Day Trippers! 6 August 2026

 Didn't we have a lovely time, the day we went to Bangor....  Well, Bangor is a bit far away for a day trip, but C2C are offering £15 returns to Southend-on-Sea during August, so we decided to take advantage of this, as neither of us had ever been to Southend.

Neither of us had ever caught a train at Fenchurch Street Station before, nor do I think either of us had been on a C2C train.  Not that they are any different from any other commuter-type train in this country these days, although slightly more comfortable than most.

We had to collect our tickets from the station - they do do e-tickets, but I think you had to buy them on the app, which I ended up downloading anyway to get accurate timetables.  I had bought them via their website, so was issued a code.  We arrived at a side entrance to the station (Northern Line to Bank, then Monument to Tower Hill and a short walk - I thought Bank and Monument were linked underground, but it appears not to be the case.), and the one and only ticket machine was being used by a couple of people who were having trouble with it.  I went to the kiosk, which was staffed, and was issued our tickets no problem - I gather the machine was misbehaving.

The next train was leaving in a couple of minutes, so we got on it and about an hour later arrived at Southend Central, from where it was only a short walk down to the pier.  We decided to buy tickets for the pier railway, and were lucky enough that they held the train for us, or we'd have had to have waited half an hour for the next one.  The little train - a narrow-gauge railway - crawls along to the end of the pier.  The carriages are enclosed, with sideways bench seats.  Many years ago, there used to be a similar railway along the pier at Walton-on-the-Naze, which we took many times when we holidayed there in the 1960s, but that, I think, had open carriages and has long since demised.  I gather this one did close for awhile, but reopened.  

At the end of the pier, we had a lovely walk round.  The pier pokes out into the Thames Estuary, and we could see the Maunsell Sea Forts on the horizon, as well as watching a container ship come downriver (from Tilbury, we assumed) and head out to sea.  We also visited the lifeboats, and I bought a packet of rhubarb crumble biscuits for the Swan Whisperer, as it's all in a good cause. Lots of photos on Facebook, of course.

Then it was time to catch the train back to the town, which we did with rather less haste and more decorum than we had the outbound one!  And it was lunchtime.

There is really only one thing you can eat when on a day trip to the seaside and that is, of course, fish and chips.  The main road was lined with chippies, and we patronised one where a waitress was standing outside offering the menu.  We could, we discovered later, have found cheaper elsewhere, but it didn't really matter, as the cod and chips were excellent!  I couldn't eat all my chips, but had a jolly good try!  I drank fizzy water, and the Swan Whisperer had a 7-Up!  

After lunch, we made ourselves comfortable and then went for a short walk towards a building that we could see some distance away, which turned out to be the old Kursaal.  I gather this may reopen - it certainly looked far from abandoned and derelict, but we decided that was probably far enough to walk, so turned back and walked along the prom (prom-prom, but there wasn't a brass band going tiddley-om-pom-pom) back to where we could get an ice-cream - a 99 for the SW, and a scoop of rum and raisin for me, and then we walked back to the station.  We had discovered, on the way out, that there was a slightly different route we could go back, which went past Tilbury, so we got that, although we couldn't see very much of the port as the hedges were too high.  Then we walked to a 35 bus stop, and had to wait rather a long time for a 35, but one came in the end and we sat on that all the way home, a quick dash into Lidl to get some necessary staples, and then home and flaking out!  

Oh I do like to be beside the sea side...

A walk in London, 27 April 2026

 The Swan Whisperer left the charging cable for his computer in Sussex on Friday.  Fortunately our niece was able to bring it back to London, and today we went to her office to pick it up - sadly, she was too busy to come out to lunch with us.  I decided to go too, and then we could have a walk afterwards.  I forgot to set my watch recording when we came out of Temple Underground station, but this was our walk from Cs office onwards:

I'm surprised it was so long - we went fairly slowly through the Middle and Inner Temples and along Fleet Street towards St Paul's .  I spotted a Cote, and remembered that they are offering a daily special for just £10 at the moment, and that Monday's is steak and chips.  The SW didn't really believe me, but I was proved right, and very good it was, too.  And not too much!

