BOROUGH MARKET

I had to go into the office recently. It’s been a long time since I’ve been into the City so I obviously needed to check to make sure nobody had stolen Southwark Cathedral or moved the Thames, that kind of thing. Clearly this was a mammoth task so I enlisted the help of my ex-colleague, Jacky.

We met in Borough High Street, in front of Southwark Cathedral. Borough Market is literally next door, the Cathedral nestles against the market as it weaves around its grounds. (Check task one, the cathedral was still there.) As some of the market is under cover, we had to wear face coverings. Before the pandemic, there was seating in the market, but alas, no longer. Now we buy food to take away and find somewhere nearby to sit. There are quite an amazing number of concrete benches in the vicinity, close to the river, far enough away from each other for different groups of people to comfortably socially distance. It’s almost as though someone had a premonition. (Check two, the Thames is still there.)

There are some fixed food stalls under cover in the market, but a lot of them are mobile stalls and there are significantly fewer there now than there used to be. Understandable, what’s the point of being there if you aren’t going to cover your costs? I hope these businesses manage to recover after the pandemic. It is possible to buy some things online now from some of the traders like the fishmongers, butchers and green grocers, although I suspect that this is pretty expensive.

History

As someone who has regularly frequented the market, and the restaurants therein, I had never really delved into its history before today. Shame on me. But now I’ve looked a little, and I am going to share.

There has been a bridge on or around the site of London Bridge since the Romans established a site in Londinium which makes total sense, as Londinium was a walled city and needed food and other goods. London Bridge leads directly into Borough High Street, and Borough Market is close by.

There has been a market in the general area of Borough Market since at least 1276, very probably earlier than that. The market was abolished (by Act of Parliament) in 1754 because of the traffic congestion it caused. However, two years later, another market was established. This is the Borough Market that we now know and love.

What’s available?

In normal times, Borough Market is bustling and full of artisan goods – wines, cheeses, fruit, vegetables, fish, condiments, nut butters, olives. Italian foods, Cypriot foods, goats milk ice cream. And then there are the take away food stalls: Thai, Indian, Caribbean, Malaysian, Iraqi, classic deli, Melton Mowbray pork pies, bread and pate. There is even a Borough Market Cookbook Club – members can attend online events (and, in normal times, other events). Obviously, as a bit of a foodie, I am a member. It’s free to join and they send a regular newsletter.

I’m looking forward to the day when Borough Market can get back to normal. The whole country really, I feel desperately for everyone whose livelihood has been affected by the pandemic. We can do it, we will do it.

COVID VACCINATION CENTRE VOLUNTEERING

I’m very happy with my own company but even I am getting a little bit bored of being at home all the time. So my decision to volunteer at the vaccination centre wasn’t wholly altruistic. It would be a legitimate reason to leave the house.

I signed up and had a telephone interview. I say ‘interview’, but it wasn’t like a job interview.

“Are you pregnant?” was question number one.

“It’ll be the second miracle in two thousand years if I am.”

The other questions related to my health and whether there was any medical reason that I shouldn’t volunteer. Being a perfect physical specimen (ahem), I passed with flying colours. Later that day, I was advised of the details of the app on which I would book my shifts and so on. I completed the online training and was ready to go.

The first shift I booked on for was cancelled, no idea why. Then the volunteer coordinator emailed to say that we would have to take lateral flow tests in the week before our shift. It makes sense, we’re trying to reduce Covid rates, not increase them.

To cut to the chase, I booked in for my [second] first shift on 20 February. As I’m only doing one shift every couple of weeks, I only need to have one lateral flow test in the preceding week, so on Friday morning, off I trotted.

As a council volunteer, I’m allowed to go to the council testing site, which is closer to my home, about half an hour’s walk, so I get some exercise as well as getting tested. (That’s important to me, my life seems to be busier since the pandemic, not the other way round.)

All very well organised when I got there, and the whole thing, including registration, only took about fifteen minutes, so in all I was only out of the house for about an hour and a quarter. I was very happy about that; I had a lot to do.

The following day I headed off for my shift as a volunteer. In my area we have two shifts: 08:00 to 14:00 and 13:30 to 19:30. They don’t always run them every day, I suppose it depends on the availability of the vaccination. Anyway, a Saturday morning shift suited me, so I got up a bit earlier than usual and left the house just after 07:00. I was about twenty minutes early, not that I minded, I would rather be early.

I had to wait until the other volunteers arrived. There were about five of us who were there for our first shift, so we had our own separate ‘meet and greet.’ Our volunteer coordinator took us around and we were assigned our roles. I was with a more experienced volunteer (she’d done one shift before) and we were guiding people to their cubicles for vaccination.

Dimitri, the centre manager, told us during the briefing that there were 13 vials of the Pfizer vaccine to use first. The original plan was to take a 30 minute break when the Pfizer was used up, but it didn’t quite work out like that.

