On one of my many travels around London, I visited James Smith & Sons, a beautiful old-fashioned shop in New Oxford Street – a stone’s throw from Tottenham Court Road tube station.
James Smith & Sons, New Oxford Street
I needed a new walking stick. One I could love.
James Smith & Sons, New Oxford Street
I tried a few and was beginning to think I would never find “my stick”, when I was handed an elegant derby handled town stick made with a stained birch handle mounted on a lacquered maple wood stick and finished with a gilt spacer. Perfect – this was mine and it felt just right.
And so to The British Museum to see the famous Bayeux Tapestry that is in London on loan. My sister and I went early as we knew if we went anywhere else we would be exhausted before we’d got there.
The British Museum, London
I said I wanted to see the treasure from Sutton Hoo and we went up to the first floor to wander through the rooms.
The British Museum, London
I’ve been to The British Museum many times over the years but I can’t remember finding my mother’s favourite piece – The Dunstable Swan (a late-medieval gold and white-and-black enamel brooch). Of course it was the first thing my sister found and suddenly the room felt very spooky, like Mum was there too! Most odd. There was definitely a vibe.
The Dunstable Swan, The British Museum, London
More wandering and I went to look for a bust of Marcus Aurelius who is a hero of mine.
Marcus Aurelius, The British Museum
I could spend many days just pottering and looking.
But soon it was our turn to go and see the Bayeux Tapestry. Luckily all the queueing problems had mostly been resolved. There was a slight problem with the audio description being out of sync with the tapestry itself so the description rarely matched what we were looking at and I found that frustrating. But overall, the tapesty was beautifully presented and we enjoyed the whole experience very much.
