In Cambridge this afternoon, ticking off a bunch of errands (including birthday presents for a certain about-to-turn-seventeen-year-old), I stopped off to pay some cheques in at the bank. The central branch of Lloyds is housed in a magnificent Victorian Gothic structure, with the name of the previous bank owners still carved over the door (Foster's Bank. It was founded by Richard and Ebenezer Foster - I'm not sure I could have made up a better name for a Victorian Banker than Ebeneezer Foster if I tried! (they were both Mayors of Cambridge and they ran mills too - how Dickensian can you get?)
These rather intimidating animals are carved over the door. The dragon eating another dragon always strikes me as a little grim (perhaps a warning as to what happens if you default on your mortgage). I wonder whether the squirrel is to symbolise the benefits of saving for a rainy day. I'm not sure what the other animal is, possibly a monkey very naughtily breaking into its piggy bank to fund some cheap thrills, thus illustrating the opposite of old Thrifty-Squirrel.
When the boys were small and were being dragged round Cambridge on boring shopping expeditions I used to keep them amused by looking for all the animals we could spot on the buildings, gates, signs, weather vanes, and shops - it's surprising how many there are, and even though the boys now just make a bee-line for Game and TopMan without a second glance at the abundance of beasties, I cannot help looking out for them. Every now and then I spot a new one and have to resist the urge to flag down a passer-by to share my joy!
The fun doesn't stop when you get inside the bank, by the way - the original Victorian interior is also spectacular in a totally over-the top (in my opinion) fashion. The lofty domed ceiling is supported by a surfeit of fluted pillars, every surface decorated in gleaming lavishly patterned tiles of olive
green, cream and beige. Apparently the style is Romanesque. Picture if you will a bizarre mutation between William Morris wallpaper, a 1970s kitchen and a Turkish baths, you might just start to get close.
I did a quick google search on this building and came across the website of this fantastic local photographer - his gallery of "Tiny Planet" pictures - including one of this bank - is really amazing.
http://www.cambridge360.com/gallery_99818.html#photos_id=3373709
Three Good Things
1. A chat with the bank teller revealed we had a friend in common, albeit someone I haven't seen since she came to our wedding 23 years ago!
2. Spring sunshine - everyone in Cambridge was wearing skimpy jackets and smiling.
3. About to make a birthday cake for Ed. He told me this morning that no, he didn't remember the awesome Noah's Ark birthday cake I so lovingly crafted for his 6th birthday. He'd better remember this one!
