Last week London blogger Diamond Geezer posted a list of 100 Things I have Done in London. Given that he spends his life out and about in London it is naturally an eclectic and interesting list.
Despite being essentially a Londoner, I can’t compete with DG. However I thought it would be interesting to see what I have done within the bounds of Greater London. And there are some unusual things.
First of all I share just these five things with DG (I’m surprised it is quite so few):
- Voted for an MP who actually won
- Done jury service
- Been underground to watch Mail Rail while it was actually operational – and in my case long before it was branded Mail Rail
- Bought my first top shelf magazine
- Endured a pandemic
Then I can add:
- Been through the red channel at Heathrow
- Had lunch with a Herald, and paid the bill
- Had tea tête-à-tête with an Earl
- Been in A&E at Barts Hospital
- Had lunch at the Mermaid Theatre (aged 11) – and was served a whole trout as a starter
- Been aboard RRS Discovery (which carried Scott & Shackleton on their first journey to the Antarctic) and the Cutty Sark
- Travelled from Charing Cross to Greenwich and back by boat
- Travelled down the Thames (and back) from Tower Pier by paddle steamer
- Seen Shakespeare performed at the Globe Theatre
- Caught the last train home
- Caught the first train in from home
- Been to the old Billingsgate Market before dawn
- Been to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party
- Been to exhibition openings/private views at V&A and the V&A Museum of Childhood
- Been to an exhibition opening at the Wallace Collection with Simon Russell Beale
- Sung in a choir in St Pauls Cathedral
- Been to a play reading at the College of Arms
- Run conferences at the Wallace Collection and Naval & Military Club (the In & Out)
- Been on a tour of the Houses of Parliament
- Dined at five London clubs: Garrick, In & Out, Reform, Oxford & Cambridge, Travellers
- Had Sunday Lunch at the Ritz
- Eaten prunes & custard in a Lyons Corner House (aged about 4)
- Been part of a group who formed a literary society, which is now a registered charity
- Been to the Chelsea Flower Show (twice; first aged 8)
- Rescued several cats
- Caught a train to or from every major London rail terminus (of all the London termini I think I’m probably missing only Blackfriars and Cannon Street)
- Been “back stage” at Wallace Collection, V&A Museum of Childhood, College of Arms
- Been shown round the research labs at the Royal Institution by the then Director, Prof. Sir George (later Lord) Porter
- Had sex in a Bayswater hotel
- Been to a Christmas Lecture at the Royal Institution
- Travelled the old North London Line to/from Broad Street
- Had (and used) a BL Readers Ticket, when they were hard to get and gave admission to the iconic BM Reading Room
- Drunk a pint in the Pavilion at Lord’s
- Been to a Test Match at Lord’s – several times including the one when Bob Taylor was allowed out of retirement to keep wicket as 12th man against New Zealand on 25 July 1986
- Played cricket against the Bank of England
- Written computer code for Lloyds Register of Shipping, OCL and Thompson Travel
- Met Ian Rankin, having arranged for him to speak at a conference
- Got married
- Been the guide on a coach tour of London
- Been in the audience at a conference to hear Prince Charles speak
And I’ve no doubt N will be along and remind me of curiosities I’ve forgotten.