Tag: Tower Bridge

London, the old, the new and the curious

Pugilists

The glorious ruined church, St Dunstan in the East, might have been the highlight of our whistle-stop tour of London back in May, but our visit didn’t end there. We found a path to the River Thames beside the church of St Magnus the Martyr. This church, founded in the early twelfth century, was one of the first buildings destroyed by the Fire of London. Christopher Wren rebuilt the current incarnation. With a little more time on our hands, we might have looked inside. As it was, like Nancy in Oliver Twist, we passed it by. Being in the middle of final edits on Seventh Daughter, the connection with the Dickens’ classic my Nancy had read with Sam seemed fitting.

Continue reading London, the old, the new and the curious

The dash for the finish line

Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge

26 April 2015

By quarter to twelve, when I finally made it to Tower Bridge, almost three hours after I’d set out, I’d walked eleven or more miles, rather than the seven I’d planned. The noise of the crowds told me I was there before I even saw it and, once I was on the bridge, they got thicker and thicker until I had to literally push my way through. Once or twice I may have mentioned how much I hate crowds. Being short, I can’t see anything and they make me feel panicked and claustrophobic. By the time I got to the other side I was close to tears and disoriented. Continue reading The dash for the finish line

The Thames Trail, a catalogue of errors

HMS Belfast
HMS Belfast

26 April 2015

Once I’d left Cutty Sark and crossed Deptford Creek, it was a relief to be away from the crowds and walking along the empty embankment. The creek, I found out later, was the site of the Battle of Deptford Bridge, the last battle of the Cornish Rebellion, on 17 June 1497. Created as a Royal Dockyard by Henry VIII, in the sixteenth century, Deptford Dockyard gave employment to many shipbuilders until its closure three hundred years later. In fact, in 1580, Queen Elizabeth I knighted Francis Drake there on board the Golden Hind. The ship remained moored in the creek until it broke up. It seems it a pity it couldn’t have been saved and restored because I would like to have seen it. Continue reading The Thames Trail, a catalogue of errors

Monumental cock up on the London Marathon front

image

25 April 2015

A few years ago I made a cock up of monumental proportions on the Twilight Race For Life. Basically I turned up on the wrong night, one day after the race, dressed in bright pink, with my race number pinned to me and covered in glo sticks. As mistakes go it was a big one and embarrassing but, to put matters right, I walked more than the distance involved, dressed in my stupid pink costume, all alone, at night and feeling like a total idiot. On Saturday we discovered someone else had made an error that made mine look like a tiny faux pas. Let me start at the beginning…. Continue reading Monumental cock up on the London Marathon front