Years ago, when I was a junior lawyer, working near St Paul’s this New Zealander joined us. He was bright, always positive and never shied away from any job. He came to my wedding in 1984, with his wife. They were grand company. Then his sojourn here ended and he returned to his homeland.
Social media didn’t exist and contact, such as it was ended. Then social media appeared and so did Peter. We facebooked, vaguely aware of each other. He followed this blog and probably wondered what had become of the serious, nervous young lawyer he once knew.
We met up in 2014 when I visited his home town of Christchurch, still reeling from the devastating earthquake of a few years before. He didn’t seem much different. Greyer, slightly less bouffant. I wonder what changes he saw in me?
And that recontacting continued this Sunday gone. He and his wife – same one – are over to see family. Me and my wife – same one – met him and Deb at Kings Cross station with the Vet in tow for a 9 miles of strolling first through St Pancras Old Church yard to pay homage to Mary Wollstonecraft and Sir John Soane buried there alongside Harry’s tree where Thomas Hardy, before he penned his first novel worked as an engineer to move gravestones to make way for the railway.
The tree fell down this year, but the grave stones remain as a poignant reminder
Then we followed the Regents Canal to Regents Park, crossed that park and wiggled through Marylebone to Hyde Park, then the Achilles memorial, Green Park, St James Park, Horse Guards, Parliament Square, Victoria Gardens, across the Thames and so ending at the COVID memorial wall below St Tommy’s hospital.
An old gasometer converted to a mirror park by the canalThe TV-AM studios that now house MTV – I like, if I don’t understand the acorns…Coming to Camden MarketA Banksy – the man gets everywhereIf you want to kayak the canal…Regent’s Park is scruffy but a proper parkAnd of course there’s a Chinese junk on the canal….If the park is scruffy, you can’t say the same of the John Nash houses that surround itSt Mary’s MaryleboneMarble Arch… all a bit sub French but we were being a bit touristy…And the Queen Mum gates at the other end of the park – Hyde Park, this timeNow, if you are going to have a pretentious address, how about No.1 London?Yep, The Duke of… the Scots stick a traffic cone on his hat; that’s one Scottish tradition I would adopt (they can keep the kilt and as for those aural excrescences the bagpipes… grrrrr)This and they next pics of sloping girders are the New Zealand war memorial. Our Kiwi guests were rather bemused.I’m not taking anything away from these brave souls but we have obsessed over a variety of war dead memorials. Maybe if we went to war a bit less?Out side Buck House. More touristy stuffThe Grand ol’ Duke of York and his monument. And St James Park, probably the twee-est of the London parksThe posh gates into Green Park; that’s the Vet looking pensive. It’s her first visit to the Mall since she collapsed 600 yards away from the end of the marathon last October, scaring the living daylights out of the family. Happily it wasn’t triggering… Emeline Pankhurst outside Parliament. She really should be in Parliament proper.Clive of India. I’m slightly surprised he hasn’t been defaced but thank heavens the numpties who just want to destroy rather than contextualise haven’t got here yet.Big Ben, unwrapped at last. Pretty bloody gorgeous and a pretty enormous cost…And finally this and the next, what has become to National Covid memorial along the whole wall under St Tommy’s. People write names inside the hearts. It’s simple and so very touching. And is opposite Parliament, hopefully reminding those responsible inside of the continuing responsibilities to try and avoid a similar catastrophe…
We sat for a few hours over some tapas chewing the fat and other morsels before promising to reprise this again.
Social media does get a good kicking, often with good reason but without it, this delightful day would not have happened. For that I’m grateful.
My name is Geoff Le Pard. Once I was a lawyer; now I am a writer. I've published several books: a four book series following Harry Spittle as he grows from hapless student to hapless partner in a London law firm; four others in different genres; a book of poetry; four anthologies of short fiction; and a memoir of my mother. I have several more in the pipeline.
I have been blogging regularly since 2014, on topic as diverse as: poetry based on famous poems; memories from my life; my garden; my dog; a whole variety of short fiction; my attempts at baking and food; travel and the consequent disasters; theatre, film and book reviews; and the occasional thought piece. Mostly it is whatever takes my fancy.
I avoid politics, mostly, and religion, always. I don't mean to upset anyone but if I do, well, sorry and I suggest you go elsewhere.
These are my thoughts and no one else is to blame. If you want to nab anything I post, please acknowledge where it came from.
So special exploring London with you as our guide Geoff, ably assisted by “the wife” and “the vet”. Great commentary, great company and great conversation. Best of all we renewed an old friendship. We look forward to the next hidden history tour.
TanGental 
How wonderful to meet up with old friends and do touristy things. We did just that recently. I love the Covid memorial wall.
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It is a delight to wander about catching up and reminiscing. And to be a tour guide too… just heavenly
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A delightful reunion
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Thanks for taking us with you on this reunion walk! I hope your friends were prepared to hike! It’s always nice to meet up with old friends!
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I warned them !!
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Good thing. I would have collapsed halfway!
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I did wonder if we might need to curtail things as there was a bit of arthritis to contend with but everyone was game rather than gamey.
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🙂 🙂 So you warned them to wear deodorant?
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Wonderful, apart from your terribly rude comment about The Pipes!
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Awful tuneless plumbing…
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Ah, you’ve obviously failed to tune your chanter reed correctly! The drones, of course, can be all individually tuned.
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Surely you knew they were egg cups, after all it was the studio for breakfast TV.
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I knew that… doh!
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A lovely walk. Thank you.
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A great day had by all …. fabulous and you picked a great day to meet up .
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Timing is everything
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Yes it certainly is 💜
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Hi Geoff, you certainly did a great tour of London. I am pleased that I have visited some of these parks/sites and have similar pictures.
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It’s an easy place to wander around.
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So special exploring London with you as our guide Geoff, ably assisted by “the wife” and “the vet”. Great commentary, great company and great conversation. Best of all we renewed an old friendship. We look forward to the next hidden history tour.
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Delighted. Looking forward to part 2
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Really wonderful, Geoff. What a great chance to hook up with old friends.
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It was lovely. Doesn’t happen often enough
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🙂
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