I could barely afford to travel to London this week, given the time of the month, the fact its January and the ridiculous fares during the week. However, having checked all possible discounts I settled on a trip the 'long way round' via Salisbury to Waterloo.
Hopped off at Clapham Junction in fact, and headed directly south to Wimbledon and then Haydon's Road for Lambeth Cemetary. Quickly found the entries I wanted in the Burial Registers, but had less success with Cremation records. Richard and Janet Kent's grave now appears to be unmarked, which closes off another potential lead - and considering Richard's standing in the local community during his lifetime, is rather sad.
Back onto the train to Farringdon and then to the London Metropolitan Archives to peruse the records of London & Middlesex Archaeological Society. Spent most of the rest of the day scouring minute books and membership lists for mentions of William Kent, with some success.
Wandered by the tiny church of St. Anne and St. Agnes, and only found out later in John Fleck's blog that today was in fact St. Agnes' day.
I'm often accused of imagining a London without people (and therefore without a purpose) so I took the opportunity today to plunge myself into the evening rush hour. I'm not much for crowds usually, but it was strangely exciting to be part of the exodus from the City towards the stations. Walbrook once again sent a tide down to Dowgate. In honour of T S Eliot I crossed London Bridge in a vast crowd (all be it in the opposite direction to that in the verse). Squished into a Networker for the short skip to Waterloo East (subject of a recent thread on uk.railway which is sort of my fault too!).
A long, tiring and enjoyable day. Like always, I've come away with more things to investigate than I arrived with this morning.
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
