A cold but clear misty morning at Petts Wood on Sunday:
Misty Morning
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Monthly Archives: October 2022
Progress on the fifteenth century costume
After a couple of iterations and some advice from fellow dancer Sharon, my headdress is more or less finished. I’m practising my aloof expression…
I have done all the machine stitching on the chemise and sleeves; just the visible bits left to hand sew.
Next job will be an overdress, but even if that doesn’t get finished, I will have a working costume for the Early Dance Festival.
City of London
Our day out this week was to the City of London. We caught the slow train to Cannon Street and used the new (to our lines) Class 707 train for the first time:
We had a quick look at a strange globe just opposite the station – there are a number of these around the city:
Then headed up Walbrook to the London Mithraeum:
We were a bit early for our visit, so explored some of the new entrances to Bank Underground station, and popped out by the Royal Exchange and The City of London Magistrates Court:
Back at the London Mithraeum, I looked at the e-ticket I’d booked the day before, and found that it was for the wrong day… But they let us in anyway and we looked at a collection of Roman artifacts that had been found during redevelopment of the area:
Then down underground to an expensive but pointless display about the god Mithras, then down even further to the temple itself. Again, it was dressed up in a light and sound show that didn’t achieve a lot, then finally we could look at the temple itself:
Afterwards, it was time for a coffee, then we popped in to visit the rebuilt St Stephen church in Walbrook. The church dome was originally designed by Christopher Wren, and it was lovely welcoming church, helped by the organist practising for a lunchtime recital:
Continuing the museum theme, we visited the Bank of England museum. Very heavy security including airport grade scanners, so it took a while to get in.
And then past, the bank itself:
Our next destination was further east, so we set off trying to find a pub. All we could see was coffee shop after coffee shop, then I peeked up an alleyway and saw one:
Nice beer & food, and it was warm (and quiet) enough to sit outside:
Suitably refreshed, we continued to St Dunstan in the East, which had a recommended garden. As you can see from the photos, not so much a garden as a “green ruin”. A lovely peaceful place despite being quite full of tourists:
It was a short walk to the Thames from there, so we followed the river back to London Bridge, then over the bridge to the station and a fast train home:
Tunbridge Wells
The weather looked reasonable today, so we headed to the station and caught the train to Tunbridge Wells:
Tunbridge Wells Common is a short walk from the station, so it wasn’t long before Rocco had a chance to let off steam:
Wellington Rocks look very strange just “growing” out of the ground:
Rocco had a chance for a drink:
and we had a brief stop in the sunshine:
After grabbing a geocache further on in the woods, we headed to The Pantiles:
By then, it was too late for a coffee, too early for a beer, so found a nice pub (The White Bear) and had one of each with nice comfortable armchairs to sit in:
We were given a little pack of “Mini-Bonio’s” – see the pack on the table. Rocco enjoyed most of these:
Suitably refreshed, we continued along the High Street to a pub (The Bedford) that had a large range of beers:
Unfortunately, they turned out to be not beers we liked, and the pub had large TV screens showing sport, so we headed back to another pub (The Compasses) just off the High Street:
Very friendly, an excellent Ruby Beer (which even Tina enjoyed), and some interesting food:
After lunch we walked through a lovely open space (The Grove), just behind the pub:
Then onto an even nicer park (Calverley Park), which could almost have been a National Trust garden:
From there, it was a short walk back to the station and the train home. Tunbridge Wells station has an interesting mural about the town under the over-bridge:
A nice day out, and we got back well before the rain started!