Lost London.
Hi,
.
Still cold, white and frozen here with a forecast for more of the same.
Proper Christmas weather.
It beats sitting down to a hot, festive meal with all the trimmings while the sunshine is blasting down, which has happened quite often in the past few years.
.
The only real problem here is the British attitude to suitable winter clothing.
It always seems to be that our idea of dressing for severe winter weather is to add a hat, scarf, and gloves to what we normally wear all year round, and then complain vociferously about how cold it bloody is!
.
I am no different either.
I am now saying (once again) that I must find a really warm winter coat because I am freezing cold.
I bet I don’t (as usual).
.
Big H keeps saying that he wishes he had a huge, thick, long warm sweater to keep him snug.
In that case I shall try to find him a lovely one for Christmas.
.
Something that could be machine washed and dried would be ideal, because I have had problems with shrinkage, stretching or felting etc with such expensive jumpers in the past.
Perhaps some modern, mountain climbing, arctic type gear in a modern material instead of wool.
That sounds like a plan!
.
Before I forget, there is a very interesting book about London that would make a lovely present for someone who has everything else.
It is Lost London 1870-1945:English Heritage written by Philip Davies and published by Atlantic Press.
It contains early black and white photographs, a great deal of which show evocative scenes of the people and buildings that were subject to the clearances for development.
Certain areas were notorious slums, some of them only a few yards away from parliament,
One three square mile area of the East End was even known as the City Of Dreadful Night, slums so closely packed that little light pervaded it.
.
There are fascinating photographs of characters such as the cat’s meat man.
These were street traders who sold unwanted pieces of meat and offal to the poor and hungry slum families.
.
One early photo is of a coaching inn called the Oxford Arms near St Paul’s Cathedral.
This was destroyed in 1878 and the outrage caused by that was the beginning of the push to preserve the wonderful historic buildings of the City of London.
A wonderful book of the past.
.
So, I shall have to leave you now and get on with my various tasks which need to be carried out in order to get everything in place for the Christmas festivities.
I expect that you are similarly occupied!
.
Jaksie.
.
