Yesterday we walked west along the Thames from the Walbrook to the Fleet and a bit beyond. In the computer simulations of my imagination (superior even to the excellent displays in the Museum of London – I loved those huts and the bonfire materialising in the empty landscape) London’s past shimmered behind the towerblocks along the riverbanks.
As an opener that deserves to go into Pseuds’ Corner in Private Eye.
In plainer English, what fun we had standing on the foreshore of the river, attuning to the spirit of Tamesis and best of all making significant archaeological finds – my Roman shard, fragments of 18th Century porcelain, sections of clay pipe and discarded Victorian oyster shell are on my altar as I write. Walking against the wind was like swimming through a different kind of water; the sun dazzled; a peregrine falcon perched nonchalantly on a ledge on the high tower of Tate Modern. Did we see it (or another ?) later, slicing through the air under the rail bridge at Charing Cross ?
Thanks, Hilde – and everyone who was there – and lets hope that the prayers consigned to the Thames in a rain of flowers and a little black velvet bag of crystal jewels come true.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. It was so much fun! Thanks Liz, Daniel, Lorraine, Cilla, Kirsten and Jim for coming along. Here are the links:
River Thames, geography, history, and more.
Museum of London, London Before London display.
Temple of Mithras, including links to Mithras and Mithraism.
Thames tributaries in London.
London Stone.
Tate Peregrines.
Offerings, Time Team excavation at Vauxhall.
Comment by hilde — 6/9/2006 @ 3:48 pm