Dimitri also said that they had done 800 vaccination the previous day and he wanted to do at least that many. That meant that we volunteers had to work hard to get people through to the clinicians as quickly as possible.

We got through the Pfizer fairly quickly, within just over an hour (that was 78 vaccinations) and as different vaccination stations ran out at different times, there was no half hour break.

It was actually very well organised. Someone at the door took temperatures before anyone was allowed to enter. People were booked in then went upstairs to get their ticket, a bit like the deli counter at Morrison’s. There was a waiting area before people went through to see the first clinician who checked details and checked whether there was any reason why someone could not have a vaccination – the pre-assessment. From there, they’d go through to the vaccination area. There were various volunteers along the way to ensure that people only went one way and in the right direction.

The vaccinating clinicians had admin support (employees, not volunteers, they are dealing with confidential, personal information) who were entering the details of the vaccination directly onto the computer system. Very impressive.

After the vaccination, particularly for the Pfizer jab, we’d direct people along to another area where they would sit for 15 minutes before going. If they weren’t driving after the Astra Zeneca, people were only asked to wait if the clinicians thought there might have been a problem.

There was a huge variety of people, all ages and ethnicities, which was great to see. And to the lady who was very, very scared, I take my hat off to you.

It all went very smoothly, and I was impressed at how slick the whole operation was. Plus, our volunteer coordinator kept checking on us, to ensure we had enough to drink (they provided us with water and there was food in the break-out area). I know it’s not this seamless everywhere (I know volunteers in other areas) but this was good and I am full on confidence now.

You can tell by this, I am a huge fan of being vaccinated, I would have died in childhood without being vaccinated for whooping cough. I was lucky enough to have my first dose of vaccine on my volunteering day. Of course, it’s personal choice, but if you are concerned, please do speak to someone who will give you professional advice, rather than listening to hearsay. No-one is safe until we are all safe.

Look after yourselves.

KEEPING IT REAL IN LOCKDOWN IN LONDON

I’m keeping it real in lockdown in London. I was thinking, when I write a blog about my life in London, and I’m not going anywhere, what can I write about? I can go out for walks, but I don’t have a car and, aside from not wanting to break the rules, where am I going to go? I rarely go out at all now, and not to the local supermarkets. The aisles are too small for anyone to easily socially distance. I have come this far without getting Covid-19 that I am not jeopardising it now that I am so close to getting a vaccine.

I am astonished by the people who do not believe that Covid is real. I like a conspiracy theory as much as the next person, but I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone would think that all the world governments, who normally can’t agree on the time of day, would all conspire to tell all their citizens that there is a pandemic going on. Even if that was the plan, they’d have had to be planning it for about a century to agree on anything.

Then there are the NHS staff. It’s quite something for our government to have managed to get everyone in the NHS to tell a lie. No whistle-blowers breaking ranks. Amazing.

And, I know people who have had Covid, and sadly, who have died from it. I don’t usually get political in public. I like to keep those kind of views private, but this is annoying me. People demonstrating outside hospitals and abusing the medics who are saving the lives of others. What is going on? I can only assume great swathes of the public have gone totally mad.

“I’m not having the vaccine; the government is going to put a microchip in me.”

If that’s your view and you are reading this, I have to tell you, that ship sailed a long time ago. Governments don’t need to put a chip in the vaccine, anyone with a bit of tech savvy can track us from our mobile ‘phones and online accounts, bank cards and travel cards. Not to mention CCTV. If you are worried about all that, close all your accounts down, smash your mobile and become a hermit. Me, I don’t think I’m so important that any government is that bothered about what I have for breakfast. My life is way too boring.

Back to the pandemic. I have some thank you’s to say:

I say thank you to everyone in the NHS, and their equivalents around the world.

I say thank you to our police officers and fire fighters and military who are helping the NHS.

I say thank you to our post men and women, and all the delivery drivers out there – especially as I don’t want to go out so they have to deliver to me.

I say thank you to everyone working in retail in any capacity. I hate that people are being rude to you and apologise on behalf of them (and that applies to the NHS too).

I say thank you to everyone who is volunteering in any capacity to help with this pandemic. There are lots of people out there who giving their spare time to help others, and we should all be grateful for them.

Please everyone, obey the rules. This virus isn’t going away.

TEN PLACES IN LONDON NO-ONE EVER TELLS YOU ABOUT… BUT THEY SHOULD

London, England. The capital city, which most people think of as Westminster or the West End, is in fact a conglomeration of smaller towns that are joined together to make Greater London. There are something like 8.3 million people living in an area of 607 square miles.

Most tourists who come to the UK visit London, and so they should, it’s an amazing place. They usually visit places like the Tower of London, the London Eye and Westminster Abbey. All great places to visit, but there is so much more to London than this, lots of smaller places of interest, so free or inexpensive.

