Back to the Brunswick

A fortnight or so, back to the Brunswick, to see what they could do for us. An establishment last noticed at reference 1. Dull and warm, set to be hot. 

11:19 train to Clapham Junction, which was busy. At least one hen party in full-dress. Across the aisle from us we had a couple of loud chaps, perhaps a Dad out with his son, seemingly both very keen on sport and on betting. We learned that if you checked the 'have I got my betting under control' button on the screen from the people with whom you made online bets, you got sucked into the full betting habit control drill, even if you had volunteered, rather than being pushed.

Took the new to us 156, which meant we got a few new sights and sounds. Past the church on Lavender Hill, which I had been past often enough, never got inside, and had always assumed to be Catholic on account of the white statues outside. BH assured me that it was a proper Anglican church, while checking today I find we were both right. Famous Anglo-Catholic of reference 2. Must make more effort to get inside. Surprising how much of this branch of the faith there is.

Left into Queenstown Road and somewhere along the way a very old red letter box, with an octagonal top and a spike on top. Rather set in a wall as I recall, but we will have to do the route again to fix it. Plus another church: large and turned over to the Ethiopians. 

As snapped above and turned up by Bing. Slightly hazy as the incense from the service had not settled down. An impressive and expensive looking building, if not particularly holy.

Then a right onto the A3025 which carried us to Vauxhall. Picking up a bit of Indian flavoured statuary on the way, nicely complementing the philosopher on the Albert Embankment, previously noticed.

Bit of trouble crossing the road from the listed bus shelter across to the new flats, but we did take in this flourishing agapanthus on the way. Google Images agrees that it is indeed agapanthus, but offers lots of varieties, some looking more likely than others, but I would not care to hazard a guess. Lots of it in the Botanic Gardens at Ventnor.

They had really made an effort with the flowers - but also an effort to discourage foot traffic - so motorists stuck in traffic are going to get more from them than us.

We took an apéritif - not the sort of thing discussed at reference 3 - at the Young's house by the river, busy on this occasion with various parties. Pint of special for me, I should think, orange juice for her. Or perhaps some confection of elderflower.

On to the Brunswick, where we managed to miss the front entrance, despite having been there before and despite walking right past it. We went in the back, through the architectural droppings, where a management type was about to send us back the other way, when she noticed my stick and let us in the back way.

We took seats inside. BH was impressed by all the stuff. While I noticed the fake pilasters screwed to the walls using the same little brass wall plates as I have used myself to put up bookshelves and kitchen cupboards in the past.

Mixed olives - some big, shiny and green - and a drop of red. The red was fine, even if the bottle did not fit the menu entry terribly well 'Gamay, Beaujolais, Daniel Bouland 2023 ... Red fruits & ripe black cherry lifted by bright acidity'. Right year and right chap though.

I failed to run down a website for the manufacturer, but I did get to reference 5, which suggests that the menu entry was not so far wrong after all. And the price suggests a more modest mark-up than is usual in restaurants.

I got on better with the potato cakes on this occasion than on the last, ending up taking two of them, rusty iron delivery bowl notwithstanding. BH nibbled a bit at the edges.

And they did us very well indeed with the chicken to share. Chicken, tricked out with seafood trimmings and sauce. I even took some sour dough to mop up the left-over sauce. We would have it again should occasion arise.

Note: the bread was a much better accompaniment than the chips that were also on offer and which would have struck the wrong note.

Followed by coffee for her and terminal Calva for him. Served in a proper fine glass. None of this balloon business.

Much busier this Saturday lunchtime than it had been when I had been there before during the week. Service as good as ever.

Too full after two substantial courses to think of a solid dessert.

As we left, a large and well dressed - some kilts for the men - wedding party were coming in from Dulwich of all places for their reception upstairs - and for some reason we got the idea that it was more friends than family. I had my smart racing jacket on and I don't think they were quite sure whether I was guest or greeter.

We wondered whether it was the weddings that paid the bills: the place has not been that busy the few times that I have been there - but I think that there were weddings on each occasion.

BH standing guard over our new vehicle. Lots of them in the more popular parts of Epsom and we learned only the other day that their owners have a marked penchant for overtaking Morgans rolling along the motorway at 70mph.

The stick worked its magic on the platform at Vauxhall, where the supply of seats is not great. But the lady next to us explained that being pregnant did not work anything like as well, at least not in her experience.

St. Anne's and botany at RPPL. Perhaps the same old gentleman from whom I have always assumed my previous botanical finds came from? 

I now know that St. Anne's was the product of the work of the Association for the Education of Women, which campaigned for 40 years, 1880-1920, to further the education of women, particularly at Oxford. Four halls first, later to become colleges, followed by what became St. Anne's which catered for students not living in hall, that is to say home-students, mostly actually living in lodgings. A full-on ladies' college in 1952 and admitted all-comers in 1979. There must have been some money in the system to run to a front door like that above.

Google Images does not tell me any more about the image, other than that it appears at reference 7. And in some of the other images it turns up, apparently of the same front door, the windows to the side do not match.

But, for some reason, he also turns up a picture of Linton Village College, where my mother taught for something more than ten years. I believe she was a good teacher, inspirational even, but she was also a bit of a thorn in the flesh of successive head teachers - usually much less qualified (academically) than she was. With the village colleges of Cambridgeshire being an innovative and striking part of the secondary education scene at that time. They still exist, but I dare say they have become much the same as anywhere else.

PS 1: some time ago now, at the beginning of June, I submitted a claim for adjustment of bill to Thames Water. The idea being that we did not pay for water leaking in and around their meter, out front under the pavement. Then all of a sudden last week, I am phoned up by a very nicely spoken young lady, in a rather different class to the call centre operators that I have been talking to hitherto. It may be that she came from the debt collection department and it may be that she was prompted by to call by our August half-yearly bill being about to fall due. The deal she offered was that she had cancelled most of our debt and that we needed to pay a bit more than five hundred in full and final settlement of water charges up to the middle of August. Nothing much to pay for leaking water, nothing much to pay for remedial work, most of which took place around the stretch of water pipe in our front garden. Easy terms available for poor old seniors. Which all seemed fair enough and I just paid up. We can afford a few dripping taps and can carry on fixing them in slower time. 

PS 2: BH thinks that the fashions in the Oxford snap above are 1950s while those of the Linton snap are 1930s - with Linton opening in the mid 1930s. The sort of thing her mother might have worn in her school days.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/06/lady-day.html.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ascension,_Lavender_Hill.

Reference 3: https://www.laclassedestelle.com/blog/french-aperitif.

Reference 4: https://brunswickhouse.london/.

Reference 5: https://www.cavebristol.co.uk/products/out-daniel-bouland-cote-de-brouilly?variant=54862689304953.

Reference 6: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_the_Education_of_Women.

Reference 7: https://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/.

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