Social, Dover Castle, & Notting Hill Carnival
Last Saturday, my monthly ex-colleagues' meeting again, at The Phoenix - and just James again, as Ivan continues to be distracted by family matters, and Martin just let me know on the day that he was a bit busy too.
I arrived first, took one of the window seats for a change. There were a lot of Americans in, it sounded like - and the magician barman was there, performing to their delight. It wasn't busy though, at that time - with nothing better to do, he took my drink order at the table, and when James arrived and I went up to order, he stopped me en route and said he'd come over. I had steak - lovely, but quite salty on this occasion, and I didn't finish it. Nice how he remembered my drinks order when I went back, though. Good soundtrack, as usual - it's a nice place. And it was good to see James again - doesn't look as though we'll manage next month at all, as he's a bit busy and I can't really count on the others at the moment.
I couldn't blog that night though - had to be up early, because yesterday, I was back with LoMAZ.. dependably busy on weekends, on that day they were off to Dover Castle. This time, Uber didn't seem to recognise the journey - I booked on Trainline instead. My sometime travel companion said she'd come along, but she'd be driving.
Made it out in good time - just as well, considering how long it takes to find your way around this station!
Found a Gregg's for a quick bite - had a steak bake, and of course it fell apart and made a mess. It was good - finding a bin afterwards, however, proved impossible, and after a tour of the upper floor, I just deposited the debris in a quiet corner. By that stage, my departure platform was finally displayed - and I discovered I had to go down again, then up somewhere else. No wonder I missed the last train I had to take from here!
I was on the platform at the same time as one of the group, as I discovered from the event WhatsApp chat, but we didn't know each other, so didn't meet there. The journey, I have to say, had a lot of tunnels - but near our destination, we got a glimpse of the famous white cliffs:
..not to mention the castle, which dominates the town:
Our organiser, who lives nearby, was there in plenty of time to meet us at the station, and in touch with us on the chat - and sure enough, there was his beaming face as we came out. And when I got there, he'd just secured a taxi to take us up the hill to the castle, because the bus wasn't due for a while. And to be fair, it's a bit of a slog uphill.
It's a lovely setting:
Now, the castle has elements spanning many time periods - he decided to start with the earliest, and led us to the old Roman lighthouse, standing beside an Anglo-Saxon church. Do you know, it's the most complete Roman structure still standing in Britain, and one of only three surviving Roman lighthouses anywhere!
We visited the church of St. Mary in Castro ("St. Mary in the Castle") after the Sunday service had finished:
It later became a regimental church - and I found the Irish one!
And we found a well, round the back:
It was while we were exploring the surrounds that my companion messaged to say she was feeling very unwell, and wouldn't be coming.
We saw one of the beacons, lit to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Spanish Armada!
On seeing the queue for the command tunnel, we made for the hospital tunnel - and it was fascinating. No photography inside, sadly - but it's reconstructed as it would have been during WW2, complete with sound effects and original furnishings. And I had to think how familiar it would have been to my late mother, who came over to England to be a nurse, right after the war..
That done, we made our way to the exhibition about the Angevins. Now, there was a castle here at the time of William the Conqueror, but it was completely destroyed, and rebuilt by Henry II as reparation for the murder of Thomas Becket, which I hadn't known! Anyway, I had great fun with this:
These paintings were obviously copied from tomb effigies - not least because all their eyes are closed! Anyway, there was then a short film explaining the family history - always fascinating to me at least, it's my favourite bit of history, to be fair. Meanwhile, on our way in, we'd read about a duck trail.. we were only to find one, all day:
There was a terrific multiple-choice game involving "pilgrims" to Thomas Becket's shrine. And we also had information boards:
..and a dinky model of the castle, complete with furnishings and little tiny people!
And so to lunch! We were having a picnic on the lawn - people had brought blankets big enough for us all, but a couple of us hadn't bought food. If I'd known how long the queue in the cafe was, I'd have made sure to bring my own.. nor was the sandwich I bought much to write home about. I bought a drink to have at lunch, and a bottle of water to bring around with me - I was parched after the morning's exertions. Should have dressed a bit lighter, for the same reason - but in my defence, it'd been freezing when I came out in the morning! I did like the murals in the cafe though, which were reminiscent of a mediaeval dining hall:
And so to the keep, with its historical graffiti:
And some more recent:
Lovely Romanesque features are preserved:
There's a chapel at the lower level, just as you come in:
Perhaps to pray for fortitude to climb the stairs to the main part of the castle? Stairs were to feature heavily on this trip:
There was a closed-up well:
We were to find that most of the props were glued down:
Marvellous decoration in the throne room:
And a bottomless well:
There's an upper chapel too:
and the King's bedroom. According to the helpful staff member in the room, the fireplaces were installed by Edward IV - well, he did enjoy his creature comforts:
Oh yes, quite a lot of stairs - happily, all the spiral staircases had handrails:
And then we were on the roof:
The signposted tour of the keep then takes you to the banqueting hall:
And thence to the guest bedroom, where a fire was blazing:
And we discovered that mediaeval chess had different rules!
And so to the kitchen:
..where we also found backgammon:
..and an oven big enough to climb into!
The castle was besieged around the end of the reign of the immensely unpopular King John, when some of the barons actually invited Dauphin Louis of France to come and take the throne. More information boards combine a potted biography of the main characters with an image:
Crucially, John died suddenly, leaving a nine-year-old heir, whom the barons thought was much preferable to the French prince, as they could tell a boy what to do, so they kicked Louis out again:
We saw a military expedition - and I saw more mentions of Ireland, and how the troops were stationed there from 1796-9. Well yes, there was a big rebellion in 1798..