Here are some of the lesser known places that I think every tourist should visit, if they have the time…

10 Dr Johnsons’ House

Samuel Johnson was an 18^th century English writer who famously said, “…when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life…” His house is in the City of London, the only one of his homes to have survived. It was here that he wrote his renowned Dictionary of the English Language.

It’s a beautiful example of a house of its time – it’s 300 years old and is five stories high and four bays wide. It now contains a research library, a number of original features and restored interiors and collections relating to Johnson. It’s well worth a visit and is not far from Sir John Soane’s House.The house is open from 11.00 to 17.00 Monday to Saturday, closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Entry is £7 for adults and £3.50 for children.

9 Thames Flood Barrier, Woolwich

Photograph courtesy of Rocco Dipoppa on Unsplash

One of the largest movable flood barriers in the world, the Thames Flood Barrier went into operation in 1982. Its purpose is to protect 125 km²of central London from flooding. The barrier has 10 steel gates that are raised up when there is a risk of flooding or when the barrier is undergoing normal testing. When raised, the gates stand as high as a 5-storey building. Each gate weighs 3,300 tonnes.

You can easily see the barrier itself from river boat trips and visit the Information Centre to find out more. The Information Centre, which explains the history of the barrier and has a working model, so you can really see what happens when the barrier is in action. The opening times vary throughout the year, and there are also scheduled closures for testing so it’s best to check before visiting. It costs £4.15 for adults, £2.65 for children, concessions for seniors and family tickets are available.

8 John Soane’s Museum, Holborn

Sir John Soane was an English architect who started life with humble beginnings and ended up as a professor of architecture at the Royal Academy. The museum was Soane’s home and office and is actually three houses connected. He bought number 12 Lincoln’s Inn Fields first, then bought number 13. Number 14 was added later. Soane was the architect of buildings such as the Bank of England (sadly, not the one we see today), Holy Trinity Church in Marylebone and Freemasons’ Hall in Holborn.

The museum is packed full of Soane’s collections from around the world, including paintings, sculptures and a sarcophagus! There are some fascinating architectural features, and it’s well worth booking onto a guided tour. You will have to check in any bags at the entrance – you will understand why as you walk around.

Entry is free, but you may have to queue, there is not much space inside.

7 Sutton house

Sutton House in Hackney was built in 1535 by one of Henry VIII’s courtiers, Ralph Sadleir.
(‘Courtier’ doesn’t really do it justice: he was a diplomat, statesman and adviser to the king). He served Edward VI after Henry’s death, and, much later, Elizabeth I.

Sutton House was Sadleir’s family home and is now owned by the National Trust. It is one of the last remaining Tudor Houses in London although the frontage has been modified and is more Georgian than Tudor. As you walk around, you can really get a feel for what life would have been like back in the 16^th century. Despite its chequered history (it has been used as a school, a church institute, a Trades Union office and a punk squat) it has still managed to retain many original features, such as oak-panelled rooms and a linen-fold room (linen-fold is a style of woodcarving that originated in Flanders). Yes, there are newer additions to the building but most of us think they add to its charm. There is a tea house on site, and a garden. Entry is £8.50 for adults, £4.20 for children, guided tours are £10.50 and £4.20 respectively.

6 Leighton House

One of my favourite places to visit, Leighton House is situated in Kensington, West London. Sir Frederic Leighton, or 1^st Baron Leighton, as he later became, was a painter and sculptor. To set the scene, Leighton was an associate of the Pre-Raphaelites, and designed Elizabeth Barrett-Browning’s tomb for her husband Robert Browning. He had the eclectic tastes that would be expected from someone in that peer group.

The inside of the house is designed as a two-storey Arab Hall (complete with the harem screen). Most of the rooms are decorated in typical Victorian style. When Leighton died in 1896, most of his possessions were sold so the Leighton House Association set out to acquire Leighton’s own paintings and other artworks. They have also managed to purchase a relief by Antonio Rossellino, which was in Leighton’s original collection. Entry is £9 for adults, children free. Check opening times before visiting – at the time of writing, the museum is only open at weekends from 10.00 to 17.30 due to restoration works.

5 Bank of England Museum

Who wouldn’t want the chance to go inside the famous Bank of England, situated in the heart of the City of London? Sometimes called the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, the walls of the bank are eight feet thick!

There are five separate galleries in the Bank, and you can find out about why the UK started using paper money, what the Bank does and how it affects us. You can even pick up a gold bar – and it’s heavier than you’d think. If you are lucky, you may even get to see the governor’s office. Entry to the museum is free, and it is open between 10.00 to 17.00, Monday to Friday (last entry is 16.30).

