Hammond

A couple of weeks ago to the Wigmore Hall to hear Hammond on the piano. Not to be confused with the organ Hammond of reference 1 or the journalist Hammond of reference 2, this last appearing in these pages from time to time. Rather the Clare Hammond of reference 3, one time pupil of the Ronan O'Hara noticed at reference 4. Something of a specialist in contemporary music. Not that there was much of that in the programme above and with the pull for us being the Moonlight, Beethoven's Op.27 No.2.

The day started with blood for me and hair for her, so a rendezvous at Epsom Station. The only point of interest being that I found that as my appointment had been organised by the blood department at the hospital, I got to wait in the corridor with a letter, while other punters got to wait in the waiting room with a number. A variation on the system which used to be used at the delicatessen counter at Sainsbury's at Kiln Lane - a counter which vanished two refurb ago.

Made our way to Olle & Steen on Wigmore Street, where, by accident, we took a new sort of bun. And where our coffee was served by a cheerful & handsome chap who was very tall and thin. I wondered whether he or his forbears came from the Nile valley (the home of the sometimes very tall Nilotic peoples), but I did not like to ask.

The concert was very good, serving to remind us, inter alia, why the Moonlight was such a popular piece. But I was not sure about the pianist giving us little introductions to each section: difficult thing to pull off to my mind. I associate to Andrew Watkinson of the Endellion Quartet who was apt to try his hand.

And we did get a contemporary encore, probably Piano Étude No.5 (Toccata) by the Korean composer, Unsuk Chin. YouTube has Hammond doing it again at reference 5. She told us that it was the hardest piece she had ever learned - it would have been interesting to hear about why this was so - not being obvious to this casual auditor.

For lunch to the new to us Delamina of reference 6, founded by a couple from Tel Aviv, getting here via Shoreditch. A blend of Central European and Middle Eastern cuisines? We started with a cheerfully labelled wine, moving on to what for us were quite exotic starters. 7.25 euros from the people at reference 7 - which makes what I paid the healthy multiple of 8.5. A touch greedy? At least it went down well enough.

Good, even if the bread was not up to much.

For main course, I took lamb, which was interesting, if a little underdone to my mind. BH did rather better with her chicken.

Dessert, something of a surprise and good.

An interesting meal and it will be interesting to see if we return. In the meantime, I wonder about the staffing of restaurants with a geographical flavour: presumably they all draw their staff from the same pool, so while the menu might be geographical, the staff are unlikely to match.

Home via Raynes Park where we acquired a fat dictionary from Longmans, weighing it at just 5lbs, much bigger than the Oxford Concise and much smaller than the Oxford Shorter, But it can sit on the table of play and will make a lazy option for Scrabble: no need to go to the next room to check in the Oxford Proper. Matter clinched by its inclusion of 'zo', a sort of Tibetan cow, in the Oxford Proper as Somerset dialect, but allowed by custom. 

The dictionary is properly made and stays open at the selected page without having to weigh it down. It also has a respectable pedigree, with an early Longman being involved in the publication of Johnson's famous dictionary in 1755. The present dictionary claimed to be more up to date and more useful than some other, older (but unnamed) dictionaries and drew on a huge citation database maintained by Merriam Webster; materials collected during the Survey of English Usage and held by University College, London; and, the considerable resources of Longman's own dictionary department. Useful introductory material at the beginning, abbreviation, person name and place name sections at the end - the last two of which being a slimmer version of those offered in my Larousse. Altogether, entirely respectable.

BH won the first game played against the new dictionary, while I won the second, by a much bigger margin.

PS 1: by some quirk of NHS IT, my having had a warfarin test or two in Brading in the past, resulted in a letter to me from a London Hospital being routed via our then holiday address in the Isle of Wight. Luckily the owner of the cottage was fairly quick about forwarding it - and to be fair, my copy was not terribly important, it simply confirmed the outcome of a consultation.

PS 2: somewhere along the way I came across this advertisement, for what I presume is a few thousands pounds worth of watch. What on earth would one want with all those dials? Why not just buy a bit of old fashioned bling and have done with?  But that said, there clearly are people who want such things and there are certainly at least some jewellers who appear to make much more money out of watches than they make out of bling.

References

Reference 1: https://hammondorganco.com/.

Reference 2: https://www.ft.com/george-hammond.

Reference 3: https://clarehammond.com/.

Reference 4: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2021/08/to-london-town.html.

Reference 5: https://youtu.be/U605KtkEuO0.

