Memories

The main photo is of the former Port of London Authority building near Tower Hill tube station. The foundation stone was laid in 1915. It is now a Four Seasons Hotel. I'm not a fan of historic heritage buildings being repurposed as hotels and losing the memories of all those who worked there when the London docks were still thriving. I met my eldest daughter, Paula,  at Tower Hill. We went for a bite to eat in the nearby Hung, Drawn and Quartered pub and then walked to Wilton's Music Hall (see extra), built in 1859 and one of the few surviving music halls in London. My grandfather used to tell me about going to the Music Hall as a young man - it was the place for affordable glitzy entertainment pre cinema - and it is quite possible I was following in his footsteps as he was brought up  in Hackney. Tonight's show was Red Sky at Sunrise - a celebration of Laurie Lee in (his) Words and Music. The actors were Anton Lessor and Charlie Hamblett and the music, by English pastoral and Spanish composers, was played by the Orchestra of The Swan. The Swan  is the theatre at Stratford upon Avon, part of the Royal Shakespeare Company,  where the show was developed. I love the works of Laurie Lee - his childhood in the village of Slad recalled in Cider with Rosie, and his coming of age in Spain chronicled in As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment of War. He served in the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War which linked me back to my recent visit to Madrid and the Reina Sofia museum with Picasso's Guernica on display along with posters and photos from the Civil War.  It was a great show tonight that evoked memories both recent and past for me.