Yesterday I walked a short stretch (4 miles) of the Thames Path for the first time. I took the tube to Canary Wharf and felt as if I’d landed in a N American city.
The EU Withdrawal Bill is proving a contentious piece of legislation. The Peers are flexing their pecs, making amendments to give the Commons a greater say on the outcome of the negotiations with the EU. The Bill shuttles between the two Chambers in a process known as Parliamentary ping-pong.
There are a few things that can only be done at restricted times. One is visiting the Mansion House. I had hoped to advise you to turn up on any Tuesday afternoon for an hour long tour but these jaunts have now been cancelled until further notice.
On Friday evening I was invited to dine at the Mansion House as a guest of the Master of the Worshipful Company of Loriners. I had previously only been to one livery company dinner (farriers) and had never dined at the Mansion House before so it was a big night out for me.
A good game is to name structures called after their architects. Let me get you started in Paris with Charles Garnier’s opera house and Gustave Eiffel’s tower and in Vicenza, the Basilica Palladiana by Andrea Palladio.
At Flores, in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay, And a pinnace, like a flutter’d bird, came flying from far away; “Spanish ships of war at sea! we have sighted fifty-three!”
Kings, queens, wars and treaties swirl through Lord Norwich’s history of France. I had not realised that French King Louis VIII invaded England in 1216.
Red-veined sorrel (Rumex sanguineus) is easy to grow, decorative and edible. Like spinach it’s rich in potassium which lowers blood pressure and I expect it to become very fashionable in gardens great and small.