Saturday in Southwark

Saturday we spent in the Southwark area, just south of the Thames. We went to a place that had been on my to-do list for a while, the quirky Old Operating Theatre Museum, one of those places which make one grateful to live in the 21st century! Built into the upper levels of a tower in a church that was once attached to the ancient St. Stephen’s Hospital, this museum holds the oldest surviving operating theatre in Europe, in use from the 1820s to 1860s. To get in, you must climb about 30 steps up a winding and very steep wooden staircase which takes you into the gift shop, about the size of a small bedroom, then more stairs up to the herb garret (where herbs used to be dried back when this room was part of St. Stephen’s) which houses a collection of medical instruments from the last few centuries. The real centrepiece, though, is of course the operating theatre itself. It is quite nightmarish to imagine what people endured in the era of before what we think of as modern medicine, that is, pre-anaesthetic and antiseptic. About 150 to 175 doctors-in-training would crowd into this little space (wearing their regular old street clothes, of course – no germ theory at this point in time!) to observe and learn from operations being carried out, from kidney stone removal to amputation (often required due to infections set in from open wounds). The original wooden (!) operating table is still in the room, complete with grisly saw marks from operations long past. It was a fascinating glimpse into another time, thankfully now behind us.

We emerged into the sunshine and made our way to the nearby Borough Market, another holdover from the 19th century full of stalls selling fresh spices, veggies, meat, fish and cheeses. It’s directly below a set of train tracks, so you can hear the trains rumbling overhead every few minutes. We spent the rest of the afternoon ambling along the south side of the Thames.

Cambridge canter

This past weekend we took a quick one-day trip to Cambridge. I visited here with my family when I was young, but like most kids I never looked at a map so I had no idea where anything was! My parents lived here for a year in the early 70s and their inspiration for my name comes from Clare College in Cambridge.

We left early from London and arrived just after 9, leaving a full day of sightseeing. Cambridge is of course best known for its colleges, and when we were there it seemed to be a convocation day with lots of young people wearing black robes wandering about with their families. Consequently we didn’t get in to most of the colleges as they weren’t open to visitors on that day. But we did get to see King’s College Chapel (the word chapel implying that it is small, which it definitely is not!) Building was started by Henry VI and finished by Henry VIII. It’s full of enormous and imposing symbols – greyhounds, dragons, castle gates and roses carved in stone abound. Next we visited the ‘Round Church’ built in 1130 when it was on the main Roman road into town. We then climbed to the top of Castle Mound which at one time housed various fortifications. We wandered back through town, enjoying the beautiful weather and watching the punters (amateur and professional... the professionals make it look easy but I am sure it is not!) on the River Cam. Our last stop was the Fitzwilliam Museum, a gorgeous building which holds a varied collection, from ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman artefacts to medieval and more modern art.

On our way back towards the train station we saw a statue dedicated to those from Cambridgeshire who lost their lives in World Wars I and II, which my mother tells me has an Ottawa Valley connection – the sculptor was R. Tait McKenzie who was from Lanark County, Ontario. There is a museum dedicated to him in his final home at the Mill of Kintail, just outside of Almonte which we used to visit when I was young.

Canada Day!

Just a quick blog post to say happy Canada Day! I went downtown to Trafalgar Square where they have a "Canada Day in London" event. There was a stage with live music, Mounties, poutine and even Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts! I wandered about outside in the gorgeous weather, taking in all the Canadian-ness then headed into the National Gallery for a few hours of cold air and beautiful paintings.