UK

The Olde Dickens Shoppe

Dickens, Literature, London, TV & Film, UK

This is going to be long — LOL. On the upside, there will be several miniseries and film recommendations, and lots of photos!

Being a bit layed-up recently, I’ve been watching some film & mini-series adaptations of the lesser known Dickens novels.

There are a few adaptations of the big titles that I can watch over and over again with absolutely no problem — seriously stunning, with incredible performances. If you’d like to get into some Dickens, check out one of these.

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The Bleak House principal cast

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I highly recommend the brilliant 1999 David Copperfield with Maggie Smith and Daniel Radcliffe (and a boatload of British film faces). Also remarkable — the 2005 Bleak House with Gillian Anderson & Charles Dance (it’s my favorite). The third of my top three, (however by no means at the bottom), is the 2011 Gillian Anderson Great Expectations. All absolutely top-drawer. The Helena Bonham Carter/Ralph Finnes Great Expectations is quite well done too. I’ve seen all of these several times, and will see them again.

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Gillian Anderson & Oscar Kennedy in Great Expectations

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I didn’t care for the 2023 FX/Hulu version of GEx with Olivia Colman, much as I love her work. The 2012 The Mystery of Edwin Drood is at the bottom of my list. I don’t think I made it through one episode. (They made it very romance-y, dwelled on Rosa, and didn’t quite capture the atmosphere.

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Hard Times, 1977

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I binged a 1977 version of Hard Times over the last day, and quite liked it! Didn’t strike me as corny/silly and 70s at all. I also enjoyed — I don’t even know what to call it — The four-episode 2001 Dickens “spinoff,” Micawber. A rare Dickens comedy, not corny, and well done. The characters are intact, but the plot for each episode is original. There’s a 1995 Martin Chuzzlewit that I liked enough to finish, but wouldn’t watch it again. On the silly side of things, there’s a goofy comedy called The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, a sort of Dickens-inspired sitcom mash-up. It’s okay, just not my thing.

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Bill Sykes, Compeyson, Miss Havisham, Inspector Bucket, Fagin, The Artful Dodger, and Mr. Bumble in Dickensian

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All in all, I liked the miniseries, Dickensian. It’s very clever, and it’s certainly beautiful. They’ve stuck a ton of Dickens characters into the same few blocks of London, woven their lives all together, and explored how they became who they are in the novels. Brilliantly written. Of course, once you’ve seen it, there’s no reason to watch it again.

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The principal characters of the 1998 Our Mutual Friend

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Today, I’m starting a 1998 BAFTA Award-winning version of Our Mutual Friend, with Timothy Spall (a favorite) in the cast. We’ll see how it goes.

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Joel Grey & Patrick Stewart in A Christmas Carol

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To answer the question which must be answered — my favorite version of A Christmas Carol is the 1999 version with Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge. It keeps a lot of what most of the other versions toss out, the language is more poetic and true to the original, and their version of Scrooge’s London is stunning; in addition to the terrific performances.

London January 2025 #6

Fiascos, Health, London, Mobility, Personal, Travel, UK

It was Westminster Abbey day!

Hooo … am I tired! Tomorrow I’m off to the airport hotel, which sounds dreary, but it will be very nice. It’s supposed to be a quite decent hotel, and it’s attached directly to the airport. This way, I’m already there for my flight the next day, no rushing, no public transportation issues, another spa day.

A foggy, wet day; but no actual rain. Just a light wetting-you mist. Well, ya know. Fog.

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“A foggy day in London Town
Had me low and had me down
I viewed the morning with alarm
The British Museum had lost its charm.”

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A bit of a rant today concerning the visit. It’s an entertaining and surprising rant, but if you’d like to skip it, just scroll down to the photos.

Lots of walking and standing today, and I’d have to say unfortunately, Westminster Abbey does disabilities very poorly. I went 15 minutes before opening, and after I’d walked around the large yard to get to the main entrance line. The employee out front sort of talked in circles when I asked whether there was a disabled entrance. I was tired of asking about it (and I was already there), so I waited in the line with the normals. They opened at 9:30 on the mark, but all the folks that worked there already seemed very much “on guard.”

When I didn’t want a free tour headset, the person-wearing-a-robe kept going on and on about it. After two or three go-rounds, her last sentence to me was, “But why don’t you have an audio guide?” Um, hello? I guess they don’t like people to refuse headsets. Maybe we try to talk to them too much otherwise. That impression was further confirmed as the day progressed.

Of all of the places I’ve visited in the past week, The Abbey staff has been the least friendly/helpful by far. And I’m not even very needy or demanding. The Docklands Museum and Southwark Cathedral absolutely both destroy Westminster Abbey in this respect. (I should mention, I had a very nice conversation about Jenny Lind with the lovely young headset-collector woman in Poets’ Corner.)

