I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: every time I go on a familiar walk I see something new. Friday should have been an exception as I was with two friends and the chat level was dangerously high, as is the case when W is around.
When we got to Mortlake it was high water and the towpath was flooded. A short inland diversion took us past a plaque commemorating the site of the Mortlake Tapestry Works. W, of course, is familiar with Mortlake’s place in the continuum of the history of tapestry making but I, of course, only associate Mortlake with the now defunct brewery. The brewery started in the 15th century to cater for monks but by the 20th century had a broader customer base brewing Watney Red Barrel – remember that? Now it is being converted into riparian flats. Having now, see Thames Talk, walked between the Thames Barrier and Kingston upon Thames I can attest to the amount of residential property development along the Thames – and for every owner that gets a delectable view of the river another has a bleak look at the hinterland; those flats are “affordable housing”.
I wonder if it might be a good idea to have a tidal clock at home to manage my expectations for these walks? W told me this information is available on the internet (and he’s right) but I still like the idea of having a tidal clock in the hall. In one of the halls at Barmeath there was a barometer which my grandfather querulously tapped and I think a tidal clock will likewise fill a chink in my life. One of his expressions was: “the weather’s improving – for the worse”.
What we needed yesterday wasn’t a tidal clock but a sponsored walk clock. At Kew the towpath becomes quiet and rural and a chap can have a pee in the bushes but yesterday we found the City of London School were doing a sponsored walk (for AMREF Health Africa) downstream, so I can say that I have seen every pupil in that large school.
Making tapestries in Mortlake goes back to the reign of James I. Nobody had the necessary skills so Flemish weavers were enticed over to England and they instructed boys in City of London orphanages. It reminds me of when I was a trustee of a charity that taught young boys and girls in Kabul to knot carpets.