The St. James Walk

Last night, fifth Meetup in a row, and back with London Literary Walks - this was the St. James' Walk. Still nice and warm, but not desperately hot - the weather promised to be good for this. So I got the bus(es) in - the second driver was one of the jumpiest I've experienced! Even though I had a seat, I had to cling to the railing the whole way - was glad to extract myself, eventually. Now, I had a plan to eat around there - but traffic had been so bad, particularly towards the end, that I was running quite late, and didn't have time - we were meeting in Chequers Tavern, but their kitchen closes at 4. I ended up in Pret. Which was very nice, if not ideal.

As I ate, I saw umbrellas pass outside - ah hell, my app said an 11% chance of rain! And I didn't even have a coat.. at least I'd picked up the paper, which I used as an impromptu rain hat. And I did get some substantial spotting of rain on my walk to the pub - met another of the group on the way. It's quite a tiny pub - mostly, they spill out onto a huge courtyard at the back. Which is where we found our guide - well, I came out when I eventually got served! They seem particularly oblivious, here - great prices on wine, though!

We chatted for a bit - one other showed up, but the rest were no-shows. And when our guide had finished his drink, off we went. It turns out that the courtyard has more to it than just an overflow area for the pub - there are several art galleries:

And the most fascinating nightclub, The Scotch of St. James, down at the end - not only does it have fascinating old-style doors, but apparently was patronised by the great and the good of rock music back in the 60s! I can only imagine.. the atmosphere must have been terrific. If you could get in, past the strict door policy. Still a haunt of the rich and famous today, it seems:

At another part of the courtyard, in complete contrast, the London Library, whose selection of books in the window rather fascinated us:

and across the way, the White Cube:

All in all, an interesting place to explore:

There's also a gallery where Yoko Ono used to display - and we met her as we left:

Further afield, we met Beau Brummell:

Rather appropriately, he's bang slap in the middle of a range of exclusive gentlemen's fashion shops!

And so down the adjacent Piccadilly Arcade:

We passed White's, the oldest, and most exclusive, gentlemen's club in London, counting prominent royals as members:

And my, we had great fun with the gunshops! No guns in the windows - no, these display all sorts of related gear: hunting jackets, shooting sticks, and pictures (and models) of wild animals:

The "beretta", BTW, was James Bond's gun of choice..

What else goes with shooting? Eh.. whiskey and cigars? All prominently displayed, roundabouts, and giving an overall impression of a world from which I'm pretty far removed. I did like the cigar-box guitars, though!

Oh, and head to Franco's for somewhere to enjoy them - as was the man in the Panama hat, left of picture:

Hey, get the whole outfit - hats also on sale locally!

We even found the oldest hat shop in the world:

Everything for the discerning gentleman, in fact:

We also happened across a lovely-looking hotel, converted from a coaching inn:

..with, apparently, gas exterior lighting:

Did you know that, as he was Polish, it's apparently pronounced "Choppin'..?"

And with the whiskey and cigars - whatever about the guns - I wasn't surprised to come across Winston Churchill:

Ah, and a plaque to the first person to be killed by a locomotive:

As the toilet was needed, we popped into a Red Lion - they obviously have someone who's a whizz at marketing:

It was a little dark to explore St. James's Palace - but it looks very atmospheric in the low light!

And in the midst of the great and the good - just as in life - pops up Nell Gwyn!

Interesting architectural features:

We paid a flying visit to the Theatre Bar:

..and found ourselves in front of what used to be a famous ballroom! I guess the sweeping entry hints at that. Very exclusive door policy, back in the day, it seems:

Some literary subjects on the walk, some not - but wow, what a fascinating area to delve into! Look forward to the next adventure.

With being in the office today, I had to be up early, and didn't have time to blog last night. Tonight, film again (fourth in a week!) - a feature at the Prince Charles, who are re-showing It's Such a Beautiful Day, the animated film by Don Hertzfeldt, which will be accompanied by his new short film, Me. And of course, that'll be accompanied by a trip to Bella Italia (Cranbourn Street) .. afterwards, as it's on quite early. 

Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again. Film for the weekend was ambiguous - Alien: Romulus is released tomorrow, and probably worth a look, but not quite as highly rated as Kneecap, whose rating keeps rising, and which I am keen to see, so that's fine. It's the biopic of the band of the same name, from Belfast, who rap in Irish and have caused massive controversy with their aggressive lyrics. They play themselves - the film also stars Michael Fassbender. Both showing in Limerick Omniplex.

On Monday - well, after all that film list fiddling, I couldn't resist going with The Hideout to see Star Wars: Episode IV, at the Prince Charles again.. I could have skipped doing the film list at all, this is just too good! Bella Italia again beforehand.. and this time, yes we are meeting at Clubhouse 5 before the film! which is showing quite late.

The next two days, it's TAC. On Tuesday, I'm at a play called The Weyard Sisters, a comedy about the witches in Macbeth. Showing in Riverside Studios.

On Wednesday, I'm at Sinatra & Friends with Gary Williams, a tribute show at the Crypt Cafe at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. 

And next Thursday, I'm headed to The Hideout's "Summer Social Part II" - in conjunction with another of their groups, which used to be called The London Movie Club, and is now known as Movie Roadhouse London. It's in the BFI Riverfront Bar - there was a little confusion as to whether it's upstairs, as usual, or downstairs.. the description said both.. but now it's confirmed to be downstairs. Ouch, noisier..