Later, after saying the same thing three or four times to different docents before they “got” what I was talking about, I realized they’re programmed to parrot this and that, and prefer not to be bothered; that I couldn’t possibly have anything useful or interesting to mention. In one instance, I mentioned a fact about some burials in the Stuart aisle of the Lady Chapel. She disagreed. I told her she should really read her very own Dean Stanley’s book … he documented all the royal burials in the mid-1800s.

At one point, I really needed to sit down (or fall down) for a while. I explained to a verger/docent/person. She told me I had to walk all the way around to get the 24 inches forward to where she was standing next to the chairs, rather than just picking up the rope hook for literally two or three seconds.

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I mean, c’mon.

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I was briefly in the vicinity of one absolutely hysterical docent — every time you took a step towards him, he either exaggeratedly turned his head the other way or walked to another corner. (For real. I tried it a few times to make sure. LOL)

This kind of crap filters down through the layers, and of course, as they’ll often remind you, this is first and foremost, a place of worship. As a career churchy myself, to say I was less-than-impressed is a gross understatement. And I’m looking at you, Dean Hoyle.

That’s plenty of complaining for today! Let’s look at some awesome pictures! I took dozens and dozens, so we’ll just do the highlights here.

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Henry VII’s stunning Lady Chapel

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I guess I can now say that I was once in the quire at Westminster Abbey

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Chaucer’s tomb. Interestingly, he was not interred here as a great poet, but due to his job as an upper-level government functionary.

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QEI — The lady, the myth, the legend. (She’s not in the box. She’s stacked in the crypt underneath below the floor, with her sister Queen Mary. Elizabeth is on top. Poetic justice.

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Edward the Confessor

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An aisle in the Cloister

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Remarkably preserved medieval paintings!

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I’m a bit of a scholar on the subject, I’ve done my own research, I’ve read Dean Stanley’s book(s) at least two or three times, and I’ve been to the Abbey in person several times, this being my last.

Yes, sure, I felt a little unwelcome. Big deal. However, combined with feeling physically uncomfortable without any way of helping myself, I don’t need to return. There was an Evensong later in the day I’d considered, but I hopped on the boat for an afternoon cruise instead.

One of the crew came over to me (a few of them know me by now) to mention that a more comfortable window seat had just opened up on the starboard side, and I realized that I felt very much more welcome on the Uber Boat than inside Westminster Abbey.

Eh. Can’t win ’em all.

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Hey! There’s my dude!

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London January 2025 #5

London, Mobility, Theatre, Travel, UK

It’s Spa Day … ahhhh.

It was a big walking day yesterday, and I was out from around 10 to 4. That’s a very big day for me, and an even bigger day for my nervy feet.

Ergo, I turned my alarm off, decided I could sleep as late as I liked, and decided the single event of the day would be eating at The Anchor, which is directly downstairs.

Maybe I’ll sit by the river a bit.

The Tate Modern (a notable contemporary art museum) is less than a five minute walk; but unsurprisingly, I couldn’t be less interested. It’s interesting that it’s built in a former power plant, but for me, it ends there.

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(That chunk in the front is the new part.)

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I stayed in bed until 11 AM, and then ran myself a hot bath in the big bathtub. Wonderful!

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The Anchor is an Elizabethan Era tavern and inn. Lotso famous people did lotso famous things there. It’s the sole survivor of the riverside inns that existed in Shakespeare’s day, when this area was the heart of theatreland. It was frequented by Shakespeare, Hemings, Burbage, surely almost all the actors from the Globe, the Swan and the Rose, and probably my 14th great grandfather.

All three theaters were literally within shouting distance of the tavern. It’s where Samuel Pepys (one of the greatest diarists of his own or any other era) observed the Great Fire of London in 1666. He took a quick boat ride across the river to “a little alehouse on bankside … and there watched the fire grow.”

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Artist Lieve Verschier, via The Museum of Budapest

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After the area faded from popularity as the theatrical center, it became very handy for smugglers and pirates. During the 19th century, a large beam fell and was replaced, revealing hidden rooms, fairly obviously created as hiding places for stolen goods.

I’m now back after an early dinner at The Anchor and a run by the café to grab an afternoon latte. Dinner was fine.

Don’t get me wrong, it was beautifully prepared and very nicely done, but I really wanted shepherds or cottage pie, and they didn’t have that. Which struck me as a bit weird for a major tourist pub. I had a steak and ale pie with mash. It was excellently prepared, but I wasn’t crazy about it. I ate half of it, and brought the rest back to the room. Might eat it, might not. I stole a fork on purpose. I put it in my takeout container. I’ll give it back tomorrow. That’s what they get for not having shepherds pie.

My leg and feet feel pretty good for this time of day. Awesome, since tomorrow will be a big walking day — I’ve already got entry tickets to Westminster Abbey and the additional exhibition with the centuries-old funeral effigies of the monarchs.

If anyone finds themself planning a London visit, I very much recommend this hotel if you’re into moderates. (Few amenities, rooms only cleaned if you ask, that sort of thing.) The staff is especially lovely — they got me ice. That’s a big deal. Trying to find ice in a London hotel is like trying to find a Yorkshire pudding in an American one. They took me back into the little restaurant kitchen, and sent me off with three glasses of big ice cubes from the freezer. Yay, ice!

