Luncheon at the Crypt
In the continuing exciting tale of my adventures in ye olde London town, today I found myself at a rather posh luncheon (note that’s luncheon, not lunch, thank you very much) at the Guildhall in the City of London.
We ate in the Crypt which was lovely and positively oozing history. The Guildhall’s East Crypt is apparently one of the oldest and largest of its kind in England, dating back to Edward the Confessor in 1042. Like the Tudor Queen’s House at the Tower of London, it is one of the few places in the old city to have survived both the Great Fire and World War II.
Appropriately, the company was similarly ancient. My colleague and I were surrounded by the kind of people who, delightful as they were with their tales of second homes in France, long-lost favourite Latin Masters and ‘fondness for buying boats’, will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
However, I am pleased to say that some of our nearest diners did actually inspire me. Before a speech from the Lord Mayor we were instructed to toast the Queen (reverential looks, raising of glasses and courteous sips), The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (markedly less enthusiastic clinking of glasses and supping) and ‘the Other Members of the Royal Family’ (outright snorting and smirking, necking down of fine wine).
So there might be hope for the City after all.
Tags: can't just keep her politics to herself, London, the royal family
February 8th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Did you ‘get round’ the toasts by only pretending to sip from your glass? Cos if you drank so much as the tiniest micro-drop, it means you love the Queen.
February 8th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Mmmm, looks like I love the Queen, ISBW! So I’d like to dedicate that nasty mouthful I took to her fine taste in cocktails and to her sons committment to organic food and talking to his plants.
February 9th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Get you the royalist lackey running dog type person :-) but as I say far too often what were the pies like?
February 9th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Sounds like something out of all those English period dramas I’ve watched over the years. I would love to have been there myself.
February 9th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I used to work there! And I’ve had meals there…
It’s like just about every other local council, really, except really bloody old. The main frustrating thing about doing a job there was the fact that they point blank refused to change anything which seemed a bit rusty or antiquated – we still used card index files for some data collecting rather than a computer.
Also, part of the office was haunted. I used to have nightmares about it occasionally, and found out it was haunted after I spoke to somebody in the office about my dreams. “Oh, that’s very similar to an experience somebody in security had once,” they replied (footsteps approaching me in the dark but never seeming to actually get closer).
February 9th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
BLTP, yes I didn’t mention the most important thing! The food wasn’t too bad for mass catering. Salmon for starter, I had the vegie option for main because I don’t really like rack of lamb and it was ok – stuffed pepper, bit bland, ‘the flavours weren’t big enough’. Pud was very nice – a fig and plum tart, with lovely praline icecream. I really love their tarts…
Keith, it was a bit like an English period drama, especially all of the fat blokes with bloated red noses. If people had started pulling watches on chains out of their waistcoats and twirling their moustaches I wouldn’t have been suprised.
23Daves, what an excellent story! Did this actually happen or was it in your dreams? If you only dreamt it, then how…?
February 10th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Perhaps I picked up on the eerie atmosphere of the place. To be honest, though, I’m just as likely to have glimpsed something in the historical archives (where I worked quite often) or perhaps I just thought the whole idea of having a crypt in an office was creepy. Let’s face it, it’s not very usual.