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Category Archives: archive
London Markets: Leadenhall Market
In the 15th Century, Dick Whittington, who was the Lord Mayor of London at the time, designated this site as an official food market and it has been serving the people of London ever since. Archaeologists say that the site is on what was once a Roman Forum.
It even gets a mention in Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby, as a place to buy new laid eggs.
The market's name was taken from a fourteenth century mansion with a lead roof. Traders from outside London were first allowed to sell their poultry here, then in 1377 cheese and butter. The City Corporation bought the house and estate in 1411, and in 1445 the newly built granary became a general market for poultry, victuals, grain, eggs, butter, cheese etc. The market and the mansion were both burnt down in the Great Fire of 1666 and the market was rebuilt round three large courtyards. The first yard was mainly a beef market, but it also sold leather, wool and raw hides on certain days. The second yard sold veal, mutton and lamb; but fishmongers, poulterers and cheesemongers had stalls here too. The third yard was a herb market selling fruit and vegetables.
Today, with its iron and glass architecture, an excellent example of Victoriana, Leadenhall has been the location for many a film, much to the bemusement of many a city slicker as this market is in Gracechurch St, close to Lloyds of London, in the heart of the City, London’s financial district. Today's market has high quality butchers and fishmongers, greengrocers, chocolate shops and bars, with high prices perhaps to reflect its location.
The market is open Monday-Friday daytime, some shops and bars remain open into the evening. The nearest tube is probably Bank, but others close by include Liverpool St, Aldgate and Tower Hill.
Next month: Petticoat Lane
Buddha’s Hair
Back in March last year, archaeologists say that they found a miniature gold box believed to contain the hair of the Buddha. The box, thought to have been buried for more than a thousand years, was dug up during the excavations of a famous ruined pagoda in the eastern city of Hangzhou. The case was found in a cellar under the ruins of the famous Leifeng Pagoda, which was built in 976 AD but collapsed after repeated attacks by relic thieves in 1924. Reports said this is thought to be the second piece of the Buddha's hair found in China – a similar relic was discovered in the north of the country in the 1970s. The Beetle is unable to fund anything more about the hair such as where it might be on display.
New York:
Hello Globies! Our next meeting will be April 6th at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street. 4:00pm sharp. We have yet, another exciting guest speaker. Mary Russell, an import coming over from Dublin to speak to us about her travel to the middle east, specificallyBaghdad and Damascus! Mary is a travel writer, whose latest book will be published by Simon and Schuster on June 1. Mary will be giving a slide talk to the London Globetrotters in June, and we get the sneak preview this April! Her books are “The Blessings of a Good Thick Skirt”, “Please Don”t Call it Soviet Georgia”, “Amazonian” and, in June: “Journeys of a Lifetime”. Mary has travelled to the Sahara and the Finnish Arctic, the Eastern Caribbean, Southern Africa, Moscow, Tbilisi, Dublin and Donegal.
Last year, she spent three months travelling around Syria on foot, by bike and local transport. Last November, Mary returned to Damascus and from there travelled overland to Baghdad. These two cities have strong historical ties and her slides and talk will be about both places, with up-to-day descriptions of what it”s like to travel in an Arab country. (She was also in Israel last year, obviously she has a great interest in the middle east!) Mary always travels solo and by shoestring. The last two chapters of her next book “Journeys of a Lifetime”, are about Syria.
New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm. As always, $8.00 for members, $10.00 for non-members.
Kenyan Proverb
“The Earth was not give to us by our parents, it was lent to us by our children.”
Ontario:
The last Toronto GT meeting was on Friday, March 15 at 8 p.m. at the Woodsworth Co-op Penthouse, (PH) 133 Wilton Street, Toronto. (Wilton is a very short E-W street south of and parallel to Esplanade, east of Jarvis – just around the corner from St. Lawrence Market). Presenter: Bruce Weber
Topic: “SAMPLER OF YUCATAN”
For information on Ontario meetings, please contact: Svatka Hermanek:shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
Five Things You Didn't Know About Tourism
1. According to the UN, 13-19 million children are working in the tourism sector all over the world. More than 1 million are forced into tourism’s sex industry.
2. 5,200 people were given 12 days’ notice and then forcibly removed from their homes in Pagan, Burma to make way for a tourism development. The military junta said they were an eyesore to tourists.
3. Spain’s 12 million visitors a year leave behind 100,000 tonnes of rubbish.
4. In destinations with beautiful beaches, especially the Caribbean, local people are often barred from beaches by hotel security and prevented from carrying on their livelihoods, such as fishing.
5. The UN calculates that a tourist uses as much water in 24 hours as a Third World villager would use to produce rice in 100 days.
Tourism Concern is a charity that works to ensure that local communities get a fair deal. Seetourismconcern.org.uk
Texas:
The April 13 meeting will be at Cypress Bend Park, which is 4 blocks from the library at the end of Peace Street. Peace St. is between the library and the river – it is the only street on the same side as the library. You will pass several cemeteries before you reach the park. Go to the end of Peace St. and you will find Cypress Bend Park on the left. Our travel time talk will be in a lovely outdoor covered pavilion instead of the library (AARP are dong taxes in “our room.”) Rest rooms are close by, and handicap accessible. The Texas branch of the Globetrotters Club will have a potluck picnic in the park. The city of N.B. charges $45.00 so we will have a Globie kitty at the March meeting to cover expenses. If you are busy travelling in March and miss the meeting, c”mon in April anyway. Committees are forming, so come and sign up if you are interested! If you only want to talk about travel, come! The Globetrotters Club sparks my life. I hope it sparks yours. Christina.
Meetings are held at 3pm at the New Braunfels Public Library, 700 E. Common Street in New Braunfels, Texas. The meeting ends at 5 p.m. If you would like to continue travel talk on a more informal basis, we plan to adjourn to the Hoity-Toit, a local New Braunfels establishment. If anybody would like to enquire about meetings or help Christina, please contact her on:texas@globetrotters.co.uk
Iceberg in Antartica
Did you know that icebergs are given names, and that these names relate to the section of Antartica where they are first sited?
US scientists recently reported that an iceberg more over nine times the size of Singapore had broken off Antarctica. It is over 64 kilometers (40 miles) wide and 85 kilometers (53 miles) long, and covers an area of about 5,500 square kilometers.
The National Ice Center said the berg, named B-22, broke free from an ice tongue in the Amundson Sea, an area of Antarctica south of the Pacific Ocean.
The B designation covers the Amundson and eastern Ross seas and the 22 indicates it is the 22nd iceberg sighted there by the US National Ice Center.
The iceberg broke off as a result of climate warming. One UK glaciologist at the Bas in Cambridge said “[It is hard] to believe that 500 million billion tons of ice sheet has disintegrated in less than a month.”
London Markets: Colombia Road Flower Market
This packed flower market is on one street and gets phenomenally busy. It starts at around 8am on Sundays only and closes up around 1pm, so get there early. Here you can buy everything from tiny cacti, bedding plants, garden gnomes, terracotta pots to shrubs and palm trees. Close by there are coffee shops, pubs, antiques shops, and restaurants so it is a great place to browse on a Sunday, maybe buy some herbs and have lunch.
The market is in Columbia Road (between Gosset Street & the Royal Oak pub), in Bethnal Green, E2. The nearest tube is Old Street tube/rail/ 26, 48, 55 bus. Open 8am-1pm Sun; closed Mon-Sat.
Next month: Leadenhall Market