blogging. But as this was a three-parter (because I couldn't fit all the labels in one post), it took forever.. just as well I have no work today, and could finish it, hey?

Tonight, back with North London Friends! for the first time since before lockdown. This is for an Edinburgh Comedy Festival preview, at the King's Head in Crouch End, featuring Lucy Porter and Rachel Fairburn.

Tomorrow.. I took a punt that I wouldn't actually be employed that day, and signed up again - at last - for a walk with Laurence and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners. This is The Magic of Midtown - and as I said to him, it finishes very near my new home! I also promised to let him know if I couldn't actually make it. Another day predicted to be scorching.. shade recommended! And wouldn't you know it - he postponed it, as a result. So now, instead, I'm headed with London Baroque Music Lovers to a late-night gig at the Albert Hall - Prom 7 is Dido and Aeneas. Can hide indoors until evening.

On Wednesday, I finish my Meetup run with a trip with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) to Leicester Square Theatre to see Frankie Boyle, who has a work in progress show.

On Thursday, I'm heading - at last - to Summer by the River at More London. This is for a free evening of music, curated by Soho Radio. Meeting someone for this, we are getting food beforehand at Wawa - she's keen on ramen. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. Unlikely to get to a film at the weekend, as I need to get my car serviced for its NCT - sooner the better, and I couldn't last time I was back.

Next Monday, I'm headed to see The Throne, a comedy about to open at Charing Cross Theatre, in which the Queen gets locked in a portaloo with a staunch republican. Time Out has an offer of £10 tickets for the cheapest seats for this - a saving of more than 50%!

On the 26th - tan-ta-ra! I finally managed to get a decently priced ticket to Jerusalem, at the Apollo. I have heard so much about this, and it's always at the top of the Time Out listings - nearly as hard as Hamilton to get a reasonably priced ticket for, so I'm delighted to get one, if only not to have to look any more.

On the 27th, back to Summer by the River again.. for Bumper Blyton: Improvised Adventures for Grown-Ups! Improvised comedy in the style of Enid Blyton books.. sounds jolly good!

On the 28th - another UITCS event that Meetup finally decided to flag to me. So I've booked to go with them to see Briefs Factory's show, Bite Club! at Queen Elizabeth Hall. Drag, burlesque.. should be fun!

On the 29th, I was thinking about the National Theatre's River Stage 2022. This will be the first night of the Hackney Empire's Young Producers Weekend, and there'll be some dance and some music. But now, Civilised London has organised an Ecuadorian meal at El Inca Plebeyo - so I'm going to that instead. His choices are always good. Meeting beforehand at The Canonbury Tavern.

On the 30th, back in Greenwich with BLL - we're starting with the Old Royal Naval College and National Maritime Museum. Was originally supposed to be the Queen's House to finish, but turns out they're booked out all day for a wedding, despite not having clarified that on the website! Then in the afternoon, we're headed to Eltham Palace and Gardens. Quite the packed day..

On the 31st, back with TAC for the opening night of I'm Not Myself Today: A Villainous Cabaret at the Bread and Roses in Clapham. An hour in which someone discusses with us why we all love the villain!

On the 1st, I'm going to the Kiln Theatre for The Darkest Part of the Night. Another troublesome website - I tried for days to get it to work..!

And on the 2nd, thinking vaguely about the Camden Fringe, which runs all next month - there's, for example, an interesting audio event called A Little Drape of Heaven, where you hold a precious item of clothing to your heart, then press play to access a YouTube link that you've paid for. Hmm.. Meantime, Laurence has postponed that walk to this day. Which I can go on as well, assuming I'm not gainfully employed yet..!

Concert: Method in Madness

For tonight, I got a cheap ticket to another classical concert, with a different seat-filler group from Tuesday - this was a concert of Vivaldi arias, at the Trinity United Reform Church. Part of the Wimbledon Music Festival. This far out, it'd have to be Tube.

I hope you're sitting comfortably - this was quite a journey. So, I left a little later than intended - I knew I wouldn't make the District Line train that I needed to, to get there in time, so it was now to be Tube and train. I started with the Central Line, very pleased that I was in time for a train earlier than the one specified by Google Maps. Even more pleased that I'd had to come this way, what with the announcement that there were only "minor" delays on the Central Line, due to a lack of drivers. As opposed to the "severe" delays on the District Line, along with many others, due to faulty trains. Gee, my tardiness saved me again! Had some fun watching a really small mouse on the tracks run off at lightning speed when he felt the rumble of the train approaching.

But of course, being the Central Line, the train was too packed to squeeze onto. And now I was waiting for the one that Google Maps said I needed to take, and hoping against hope that it'd be less crowded - also pessimistic, given that you kind of always have to leave earlier than Google Maps' optimistic estimates, if you need to be somewhere for a certain time. Happily, it was a lot less crowded, so I squeezed on - and it was a squashed journey indeed, for four stops. At least I got to Oxford Circus when I was supposed to, which was where I had to change lines.

I had to make for the Victoria Line - and this was where my time deviated seriously from the Google Maps estimate. It was impossible to progress through the thick crowds - I hadn't a hope of making the train that Google Maps said I needed to. At least the Victoria Line was a lot more spacious - I even got a seat, after a bit! At Vauxhall, when I finally wheezed my way up all those steps to the platform, it was just in time to see my train to Wimbledon depart. Blast, I was never going to make it on time now.

