
In December 2016 I posted the The Daily Constitutional's blog post number 5,000.
To mark the occasion I've been digging in the archive and over February 2017 I'll be reblogging The DC's "Greatest Hits" – my 50 favourite posts.
In addition I'll be sharing my 50 favourite London photos to have appeared here since October 2008.
I hope you enjoy them
A.S-G
London
Feb 2017
This post first appeared on 16th May 2012 as part of the It's A London Thing series…
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Adam writes…
Rain. It’s A London Thing.
Sorry. But it just is.
How can we spin this
P.R disaster? My favourite is David of London Walks and his rebuttal when
presented with the perceived “Precipitation Problem”: London sees less annual
rainfall than Rome.
Can’t argue with cold,
hard statistics.
My own personal modus
operandi when questioned about the alleged inclemency of the weather – keep in
mind that I am from Scotland – is this:
“Rain? You think this
is rain? YOU THINK THIS IS RAIN?! Where I come from rain can be sliced as it
falls and spread on a sandwich.”
My suggestion is not
merely to “lighten up”. It’s more than that. It’s a philosophical thing. A
piece of old Irish wisdom can help. A pal of mine from The Mainland (as he
calls the Emerald Isle) uses a grand old Irish phrase to rise above the
weather. Gazing out at a wet landscape, he simply sighs, “It’s a fine, soft
day.” And with this sooth he is superior to the weather. He wins.
A fine soft day. Quite
so.
My countryman,
comedian Billy Connolly, once observed that there’s no such thing as bad
weather, only inappropriate clothing. As London Walker Cheryl from Austin,
Texas breezily announced to me as she joined the Somewhere Else London walk
recently: “This is my third new jacket since I arrived!”
Cheryl, to my
knowledge, is still up on her hind legs despite a little rainfall on London
Walks. It’s all in the attitude.
Similarly, another
London Walker – coincidentally also from Texas, this time Dallas – informed me
that his home town was basking in temperatures way up in the 30s (Celsius).
This while we fought our way through Spitalfields in a torrential downpour. Was
he downcast? Hell no. He was laughing. Actually laughing out loud.
I am constantly asked
by timid types, “Do you do your walks in the rain?”
My reply is always,
“Yes, of course we do.”
But what I really want
to say is: “It’s ONLY RAIN. Samuel Pepys walked the streets of London during
the plague. THE PLAGUE for the love of God.”
A bit of perspective
is what’s required. Along with the Attitude and the Philosophy. And the
Statistics. All far more useful tools than an umbrella.
During our recent
spell of fine soft weather here in London, I have often been reminded of one of
my favourite London films. Four
Weddings And A Funeral is set broadly in a Hollywood-friendly
Englandshire, but the capital shooting locations root it deeply in the fabric
of our city – from the South Bank to St Bartholomew’s Church, Smithfield,
FW&AF is a London Thing too.
It is the movie’s
denouement, set in the immediate aftermath of the St Bart’s scene that has been
haunting my reverie:
Exterior. A London Street.
It is raining. Not the kind of Hollywood rain
that Gene Kelly would dance (and sing) through. This is RAIN. Raindrops the
size of Brussels sprouts. Like King Lear on the blasted heath on his way to
hitch a ride with Noah. Charles (Hugh Grant) pursues Carrie (Andie MacDowell)
through the rain.
(SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN FOUR
WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL LOOK AWAY NOW!*)
(*And if you haven’t
seen Four Weddings and a Funeral,
one question: Why?)
It rains. Charles professes his love. It rains.
Carrie hers. It rains. They kiss. It rains.
Charles: “It’s raining.”
Carrie: “Is it? I hadn’t noticed.”
At which point the
whole cinema audience heaves a big, goofy groan at the most hilariously corny
moment in the history of British cinema.
Except London Walks
guides don’t groan. To us, this is a moment of Cinéma Vérité. We applaud the
accuracy of the observation that would put the post-war Italian Neorealist
directors to shame.
Because that’s what
London Walkers seem to say every day: is it raining? I hadn’t noticed.
Rain. It’s A London
Thing. Everyone knows that.
But London Walkers who
join us in the rain are the best London Thing of all.
A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.










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