The Boys have been spending most of the Easter holidays with their other grandparents, but they are back in Town now, and came to visit us today. We took them to lunch at Fish, Wings and Tings in Brixton; they have since pointed out that I had the fish, the Swan Whisperer had the wings, and they had the tings (to wit, chicken curry and curry mutton). The Boy and I drank sorrel; the other two played it safe with diet Coke and Brixton beer!
After lunch, the Swan Whisperer, Boy Two and I - the Boy had to leave us to go and hit the books, as his GCSEs are imminent - went up to the Guildhall Art Gallery for the prime purpose of visiting the Heritage Gallery's exhibition on Epping Forest. I had booked us tickets, but the receptionist said that was all she needed to know - she didn't need to actually see the tickets! They were free, anyway, and granted access to the whole art gallery.
The exhibition was, as the receptionist warned us, very small, but nevertheless interesting. It included a really old map of the City of London, and a Victorian map of Epping Forest together with some rather difficult to read info about how the City saved the Forest for London, and prevented it being "developed". And some public notices about not littering and so on.
We then visited the Roman Amphitheatre which was next door to that gallery - this was discovered when they were excavating the foundations for the building. Very interestingly done - more photos on Facebook.
We also looked at some of the pictures in the gallery - a very eclectic mix, although mostly about London. One we loved showed the swearing-in of a Mayor, but none of the other aldermen present were listening, but were chatting among themselves!
After that, we went to look at the church of St Lawrence Jewry, which was just across the courtyard. This is a very old church, but the present building is Wren, although substantially rebuilt in the 1950s as it had been damaged in the War. It was rather lovely, and I took a lot of photos, the best of which will be on Facebook.
Then I had to go, as I had a much-needed hair appointment. I left Boy Two and the SW to their own devices, and headed down the Tube at Moorgate. But there were some lovely buildings from every era! I do enjoy exploring the City.
No comments:
Post a Comment