We were now nearly finished - we did visit one more command post, but honestly, I was done photographing inside, sorry. I was practically done physically, too..
I'll say one thing for the command post, it did have a good view from the roof:
And as we waited to head to the station, I noticed this handy reminder of the Normandy beaches, some of which are familiar to me from a Chris de Burgh song:
Well now, we should have been in plenty of time to walk down - it was all downhill, so doable - but in defence of the one who said we didn't need to leave yet, we didn't know that the exit we planned to take was now closed. And we hadn't seen any signs to that effect. Thanks to the people who had just discovered that, and saved us the rest of the walk there! Cue a long walk around..
..and then, someone had to point out that we could almost make the earlier train if we picked up the pace a little.. and me nearly dead, after more exercise than I don't know when.. well, one person managed it, fair play! As for me, it's just as well I didn't rush - my ticket wasn't valid anyway; it was timed, and I was too early for it. No way was I going to wait all evening for the right train, though - I ended up having to buy a completely new ticket, plus upgrade so I could go on the fast train! Bah humbug - well, these things happen. Never mind, our organiser came up with a quiz about Henry II, which certainly kept me happy. And the chat was good on the way home - also some lovely views of the coast, and of the sunset. Delighted I went on the earlier train, with the others! Look forward to meeting them again..
Yesterday, was thinking film again - and top of the list was another Palestinian documentary, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk - the photojournalist interviewed in the film was apparently killed the day after the film was released. The Garden Cinema has the closest showing to me - and when I saw that it was selling out, I booked, with my member's discount. Showing in the evening, which promised an easy day.
Except.. on Sunday night, a friend was in touch - his mum was in town, and fancied going to the Notting Hill Carnival. Now, he's been before - I hadn't - so he suggested to meet at Westbourne Park, and he knew a place to go that, he said, wouldn't be as full-on.. So I said ok. Which meant I didn't have time to blog that night, or yesterday afternoon..
I took the Tube, of course - and right from where I caught it, at London Bridge, it was full of people in the traditional green and yellow.. wrapped in flags, if nothing else. Changing at Baker Street, the platform was so crowded that I was pushed towards the end, and grabbed a rail for security - and gee, I was to discover how filthy that rail was, because for the next couple of hours, I was to have completely black arms and hands..
Getting off with the throngs at Westbourne Park, we were surrounded by signs warning that the station was exit-only during carnival, so we couldn't come back in. I decided the best place to wait for my friend and his mum was across the road.. I messaged him a picture of where I was, and waited.
The parade was passing nearby, and we did get sporadic music:
It was a long, long time before I heard from him.. to say their Tube was delayed. But finally, he said they expected to be there soon. However, I'd now been there most of an hour, and was exhausted from standing - and when I'd heard nothing more after that for another half an hour, I gave up and made my way out - not that that was easy!
And that's without the guy behind me, pushing his bike along the pavement, who actually skinned my ankle at one point, he crashed into me so aggressively! After what seemed like forever, I made my way out - my first priority was to wash my hands and arms, but every single pub I could see was closed. I finally made my way out the Harrow Road, where at least buses were running, and planned to head off for my film. I could take the #18 from there, but had literally just missed two of them, so sat and waited for the next.
And then I got a message from my friend, whose phone had died - but he and his mum were now ensconced in La Maison du Gateau, who were letting them charge it. It was that or the film.. I headed back there, where they got me a drink, and I made a complete mess of the bathroom sink while cleaning my arms and hands. And phew, began to feel a bit more human.. and they told a frenzied tale of exiting at Westbourne Park - where I no longer was, of course - and something about a lorry backing in, which squeezed the crowd, people having to jump over barriers. So they'd given it up as a bad job and decided to try to find me. As I told them, well, you nearly lost me - if I hadn't missed that bus..!
As I told them, the film was a dead loss now - so off we went in search of food, finally coming across a place called Billy's Caffe. Where there was plenty of seating, but she had to tell us there was hardly anything left on the menu - but she had just done up a fresh batch of lasagne. So we all had that - and it was delicious - and some wine, and a lovely chat. And agreed that we're never, ever going to the carnival again. And then home - where I did start the blog, but obviously, it's a sizeable one, and I didn't get it finished.
And boy, am I feeling stiff today, after two days' exertions. Tonight, also going to film - top of the list was This Is Spinal Tap, a mockumentary about a fictional rock group. 40 years old, and I haven't seen it yet - it's about time! Showing in the Prince Charles (PCC), and with it practically sold out for the early showing, and completely for the late one, I booked the early one - which I now see has shifted to the large screen. This is becoming a habit here! Eating in Bella Italia afterwards, of course.
Tomorrow, back with CT for a play called Saving Mozart at The Other Palace - hoping for a musical accompaniment to that.
On Thursday, the start of another run of Meetups - the first monthly social in months held by The Hideout and their sister group, Movie Roadhouse London (MRL).. whee! The organiser has been busy with family matters, you see - and there's really nobody like him for organising a social. Happening in the Balcony Bar of the Riverfront Bar at the BFI, as usual, and I've booked The Archduke for beforehand.
On Friday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for The Pitchfork Disney. Showing in the King's Head Islington, it promises to be a rather weird, and thought-provoking, look at the nature of fear. Goodee!
On Saturday, back with The Hideout and MRL for the 50th anniversary showing of Jaws - at the BFI Imax! Now, that should be spectacular..
On Sunday, back with The Hideout for The Toxic Avenger, at the PCC again - well, the organiser plumped for a free ticket for me, so..
And on Monday, I'm headed to Every Brilliant Thing, a play about depression at Soho Place. Four different actors are taking the part in succession - I'm getting Jonny Donahoe. Eating at The Royal George, Soho beforehand.
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