So much? I’ll say. The last week or so has been jam-packed. Battleaxe has been to London twice, once to the V & A to see ‘The Great Mughals’ exhibition, with Philosopher’s old Philosopher friends, and again to the Courtauld, to see the small but perfectly formed ‘Goya to Impressionism’ exhibition. The weather has been scorching hot. We’ve been to Scotney Castle (on the only cloudy day), and walking in the Country Park, Battleaxe has been to her Stanza Poetry Group, Mallydams, and yesterday I spent the day in Brighton to meet with the cover designer I have appointed to work on my novel, which is still not quite out there on Kindle! Each week, I will summarise the loos I have visited at the end of the post, so if a reader doesn’t have a burning interest in local sanitary facilities, they can just leave it out…
What the hell is that? When we rented flats in Brighton (from about 2004 until 2008), one of our favourite local shops used to be the fabulous Taj Supermarket, which specialises in Indian, Turkish and Middle-Eastern foodstuffs. When I had finished talking to Patrick Knowles, the very pleasant and professional cover designer, (I think he is going to do a great job – the only expense I am incurring for this book is for a proper cover – I want it to look good), I went on a little tour to revisit all our old haunts. Patrick works in Hove Town Hall. I used to have stalls at Vintage Fairs in there, and both our flats were in Hove, so I know the area well. Also, my grandmother used to live in Palmeira Square…
Here is a photo of our favourite flat, in Rochester Gardens, Hove. We had the ground floor of the house, with our own garden at the back, which was excellent. The road is now very upmarket and gentrified, oddly, except for the house we lived in, which looked very run-down. The same was true of our other flat, in Landsdowne Place. Road very posh, but the house our flat was in – run-down. Perhaps it is the Curse of the Departed Battleaxe. We had to leave Landsdowne Place because of noisy students living above us. We’d never be able to afford the rentals on little flats like those these days – couldn’t see anything remotely as good for less than about £1,200 a month.
So, what of our London visits? First, the V & A visit. It was a very large exhibition, but Battleaxe only enjoyed it so-so. Why? Many of the exhibits were illustrations , exquisite, but very small, and very intricate. Needed far more poring over than seemed possible in a big public exhibition with lots of people trying to look at the same things. It finishes on Monday and is sold out, so there is no point me recommending anyway.
Very few women or their work appeared in the exhibition. Yes, I know at these imperial Mughal courts the women lived secluded in zenanas, but those places were vast, and very complex organisations. – I read that 5000 women lived in Akbar’s zenana at Fatephur Sikri. We were told at the exhibition that women like Mariam, Akbar’s favourite wife, Noor, Jehangir’s wife, and Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan, were formidable and respected leaders and businesswomen in their own rights, who had immense influence on the running of the Empire, and all left the zenana, on business, quite often, but did we see them? No.
After the exhibition we went to a Polish restaurant on Exhibition Road, Ognisko. It is the home of a very interesting and venerable Anglo/Polish club founded in 1939 by the British and Polish governments, and supported by the Royal Family. It looks incredibly opulent but is very reasonably priced and good – we ate in a marquee in the garden. Battleaxe would recommend.
What of the Courtauld? That exbibition has finished too, so won’t write much about it… a visit to the Courtauld is always worth it. That day it was so hot we ate a Marks sandwich for our lunch under a huge plane tree in Embankment Gardens. We were right opposite the Imperial Camel Corps memorial. Did you know about them? Battleaxe didn’t, but she does now! You can read about them in the link.
To finish the main bit of the post, Scotney Castle…
LOO LATEST – Hastings Town Centre.
For assessment criteria, see this post.
Just to say: if disabled loos are accessible to all without a Radar key, I call them ‘accessible’ loos. Otherwise, disabled…
Hastings Library. Available when the building is open. Building/loos is level access if the lift is working. Loos the same on every floor. 1 large accessible/baby change, 1 gender-neutral. All pleasant, clean, well-equipped, non-smelly, but some sections on some floors out-of-order when I visited, so instead of 8 I’ll give them a very good 7.
Wetherspoons, The John Logie Baird. Why am I including it? Politically, I don’t approve of Wetherspoons but they have an excellent reputation for good toilets. See this link. Moreover, the main loos in Hastings are up a staircase – no lift – at the entrance. You don’t have to venture into the noisy depths of the pub, but have to be able to climb stairs. Loos only available when the pub is open. Disabled/accessible loo is on ground floor in the middle of the pub – dodgy. Upstairs, the loos are single gender, but fabulous. The Ladies is truly enormous, splendidly well-equipped, and very clean. Rating? Access is undoubtedly far from ideal, no baby change and no gender-neutral provision, but the Ladies are so very good I’d have to give them 7.
Priory Meadow, Council loos, ground floor off Priory Square. Was dreading looking at these, and while not quite as dreadful as I feared, they are not good. 3 uninviting looking doors to the street. Gents – Philosopher looked in there, not great he said. Ladies – crowded, tatty, poorly equipped didn’t look very clean but not too smelly. Disabled loo, need a Radar key to get in. Rating 3.
Priory Meadow, Shopping Centre toilets, level access by lift or many stairs. Parent and child room – locked. Disabled loo, Radar key only. Ladies, OK. Many cubicles, two out of order. ‘Family’ sized cubicle. All well-equipped, clean enough (there was a cleaner in there). Not smelly but a bit stuffy. Nice big mirrors. No gender-neutral provision. Rating 5.
I think that is all in the Town Centre. Have I missed any? I am not including any more pubs or caffs because it is not easy to use their loos if you are not a customer.