Photograph courtesy of Kai Pilger

4 The Dead House

Somerset House itself is a beautiful building with a fascinating history, built by the Duke of Somerset in 1547. It was home to Elizabeth I for five years before she was crowned queen, and later home to Anne of Denmark (wife of James I) and Henrietta Maria of France (wife of Charles I).

The Dead House is a disused vault containing five tombs set in the walls. One of the tombs commemorates a Father Hyacinth, another appears to be the tomb of a Portuguese surgeon. No-one is really sure how the bodies got there. When she lived there, Henrietta Maria engaged a group of architects to modernise and upgrade the house and make it her own. One of the theories is that Inigo Jones, one of the architects, was tasked with building a Catholic chapel on the site. (At the time, it was the only one in England, religion was a tricky subject in England in those days.) The chapel had a small cemetery attached and those buried there are believed to have worked in her household. The Dead House is all that remains of the cemetery.

Courtesy of Robert Bye

3 Greenwich Foot Tunnel

Opened in 1902, the tunnel connects Cutty Sark Gardens in Greenwich with Island Gardens on the Isle of Dogs. It was built specifically to ease the commuter traffic on the ferries that carried workers to the docks. There is another foot tunnel further down the river at Woolwich.

The tunnel is 370 metres long and has an internal diameter of 3 metres. It is accessed by a spiral staircase and, during the day, a lift. The entrance halls have glazed glass cupolas, which are visible from boats travelling along the river. The tunnel walls are covered in glazed tiles, which make footsteps echo loudly. The foot tunnels are open 24 hours per day and are free to use.

2 Wilton’s Music Hall

Music Halls were popular in Britain from about 1850 to the early 1900s. It started life as an alehouse, back in the late 17^th century and became a music hall in 1859.

It’s recently been going through a restoration – it was severely damaged by fire in 1877 but there are still some wonderful architectural features, including a proscenium arch at the end of a high stage. When it stopped being a musical hall it became a Methodist Church. When it stopped being a church, it became a warehouse, and was then scheduled for demotion. A local campaign put a stop to that, supported by a number of famous people, including the actor Peter Sellers.

It re-opened as a theatre and concert hall in 1997. As well as staging theatre productions, there is a bar, the Mahogany Bar, downstairs, you don’t have to go into any of the performances to use it and it is unrestored in places. Food, as well as drink, is available.

Performance prices vary.

1 Execution dock

This charmingly names place is situated along the banks of the Thames at Wapping, in East London. It’s no secret that London has historical connections with piracy, and the Admiralty took a very dim view of it. If a pirate was caught, he was executed, after a stay in one of London’s wonderful prisons, usually the Marshalsea in Southwark. (They might well have welcomed death after a stay there.) On the day of their hanging, prisoners were taken by cart across London Bridge, along past the Tower of London to Wapping. They were allowed to stop off at a public house to drink a quart of ale before continuing their final journey.

Crowds would gather to watch the executions, which, in the case of piracy meant using a rope that was too short to break the prisoner’s neck. This meant that they were left dangling as they were slowly strangled. As they slowly died, the bodies performed what was known as the Marshal’s Dance – movement of the limbs that looked as though they were dancing. The bodies were left where they hanged until three tides washed over them, as an example to other sailors. The most notorious of them was tarred after being taken down and hung in cages, just to hammer hope the point.

The exact location of Execution Dock is no longer known. There are a few possible sites: The Prospect of Whitby (the oldest riverside pub, although it used to be known as The Devil’s Tavern), The Captain Kidd, but the favourite is a bit further along by a pub called The Town of Ramsgate. It’s worth a walk along Wapping High Street to visit them all and decide for yourself. At low tide, there are steps along the way that will take you to the shore of the Thames. The pubs are free to enter, but you will be expected to buy a drink.

GREEN SPACES IN LONDON

There are literally hundreds of parks and smaller green spaces in London, which have become more important than ever during the Covid restrictions. Even though I live close to a big park, I’ve started going further afield, to visit other parks in the Borough, just for a change of scenery.

The London Green Spaces Commission

In 2019, The London Green Spaces Commission carried out a review of London’s parks and green spaces, specifically looking into strategy, value and governance. The short version is that they are not cheap to maintain, each council manages things in a different way and spends different amounts on its green spaces. Of the councils that provided details to the commission, for the 2018/19 financial year, Haringey spent the least at £1.29 per head of population, to £20.22 for Hammersmith and Fulham. The cost per hectare ranged from £1079 in Barking and Dagenham to £54762 in Westminster.

Click to access a_review_of_londons_parks_green_spaces.pdf

I didn’t find a satisfactory conclusion in that report, except to say that there seems to be an acknowledgement that there is a value to having open spaces in cities and towns, a point which must have proven itself over and over since the pandemic.

