A visit to town

The trigger for this visit was a Monday lunchtime concert at the Wigmore Hall, a change from our usual Sunday morning. But a visit which was enlarged by a spot of shopping, the sort of shopping which is no longer possible in Epsom.

The concert was given by the Consone Quartet, who were to give us an arrangement of Clara Schumann's Op.22 and Schubert's D804, aka the Rosamunde quartet. A young quartet, to be found at reference 1which we have heard several times before and whom I had first heard back in 2020, as noticed at reference 2. On that occasion, there was visible evidence of the moniker 'period instrument string quartet' which there was not to be on the present occasion. At least, I did not notice anything of the sort, which is not quite the same thing.

On the day, there was some confusion between D804 and D797, the original score for the latter having been turned up by Arthur Sullivan, now best known for his work with W.S. Gilbert. While today there was confusion with a railway locomotive which was ranked higher by the Bing algorithm. See references 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Took in our confirmed cork oak, on Clay Hill Green, on the way to the station, to be contrasted with the one at Wisley, noticed at reference 7.

The buds were swelling, so perhaps we shall have some more leaves soon.

More confusion about trains times, and we wound up catching the train to Victoria rather than the one to Vauxhall, which we had intended - there being less underground walking at Vauxhall than at Victoria. The plan had been to take toast at All Bar One, but in the even their kitchen was closed until noon, so we crossed the road to the café there, where I have taken coffee and sandwich from time to time in the past. 

On this occasion, we shared a toastie; hot, red and messy. Eatable on an occasional basis, but certainly junk food. While just this morning, BH drew my attention to references 8 and 9. For those not inclined to process the 18 pages of reference 9, the handy graphical abstract is provided. More people attempting to reduce complicated stories to diagrams. In any event, I consider myself told.

Continuing the hunt for a new jacket, we tried the shop in Wimpole Street, previously noticed and still firmly shut - although it was stocked up, so presumably still alive. Next stop Margaret Howell in Wigmore Street, where they offered a small number of rather odd and very expensive jackets. One wondered how on earth she paid the rent: the market for such jackets - with just the sort of large floppy pockets which catch on things - can't be very big.

And so onto the hall, decorated with small sunflowers for the occasion. An excellent concert; clearly the the junk food had pepped me up rather than put me to sleep.

Out to a quick pint at the Cock & Lion, then onto the Lina Stores for lunch, where they also had problems with the kitchen, problems which were resolved while we were ordering some of the cold offerings which were still on offer. BH took the raw tuna which she thought rather good, although I was not tempted by the offered slice, preferring to stick to my focaccia.

Followed by a couple of their light-weight, but entirely satisfactory main courses. Yellow and meaty for him, green and veggie for her.

We caught a taxi to Walker Slater, already noticed at reference 10, driven by a lady of middle years who, inter alia, explained how proud she and her family were of her daughter, who had followed her boy friend to Derby, the first of the family to go to university. I remember that the daughter was still friendly with the boy friend, albeit no longer attached to him, but I forget what she did at Derby and I don't think we ever knew what she was doing for a living now.

Plenty of staff at Walker Slater, we were taken in hand by a pleasant young lady from the the People's Republic of China (not 'Peoples'' according to Bing) who had originally come here to study. She was very good at smiling nicely, telling me how well everything that I tried on suited me and was certainly a very good choice. And I did indeed make a choice.

Out for BH to pose in front of the Temple, one of my visits to which is noticed at reference 11. I think they decided since that the sword was not what they thought it was and is now no longer on display. While I have no memory at all of the Lindisfarne Gospels, perhaps the subject of one of the special exhibitions they put on at the British Library.

The Bullingdon stand which I have used from time to time on my way to the cheese shop, having pedalled across from Waterloo. The public house behind left used to be the Lowlander, a place I was first taken to by Cable & Wireless. On another occasion we sampled their very good moules frites. The barmaid explained that the Lowlander had gone down last year.

On to Neal's Yard Dairy, where I supplemented the usual Lincolnshire Poacher with a small piece of Gubbeen from somewhere near Cork, the people at reference 12,

Then there was the matter of bread, there being a medically induced hiatus in homemade wholemeal consumption. I had thought that the baker I was looking for - which made white tins loaves which toasted very well - despite being sour dough - was at the top of Endell Street, but eventually I ran it down to the top of Earlham Street. I now know the shop is Swedish and part of a small but swanky looking chain called Fabrique, founded by one Charlotta Zetterström, this despite the young lady who served me not being Swedish at all. No white tin loaves, but I was able to take half of something that looked very like the 'Le Rustic' I like from Olivier at Borough  Market.

From where we made our way to the tube for Waterloo. On which BH worked her usual magic and, once again, we got seats in the crowded tube. Maybe the fact that I carry a stick helped.

Then a surprise, with our train to Epsom not stopping at Earlsfield and one or two other places. It would have been easy to have been caught out - with nearly all trains stopping everywhere - but it did stop at Stoneleigh and Ewell West which, by then, I had not been expecting.

[on the table]

[on the plate, with Gubbeen]

Home for a reprise of the Schubert, played for me by the Melos Quartet. Having snapped the half loaf from Fabrique, which turned out to be chewy but good. BH thought that it was OK to eat the rind of the cheese.

PS 1: I have just received an email from the Theatre Royal in Haymarket telling me that I can have an evening with Dame Judi. Surely she had retired, I thought to myself. It turns out that this is not a theatrical performance, more an afternoon session for Dame Judi to promote her new book in conversation with Brendan O'Hea. Friend and possibly ghost-writer, I have not delved that deep. But for £100 or so there are still one or two decent seats left in the stalls. Which includes a free (hardback) copy of the book.

PS 2: a quick Bing, and I now know that this is by no means the first outing for this particular duet. See, for example, reference 14.

References

Reference 1: https://www.consonequartet.com/.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-near-thing.html.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/11/mainly-schubert.html.

Reference 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosamunde.

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_42.

Reference 6: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._13_(Schubert).

Reference 7: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/05/more-tulips.html.

Reference 8: Cook more at home to reduce ultra-processed food intake, say cardiologist groups: ‘Clinical consensus statement’ also urges heart doctors to advise patients to not eat late at night, and chew slowly - Denis Campbell, Guardian - 2026.

Reference 9: Ultra-processed foods, lifestyle management, and cardiovascular diseases: A clinical consensus statement of the European Society of Cardiology Council for Cardiology Practice and the European Association of Preventive Cardiology of the European Society of Cardiology - Luigina Guasti, Marialaura Bonaccio, Ana Abreu, Riccardo Asteggiano, Maira Bes-Rastrollo, Ruxandra Christodorescu, Giovanni de Gaetano, Marc Ferrini, Pedro Marques-Vidal, Atul Pathak and others - 2026. Open access.

Reference 10: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/04/fake-198.html.

Reference 11: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/2011/09/swords.html.

Reference 12: https://www.gubbeen.com/.

Reference 13: https://fabrique.co.uk/.

Reference 14: https://www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/judi-dench-brendan-ohea/.A place I once visited in the margins of an important meeting and I still have the book to prove it.