Spring, Not Quite Summer, Social & Cutty Sark
Last Friday night, Movie Roadhouse London finally had a social again! Ah, it'd been so long.. so, back at the BFI Balcony Bar, and I booked to eat at The Archduke beforehand - quite an early booking, they showed as being full after 4.45pm! I tell you, without the main organiser in town, these socials don't happen..
Made sure to get off work early, and got to the restaurant early on the first of what today became a record-breaking set of hot days! (The social was misnamed, looks very like summer has arrived..) Happily, the mushroom soup was on again, and I had the chicken as usual.. didn't have time for dessert, had to get to the social. And despite the apparent cap on numbers, and waitlist, and not technically happening in conjunction with The Hideout any more, I didn't get the impression that people had been excluded! It was a marvellous night, really nostalgic as I met people I hadn't met in ages, and of course it's always great to see newcomers.. and afterwards, a few of us ended up in the nearby Brewdog, as the closest place with a late bar!
Oof, it was a late one - I got home at 2.30am, slightly wrecked, and too tired to blog.. and anyway, I had to be up early-ish..
On Saturday, The Hideout organiser was talking about heading to a cat cafe.. and that evening I signed up to go with him, and The Hideout, to a new slasher, Corporate Retreat. However, I then found out that's been pulled from release in the UK - and he's got a lot going on, so Saturday was off. Well, that's a shame..
..but it did leave me free to go to London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ)'s next Dracula-related thing! So, an idea developed during the pandemic, based on the fact that the novel, Dracula, is written as a diary. Anyway, a website was set up whereby you could have the section of the novel corresponding to a particular day emailed to you on that day! So.. LoMAZ has decided to read along. Oh, but that ain't the half of it.. We also have a couple of tie-in travel events.. because the action moves to Whitby in August, and to Transylvania in November! And I had so many ideas for the trips.. I was asked to be a co-host. This is going to be a record-breaking Meetup - and with a terrific bunch of people. And the next Dracula-inspired event was a trip to the Cutty Sark on Saturday. Because, you know, Dracula arrived in England on a boat, and this was the best we could do.. We were meeting in the Hung Drawn and Quartered, and taking a Thames Clipper from there.
Uhh.. it was not easy to get up - but I soldiered on, and made it to the pub roughly in time. I walked, and although I'd had the presence of mind to wear a hat, it wasn't the most pleasant of experiences in weather that was getting ever hotter as the weekend progressed. The day's organiser had come with his wife, and they'd snagged a couple of tables just inside the door:
I was the first to arrive, apart from the two who'd grabbed tables - the day was a horror for travel. Another of the organisers had a nightmare tale of a train with the heating on (!) and tried walking from London Bridge, but it was so hot she decided a taxi was better. Trains and buses were delayed.. a few more arrived, others saying they'd meet us at the Clipper, or at the Cutty Sark itself. I figured, still groggy from the night before, and dehydrated as I was, I'd better stick to a soft drink. I'd never been to this pub before, but one who had remarked that, although it's still small (booking advisable), it's bigger than it used to be..
Our organiser-in-chief, who turned out to be very good at shepherding people, advised us that, to get to the Cutty Sark in time for our booking, we'd have to leave at 1.30. So we did, traipsing (mercifully downhill) to the Clipper, meeting another couple of the group on the way. Only to discover.. that there was, apparently, a 40-minute wait! The boats were all coming in full, it seemed. Hmm.. we regrouped to consider our options, but discovered that there was no quick way there from where we were.. so one suggested we get an ice cream from the conveniently sited ice cream van, which we did. One decided to try her luck on some other mode of transport - the rest of us shrugged, and returned to the Clipper. Where.. wow, we were boarded in about five minutes..
Now, it isn't exactly a quick journey, so I had a seat immediately, with one of the group, and we were joined by others in time. The views are quite cool:
Aw, my city seemed so far away!