St James’ Park
Ok, this is one that most of us would need to travel to, but I love it, it’s one of my favourite places in London, SW1. Maybe it’s because I spent many happy years working nearby. It has a man-made lake, and some beautiful bird life, including pelicans.

The park was named after the hospital that was nearby before it was built, St James’ hospital, which cared for female lepers back in the thirteenth century, and went on to become St James’ Palace. The park became an area where prostitutes worked until Charles II ascended to the throne and turned the park into what we see today.
St Dunstan’s
More correctly, St Dunstan’s in the East, is a ruined church near to the Monument in EC3. St Dunstan’s was one of the churches damaged and rebuilt after the great fire, by Sir Christopher Wren. The newly built nave damaged the existing building, and it was pulled down and rebuilt between 1817 -1821. The new building was badly damaged during the Blitz, leaving only the tower, steeple and some of the walls. However, the garden is lovely. On a sunny day it is very busy, but it’s still a lovely little garden to walk through.
The Garden at 120
That’s 120 Fenchurch Street, EC3, at the top of the office building known as Fen Court. It is London’s largest roof garden. It’s free to enter although I would check before going during the pandemic, as that will no doubt impact on the opening hours. I visited in 2019 when it was still new, so the plants will have grown since then making it even more attractive.
Kensington Gardens
Running adjacent to Hyde Park (they used to be the same park), Kensington Gardens is another place you need to travel to unless you are lucky enough to live nearby. It’s 265 acres, with Kensington Palace at the opposite end from Hyde Park. You can read more about it at the link below:

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens/about-kensington-gardens
Kew Gardens
More correctly called the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has it all: an arboretum, glass houses and a rock garden. The is also the living collection. Kew explains that a living collection is what sets a botanic garden apart from a park or public garden. The living collection is a group of plants grown especially for research, conservation, education or ornamental display.

Kew has been collecting and working on the living collection since the 1700s, with some species being extinct in the natural world. Check out the link below:

https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/plants/living-collection

Maybe you don’t want to travel too much at the moment, I know I don’t. Only when necessary for me. If that’s the case, and you want to get out into the open air, check what’s available in your area–either home or work. There are so many places. These are some of my favourites:

There are many, many more parks and open spaces, some are listed in the links below. Let’s hope we can all start enjoying them again properly soon.

https://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/londons-hidden-gardens-and-green-spaces

https://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/londons-major-parks

TIER 2 RESTRICTIONS

London was put into Tier 2 restrictions at one-minute past midnight on Saturday, 17 October 2020, which meant my lunch date with the Pauls was cancelled. Gutted, but we comply with the rules so it seems my social life now comprises visits to the osteopath (lucky Tammy, she can stick needles in my to her heart’s content) and visits to my local supermarkets. If my milkman or Iceland would deliver gluten free bread, I wouldn’t need to do that. Maybe I should just clear a shelf in my freezer and order more bread in my monthly delivery?

Of course, when Lockdown started, despite the fact that I have been having shopping delivered for over 20 years, and regularly from the same supermarket for over two years, I became a pariah, and couldn’t get shopping delivered. Ok, pariah is overstating the case, I understand the reasons, but I was in a worse position than many people who could get deliveries – I don’t own a car and we were told not to travel by train unless essential, so I was left with small, local shops. I was somewhat miffed and, frankly, nearly bankrupted by the additional cost of my wine deliveries. (Of course it’s essential and I have to do my bit for the economy.) Now I can get food delivered again, I have changed my regular supermarket. If loyalty counts for nothing, it counts for nothing on my side too.

One of the reasons I started to get a regular milk delivery was because of supermarket deliveries during Lockdown, so that I would be able to get fresh veg if things get tough again. That, and the fact that it means I use less plastic (supermarket milk comes in plastic bottles, milkman milk comes in glass bottles. Actually, my milkman also delivers washing up liquid and handwash in refillable glass bottles). He also delivers loads of organic stuff, fruit and veg. I’m not on commission but I do feel the need to include a link to their website, I’m so impressed. So far, anyway.

https://www.milkandmore.co.uk/

We are still allowed to meet people outside at the moment, although who knows when that will change. The point about all these restrictions is not that they are to protect us, the populace. It’s about not overwhelming the NHS. I’m fine with that, although I do wish they would up their game with the non-Covid related cases. Dr Rosemary Leonard and other GPs who appear on BBC Breakfast keep saying that the NHS is open for business but that is not my experience. I’ve been waiting for treatment since April. My GP wanted a photograph and then criticised my ability to take a selfie!!!! It’s probably nothing but at the moment, nobody is really sure, since I require a biopsy and my hospital appointment is not until December.

Anyway, rant over. I know I am a lot more fortunate than many people. The Oxford vaccine seems to be doing well and I have heard that they will start vaccinating key workers within the next few weeks, so maybe those of us who want it will be able to get it within the next six months or so. How much will that change things, I wonder? Will we still have to wear face coverings? I do hope not. I was worried I’d need to have my ears pinned back until I discovered these bands you can wear at the back of your head. They make wearing face masks much more comfortable.

