Bells

This week Mark has jetted off to Donegal to recharge his batteries - I managed to get some late cancellation tickets for a tour of the last working bell foundry in the UK. We saw this on one of our recent east end runs, located on Whitechapel Road, where is has been since 1570, see http://www.whitechapelbellfoundry.co.uk/ .

We found ourselves with 20 or so older men and women who turn out to be avid bell ringers - suddenly we realise we are hopelessly ignorant about the wierd and wonderful world of bell casting.



So what did we learn ?

1 All bells are female but are often given male names.
2 The cope is the outside mould and the core is the inner mould.
3 Bell metal is made up of 23% tin and 77% copper.



4 Talculm powder is used to stop the inner mould sticking to the molten bell metal.
5 The cope and core are made up of a mixture of sand, clay, goats hair and horse manure.
6 Tuning the bell is an incomprehensible process.



7 Big Ben was cast here as was the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

A fascinating trip, however we were not tempted to join the rest of the tour for some handbell ringing at the local church.

Back to running next week I think ...

The men who knew too much (about Alfred Hitchcock's films)

This week, being Young and Innocent, we ran North by Northwest from Spitalfields, through Haggerston, followed the Regent's Canal westwards and were Spellbound by Hoxton and Shoreditch.

The canal is an ideal place to hide a Secret Agent or to Catch a Thief and is Notorious for good photo opportunities ...



He's always been in a bit critical ... but at least he's happy that he's not the Wrong Man or a local Psycho...

We then found ourselves for the first time in Shoreditch Park, being buzzed by the local Birds and got a bit over-excited and in a Frenzy about a huge granite boulder - did you know that granite is made of quartz (white), Mica (black) and a Suspicion of Topaz (pink) - I didn't, I Confess, so it was lucky that I was running with a granite expert ( and not a Stranger on a Train),



Shoreditch Park and Mabley Green, which is further north, are now permanent homes to two massive pieces of solid granite, each weighing up to 100 tonnes and measuring over four metres high - almost impossible for a Saboteur to Sabotage.

They are, without A Shadow of a Doubt, impressive. Boulder 1 (above) and Boulder 2 together form Boulder, an ambitious public space sculpture project by John Frankland.

Frankland intends that people should engage with the boulders in a direct and physical way through rock climbing, or "bouldering". We'll be taking our climbing kit and Rope next week and will probably be suffering from Vertigo ...

See http://www.peeruk.org/projects/frankland/john-frankland.html for great pictures of the 39 Steps it took to quarry and install these boulders and see the video opposite if you are as excited as we are about big rocks ...



Even more exciting is that the new building in the background is on the site of the old Gainsborough Studios, where one of my favourite films, the very funny "Oh, Mr Porter !", starring Will Hay, was made. In it, a Lady Vanishes down an old railway tunnel but is finally found when they find a Torn Curtain blocking the entrance to the tunnel.

More importantly, this is where Alfred Hitchcock started his career in 1920, designing titles for silent movies - as someone who has watched all 50 of his films and is halfway through his many made-for-TV programmes - my Family think I've lost the Plot - this is clearly hallowed ground and will need to be revisited ...



Our Foreign Correspondent chooses his top 6 Hitchcock films -

Rear Window
The Trouble with Harry
The Man who knew too much (1956 version)
North by Northwest
Vertigo
Dial M for Murder.

Wapping running tales.

This week we started running from the new Smiths of Smithfield restaurant in Spittalfields, call The Luxe. We ran east along the river to Wapping High Street - this is a real treat for London history enthusiasts. One of our favourite parts is Wapping Pierhead -the buildings date from 1800. Customs officers responsible for examining and taxing goods imported via Wapping had their headquarters here. The cobbled street adds to the feeling of antiquity of the group of old houses around the central garden.



Further down the high street is the Town of Ramsgate pub which claims to be the oldest on the river. In the 1750's, there were more than 140 ale-houses in Wapping High Street and all with a doubtful reputation.
The bar is long and very narrow, because the pub was squeezed in between the path to Wapping Old Steps and the building on its other side. Ship's passengers arrive and departed via these steps.
One of the most notorious was Judge Jeffreys, who was called "the hanging judge" because of his cruelty in sentencing the followers of the Duke of Monmouth in his attempted rebellion of 1685. He planned to escape retribution by fleeing the country. While waiting for his ship to depart from Wapping Old Steps, he went to drink in the Town of Ramsgate.
Although disguised as a sailor ( ooh hello, I'm Sandy and this is my friend Julian), he was recognised by a man who had once come up before him in court. The latter said that he would never forget a face as evil as that of Judge Jeffreys. The judge was arrested, held in the Tower and later executed.



Just across the way is St John's school, which was founded in 1695. On the front of the building are statues of two of the pupils in their traditional uniforms.



Talking of uniforms, Mark has been working hard on colour co-ordinating his choice of running kit - reminds me of an old London rhyme...



