St Matthew Street, a little winding street close to where I work, once known as Duck Lane. In the 19th century, this whole area was one of the most notorious rookeries (slum areas) in London - known as the Devil's Acre:
"It is in these narrow streets, and in these close and unsalubrious lanes, courts and alleys, where squalid misery and poverty struggles with filth and wretchedness, where vice reigns unchecked and in the atmosphere of which diseases are generated and diffused."
The slums were cleared with the whole redevelopment that came with the building of Victoria Street. Now the only vaguely insalubrious element bothering the civil servants on their lunch breaks are the down-and-outs frequenting the shelter here. And there was a spate of street robberies by kids on bikes a little while back. (Edit, otherwise this could give a misleading impression! This guy isn't one of the street robbers!)
A lovely warm day today as I made my way to South Kensington to meet Dave and then on to the Royal Albert Hall for our first prom of the season - Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra conducting Beethoven's 5th and 6th and a bit of Boulez. Glorious music, even though we sweltered in the circle, from this fab orchestra made up of youngsters from across the middle east - both Arab and Israeli.
Notable torchbearers today included Doreen Lawrence and Patrick 'Make it so' Stewart - as well as a stint through Walford which has apparently given its postcode to the Olympic park area. Think I read that at the time, but had forgotten.
@boxplayer I think Wednedays BBC2 - but thinking series might have ended last week - well worth catching up on tho on that new fangled thingy called iplayer...
Intersting bit of history! The concert sounds divine, lucky you, hope you enjoyed it! The last time I was in the Albert Hall about 5 years ago it was the hottest day of the year!! phew!
@ruthmouch - Hi Ruth - I was following you with my previous account (Isla Wight) which I had to close down - has taken me a while to re-find all my old followees!
How long did you wait for your cyclist Isla? He makes a super picture come alive!! Sometimes these old areas of London are most interesting. Sounds a lovely musical evening & well worth a bit of a sweat!