After that, we walked across the Millennium Bridge, and along the South Bank to Borough Market, stopping at a random ice-cream van to buy a 99 each, and so to Borough High Street, where we had to wait an unconscionable time for a 35.  But one came at last, and we came home - and I fell fast asleep in my chair for a couple of hours and am only just rousing up now!  A thoroughly enjoyable walk.  Photos on Facebook.

Guildhall Art Gallery, 9 April 2026

 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.

Along the river, 6 April 2026

 A fine Easter Monday, for once, so we decided to walk along the river.  We've been along the South Bank umpteen times before, but we had never walked westwards - and there are some new bits to explore, thanks to the Thames Tideway Tunnel, which has created several new areas of reclaimed land along the Thames where they had works.  

We started by walking into Brixton, where we caught a no 2 bus to Vauxhall, and then a short walk brought us to the first of these, which is is Effra Quay, where the River Effra used to flow into the Thames but now flows directly into the Tunnel.  

It  has superb views over London to the east:

and definitely surreal ideas about seating areas:

Yes, those are what they look like!

I think these pipes are ventilators, but I could be wrong:

We moved on a bit, stopping to admire this very splendid lion on the edge of the quay proper (not, I think, yet in use)

past the Spies'R'Us building (otherwise known as MI6 HQ), to the Isle of Effra, which we thought was less exciting.  But they are building a garden below it (not accessible to the public), and there was an access hatch to the Effra itself!

Then we moved on towards Battersea Power Station, via the posh new developments:

Past lots of river transport

Including sailing dinghies

and barges, moored up.

Above is a good view of the former Power Station (known in certain circles as the Time Police HQ!)

This, below, was the second new bit of reclaimed land, known as the Heathwall Pumping Station, which we thought was a bit underwhelming.  There are plenty of other quays and islands, but on the other side of the river from where we were.

I don't know what the "Tideway Village" was, but there were a few privately-owned barges moored up in it.

and then, where we think was once where the coal barges came to service the power station, there was this rather splendid statue:

with these barges down below, between us and the horse

After which, the photogenic part of our walk came to an end, as we could go no further along the Thames.  So we cut down to the main road, and walked to the start of the P5 route, which took us home again!

Afternoon Tea at the Museum, 26 March 2026

 For some years now, it has been the delightful custom of my sister and/or my mother to give Robert and me a voucher for afternoon tea somewhere.  This year, at our request, it was at the Science Museum.

We booked our tea for 15:00, and were told we needed to be at the museum by 14:30, but we wanted a bit of a look round while we were at it, so we left home about 13:15 (as I need to eat regularly, I had had a small lunch at about noon; the Swan Whisperer, who had been out all morning, didn't bother), going on the Tube from Brixton, and changing at Victoria.  We walked through the tunnel at South Kensington, to save faffing about with crossing the road, and were quite surprised how long it was!  The other museums were nearer....

Anyway, we got there at last and got into the museum very easily.  It is so different from what it was in my childhood, although the horrible mine is still there at the entrance!  It's even changed since we took the Boy there when he was a toddler!  We pottered round "The Making of Modern Life", and had planned to visit the Space exhibition, but this was rendered hideous by school groups racing up and down and screaming.  There is much to be said for the old-fashioned "crocodiles"!  So we decided to go up to the first floor - the café where the tea was is on the 2nd - as somehow one hardly ever goes above the ground floor.  In my childhood, there was a large children's area in the basement, which was our go-to on wet days when we stayed with my grandmother, who lived nearby.  That's long since gone, of course.  Anyway, we looked round the Wellcome exhibition, and then went upstairs.  I left the Swan Whisperer looking round the mathematical exhibition, which meant less than nothing to me, and spent a very happy 20 minutes wandering round the Clock Museum, which was totally new to me. 

The SW had to pay a quick visit to the Difference Engine, of course.  And then it was time for tea.

The service was good and attentive, and the meal was delicious.  But I'm only giving it four stars, as they had no lemon to put in my tea.  I don't bother with it at home, but on a special occasion - and they ought to have had it.  What they did provide, though, was a doggy-bag, as I couldn't eat all my share, so I've bought it home and will enjoy some of it later.  I watched the end of the men's free on my phone while we were waiting to be served!  

