Academic Research on a More Restful Day in London--Walking Tour of Holborn, Clerkenwell and Farringdon

Academic Research on a More Restful Day in London Plus Walking Tour of Holborn, Clerkenwell and Farringdon

London

Friday, May 13, 2022

    Can't believe how much I am cramming into each new day--and today was no exception.  With Amy gone to join her friends' birthday bash, I woke up alone in my hotel room at a little past 6.00 am and reveled at all the possibilities that another day in London offered. After the hectic cantering of the last couple of days, I was ready for something far quieter. 

    So after a quick shower and washing my clothes, I went down for breakfast to Thyme Restaurant and enjoyed a warm croissant with butter and orange marmalade, another one of those legendary FEBs (Full English Brekkies), fruit with yogurt and a hot chocolate. It's no wonder I cannot think abut food until 4.00 pm daily! Back in my room, I got my bag ready to spend the entire morning at the British Library. But first I made a stop at my former digs at High Holborn where I met my former concierge and friend Arben whom, I was happy to say, is still there. He told me he had no plans of retiring or leaving! 

    I am glad to see that some things in London had remained the same since the last time I was here because goodness knows there are several things that have changed: the 25 bus no longer plies outside my former building; Sainsbury has discontinued their glorious Three Fruits Marmalade (at least it is no longer available at the large Sainsburys supermarket in Holborn and I am being told to try at Islington); Dove has discontinued its gorgeous Silk Glow Body wash with its enchanting French perfume and replaced it with something called Nourishing Silk (fragrance is similar but not the same and purists like me are ranting online); Rimmel has discontinued its Topless shade of nail polish--so half the items on my To Buy List are fast disappearing!!! I am heart-broken, of course...but oh well, what can you do, right?

At the British Library:

    Right after seeing Arben, I took the bus along Gray's Inn Road to the British Library and spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon there. It was a truly gorgeous spring day and, to be honest, I felt sorry to be spending it stuck with books indoors. But hey, I've had some really amazing days so I can hardly complain...

    The hours passed in deep productivity as I made my notes and felt inspired by the other scholars who work really hard getting their research accomplished. Their academic energy fired me up on a day when I'd rather be outside. Still, being here after such a long time I do feel that it would be a shame not to make the most of every precious moment surrounded by all these amazing resources. So I gladly returned to the salt mines...

Visiting an Old Friend:

    I stayed at the British Library until the late afternoon and only returned to my hotel room to do some packing as I will be checking out tomorrow morning. Llew will be arriving here early tomorrow morning and I cannot wait to see him again--not to mention do all the things we have planned to do together. But before that happens, I have to get my notes organized. So I did some of my packing and remembered I wanted to see a friend who lives just one block away on Theobald's Road. I took a real chance and gave him a call and was pleasantly surprised to find that he was happy and willing to see me. I say surprised because my friend Sushil has had a major change in his life since the last time I saw him--which was about six years ago. Since that time, he had a major heart operation which was either botched up or caused a major complication that led to his leg being amputated above his knee. Three years ago, when I last was in London and tried to re-connect with him, he was reluctant to see me. I guess he had to get accustomed to the fact that he was no longer mobile without prosthetics or a wheel chair. This time he appeared more open to a meeting. 

    I was at his place in two minutes, so since I am moving to Paddington tomorrow, I would not have forgiven myself if I had not made the effort to meet him. As it turned out, I found him doing well if a bit inactive. I was at his place at 7.00 pm on the dot and spent the next hour with him. We chatted about everything--people we knew in London, people we know who are not in London anymore, the tenor of his days (very quiet, very inactive, no socialization or interaction at all). I was more and more amazed, as time passed,  that he actually made an exception to see me because he simply does not see anyone anymore. Was I sorry for him? Yes and No. Sad, because his life has changed so drastically. He has a cleaner who comes in twice a month, orders all groceries online, has practically stopped cooking altogether (he used to be a really good cook), never sees any friends or keeps up with anyone, does not use social media or even email at all. He told me not to feel offended if I do not hear from him because he simply isn't the same person he used to be. But I am also happy to see that he has surrounded himself with those things he likes (his laptop, his TV set, his music). He used to play the double bass with a jazz group, but, of course, that has come to an end. He smiled often, I have to say, which made me feel good. There was a time when he and I used to cross the English Chanel regularly to get to Calais on what used to be called the Booze Cruise. Wine was so much cheaper on the Continent that the English used to drive across, fill the booths of their cars with as many crates of wine as it would hold and sip in style for the next 3-6 months! I had accompanied him on these trips. We had wonderful long chats en route, would pick up the wine from Auchan on the other side of the Chanel, get ourselves a really nice steak-frites lunch and then drive back to London! So, there you have it. I was surrounded by my happy memories of his little flat in Holborn while he seemed to have wiped all such memories from his mind!