Google Maps was of the opinion that I'd have to wait for 15 mins for the next train - nonsense, there was another right along! Different destination, but it still stopped in Wimbledon. So I hopped on. Unfortunately, it was the slowest train known to humanity - and rubbish to Google Maps' 11-minute estimate for the journey time three stations away, to Wimbledon; it took 5 minutes more than that before we finally crept into the station. Ponderously. No wonder the trains are always late.

So it was already showtime - but at least I'd made it to Wimbledon. I had more steps to climb (!) to the exit - with no clear idea whether to go left or right, since there was an exit at each end, I chose the one beside the lower-numbered platforms. Yay, for once this evening, I was in luck. So I set off down the town - it wasn't a long walk, but I was further delayed trying to cross roads, in horrendous traffic. Gee, you really forget how bad the traffic is in West London. I finally reached the church, 10 minutes late.

Mercifully, the doors were open, and two ladies were stood just inside, looking as though they worked there. After a bit of a fluster, they found my ticket, and where I was to sit - although, as one of them told me, I might just take a seat to the rear - there should be some free. Which is exactly what I did - the place isn't huge, my view was fine, and even when I could have moved, at the interval, I decided to stay put; I had the pew to myself, could spread out, and hey ,if my cough flared up, I could make a hasty exit: or at least not bother too many people. Which is when it occurred to me that my cough was really behaving itself - yes, I had a little tickle: but even with the really cold night air, and all the steps I'd had to climb, it really didn't cause any trouble! Wow.

Some beautiful music was just getting underway - sounding recognisably like Vivaldi. But then, I noted the same thing when I saw an opera of his, last month - some of which was doubtless in tonight's concert, but I didn't recognise it. But what was unique about tonight's concert was that it was accompanied by an electric guitar - and by some very modern pieces! They mixed it up quite a bit, mixing arias with instrumental pieces, and baroque music with rock. It didn't always work, and some of the older audience members were unimpressed, and left after what was probably the highlight of the show - a spirited rendition of Summer from the Four Seasons, in the second half. Pity for them - they missed a great version of Feeling Good, to finish the show!

It's funny, most of the time I've lived in London has been in West London, but I've never before been to this festival - if this is a typical example of their output, it's worth checking them out. The festival runs till the 24th, and this ensemble is performing a few more shows at the weekend. Very glad I stuck with the horrendous journey. It was easier coming home, of course, and a lot cheaper - for goodness' sake, that train on its own cost more than my concert ticket! I caught the bus to Colliers Wood Station, very glad to be rescued from waiting in the cold - and wouldn't you know it, the ticket machine wasn't working, so I got that trip for free! The heat of the station was a relief - the station mouse was bigger too - and the Tube was much less crowded, now. Boy, was I tired as I climbed the steps out of Moorgate, though.. lotta steps today.

Tomorrow.. well, 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners are off around the Southbank Christmas market. So I said, well, I can do that on my own - thus avoiding the Meetup fee, and I'm not pushed about the meal. Good chance to start on my Christmas shopping. But then I thought I might go to a film - the listings change that day - and gee, what's coming on top of the list but The Irishman. Never mind the plot, or that it's three and a half hours long - for goodness' sake, it's directed by Scorsese, and just look at the cast list. Robert De Niro plays the eponymous Irish-American, Frank Sheeran, who works for the mob. Anna Paquin is his disapproving daughter, Peggy. Joe Pesci is his mob boss, Russell Bufalino, and Ray Romano plays his cousin, and Jimmy Hoffa's lawyer, Bill. De Niro ends up as a driver for Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Harvey Keitel is the leader of another crime family, Angelo Bruno. I am so there. Showing in my local cinema too - and the Barbican has comfy seats. Not selling out at this point - watch this space.

On Saturday, I'm with cheap ticket source #1 - you have to book something with them every three months, or be expelled (!). Honestly, I've never heard such draconian regulations. So I'm going to Stop Kiss, above the Stag.

On Sunday, back with the Crick Crack Club (CCC) for 1001 Nights, at the British Museum. Mea culpa, I recently told people that this was The Embers Collective - nope! Turns out it's not. Ah well.

On Monday, back, after a week, with Up in the Cheap Seats for Falsettos, at The Other Palace. An aisle seat, as usual - legroom is poor, here.

On Tuesday, back with them again for Acosta Danza - Evolution, at Sadler's Wells.

On Wednesday, Anthony's Cultural Events and Walking Activities Group is off to a performance entitled Virginia Woolf - Killing the Angel, at the LSE. So I'm going on my own, and saving the Meetup fee - I haven't had that much luck with socialising with them, anyway. And now that Meetup is full.

Next Thursday, back with Spooky London - the John Snow Pub. Then another weekend in Ireland.

On the 25th, the CCC is back with Rebel Children, at the British Library. Ben Haggarty & Jan Blake - ooh yeah!

On the 26th, my annual trip to Winter Wonderland - heading to Cirque Berserk and the Ice Kingdom, as usual. Someone said he might come along.

On the 27th, the first night in ages with North London Friends! We're at A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, at Trafalgar Studios.

And on the 28th, our ex-company's social group's Christmas meeting. We had a tiff about the venue - the organiser decided on Thai Square, which I think is overpriced and underwhelming. So he started to grumble about the difficulty of getting somewhere before Christmas - which will take a group, and doesn't cost the earth. Still though, he came up with an alternative - we've decided on the Warwick Castle pub in Little Venice. Lovely area, the pub sounds nice - with a Christmassy open fire, and a room we can book - and hey, it's a pub, which won't throw us out as quickly! Must get on to booking their wine deal.. 10% off if you order at least £150 worth. Which I'm sure, among the dozen or so that are coming, we'll manage to drink. And gee, he's had us choosing what we want off the menu..