We decided to go home on the bus, which was a bit of a mistake as it was very slow, due to road works, but we got there in the end.  And home in time for most of the pairs free!

The Caravan, Camping and Motorhome show, 17 February 2026

In hindsight, of course, we should have gone by train to the NEC, but when your tickets include free parking, you don't really think of it!  However, the NEC is about 3 hours each way from London, and it made for a very long day in the car.

We set off at about 10:15 am, stopping for petrol and buying sandwiches when we were at it, and arrived at about 13:30.  We were able to catch a shuttle-bus up to the NEC itself, our car park being about 15 minutes' walk away.  Once there, we made ourselves comfortable, and then spent a very happy 3 hours or so wandering around the five halls devoted to the exhibition.

We are not in the market for a new motorhome, but it was nice to look round the new Pilotes, deciding what was nicer than our one, and what was less so ("But where do they put their clothes?" we asked, of one model!).   However, the joy of these occasions is the huge variety of stalls scattered along the sides of the halls, selling everything from accessories for a motor home or caravan (but we couldn't find a reversing camera, which is what we really wanted, and the only thing that might have been a stove-top oven, which I quite want (like this one, for instance) was eye-wateringly expensive.  In the end, we didn't buy very much - a new power-bank which came with a free screen protector for the Swan Whisperer's phone, and some glasses-cleaner (what, has that got to do with camping, I wonder - something we wondered about many of the offerings!).  We did, however, pick up quite a lot of brochures about France (which, one of the stall-holders told us, is pretty much completely under water right now - I hope we don't get too wet when we set off next week), and about television aerials/wi-fi boosters, as ours doesn't seem to work.

After a much-needed cup of tea, with a slice of cake (for the Swan Whisperer) and a flapjack for me, it was time to head home.  There was no sign of a shuttle-bus to our car park, so we walked back, and then it was a long, slow drive home.  I did sleep some of the way, but found this morning that it takes more than one night's sleep to recover from this level of exhaustion.  But it was great fun, and I'm glad we went.  Next year, if we go again, it will be by train!

An afternoon with Bartholomew. 26 January 2026

The boys had an INSET day today.  The Lanky Teenager planned to spend the day with his friends, playing badminton and maybe revising (February mocks are coming up), but Boy 2, at a loose end, said he'd like to come to us.

He came by himself for the first time, having stayed on the Tube after his mother got off.  We met him at Brixton, although I'm sure he would have been perfectly capable of travelling the rest of the way on his own.  

We didn't do anything in the morning; the Swan Whisperer had a meeting, and then he had some paperwork to catch up on, so it was lunchtime before we headed off, to eat at Mama Lan (link) at Boy2's request - we've eaten there before and enjoyed it.  I chose chicken wings and vegetable dumplings, he had chicken noodle broth and the Swan Whisperer had chicken fried rice.  All delicious, although I did give the SW one of my chicken wings and probably shouldn't have eaten the last one, either.  

Then we went out. I wanted to see the Great Hall and the Hogarth Staircase at St Bartholomew's Hospital, which is on a direct 59 bus from Brixton, so we went there.  

First of all you come across the church of St Bartholomew the Less, which we looked into briefly, having come through the Tudor Arch with its statue of Henry VIII (didn't manage to get a photo of the statue, which is apparently the only one of him).  

It was well worth going - the staircase, portraying the Pool of Bethesda (link) and the Good Samaritan.  And the Great Hall is truly spectacular - three fireplaces, which reminded me of a mediaeval hall, and it's about that size! 

It is part of the North Wing of the hospital, which had three wings built round a large square (the East wing was delayed as their treasurer absconded with the funds but was eventually built),

designed by James Gibbs and built in the 18th century (I think - I am finding it a bit vague).  The site has been beautifully restored, and has not been open to the general public before.

When we had finished, we went into the hospital museum, which was quite interesting, and included a short film about the life of the first founder, Rahere.  Henry VIII had to refound it after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, as one of the Laws of Unintended Consequences was a vast influx of sick and indigent people that had previously been cared for by the religious communities and now had nowhere to go.  