It won’t last forever. Nothing ever does. We (the human race) will find a way to co-exist with the virus. And then there will be another one.

APSLEY HOUSE

I took myself off to Apsley House a few weeks ago. For some bizarre reason, I’ve never been there before, which is a huge shame because it’s a lovely place to visit.

Apsley House is the stunning looking Bath Stone building at Hyde Park Corner. It used to be called Number One, London; it used to be the home of Arthur Wellesley, 1^st Duke of Wellington.

History

The site was originally crown land, and Baron Apsley negotiated the lease of it so he could have his house built there. It seems to me a strange location, because, at the time, it was built opposite a turnpike (an old-fashioned name for a toll road) which I imagine was busy and noisy. It was the first house built on that side of Piccadilly – there was no Hyde Park Corner roundabout back in the 18^th century.

The house was originally built by architect Robert Adam between 1771 and 1778 for 1^st Baron Apsley. It was built in red brick, with five bays. There was already a building on the site, and a stable block on the eastern side so the house was built in an irregular shape as a consequence. When you are in the house, you don’t get any sense of irregularity though, it’s a fabulous house. If I’m honest, yes, I’d love to live in it. Without the museum, obviously.

More History

It was the Iron Duke’s older brother, Richard, who bought the house in 1807. He and his wife spent over £20,000 on furniture and decorating, which seems to me to be an awful lot, even by today’s standards. In the 19^th century it was astronomical. It transpired that Richard and his wife split up about ten years of moving in. Richard was, unsurprisingly, on the verge of bankruptcy.

Unbeknown to him, his younger brother, Arthur, Duke of Wellington, made an anonymous bid to buy the house for £40,000. The Duke of Wellington enlarged Apsley House. He did it in two phases, the first in 1819-1820, when he put a three-storey extension on the north-east side, which included the State Dining Room.

In January 1828, the Duke of Wellington became Prime Minister, and more changes to Apsley House were commissioned. Wellington negotiated the purchase of the freehold, at a cost of £9,532. He had an even bigger bill soon after when his architect told his the bill for all the work he’d been doing came to £64,000. Seems that some things never change.

Whatever the cost, Apsley House is stunning inside. Stunning and interesting. There are some beautiful paintings as well as artefacts such as Wellington’s walking sticks and false teeth. Décor and furniture are beautiful and the dining room, well, the table setting is out of this world.

I would absolutely recommend that you visit Apsley House at least once. And take in the Wellington Arch while you are there, you can easily fit them both into one day.

THE TOWER OF LONDON

It’s probably been 20 years since I visited the Tower of London. Maybe nearer to 30…. I was lucky enough to go along for the Ceremony of the Keys, which was great night.

I duly booked my ticket online – you have to book a specific entry slot at the moment, and there are no guided tours – and pitched up the day. Visitors are all given a free map as there is a one-way system in operation. I bought a guidebook and went off and around.

I had forgotten how fabulous the Tower is and that, at various times, it has been a fortress, a prison and a palace. Not to mention the animals….

History Leading up to the Tower

When King Edward (the Confessor) died in 1066 he had no direct heir. His brother-in-law, Harold Godwinson, was crowned king, but a relative, William of Normandy, believed he also had a claim to the throne. The next bit, we probably all know: William invaded and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings. Unsurprisingly, William’s next move was to head to London, the capital city. He was crowned king on Christmas Day in 1066, and withdrew to Barking, Essex (although it is now in a London Borough). Close enough if necessary, but far enough to allow fortifications to be built back in London.

Remember that back in those days, London was not much more than what we know as the City of London, the Square Mile, today. William took advantage of the old Roman Walls that had been built around the City and preliminary defences built in the south-east corner of the city walls.

Brief History of the Tower
William knew it was important to show the natives his strength and prowess – he would rather have them submit than fight. Thus he upgraded his defences to a huge Tower, what became known as the Great Tower. It was known as the Great Tower for around two hundred years when Henry III ordered it to be whitened, inside and out. Thus it became known as the White Tower, the name by which it is still known today.

Exact details of when the building of the Great/White Tower started, but it was complete by 1100. The White Tower is big, it is 118 x 106 feet (36m x 32.5m) across. On the south side, where the ground is lowest, it is 90 feet (27.5m) tall. It was an imposing sight.

From a logistical point of view, the White Tower couldn’t have been better situated – it had the old Roman walls surrounding it on two sides, along with deep wide ditches. The Thames is on the south side, although in those days, the Thames was wider and shallower so may not have been as much of a defence as today.

