1782 The return journey and sporting Saturday

The journey homeward on Friday August 10th, 2009 had its moments of interest as well as concerns and although I did not achieve as much as I might have done during the three days, the trip went much better than anticipated and I kept expenditure to a reasonable level for my present budget.

Arranging to take the lunch time coach home means that it is easy to waste a morning as one is caught between relaxing and then rushing and getting everything ready and then having nothing to do for a couple of jours. I did not feel like writing or reading but did a little of both before the preparing of food and packing. Deciding I needed a cold drink, I left the hotel about half an hour earlier than I needed to. I could have gone for the drink and hoped that the key card continued to work, and similarly taken the fan back to the desk, but took the decision to leave in one go, buying the drink from one of the hotel drink‘s machine and drinking the can outside in what had become a pleasant sunny morning. I advised the hotel reception that I had left the fan in the room and detected a note of surprise and approval that I had taken the trouble to mention this, I called at the nearest local tobacconist store for two Euro draw lottery tickets and headed for the 73 bus to Victoria.

Both were unsuccessful ventures with only one of the lucky dip number coming up and the bus so overcrowded that I decided to go by the Tube.

There was quite a queue for the lift from Kings Cross to the Underground train level so I crossed the road and walked through the far end of the front of St Pancras for the lift, even though it meant walking all the way back as the Victoria and Northern lines are at the other end of the station where they have always been. The new concourse either side of the entrance to the Piccadilly, Circle and District Lines was a great crush of people queuing for tickets with another crowd at the two lots of automatic ticket machines. The first machine went off line for the young woman in front and this is second time this has happened, the other occasion was the previous day with only getting the ticket for the journey to the hotel on the first evening not proving a problem. Then a machine refused to take one of the pound coins so I decided to use a card and the queue was slow to move as visitors unused to the machines took their time, I needed only a few seconds and the man behind congratulated that someone else seemed to know what they were doing. If he only knew.

I had worked out that by placing the grip on my rucksack over the retractable handle for the case I needed only one hand to pull the case and rucksack together and this was a great boon and demonstrated once again my slowness in working out solutions which could make life a lot easier, I arrived at the coach station just after twelve and found that the coach for South Shields was at the end gate instead of one at the middle. The 12.30 was for Leicestershire and 1.30 for Mansfield.

Earlier I had listened to an interesting programme about the role of MI6 since end of the cold war. The programme had the appearance of being independently made with former spy chief and politicians refusing to answer certain questions and yet I had the feeling throughout that it was in fact MI6 spin. Understandably there was considerable coyness about the use of informants and the intelligence gathering process and the use of semi independent private agency to undertake work not authorised under Parliamentary democracy. I suspect the programme was designed to put the blame squarely on the American administration and on politicians for not warning the Iraq information was limited and potentially out of date, and that if operatives were aware that the USA was torturing suspects, or complicit in having them tortured it was done without the awareness of the politicians or senior civil servants. I did believe the point that those within the UK security network UK worked together rather than being distrustful as portrayed in the Le Carre books.

Arriving early at the coach station I found a seat close to the door to the coaches although those for Leicester had to wait twenty minutes before being allowed on. There were two young men who were puzzled that the departure board mentioned South Shields and not Sunderland their destination. They had travelled down the previous weekend on the overnight and then worked a ten hour shift and they were going home after what had been a major new experience for them. An elderly lady in a wheel chair with a companion or family member arrived and was equally anxious and she was closely followed by a young couple where the female not only gave the orders to her partner but wanted to take control of everyone else’s situation. I got the front seat in the aisle behind the driver which provided excellent leg space and a magnificent view of the road ahead

For the first part of the journey to Milton Keynes I had an almost continuous conversation with the driver who initiated much of the conversation. There had been a bad accident on the MI around the junction to Luton which had closed to Lanes of the motorway going north. There was contact checking of the traffic information and communications with drivers ahead and behind to relayed the latest position which was that the area had been cleared and traffic was flowing again. However there was a new problem as we approach as it looked as if a large van and collided with a private car which had been driven into the hedgerows. However the delay was only that of minutes as vehicles slowly down to see what had happened.

There were four no shows at Victoria and no one to be picked up at Golders Green so that reduced travelling by a good fifteen minutes. Similarly there was no one to pick up at Thirsk another half an hour saved and this service did not call at York. The omens appeared good. At Milton Keynes a couple got on with no double seat available, as I had feared, so I volunteered to move if an aisle seat was available. Fortunately there was one close to the front. The driver expressed disappointment to find that I had moved.

There was further delay because of traffic volume in the Nottingham area which removed the gains that had been achieved. A second driver was taken on at Trowell and we were half an hour late at Sheffield but still had a thirty minute break. I enjoyed a mug of tea for £1.85 having earlier eaten rolls filled with pate and a small pain au chocolat. The driver left us for home at Middlesbrough where he hoped to be at his social club within 2O mins. He had Sunday off. The other additional driver also left here and a new driver, who I subsequently learnt was doing the overnight run to London took over. I had enjoyed a good chat with the man next to me who left at Hartlepool the stop after Stockton. I had moved back to seat behind the driver at this point and it was on reaching Peterlee that the drama commenced. Peterlee is a sprawling newish community with a central bus station in an isolated position rather than the traditional town centre. The coach only sometimes calls there.

As one or two passengers departed the coach a young woman, not more than twenty enquired if this stop was Stockton, some thirty miles and half an hour before. She had not been asleep but misunderstood the driver and clear had not been on the route before. Usually those travelling on their own are telephoned or phone contacts who will pick them up at a coach stop. It was upsetting that the girl found herself in the predicament and my instinct was to advise that she stayed on the coach to Sunderland where it was likely she would find transport to Stockton if she had no one to collect her and where there were staff. This was the subsequent view of the driver who could have got her to Stockton if necessary on the overnight trip if there was no other solution. However a woman getting off said there was a bus from Peterlee to Hartlepool and from there a but to Stockton so the girl who appeared desperate for someone who could help her went to her for assistance. My anxiety then as now was whether there were buses operating at that time of night, after eight in the evening. The three other passengers remaining on the coach shared the concern but there was nothing we could do more than worry.