After the Museum, we visited St Bartholomew the Great church (link), just outside the hospital, which is apparently London's oldest parish church.  It works closely with St Bartholomew the Less, within the hospital grounds.  It was rather lovely, although it honked of incense (which isn't really a bad smell, but doesn't actually enable me to worship.  Still, each to their own.), with Rahere's tomb

and modern paintings and an appalling Damien Hirst statue (link) showing St Bartholomew holding his skin. I did not take a photo of it!

When we had finished, there was about half an hour before the Daughter was due to finish work, so we decided to walk over to Tavistock Place.  This was through a part of London I really don't know very well, through a couple of old graveyards and past the Postal Museum.  I'd shared our location with the Daughter, so she came to meet us.  Then the SW and I jumped on the nearest bus, and changed at Holborn on to a 133 to Brixton - I fell asleep! - and then there was a 35 just behind, so home.  

Photos on Facebook, as per usual.

A disastrous railtour! 20 December 2025

 It should have been a lovely day!  We have been on several railtours before, and always enjoyed them very much, so that when we learnt that UK Railtours were organising a trip to Durham with an optional excursion to the Beamish Living Museum (link), I treated us to the day as part of the Swan Whisperer's Christmas and birthday presents.  

We started off by cutting it really rather close to get on the train as we had called in at McDonald's to get a breakfast (you would have thought that it would be quiet at 07:00, but no!).  However, we got to our seats in the end, which were very comfortable, but very difficult to get into and out of as the armrests didn't move, and there was very little room between the armrest and the table!  Another couple joined our table at Potter's Bar, and promptly latched on to us for the rest of the day, which cramped our style rather!  

I should have packed a couple of peppermint  humbugs to keep my blood sugar going, as eating breakfast two hours earlier than usual, and then not eating lunch until we arrived at Beamish was a Big Mistake, especially as there were queues everywhere.  We found a café that could sell us a packet of biscuits, which helped, but there wasn't really time to do more than find another café that did us rather nasty toasted sandwiches, and took so long about it that we then had to go straight back to the buses!  On our own, we could have probably seen a lot more than we did, even if only very quickly, and especially if I hadn't had that hypo, but as it was, it was rather a waste of a visit.  I only took two photographs, one of the tram shelter all dressed up for Christmas

and the other of two buses at the stop once we had arrived back at the exit.

We got back to the buses in good time, and they got us back to the station in good time.  The train left slightly late, but had a scheduled stop to make up time and find its path - but it got there and then broke down!  

Fortunately the train remained warm and lighted, and the buffet was still well-stocked with sandwiches and so on, but we sat in what was pitch darkness outside for literally three hours!  They did keep us informed.  The engine drivers turned it all off and on again, to no avail, and eventually a freight locomotive was removed from its train to shunt us into a siding while we waited and waited for a replacement engine to arrive from  York or somewhere like that.  This took an hour, and by the time we moved off, it was nearly the time we should have been arriving back in London, and felt even longer!  Eventually we were told we would arrive back in London about 00:30 instead of the 22:10 it should have been!

They went round the train checking that people would still be able to get home that night - I don't know what they did for those who couldn't, but I expect they arranged cars or something. We had been allowed to go on a quicker route than planned, so would have made up some of the time, but then they said we were going to stop at Doncaster, and LNER said they would take the London-bound ones and arrive in London about 45 minutes faster.  So we decided to do that.  The Azuma train wasn't nearly as comfortable as the charter had been, but much easier to get in and out of the seats.  But it, too, was delayed, and arrived in London at about 00:10!  Still, there was no sign of the charter, so I think we did get there before it.

There was no way I was going to face the Night Tube, so we took a taxi, which was horribly expensive, and eventually got home at about 00:45!  Of course, had it been a regular train we could have claimed Delay Repay, which would have covered the cost of the taxi - as it is, I doubt we will be offered compensation, but I hope they do acknowledge what a nightmare it was.

And why I thought somewhere like Beamish on the Saturday before Christmas would be a good idea, I do not know!  

