April 27 Newbury Park
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Dull and dreary when I took my bedroom window shot. By the time I left for the tube station, it was drizzling. When I emerged again 40 minutes later at Chancery Lane, it was raining and the umbrellas were out.
Not having any plans at all, I walked around for a while, bought some stamps and a postcard - not as easy to find as I would have expected - and then retreated to a café with a fringe on top for a coffee. With the management being of Mediterranean appearance, it was not a surprise that the coffee was good.
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Shortly after this stop, I discovered that my camera batteries were playing up so I started to restrict my photographs to the absolute essentials. (Later I did some more experiments & decided that things were OK after all so I resumed my photography. Time will tell if they work tomorrow.)
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For the next hour and a half, I wandered slowly Westwards, stopping at Red Lion Square to visit Bertrand Russell, and soaking up the atmosphere of the parts of London that I used to know so well.
Except for the plethora of East European accents which I came across, life seemed much the same as I remembered.
I had decided that if I had walked the two or three miles across London from Chancery Lane to Paddington, I could justify having lunch at The Seashell on Lisson Grove. This is London's most famous fish & chip shop/restaurant. Unfortunately, for the second time in two days, my chosen lunch was closed for building work. Luckily, the fish & chip shop side of the business was still functioning, so I was able to eat haddock and chips whilst standing at a marble (fake marble?) topped bar.
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When I came out again, it was raining steadily so I took refuge in the bar at Marylebone Station. This had both beer and seats so I was able to rest my weary legs after a couple of hours of non-stop activity.
From Marylebone I took the tube to Oxford Circus and then fought my way through the crowds, drizzle and puddles to the British Museum. On a nasty damp day, it was doing good business. I went upstairs to a special exhibition of 18th and early 19th Century portraits. Some were clearly representational, almost cartoon like. Others were of amazing technical quality, capturing the sitter, warts and all.
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Feeling tired again, I had a sit down in the Great Court. This is still VERY bright white, following a slight disaster with the stone procurement contract ten years ago, but it is a magnificent public space, topped with a very delicate roof.
On the way out, I found the King's Library, restored in 2003. When I worked here, about 35 years ago, I seem to remember it housing the locked collection - the dirty books - but I may be wrong. Now it houses a wonderful collection of stuff, mainly items collected in the museum's early years.
Having started the walk at Chancery Lane, I decided to return there to catch the tube home. It was still damp but I managed not to get too wet, caught a very busy train and arrived at Newbury Park 30 minutes later. The rain had just about stopped and it was brightening up.
I did some work at home and then went shopping when Anne returned from work. The sky went very dark, there was a double rainbow and it rained again. We ignored it, returned home & had a good dinner & lots of wine.