Back to St. Luke's

Ten days ago saw the first visit to St. Luke's for a while. There might have been an earlier restart but the programmes have not really been my thing - not that this one was - but I turned up all the same. Possibly lured by the possibility of a bacon sandwich from Whitecross Street. Possibly the first visit since that noticed at reference 1, just about two years ago.

A little early at Epsom station, so to keep the circulation going (this despite it being a bright and mild day), I marched up and down the long platform, all ten coaches worth - to be reminded that throwing myself under a train was a touch anti-social and that perhaps I should rather phone up the Samaritans. At least these days, even people thinking of doing such a thing, probably carry mobile phones. I remember an occasion, perhaps more than a decade ago now, when I was trying for aeroplanes in front of the former signal box at the town end of the Epsom platform at Wimbledon, quite late at night, being approached by a concerned member of the platform staff. He was reassured by my remarks about the vagaries of aeroplane spotting.

Plenty of cyclist traffic violations on the road from Waterloo to Clerkenwell, violations which must be annoying for motorists who have seen their part of the road steadily cut back to make way for them. First stand in Golden Lane full, so I had to head back to the Leisure Centre, but I still got back to the Market Restaurant with time to spare. On the way taking in the building above which reminded me that Whitbread must have once been a big player in the London pub scence - big enough to run to a substantial stables. No doubt the hay and the horsemen lived on the upper floors.

Market Restaurant quiet for a Friday lunchtime, but did include an older lady who might have been one of the residents rehoused when the council flats around were put up after the war. Bacon sandwich spot on. The headman, probably the proprietor, possibly from Turkey, seemed pleased that I remembered him. And he still liked to wander out into the street from time to time to take a fag. I thought it best not to penetrate into the DVD depths of the charity shop next door. The plague might be easing off, but it has not gone yet.

Into the churchyard, where I was able to find a bit of south facing wall against which I could sun myself for a few minutes. To be puzzled by a middle sized dog, otherwise in good condition, with a large bulge sticking out of the side of its abdomen, just in front of its hips. Maybe the same volume as a football. Didn't look very clever whatever it was.

Into the hall, where I thought it was about time I scored their piano, as noticed at reference 3. The raked seats at the back were reasonably full, while the severely spaced seats on the floor were near empty, so I had one of those. Excellent view of Ashley Riches (bass baritone) and Joseph Middleton (piano).

Despite the music being new to me, I rather liked it. Surprised first by the way that the voice had no trouble filling the hall and second by the way that the composer(s) had found something that worked for the singer to do against some very fast piano passages. A singer who manged, for nearly all the time, without support of a script. The pianist used a computer.

No words provided, just short summaries of the content, which tilted the debate of words vs. mouth to mouth. So I watched the mouth - and not knowing what he was singing about did not seem to matter than much - except in the bits which were supposed to be funny, when the words would probably have helped. Maybe what they did at Temple Hall is the way forward - and I seem to remember that Italian opera houses do something in the backs of the seats in front. See reference 10.

Out to be reminded of the establishment that was once called the 'White Lion' or some such, run by a lady from Belfast. A lady who went down quite some years ago now.

Heading for Oxford Circus, passed what looked like quite a busy butcher, McKanna meats of reference 4. A shop which looked proper enough, but the pictures on the website looked very boned and so very improper. I think I shall stick with putting my modest custom into Manor Green Road, much more convenient and which it would be a pity to lose for lack of support.

Got a bit lost in the vicinity of Centre Point, the tower block, notoriously vacant for years and years after it was built in the early 1970's (?). My intended stand, snapped above, was full, and what with one way systems and one thing and another, I actually parked up in William IV street, once home to Terroirs and now home to misogynistic scandal in the police station opposite. The scandal that finally brought Commissioner Dick - a commissioner whom I have been rather down on since the fatal fiasco at Stockwell back in 2005. A fiasco from which she emerged to go on to greater things. Oddly, it seems that I last mentioned here at reference 5, back in 2019. Perhaps more careful search is needed.

From there to the cheese shop in Short's Gardens where I was told of the construction of tiered wedding cake like confections out of cheeses and was reminded of the custom of saving the top tier of a wedding cake for the subsequent Christening of the first born. The girl that served me explained that this was how her own Christening had been done - the first time I recall speaking to such a person. Back home I learned that the custom was alive in well in the Devon of the 1960's.

Back to Centrepoint to pick up another Bullingon and off to the Portuguese Consulate in Regent Street. The Artesian in the Langham was shut, but as luck would have it their sister house 'The Wigmore' was open and I was able to take on some very decent white wine, with just a hint of fizz, which I have come to rather like. Probably the Veltliner house wine in the snap above. See reference 6.

The establishment is carved out of a corner of what is otherwise the Langham Hotel, so probably not that young. But maybe the floor is. And while the parquet snapped above is probably bought from Amtico or some such and applied in sheets, I couldn't see the joins.

While the green paint on the very high ceiling is a good match for the green once used in many a real London boozer.

From there for a spot of chocolate, just past Oxford Circus. The people at reference 7. Good service for good looking chocolates.

Now having an additional bag, having previously pondered long and hard about the merits of pedaling down from Oxford Circus to Waterloo (Regent Street, Haymarket, Whitehall, Westminster Bridge), I settled for the tube, which was crowded, so a different sort of risk.

From Waterloo to the Half Way House at Earlsfield for a spot of their Serra da Estrela Albariño. Not to be confused with beer or the café of the same name. The proper home of the toddler incident noticed out of time at reference 8. A reminder that I need to keep a bit more up to date. Memory can't cope otherwise, not even when supported by entirely trustworthy contemporaneous notes.

Reminded on the platform by the more or less random way that shoots on a tree grow, with it being a matter of chance whether the stronger, lead bud goes or whether one of the side buds kicks in, with the consequent kink in the shoot. Much the same thing to be seen at Raynes Park. I remember seeing a report by a chap who had built a model of trees on this basis - who probably claimed that the trees his computer produced were very like the real thing. I forget.

But no aeroplanes and no moon, although this last did turn up around 19:00, after I had got home to Epsom.

Poetry at the platform library at Raynes Park, in the form of a slim volume by one John Martin, published in 2014 by Bysshe-Mendel Verlag. Possibly the chap pictured with a fag in his mouth in LinkedIn. I think not the same chap as the late John Martin Finlay, of the US, who has a rather bigger footprint. I had thought to have taken a proper look by now, but have failed.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-near-thing.html.

Reference 2: https://www.samaritans.org/.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/03/piano-53.html.

Reference 4: https://mckannameats.co.uk/.

Reference 5: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/04/memorial.html.

Reference 6: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%BCner_Veltliner.

Reference 7: https://uk.laderach.com/.

Reference 8: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/03/disaster.html.

Reference 9: https://www.amtico.com/. I haven't checked but I dare say they to fake old parquet.

Reference 10: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/11/folk-at-temple.html.