Japanese collection at the British Museum

I have worked near to the British Museum at times for a total of some years yet it has never managed to pull me in to its clutches in any meaningful way.

Most of the times that I have been there have been to use it as an attractive route when walking north/south in that area.

These walks take me through the central courtyard that always gives pause to the journey and compels an upward glance or two at the geometric beauty of the new roof that crafts a gorgeous room below.

I wanted to pay a serious visit to the museum as I have been visiting several museums and galleries recently and the final spur was an informal guided tour arranged by the Arts Link Meetup Group.

One of things that kept me away from the British Museum was the daunting task of where to start and what to see. Going with an arranged tour solved that.

Twenty or so of us headed up to the fourth floor and the Japanese collection which is spread over three rooms.

Welcoming you in to the first room is a life-size standing Buddha.

Luckily there is also a large diagram and notice that give a summary of Japanese history that I knew little about apart from the Samurai stories and the invasions of China that I heard so much about when in China.

The defining feature of Japanese history is that they have deliberately kept the rest of the world at arms length and so their culture developed almost completely independently, the ingress of Buddhism and the excursions in to China being two notable exceptions.

Japan is also the place where the earthenware pot was first invented.

A year or so ago that would have been a complete surprise for me, I would have guessed the Middle East, but the secret was let out in the landmark Radio 4 series A History of the World in 100 Objects.

The oldest pots are 7,000 years old.

Most of the pottery on display is functional rather than decorative with a notable exception being a pair of white elephants. These were enhanced by our guide explaining that white elephants were considered sacred and so were not worked, hence the phrase a white elephant meaning something that has no worth.

There were decorative arts on display in the form of drawings and prints.

The summoning of a skeletal ghost may not have been typical of the drawings on display but it was the most eye-catching. Actually it was the second most eye-catching but while I lived the Astro Boy poster I felt it more appropriate to feature something a little older.

The three rooms are a little Spartan and lacking in the expected samurai relics, there is only one suit and that is an amalgam of several suits from different ages and styles, and the display verges on disappointment. It was rescued from this by our guide and somehow the scant relics kept us entertained for forty minutes or so.

An unexpected treat was to be found in the floor below.

Manga at the British Museum, drawings by Hoshino Yukinobu is a display of some of the original drawings from the manga series Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure.

The story includes famous exhibits from the museum, such as the Rosetta Stone, and I am hoping that the book may give me suggestions for other parts of the museum to visit on future occasions.

All I need to do know is to persuade somebody to buy me the book.

The slight detour over I rejoined the rest of the group that had moved on from the museum and taken up residence in the upstairs room at The Plough.

I am still not completely convinced by the British Museum and it may take another guided tour to get me there, however, this visit did all that I hoped that it would and it has made it more likely that I'll return.

Making connections

September has thrown itself at my diary with vigour and determination claiming almost every evening for some important social, learning or political event.

One of the things to sneak in to my diary almost unnoticed was a social organised by The London Czech and Slovak Language Meetup Group. Clearly I fail to qualify for this group on the grounds that I do not speak the language but my Czech/Slovak connections are string enough for me to bluff my way in.

The meeting place was The Falcon just off Clapham Junction so getting there and home again could hardly be easier. And I like easy!

The highlight this month was meeting Mira who comes from Brno (where I spent three days during this year's Summer holiday) and used to work for Nokia Siemens Networks (who I did a couple of years of programme management for). It is because of unexpected connections like this that I like going to these events.

Chces pivo?

I've been using the meetup website to try news things and meet new people so it's no surprise that I've used it to meet up with some Czech and Slovaks, or rather some people who like to talk in Czech and Slovak.

An added attraction was that the venue for their monthly drinks night is The Falcon next to Clapham Junction. Not only is this on the way home but, because of its convenient location, I've been there a few times before and liked the place.

The Falcon has, apparently, the longest continuous bar in England and it curves its way through a mix of areas that in olden days would have been public bars, lounge bars, a snug and a jug and bottle. There is space for every mood and everybody.

But what I like most about the place is the beer. It has the best selection is real ales that I can recall outside of a beer festival. Choosing one was very hard but in the end I went for the RCH Pitchfork and the Purity Pure Ubu. Both proved to be good choice but I do wish I had time to try some of the others too. Maybe next time.

And there is likely to be a next time as the meetup went well. There was one person that I knew there, which helped a little with the ice-breaking but the other half dozen or so people that I got to speak to were all new to me. As with the BCSA socials, there is no agenda, no plan and no rules; just a group of people with at least one common interest being in the same place at the same time. And it works.

As with most low-key socials, we spoke about nothing in particular and nothing of great import, though I do remember a discussion on family planning in West Africa.

