Wednesday morning, overcast but mild and a bit muggy. I was up early, the usual mug of builders’ eventually galvanising me into action.
I was heading to meet my friend and fellow caravanner Sandra
at the train station – usually Euston which is a straightforward enough trip
from Crystal Palace – number 3 bus to Brixton then the tube. Thanks to Avanti
West Coast being unable to do the one thing in their remit – run a reliable
train service – I was instead heading to Paddington – distance wise little
further but to be there on time a trip which involved a bus, Overground and
three packed tube journeys.
Sandra writes:
"It was the middle of
October 2022 and it was time to pack the suitcase once again and head South for
a few days away in London with Richard. Given the well known issues with the
railway at the moment, travel arrangements ended up being last minute. I was to join Richard with another Richard
and colleague from Cover4Caravans insurance for lunch, and needed to be in
London by mid morning. Normally this would be a journey of about 2½ hours. On
this occasion it necessitated a trip down the Welsh borders on the train
changing in South Wales to ultimately arrive in London Paddington instead of
London Euston. A very early start for me catching the 5:30 AM train. My travel
assistance worked perfectly, despite the early hours, and due to the assistance
of very helpful staff in Newport South Wales, I made my connection and duly
arrived in London on time."
I was there in good time and took the
opportunity to snap a pic of dear old Paddington whilst waiting. I read many of
the books as a kid and loved the sketch with Her Majesty for the Jubilee last
year.
Sandra continues:
"Richard was waiting for me at the end of the platform and I was very relieved to meet him. We had planned a very pleasant few days ticking off a few places we wished to visit and to take in a couple of shows which we were really looking forward to seeing. We made our way to the restaurant via the Elizabeth line, a first for me. I was very impressed with the engineering work which had gone into building such a structure. Sometime previously I had watched a TV programme about the building of what was then called Crossrail. It really brought it home how big the job had been. We arrived at Liverpool Street station and made our way to the restaurant close by to await the arrival of Richard and his colleague Mark. It was a very different type of building and the deco reflected its name of the Ivy City Garden.”
“We read the menu whilst waiting for the others to arrive, I chose a lovely steak with wild mushroom sauce, chips and a side salad. On this occasion, the chips were served in a silver bucket, one step up from a recent meal where chips were served in a mini deep fat fryer basket! Whilst we were waiting, Richard received a message to say the others were stuck outside the railway station, still on the train, due to a points failure. Fortunately it was cleared relatively quickly and they soon arrived. There followed a lovely couple of hours of good conversation, good food and company. I thoroughly enjoyed the occasion and it was nice to see everybody again.”
It was lovely to catch up with Richard again,
and to finally meet Mark, the last time being pre-covid. The food was good, conversation flowed
and we could have stayed for longer but needed to get going. The Elizabeth line
– which has been a game changer, no doubt – propelled us to Whitechapel where
we swapped to the Overground back to Sydenham, then a bus up the hill back to
the site for a much needed relax.
Sandra continues:
“As I still had my
suitcase and travelling bag with me, we made for Patsy in order to drop that
off, have for me a much needed 40 winks, a light tea and a quick turn around to
get back into the city for the show that evening. We made good time on both
legs of the journey and duly arrived at the theatre for Back to the Future
musical. I had first noticed this musical many months ago and whilst being
interested, I was unable to find much in the way of reviews. It was certainly
being aggressively marketed and having seen the films I was a bit unsure as to
how such a film might translate onto the stage, let alone a musical. However
some months later the awards and reviews started to roll in. Virtually without
exception they were very positive and highly recommended going to see the show.”
“We had good seats which were relatively easy to access for me and we sat down to await the start of the show. We were not to be disappointed as overall the acting, singing, dancing and stage production were of the highest order. I won’t spoil it for you by outlining some of the surprises along the way. The actor who played the lead role, Marty McFly, was in my opinion not the most powerful of singers but could certainly act perfectly well.”
A straightforward run into town this time
- back on the good old number 3 bus, changing to the 59 at Brixton which
brought us to the eastern end of the Strand, the theatre being only a short
walk away. We’d timed it well – the doors had just opened and there was time
for a drink before we took our seats.
It was indeed an excellent show,
following pretty closely the story played out in the film. A great ‘feel-good’
show with plenty of energy and some spectacular special effects to. We eschewed
an after-show drink to get back to Patsy, well aware that Sandra had had a very
long day indeed.