When we finally got there, we were stuck in the middle of the river for ages, to give two boats in front of us time to get clear - but we finally made our destination, and there - or at the Cutty Sark itself - we met the others who'd trekked from various places. (The organiser had checked, and yes, our tickets were good for entry at any time - we just had to be out for 4pm, I think it was..) And with one having an epic tale of having a 2k walk, two Tubes, and three buses.. gee, I think, despite the delay, and despite it not being the quickest means of travel, we took the best option! Scenic too.
It was but a short walk to the Cutty Sark:
The entrance takes you into the gift shop, where you show your ticket to check in, and we met the last of the group:
Lots of cool gifts with a nautical theme, but as usual, I wasn't tempted. When we were ready, we all went in.. arriving in the main hold, which used to carry tea, we found tea chests all around us:
Of course, this all sparked a big discussion about the ship that Dracula came to England on - with 50 boxes of earth.. There were also lots of interesting historical snippets; I, for instance, didn't know that Catherine of Braganza, England's only Portugese queen, brought the habit of tea-drinking with her (among other things)!
There's a.. grammar lesson:
And would you credit it, they have their own theatre! with proper, tiered seating - when we were there, they were showing a short film about the history of the boat on loop, projected onto old sacks:
There's a fascinating route map, showing the reduction in shipping time that the construction of the Suez Canal effected - unfortunately for the Cutty Sark and her ilk, they couldn't travel it, which meant their days were numbered:
There was a piece about the different cargoes transported:
..and up on the 'Tween Deck, there's a ton of activities! for all the family. People had great fun with this table-top game where you have to steer your ship from Sydney back to London.. following the trade winds, without crashing, and in the fastest time possible!
Self-explanatory:
There was knot-tying, with an instructor:
..and indeed, lots of examples to ask him to show you how to make:
Another historic film, about 99 years old, showed what life was like on board:
The seat in front of this was actually on a pivot, acting kind of like a see-saw, and obviously designed to give the impression of a rolling sea..
Some lovely old ship's artifacts:
Teeny portholes near the bow gave us a glimpse of the outside world:
And so finally, onto the main deck:
There were reconstructions of ship's cabins - could have done with the ledges on the beds when I was on my Norwegian cruise!
It was only when we realised we were sitting on a chicken coop that the vague chicken noises made sense:
And as someone pointed out, there's fantastic detailing on the ship:
Always important to know where the loo is:
And what a lovely, permanent view she has:
High above her surrounds:
Back off the ship and into the dry dock underneath, and an exhibition of ship figureheads:
The story of how the Cutty Sark got her name:
..and the original figure she carried at the prow - the witch who, by legend, chased Tam o' Shanter and tore off his horse's tail, which she would have been holding in her outstretched hand.. interestingly, that outstretched arm was detachable for rough weather, lest it be damaged:
A box of fancy dress caught some of the group's fancy - but we soon headed for The Trafalgar, where our main organiser had managed to book a table.
Whoo, it was crowded.. we were seated outside, at two tables, and grabbed the guy to order when we could.. by which time I still hadn't got the app working to see the menu! so the organiser lent me his phone - and like most people, I had fish n chips. (I think the menu was limited, probably because of the crowd.) Which was lovely, when it came - the vegetarian burger someone ordered was also good, reportedly. I tell you though, the drinks, ordered at the same time, didn't come for about 15 minutes after the food arrived..
When I wanted another, I took someone's advice to use the small bar outside - they had a reduced menu, just beer, spritzes, and cocktails: so I had a margarita. And you know, so many people were ordering beer, I think the waiter was damn glad to show off his skills! He gave it to me in plastic - he was short of glasses. When I finished that one though, I didn't fancy another margarita, so I braved the main bar - which was a circle of Hell, seven barmen fighting to serve a near-infinite crowd of punters. I was queueing with another from the group - and by the time we got served, our table reservation was up and the table was required for another booking. Unable to find another table, we drank up and called it a night.
Hey-ho, it was great to see people again, and indeed to chat Dracula.. even if I was slightly dead after the night before. Got the bus home, stopping off on the way for some very necessary shopping. I tell you, I was glad to have an early night.. crashed, too tired to blog.
See the next post.. for a film review (!), a comparison of fried chicken - and a tale of tortured thespians..
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