More Gill

Last week I thought to finish off inspecting the stations of the cross at Westminster Cathedral, on which I had made a start a couple of weeks previously and noticed at reference 1.

First stop though was Roscoe Street a fairly uneventful run of 20m 28s from Waterloo. Wrong sided by a young man in a hurry at the Waterloo Roundabout. Waited at lots of red lights. Slightly slipping gears, so I red-lighted the Bullingdon when I docked - while wondering how long it would take the Santander mechanic to work out why I had, with there being no facility for giving him any clues. Cycling offender of the day: a young lady on another Bullingdon showing a complete disregard for traffic regulations.

Market restaurant quiet but I am pleased to be able to report that their bacon sandwich was  back on form. Plenty of young people queueing for their lunch at the sheds and barrows outside.

Onto St. Luke's for more from the Academy of Ancient Music, more which it took me a little while to adjust to after the Schubert (from Finghin) of the previous evening.

Late Couperin first (Concert Royal No.4), a piece for two violas da gamba, a piece for two violins and early Couperin last (La Sultane). With both late and early Couperin scored for the four strings plus a harpsicord.

Once again, rather too much talking from Fiona Talkington, but I did learn that the Concert Royal was composed to be played at one of the Sun King's Sunday afternoon musical entertainments. Otherwise good, with the proviso that all four pieces were rather different and, once again, I had some trouble changing gear, with four such changes in an hour, if one counts the opening change from Schubert.

Next stop cheese, so Roscoe Street to Drury Lane (opposite the Masons' Temple). The chap in the cheese shop told me that takings were well down, with people neither buying much cheese nor eating much out. Maybe the weather was too hot for cheese.

Thought about taking lunch at the Lowlander, a bar where I had been generously entertained by Cable & Wireless in the past, a place which at that time actually sold proper cigars. Unusual enough in a bar even then. But decided that something lighter was more the thing and went for the old style Italian café called 'Wings', nearly next door. But managed to get something heavier, in the form of a chicken escallop sandwich, which was fine, but there was rather a lot of it. Old fashioned enough to be serving stand up coffee off the zinc to fellow Italians from round about. Very Simenon.

Followed by Drury Lane to Howick Place, the stand for Westminster Cathedral, where I was able to run down the two missing stations of the cross, No.13 and No.14. But I was not able to get a proper look as there was a large wedding going on - for which, being a large Catholic church, it was not thought necessary to turn everybody else out. I thought the wedding might have involved a rich family from Singapore and there was certainly lots of fancy dress on the ladies. One phone went off. Singing very feeble. Organ very powerful, despite there being no pipes on view. Interesting variations in taking in the Body of our Lord: some reverent, mostly rather casual. No question of taking it on the tongue.

One lady, whom I had thought was praying to Our Lady in the Lady Chapel, turned out to be a Muslim in black full dress, complete with face visor. I seem to recall something about it OK for Muslims to pray in a Christian church, that is to say an infidel church, should there be nowhere else suitable to hand.

Biggest Bentley I recall seeing waiting for the happy couple outside the main doors.

Hot by 1600 and plenty of red lights between the Cathedral and Kennington Lane Rail Bridge, the fourth hop of the day.

No aeroplanes at Vauxhall and no aeroplanes at Earlsfield, which I thought odd. One might have thought the that the afternoon procession down to Heathrow would have started by well gone 1600.

PS: my rule about taking stuff from contractors was that modest entertainment was OK, any kind of takeaways was not OK, and as a small wheel in a big machine, this was never a problem in practise. And I might say that the Home Office was sensible about allowing a modest amount of reciprocation.

Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/05/cheese.html.

Reference 2: http://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/06/chandos.html.

Reference 3: http://www.lowlander.com/.