Thursday and first on the list was the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, more
commonly known as the Neasden Temple. This was another that had been on my
to-do list for a while but it’s location, way over in north London had pushed
it down the list. We had another show booked for the evening so I was thinking
a leisurely morning, lunch in Patsy, then head over there in the afternoon.
That idea
was soon dashed though when I perused the website over the morning cuppa – the
temple was closed to visitors in the afternoon – when we intended to arrive, so
it was back on the list. Over a cuppa we considered options and came up with a
plan. Sandra:
“The next day saw us having a restful and relaxing morning, something I really appreciated. Afterwards we had a lovely homemade lunch of Tarragon Chicken and vegetables made by Richard. It was delicious. We then made-up sandwiches, changed and made our way back into London for the second evening show which I will come to later. We arrived near Fleet Street and we headed for the Temple area off to one side. It is of course a very famous area due to its legal links and also the Knights Templar church which we also wished to see. First though we found a little cafe opposite the Royal Courts of Justice and sat there taking in just exactly where we were.”
Our first port of call was actually The George Pub, just up from said café. I was keen to visit this as, not only did it feature in my Liquid History guide but was also one of the hostelries pictured on the Pubs & Shops of London jigsaw which I researched last year. However despite an impressive array of handpumps there was not one real ale on offer, so we gave it a miss. Sandra:
“It was then just a short stroll to the inn and the church. We ambled through the middle of the temple area making for the embankment of the River Thames. As we passed many of the offices we were able to see that some very famous legal people still hold offices there. Anyone who is a fan of legal dramas, such as we are, Rumpole of the Bailey, Silk, Judge John Deed, would readily recognise some of the buildings.”
“Unfortunately, the
gardens by the Thames that Richard had visited previously were no longer open
to the public. So we turned a corner and worked our way backwards and to our
ultimate destination the Temple church.”
“Over the years I have
read, watched and learned a considerable amount of information about the
Knights Templar. I had not anticipated we would be visiting this venue on this
particular occasion, so it was a very pleasant surprise. The church has a very
useful set of plaques set out to one side in the church which explains the
history of the Knights, their role in the Crusades and their subsequent
dissolution. Depending on who you speak
to or books you read, it is pretty widely acknowledged they were the
forerunners by and large of Freemasons of today. That is of course your
decision to make. Nevertheless it is a beautiful well kept building with a very
old alter and wooden screens behind with the Ten Commandments written on them.”
We got back on the bus and headed east a
little to our next port of call, the Temple of Mithras, the remains of which
were located under a tower block, discovered in 1954 and reconstructed along
with some clever visual effects to give a taste of London in AD240.
Sandra continues:
“Following this we continued to stroll around the area, taking in all the obvious new development, that I had not seen before. It was by now getting time for us to eat our sandwiches etc and move towards the theatre. Richard, determined to improve on his previous efforts in this regard, (i.e., better than a stage door entrance in the rain!), found a lovely little garden right next to Saint Paul’s cathedral. It was named the reflection garden and had some very comfortable well kept wooden benches on which to sit. It wasn’t particularly obvious, at least initially, why it was called the reflection garden. As we sat down we realised that there was a small pond in the middle and even though the light was starting to dim, as you will no doubt see from Richards photos, a very clear reflection of St Pauls Dome could be seen in the pond.”
“We quickly ate our
sandwiches and then, wishing to tick off another old world London pub from the
list, a swift pint and change of clothing in the toilets allowed us to reach
the venue in good time to take our seats. I say venue as the play we were going to see this evening was not being
held in a theatre! A short bus ride to just south of the river brought us to
the old London County Council Hall. I had many years ago attended meetings etc,
in that building so it was something of a journey down memory lane and one
which I very much enjoyed.
“The play we were going to see was by Agatha Christie, ‘Witness for the Prosecution’. Richard is a fan of Agatha Christie and so it was going to be interesting In many different ways. We were not to be disappointed as the setting, production, acting was of the highest order and a thoroughly enjoyable evening was had. The main council chamber working exceptionally well as a Courtroom. Staff were on hand to enable us to use the lifts and we had the added bonus of air conditioning to our seats through the old meeting system. Given that temperatures on London were 18-20C, it was most welcome.”
I thoroughly enjoyed this and using the council chamber really added to the production. An entirely different beast to the night before but equally as enjoyable. A short walk to the bus stop and we were back at Patsy in good time. Another very enjoyable day indeed.
As always, if you have made it this far, thank you for reading!
Just one more part to come which will be out soon….ish!