It had rained in Shields shortly before arrival but fortunately had stopped and I was able to get home without getting wet. Climbing the hill with the luggage was not the ordeal it had been before.

It was then time to take advantage of the all night supermarket for fruit, salad and fresh milk. The rolls prepared for the journey but left on the day room table had not gone mouldy and were distinctly only because of the smoked salmon, otherwise they would have been edible. I had eaten the second pain au chocolat on leaving Sunderland and eat the remaining pate filled roll on return with a coffee having had a can of coke with a glass of ice immediately on arrival.

The television sound continued to work and I watched a film with Sean Connery and Meg Ryan, The Presidio 1988, but went to sleep for at least an hour missing the ending and somehow managed to drag myself up to bed leaving the unpacking, the washing up and sorting out of papers from the trip.

Saturday had three dimensions, 20 20 cricket finals day, held this year at Birmingham, the opening weekend of the Premiership football season and writing, printing and reflecting on the trip to create one or two volumes of sets as a permanent record and memory.

I had considered going straight to London to Birmingham for the Twenty Twenty but this would have been quite a venture without a car, finding and getting to accommodation and then getting home on the Monday. I decided that my budget was not good enough although Sussex had reached their second one day finals day in the year. The first semi final commenced at 11.15 and continued until 2 and then the second commenced at 3pm until around 5.30 with the final under lights 7 to 10. The afternoon interval provided opportunity to go for black print cartridges where I bought four for £8, saving £2 on the single item by single item price. I also acquired a new desk lap so I can read the typing keys when the light is poor and found one at Wilkinsons for £4 plus something like 53 pence for two forty watt bulbs.

Sussex played against Northants in the first semi final with Northants being a ground never visited and a team did hitting the headlines except for the very popular Monty Panesar. Sussex bowlers contained Northants to 136 for 6 which was never going to be much with the 150 being the average score for 20 20’s at the ground. The Sussex approach was a cautious one and did not achieve the required runs until the final over. The game was not a great spectacle except for Sussex supporters who were anyway nervous after the defeat in the Final of the Friends Provident Trophy. The second semi final between Somerset and Kent was similar with Kent never scoring enough and Somerset having the batting power to win comfortably.

The final between Sussex and Somerset lived up to the Razzamatazz which this year was based on the theme the magnificent even with seven commentators, magnificent seven music cowgirl dancers and riding a an automatic mustang. No doubt there were plenty of beef burgers and spare ribs on sale. The star of the Sussex innings was the West Indian Smith who scored 59 runs from 26 balls with seven four hits and three sixes, There were 13 other four hits which made the total of 172 runs for seven wickets a challenging one with Somerset having to score an average of over eight and half runs an over, They had the man who could do this Marcus Trescothick who I had seen get 100 in a pro 40 game the previous season. He looked as if he would win the match singled handed scoring 3 sixes and three four in an innings of only 15 balls and a total of 33 before being caught trying to hit the ball out of the ground. However after he was out Somerset famed for having a strong hard hitting batting line up failed and were all out with16 balls to spare for only 109. It was Sussex‘s day.

I only watched a few minutes of the opening match of Premiership season as title challenges Chelsea were only able to bat relegation survivors Hull.2.1 in extra time. In the afternoon I did listen to Sunderland at Bolton watching the cricket with the sound off. The new forward line up of Darren Bent and Kenwyn Joes is clearly going to work well. Bent scored within five minutes the only goal of the game and if Sunderland had gone into interval four or five up it would have been a fair reflection of the play. Sunderland have also acquired Cattermole from Wigan who appears he will play a similar role to Nosworthy in the championship year. With the reserve goal keeper playing well and making two excellent second half saves, one in extra time, Sunderland have the spine which if injury free should see them comfortable in mid table without relegation worries and possible causes some surprises in individual games. They entertain Chelsea midweek but I have decided not to go and will pick and chose games as the season progresses. They should have a good crowd being the only Premiership club in the North East this season.

Boro had a good 3.0 win away from home while Newcastle at home before a depleted home crowd won by three goals all scored by Shola Ameobi. However they do not look a team and with Ashley still haunting the club, along with Barton and Smith I will await their departure before attending a live match. After two games Newcastle and the Boro are likely to remain serious contenders for returning to the Premiership at their first attempt.

While sport and watching was the priority I printed out the information considered appropriate in support of my notes on the trip but left further writing until late evening. I enjoyed cereal in the morning a soup and a role midday and then two pieces of fish in crispy batter with a vegetable mixture and a small carton of cherries. I did was going up but little else activity. Sunday was likely to be a similar day and I will leave the sorting out of the glasses insurance and other similar household and personal matters until Monday.

1781 Cadogan Hall Sloane Square, The Royal Court, Lost Property office, Langham's and Claridges, Housemans and Peace News after 50 years

The two remaining days of my short visit to London have been a mixture of good and not so good choices which worked out amazingly well when someone provided information that I had considered seeking.

Because some of the most important facts of my creation and early experience have been lost with the passing of key individuals and their failure to keep records, I am left with a sense of incompleteness. That is why of all recent Do you Think Know who You Are programmes I was glad I missed the major part of the episode this week such pain was created yet such necessity was there. Kim Cattrall is a face I know but her history was not something I wondered about and therefore it was interesting and surprising to learn that although born in the UK her mother had emigrated to Canada and that she had become more North American than British, The dark secret which affected the life of her mother and the two sisters of her mother is that their father and her grandfather had disappeared and nothing had been heard of him since her mother was a child. They did not have a photo.

