It’s amazing what you come across when you happen to be in the right place at the right time! Apologies for the quality – they were taken from my phone …
Apparently they start in Clerkenwell Green (which explains all the noise we heard at the office this morning) and then wander across to Trafalgar Square.
I was only able to join them for a little bit of a walk to make my stand for to trade union rights, human rights, and international solidarity.
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We celebrated St Patricks Day by going to St Paul's Cathedral for a recording of extracts from the Messiah. It was for a Radio 2 programme, called “At the Foot of the Cross”, which is due for broadcast on Good Friday and is essentially a service of songs and readings.
We sat just at the front row of the aisle, just under the dome, so we were facing into the orchestra and the choir, and could see all the mosaics and the paintings of the dome, choir and into the transepts. The lights were dimmed which made it all the more spectacular; an immense, quiet meditative space.
Add to that the songs from the Messiah played by the BBC Concert Orchestra, with a number of choirs (including St Paul’s own) and some soloists, and it was a magical night. One of those events that really does lift you up spiritually.
So I nipped out for something to eat and a bit of a wander, and it turns out that they are filming the new Sherlock Holmes film outside the office in Clerkenwell. The fans (presumably of Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr) and the paparazzi were all gathering around a caravan presumably to catch a glimpse of the great ones.
It was quite impressive being in the midst of it all, but I was most impressed by their catering facilities. They seemed to have about 3 lorries dedicated to catering and food. About 25 % of the total number.
The church was invited by the local pub to have a Carol Service with them, so we all went to the John Baird pub and had a bit of a sing-song.
The landlord gave us the freedom to do whatever we thought appropriate so we had some songs, readings, and Will, one of our Vicars, gave a small talk.
It was an odd, but very interesting, night. I'm not sure the church has done anything like it before and it certainly was a "slight" variation on the nine lessons and carols format. But we met some very interesting people, took a little bit of Christmas out into the community and, on the whole, it seemed to go down with the regulars well.
I wasn't allowed to add any tinsel though. Apparently when I start to put tinsel on the tree I get a bit overexcited, so the wife tells me, and she has subsequently banned me from using tinsel not just on the tree but within a radius of 6ft from the tree.
That leaves me the kitchen and the bathroom ...
I am detecting that the anti-tinsel feeling is not just limited to my wife! There's a lot of negative attitude about which I don't understand. Surely all it's trying to do is make the tree look like it has a bit of snow!
Anyway, not going to get all "Scroogey" about it, the tree is up and the endless cycle of John Rutter CD's begins.