Reference 6: https://www.delaminakitchen.co.uk/delamina-marylebone/.

Reference 7: https://www.bodegasjucar.es/es/.

Reference 8: Longman dictionary of the English language - Longmans - 1984.

Reference 9: https://www.pearson.com/languages/educators/connected-english-learning-program/longman-english-dictionaries.html. Now swallowed up by Pearson.

Reference 10: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/english/survey-english-usage.

Reference 11: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/projects/ice-gb/beta/getstart2.pdf. For the more serious student.

Consequentials

The funding of the devolved administrations - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - was something that I once knew something about, so I was interested to read how the system now in place - rather more complicated than that which I knew - has ripped the Welsh off to the tune of £4bn.

Every year, government departments haggle with the Treasury about how much money they are going to get in the years to come, in particular in the year to come. Sometimes this haggling gets a bit noisy and a committee of senior ministers is convened to adjudicate. For these purposes the devolved administrations count as government departments.

In my time, the allocation of money to the devolved administrations was largely controlled by something known as the Barnett formula, named for Joel Barnett, Chief Secretary to the Treasury back in the days of Wilson and Callaghan, but invented back when Irish Home Rule was the issue of the day. It is described in brief at reference 2 and at length at reference 3.

Again in my time, the general idea was that if more money was allocated to an English programme like roads or health, then population related proportions of those increments were allocated to the devolved administrations. A crude, simple and reasonably fair arrangement which took most of the heat out of the annual round of haggling, then and probably now known as the Public Expenditure Survey. Provision was made for exceptions, that is to say haggling, for particular programmes where devolved circumstances might (arguably) be different.

From reference 1, it does look as if the Welsh have not done very well on the rail front. But maybe they have done well on other fronts, and the understanding was that one takes the rough with the smooth. In any event, reference 1 fails to allow for the convenience of the current arrangements. A convenience which has suited the parties well enough over the years and which has meant that various calls for upheaval have been quietly shelved.

That said, the current arrangements look a lot more complicated than those that I knew - with one of the complications being illustrated in the snap above, taken from reference 3. The complication there being that the devolved administrations now have some powers of taxation and the exercise of those powers needs to be properly allowed for in the block grant delivered by the Barnett formula. 

Furthermore, moving away from the bean counting which I was involved with, I read that '... If there is a disagreement between HM Treasury and the devolved administrations about the application of the Statement [reference 3], the relevant devolved administration can pursue the matter through the Finance Interministerial Standing Committee (F:ISC) Secretariat and Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Secretariat and the dispute resolution mechanisms set out under the Review of Intergovernmental Relations'. Fancy sounding machinery which did not exist in my day.

A proper compromise between continuing with what we know and switching to some fine new system dreamed up by some academic?

References

Reference 1: It's the great Welsh train robbery - and a £4bn injustice - Will Hayward, Guardian - 2024.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett_formula.

Reference 3: Statement of funding policy: Funding the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive - H M Treasury - 2023.

Reference 4: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/communiques-from-the-finance-interministerial-standing-committee. The one that I looked at, the most recent, was fairly bland. Maybe the meeting itself was a bit rougher!

Champers

A fortnight ago, a festive day starting with the Škampa Quartet at the Wigmore Hall giving us Mozart No.19 (aka K465 and Dissonance) and Brahms Op.51 No.2. Sold out.

Starting with the day before, a snap which failed of the dahlias planted outside the front door of a house at the Sainsbury's end of Middle Lane, flowers which have given much pleasure over recent weeks and which have weathered the rain better than I had expected. But the telephone, for once, did a poor job.

Then the jelly lichen on the patio, brought out by the same rain. Clearly an autumn as well as a spring phenomenon. And still going strong yesterday.

Two lorries on West Hill carrying four strange vehicles, the last two of which are snapped above. It turned out afterwards that they were promotional items from the Ghostbusters film people, in town to help celebrate the opening of the Picturehouse cinema next to the library which had been hanging fire for months. In what now seems to be called Derby Square. I had thought Ebbisham Square, Ebbisham being Domesday-speak for Epsom or something. See, for example, reference 4. Sometimes misspelt here as Picture House.

Not impressed by a poster on the platform advertising a film which appeared to be offering vicarious fun from violent gangs on the streets of London. Not sure that this was a socially healthy subject for a film.

Even less impressed by an insulin bore on the train. I resisted the temptation to fight back with warfarin.

Some discussion about the proper pronunciation of Yosemite, with BH and a lady nearby opting for four syllables while I opted for three. A rather foreign sounding voice this morning says four at reference 5, with the stress on the second. Point for BH.