All too soon the two hours that I allowed myself passed and it time to take the steps up to the station and the train home. But I think that I will be back there for more of the same next month.

Brompton Cemetery

I had only been to Brompton Cemetery once before, and that was as a short-cut from Earl's Court to Stamford Bridge around ten years ago, so it was long overdue a revisit. The excuse this time was the Arts Link Meetup Group who arranged a day of sketching, photography and general exploration.

Felling brave, I chose to cycle there and that worked pretty well with a large part of the journey being through Richmond Park and the few main roads that I had to use were quieter than usual thanks to it being a Bank Holiday weekend.

We met, around twenty of us, in a cafe where I refuelled with a late breakfast or early lunch of pitta bread with a pumpkin and chilli dip. It did the trick neatly.

Apparently lots of famous people have been laid to rest in Brompton Cemetery but I'm not that interested in history or biographies. My reason for being there was the masonry.

A lot of this is the typical angels and it was impossible to get Dr Who out of my mind. I'm sure I blinked once or twice but I got away with it. This time.

The cemetery is tightly packed, reflecting the London around it, and has a nicely cluttered and unkempt feel to it. It helps that it is a Royal Park.

The long straight walk north to south through the centre of cemetery uncovers an eclectic mix of crosses, headstones, family mausoleums and statues ranging from a small bird to a preposterous lion. Walking slowly and carefully lets some of the subtle detail get noticed through the sea of grey stone swimming on a tide of long sharp grass and it's this detail that makes Brompton Cemetery so attractive.

From Putney to Waterloo

My second outing In Real Life with the members of the on-line Kingston and Richmond Social Group was another physical one as we walked from Putney Bridge along the Thames to Waterloo in the centre of London.

For no logical reason I assumed that we would be walking along the south side, a walk I have done several times but always in the other direction, and I was looking forward to seeing familiar sights from different angles. So I was surprised when we set off along the north bank in to unknown territory.

Part of the reason for my surprise was that my views of the north bank from walking on the south is that large sections are occupied by industry and access to the river is limited. And so it proved to be as we wandered the mean streets of Putney and Chelsea.

But the river was never that far away and we did get to enjoy it for some long stretches that became longer as we followed the river through west London.

A food and drink stop in Chelsea also allowed us to examine the locals who entertained us with their tweed jackets (men) and tight jeans tucked in to boots (women).

There were around fifteen of us in the group and I had plenty of opportunity to decent opportunities to talk to most of them, which produced more surprises.

Firstly, most of them were not English and I found myself talking to people from Italy, Finland, Switzerland, Japan and Germany. The second surprise is that only one of the people that I spoke to actually lives in Kingston or Richmond. Most of them had seen the event on the Meet-up website and just fancied a walk.

The weather held out too and the hats and gloves that we started the walk in were gradually put away as the sun did its best to keep us warm and to brighten the views. Lots of photos were taken in gratitude.

The mix of the day was just right and I came home on the train relaxed and fulfilled. This is what weekends are for.

On our bikes

I first joined the online meet-up site, http://www.meetup.com, a couple of years ago when somebody told me about a Czech/Slovak group that meets regularly in London but I had never managed to get to any meet-ups until last week when I went to two!

Or, to be more honest, I went to one event that was being co-hosted by two groups that I belong to so I RSVP'ed. The Kingston and Richmond Social Group and Twickenham Cycling Meetup Group jointly arranged a cycle around Richmond Park.

I could hardly refuse an invitation like that!

We met at the New Inn on Ham Common where my worries started as people turned up in a range of increasingly rugged bikes, wearing incredibly appropriate clothing and carrying useful supplies like inner tubes, pumps and water. Non of which I could claim to.

Luckily a few other people turned up in street clothes and normal bikes and I started to feel more comfortable. Quick introductions were made (and mostly forgotten) over a quick half and then we were off along Ham Gate Avenue to, er, Ham Gate.

The decision was made to go around Richmond Park anti-clockwise (not my preference) which meant a slow climb towards Kingston Gate and then a sharp climb up Kingston Hill where the group I was in politely waited for the ladies on bikes without gears to catch us up.

The rest of the ride was a playful scramble along the path that continually turns, dips, bends and rises to keep the journey interesting and the view ever-changing.

A high point was towards the end of the ride when we came across a group of deer grazing by the side of the road between Richmond Gate and Ham Gate.

After that the ride was all down hill and then a quick sprint back to the pub for our reward and more conversations.

Having dipped my toe into the world of meet-ups I'm sure that I'll be going on another one before too long, such as the walk from Putney to Waterloo next month.