What do I miss in London?

What do I miss in London? The glitter of gold - as a former Londoner I love the city and am bereaved since March of regular visits where I usually capture some sparkle. The Durban Court ceiling in the Foreign Office captures the splendour of India. The Victoria memorial and Coronation coach reflect regal glory. St Ermin’s Hotel round the corner from St James underground station glitters outside as well as inside over Christmas. It’s great living in Haywards Heath being able to take or leave London - but roll on the day it’s safe for recreational visits! 

What do I miss in London? The cast courts in the Victoria & Albert Museum. There I can pretend I’m in Florence, Rome, Santiago de Compostela or wherever with exact plaster casts of their splendid artefacts manufactured in days when European travel was for the elite. Today such travel is forbidden for recreation and even the Knightsbridge Museum is inaccessible to visitors. When lockdown fully eases I’m looking forward to catching my train to London and revisiting Michelangelo's splendid David and Virgin with Child, Santiago’s Door of Glory and the mosaics of Ravenna (right of David). 

What do I miss in London? Free lunchtime concerts easily accessible from Haywards Heath. I love sitting for 40 minutes in St Martin-in-the-Fields or St James, Piccadilly or St Stephen, Walbrook or St Michael, Cornhill or other venues to hear live music provided by nationally acclaimed singers and musicians. London’s large population enhanced by commuters and tourists guarantees good turnouts at musical events in the middle of the day. These concerts are an incentive for meeting up for lunch with friends and I can never resist the voluntary donations invited. When will these concerts return? 

What do I miss in London? Speakers’ Corner. I love attending and sometimes involving myself in the public debates in Hyde Park just down the road from Marble Arch on Sunday afternoons. ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it’ is a saying attributed to Voltaire capturing something precious about being British. Anyone can turn up at Speakers’ Corner with a step ladder and talk on anything - and be heckled! It’s hard to imagine such a gathering today but one day it will return as the safe servant of truth-telling it is.

 

What do I miss in London? Parliament Square. It’s got heroes like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi dwarfed by Westminster Abbey and some of the grander statues like Churchill’s. Though London is a powerful place it gives space to those who speak truth to power without whom more of us would be living under the thrall of deceit. To live 45 minutes from London able to regularly sight-see there gives food for thought. That Gandhi or Mandela would be so honoured was unthinkable but now it is so. Hope all can sight-see again soon!

What do I miss in London? The Thames. With lockdown I miss my regular visits to the City for walks along the south or, a new facility, the north bank taking in the sights and river traffic. Over my years I’ve seen St Paul’s getting overshadowed by commercial buildings and the Shard arrive to tower over Southwark Cathedral. Though vital to London’s vibrant economy there’s something discomforting about houses of God being overshadowed by houses of commerce. When lockdown fully ends I’ll be down the Thames to Greenwich, its splendid buildings and views, and its Meridian that frames global timekeeping.

What do I miss in London? Westminster Abbey. As you can see from the pictures I’ve vested (!) interest there and love the services, so accessible to those who live in Haywards Heath, and have free entry. The May 2019 picture is when I joined 1000 for the ceremonial welcome of the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham from Norfolk placed that day on the site of the monarch’s coronation. Fellow worshippers beyond the statue ascend to St Edward’s Shrine behind the altar, accessible free of charge to any wishing to pray there - when will I next be able to do so?

What do I miss in London? Saints. As a former scientist I love visiting the Royal Institution laboratory linked to Michael Faraday, devout Christian who discovered the interrelation of electricity and magnetism. John Henry Newman - linked to Brompton Oratory - is a saint I love because he showed how Christian doctrine develops. When my mother brought me first to London she showed me the statue of Edith Cavell executed for helping soldiers in World War I. Mystic poet John Donne’s statue at St Paul’s is also inaccessible for me now due to lockdown - may London open doors to visitors soon!

What do I miss in London? Ceremonial events. Living so close to the City means you can make yourself part of major national celebrations such as the one in Trafalgar Square for Pentecost 2019. My 2017 visit to the gates of Kensington Palace were a repeat visit 20 years after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The blessing of heifers I attended 2016 on 
the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral was part of a celebration of British Livestock. With lockdown St Paul’s has no visitors other than online. When will this change and London open up again to recreational visitors?

What do I miss in London? Parks. Though I live among the wide green spaces of Sussex I find something awesome about the parks that both frame and are framed by our capital. Perhaps because they’ve been trodden by millions for centuries. Like J.M.Barrie, who created Peter Pan ‘the boy who wouldn’t grow up’, whose bird-nest boat ‘sailed on the Serpentine’. Barrie writes of fairies, animals and other beings hiding there in daylight but moving freely at night. The statue of Peter Pan is surrounded by squirrels, rabbits, mice and fairies. May London’s lockdown to visitors lift soon!

What do I miss in London? Exhibitions. To live close to a place with respect internationally among followers of the arts is an immense privilege. I look back at the William Blake exhibition at the Tate displaying the creativity of Jerusalem hymn writer, Ian Hislop’s provocative exhibition at the British Museum or seeing the gold bar displayed in the Bank of England museum. Like that bar, the glitter of Saatchi Gallery’s Tutankhamun riches is as hidden from us as they were in the Pyramid before Carter discovered them! May we discover again soon the riches of London’s exhibitions! 

What do I miss in London? Worship. The large population of London guarantees well supported churches and the maintenance of fine choirs to lead worship day by day.  St Paul’s, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral pack in folk for early evening services refreshing to locals, tourists and commuters. It’s months since I visited any of these, or two other favourites shown in the pictures: All Saints, Margaret Street and Brompton Oratory. Lockdown has taken away such spiritual inspiration, age old worship in grand buildings that evoke transcendent majesty and put you in your place - may such worship return soon!