Tuesday, April 6/2010

To the Barbican to use the internet (me) and catch up on papers and magazines (J). Check the Cock Tavern theatre and can see that we're not going to be going to La Boheme. It's a fundraiser, no concession prices, and even the champagne, nice though it would be, would not compensate for paying a hundred quid each for the tickets. Also check times and prices for some of the day trips we have in mind. By comparison with La Boheme, train tickets to Cookham look very reasonable at £10 each.

In the afternoon we take advantage of the fine weather to follow the Thames east from Tower Bridge. So we get off the tube by the Tower of London and follow the river round by St. Katharine's Pier. We've never been here before and really aren't in the right income bracket to have done. The harbour is full of the most amazing yachts. Quite a pleasure walking and admirinig though. We follow the cobbled street past warehouses and water front flats, some fairly old marine facilities, and some buildings recreated as upscale accommodation. follow Wapping High St. and then Wapping Wall until we come to the Prospect of Whitby, arguagly the oldest pub in London. In its earliest period it was the scene of cockfights and bare knuckle fights. Somewhat later it was frequented by Turner and Whistler, who used it as a vantage point for painting the Thames. We pick a window table and enjoy a glass of bitter. Looking out over the river as boats - from river cruisers to a barge to a small but very fast speedboat - and birds - gulls, ducks and coots - go past. The water itself is hypnotic, and there's the sound of the waves underneath our small-paned window.

We've passed two other pubs, survivors in a Wapping High Street that once was home to 36 pubs in a rough dockside neighbourhood. There's the Town of Ramsgate, with a bloody history of its own as the "hanging" Judge Jeffreys was captured there and later executed after the overthrow of James II. We also pass the Captain Kidd pub, named after the pirate Captain Kidd who was executed nearby in 1701. Execution Dock gave pirates what was known as the Grace of Wapping when they were tied to a stake until the tide covered them three times.