Oranges and Lemons

"Oranges and lemons" say the Bells of St. Clement's
"You owe me five farthings" say the Bells of St. Martin's
"When will you pay me?" say the Bells of Old Bailey
"When I grow rich" say the Bells of Shoreditch
"When will that be?" say the Bells of Stepney
"I do not know" say the Great Bells of Bow
"Here comes a Candle to light you to Bed
Here comes a Chopper to Chop off your Head
Chip chop chip chop - the Last Man's Dead."

Royal Park tour.

This week we ran for two hours through the central london parks ie Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, St James's Park and Green Park. Inevitably, there were many distractions:



We marvelled at the ultra bling style of the Albert Memorial,



Risked life and limb to get this picture of a coloured drain cover in the middle of the Hyde Park Corner gyratory system ,



Spent a very emotional 5 minutes with Len from New Zealand, recounting his current trip to find the grave of his Great Uncle who fought in the First World War - this memorial is for all of the New Zealand soldiers who fought for Britain in the two world wars,



Wondered what this sign could be about - beware headless shadow boxers ?



Turned away persistent admirers who seemed determined to present us with garlands of flowers,



And sat down at the end for a rest and to enjoy the Indian Summer (the term possible originates from raids on European colonies in America by Indian war parties; these raids usually ended in autumn, hence the extension to summer-like weather in the fall as an Indian summer.)

Time for a long lay down ...

Running with your mouth closed

This week we have upped the ante with a few short midweek runs, together but apart . We call each other at a designated time and then head off out into the pouring rain - if we didn't make this arrangement we would never go .



At the weekend, we had to do this as well due to various other commitments. As I didn't have my normal chatty running buddy with me, I started to daydream. This time it was about the dangers of swallowing flies whilst on the run - something that has happened occasionally over the years, with rather disturbing results. I tend to double up, retch horribly and scare the shit out of passing dog walkers.



So I try to run through the woods with my mouth closed or more often with my toungue sticking out to deflect attacking insects - all of which also makes me look a bit demented and certainly untrustworthy.

My daydreaming soon took me to a darker place - excerpts from the film 'The Fly' flash before my eyes or, even worse, long forgotten memories re-emerge of Val Doonican singing "I once knew a woman who swallowed a fly ....



Time for the old jumpers and cardigans to make a comeback ?

Up and running again - concrete and pykrete

We finally got it together and ran this weekend - this time on Saturday. We were surprised how busy it was compared to a Sunday morning but part of this was due to the Mayor's riverside festival on the Southbank. It is also clearly a big tourist tour time - we are always amused as to what some of them wear ...



Do you think some one should tell this stage assistant that Marilyn Monroe passed on some time ago - also interesting that her name is totally mispelt but it takes several glances to notice this.
At the end of the run we crept into the Smithfield poultry market to gaze at the amazing roof ...



Horace Jones' original Poultry Market was destroyed by fire in 1958. The replacement building was designed by Sir Thomas Bennett in 1962–1963. The main hall is covered by an enormous concrete dome, shaped as an elliptical paraboloid, spanning 225 feet by 125 feet and only 3 inches thick at the centre. The dome is believed to be the largest concrete shell structure ever built in Europe by that time.

More research on getting home revealed that during World War II, a large underground cold store at Smithfield was the theatre of secret experiments led by Max Perutz on pykrete, a mixture of ice and woodpulp, alleged to be tougher than steel. Perutz's work, inspired by Geoffrey Pyke and part of Project Habakkuk, was meant to test the viability of pykrete as a material to construct floating airstrips in the Atlantic to allow refuelling of cargo planes in support of Lord Louis Mountbatten's operations. The experiments were carried out by Perutz and his colleagues in a refrigerated meat locker in a Smithfield Market butcher's basement, behind a protective screen of frozen animal carcasses. These experiments became obsolete with the development of longer range aircraft and the project was soon abandoned.



Looks like they finally found a use for pykrete ...

P.S. New Smiths of Smithfield restaurant in Spitalfields now open - called The Luxe probably because they couldn't call it Spit of Spitalfields...

Driving on the right.

Mark managed to get into a fight with an Irish fencing post and a road this week - he won on points - but unfortunately no Sunday run.



Talking of roads, I was taken with the story about the Samoans deciding to switch the side of the road they drive on from the right to the left. They only drive on the right because of a short period of German rule at the start of the last century .

Apparently, in the pre-industrial era horses kept to the left so that riders could draw their sword. Napoleon changed Europe to the right - all because someone called him short - watch out for what Sarkozy does next.



The Samoans have wangled themselves a special two day bank holiday ( but with a 3 day ban on alcohol sales) to help them into the new regime. There were also reports of some people attempting to drive on the left before the official changeover- a Samoan spokesman was heard to say "though I don't know if they were doing it by accident or because they are crazy".




It reminded me of working in Holland with some Dutch colleagues - all of their jokes were based on the myth that all Belgiums are not that bright. One of their favourites was about the Belgium plan to switch from driving on the right to the left - but to make it easier on the population the first week, it would be lorries only....