Stormy Weather

[Nick Armstrong]

Spiffing weather, buns dashing about in the garden. Downside is that grass needs cutting, some tidying up required. Still, it's SUNNY and that's all that matters :)

My ride to work through Hyde Park this morning was a treat - especially as someone else cuts the grass... ... warm sunshine, the perfume of all that freshly-mown grass everywhere, bright yellow daffs, white and pink blossom, cloudless blue sky... A cyclist's dream of bliss

[salymap]

Sounded lovely yesterday Caliban. Makes me want to see Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens and St James's Park again. London still has its attractive open spaces in spite of the traffic then?

Not so good today though, according to ther forecast.

[greenilex]

Morning all. Yes, there's nothing better than a spring day in a city centre on an offshore island somewhere near Europe...can't beat it.

Sal, maybe one of the rels could oblige with a lift to the Smoke?

[salymap]

Nice thought greenilex but I'm about the only one of my wider family who worked in London. They mostly seem to avoid it but I still have many happy memories of theatres, concerts, parks, meals out. I try not to say I worked mostly in the Soho area as it has overtones,but I did. Music and book publishers though

[greenilex]

Well, it will be extremely busy tomorrow. The world and his wife and family are making plans to express solidarity.

I shall be in Dorset at my friend's 70th birthday lunch...but we did march through our own city centre yesterday in glorious sunshine and near-perfect amity.

[Nick Armstrong]

Yes, there's nothing better than a spring day in a city centre on an offshore island somewhere near Europe...can't beat it.

AHHH I love the smell of irony in the morning

I think you're right though - not sure there is anywhere 'better' on a Spring day... many places as good in their different ways, but the parks in the centre of this particular offshore capital are spectacular, I sometimes can't believe I have the good fortune to have a journey to work that takes me pedalling through the middle of them, listening of course to Radio 3

[greenilex]

Hope you do your own irony - not guilty in this case. Dashing away with it.

[amateur51]

Nice thought greenilex but I'm about the only one of my wider family who worked in London. They mostly seem to avoid it but I still have many happy memories of theatres, concerts, parks, meals out. I try not to say I worked mostly in the Soho area as it has overtones,but I did. Music and book publishers though

I worked in Soho for many years salymap, and as blamelessly as you Cecil Court was my lunch-time treat too, and many's the LP I bought for a song in Orchesography. Sadly much of it has changed but I must push myself to go & have a look around sometime soon. They tell me it's full of posh ice cream shops now

Any particular shops/streets you recall fondly & want a report back on, salymap? Remember the EMG shop at one corner of Soho Square?

This warm weather makes my feet and sundry joints feel so much better

[salymap]

Morning Am51, I'll have a think about shops I remember. There was a record shop with an 'open front' in Newport Court where I spent a lot of money at lunch time. There was also Imhoff and severalsmall record shops I've forgotten.And the Chinese meals were great in Cranbourne Street and the Moussaka in a Greek place in Gt Marlborough Street. I'll try and think of some more. bws

[amateur51]

Morning Am51, I'll have a think about shops I remember. There was a record shop with an 'open front' in Newport Court where I spent a lot of money at lunch time. There was also Imhoff and severalsmall record shops I've forgotten.And the Chinese meals were great in Cranbourne Street and the Moussaka in a Greek place in Gt Marlborough Street. I'll try and think of some more. bws

I remember the Newport Court one, saly - I bought an LP of Beecham & Szigeti there. Wasn't Imhof's in New Oxford Street? I worked in Henry Stave's record shop opposite Schott's in Great Marlborough Street and in Liberty's.

Happy days

[vinteuil]

well, I'm just back from a few days in wild Wales (Machynlleth, Dolgellau, and points north) - and I have to report that the sun shone every day - cloudless skies - positively warm - trees in first flush - birds a-tweeting like billy-o - something wrong, surely...

[rubbernecker]

well, I'm just back from a few days in wild Wales (Machynlleth, Dolgellau, and points north) - and I have to report that the sun shone every day - cloudless skies - positively warm - trees in first flush - birds a-tweeting like billy-o - something wrong, surely...

Don't say that Vints, Mrs R and I are off there next week - Snowdonia, Bala, Llangollen, the Berwyns... Praying it holds...

[Anna]

Our local weather station, here in SE Wales, reports it was 19 degrees at 2pm today. That is not normal. I love Machynlleth, so much to see and do around there, the history re Owain Glyndŵr, is the Centre for Alt Tech still going strong?

[salymap]

I have happy memories of holidays in Wales, usually after enjoying the Three Choirs Festival,where ever it was that year.
We always took a coastal route, exploring the castles, wonderful scenery and [sometimes] the food. But I never saw Snowdon, it was always lost in mist when we got there.

[rubbernecker]

I think the one thing that has improved is the food, and certainly one of the places we're staying has, at long last, earned its michelin star.

All this talk of Soho record shops has me going bit misty in the eye department. Hours spent in the late 1970s rifling through the browsers at Henry Stave and Orchesographie. Now there's only Harold Moore's left, but it's very rare to see a bargain there. I was also working in a record shop out of town then, and then later at Foyles in those dark, chaotic days.

Much changed, now, Foyles. The music dept. is really very good indeed, very well-stocked and nicely laid-out. I have given up going to both the Oxford St HMVs. Utterly hopeless trying to find any stock items there at all. It's all owned by Citibank now who are desperate to offload it. O tempus...