A Long Walking Tour of Holborn, Clerkenwell and Farringdon:

    With daylight still very much in evidence, I decided to take myself for a long walk--after all, I had spent a good part of the day chained to a desk! 

The Italian Catholic Church of St. Peter at Farringdon:

    So off I went along Theobald's Road, past Gray's Inn and on to Clerkenwell Road. I decided to go in search of St. John's Gate in Farringdon, but along the way I passed by a church that I did not even know existed--the Italian Catholic Church of St. Peter--that seems to cater to the Italian population of London. Of course, I have never met a church I could resist entering and so in I went. I was stunned. It is a highly decorated church, in the Italian Baroque vein, with a gorgeous painted altar and every manner of arresting decoration. As it turned out, Holy Hour was going on and the Blessed Sacrament was exposed. I had arrived just in time for the priest to emerge and conduct the Divine Praises--all in Italian, of course. He then brought the Blessed Sacrament down to each and every member of the congregation--including myself. I was just delighted to have caught this aspect of Catholic worship purely by chance. At the end of the service, which was just fifteen minutes later, everyone piled right out and went on with their day. It was past 8.00 pm by this time and I was surprised that a church was even open. This is what aimless walking in London does to you--it makes you aware of places you did not even know existed even though you have lived in its own backyard!

Jerusalem Tavern and St. John's Square:

    Move on I did then, on to the bridge that crosses the Tube lines below at Farringdon. I found St. John's Square quickly enough, past Britten Street which used to be the street I used to take to get back to my apartment at Denmark House on Cowcross Lane. On this lane is the Jerusalem Tavern, a very old and very historic pub that seems to date back to the time of the setting up of the Knights of St. John. But it seemed to have closed (at least for the moment). It would be heartbreaking if it had become another victim of Covid.  That said, at every turn and at every pub, people were out laughing, talking, drinking for it was Friday evening and this is how the average Londoner begins the weekend.        

    I found the Museum of St. John in St. John's Square in Farringdon and made my way right up to its gates to catch a glimpse of its hidden garden at the back. Of course, everything was closed up and but for a lone man sitting and enjoying a few moments of solitary quietude in the front yard, the place was deserted.

    I took a few pictures and left to walk towards St. John's Gate--a gate I would deliberately go under in order to simply feel the high of using a gate and a building that goes back to the 11th century. The wonderful Museum of St John, free to the public, that I had visited long years ago, is still open to the public from Wednesdays to Sunday and I do remember being completely taken by the medieval halls within. Of course, when you are entrusted with the task of care-taking a property that has stood on the same site for over a thousand years, you end up constantly renovating, strengthening or refurbishing a part of it and that indeed was what was happening. The end result is that you rarely get really nice photographs; but I did the best I could to keep away the ugly cranes and other construction paraphenalia.

Around Smithfield Meat Market:

    Under the gate I went to emerge on the other side, close to Charterhouse. As I had passed by Charterhouse, a week ago, I did not spend time there. Instead, I walked to the back of Cowcross Lane to take a picture of my former building, then crossed the street towards the famous St. John's Bar and Restaurant where the chef Stuart Henderson made a huge name for himself in his concept of Nose to Tail Eating. I went right past the eatery and came directly in front of the Smithfield Meat Market which I crossed to get to the Square on the opposite side. At this point, I walked up Cloth Fair which used to be the site of a famous annual fair in the Elizabethan Age. It gave its name to the play by Ben Jonson--Bartholomew Fair. The reason is that the neighboring church is named after St. Bartholomew and is one of the oldest churches in London--it dates back to the 900s. Of course, the church was closed but I have visited it very often and attended Mass here too--so I was not sorry to find it closed. I did take some pictures, however, while I still had the light. 

