Sunday, July 09, 2017

On a piercingly hot day...

...a beautiful and cool boat-trip along the Thames, with members of the Ladies Ordinariate Group and other friends, to visit Bl. John Henry Newman's house at Ham, just beyond Richmond.  The house has for many years been used as part of Grey Court School, and indeed has given its name to the school. From the outside, it is just as the young John Henry would have known it  - except that it now bears a blue plaque honouring him! - and we looked at it and wondered which window belonged to the nursery where he slept...in his writing, he recalled lying in bed and watching the candle being lit in the window, the celebrate the victory of the Battle of Trafalgar...

We'd enjoyed a talkative pub lunch at Richmond and after the walk along the riverside path to Ham in searing sunshine, it was grand to find another pub that was glad to serve us tea...

Then the bus into Richmond and the train back to London...where I went on by Tube  to Baker Street and thence to St James, Spanish Place where I met a group of lively youngsters for yet another History Walk.  This is a group organised by Fr Hugh Mackenzie and we walked through Marylebone to Tyburn, discussing the history it all - the hidden Tyburn River, the origin of Marylebone's name,  and more...


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