The Richmond Draw-Off, 13 November 2025

 IanVisits recently posted an interesting article about the Richmond Draw-Off, so we decided that, as we hadn't been out together for ages, we would go and have a look.  Low tide this evening was scheduled to be around 16:45, which is, of course, nearly dark, but not yet outdoors dark.  We thought we might try to get there about 16:00, so left here about 15:15; we took a 35 to Clapham Junction and then a slow train out to Richmond - this may have been a slight mistake; we might have been better to  have waited a few minutes for the express.  Anyway, we got to Richmond eventually.  I should have got my phone out to take a picture of Richmond Station, which has been restored, and, indeed of a M&S that is still selling clothes - I didn't think they did any more; all the ones round here have been turned into upmarket supermarkets, indistinguishable from Waitrose or Sainsbury's.

Anyway, we walked down to the river, but I don't think  IanVisit's timetable was quite accurate, as the tide was already beginning to come in.  But it was much lower than usual, and the slipways all went down to mud.  We walked along a bit, but it was getting dark, so we decided, just for fun, to take a 190 bus to West Brompton - which took ages, but we knew it would.  I did take a very bad photo of Richmond Station, as the bus went past.  It went over Chiswick Bridge, and eventually along Lillie Road.  I would have quite liked to have turned off to see the house where I lived when I first came to London, over 50 years ago, but somehow we didn't.  We didn't have long to wait for a Mildmay line to Clapham Junction.  When we got there, the rain had started.  A 35 bus took us home, via En Root, where we bought a takeaway but - disaster - it was so wet that the carrier bag disintegrated and most of our supper landed on the pavement!  The Swan Whisperer very kindly went back for more, but it was a sad ending to a pleasant afternoon!

Going out out, 20 June 2025

We do not often go "out out"; usually evening expeditions, if any, are to various meetings of one kind or another. The last time I went out "on pleasure bent" was to see a film screening at Brixton Library with my tai chi friends, and I don't remember when the last time the Swan Whisperer and I went to the theatre together - it was at The Landor theatre and was on black plastic ice (friends of ours were skating in it).  But how long ago was that? Also the ABBA experience a few years ago, but nothing since! 

However, this evening we went all the way to Chelsea to see a production of "Swallows and Armenians" at the Chelsea Theatre.  I had bought the tickets some weeks ago, but was not very sure what to expect.  Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The play - it's more of a musical, really - details the relationship between Arthur Ransome and the Altounyan family, on whom he based the original "Swallows" when he wrote Swallows and Amazons.  It didn't end well, with the relationship between Ernest Altounyan and Arthur Ransome going totally pear-shaped (not helped by the fact that he would have liked to have married Altounyan's wife, back in the day), and the children left wondering whether their school friends really wanted to know them for themselves, or as their characters in the books.  My main criticism was that the music was a bit overwhelming in a small space, but I took out my hearing aids for the second half, and that was much better!  The musicians were brilliant, although they occasionally missed the note when they sang.  But the range of instruments they all played was amazing.

After the performance, we could have joined in a circle dance in the square outside, but can you see the Swan Whisperer doing that?  No, me neither!  Had it been on ice.... But it was on concrete, so we came away to find a restaurant, and ended up in a very nice Persian one called Abib.  I ordered lamb chops

(I did not expect five of them - that would have done the Swan Whisperer and me at least twice at home!), and the Swan Whisperer ordered a chicken and lamb skewer.  The waitress strongly suggested we had a starter, as the main dishes would take at least twenty minutes, so we had hummus with garlic bread, and very good it was, too.  I ordered my lamb with garlic bread - the choices were that, or saffron rice or chips, but I find rice difficult to eat when I'm out as it gets under my false teeth!  So I ordered the bread, and then fell free to leave it, but I did, greedily, eat all the meat and salad! 

When we had finished, we found we could go home a different way - we had come on a 317 bus, changing at Sloane Square to an 11, but going home we took a 345 from Beaufort Street, changing at Clapham Common on to a 37. 

All in all, a most enjoyable date night!

Exploring Brompton Cemetery, 26 May 2025

Another Bank Holiday, another excursion.  This one was a bit of a bucket-list option for me, as we went to explore Brompton Cemetery, in Fulham.  Many, many years ago now I lived round the corner from there, and one of the most surreal moments of my life came when I was going past the entrance to the cemetery and a van drew up and two men got out, carrying a television, which they proceeded to take towards the entrance....  I suppose that one or other (or both) of the lodges at the entrance gates were inhabited and the residents of one of them wanted to hire a new television, as was the norm in those days.  But all the same....

So, you know what it is like when you live near a place, you never somehow visit it.  And I don't think it was really a place to visit back then.  These days, it is run by the Royal Parks, and the western lodge is a café and loos, and the eastern one is the visitor information centre.  There may or may not be tenants on the upper floors - I didn't ask!  The cemetery is still in use today, but it is also a public park and a Grade I listed one, at that.

We decided to go by the most sensible route of a bus to Clapham Junction and then the Mildmay Line to West Brompton (it's the first time I'd been on the Overground since its separate lines were given names).  The first train was, alas, cancelled, but it wasn't long until the next one came in and we could sit down while waiting for it to leave.  And, of course, the cemetery's northern entrance is only metres from the station.

So we wandered up and down the many paths, finding some famous graves - Dr John Snow, who proved the link between cholera and contaminated water; prize-fighter John "Gentleman" Jackson, ballet composer Constant Lambert and, of course, Emmeline Pankhurst, on whose grave people are still putting flowers.  

Much of the cemetery has been left to run wild, as a haven for wildlife - there were lots of birds, including a murder of crows, and a squirrel, but I believe there are also bats and rare insects.  Some of the graves are still tended, of course, but with over 200,000 people buried there, many are left to run wild.  Even some of the more modern graves - one, raised in memory of "Our beloved mother" was very unkempt and uncared-for, and we wondered how beloved the mother in question had actually been.  Graves ranged from ornate mausoleums, over-the-top Victorian marble angels and so on, to plain marble slabs, and pretty much anything in between.  I'll put lots of photos on Facebook.

When we had wandered down to the South end and back again, we had lunch in the café, and then went back down to the South exit to catch a bus.  We had thought of going to the exhibition at St Paul's, but we were getting tired by then, so got a 211 to Battersea Power Station Station and then it's only a short walk to the terminus of the P5, which took us home.

Buses, flypasts and new shoes. 5 May 2025

Today was the May Day holiday, so of course the weather, which has been being absolutely lovely, went back on us and it was seriously cold and showers on and off.  I would have enjoyed today's excursion a great deal more with a warmer coat, or at least a jumper rather than a light fabric jacket under my summer coat!  Yet two days ago I was out with nothing more than a t-shirt on my top half!  It's supposed to get warm again next weekend, though.

There were a great many things we could have done today, including a local street party and an Open Day at the Windmill, but we decided to go into central London to watch the flypast in celebration of VE Day.  This is technically not until Thursday, but I don't think the Government thought two Bank Holidays in one week was a good idea!  So most of the celebrations, including a military parade, and this fly-past, were today.  I suggested we went into Brixton and caught whichever came first of the 3, 59 or 159, and head to the South Bank, which is always a good place to watch flypasts.  And get a sandwich before it kicked off.

The bus that came was a 159, but it was stopping at Lower Marsh - unsurprisingly, since no buses were crossing the river due to road closures for the parade - and I suggested we went to the café in Tommy's to get our sandwich.  Which we did, and actually sat there until it was time for the flypast, which we watched from the garden there - not really the best place, as mostly what we could see was the backs of planes disappearing over the Houses of Parliament.  Although that was quite impressive.  And it finished with the Red Arrows, as scheduled (photo courtesy of the Swan Whisperer; I didn't take any).

The Swan Whisperer needed new everyday shoes - he has just got new running shoes, which seem to be helping with a long-standing foot injury/problem of some kind, but his everyday shoes were a disgrace!  So we decided to get a no 12 bus to Peckham, where there is a Clark's outlet store, and failing that, a Shoe Zone.  On the way, we crossed paths with masses of policemen, but they were not catching criminals or sorting out the traffic; it was fairly obvious that they had been part of the parade, and had then been having lunch somewhere (or were about to have lunch).

When we were on the bus, we realised we totally didn't know the end of the route, so decided to stay on until its terminus at Dulwich Library, and then get another bus back.  Which we did, rather fun seeing parts of Dulwich which were new to us.  We had to wait about 10 minutes for a return bus - a 197 - during which I got very cold indeed, but it came at last and dropped us off at the Aylsham Centre, where new trainers were successfully purchased!  We had a look round Morrison's but simply couldn't find any of the things we needed, so came away and caught a 345 back to Brixton.  During which time the sun came out and thawed me out nicely through the front windows of the bus!