    Right outside the main gate of the church which still stands from the Medieval Age, there was a large sign announcing that Scottish hero William Wallace (he of Braveheart fame) had been tortured and killed at this spot. Just a few steps away was the entrance to one of the oldest hospitals in London--St. Bartholomew Hospital aka St. Bart's. This hospital also has one of the most fascinating museums-- it is little-known for sure but oh boy, what an experience it was! I remember my mind being blown by it. In fact, it is interesting to remember that this entire area is stepped in the history of medicine in London. The Knights of St. John, more than a thousand years ago, had begun their mission providing physical succor to pilgrims that were on their way or back from the Holy Land. The monks from nearby St. Bartholomew's Church also provided medical help through the use of natural substances such as herbs, roots and spices.  They founded one of the earliest hospitals in London and received the patronage and a license from Henry VIII to start one. The charter that enabled them to open such a hospital is seen in the adjoining museum. I found it simply heartening that these parts of London have remained largely unchanged although modernity is fast sweeping over them. The neighboring Smithfield Meat Market, St. Bart's Church and St Bart's Hospital make this one of the most richly historic parts of London and yet so few tourists  know anything about it or arrive here to take in its atmosphere. 

The Old Bailey and Holborn Viaduct:

    Leaving Charterhouse Square, I took one of the side streets and arrived in front of the Old Bailey, Crowds had gathered around the old Viaduct Tavern which has the most beautiful painted mirrors inside. I took pictures of the Old Bailey which is the City Civil Court. The public is allowed in any of its court rooms and can be present at any of the cases being heard. As this court too is highly historic, I had made sure I attended one of the legal sessions here. The building is made distinctive by the statue of the blind Goddess of Justice who holds the scales of justice in her hand--the dispensing of justice must be tempered by mercy! In fact, it's interesting that the church which stands diagonally on the other side, the Church of St. Sepulchre, which has also stood on this site since before the Great Fire of London (1666), is referred to in the famous poem "Oranges and Lemons" as "the Bells of Old Bailey"! Amazing how history, literature, poetry and cultural studies blend in so effortlessly when it comes to the City of London.

I then walked right on High Holborn towards the Church of St. Andrew Holborn, another Wren church, but to access it I had to walk on the Holborn Viaduct. This is another Victorian bridge that was built to enable water to flow into the city immediately below it through the course of the River Fleet. I am not sure how this feat of engineering was supposed to work or what sort of benefits it brought to the city, but the bridge is a beautiful work of art in and of itself. When I lived in Holborn, all those years ago, it had been under scaffolding and I never really got to see the finished product. I can tell you that it is simply stunning. There are sculptural statues on both sides, mythical winged lions flanking the ends and, for the first time, I noticed fragments of four buildings on four sides that seem to date from a time much older than the Victorians. I was indeed quite astonished by these many new discoveries, as it were.

    By the time I arrived at the junction of High Holborn with Charterhouse Street, light had already disappeared. I took in the sculptural equestrian sculpture of a bronzed Prince Albert and walked straight ahead towards the distinctive War Memorial that honors the dead of the two World Wars. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens who designed the capital city of New Delhi as well as Rhodes House in Oxford which I had pointed out to Amy, just a few years ago.

          Yes, I passed by my former building once again as darkness fell swiftly over the city. It was well past 9.15 pm when I made a right at Red Lion Square to return to my hotel .

    I was hungry and ate an almond croissant that I had bought from Waitrose in the morning and a roasted hazelnut yoghurt--my favorite flavor. I spent at least an hour doing most of my packing and when I was well and truly wiped out, I turned out the light and fell asleep.

    Until tomorrow (moving day for me and the day of Llew's arrival), cheerio...