A building near the exit to Bond Street tube station which seemed to have gone up a few floors since we were last there.

A change of format at Olle & Steen. No more cups and saucers, just higher grade paper cups. And they had changed the name of the Kløben buns we take, perhaps to Cardamom bun. While BH was amused by a young lady in full (and expensive looking) Muslim dress who had to lift her veil with one hand in order to sip from the coffee cup held in the other. While I noticed that a serious amount of something metallic and brassy had gone into the trim - things like handrails to the stairs. Presumably, a serious amount of money too. Presumably, a left-over from a previous use of the premises.

Then at Bell & Croyden, a display from the same school of marketing-speak which gave us Fat Face and Smelly Betty. Trolley handle visible in reflection bottom right.

Kitchen robots still present, if a little hemmed in by the building works - of which Wigmore Street seems to get a lot more than its fair share. A street which will presumably become busier if the plan to kick oil fired vehicles off Oxford Street comes to pass. But what about all the electric bicycles mowing down innocent shoppers?

Wigmore Hall full and the flowers as good as they usually are. Scarlet anthuriums (the Wigmore florist seems to be keen on this flower) with green and off-white making up the background. A popular shade with lots of varieties if Bing is anything to go by. Both quartets were good, although I liked the Mozart better than the Brahms.

Out to find that Sunbelt Rentals of reference 6 had reached Cavendish Square. An operation from the sun belt of the US which seem to be popping up everywhere over here, with my having first come across them when the Lidl HQ was going up at the end of Jubilee Way, noticed three years ago at reference 7.

And a broken down bus being towed out of Cavendish Place into Regent Street. The breakdown driver misjudged the turn and had to back up a bit, a backing up which caused much bother and confusion with the driver of the car behind who did not have a clue what was going on. He got the idea in the end when the breakdown driver started shouting at him.

Pushing on towards the restaurant, a couple of rather faded looking plaques in Mortimer Street. Not clear from Street View why the left hand building, rather nondescript, should rate opening by the mayor. One supposes that the Cockney Rebel right visited by the Princess Royal right was the pop group of that name - but I don't suppose that the BKCEC mentioned was the British Knitting and Clothing Export Council. On a more positive note, Saki House was once the home of Saki, aka Hector Hugh Munroe, Edwardian writer of witty & mischievous short stories of which my mother and her friends were very fond when she was a student at McGill in the 1930s. Never tried them myself for some reason, although I once owned some of hers. A small red book with flexible covers as I recall.

Impressed by the liveliness of the southern end of Charlotte Street, the other end of which used to be the home of the once famous Schimdt's, long deceased. Of which reference 8 gives the idea.

Into Circulo, pretty busy this Sunday afternoon, where we decided to have champagne for a change, or nearly champagne. There was something about it being too organic to bother with the appellation business. Furthermore, by the standards of restaurants, it seemed to be very reasonably priced compared with what I would have to pay for it on the Internet. It went down very well. See reference 2, from where the snap above is taken.

They also managed a birthday card, presumably Google had told them, and I was pleased to be able to damp down any further manifestations - which seemed to be something of a speciality of the house.

Bread and ham good if a touch salty. Then we both had the crab flavoured pasta, one of the dearer pasta dishes, which I had had before and liked. But on this occasion mine at least was far too salty, perhaps because it seemed to come with the orange, oily stuff at the bottom of the plate, of which I seemed to have rather a lot.

I then made the mistake of having something which I thought was going to be lemon meringue pie, which I am rather fond of, but which turned out to be a large confection topped with a huge amount of white fluffy stuff, only very distantly related to the meringue I was expecting. At least I was spared the birthday candle on top that some other tables were treated to. We were also spared loudspeaker excess from the large loudspeakers hung at intervals along the walls and two of which can be seen next to BH in the snap above. Perhaps they get cranked up for special occasions.

Wrapped up with a spot of Armagnac, in lieu of the missing Calvados. A jolly occasion, even if a touch salty. Maybe it was the champagne, which I would certainly have again.

The wine bar we used to like above platform 1 at Waterloo was still in limbo, some years now after closing, although it has acquired an additional floor - with stairs which might be tricky with the rollator. See, for example, reference 9.

Good haul at Raynes Park, previously noticed at reference 10. Although the only book to see further use since then - so far anyway - is the one from Whitbread.

Confused by the Guildford via Epsom trained being billed as the Clandon train, which meant that we almost let it pass. Fortunately it dawned on me in time that Epsom was included under Clandon.

More confusion at Epsom Station where taxi driver solidarity was kicking in over a failure to start. Jump leads appearing out of odd places.

References

Reference 1: https://www.bigmammagroup.com/en/trattorias/circolo-popolare.

Reference 2: https://www.champagne-drappier.com/en/clarevallis/.

Reference 3: https://www.skampaquartet.cz/home-en.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/11/pork-stew.html.

Reference 5: https://youtu.be/UGGMBvo-pQ4. BE for Belgium. Why there?

Reference 6: https://www.sunbeltrentals.co.uk/.

Reference 7: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/12/triumphal-arch.html.

Reference 8: https://mark-kaplan.blogspot.com/2006/05/schmidts.html.

Reference 9: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2016/02/master-builder.html.

Reference 10: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/09/raynes-park.html.

Digression

This by way of work in progress, or perhaps digestion in progress.

I am now taking my turn with the book at reference 2, first noticed at reference 1, and was interested to come across a painting by Parmigianino called 'Self portrait in a convex mirror', a painting which I have now looked up. Parmigianino being best known to me as a late Renaissance painter of ladies with rather long necks.

The painting was done on a convex wooden panel about nine and a half inches across - so comfortably fits full size on a desktop computer screen. It was also the subject of a long poem by one John Ashbery, a poem which can be found at reference 4. Ashbery is a big cheese in the world of poetry in the US and this poem was a big part of what propelled him to his present eminence. I have a download but I have yet to make much of it.

Instead, I have been worrying about the frame, with frames and the hanging of pictures being important to my mind. Pictures do not exist in vacuo. One version of the framed picture turned up by Bing is included above. 

Then another, rather different photograph from the late nineteenth century.

Then another, a presumably more recent photograph from the same stable, that is to say reference 6. Perhaps the inner core detaches from the background plate of the first snap. And then, fashions in such matters do change of the years. We must not forget the need to shock and awe the punters.

So a self-portrait taken from a convex mirror, rendered first on a circular convex panel and rendered here unframed on a flat screen, nowhere near the sort of wall on which it was presumably once intended to be hung. Perhaps a papal wall. Painted at a time when the artist was very young and perspective was new and exciting. The artist was also a noted draughtsman and etcher.

All in all a complicated conceit, of a sort that I believe rich or arty people of the time were fond. But for this person present, very much work in progress.

PS: I have now got as far as consulting Canaday of reference 6. Real name Francesco Mazzola, called Parmigianino for his birth in the cheese town. In later life became obsessed with alchemy and rather neglected what he was good at. Died fairly young (for his time) at 37.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/10/to-pictures.html.

Reference 2: Curtain Call - Antony Quinn - 2015.

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-portrait_in_a_Convex_Mirror.

Reference 4: https://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/John-Ashbery-Self-Portrait-in-a-Convex-Mirror.pdf.

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ashbery.

Reference 6: https://www.khm.at/. Kunst Historisches Museum Wien.

Reference 7: The lives of the painters: Volume One: Late Gothic to High Renaissance - John Canaday - 1969.

Stockman

A fortnight ago or so saw two outings, a short morning outing in the course of which I snapped the mushrooms above, somewhere on the Chase Estate. Presumably the tree adjacent is not in very good health.

A spot of early lunch. Sausage from Lidl (as previously reported at reference 1) and bread from Borough, still eating OK two or three days after purchase.

And then a visit to Epsom Hospital, by which time it was raining in a fairly serious way, so time to crack out the stockman's coat. Not sure what it is made of, but it is woven, water repellent, lined and reasonably windproof. Plus hood for those wheeling trolleys when umbrellas are not convenient. Just the thing for autumn showers. 

First stop, a fancy car in Meadway. Perhaps the builder come to check up on his workers on the right? Or the tree man came to check his on the left? Not that unusual, as we had one resident in our own road for a while and were treated, from time to time, to sight of the special panel lorry which came to collect it for its service. Car check agrees that it is an Aston Martin, more precisely a 2017 DB11 V12, silver with an 8 speed automatic gear box, capable of 200mph. The same number of gears as the BMW noticed at reference 2.

Back via Waitrose where I found some interesting plums.

Foreign and rather crunchy for a plum, a bit like a slightly underripe nectarine. Generally not the yellow inside shown on the label. Name of ruby crunch, to be found at reference 3. BH thought they were underripe, but I thought that they were rather good. I bought some more over the following days, during which time I discovered that it was not a good plan to eat too many at once.

A few days later, back on another errand to the hospital, thinking this time to snap what I take to be an overflow pit at the bottom of the housing estate right, built in the grounds of what used to be a small convent. Part of which was a girls' school and part of which became a Chef & Brewer, the latter only recently closed.

And then the back of the house established in 1717, just outside the hospital gates, which used to be called the White Horse, presently closed. Rather more parking space and rather more security than I had expected. Perhaps it will be swept away if they ever get around to redeveloping part of the hospital site, which might still be on the cards when they get around to the new hospital for acute cases at Sutton.

I had thought that Guild Living were interested, people with an address near London Bridge Station, but the only location I can find at reference 4 is Siena, across the water. Puzzled of Epsom. Clearly need to check reference 5 a bit more carefully.

And then today, back yet again. And it was raining hard again, so out with the stockman's coat. But despite all the rain over the past few days, still no sign of water in the overflow pond.

After which, for the first time for what seems like weeks, there are now no medical dates in the calendar until next year. But I can't see that lasting long.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/09/lidl.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/10/titbits.html.

Reference 3: https://gradilis.com/rubycrunch/.

Reference 4: https://www.guildliving.com/en/.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/11/trolley-446.html.

Yachting

I learn via a recent copy of the Metro that the upcoming America's Cup is going to feature boats like that snapped above. Known to cognoscenti as AC75s. From the snaps turned up by Bing they seem to carry a crew of about a dozen and I read at reference 2 that on a good day they can manage 60mph, held aloft by one of the two fins. Fast enough, one might suppose, to be dangerous - I remember being told by a kiteboarder that hitting the water at 30mph can do serious damage.

Not the sort of thing that a gentleman would sail back in the heyday of the Royal London Yacht Club, noticed at reference 3.

The days when they sailed proper yachts with keels, wooden masts and canvas sails, like that snapped above. This one is Shamrock III, actually built for a grocer, but he counted as a gentleman as he was rich and he had good manners. I recall Dr. Slater (from reference 3) reporting a squabble from those days concerning the then new-fangled spinnakers, aka balloon sails - apparently a derivative of the top sails of proper yachts, the idea being to help catch the tricky winds of the Thames Estuary. On that occasion, new-fangled won.

I guess that what has not changed is that, other things being equal, the team with the most money to burn wins.

PS 1: Google Images does rather well on the snap above, turning up a good selection of photographs of yachts of the same class. Including the very same snap at reference 5, from 2008. Taken from the collection of photographs to be found in the book at reference 6. With my copy having once been the property of my artistic uncle, who also liked to mess about in boats on the Medway. While Abebooks turns up lots of copies of reference 7, one of reference 8 and others from the same series. Including the one we started with, at reference 6. Prices very mixed. Perhaps Chatto & Windus brought the whole series out, more or less in one go.

PS 2: all of which came to an end with a memory failure. To wit, I put Mrs. Muff of reference 9 at Chatto & Windus rather than at Heal's, where she belongs. Perhaps the link is Aldous Huxley, another arty eminence from the same era who was, I believe, published by Chatto & Windus. Snap above from eBay.

PS 3: I have now found out what all the cyclists were doing at reference 1. The rules of the race are that all the sail hauling has to be done by muscle power and it seems that the legs of serious cyclists can deliver more power than anything else. So they work what I think are called the grinders. Furthermore, the rules allow electric power below decks to work the computers, but not above decks to work the grinders. Not yet clear whether the same legs have to charge up the batteries. In any event, the rules are different for the ladies, who get more use out of their batteries.

References

Reference 1: https://www.ineosbritannia.com/#.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC75.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/07/shanklin.html.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/08/last-knockings.html. Not to be confused with the rather older (and presumably more illustrious) Royal Thames Yacht Club which turned up last year.

Reference 5: https://intheboatshed.net/tag/shamrock/.

Reference 6: Sailing - A Courtauld - 1935. Chatto & Windus. Volume V in the series 'Life and art in photograph'.

Reference 7: Life and art in photograph II: The Polar Regions: An Anthology of Arctic and Antarctic Photographs - Scott, J.M (edited with an introduction by) - 1935. Published by Chatto & Windus, London.

Reference 8: Life and Art in Photographs: Wild Animals - Helen Sidebotham - 1935.

Reference 9: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/02/mr-muff.html. 

Beethoven & Bayes

A fortnight ago to St. Luke's for some Beethoven from Cloë Hanslip and Danny Driver. A day which started with some difficulty with the usually helpful National Rail Enquiries service denying the possibility of getting to Old Street from Epsom via Balham. It was if it had been told that Balham was shut on the day, which it was, as it turned out, not.