The programme search revealed her grandfather had bigamously remarried and had children in Australia. Her mother and aunts who were together for the programme therefore had half brothers and sisters neither of which knew about the other. There were photographs of this new family. The programme captured that real sense of wanting to know and shock when the truth, or at last what it is now possible to find out about the truth is revealed. It affects all the life that has gone before and how one sees, thinks and behaves from that moment depending on the levels of insight, understanding and education of the individuals directly involved.

The alternating weather continued with the prospects of torrential rain throughout Wednesday but I missed the downpour while watching the latest Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I will catch up on the film, along with the Street, Harry Patch and Millais, Hunt and co later or when I return home. On Thursday the weather opened uncertain and then became hot and sunny again.

On Wednesday I returned to Wallington, my boyhood home. Woolworths where my care mother auntie Harriet worked and which is now an Iceland store. Along by the Wetherspoon, The Whispering Moon which used to be the Odeon Cinema where I attended on Monday and Thursday evenings, the Saturday morning special children’s shows and occasionally at weekends, there is now a second Chinese restaurant and even more surprisingly one from Nepal. I remember when there was one tea room in Wallington, large houses with gardens and now there is also a Spanish restaurant, the Italian Pizza, the Irish pub and half a dozen others, as well as Franks Fish and Chips which used to supply my birth and care mothers over the last two and a half decades of their time together. Most of the large houses have become flats, many for the single person living on their own for the first time, or the first time young couple..

Lunch on Wednesday was near Mitcham at an establishment where my birth and care mothers had a memorable extended family lunch towards the end of their lives together. The established has become a Toby House Carvery and I enjoyed roast beef, roast potatoes, cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, runner beans, a spoon of apple sauce and blackcurrant jelly and gravy plus two glasses of diet Pepsi.

I nearly did not get to see the Harry Potter showing at the Empire Sutton as the little local bus which went around the islands but stopped outside the cinema broke down with a faulty rear indicator. At one point the driver said it looked as if they were not able to fix the rear indicator and it would be taken out of service so we all left and walked a quarter of a mile to another bus route, only to see the original bus zoom past a few minutes along the way. It may have been taken out of service or it may have been fixed. A 93 three year old lady explained how she came to be on the bus I and other displaced travellers eventually got on and which had been waiting at the turn around station two thirds of way between the break down and bus stop into Sutton. She found the walk very difficult and had persuaded the driver of the bus to let her sit and wait until it was time for him to move to start stop once more. The Cinema show had commenced on arrival but only as far as the trailer for the Wife of the Time Traveller.

On the journey back to Wallington from the cinema it was evident there had been a torrential downpour. Two boys between the aged ten and twelve with skate boards boarded on their own and created a major nuisance. Telling them to be quiet only made things worse. I was the train to London Bridge when I made the first of several poor decisions over the next 24 hours. I decided it would be quicker to get off at West Croydon, walk through the town and up the hill to East Croydon and get the Brighton to Bedford train to St Pancras International. This I did, then found that the short cut through the shopping centre was closed, that the local Tesco had just closed by a few minutes before and that I had missed the next train also by a couple of minutes. I made use of the loo and bought a sandwich comprising cheese and pickle, ham and lettuce which I eat slowly one half and then the rest on the train. I will never know if I had stayed on the train until London Bridge if I would have caught the same train there or the earlier one.

I was asleep by midnight despite having dozed off several times during the film and missed at least one key explanation and solution and then only had one rising during the night waking only at 8.30. This was the longer period of such sleep within memory and reflection of all the walk and travelling undertaken. I did not need the fan on overnight. I did not watch Do you Know who you are until the closing moments but cannot remember what caught my attention instead. I checked after writing this down and remembered it was the English Football playing a 2.2 draw friendly in Holland, James Milner, previously of Newcastle, came on towards the end in his first full international performance and immediately created chances one of which led to the second and equalizing goal. The latest rumour is that the Ashley mob are selling Stephen Taylor to Everton. How Ashley appears to now hate the club.

I did not spend much time in planning my day on Thursday except to work out the location of Cadogan Concert Hall and the address of London Transport Loss Property-200 Baker Street. The lateness of the start after finishing some notes meant that choice had to be made between heading immediately for Sloane Square or the Lost Property, Having just missed the 73 bus to Victoria Station I caught the next bus, the 453 which went to Baker Street. The problem is that I had forgotten my geography again and that Baker Street involved going across North London. My mind wandered and I passed the stop continuing to Marylebone station. I have never used this station which remains the smallest and newest of the London mainline terminals, excluding the recent redevelopment of St Pancras. The trains from here serve the midlands to Stratford, Bicester, Banbury and Birmingham and also to Shropshire and Wrexham in North Wales, The station has recently increased passenger traffic from 7 to 11 million a year.

