More Art, High and Low

Today’s march was unique since it did not involve one session on the tube at all (with the exception of using a tube access to cross a busy intersection.) Our goal today was to view the work of Banksy, a rather famous graffiti artist whose works are, by their very nature, quite ephemeral. There are several locations just a few blocks from our flat where the mysterious artist has left his mark, including several large works in the courtyard of a nightclub called the Cargo.

Looking for the traces of this fellow is a bit like doing urban geocaching, without a compass, and since he is somewhat of an outlaw his works are sometimes “buffed” away no sooner than they are put up. After our foray into modern urban art we came to a place where Jayne will likely want to go in the afterlife: a giant flea market. The Spitalfields Market was like a yard sale with no end, and Jayne’s paradise included lots of knickknacks that she and I both lusted after.

In her case, a lovely stamped metal hand letter clasp, and in my case yet another high quality black felt hat. We both managed to resist temptation, but of course now have non buyer’s remorse. Our next objective was the London Museum, which was a confusing hike even with the aid of a city map. Aside from taking the aforementioned underground passage to cross the busy street, we stayed topside, yet due to the mediaeval layout of this ancient city may normal impeccable navigational skills failed me. We stumbled upon an ancient burial field which included the graves of William Blake and Daniel DeFoe. After reciting a few lines of “Tyger, tyger, burning in the night,” I was gazing upon some other ancient graves when I was accosted with a squirrel

of amazingly menacing presence. He scared the shit out of me, and I was relieved when Jayne came to snap a picture of his menacing presence. After that we wandered aimlessly in the direction of the museum, but I was never sure where we were even with the help of the map. Fortunately at the last moment we were accosted by none other than Alan H. Willcocks,

a friendly pensioner who lived at the Barbicon Terrace housing project near the London Museum. Alan led us through a labyrinth of passageways, which included part of the original Roman walls of the ancient city of Londinium, to bring us safetly through to the museum. He was a charming old fellow and we really enjoyed our private tour through his housing development. The museum was
amazing, with exhibits that traced the history of London through prehistoric times all the way through the present day. I particularly enjoyed the Roman period, when the city was first established as a fortified trade center. The nineteenth century area was of interest as well, and we even saw the Lord Mayor’s gilded carriage close up, the same one we saw last week when the contemporary executive was “sworn in” during the course of a giant parade. After that, we made our way home for a dinner prepared in our own flat.