A somewhat misleading title but does lead nicely into one of my work visits this week, which saw me heading to north London for a visit to the Emirates Stadium. It’s not often a single meeting puts me within a hop and skip of the 10,000 daily steps target but this one did, with a whistle-stop tour taking in the changing rooms, the press conference room, the post-match interview bit (which looks a lot more glam on the telly, I can tell you – in reality it’s a corner under a concrete stairwell), the stands and various corporate spaces, as well as the pitch and the Hub.
The Hub was what I was there to see, really: having spent 17 out of my 21 years in museums knocking about Tower Hamlets, I’m now being let loose on Islington as we’re embedding ourselves in the borough while we develop the new Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration at the old New River Head site. Islington isn’t somewhere I know very well, other than sneaky visits to drool over yarn I can’t afford at Loop and hanging out at the Crafts Council occasionally. Islington, in my head, is a literary thing: Douglas Adams and Nick Hornby, Charles and Carrie Pooter in middle-class Victorian Holloway. As it turns out, it is quite literary, but also full of actual people as well. Who knew! So I am on a bit of a mission to talk to a lot of them in the hope that we can work together.
As well as the Hub, I found myself at the Museum of the Order of St John this week, where I was enveloped in an enormous hug by lovely Maggie, an ex-colleague from Museum of Childhood. Coming as a nice surprise to someone instead of a terrible shock is a good thing! If you haven’t been to this little gem of a museum, it’s worth a visit: full of interesting medieval things and housed in a fascinating building, and they have a lovely family programme. Time it right and on the same day you could do The Charterhouse and wander through to St Bartholomew the Great, tucked away behind slabs of modern brick and concrete, and the Postman’s Park.
Other things tucked away behind modern slabs in the area include Bleeding Heart Yard, where Amanda and I finally managed to go for our belated 50th birthday dinner – we’ve rearranged it twice when work got in the way, but it was worth the wait. We ate at the Bistro, sitting outside on their shaded terrace which was quiet on an early Tuesday evening. We chose the set menu: I had gravadlax of salmon, followed by wild Brixham seabass fillet and crème brulée, while Amanda had roasted beetroot, Chicken Paillard and chocolate delice. We shared fine green beans and pommes frites…and a side of fresh, warm madeleines which were wonderful. The friendly waiter didn’t even bat an eyelid when we asked for a side with our desserts, bless him. The Aperol Spritzes were perfect, too, and we laid off the wine as migraines are no fun at all, and that’s currently the result of even a small glass at the moment. Why prosecco doesn’t have the same effect is anyone’s guess, but I won’t complain.
Other things making me happy this week:
- A conversation with illustrator/author and fellow South Walian Isabel Benavides who launches her first picture book in August and who is coming to do a family workshop for me at Finsbury Library
- A 90-page conservation plan for the site which was full of fascinating information.
- An early morning walk with Thing 3
- Far too much crochet and my new Banks jumpsuit covered in otters. I sewed it on my Aunty Jo’s old Singer Samba sewing machine, freshly serviced and a dream to use.
Things making me sad this week:
The death of Sinead O’Connor, who I loved as a teenager. The Lion and the Cobra is a hugely powerful album. Hopefully, whatever the cause of death turns out to be, she’s found some peace now.
Same time next week!
Kirsty x
Cover image: “The Laurels”, “a nice six-roomed residence, not counting basement” – Drawing of “The Laurels”, the fictional home of the Pooter family. First published in The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith. London, J.W. Arrowsmith 1892.
What I’ve been reading:
Heir of Uncertain Magic – Charlie N. Holmbury. Also started The Will and the Wilds but it was bloody awful so I stopped. Life is too short to read books you’re not enjoying.
Museum of Magic – Beth Revis
Odds and Gods – Tom Holt
Broken Homes/Foxglove Summer/The Furthest Station/The Hanging Tree – Ben Aaronovitch (Audible)
The White Hare – Jane Johnson
What Kirsty did next 