Art, history, more architecture and seeing me mates

Monday saw me in Westminster, Pimlico and Soho, while Tuesday took me to Bloomsbury and the City. Here's what I did and saw:

I was out the door bright and early on Monday to meet my friend Simon at Westminster Hall. I'd never seen any of the Palace of Westminster and thought the exhibition about the Peterloo Massacre (it's the 200th anniversary) would be a grand way to get into Westminster Hall for free. I'd listened to two very interesting podcasts about Peterloo in preparation and I'm looking forward to seeing the upcoming film. The exhibition, however, wasn't much of anything — four panels, one of which was blocked by a construction barrier. But I did enjoy seeing the inside of the hall, the oldest bits of which date to the 11th century. There's an incredible timber roof, constructed in the 14th century, that spans an enormous space and has some impressive carved angels attached to the beams. 

Simon and I had tea and a catch-up in the caff and then he walked me down to Tate Britain, pointing out various bits of architectural interest along the way. At Tate Britain, I met up with my friend Judy, with whom I always enjoy seeing arty things. We first looked at the installation called The Asset Strippers by Mike Nelson in the Duveen Galleries. We'd seen a previous installation by Nelson at Tate Britain — The Coral Reef, in which he had recreated the rooms of a minicab office in one of the galleries. I confess to not having done any reading on The Asset Strippers, so I wasn't sure what it was all about. What he's done is to purchase various large pieces of industrial machinery at auction and raise them (literally and figuratively) to monumental status on pedestals and plinths. Some of the machines still had dust and cobwebs on them and a couple of the ones used in the textile industry had spools of thread and bits of trim still attached. There were no labels or wall text for any of it, so it's all up to the viewer to interpret it. My take away was that these machines represented British manufacturing industries that no longer exist. Taken off the factory floor and installed in the Duveen Galleries, they do become monuments to a past glory. In addition, each machine takes on sculptural qualities. I could picture any one of them on the fourth plinth (which I'd stopped to see on my way to Westminster Hall). 

After lunch in the members' caff, we saw the Blake exhibition. I'm a bit of a philistine when it comes to Blake, never really having read any of his poetry other than the Tyger poem and Jerusalem. This exhibition, however, was 98% about his art and, again, I hardly knew it. There's an awful lot of religious imagery and I can only do so much of that. I far preferred the paintings and prints with visions and supernatural beings. My greatest appreciation was for his technique, as he pushed printmaking into new realms during his time. Glad I saw it, but the best part of the afternoon was catching up with Judy. 

Skies were looking quite iffy when I exited the museum, but I decided to see if I could fit in one more exhibition in central London before heading back to me gaff in Tufnell Park. I took the tube to Oxford Circus and popped into the Photographers' Gallery, a place I always enjoy. The exhibition there is Urban Impulses: Latin American Photography from 1959 to 2016. It was full of images of things I'd never seen — street scenes, advertising, portraits, intimate moments — from countries I've never been to. Definitely worth seeing.

I decided to take a different route back to Tufnell Park and opted for the number 88 bus, which took me up the east side of Regent's Park and through Camden Town (known territory) before heading up Kentish Town Road (as yet unexplored). The walk back to the house was a bit longer than if I'd taken the 390 as usual, but gave me an opportunity to see a bit more of Fortess Road. Exhausted, I had an early dinner, watched some Netflix and hit the sack. 

The rain was chucking down when I woke up on Tuesday, so I decided to have a lie-in, hand wash some laundry, drink a second cup of tea and head out late for my day's adventures. Also, my back is really hurting and I thought it would be good to go easy. On rainy days, my usual go-to spot is the V&A, but I decided to mix it up a bit and go to the British Museum instead. Again, inspired by a podcast (the BM now has its own podcast in which different curators or members of staff chat about objects in the museum) I knew I wanted to go to room 41 to see the Sutton Hoo burial ship. It did not disappoint, but the museum was full of school groups and I pressed on. 

I was prebooked for a free talk "Revels on the River" that's part of the Totally Thames Festival. The talk was in the Guildhall Library, so I hopped a bus heading east, got a cheap sandwich and ate it in the yard of St Lawrence Jewry, next to the Guildhall. Here's the description: "From Royal pageantry and Frost Fairs to the Tall Ships Festival, the Thames has for centuries been a focus for local and national celebration. In a lavishly illustrated talk, Pete Smith traces the history of these revels on the river." It was a totally entertaining talk and you know how much I love totally free events. Afterwards, I took in Architecture of London, the current exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery, which I really enjoyed. I thought I recognized the location of one of the paintings and, sure enough, it turns out to be just down Brecknock Road from my AirBnB. I'd seen the spot from the 390. 

All day I'd been dodging the rain. For the most part, I was inside when it was chucking down and on the move when it eased up. I couldn't tell from the forecast what the evening had in store, and I was dead tired, so I decided to bail on the free evening walk to see the illuminations of four of the bridges on the Thames. I beat the rush hour, got back to Tufnell Park with plenty of time to walk to Budgen's (a bit further walk but SOOOO much better than the nearby Sainsbury's Local) to load up on more groceries. I used the evening for stretching, fixing dinner and writing this long post for my loyal readers. I think I'll be doing every-other-day posts from here on in. 

Monday stats:
£2.50 Photographers' Gallery (half price with Art Pass)
£2.50 groceries
19,482 steps
8.32 miles

Tuesday stats:
£3.85 for sandwich 
£3.50 for Guildhall Art Gallery
£16.30 groceries and wine
13,135 steps
5.47 miles