Stop press! Next walk date confirmed

It will be 12th November, with Susan & Brenda to organise.

Brenda decided the cat needed
some real 'E' in it's Kit-E-Kat

It's a WAG Walk Jim, but not as we know it

Trains and boats and planes

The September WAG Walk was notable for it's difference from previous walks. Organised by City Girl Viv, she decided we'd had enough of country yokels and roaring log fires, and that this time we should have city streets and history. So London it was, and we were due to meet outside Tate Modern at 10.30. I say 'due to meet' for a reason. Neil & Judy managed it on time, but for the others it proved not so straightforward, with the last ones (mentioning no names) not arriving until around 11.00, making us a little behind time. In another break from tradition, John & Wendy opted to travel by train, whilst Neil & Judy decided to arrive by yacht (well, Thames Clipper actually, but who's arguing?). Had there been an available flight from Ealing to the South Bank I'm sure Viv & Michael would have taken it, but instead they resorted to the car.  Unfortunately, Susan & Brenda were not able to join us, preferring the lure of a day clearing out their kitchen before the builders get to work.

Swashbuckling, Gorillas and Slaves

Once we got going, the walk was very enjoyable. Initially the tour guide showed that her knowledge was not as encyclopaedic as we thought when she could not say after which Pitt, Elder or Younger, Blackfriars Bridge had previously been named, but she made up for this with her knowledge of other parts of the route most notably 'Boris House', or City Hall as it is otherwise known, next to Tower Bridge. We passed the Globe Theatre, Clink Prison (which, it was agreed, would probably not be worth the £7 admission charge), and then the Golden Hind. For me, this brought back happy memories of the TV series 'Sir Francis Drake' from the 1960's. I'm sure you saw it; Terence Morgan as Sir Francis Drake, and Jean Kent as Queen Elizabeth, with an occasional appearance from a young Michael Crawford. (It seems that anyone who was anyone turned up in the series; other occasional guests included Warren Mitchell, David McCallum, Victor Maddern, Patrick Wymark, Brian Cant, Patrick Troughton, Francesca Annis, Nanette Newman and Susan Hampshire, to name but a few. But I digress....) From there we circled Southwark Cathedral, where Neil & Judy were distracted by the grave of a Mohican in the grounds. Quite why a Mohican was buried over 3500 miles from home was not clear, and unfortunately I've not managed to throw any light on the matter since.

We pressed on, past the Shard and followed the river to Hay's Galleria, a small shopping centre built in what used to be one of the chief docks for ships bringing tea to London, and which now contains a fascinating moving bronze sculpture by David Kemp, 'The Navigators'.

Beware if you stand to the side of it; it occasionally fires jets of water at the unsuspecting observer.  Approaching City Hall we saw the Gorilla Parade, an installation of 20 life-sized gorillas painted in many different ways. Apparently, it's part of a campaign to raise awareness of how the animal's habitats are being threatened, but everyone seemed to think it was also good fun.

Just on from there was a bronze sculpture of a man in indigenous clothing by Southwark-based artist Sokari Douglas Camp, a memorial to the ending of the slave trade.

North of the river

And so on, over Tower Bridge, to much mirth about how that American in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, must have felt when he finished reconstructing London Bridge and discovered it wasn't the one he thought he'd bought. We didn't have time for the detour to St Katherine's Dock, so we headed back west. We were a little concerned at passing a small box set in a wall which read 'City of London Fuse Box'.  Was that it?  If it went, would the whole City be blacked out?  Questions should be asked.  Viv was pleased to see the 'Little Ship Club', as her father had been it's president back in the '60's. We passed the old Billingsgate Market and the Customs House, and finally made our way back to the south side over the Millennium Bridge.

A pub with no ale

Well not quite, but it did seem that everything we wanted at Doggetts Coat & Badge was off. The beer we fancied had just run out, and the pork terrines had proved popular too. Judy fancied a prosecco; after sending two back because they had no bubbles, she settled for wine which was intended to be flat. (Apparently, if you make an early booking for your Christmas party there, they give you a free bottle of Prosecco. From Judy's experience, it seems they might open it when you book.) But after that things went OK; the waitress was helpful, the food may not have been in the Raymond Blanc class but it was fine, and the conversation flowed. Either 5^th or 12^th November was chosen for the next walk (Neil to confirm) and in the best traditions, Susan and Brenda were nominated to organise it as they weren't there to defend themselves. Which leaves Neil with February, when the mud should be rife.........