By the time I reached Baker Street I knew I would not be able to attend the loss property centre before the scheduled lunch time jazz concert at the Cadogan concert Hall so caught the first bus into central London, getting off at Oxford Circus and investing in a one way ticket on the Tube. I ought to have thought further and got a one and two zone travel card, It was the second poor judgement ,did not think clearly, decision of the day. I was to buy one later. I arrived at the Cadogan Hall just after 12 and found the large bar area prepared for trio, electric piano, base and drums, and few low level tables and twice as many high tables and stools. There were about half a dozen people in at that time. I had debated getting a sandwich and a drink from a kiosk or going along to MS but settled for a Gruyere or was it Bruyere cheese and chutney quartered sandwich without crust and a bottle of Peroni. I thought this had cost the greater part of ten pounds for the greater part of the rest of day until realising when I got back to the hotel it was under £5. This assumption spoilt my mood. For the first part of the concert I moved from the high stool to a carpeted alcove stretching my body out over the steps. It was comfortable compared to the previous position. The problem was the music, a problem which others shared so that I was one of the majority who left at the ten minute interval. The group called Curios was said to have been voted the top jazz group in some BBC poll or award. It was an ideal day for their kind of music hot and their jazz cool, but theoretical, of mind and technique, full of counterpoint and not a tune in sight. Abstract contemporary, worth listening to but later in the day, with chilled wine, but for me not then. It was not a disappointment just the wrong choice. I was hungry and scooped up almost a whole bag of fashionable crisps that a trio of executives had left, two men and woman in black outfits, brief cases, talking while the musicians played, agents, in the business in some way, not critics, I speculated? There was an older man on his own like me but who had brought his lunch as did others, who had obviously been before. They bought coffee or a drink. There was a mother with two girls around six to eight I would guess, wife and daughters of one of the musicians I wondered. There were no more than £30 people present at the beginning, perhaps a dozen after the interval, but I had gone in the sun again by then.

I went to see what was on at the Royall Court and the play Jerusalem, a take on present day England looked worth seeing. A chalked notice said the performance lasted 3 hours and ten minutes from 7.30 and included two intervals. The matinee and evening performances were sold out and I overheard an assistant tell a gentleman that if he came to between 3 to 4 he was likely to get a return seat, but this meant of the order of a three hour wait in the sun. I would go to Baker Street for the lost property, then to Leicester Piccadilly where there a dozen, at least show ticket sellers at cut price to premium.

I got a bus to Victoria train station and by the side opposite the theatre showing Wicked, the Apollo? Then the 82 noting I had to get out at Gloucester Place, this brought me to the Marylebone Road and Baker Street Station. The lost property office was on the north side of Baker Street an unimposing office where there was a counter with two women behind computers and queue lane but no queue, only me. There was a separate desk for collections and payments.

I was asked a series of detailed questions about the type of glasses and frames, make and any other identifying features, the case again seeking the most precise detail. The more refined the information the greater the ability the programme to show up possibilities. The centre covered the whole London Transport net work. The lady carried on the search for five days after my date of departure. There was nothing similar. I had failed.

It was time to cheer myself up so I headed for Leicester Square. The bus would take me to Piccadilly. I should have gone for the one I travelled which cut through rather than went along Oxford Street. I got off and walked from Oxford to Piccadilly Circus. I had noted the Langham Hotel on the bus journey. The Langham is regarded as one of Europe’s luxury hotels and which had recently undergone an £80 million make over. It has 380 rooms and suites where you pay between £500 and £1000 a night for two with deals which include a car from London airport one way, champagne, romantic goodies or family goodies depending on the package. My room had cost £9 a night with an additional £1.50 credit card addition for the four nights.

Having made the effort and seen what was on offer I debated going to see Blood Brothers again. The most inexpensive show on offer was Pornography at the Tricycle for £10. This is a play not about sex but about the lives of people on the day of the London bombing with monologues more directed at the audience than between actors. Had I known this at the time I would have gone to experience as it sounds similar to Jerusalem. At one kiosk I overheard an enquiry check if the assistant had said the price of a show ranged from £16 to 45, No he said £60. There was a gasp. Welcome to the realities of London town.

It was then I decided to go back to the Royal Court and check confirm the position for myself and to invest in a one day zones one and 2 travel card. No I was right there were no seats and two people were already queuing in the hope there would be returns. I had a walk around the Square while I though about joining them. A man was taking a photo of his wife and daughter outside Cartier. I thought this was tempting the fates as the papers were full of the discovery that the two men filmed as they carried out the £40 million jewellery robbery and wore high class alternative face masks. I stopped at the entrance of the fine church to admire the stained glass above the altar. The Square area is small and up market and appropriate for Sloanes. I saw one tall stick thin young woman stride by with the deportment of a model. There is David Mellor Cutlery, glass and kitchen ware and I wondered if this was a branch of the reincarnated David Mellor Politician? I have always wondered about the exchange between David Mellor politician and Brian Roycroft and others at a Directors of Social Services Conference held in Durham when Peter Tritline became President and when Mellor was a leading Minister. I had been tipped off by a senior colleague of the Social Services Inspectorate that there was trouble brewing and to lay low but never found out what the fuss was all about and of course shortly afterwards he was the subject of tabloid interest and then lost his seat.

It was at this point I made what turned out to be the right decision. I would use the Travel card to return to the hotel, buying food on the way and write, perhaps read, chill out by the fan and reflect. I was disappointed with what was available that the M and S close to the arrival point of Euro tunnel Paris train and fascinated by a man from Claridges and curious who he was waiting for. This proved to be a tall and elegant aristocratic looking French Couple. I have always considered Claridges to be more up market than the Langhams. I am tempted by one of their wine dinner evenings at £170 a head, especially that featuring wines from the estate of Baron Rothschild. I rather liked the sound of the Davies Penthouse with its butler service and his and her kings size bedrooms with separate walking in dressing rooms and ensuite bathrooms, 1750 square feet, plus terrace. Of course if you need to ask the price you cannot afford to stay there.

I settled for a pack of soft rolls and Pate for the journey home, a large tub of spicy chicken wings and four pain au chocolat and then two cans of ice cold Pepsi from the local newsagent stored just before arriving at the Hotel. The cost which included the previously bought carton of Greek olives and feta cheese with two bottle of water acquired later came to £14. I needed two bottles of water with the second to take away the taste of the first which was laced with orange and mango flavouring. Yak!