When Richard I (the Lionheart) became king in 1189, he started work in increasing the fortifications. It clearly wasn’t enough that he spent his citizens’ money on fighting crusades in the Holy Land. Chancellor William Longchamp was left to continue with the building work, and he doubled the fortress in size.

Richard’s brother, King John, is believed to have been the first to keep exotic animals at the Tower during his reign. John’s son, Richard III, took the throne as a child, when Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers were built. Further defensive works were started at the Tower, and these were continued by Richard’s successor, Edward I.

In addition, the Tower took on other roles during Edward’s reign – it was used as a prison for the first time, and coins were produced there, thus establishing the Tower Mint. The Tower played an important part during the Wars of the Roses when it was the site of the Coronation of Edward IV.

The Tower was also the site of some notable deaths and murders. Richard VI died at the Tower on 21 May 1471. It is believed to be on the orders of his son, Edward IV. It is also believed that Edward’s two young sons died in the Tower at the hand of Richard III.

When the Tudors established themselves as a dynasty, they built a number of other royal palaces, and the Tower fell from favour and was used as a prison again. By the time of the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell installed the first garrison at the Tower. The garrison stayed but the monarchy was reinstated, and the Tower was used by the Office of Ordnance. By the 1590s, paying visitors were admitted for guided tours.

While Cromwell was Lord Protector, most of the Crown Jewels were destroyed (three 17^th century ceremonial swords and a 12^th century anointing spoon were the only survivors). However, Charles II ordered a new set of jewels to be made, and these went on show to the public in 1669.

Life started to calm down internally in the UK from the 18^th century onwards, at least in terms of who should and shouldn’t be the monarch. The Duke of Wellington was Constable of the Tower between 1826 and 1852. One of the things he did was to have the moat, which was dirty and smelly and unhygienic drained and converted into a dry moat. He also ordered a new barracks to be built after a fire destroyed the Grand Storehouse in 1841. The new barracks, which would house 1000 men, were named Waterloo Barracks after the Duke’s great battle.

Visitor numbers increased during the 19^th century, and then, in the early 20^th century, war broke out. The Tower resumed its role as a prison. Spies were held and executed at the Tower. During the Second World War, London was badly damaged in bombing raids and the Tower did not escape, a number of building were destroyed. The moat was used to grow vegetables. The Crown Jewels were removed, but their temporary home has never been revealed, probably in case they ever need to go there again.

The Tower during Lockdown

Visitors had no choice but to follow the map around the Tower. There was a one-way system in place. It made life very easy, actually, because you could work out where you were at any one time. The only place where social distancing wasn’t quite observed was at the little gardens by the Bloody Tower. I was able to walk and take photographs at my leisure, and the Yeoman Warders and other staff were all very helpful if you did get a little confused.

There was no queue to see the Crown Jewels, and there are now travelators either side of a large part of the collection, which wasn’t the case the last time I visited. The Imperial State Crown stands separate from the rest of the collection. It is fair to say that I left with diamond envy. It was worth the visit just to see them. In fact, they were one of my main reasons for visiting. I love the architecture but the armour wasn’t my favourite thing, although it was interesting.

I was lucky that the weather was good the day I visited, and I don’t imagine, unless I visit again during Lockdown, that I will ever again go when there are so few people there. If you live in the UK, you’re probably not going abroad in the next year, this virus isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. So, if you can take a visit to some of our fabulous sights, like the Tower. Your country needs you.

HORSEFERRY ROAD

A few months ago, I promised a friend that would do some research into Horseferry Road. It was after I’d told him that I’d met someone who had a lot of knowledge about traction engines and how he’d lent me a book about using ploughing engines to pull the ferry across the river. That was all back in my traction engine days.

I remember clearly the image of the book I read but I have been unable to find it since, so imagine it is out of print now. It was about 40 years ago that I read it. It’s a shame. I know my friend Paul would have found it interesting and it would have helped me write this. Memories fade.

Lambeth Bridge is where the ferry was

Lambeth Palace is at the south side of Lambeth Bridge, which runs from the junction of Albert Embankment and Lambeth Palace, across to Millbank.

There is no doubt that there has been a crossing of some sort at this location as far back as 1513, although it is believed that there was something else there before that. There may have been a ford there back in Roman times – remember, the Thames was wider and shallower in those days. Actually, it’s logical and almost certain that there was some sort of crossing there in Roman times. They were very single-minded.

What is certain is that Archbishop of Canterbury would have needed to see the king regularly (whichever Archbishop and whichever king we are talking about). When Lambeth Palace, which became the home of the Archbishop, was built, he would have wanted the quickest way to visit the king. (The King’s Palace was at Whitehall, where many of the government offices are now.) That would have made a river crossing at Lambeth a necessity.

