Crypt Museum & Indian Carnatic Music

Last Sunday, off with Museum, Art and Culture Socials for a tour of the Crypt Museum at All Hallows by the Tower. Might've been a thing for London Museums A-Z's Dracula events, but it's pretty small and the museum put a strict limit on group numbers, so it booked up quickly. The WhatsApp group was entertainingly named Tomb with a View.. we were meeting in Costa Coffee Tower Vaults.

My walk took me past the Tower - oh, it's ages since I was last here, and I do love it:

Well, the organiser, Camilla, managed to beat me to it for once! And as the others arrived, we chatted, with a very good view of both the Tower and Tower Bridge:

We headed over to the church in due course. 

We were let off on our own, and people made their way through at their own pace. I have to say, they have a fascinating range of exhibits! Like a well-preserved bit of Roman floor:

Roman tombstones:

Whoopee, another scale model! Roman London:

Gosh, this panel depicts one of the Dukes of Aquitaine - St. Hubert, who renounced his wealth and joined the church:

Lovely silverware:

There was WW1 memorabilia:

portable Communion sets:

and whatever the hell this is:

This is an example of "beating the bounds" - travelling parish boundaries, beating the ground with sticks. When the parish bordered water, well, this was done:

John Quincy Adams was married here - to the only non-American First Lady until the present one!

William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, was baptised here! A couple of ladies were so moved by this plaque, they must have been from there:

An old door - the church suffered extensive bomb damage:

A lead cistern that they used to store documents in:

A drawing of how the church was left after the Blitz:

WW1 grave crosses - most evocative:

A chapel dedicated to St. Clare:

Right next door to one for St. Francis - appropriately, as she was a disciple of his:

Upstairs in the church again, and they have the original crows' nest from Shackleton's last voyage!

And in due course, across the road to The Liberty Bounds.

Where we had a great old natter, and a couple of us ate. We did have a small bit of trouble with a guy who was unwelcomingly hanging around the group.. David was chivalrous in stepping in as a kind of bouncer, and the bar staff, when one of the group spoke to them, were terrific, offering to smuggle us out through the bar. Happily, the interloper had gone by the time we left. All in all though, it was a fascinating day, and as usual, great to see these people.

I was way too tired to blog that night. Last night, I was off to a free traditional Indian Carnatic Music Performance at the London College of Contemporary Music. Tickets from Eventbrite.. 

Well, the tickets said it was at 6pm - too early to eat beforehand. It wasn't hard to find - the lady at reception said they'd come get me when it was time to go to the basement venue, and I took a seat in the gloriously airconditioned lobby. Now, I'd actually seen this advertised with the LGBTQ Culture Lovers - London; I've tailgated on their events before. I don't swing that way, but they sometimes have interesting suggestions. And lo, last night, for the first time, I saw them - on the other sofa. It was obvious from the conversation.

Well, when it was time, we were let downstairs - to the bar area, the performance area not yet being open. Being a student bar, of course prices were cheap, and I had a wine. Wow, it was stuffy though - and as we continued to wait, some remarked that it didn't usually take this long for the house to open! When some of us had had enough, and slipped in to take seats inside - there were hardly any in the bar - a young man approached. He turned out to be the composer of that evening's repertoire - and this concert was part of his Master's degree. Anyway, he informed us that the concert wouldn't start till 7.30!

We baulked at staying in the bar so long - so most of us decamped to the lobby again. I considered going for food - we had nearly an hour. Others considered leaving. But then sense prevailed, and someone said we could head into the performance area in 10 minutes or so. So we traipsed down again.

To find they weren't letting us in till 7. One of the workers there, however, took pity on us and brought out another fan from the performance area - and a bit later, we were finally let in.

Now, the lad had to wait until his tutor arrived before he could start - I'm guessing that was his family in front of me, filming the whole thing. Well, his tutor wasn't due till 7.30 - to fill in the time, he, um, played us the sort of stuff we'd be hearing on YouTube. And it was very nice. The only problem was, he asked us our opinion after each - did we like it? Jeez, what would he have done if we hadn't..?

When we, after great suspense, got to hear his own compositions - well, the instrumental piece, I enjoyed. The vocal pieces, however.. I couldn't figure out whether the singers were off-key, or more likely, the pieces were dissonant. Anyway, I wasn't massively keen. But hey, after all the waiting, the concert only lasted half an hour..

I was just down from the Union Jack, so headed there to eat. Happily, there was plenty of space, and I had my usual lasagne, which was lovely. The barman was woefully inexperienced - I had to help by explaining that "Sauvignon Blanc" was a white wine. And even then, he had to have someone help him with which it might be. All was well that ended well.

Funnily enough, I was sharing the pub with yet another Meetup group - Conundrum Corner! So, you are invited to get on a mic and share a conundrum of some sort - they then vote on interesting ones to discuss in smaller groups, then come back together to discuss what they've come up with. They certainly attracted a large number - including one guy I recognised from The Hideout! Small world..

Too tired again last night to blog, and too busy today. See the next post for more.