On the Thames and Tyneside

Sitting on the banks of the Thames writing this, expecting to see Ratty and Mole a d a Pooh stick or two at any moment...all that reading we did when we were much (much) younger makes this

landscape very familiar and comforting.

My time on the Tyne was really good ,Mish was a wonderful host and had all sorts of bits and bobs organised tailored it seems to my eccentric tastes and interests..what was great mate she is...the Laing Art Gallery, the Lit and Phil, a librarian's dream: like going back in time to live before technology claimed the world ,books books and more books and lots of places for people to sit and (heaven forbid ,talk to each other, as they were, not a smart phone in sight)....2 stories in magnificent Victorian building with galleries,ladders...you get the picture. Many of the public libraries in Newcastle have closed due to the Tories austerity measures so this is a vital part of the cities intellectual landscape even with a membership fee attached to borrowing.

We had a long walk along the coast from Whitley Bay to Tynemouth with it's atmospheric ruined (Henry viii again) medieval priority and a long history shaped by invasions (including Vikings) and wars.

A friend of Mish's gave us a tour around Barsham Community Centre, a beautiful Arts and Crafts house that has been restored with Grant funding in that style with William Morris wallpaper and stained glass. We heard the impressive story of the Tyneside community through the occupants of the house and their involvement in the anti-slavery, suffragette and socialist movements over 200 years. William Morris was a frequent visitor to the house as a friend of the original Quaker family that owned it. The women of Tyneside raised money to free the escaped slave Frederick Douglass who for some time stayed in this house went on to work with the abolitionist Wilberforce and went on to be the first black publisher in America.

Back in London, happy in Hammersmith.

Two nights ago we went to see The Merry Wives of Windsor at The Globe...absolute perfection,belissimo….a good time was had by all,cast included!

Today on the banks of the Thames (5 minutes walk from Ben and Joannas) I managed to pick a ton of blackberries and apples and we will have foraged crumble with Cornish clotted cream...wish you were here to share it ! Kath xo

Hotting up in Hammersmith

Enjoying the heat, the air heavy with the scent of flowers and Joanna and Ben's excellent company. Hammersmith is the place to be: on the Thames Path, Georgian streetscapes, lots of greenspace (largely thanks to the  generous Duke hiving off some of his enormous Chiswick estate, but who needs a weekender in London when your main abode is Chatwsworth) and beautiful gardens and lots. Of opportunity to forage on public land (this morning we came home with apples, blackberries and a bunch of wildflowers).

Ben has made their garden at the back of their ground floor flat into an oasis….much in need particularly after yesterday's news..,

The Conservative party's lurch further right has left the country in shock, especially with the news that Nigel and Donald are cooking up a scheme to stage a coup (just when you .think things cannot get any worse!).

Yesterday I caught the train to Portsmouth (the trains were in a shamb!es with delays,cancelled services and signal failures with thousands filling the trains and stations in the heat... the Brits have the patience of saints, I seemed to be the only one who was cranky, especially as the 2 hour trip cost 30x what it would at home)..,so I finally got to see The Mary Rose in all it's glory after a nearly 40 year project of archaeological excavation (a lot of it underwater) in it's new purpose built museum. The 9,000 artifacts and genetic testing on remains are used to great effect to tell the personal stories of some of the nearly 500 who lost their lives when it sank 450 years ago.

Tomorrow I go to Newcastle Upon Tyne to visit my Geordie (committed to socialist and Corbanite )friend Mish...hope the trains are back on track!

Keep Manning the barricades!!

Kath xo xo