Just Hanging Around Barnet.
Nothing much going on today. We planned to go to an art exhibition at the Tate, but Hilary was having problems with her phone, and we pretty much spent all morning figuring that out, and by the time we had it was really a little too late to go traipsing around London.
So, in the later afternoon I took a walk, first visiting the Barrington Hotel, about 10 minutes from Hilary’s, where Tom and I will be staying once he arrives, and checked things out. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, although I booked a room with a king size bed (for 6′ 7″ Tom) plus a second single bed for me, they, in fact, do not have such a room, even though that was listed on the booking site (which is why I booked it), but that’s fine. I’ll either camp out on the floor as long as I can get something padded to sleep on and sheets and a pillow, or Tom will stay and I’ll sleep at Hilary and Claudio’s. I must say – I’m not surprised at what amounts to misleading information on the booking site. Luckily, with Hilary so close, we have an alternative, especially as we’ll be staying at that hotel for several days.
I walked north into Barnet and then Hadley Green and on to Monken Hadley Common, which is a lovely and historic medieval area, less than two miles from Hilary. Monken Hadley is actually the formal/full name for the area.
Hadley Green is the historic site of the Battle of Barnet, fought on Easter Sunday, 1471, and one of the most important battles of the Wars of the Roses, It’s less than a mile from where High Barnet underground station is today. Who’d thunk it? The battle was part of the struggle for the English throne between the House of York (White Roses), led by Edward IV, and the House of Lancaster (Red Roses), whose army was led by Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, on behalf of Henry VI. Between 12,000–15,000 men fought on each side, and thousands died in several hours of fighting. The Yorkists won, by the way.
Hadley is recorded as far back as the year 1005, and awarded status as a parish around 1175. The village of Monken Hadley is so named because it was a parish village that belonged to monks, and in 1777 a large area of common land (Monken Hadley Common) was given to the village for the use of the parishioners and used to graze cattle until the 1950s. Some history, huh?
It’s a lovely area, like much of the land around here in North London, and I enjoyed my walk of about 4 miles, winding up back at Hilary’s around 6 pm.
Hilary and I visited Janis (Winehouse) a little later, who lives just a couple of miles from here, and stayed a while before heading back home. Janis seems to be doing as well as possible, living with multiple sclerosis. In addition to MS, which has robbed her of so much, Janis has experienced some very difficult life experiences, including the loss of Amy, of course, and the later loss of her second husband Richard, following her divorce from Mitchell, as well as now seemingly largely estranged from Alex, her remaining child, and Alex’s son, now aged 12. It’s not at all clear why that is, but it’s certainly not a good reflection on Alex, and especially given Janis’ significant disability. Sad, but Janis seems to be doing well, and certainly describes herself in those terms, as a survivor who gets on with it, rather than a victim of life. Life!!
Back home to Hilary’s, some TV, this blog, and then bed. Tomorrow is Hilary’s birthday.