The Philanderer
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Flying the flag
'The best things in life are free' or so the saying goes. So I was delighted to hear that the London Evening Standard was to be given away from the beginning of this week.
I have always had a soft spot for the only surviving London evening paper. It used to be the source of cheap and comfortable flats when me and my chums were looking for student digs during the mid 70's. Each year we would take it in turns to be in Fleet Street at 9:30am when the first editions hit the street.it was then a mad dash to the nearest phone box to start ringing round and arranging viewings. We did pretty well, getting places in Northcote Road, Clapham, in Tooting not far from the Common and , of course, Devonshire Road in Balham, gateway to the South. Great days.
The London Paper, The Metro and the London Lite have all been given away at tube stations for many years, but they just never had the substance of the Evening Standard, nor its rival, The Evening News. The News perished in 1980 and but for a brief resurrection in 1987, the Standard has been the only local London 'pay to play' paper.
I have to confess I rarely purchased it, but now I am chasing the man at the tube up the street to get my free copy to read on the way home........
The Standard apart, London, and other cities are full of good free stuff, much of it advertised in afore mentioned rag. Most of the best museums are free, the stroll along the Thames thought the West End and the City is a delight, as are the buskers in the Covent Garden Piazza. The Festival Hall has Jazz every Friday night in its expansive foyer, as well as tea dances and other recitals, and the street markets all over London provide a wonderful photographic and cultural experience.
I have lived here 40 years and it will be hard to leave it all behind when I move away in a few weeks, but, hey, its only two hours away on the train, and with plenty of time to kill from next year I suspect the Capital has not seen the last of me, not by a long chalk....now I wonder where that expression came from?
I have always had a soft spot for the only surviving London evening paper. It used to be the source of cheap and comfortable flats when me and my chums were looking for student digs during the mid 70's. Each year we would take it in turns to be in Fleet Street at 9:30am when the first editions hit the street.it was then a mad dash to the nearest phone box to start ringing round and arranging viewings. We did pretty well, getting places in Northcote Road, Clapham, in Tooting not far from the Common and , of course, Devonshire Road in Balham, gateway to the South. Great days.
The London Paper, The Metro and the London Lite have all been given away at tube stations for many years, but they just never had the substance of the Evening Standard, nor its rival, The Evening News. The News perished in 1980 and but for a brief resurrection in 1987, the Standard has been the only local London 'pay to play' paper.
I have to confess I rarely purchased it, but now I am chasing the man at the tube up the street to get my free copy to read on the way home........
The Standard apart, London, and other cities are full of good free stuff, much of it advertised in afore mentioned rag. Most of the best museums are free, the stroll along the Thames thought the West End and the City is a delight, as are the buskers in the Covent Garden Piazza. The Festival Hall has Jazz every Friday night in its expansive foyer, as well as tea dances and other recitals, and the street markets all over London provide a wonderful photographic and cultural experience.
I have lived here 40 years and it will be hard to leave it all behind when I move away in a few weeks, but, hey, its only two hours away on the train, and with plenty of time to kill from next year I suspect the Capital has not seen the last of me, not by a long chalk....now I wonder where that expression came from?
Labels: covent garden, evening news, evening standard
¶ 4:21 PM 0 Comments
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Its good news week.....
Well, its started in that vein. Our eldest, Tim, proposed to his lovely girlfriend , Lili, while on holiday, and she said yes....good girl.....so on Monday night we went out to Joe Allen in Covent Garden for a bit of scram. Tim thought he was about 7 the last time he went, and in those twenty years, the style, decor , burgers and the boy on the 'joanna' have not changed that much. Lili is from Brazil, so she struggled to identify too many of the people in the flyers around the wall, but she liked the place a lot.
Also on Monday the youngest, Kieran, graduated from Liverpool University with a history degree . He is hoping to stay on to do a Masters, but it all hangs in the balance at the moment as he was awarded a 'Desmond' by the narrowest of margins. Tim and Maxine share the top billing in the house, with a 2.1 each, I remain the dunce of the class having just scrapped a few 'A' levels, in the days when they were considered a good qualification to have.
I broke my leg on a motor bike during the examinations, and sat my Maths papers in hospital, with a teacher by the bed invigilating. Consequently my grades were not good enough for Uni, so I ended up at City Poly in their Sir John Cass campus. After a year or so we came to an agreement that if I left they would not kick me out.
Still, the experience of living away from home, allowed me to improve my table tennis, basketball and rugby skills, as well as play footie for Balham Celtic on a Saturday afternoon. Parties were pretty plentiful, and being thrust into bedsits and student flats was a bit of an eye opener, so, social skills 1, Academia 0 I think.
I wonder what Nick Harrison and Rob Stokes are doing now?
I have taken the decision to change estate agents as I seem to have exhausted the network of my current incumbent, and the new people have viewings already set up for this afternoon, so that might even contribute to the good news.
An increase in the base rate tomorrow might not though.
Maxine will be in London on Fiiday to celebrate her birthday and when she's here its always good news. The week concludes with my oldest god- daughters 18th birthday bash in Guildford.
Also on Monday the youngest, Kieran, graduated from Liverpool University with a history degree . He is hoping to stay on to do a Masters, but it all hangs in the balance at the moment as he was awarded a 'Desmond' by the narrowest of margins. Tim and Maxine share the top billing in the house, with a 2.1 each, I remain the dunce of the class having just scrapped a few 'A' levels, in the days when they were considered a good qualification to have.
I broke my leg on a motor bike during the examinations, and sat my Maths papers in hospital, with a teacher by the bed invigilating. Consequently my grades were not good enough for Uni, so I ended up at City Poly in their Sir John Cass campus. After a year or so we came to an agreement that if I left they would not kick me out.
Still, the experience of living away from home, allowed me to improve my table tennis, basketball and rugby skills, as well as play footie for Balham Celtic on a Saturday afternoon. Parties were pretty plentiful, and being thrust into bedsits and student flats was a bit of an eye opener, so, social skills 1, Academia 0 I think.
I wonder what Nick Harrison and Rob Stokes are doing now?
I have taken the decision to change estate agents as I seem to have exhausted the network of my current incumbent, and the new people have viewings already set up for this afternoon, so that might even contribute to the good news.
An increase in the base rate tomorrow might not though.
Maxine will be in London on Fiiday to celebrate her birthday and when she's here its always good news. The week concludes with my oldest god- daughters 18th birthday bash in Guildford.
Labels: balham, balham celtic, covent garden, Desmond tutu, joanna, Joe Allen, Sir John Cass
¶ 11:05 AM 0 Comments