Getting on the train at Balham was complicated by a lady of middle years pushing ahead through the knot made by a party of women and children in foreign dress and ourselves, complete with rollator, managing to fall over in the process. But she recovered herself and proceeded to hold one of the women in conversation all the way to Moorgate, where she got off. I think the ladies came from Afghanistan, were living in Croydon and fancied a day out at the zoo, together with an infant and a small child with special needs, I think of an autistic variety. They appeared to have no idea how London transport worked or how far (Regents Park) Zoo was from Croydon. We thought that the whole expedition looked rather ambitious and that they would have done better to settle for some attraction a bit nearer home. 

Old Street turned out to be far from step-free  but we managed and got ourselves to our café at Whitecross Street in good time for a bacon sandwich (him) and toasts (her). Bacon sandwich as good as ever.

Onto a reasonably full St. Luke's. We would have liked the 12 variations (derived from Mozart's 'Marriage of Figaro'), except that the piano rather drowned the violin. Things were rather better for the Kreutzer Sonata, either because the music gave more scope for the violin to assert itself or because they had warmed up a bit. While according to the programme notes, the pair play together regularly and she plays a violin which is near 300 years old by Guarneri del Gesu (aka Jesus), a maker who, according to reference 1, is up there with Stradivari. I think that the piano was by Steinway, although the lettering on the side was barely legible.

After the concert, to Pasta Nostra of reference 3, a restaurant we had found and liked back in May, as noticed at reference 4.

Carafe of something red. Something soft for BH. Olives and garlic bread to start. Crab flavoured black pasta for him. Truffle mushroom penne for her. Followed by a spot of orange flavoured ice cream for him and green tea for her. All good.

Washed down with a spot of grappa. Rather less of it than on the last occasion, despite being very reasonably priced.

Walls livened up with various Lucien Freud or Francis Bacon inspired paintings.

Cheerfully served by a young lady called Tabitha, a name we thought might be found in Alison Uttley or Beatrix Potter. Inquiry turns up one Tabitha Twitchit, a shopkeeping cat invented by Beatrix Potter. Not sure that I knew about her beforehand. Plus the Tabitha Paige of Texas of reference 5 who illustrates children's books, whom I certainly did not know about. Nothing on the Uttley front, although I have learned that she was a teacher of physics before she became a writer of stories. There is also a Tabitha (aka Dorcas) mentioned somewhere in the Acts of the Apostles, a devout lady living in Joppa (aka Jaffa), now absorbed into Tel Aviv.

However, at the time, my thought was that I would not be able to keep up such a friendly manner, all day with all comers. Maybe she takes a lot of black coffee to carry her through.

Lunch done, we headed south to inspect the tomb of Thomas Bayes, the low church parson who gave his name to an important branch of statistics and who spent quality time in Tunbridge Wells. I last paid my respects nearly ten years ago, as noticed at reference 6. He was from a family which made its money from knives and forks in Sheffield. Mixed up with the Cottons, in whose family vault he ended up. For all of which see reference 7. 

Rather more prominent was the vault of the water lady noticed at reference 8.

Various buildings important to either Methodists or Quakers nearby, which we shall have to take in properly on a further visit.

We also managed a glimpse of the curious crane noticed at reference 9. After which we dived into the tube at Moorgate and headed for home, with the rollator prompting welcome offers of seats.

The day closed on the platform at Epsom Station with a serious looking young lady - in a blue uniform - hauling a large flat package about on a little trolley. She explained that it was her portable massage table, all 13kg of it. Quite a lot to be hauling about. Google revealed that there is lots of business in articles of this sort, although I was unable to find one which matched the name I had remembered in part, something to do with feet.

References

Reference 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Guarneri.

Reference 2: https://www.chloehanslip.com/. A one-time child prodigy from Guildford who went through the Yehudi Menuhin school not so far from us here at Epsom.

Reference 3: https://www.pastanostralondon.com/.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/05/bacon-lite.html.

Reference 5: https://tabithapaige.com/. Cunningly organised to deter theft of her pictures.

Reference 6: https://psmv2.blogspot.com/2015/09/bayes-1.html.

Reference 7: The Reverend Thomas Bayes, FRS: A Biography to Celebrate the Tercentenary of His Birth - D. R. Bellhouse - 2004.

Reference 8: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/09/water-tablets.html.

Reference 9: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-bent-crane.html.