I had left St Pancras and was outside Kings Cross when I remembered that I needed to post not one but two birthday cards for relatives with a birthday on the same day. I was shocked to find that Smiths at Kings Cross had been reduced in size by at least two thirds and had no cards. I remembered that Peace News had cards and found just what I considered appropriate, The opportunity was taken to have a good look around the books and pamphlets and while many titles had changed some had not over the previous fifty years. I bought one of the remaining copies of the book by Kate Hudson on the story of the post second world war Peace movement. The assistant typed up a bill for £122 instead of £12 which required a void and during the sorting out I could not resist mentioning that I had been given a temporary job over Christmas fifty years ago, The assistant mentioned Harry Mister who was indeed the individual who had taken me on after consulting Hugh Brock then the editor of Peace News. The assistant then asked if I knew someone who after fifty years and my previous visit the month before I had contemplated asking if the individual was still involved. I was given the address and telephone number. It made my day and rounded off the visit nicely. I decided that I would write. I felt the need to explain why I had changed and adopted views contrary to those that I had then as well as views which were just as strong and become more profound.

1780 Visits to Saatchi, the V and A and in search of a lost pair of spectacles

This had been a good day, not a great day, but there were several moments which I believe will remain memorable,

I begin by explaining that for the second time in two years I have lost an expensive pair of spectacle. I forgot to claim off travel insurance for the first pair a year ago and in order to do so this time I have been following up every possible location for the loss. Prior to the visit I had contacted Travel Lodge and have been given the telephone number of the hotel and they phoned back within 24 hours to say that as described the glasses had not been registered in the lost property. The O2 arena had done a similar check although I am note sure if this also covered the Slug and Lettuce. London Underground have promised a reply within ten days and for London Buses there is a central location when a downloaded form can be posted or a visit made. I had forgotten about the National Express coach which I added to my list for this trip which also included the Cineworld at the Trocadero and the Lost Property centre of London buses. I mention all this because the one thing I did not do is keep a record of all the buses numbers and routes which I used on the previous visit.

This morning I was determined to do so and held a small note pad and pen for this purpose although I did not anticipate I would be making such great use of the bus system. I discovered there was a bus from Kings Cross to Knightsbridge and Kensington High Street (10) and which I believed was the correct location of the new Saatchi Gallery. Given that only last year I looked up and visited the new location for the Saatchi Gallery. I should have remembered better. One problem of previously making use of the faster Tube service buying the one Travel cards which provided travel throughout greater London on trains and the Tube, as well as buses is that one rises from the depths at most central destinations and this does not provide a sense of geography of the relationship of the place with the whole. After today I have a clear sense of the location of Victoria, Sloan Square and the Kings Road, and the Fulham Road, of Knightsbridge, The Brompton Road and the Oratory and on to South Kensington and the Exhibition centres for the Victoria and Albert( Art and Design) and Natural History and the Science Museums, the West side of Hyde Park through to Kensington Gardens and Kensington High Street passing the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall. This would not have been achieved without using the bus system and making the initial mistake underlining the poor decision not to bring a street map and guide. My trip to Knightsbridge in the morning and getting 30 bus from Oxford Street to Kings Cross on the way back meant that I passed the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in the morning and the Royal School of Art and design in the later afternoon. There was also the centre for Tropical Medicine and the splendid establishment on several floors for umbrellas and sticks at the junction with New Oxford Street, James Smith and Sons was established in 1830 and the store retains its Victorian fittings. It also reminds that close to the Royal Scott on the way to Kings Cross is the Luggage centre also offering up to 50% discounts.

The bus route took me through Gower Street Bedford and Bloomsbury and Great Russell all areas associated with Social Work, the Association of Child Care Officers and Hotels used on trip involving the local authority and its Councillors. I do not think I have previously mentioned that part of the Centre Point building complex houses the 101 project, however nothing related to my work alas.

It was the sight of Knightsbridge and Harrods that on impulse I decided to get off and walk through the store. The last occasion I had visited was to sign to condolence book for loss of Dodi Al Fayed. Usually I could only afford to visit the super loos although I did visit to but a pair of small silver doves. Later I saw one of the tradition small Harrods delivery vehicles with their drives in top had and morning dress.

Harrods is located on a road which leads to the Brompton Oratory, to South Kensington Station and Exhibition Road. Whenever I have passed the Oratory I remember a former work colleague from Middlesex House, also in his first job, but older and engaged to be married. They were Italian Catholics and he had attended the Oratory school and I had joined him with a school friend of mine and others for a picnic in Epping Forest one weekend. I lost contact after leaving Middlesex House in 1957 but I have often wondered what kind of lives the couple had over the past 50 years. I continued to have contact with my other colleague who had introduced me to the Soho jazz world for a few years afterwards and in 1964, seven years after leaving, I met one of the secretarial staff, in the staff restaurant of Norfolk County Council. She now worked for that Council, while I was undertaking a three month practical work placement in the Children’s Department before finishing my course at Birmingham University and qualifying for the Home Office Certificate.

Arriving at the Exhibition road I decided to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum of Art and design which I cannot recall visiting before. This is an extraordinary building with fine staircases and a magnificent courtyard on one side of which there is the extraordinary restaurant area. This comprise a central area where is located various food bars which some of the largest scones I have seen as well as giant breads with meal size fillings. These cost £5. The range for cream scone teas appears unlimited. I paid £1.50 at Azda for a prepared scone with a slice of strawberry and DIY cup of tea which was excellent. You received a separate large pot of lightly whipped cream but the tea was in a plastic cup for £2.30 at Nottingham cricket ground. It is £2.50 at Durham cricket Ground and was £6.50 at Saatchi. If you want a selection of fine sandwich quarters, a slice of cake, even a mini sausage roll in addition the total price is also variable with £4 special offer at M and S, £4.50 at Durham and £10.50 and Saatchi. Price is not an indicator of quantity or quality.