A horse ferry is not what you think

Because I knew about the ploughing engines, I had always assumed that the name horse ferry came about because it was a ferry pulled by horses. It seems that is not the case, the river was too fast for horses to be able to manage it. I am not so sure that a wider, shallower river would have run as fast as the Thames today does, but maybe it was still fast. In any event, a horse ferry was used to carry horses and carts across the river rather than one pulled by horses.

In 1513, the Archbishop of Canterbury granted permission for one Hugh Trevilyan to run the ferry at a rent of 16d a year. There were 12d in a shilling, which is five pence in our current currency, but comparisons are irrelevant, there has been a lot of water under the bridge in 500 years. No pun intended. Anyway, part of the deal was that the Archbishop could travel across whenever he needed without charge.

It seems that the only time when it would have been safe to move a ferry across the Thames was a low tide, when the currents were slow. The ferry could have been punted or rowed across, so the Archbishop would not have been quite as accessible as someone nowadays at the end of a ‘phone but I guess they didn’t know any difference in those days.

Ploughing Engines

I haven’t been able to find out exactly when ploughing engines first took over the task of getting the ferry across the river, but a bridge was opened in 1862. This bridge didn’t last very long and was replaced in 1932, so maybe the ploughing engines stepped in when the bridge was a bit fragile? Or maybe they carried out the task sometime between the mid 18^th century to the mid 19^th? That seems more likely.

I’m disappointed that I can’t find the history that I wanted to, it seems so much is missing. Maybe someone reading this will be able to fill in the gaps for me.

MY FIRST TRIP OUT

This was it, my first trip out since Lockdown. Yes, I’ve been out to get my weekly shop and had the odd visit to the vets, but this was the first time I was to use the Underground since March. It wasn’t a frivolous trip; I was taking part in some scientific research relating to COVID-19 and had to travel to White City to do it.

I walked to the station as usual, put my mask on and got on the train. It seemed strange at first. Not because there weren’t many people, at the time of day I was travelling I didn’t expect to see many. Rather that, although most people were obeying the rules and wore face coverings, there were quite a few who weren’t. I’ve checked and they didn’t fall into an exemption category. That’s actually quite annoying, because wearing a covering over your nose and mouth is hot (at least, with the thick, washable type of mask I have). I didn’t even put my reading glasses on to type this because I knew they’d get steamed up.

The tube seemed louder than I remembered it, the wheels seemed to be turning right next to me, but maybe that’s because I haven’t been in the usually noisy Central London. And there have been no aircraft flying overhead so I’ve become accustomed to the quiet and sounds of nature. (Everyone with whom I talk on the ‘phone or on Teams tells me that they can hear the birds singing in my garden.)

A few stops along and the train was starting to get crowded. People were mostly standing and leaving seats between strangers, although I did see a couple of people sit down next to people they didn’t know.

The journey west was uneventful, until I got to White City. The TfL app had told me I needed to get a bus to my destination, but that didn’t seem right to me. I started walking, obviously in the wrong direction(!) but as I had an hour before my appointment, it didn’t matter. For some reason, I had forgotten about Google Maps… As soon as remembered, I discovered the error of my ways and turned back along where I’d come.

Wood Lane is still very much Television City, although some of the buildings looked unused. I was enjoying the walk.

On my way to the Imperial College site, I passed a little stall where they were cooking jerk chicken on a barbecue – De Plantain Tree.

https://www.facebook.com/deplantaintree.burke.3

I promised myself I would stop off if the time was right on my way back.

My testing was uneventful — blood tests and the obligatory back of throat and nasal swabs – except for the bruises. The blood tests were for help in developing a home testing antibody kit, to test to see whether you’ve had the virus. At this stage, they don’t know how long the antibodies last and what, if any, protection they will confer on disease prevention, and that’s what they are trying to find out. The throat and nasal swabs are to see whether you have the disease now.

It was also the closest I have been to any human being for more than a couple of minutes since Lockdown. It made me feel so much better and I thought I had been coping really well with Lockdown! Well, I have, but I guess we are social animals.

When I had finished testing, I did stop off at De Plantain Tree. There was a queue when I got there, which is always a good sign. There was a lot of variety on the menu, so it was a tough call but it was the chicken I’d seen being cooked on the way up and so chicken it had to be. Jerk Chicken with rice and peas and salad. I sat on a nearby wall to eat it. It was delicious, and not just because it’s the first meal I’ve eaten out since March. The chicken was tender and well-cooked, spicy, the way I like it, and the rice had a subtle but distinct taste of coconut, which I love. I will be going back there and wholeheartedly recommend it. I’ve already primed up my friend Paul. It was good to see people being able to make a bit of money too, I’ve really felt for all these self-employed people during Lockdown.

That was the extent of my excitement for the day, the journey home was as uneventful as the outgoing journey. I still think that there will be another spike and things won’t get back to normal for quite some time, so I shall treasure this day for some time to come.