Trail of the Lion King

I had some university stuff to do in Chelmsford the first weekend in October and as it’s a shortish journey by train from London I thought it an ideal opportunity for Jen and I to spend a few days in the capital and do some touristy things.

We stayed in Camden, just around the corner from KOKO, the music venue that used to be known as Camden Palace. I’ve seen a few gigs there over the years, including Bruce Foxton almost forty years ago. Our apartment overlooked some wasteland, and a highlight was watching a fox napping in the early morning sunshine.

We got up to the usual stuff like drinking in Soho and some less usual stuff such as an absinthe lecture and tasting in Hackney. It was an educational way to pass an hour or so and I came away with a better knowledge of the drink than I’d started with. I doubt I’ll change my regular nip from whisky, but I quite liked the arse on of dissolving sugar into the absinthe by dripping liquid onto a spoon and then into the glass.

We also went on a mudlarking session close to the Millenium Bridge. It’s a popular area for poking about in the mud, so I’d no real expectations of discovering anything valuable on the riverbank. I found a few sheep teeth, some clay pipe stems, various small pieces of broken pottery and an Elizabethan two-shilling coin dating back to 2017.

Best part of the trip was a Dee C Lee gig at KOKO. She was touring her new album with fellow Style-Councillor Steve White on drums. They were joined by Mick Talbot for Paris Match meaning that only Mr. Weller was missing for a full reunion. I’d initially been hopeful that he’d turn up and sit in for a couple of songs as Mick did, particularly as his daughter Leah was providing the support, but he didn’t show. It was probably better that way as it was a good gig in its own right, and his presence would likely have overshadowed everything else.

Sports-wise, we didn’t get up to very much. There was the option of visiting Crayford and Romford dog tracks, but in the end, we settled for a football game at The Valley in the Women’s second-tier Championship.  We started our match-day journey early on the Sunday morning at Westminster Pier and took a boat trip along the Thames to Greenwich. It was all very interesting, and I picked up a few snippets from the commentary about the history of the buildings that we chugged past.

After arriving at Greenwich, we visited the Cutty Sark and then Greenwich Observatory. Both were busy and provided elevated views of London along the Thames and then from the top of the hill in Greenwich Park.

It was around an hour’s walk from Greenwich Observatory to The Valley, through estates that reminded me of my year living in Plumstead in the mid-eighties. We arrived with time to spare and as I’d bought hospitality tickets in advance for twenty-one quid a pop, we were able to head inside through the main entrance and take the stairs to the 1905 lounge.

We had some Coq au Vin with mash and watched Scottish football on the telly before making our way outside to the padded seats in the Director’s Box. There wasn’t much of a crowd with virtually as many in hospitality as in the rest of the main stand.

Expectations seemed to be for a home win as Charlton were sitting at the top of the league with a perfect four wins from their opening four matches.

Sunderland clearly hadn’t read the script though and quickly went two up, before Charlton pulled one back on the half-hour.  It looked as if the Mackems had clinched the points when they added a third goal twelve minutes from time. Charlton weren’t done though and scored twice in the final stages to level the score at three-each. I thought the result fair, although as you’d expect, the home players and fans were clearly happier with their late point than the visitors were with a point that I’m sure they would have taken had it been offered beforehand.

The return trip was a little quicker as we were able to catch a bus back to Greenwich Pier from close to the ground. With minimal waiting for the penultimate boat of the day we were soon back at Westminster Pier.