I am not good and at having a slow systematic view of exhibitions, rather rush around looking for an object which excites, interests and engages and makes me say Wow. This was my reaction at he V A to rooms of the art and designs of other cultures including the Jamaal gallery of Islamic art. I am looking forward to going back after the knew Medieval and Renaissance area is opened this Winter I did enjoy the two floors on the British History of Design and art and spent half an hour in one of the film rooms where there are hour long collections of films shown throughout the day. I saw a collection of pre 1900 films together with one on the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the burning down of the Crystal Palace location, not at Crystal Palace, but in Hyde Park. I noted that the best crowd with many families and also students with sketch pads was on the design history of British clothing.

By the time I left the crowds were arriving and there was a great queue for the bag search at the Natural History Museum but a small one outside the science museum. I was still confused about my sense of direction and wondered more in the direction of Knightsbridge than Kensington admiring the University building, the terraces of for former private family homes, some still with their proximity to Hyde Park. Many of those fronting the Park are embassies or homes for the Ambassadors. It was at this point I got on a 452 bus to Kensington High Street, not realising that I had I got on the same route in the opposite direction I would have been taken to Sloane Square nearby the Saatchi Gallery in the Kings Road. The trip to Kensington High Street was not wasted as I went into Marks and Spencer’s and bought a carton of sticky chicken wings for £2,99 and a packet of Pain au chocolate for £1.99 and went to look for a pleasant square in which there a seat.

Thinking this was most likely to be outside Saatchi I doubled back to where the 452 had dropped me off, as the reverse route was to Sloane Square having remembered that the gallery was along the Kings Cross a short way from Sloane Square. Crossing over the road and approaching the corner I spied a lane described as a walk and where I could see some greenery and seating at one end. In fact there were four separate small gardens with seating opened by the Mayor two decades before with funds from a group of interests. Although there were four separate garden areas, there were no more than a dozen benches but I found one unoccupied where I enjoyed the chicken wings and two of pains, placing the other two in small container brought for the very purpose. Eating the chicken wings was messy business but I had also brought with sheets of kitchen role to dry the fingers after licking them and also using to wipe my face. About a couple of dozen other with their M and S bags or of other supermarkets came to enjoy their lunch in these pleasant surroundings. Afterwards I followed the walk which led to a church and also to an interesting row of small shops including one which sold coloured hats for men. Eventually I came out the road where as suspected there was a bus stop for required bus and we went back along the side of Hyde Park to Knightsbridge.
I was once more struck by the gold of the Prince Albert Statue opposite the Hall which also bears his name. The son was fully out and there were many people in Gardens as the bus passed Kensington Palace and Barracks.

Sloane continues to hold memories because this where my one and only play written after prison in 1960 had been sent to the English Stage Company and their readers had found the writing of interest and asked to see what else I had written and of course I had not, and then went off to Ruskin and into Child Care Social Work.

I had not enjoyed my precious visit to Saatchi for the China exhibition so that on American Abstract was expected to interest me more. Alas it did not and there was no WOW in the way the Saatchi 100 works which changed British art had done and where most if not all the works had been destroyed in the warehouse fire. There was one exhibit left from the China show in the basement display area there is the work of Sun Yuan and Peng You as the collection of world leaders as old men move around the room endlessly in their wheel chairs nearly colliding but now harmless where as previously they drove their peoples into near annihilation. This remaining exhibit from the Revolution continues is worth making a visit on its own account. The works that attracted my longest attention were not part of American Abstract but the Phillips De Pury Gallery show case of Korean Contemporary art. The Saatchi on line Gallery with links remains the best reminder of past triumphs and of being my first time lucky.

Although I had eaten I rested tired on a bench outside in the sunshine opposite the restaurant and looked at the two latest editions of Art and Music and the glossy Sloane Square Magazine. It was an advert for a free lunchtime concert at Cadogan Hall caught my eye as did two local young women, complete with docile dog eating at the restaurant opposite who leapt out at one as if having come straight of a plane from the Cannes film festival or off some society bash pictured in OK magazine. This reminds of a conversation heard in the Marks and Spencer’s Food Hall High Street Ken when a young make voice enquired what his companion had been doing since completing A levels and she said I had a week in New York and their voices tailed as turned to catch sight of two young people who one would put into the category of Sloanes.

I walked the comparatively short length of the Kings Road from Sloane to the cinema and Library, the full length of the road is two miles and was struck by its gentrification and that it lacked any distinctive character and could be interchanged with Kensington High Street and Knightsbridge. The days when the Kings Road was an integral part of the swinging sixties have long gone but I did reminisce over an expensive diet coke at the Chelsea Potter, which remains the same as in the days when frequented by Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. I once came on a foray to the Chelsea Jazz club but where it was located I no longer remember and is not to be confused with 606 the present with club renowned for food as well as jazz which commenced life only in 1976.

It was time to go in search of my missing glasses and I found a bus which took me to Victoria Coach station. I have made a note of the number somewhere but this ceases to have the importance it had the time. At the station I was directed from the bus information point at the entrance to the National Express customer service area which involved crossing the entrance where the coaches arrived and was advised that anything found on coaches from the North East was held at Durham and give the phone number. From the coach station there number 38 bus took me to outside the Victoria Railway station, worth remembering for the return home journey. I could have arrange to from Golders Green but this would have meant taking an available aisle seat with all the best seats taken. At Victoria I could have taken the double bendy bus all the way to Kings Cross (73) but wanted to call in at the Cineworld Trocadero. I passed the Royal Academy which features much in the series on Millais, Hunt, Rossetti and co and thought that the Summer exhibition was a good idea for Thursday.

