Bow Belles! A Guided Walk through Bow Quarter

The weekend is all about walking. Today, back with London Herstory Guided Walks, Mandy taking us on a walk entitled Bow Belles! A Guided Walk through Bow Quarter. Mercifully, an afternoon walk - I got a lie-in.

Still didn't mean I wasn't rushing - I was up late blogging last night! Now, I could have got buses - in just under an hour - to get me to the walk. And indeed, that's how I started out - on a truly miserable day, weather-wise. Honestly, if this hadn't been a Mandy walk.. The rain was splashing in the bus window on me, I had to close it! And after all of that, the buses were delayed, and I had to go by Tube anyway - some people had problems with the District Line, which is temporarily closed for engineering works, but from the City, there were other options. So I arrived early, in the end - to find Mandy stood under a tree that was letting some rain in. We waited for others to arrive, and we were off. Once more into the soggy breach..

Not quite so many photos today as usual - not only was the day not conducive to it, but much of the walk wasn't really photogenic: and what history there was mostly related to buildings long gone, in the Blitz for example. We started with an old nurses' home:

And here's a statue of Gladstone - apparently, people keep painting his hands red, highlighting the misery of the matchgirls at the Bryant and May factory, which paid for the statue: allegedly raising the money by docking their wages:

We came across the house where Gandhi stayed, eschewing more luxurious lodgings! He was invited by one Muriel Lester, who'd stayed with him in India:

We came across several sculptures - it wasn't generally a day for stopping to look at them, though! Not in that rain:

Speaking of that (match) factory, it's now been turned into luxury apartments:

and there happened to be a lady there to tell us, proudly, of how they managed to get a blue plaque erected to commemorate the match girls' strike! Conditions were truly terrible, it seems, with many developing "phossy jaw" from working with the cheaper white phosphorus used to make the matches. Good on them, they eventually secured a better building, and - as she told us - a dentist:

A few years ago, of course, U2 included them in the Herstory section of the Joshua Tree 30th Anniversary Tour.. (I do love being able to work U2 into a discussion!).

This would have been even nicer on a sunny day:

On the side of the Lord Morpeth pub is a very fetching mural of Sylvia Pankhurst:

They're big on murals in Bow; we didn't actually know what this one was about!

This one, though, features someone known as "Bundles", for the care bundles that she put together for the poor!

A mural of the Pearly Kings and Queens - complete with colourful car:

It'd been something of a trudge around, in persistent rain and sometimes driving wind - it was a relief to get indoors finally, to Root 25 coffee shop. All proceeds to charity, apparently, except staff wages - service with a smile, and some of the best hot chocolate I've had! as well as a delish chocolate cake. Cosy, with comfy seating, and a good range of books - it's only a pity they close at 5 on the weekends. Anyway, very restorative - and we got to remove our sodden coats for a while!

So, another enlightening walk with Mandy! who then had to schlep across town - at some speed - for her second Meetup of the day, a tour of the National Portrait Gallery. Frankly, I was so glad I hadn't signed up - I was just in the mood to stay indoors for the evening! I was planning bus to get back - but it is a long way (would have been slightly quicker to my new place, ironically) - and the bus that would've got me there in (just) under an hour wasn't due for 15 minutes. So I opted for Tube again. And into Nando's for something more substantial to eat - took me about 15 minutes to install the app on my new phone, and get my old card to register on my account! Apart from that, being sat opposite a door that people kept leaving open, letting the cold breeze in - and them being late bringing my drink - didn't exactly improve my mood. But the food was very moreish, and just what I needed to brace myself for the final walk home.

Tomorrow, I'm with London History and Culture: Experience London/Britain/Europe, for In the Footsteps of the Tudors - Free In-Person Guided Walking Tour with Maggie. Another new group for me. Rain is supposed to die off in the morning, and it's due to be a bit warmer, mercifully! This walk isn't until evening.

On Monday, it's likely to be film - but a couple of big releases were not yet rated when I wrote this preview the other night. Failing those, what was coming up was Squaring the Circle, a documentary about Hipgnosis, which handled the artwork for many iconic albums.. Can't say I've ever heard of them, but it sure does have famous contributors! Showing in the Curzon Bloomsbury - so not a hardship.

But now that those major releases are rated.. it's looking like Oppenheimer, which has an abnormally high rating for a mainstream film! Directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan, it has Cillian Murphy in the title role, with Emily Blunt as his wife, Matt Damon as Leslie Groves, the general and engineer who oversaw the Manhattan Project, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, the politician involved, Kenneth Branagh as Niels Bohr, who was part of the British mission to the Manhattan Project, having fled to Britain by that stage, Tom Conti as Einstein, Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush, who initiated and initially led the Manhattan Project, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, who was having an affair with Oppenheimer, Rami Malek as David Hill, a physicist on the Manhattan Project, Casey Affleck as Boris Pash, the military intelligence officer who investigated leaks on the Manhattan Project, and also looked into Nazi Germany's atomic capability, and Gary Oldman as Truman! Crikey, were they all there to walk out of the film premiere recently..? Anyway, the trailer looks absolutely awesome. Also showing in the same cinema.

On Tuesday, booked with TAC to see The Pioneers in The Forge. Last I heard, it was closing down - I guess it's under new management.

On Wednesday, with Up in the Cheap Seats for an opera at the Arcola, as part of Grimeborn - this is No for an Answer.

On Thursday, it's also looking like film - what was coming up was a documentary, again in the Curzon Bloomsbury, called Iraq's Invisible Beauty. Ah, but.. Squaring the Circle doesn't seem to be on that day. And guess what? Barbie comes higher-rated than what I'd planned to see! Again, the trailer looks excellent - stars Margot Robbie, with Ryan Gosling as Ken. Lots and lots of pink. Showing in - you guessed it - Curzon Bloomsbury - at lots of times, which should work well with my removal to my new flat that day.

And then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.