Of course, we had just missed a 35, so the Swan Whisperer walked to Tesco's and thus home while I waited the four or five minutes until a 355 came, and I went home.  I did go into Lidl, but nothing seemed to want to be bought, so came home and fell asleep in my chair..... but it was a fun day out, even though cold.

The Silvertown Tunnel

The Silvertown Tunnel opened today and I hoped we would be able to go through it on opening day - after all, how often is there a new tunnel under the Thames, especially one that has come in on time and on budget? 

It was also the first day of the Easter holidays and the Boys were coming.  We were having Boy 2 in any case, but the Lanky Teenager also chose to come, to our joy.  He expressed a desire to visit the Science Museum, and I booked tickets, but I haven't been very well this week and realised I would probably not have enough energy to enjoy it, so the Swan Whisperer picked them up at Tavistock Place and they went to the museum.  I think they had a good time, but they are getting to the monosyllabic age.  

I, meanwhile,  spent a quiet morning, although I went to Lidl and tried, unsuccessfully , to make a start on Sunday's sermon.  The men arrived back shortly after 13:00 and we went to lunch in the café opposite - they all had an English breakfast

and I had avocado toast. 

The Swan Whisperer had been for a run before breakfast, and the Lanky Teenager had been playing badminton before his, so they were hungry! The boys and I had smoothies, too - mine was five berries and they had a similar one but with a different mix of fruit.  

The Swan Whisperer had to do a quick errand in Brixton that couldn't wait, and we set off about 15:00, going via Peckham and Blackheath.  You take the same road that you take towards the Blackwall Tunnel (now also toll), but it is clearly signposted that you need to be in the right-hand lane, and the turn-off is very clear.  It is a tunnel, which is all that can be said for it, although the boys commented on how clean it was.  It won't stay that way for long!  We weren't quite sure how to get from the other end up to the 'Stow, but Google was helpful there, and we got there shortly after 16:00.  My grown-up Boys made a cup of tea for us all.  We drove home the usual way - via the A12, Limehouse Link and Tower Bridge - and, although it was rush hour, it was an easy journey.  

Going through a tunnel is not very exciting - but I'm very glad we did it on its first day!

Tea on the River, revisited

 Three years ago, we celebrated our wedding anniversary by having an afternoon tea cruise on the river Thames.  Today, we did it again, courtesy of a Christmas present from my sister.  

Last time, we went on the Victoria Line and changed at Victoria, but this year Citymapper, TfL AND Google all insisted we took the Northern Line to Bank and then the Circle or District to Tower Hill (or walk from Bank).  So that's what we did, and arrived in nice time to board.  

I hadn't upgraded us or anything, but we were shown to a table for two in the very front of the vessel, which was lovely!  I didn't think the tea was anything special, and didn't eat two of my cakes (and wished I hadn't bothered with another one), but the sandwiches were nice, especially when we said we wouldn't eat chipotle on beetroot bread, We they gave us extra egg mayonnaise instead.  There were only plain scones, not sultana ones, and the cream was not clotted or even whipped, so rather went everywhere!  But I'm not complaining.

Our route today went right downriver to Greenwich, and a very apologetic captain explained that the tide would almost definitely be too high to prevent us going under Blackfriars Bridge on the way upstream, as, indeed it proved.  We didn't mind, but it must have been very disappointing for the tourists.

When we got off, they made a total nonsense, and we had to wait while passengers boarded a Uber river bus - this was quite unnecessary, I thought, as there were plenty of other corridors we could have used.  But we got off in the end, and then walked up to Monument and caught a bus home from there.  We are now drinking fizz to celebrate!

There will be photos on Facebook, as per - I hope they don't duplicate other photos I've taken from the river on previous cruises, but it's hard not to photograph iconic London!

The Map House

The Swan Whisperer has just started two weeks' jury service - at his age, he could have refused, but he so enjoyed it last time he did it, many years ago, that he was really looking forward to it.  However, this means I shall have two weeks - well, ten working days, anyway - on my own, and I determined I wasn't just going to sit around feeling sorry for myself!  I already had plans for tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday, so I decided that today I would make a point of going out.