The ticket cashier phone through but could not get in contact with the duty manager and advised that I speak to a member of staff with a Walkie Talkie Radio which before doing I encountered the duty manger directing someone with a trolley of ice creams an drinks for some party she was entertaining. She was startled by my approach and I was ordered to wait where I was standing while she completed the task in hand with a colleague and when off for what seemed a long time. Then a young man advised that the item as described had not been found and apologised for my loss, a nice touch.

Back on the Street distributors of the two free evening newspapers pressed hundreds of thousands of copies into the hands of every passer by. Both announced that the Troc was yet to have another reincarnation since the days when it was the home of L Lyons tea houses. This time part was to be converted into a pod hotel, Japanese style of inexpensive rooms without windows which some people seem to like. The price would set around £40 a night compared to my £9 for a fully ensuite facility.


I then got a bus to Selfridges where I knew I would get another bus to Kings Cross. There was opportunity to visit the M and S Food Hall opposite when I bought two bread rolls, Duck Pate, Olives, Grapes and a bottle of cold still water, most of which I consumed outside before going for the bus to the Hotel. I considered myself to have become an expert at getting across London by bus. I spent the rest of the evening drinking tea and Diet Pepsi Coke as well as making full use of the fan which I kept going over my body all night.

1779 A long journey and changing rooms

For my second visit to London within a month I am immediately torn between wanting to make full use of the opportunity and the need to write about recent experience. The opportunity provided by a long coach journey enable substantial progress in the reading of Sons and Lovers. Once upon a time I was a devourer of historical literature but as indication of belated development now the reading is slow as I must read in the context of the writer and their time. I still do not analyse and break down the construction of the work although I know all about the process of writing. The day did not begin or end well although I have viewed what happened as challenges which were overcome.

I have become confident about preparing for departure and everything went well with the new case packed and food prepared before midday. Then just when I was considering making the final preparing the skies darkened and heavens opened with a great torrent and I considered booking a taxi. There was lighter sky within view so I held off for a few minuets and was rewarded by the rain stopping. I decided to depart without delay rather than making the usual final check and made two mistakes as a consequence. I failed to pack the headphones for the computer which I had borrowed to listen to Test Match broadcasts while at Durham cricket. I need the phone if I want to watch on the i player later at night.

About two hours before I had carefully prepared the pack of four bread rolls for my mainstay food on the journey and evening. I had taken time to cut into two even halves and then taken the rind of the salami which I used as an inner sandwich with small pieces of lettuce and the rest of the smoked salmon bits, so that the lettuce and salmon did not make the bread damp and soggy. I packed two in one sandwich bag, one for journey and one for arrival. They are still sitting on the Day room table. I made do with a small packet of crisps and a chunky kit bought at the Sheffield motorway service area, plus the pastries which I did pack and the melon slices. The latter was not good and about a third was binned. I did bring same water which was needed on the journey and then during the night.

I must enthuse about the new case bought for half the standard price of £80, The main compartment has a small lock. There is a zipped see through compartment for documents or items to be kept separate in the main lid. This has a second zip which can add an extra inch to the case if need for extra purchases on the journey, There is a second compartment in the lid which will take more papers or stuff like socks, pants and hankies. There is an additional small compartment for essential items for the journey such as tickets and small maps. The retractable handle is central and solid with a press button to release. It is so much easier to manoeuvre and pull, a joy compared to the case with its side grip.

I was not just early at the coach station but the only person at South Shields travelling to London on the day, and there was therefore no rush required to get the back seat by the emergency door which has twice the usual leg room space. While I waited I was entertained by three screaming and fighting children under five who mother and grandmother, the latter is presumed, enjoyed finding out who could scream and shout the loudest. The mother said she was envious of my trip to London and despite my age and bulk I reckon she would have abandoned her offspring and come on the coach with me had I invited. I may be doing her a great injustice but my prediction that her family will become well known to the child care and social justice authorities is well founded.
Although the coach filled up well first at Sunderland, then Stockton and the Boro, the middle space was kept clear although a young man with a sniff and sneeze did take the sea nearest the toilet. The coach insists on taking the route from Grangetown to the new Ryhope bypass before joining the road from Ryhope again, which involves three sides of square when the single side through the village is the obvious choice. The bypass is convenient for those who take the eastern route out of Sunderland.

Almost as the coach left Sunderland the skies darkened and it rained. It was not cold and a good temperature for travelling. I kept notes of the travelling time. “We left Shields at 1.55, five minutes early. Sunderland at 14 past two. We left the A19 towards York after stops at Stockton and Middlesbrough and the Boro at 4pm and it took an hour and half to enter York, drop some passengers and pick up others. At Middlesbrough the girl of a couple persuade a young man sitting in front of the toilet to move to the third seat at the back, disturbing my comfort so they could sit together. I had heard the young man sneeze and indicate other symptoms of a cold before then so I had double cause for concern. What made matters worse is that when the couple departed at York he did not the seize the opportunity to regain his former seat, which was taken by a young woman who had shared a seat with a stranger and saw the opportunity to have a window seat on her own.

When I returned from the purchase of the crisps and chocky bar at Sheffield I had noticed my sneezing companion sitting in an area near the two coaches, and another young man sitting in his seat. When I mentioned that the seat holder was returning her said he would move if the young man did not find another seat, into the centre seat. Thus it came to pass that I was joined not by one but by two young fellows in the rear with me imprisoned so speak in the corner. This made the rest of journey uncomfortable for all of us and for me in particular when the light failed and it was no longer possible to read.

