The Rollercoaster Day

This weekend was Thames Festival & London Open weekend, so finding myself up in town armed with time & travelcard, I decided to do some stuff "for me" and chill out after the thrills that had been a gig that was awesome on Friday night.

I've always walked by Southwark Catherdral and sort of thought that I probably ought to stick my beak in there one day but never had - well as it provided an opportunity to avoid Morris Dancers (akin to mimes & clowns in terms of things I can't "get") I decided to lumber on in and wow! Vaulted ceilings, fantastic stained glass, quirky citations and a celebration of London-ness rather than religion. The dedicated to the notable quack Lionel Lockyer made me laugh (not a good thing in church)

"Here Lockyer: lies interr'd enough: his nameSpeakes one hath few competitors in fame:A name soe Great, soe Generall't may scorneInscriptions whch doe vulgar tombs adorne.A diminution 'tis to write in verseHis eulogies whch most mens mouths rehearse.His virtues & his PILLS are soe well known..That envy can't confine them vnder stone.But they'll surviue his dust and not expireTill all things else at th'universall fire.This verse is lost, his PILL Embalmes him safeTo future times without an Epitaph"

The Pugin Tabernacle in the Harvard Chapel is great for the inner-goth and the memorial to the Hop Merchant Sir Frederick Wigan (commerating the importance of Southwark to the hop trade) was appropriate as I'd been sampling some "hop related" produce the previous night to great effect - cheers Sir John.

But the thing that got me was a fairly recent addition - Right near the entrance is a flat tablet with 51 names on it and it is to commemorate those that died 20 Aug 1989 as part of the Marchioness Riverboat disaster. Reading the names and their ages, it struck me that most of them were younger than I am now, some of them had been the same age as I was when it happened and it was all too much, what with it being Thames Festival Day as well. Still, if you are going to be sitting somewhere with tears running down your face at the pointlessness of it all, a church isn't a bad place to be.

After a wander around Borough Market and the snappy streets around there, I continued a walk along the southbank (battling with the Bridges of London Walkers), I stopped to listen to a busker - Julian Davies (name on a bit of card) and amongst other songs he did, he sang Streets of London and Perfect Day - cue another spot of blubbing.

It had started a perfect day but then the combination of mobile phone going flat, a misunderstanding re arrangements for meeting up etc etc meant that the afternoon and early evening was anything but perfect. Even the penance of going to the Forbidden Planet (comic shop) didn't make things right. Just as well I've the skin of a rhino.

I ended up in Covent Garden via Stamfords Map shop and have had my nose stuck in Tim Moore's "Do Not Pass Go" (London's history via the Monolopy quest - I've done part of the Monopoly pub crawl once) ever since. So, did it ever dawn on you just what the linking theme is between the Orange cards or which square are you most likely to end up on or what is the link between all the stations?

Bet you are fascinated now though!