I decided to be thoroughly greedy and treated myself to breakfast at McDonald's.  I have a shaming taste for their sausage and egg McMuffin, and it was as delicious as usual.

Then the day's main event, which was a trip to the exhibition at the Map House (link),  which I had learnt about from both IanVisits (link) and Londonist (link).  I braved the Underworlds, changing to the Piccadilly Line at Green Park and getting off at Knightsbridge.  Goodness, but it's years since I was last there!  I have been past in a bus, going to the South Kensington Museums, but I don't think I've used Knightsbridge Station for at least 50 years!  When I worshipped at Holy Trinity Brompton, all those years ago, I was living in Fulham, so came from the opposite direction.

So anyway, it's not a long walk to Beauchamp Place from there - it was my grandmother's local Tube station when she lived in Ovington Gardens - and I arrived at the Map House with about 5 minutes to spare before it opened.

The exhibition was fabulous! The Beck diagram in all its itinerations - including the map that inspired him, and some preliminary sketches.  And almost all the folding maps from 1932 right up to the present day.  Lots of photos on Facebook, but the one here is of the very nerdish (but I do rather love) gadget that shows you where all the trains are, either on all lines or on an individual line (the District, in this case).  As I said, I'm not that nerdish, but - well - it would be nice!

Then I walked down to Sloane Square, and got a 137 bus to Sainsbury's in Clapham, and then another bus home.  Since starting this blog post, I gather the Swan Whisperer is not actually wanted - they are expecting a long trial, and so called more jurors than they would need, as so many would have commitments after the end of the fortnight (as, indeed, we do!).  And also my tomorrow night's meeting is to be on Zoom, not, thankfully, in Westminster.  So I'm glad I went today and didn't wait until Friday!

The Spanish Riding School at Wembley Arena

 A few days ago, we were in Vienna and saw some of the Lippizaner stallions in their winter quarters in the Hofburg - something on my bucket list.  I had never seen them live, but the Daughter cleverly found out that they were to perform in Wembley this weekend.  They were selling tickets at half-price, and as both the Swan Whisperer and the Boy wanted to go, the Daughter bought the tickets (we paid for ours), and sent ours to me, so that we would meet up in the arena.

It was an easy enough journey to Wembley - at Citymapper's suggestion, we changed at Green Park and then again at Finchley Road.  Not a station I'd ever consciously been to before, although as I've been to Wembley Arena before, I must have gone through it.  It's a cross-platform change to the Metropolitan Line, which then only has one stop until Wembley Park.  After which, it is a surprisingly long walk to either the Stadium or the Arena, but we got there in good time.  You weren't allowed to take liquids into the arena, but had to empty your water bottles before you went through security - the Swan Whisperer refilled both mine and the Daughter's bottles for us before the performance began.  Other than that, and a cursory check of one's bags, though, it was easy to get in, and plenty of stewards to tell and show you where to go.

We had lovely seats (obviously we couldn't take photos during the event). 

and could see absolutely everything.  The event was hosted by Nicki Chapman, who introduced each act and the videos in between that gave the horses and riders time to prepare.  

It was, obviously, wonderful.  But there is an awful lot that they don't show on television, like the horses that do the "schools above the ground" being so keen that they try to do them when it isn't their turn! Or when the riders momentarily lose control, as happened once or twice! We did wonder if they had sent their "B team" to perform, as it wasn't quite the perfection you expect from the television coverage of them.  But it was still pretty amazing.  Especially the "quadrille" that concluded the event.

There was a 30-minute interval, which we thought was excessive from the audience's point of view, but I dare say the horses and riders needed it.  The Swan Whisperer and the Boy went for an explore, and came back saying that popcorn was £6 for a small tub, so they decided not!  

On the way home, we went as far as King's Cross on the Metropolitan Line, and then changed there, so that we could go as far as possible with the other two, who, of course, took the northbound service as we took the southbound one!  We were home by about 11:15, but I am very tired today.

There are loads of videos on YouTube if you want to have a look at the performance for yourself - there's even one of a similar show at Wembley about 7 years ago!  I hadn't known they ever came to the UK....