I wish I had my camera to take photos of the monotonous countryside with monotonous quickly darkening sky above. At least there were two blessings. The cause of the crowding of the coach was the decision for everyone wishing go to Milton Keynes to go to the other coach and their places to London filled but those on their coach, no doubt with the promise of an earlier arrival. Thus it was we did not take the Milton Keynes turn off which reduced travelling time by 15 to 20 minutes. I had arranged for another bonus in switching my luggage from Victoria to the prior stop and Golders Green. The Tube station is adjacent to the coach stop thus cutting out the considerable walk from the Victoria Coach to Train Station, as well as the time the coach then takes to get from Golders Green to the Coach terminus. On reflection there was another bonus in that the new arrival was not next to the young man with the cold and therefore acted as a buffer between us. So far only the extremes of weather have affected me.

I have not called at Golders Green Station before although some fifty years ago I alighted at Hampstead on the same Northern line route to meet someone who I had previous met at the offices of the Committee 100 and who appeared much taken with me on being introduced as one of the Foulness 13. I had obtained the address of the young lady and written suggesting that if she wished to meet up she should phone within ten seconds of getting the letter. She did, although I was still in bed and barely awake at the time, but we had met at the station as soon as I could get there and a walk on the Health we had returned to her palatial family home where she divulged her father was regarded as one of the best accountants in the City of London. It was she who took me to see Beyond the Fringe, to look at Leonardo drawings at Windsor Castle and to the Alexandrian Quarter by Lawrence Durrell. It was she who counselled that I should go to Ruskin for it would condense what I had to say rather than take up the suggestion of an appointment as CND organiser for the London Region.

The surprise at Golders Greens is that in order to reach the platform has to take a lift up rather than down. At Camden the compartment was filled by a party of mixed men and women who had been on a drinking binge as members of 100, 500 and 1000 Guinness drinkers club. 100pints.com. From the internet site I gather progress is tracked carefully in that the drinking has to take place in the company of existing members. Your name is inscribed in the club scroll for 100 pints and you get your own scroll for 500. I want to write on so did not check on the internet what happens when you reach 1000. I was invited to join the club. The liveliest of the group said he was from Whitley Bay when I said I was from South Shields for the past 35 years. Her explained that although the family was Irish he was born in Whitely Bay but now lived off the Mile End Road. This conversation thus destroyed the myth that Londoners never engage in conversation with strangers on the public transport system, albeit they were a very merry group,

Had I not undertaken the same routes as my previous visit then I would have arrived at Royal Scott at 11.15 and paid over £20 for the taxi ride. I arrived at 10pm and the Tube fare was £4.

I sensed there was difficulty finding me a doubled bedded room from the conversations between the assistant and other member of staff including the duty manager. I sense that part of the problem was that I had paid the minimum price for the room for four nights £37.50 that is £9 a night plus credit card charge. The problem I encountered is that although the allocated room was large it contained not two twins beds but three with each appearing the smallest in width I have encountered. There were positives in that I was high on the fifth floor above the ground noise. There were pillows, towels, coffee and tea supplies and wardrobe space for three. It was possible to move one of beds easily up to the desk to use as a seat for working on the lap top. However I was disappointed not have been told in advance so I returned to the desk with my luggage and drew attention that I had booked a double bedded room. I was told that I would have been allocated a room had I arrived earlier, that they were fully booked for the night and there was also reference to company policy which I presumed meant that for those paying the minimum rate only the secondary rooms are allocated. I was promised a change of rooms the following morning and a note was made in the diary.

My anxiety about going in hospital some day is not because I had become ill or injured which required such captivity but the problem of my restlessness at night, the need to get up several times and the need to make full use of a double bed. This night was going to be a good test. I slept well for two hours in the first bed against a wall and away from the window. I was restless at the second waking and found settling done again difficult because of the proximity to the wall so I changed to the middle bed and this was more comfortable. By morning I decided to stay where I was and intended to inform the desk when I went down after nine so to use my bus pass at the first opportunity. However there was such a crowd that I decided to leave until I returned. I had an interesting and eventful day which will be subject of my next writing, although I must fit in the programme on Harry Patch and the other World War veterans who have recently died all aged between 100 and 111. There is also the latest in the series the Street, about alcoholism, For now I wish to complete the saga of the room. On arrival fully laden with food, drink and literature, I discovered my key card had been cancelled, so had to return to the reception desk. I was allocated a new room in a special area of the hotel called the Millennium suite, This is on the first floor, accessible from the second floor and comprises 12 rooms all with air conditioning except in my room but I would be allocated a fan. I made the mistake of leaving my jacket in the new room with the key to case so that for the second transfer of stuff I had to balance toilet bag, a bottle of water and other items of clothing with the locked case. The room is splendid and the fan effective on a very hot night compared to the previous one. I have resolved the lack of a chair by using the beside cabinet as a table as there is not one but to electricity connection sockets at hand.

The contrast between the two days could not be greater. Yesterday it a was a bad autumn day and only the fact that it chilly rather than called stops me calling it wintry. Today was Mediterranean summer. I have spent the latter part of the day drinking Pepsi cola, water, and tea. I made the mistake of deciding against buying a can of coke at Patridges near the new Saatchi gallery for 65 pence and ended up paying £1.86 at the Chelsea Potter in the Kings Road, with the add ons for a slice of lemon, the ice, a straw, staffing and site overheads and the once fashionable nature of the pub. I paid 87 pence for a bottle of still water at a Marks and Spencer’s in Oxford Street, the one opposite the Selfridge Food Hall side entrance. I paid 49 pence for a can bought later at a local newsagent, tobacconist and general store where the assistant asked how I was and if I had a good day. I then paid £1 for a can from one of the many hotel dispensers, although this was as cold a can as I have even experienced. I had two cups of tea one after the other such is the thirst that developed. The hotel rooms on each floor are in triangle although the sides are not straight and it is important not to lose the sense of direction in relation to the lifts. So far I have six journeys wither between rooms, once going outside the drink and once inside, plus one journey to query what was happening to the internet connection and back, but I am not complaining for it has been a good day which I shall retell next.