Ten days ago to the Wigmore Hall to hear the Bennewitz Quartet give us Schullhoff's Quartet No.1 and Dvořák's string quintet, Op.97.
Both works were new to us, but I thought that very much liking the piano quintet I might well like the string quartet. Checking today - I had not thought to do this beforehand - I find that we had heard the quartet before, another Sunday morning concert, about 6 years ago, as noticed at reference 2. We seem to have got on very well with them. We also took lunch what is now the black bar in the snap above, possibly taken a couple of years after our visit. But at a time when the fine outdoor art which used to decorate Debenhams was very much visible. We walk up this road quite often now, but I don't remember seeing the art recently.
It was also an occasion on which I took an interest in the yellow flowers which floated to the surface again at reference 3.
While reference 2 was a reminder that we once got fancier handouts for Sunday concerts at the Wigmore Hall than we get now. A change which I think came on during the plague.
Back with the present occasion, a bright enough day but there was a cool breeze on the platform at Epsom and we were glad enough to sit on the sunny side of the train. On the way, the pine tree at the top of Clay Hill Green was looking really well in the bright, early morning sun - but the snap above does not really give the idea.
A casualty beyond it. Odd that I have not noticed it before: perhaps it is only now that all the other leaves are out. Possible, I suppose, that it was a casualty of the recent gas works - but it seems a bit unlikely.
Signs of stress from October 2022 when the Google camera last went past?
Olle & Steen was quiet when we arrived, but picked by the time we left, a little after 11:00. Spotted just the one fag out in the street.
A few minutes in the Bechstein Room, as is our custom, before going up the back stairs to the front of the hall proper. I puzzled about the lump of electrical gear snapped above.
Not one of Google Images' best days. With Bing's images for 'Vivo Universal Ceiling Extending Projector Tray Mount' not looking anything much like the thing in question.
Into the hall, where we got off to a good start. But I had not slept that well the night before, and I had trouble connecting with the music, even nodding off a bit, despite my black coffee. There were plenty of good patches, but, notwithstanding, I came out feeling a bit frustrated. BH got on much better, thoroughly enjoying herself.
More or less on the spur of the moment, we though to take lunch at the Cock & Lion next door, despite what looked like a somewhat pretentious menu and the displacement of most of the proper tables by high chairs. Started off with half a pint of Landlord from Timothy Taylor, a bitter I used to like in the past. BH took something TT.
Moved onto a couple of Sunday roasts, beef for me, chicken for her. These turned out to be substantial affairs, with good portions of meat, if not very high grade. There was brown goo, which worked on this occasion, although we did not need the jug supply. There were modest portions of greens. They were not serving many meals, so it was a bit of a puzzle how they did it - I settled for mostly pre-cooked and warmed up in an oven or a micro-wave. BH was not so sure.
But she was taken with these pictures, part of the decorative scheme of the pub - a place which once used to sport a row of clocks showing the time in various parts of the world. Did not think to look on this occasion. It seems that the lady in the picture was wearing the very outfit that our Queen Mother to be wore on her honeymoon at Polesden Lacey in the 1920s, a fact which we were able to confirm later. Furthermore, George VI did not become king until 1936. So these pictures were probably taken at Polesden Lacey, but whoever had labelled them for present purposed had not done their homework very carefully. To be fair, if you don't have the advantage of knowing about Polesden Lacey and the social mountaineer who owned it, how could you know? Google Images?
In the margins, I learned that the Royals had not been very sporting about this marriage, dispatching the other candidate to some far-flung corner of what was then our empire.
Landlord expired, so I had to move onto Proper Job from St. Austell, which was entirely satisfactory. As was the meal as a whole. Pub grub yes, but also good value.
I thought we had eaten there at lunch time least once before, meeting people there for the purpose, quite a long time ago now, perhaps ten years or more, but failed to trace any notice of that this morning.
As we left, we bumped into a couple of French ladies, one living in London, the other a visiting friend. They were refugees from 2Veneti, a rather different sort of establishment, but shut on Sundays, and I think we managed to persuade them of the virtues of substantial pub grub. We will never know!
A window in the smart new entrance to Bond Street tube station in Marylebone Lane. Clearly carved out of something rather older, complete with a tubular fire escape. A striking contrast on a pint and a half of bitter.
Home to the trolleys previously noticed at reference 6.
PS 1: this morning, Google Images turns up a copy of the picture in the National Portrait Gallery, as per reference 4. Central News, 1925. A different future king, Edward VIII. Did he visit his brother on honeymoon? Must consult BH. I learn that the National Portrait Gallery is a bit mean with its freebies, unlike some other museums: you only get a very small free download.
PS 2: in the margins, I have been learning about a mineral called hornblende, the point of interest being the use of a generalised formula, as snapped above, rather less definite than the formulae I learned about at school. I now believe that something like '(A, B, C) subscript 6' means six atoms taken from the menu of three supplied, in any combination. Presumably A, B and C have to be fairly alike, chemically. So given that hornblende formula includes several of these comma'd elements, a very large number of permutations. I have not yet found out whether something you find in the field is going to be some very complicated mixture, or whether at any one place you get something rather simpler. A member of the rather fearsome looking amphibole family, not previously heard of. See reference 7.
PS 3: a few hours later: BH not at all convinced about the NPG story. I poke a bit harder to find Google also offers another version of the image from Getty, at reference 8, with the label: 'British Royalty, pic: 1923, HRH, The Duke and Duchess of York pictured at Polesden Lacey during their honeymoon, The Duke of York was to become King George VI, on the abdication of King Edward VIII, and reigned 1936-1952, with Elizabeth as his Queen Consort (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)'. Furthermore, on zooming into the image at reference 4, the couple appear to be wearing clothes made out of almost identical tweeds. Much more likely in a new groom than in a brother-in-law on a visit. So it now looks as if BH was right all along.
References
Reference 1: https://www.bennewitzquartet.com/.
Reference 2: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/03/sherry.html.
Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-window.html.
Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_News_Agency_(London). Central News might be the rather dodgy operation described here.
Reference 6: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/05/trolley-825.html.
Reference 7: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornblende.
Reference 8: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/the-duke-and-duchess-of-york-pictured-at-polesden-lacey-news-photo/78950728.
No comments:
Post a Comment