Who Is Lorna? Where Is She?

For those of you are new to this particular series, The Streets of London, are some 1,000 + colour slides of London which must contain the Street Name, and were all taken on walks through our capital.

Today I scanned another dozen, from May 2004.

Strand WC2 5.04

This statue of Queen Victoria stands outside the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, WC2.

Milford Lane WC2 5.04

Milford Lane, WC2 runs from the other side of that road down towards the Embankment. On a Friday, in the Edinburgh Restaurant on this corner, you can fortify yourself with Pie and Mash after having secured a mortgage.

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Popular in the capital since the 19th century, genuine eel, pie, and mash shops are now in short supply. Wikipedia describes the delicacy thus:

 ‘a minced beef and cold water pastry pie served with mashed potato. There should be two types of pastry used, the bottom or base should be suet pastry and the top short. It is common for the mashed potato to be spread around one side of the plate and for a type of parsley sauce to be present. This is commonly called eel liquor sauce or simply liquor(although it is non-alcoholic), traditionally made using the water kept from the preparation of the stewed eels. However, many shops no longer use stewed eel water in their parsley liquor. The sauce traditionally has a green colour, from the parsley. Sometimes a gravy is served instead (normally Oxo or Bisto).’

Trafalgar Square WC2

One of the many attractions in the famous Trafalgar Square W1, here seen at its junction with Pall Mall East, are pavement artists. Here one engages the attention of spectators and photographers alike.

South Street W1 5.04

Thomas Goode is an upmarket tableware shop in Mayfair’s South Street W1. in my view one of its finest treasures is the terra cotta panels decorating its facade.

Jackie has enlarged these panels and revealed that the one on the right is labelled ‘the potter’, and its companion depicts the pot being painted.

Green Street W1 5.04

More terra cotta tiling adorns the front of this building in Green Street W1, where a woman enjoys a snack, perhaps purchased from within. The foreground vehicle obscures her table.

Oxford Street W1 5.04

A common sight in the West End is a blanketed beggar with his dog. This one sits in a side street off Oxford Street W1.

Delamere Terrace W2 5.04

Continuing on to W2 we come to the elegant Delamere Terrace, alongside the canal of Little Venice. The narrow boats are sited on residential moorings. My counselling room stood on the opposite side of the water.

Chichester Road W2 5.04

Chichester Road W2 is a turning off Delamere Terrace. This block of flats displays the uses to which people put their balconies, and a collection of TV satellite dishes. You can’t even park outside your own home without feeding a meter.

Lord Hills Road W2 5.04

Further west along the canal lies Lord Hills Road W2. This bridge is one of the replacements that are gradually being constructed, replacing steps with winding approaches for wheelchair users.

Basing Street W11 5.04

Basing Street W11 takes us away from the City of Westminster to the neighbouring Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. There was posted a message from someone desperately seeking Lorna. Now there’s a story.

St. Luke's Mews W11 5.04

Someone has decorated the walls of St Luke’s Mews W11 with a rather compelling mural.

Whilst drafting this post I watched Andy Murray’s thrilling Davis Cup tennis match with Kei Nishikori.

This Mother’s Day evening we dined with Becky and Ian at The Beach House in Milford on Sea. Given that this was a surprise and we weren’t feeling 100% I had to be a bit devious to explain why it was necessary to make ourselves presentable and go out. In the event we had a very enjoyable evening. My starter was fish cakes in a chili sauce; my main course a seafood platter; and my dessert Eton mess. I shared a bottle of montepulciano with Becky, whilst Jackie and Ian both drank Peroni.

 

 

61 comments

    1. Thanks, Jill. I thought of your previous similar comment when deciding to do this one. It was good evening, and Jackie was so delighted with the surprise.

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  5. The homeless man with the dog reminded me of a trip to Melbourne where we walked the same route very day and after a while I realised I was seeing the same dog with different begging people. My enquiries revealed that the dog wasn’t particularly well cared for and was passed around a certain group to elicit the sympathy of the unwary, thus ensuring a goodly income. I was initially sucked in too, so it worked. Now whenever I see such a picture I am skeptical, which is a shame.

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      1. I saw that kind of thing in Italy when I was there in the early 90’s. Like you I felt deep concern about the children involved. I was told about the beggars who kept a locker somewhere and who put their suits on at the end of their work day and returned to their suburban homes. I found it so hard to believe at the time, but now, sadly, I am a bit more cynical.

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        1. I saw a very elegant young lady in the tube to Kings Cross once. She was reading something intelligent. She slipped through the barriers in the wake of someone with a ticket. Later that day she was her normal dirty, scruffy, dishevelled self, begging.

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  6. Weirdly I have done a post on walking along the Strand tha starts with the self same statue a and one on a pie shop tour I did with my daughter and son’s girlfriend that took in liquor as well as an assessment of the best pie shop (conclusion from memory: Pieminister in Holloway)

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    2. I’m intrigued to spot that the street everyone calls “The Strand” is nameplated plain “Strand”, in situ. There’s a thoroughfare of the same name in Southampton with precisely the same split personality.

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      1. Well, for starters, it worked so it must have been a good one! Did you say you’d heard that eton mess was a sure fire cure for the virus and that the best place was where you went? 🙂

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      2. I too was mystified how the ever-alert HG managed to miss the deviation from routine without suspecting!

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      1. Pete Townshend, of The Who fame, has/had a [?music-]publishing business called Eel Pie. Now I’ve seen an explanation for the curious name.

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      1. Cynthia, I mean. Derrick hides lots of lights [poetry, who knows?] under lots of bushels

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      2. Hello Paul….That could, of course be a printer’s font of a calligrapher’s design; it is rather mechanical, now that I look at it again…oh, and I am out of the closet; I commit poetry right out in the open, these days…thank you for thinking so!

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  16. Dear Mr Knight,
    I found your wonderful blog whilst searching for Stanton Road SW20.
    This is a long shot, but do you recall a Denny family living at No 53 in the Fifties?
    Many thanks,
    Best regards,
    Neil
    Dr Neil Gibbs

    Reply

  17. Dear Mr Knight,
    I found your wonderful blog whilst searching for Stanton Road SW20.
    This is a long shot, but do you recall a Denny family living at No 53 in the Fifties?
    Many thanks,
    Best regards,
    Neil
    Dr Neil Gibbs

    Reply

  19. Your title is obviously a parody of my song, “Who is Sylvia, what is she?” 🙂 Thanks for the interesting walk. It always makes me sad to see a beggar with a dog. Two mouths to feed on very little money.

    Reply

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