Amusing Misadventure — I didn’t wear a headband today since it was warmer, and two people yesterday and one the day before said to me, “I have a wig/hat just like that.” This irritated me extremely. I’ve washed my hair vigorously twice, and it’s still pretty bright, so I haven’t purpled it yet. Maybe I won’t have to.

Anchor No-Headband Selfie! It’s my own hair!

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London January 2025 #4

London, Mobility, Travel, UK

Today was Docklands Day!

I took a favorite boat ride, and visited a museum that I’ve wanted to see for quite a while — the Museum of London Docklands. Afterwards, I rode the boat a bit further and stopped off at Westminster for a little while. Thought I might be able to get a few decent photos.

Strangely enough, Uber (as in, the car service) runs the river taxis. They used to be called the Thames Clippers. Because most of the sights are within shouting distance of The Thames, I pretty much take these things all over the place up and down the river, rather than using the tube or buses. They’re very comfortable.

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It’s about a 30 minute ride to Canary Wharf, the boat docking twice to pick up and drop off people along the way. Much more pleasant than a city bus, nicely heated, a snack bar, and the view is certainly nice. (Plus, I don’t have to climb and/or descend a teeny-tiny steep staircase on a bumpy, moving city bus.)

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Canary Wharf/Docklands is only about 30 years old, all told. The entire area was originally warehouses, docks, and maritime businesses back in the age when London was the largest port in the world. Now, a brand new city sits where those docks and warehouses were. It’s all like, HSBC, Barclays, Santander, Rupert Murdoch’s stuff, blah blah. It strikes me as a very new, spotless version of Midtown Manhattan, minus the congestion and pee smell.

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O, look! Banks!

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Funny pollarded trees. Hi, trees.

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The museo was about a ten minute walk from the wharf, so that wasn’t too bad. The museum was especially prepared for people with mobility challenges.

Generous elevators, little chairs that convert to canes you can carry around, great signage, very helpful docents … really very well done. I noticed more than one group made up of carers and folks with serious mobility issues. But then, London does disabled access very well.

It’s mostly dioramas and period recreations, with exhibits of artifacts alongside each area. The aim is for us to see and feel what it was like in the docklands back in their docklandical heyday. They do a great job, so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

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I could totally live in that cottage in the center photo. In fact, if I squint a little, I do. It looks exactly like our house, lathe and all. (I’m not kidding.) I wonder whose fault that is!

I sat down on benches and chairs aplenty, but it was still a big walking day. After a sausage roll and a can of (Original) Coke, I was ready to get back to the boat — bye, bye Docklands!

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Tired Phill.

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I was feeling a bit better after sitting on the comfortable boat for a while. Exactly what I needed, especially after the walk back to the pier. My leg nerve thing was actually not bothering me. That shows up as an overtired sort of thing. Today was more of a tingly, numb feet thing. That’s what happens when I’ve been walking and standing a great deal.

After the 30 minute ride back, I decided to stay on the boat another few stops and then turn back around to Bankside. It seemed like a good time of day for some photos of Westminster. I’m visiting Westminster Cathedral later in the week, but I’ll be right in the middle of where it’s rammed with people. I got a few nice shots today (although that big, stupid wheel shows up behind everything).

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After hopping the other-way boat back home to Bankside, I went a few blocks over to the drugstore to get some purple hair color. (Two or three aggressive washes takes the brightness out quite a bit, so I decided to have a much needed, happy, aggressive wash tonight; and purple it up tomorrow morning.) Swung by to see the friendly folks at the Red Bus Shop to grab some evening provisions, and then I got my favorite burger and fries to take-out. My tingly feet told me that they wanted to eat in the hotel room, rather than landing me on my face and imprinting souvenir cobblestones on my forehead.

Whew! That had to have been a good few miles today. However, I’m back in by 5 o’clock and looking forward to a hot bath, some British television, and a great deal of rest.

See you tomorrow!

London January 2025 #1

London, Mobility, Travel, UK

I’m here, and settled in my comfortable hotel room.

I arrived yesterday late morning. Me being me, I dozed most of the day and then didn’t get up until 11 this morning.

I’m still not feeling much like doing-a-thing, so mostly all I’ve done is have a hamburger at a favorite place around the corner. Posts this week are going to be mostly pictures. Very likely of overly-specific things that I’ll briefly explain.

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Seven hours on a plane.

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Buckingham Palace from a cab …
seen it, done it, don’t need to do it again.

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The neighborhood, from the hotel window.

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Looking across The Thames down by the hotel entrance, about noon today. (That’s St. Paul’s Cathedral.)

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More neighborhood … I’m a few feet around the corner from the building with all the red trim. I’m sitting on the wall with my back to the river taking the photo.

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Inside Wagamama … everything here is built inside old Victorian train arches and warehouses. This was very much an industrial/railroad neighborhood.

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More tomorrow! Have a great day!