Coronavirus musings!!! I have decided to document some of the goings on in this mad world...

Coconut Flour, Digestives and Nettles

We went to Morrison’s for milk, eggs and vegetables – we came out with coconut flour, gluten-free digestive biscuits and tinned salmon.  We also got a cauliflower that had been sitting lonely on an empty shelf, and a packet of rice, also the last on the shelf.  Later on as I nibbled the gluten-free digestives (that just weren’t the same) I tried to concoct a recipe that would include coconut flour, some olives we found, half an onion, some cream cheese that still looked ok, the cauliflower and maybe the tinned salmon as well.  Luckily Google has a plethora of recipes involving just about every ingredient combination possible.  Pearl barley and rhubarb salad anyone?  Scallops with apple and bacon?  Sea urchin tacos?  My boyfriend has taken to foraging on our daily walks, gathering nettles, hawthorn leaves and dock leaves, and nibbling them as we walk along.  He also gathers goosegrass which apparently can be made into an edible but somewhat stringy pie.  We may be relying on these things in the next few weeks and months.  Nettle pie with coconut flour and tinned salmon anyone?  Or a cauliflower served with a sprinkling of hawthorn and dock leaves?  But from a more serious point of view, foraging might be an alternative way to get some freely available and nutritious foodstuffs.  Just make sure you know what you are picking.  Nobody wants a deadly nightshade salad.  Now what to do with those olives?

The Market has a variety of different buildings in different materials which are very interesting for the artist to paint.  The railway line makes an appearance, as it does in most images of the market, making it feel at time quite enclosed.

Borough Market is such a cacophony of sights, sounds, smells, colours, tastes...  I explore some of its history in my book that I am creating about Southwark and Bermondsey.

1952 map of London's riverside - Southwark and Bermondsey

Looking on an old 1952 map of Southwark and Bermondsey, the intimate nature of the streets next to the river is very apparent.  If we think of streets running parallel to the river Thames with walkways overhead we think maybe of Shad Thames, which still retains some of its original character.  It is easy to forget that most of the streets by the river were once like this.  There are overhead walkways in Clink Street, even around the corner from Southwark Cathedral at New Hibernia Wharf.  Bankside is the same, as is Bermondsey Wall.  It is also interesting to note the amount of 'ruins' - evidently bomb sites.  This part of London was heavily bombed because of all its important industries and factories.

Southwark and Bermondsey

Here are some recent paintings of Southwark and Bermondsey - I am hoping to compile a book about the city south of the river, running roughly from Waterloo to Rotherhithe.

Views around London Bridge are cut up and segmented by the railway and the roads that run beneath it:

Borough Market:

 

 

A small road of Borough High Street - if you want an impression of some old Burbage plots then take a stroll down Borough, looking at all the little lanes and courtyards that used to lead to coaching inns:

 

 

A quick pen and ink drawing I did of Shad Thames:

 





City of London - paintings

I am creating a book about the history of the City of London - focussing on unusual and hidden aspects of the Square Mile.  I am particularly interested in the labyrinth of old courts and alleyways to be found in some areas of the city and the beautiful old buildings that survive relatively unchanged.

Below: Looking into Ball Court.

 

Railway line going into Fenchurch Street Station over Crutched Friars:

 

Bengal Court: Some beautiful old buildings and original windows: