40th Birthday Favourites

Collage of 7 images, showing lion cub Simba being held aloft on Pride Rock in the Lion King musical, Dorothy with her friends from the Yellow Brick Road in the Wizard Of Oz musical, stand-up comedian Sara Pascoe, the stage at the Comedy Store, Tower Bridge as viewed from the front of a boat heading towards it, Freddie Mercury posing triumphantly on stage in a red cape and ornate crown, and a self-portrait of Van Gogh formed from lots of small confetti-like elements on a big screen.

Here we go, the big four-o,
These two score years have not gone slow!
Amazing how the time has flown,
And since my youth how much I’ve grown.
I had to celebrate, you know,
With food and drink and West End shows.
So with my friends and on my own,
I’ve really marked this milestone.

There’s stand-up stars who made me laugh,
Musicals well-choreographed,
Eating blind and on a cruise,
A 9-course feast and rounds of booze,
A major rock star’s prized possessions,
Art displayed with cool projections.
An action film with audio description,
And shows I’ve seen on television.

Come see how I’ve spent my time,
I promise it’s not all in rhyme.
Here’s why I’m feeling all aglow,
Enjoy this post and video!

Contents

Early Celebrations

The first couple of weeks of the month were pretty relaxed really. I was working as usual, we celebrated my mother’s birthday, and I went out for a couple of general walks as I like to do regularly.

But from the middle of August things got much more eventful, beginning with a comedy show I went to by myself, followed by outings to restaurants and musicals with a couple of my closest friends.

Sara Pascoe – Success Story

The first show I attended this month was a stand-up comedy gig by Sara Pascoe at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. It’s a lovely venue I last went to 5 years ago for an audio described production of Peter Pan, so I’m glad I finally got back there as it’s been far too long. You do of course take a risk with the weather as it’s all completely in the open, but I was fortunate as it was a dry evening with a gentle fresh breeze.

I had a seat in the second row for just £20 (including £1.80 commission), which was very good value. There were no members of staff visibly present to help as I walked into the auditorium (despite being told by the lady at the entrance there would be), but the gate numbers were large and clear on the walls, the steps had clear edge markings and letters for each row, and I was able to lean in close enough to read the small but well-contrasted seat numbers, so thankfully I was able to find my spot without too much hassle. But if I hadn’t been able to see well enough to do that, it would have been a lot more difficult.

The curtain under a wide archway, at the back of the stage in the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, for Sara Pascoe's show Success Story. The shiny material has vertical stripes of gold, pink and red repeating across it.
The stage in the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre for Sara Pascoe's show Success Story. The stage is raised off the ground, with 5 wooden steps leading up to it from the left and right sides. A wide archway at the back of the stage has a shiny curtain with alternating vertical stripes of gold, pink and red. A microphone is on a stand in the centre of the stage. Tall green trees surround the back of the stage area.
A grey step in the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre auditorium, with a thick white line marking the edge, and a white letter B on the left and right of the step.
The audience gathering in the seats of the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre for Sara Pascoe - Success Story. The green seats are arranged in curved rows, with each row slightly higher than the one in front of it.

And Sara Pascoe was great. I’ve enjoyed seeing her in a variety of comedy programmes, including Taskmaster and panel games, so I knew she’d be good live. She got straight into her set without a support act, and altogether it lasted about an hour and a half, plus a 20-minute interval.

During her show, called Success Story, she took us on a journey through her rise to fame, including reminiscing about the 90s (in ways I could relate to as I’m only 2 years younger than her), her first attempts to get on TV (recalling her audition for Michael Barrymore’s My Kind Of People), some of the mistakes she’s made, some of the famous people she’s met, and what it’s been like bringing up her first child. Earlier in the tour she had ended each show by revealing to the audience that she was pregnant again, but by the time she got to this extra date near the end of her run, it was already pretty obvious, so she addressed it at the start instead.

She was also open about the fact that she was bullied at school, that the still suffers from anxiety, and that she attends therapy, none of which is anything to be ashamed of. And in general she’s just a great storyteller. The show flowed well, it was very funny, there were nice callbacks to earlier jokes and topics, and there were touching moments as well. So I’m glad I got to see her live for the first time, and will aim to attend shows on her future tours if I can.

The stage of the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre at the end of Sara Pascoe's show Success Story. Under the dark sky at night time, the stage is bathed in blue light. Curved strings of small yellow lights stretch a short distance from each side of the central wide arch at the back of the stage, which has a shiny curtain of gold, pink and red vertical stripes that repeat across it.

Bill’s Restaurant – Birthday Meal

My wonderful friend Claire was the first to spoil me, with dinner and a show. We started off by having a lovely meal at Bill’s in Covent Garden, where I enjoyed tucking into:

  • Bill’s Truffle Chicken Two Ways – As the name suggests, there were a couple of different styles of chicken in this tasty main course. A chargrilled chicken breast, with truffle & red wine gravy and creamed potatoes, was accompanied by buttermilk crispy fried chicken with truffle mayo.
  • Triple Chocolate Brownie – A lovely rich dessert with warm chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream and a chocolate flake.
  • Passionfruit Martini – I don’t get the chance or the urge to drink cocktails very often, but that means it feels more of a treat when I do have one. And this was a nice, refreshing, fruity concoction of Wyborowa Vodka with Passoa passion fruit liqueur, passion fruit puree & pineapple juice.
Bill's restaurant in St Martin's Courtyard, Covent Garden, with tables outside under orange umbrellas.
A stone statue outside the entrance to Bill's restaurant in Covent Garden, depicting a cherub-like figure resting in a curved seat, its head turned to the side as it holds some fabric draped over its shoulder.
Dessert at Bill's restaurant in Covent Garden, consisting of a triple chocolate brownie with a blob of vanilla ice cream on top. It's served in a dark coloured bowl with a long, slightly curving handle on one side, making it look like a bit like a very small and very shallow frying pan.
Meal at Bill's restaurant in Covent Garden. A wide plate contains the Truffle Chicken Two Ways, described on the menu as chargrilled chicken breast with truffle & red wine jus, creamed potatoes, served alongside buttermilk crispy fried chicken & truffle mayo. It's served on a wide plate with a thick blue border that contains alternating images of a white bird and 3 green leaves all the way around. The meal is accompanied by a Passionfruit Martini.

The restaurant is in an area known as The Yards, specifically in St. Martin’s Courtyard at the end of Slingsby Place. That avenue was very colourfully decorated, with flowery designs overhead and murals on the pavement, which was very eye-catching.

Large 5-petal flower designs in various colours, suspended high up between the buildings in Slingsby Place.
A mural along the pavement of Slingsby Place. A checkerboard of light blue and dark blue squares, is overlaid with curving patterns of thin colourful stripes, a bit like a rainbow, colourful flowers, and a couple of images of square sheets of white paper with the number 10 on them in black.
A mural along the pavement of Slingsby Place. Large white lettering that says Come As You Are is surrounded by lots of flowers and rainbow-like stripes in a variety of colours.

And while we’re on the subject of food, Claire also very kindly gave me something to nibble on at home, with a selection of Green & Black’s organic chocolates, containing milk, dark, almond, butterscotch, ginger, and hazelnut & currant varieties. It’s a brand I had never tried before, although I had heard of them, and they were very nice.

Box of Green and Black's Classic Collection chocolates, including milk, dark, almond, butterscotch, ginger, and hazelnut and currant varieties,

The Lion King – Audio Described

After our meal at Bill’s, Claire and I then went to the Lyceum Theatre for the musical The Lion King. We’ve both seen it in the past, a long time ago, but neither of us had attended a fully accessible performance before. And it was amazing, with a fabulous touch tour of the puppets, costumes and more, before the incredible show itself with its wonderful story, songs and choreography.

I’ve written all about the show in a separate post, so do go and check it out for all the details. And many thanks to Claire for such a special day!

Entrance to the Lyceum Theatre for The Lion King. The walls between the doorways have a tall yellow poster containing a large black sketch of a lion's face with a big thick mane, with the title of the show in black in the lower right corner of the poster. The doors also have an image of a lion's face in grey on the windows, and the frames of those windows are surrounded by ornate gold detailing.
The programme cover for the Lion King Musical, showing giraffes and other animals gathered around the tall Pride Rock, on top of which stands Lion King Mufasa holding up his newborn cub Simba.
Double page spread from the children's programme for the Lion King musical, showing lion cub Simba sharing a laugh with Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog, below large yellow letters that say Hakuna Matata. To the right, a box says Did you know that the phrase Hakuna Matata is actually Swahili for the English phrase No Worries. A couple of inset images to the left show Timon and Pumbaa finding SImba laid on the ground, and Timon offering Simba an insect above the words slimy yet satisfying.

Cinnamon Kitchen – 9 Course Feast

The next person to treat me was my good friend Emily from Fashioneyesta. Through her journalism work, that I support her with, she arranged a visit to review Cinnamon Kitchen, an Indian restaurant nestled under one of the arches of the Grosvenor Railway Bridge next to Battersea Power Station.

The Grosvenor Railway Bridge with wide arches along its length, going across the River Thames, with Battersea Power Station in the background.
The entrance to a very wide walkway under Grosvenor Railway Bridge, the exterior wall of which is covered in very colourful artwork, made up of lots of straight geometric shapes in various patterns. Across the top of the archway, and on top of the artwork beneath it, the word Power is spelt out in large letters that are painted to look as if they're in 3D.
Battersea Power Station, a huge brick building with 2 large towers, each supporting a tall white chimney, either side of the central section of the building.
Cinnamon Kitchen restaurant, underneath an archway of the Grosvenor Railway Bridge. There are some seats and tables outside the front of the restaurant, underneath a flat blue canopy.

We were treated to their 9 Dish Feast – yes, NINE dishes! It’s available on Tuesdays to Sundays, from 12pm till late, and would normally be £39 per person (for a minimum of 2 diners).

The menu consisted of:

  • Samosa Chaat – Vegetable samosa, curried chickpeas, yoghurt
  • Achari Lamb Fillet – Smoked paprika raita, anchovy chutney
  • Battersea Bhel Papdi – Crisp wheat & puffed rice chaat
  • Sofiani Murg Tikka – Chicken breast, fennel & coriander, coriander chutney
  • Kasundi Tandoori Salmon – Kasundi mustard, honey, yoghurt
  • Paneer Butter Masala – Paneer & peas, rich onion sauce, fenugreek
  • Keralan Shrimp Curry – Shallot & green mango, coconut & curry leaf
  • Royal Black lentils / Turmeric & lemon rice
  • Royal Punjabi Malai Kulfi – Saffron & cardamon

It sounds like a lot of food – and it is – but the dishes weren’t huge, and they were presented on sharing plates from which we could serve up as much as we liked on to our own plates. Two or three dishes were given to us together at any one time (e.g. starters, then mains), so we could mix things together, while the final dessert course was presented on its own. And they left a decent gap between each course so we had time to digest things and didn’t feel rushed.

It wasn’t always clear to us which dish was which, as we didn’t always clearly hear what the waiter said, but that didn’t matter. In some cases it quickly became obvious as we tucked in, and even those we were unsure about were still nice. Indeed, I had gone in expecting not to like one or two things from such a long list, but as it turned out they were all genuinely nice. Everything was cooked well and had good flavour, and none of it was too hot or spicy.

Two colourful dishes from Cinnamon Kitchen's 9 course tasting menu, presented on plates with wavy edges.
Three colourful dishes from Cinnamon Kitchen's 9 course tasting menu, presented on plates with wavy edges.
Two colourful dishes from Cinnamon Kitchen's 9 course tasting menu, presented on plates with wavy edges, alongside a pot of sauce and a bowl of rice.

If I had to pick favourites, it would be the lamb and chicken dishes, as I’m very partial to those meats anyway and had no complaints here. But I also liked the salmon and shrimp more than I expected, as I can’t remember the last time I’ve eaten either of those things, given that I rarely eat seafood beyond cod and chips, so I hadn’t been sure if they would appeal to me or not.

Ultimately, therefore, we did make it through the tasty feast, and by the end I felt pleasantly full rather than over-stuffed, as we had just the right amount of food between us. You can also read Emily’s review for News Shopper for her perspective.

But just to make sure I had something else to indulge in at home as well, Emily very kindly gave me the Afternoon Tea Letterbox from M&S as a birthday gift, which had a variety of mini biscuits and cakes that I shared with Mum. It was a nice follow-up to the Afternoon Tea Gift Bag that I had coincidentally bought Mum for her birthday earlier in the month. So thank you very much to Emily for the meal and those extra little treats!

A selection of treats from the Marks and Spencer Afternoon Tea Letterbox gift, including Mini All Butter Scottish Shortbread Fingers, a mini bar of Millionaire Shortbread, a mini Victoria Sandwich cake, a mini carrot cake with walnuts, and a box of All Butter Viennese Milk Chocolate Dipped Fingers.

The Wizard Of Oz – Audio Described

In my actual birthday week, I started my celebrations by taking a magical audio described journey on the Yellow Brick Road, by seeing The Wizard Of Oz at the London Palladium. I had paid for my ticket as a treat to myself, but Emily was also there with her mother. It started off with a nice, if overly crowded, touch tour, at which the comedian, singer and Cowardly Lion performer Jason Manford very kindly came out to talk to us. And the show itself was a lot of fun, featuring all of the big songs from the film as well as new ones written especially for the production, alongside great choreography and visual effects.

See my separate post about the show to find out more.

The majestic London Palladium building in the daytime, with posters on the outside on the ground floor, and a screen over the entrance doors, for the Wizard of Oz. In the bottom left, a large group of visually impaired people are gathered for the touch tour.
The empty stage at the end of the Wizard of Oz. From front to back, 4 strips of light in rainbow colours surround the stage, forming a wide tunnel towards the back screen, that has the Wizard of Oz logo against a bright blue sky with some white clouds.
The logo for the Wizard of Oz on the stage curtain before the start of the show. The word Wizard is in 3D yellow lettering with a shiny metallic effect on its underside. The word The is in small yellow letters that replaces the dot of the letter I, and the word Of appears in yellow letters just beneath. Below that, the word OZ appears in huge rainbow striped letters, which looks as if it's been drawn in crayon, or perhaps by a witch forming the letters in her wake as she swishes through the cloudy night sky that forms the background.

Birthday Weekend

Premier Inn – County Hall

For my extended birthday weekend I was joined by Simon, my best mate who I’ve kept in close touch with since school. He kindly came over to London to stay for a few nights, and we had a great time together.

Birthday card showing a chimpanzee with its hands on its head and a shocked expression on its face. The text on the card reads 40, OMG you're dangerously close to being old.

We stayed in rooms just across the corridor from each other in the Premier Inn at County Hall. It made sense for me to stay there rather than travel in from home each day, because his sight loss is more severe than mine, so he wouldn’t be able to get around on his own, and its ideal location around the corner from the London Eye meant that the places we wanted to get to in the centre of the city were only a short walk or Tube ride away.

It’s a basic hotel, just like all Premier Inns, and not perfect by any means. The entrance is via a staircase so you have to ring a bell to request step-free access if you need it, a pint of cider at the bar was ridiculously expensive so we only drank there once, the voice in the lifts was barely audible, the free wi-fi was very slow even for basic tasks (so I used the 5G connection on my mobile instead), and there wasn’t a view to speak of outside our bedroom windows (just the backs of other buildings in the County Hall complex). Plus a disabled woman had serious issues there earlier in the year, so I hope they’ve fixed their fire procedures since then.

All that said, however, the rooms were comfortable enough, the breakfasts filled us up nicely each day, there was a good selection of channels on the TV, we found the staff to be friendly and helpful, and the hotel’s location is a big plus point. So on the whole we were happy with our stay, it served its purpose well enough as our base camp.

The County Hall Premier Inn, with the entrance up a short flight of stairs into the 4-storey building.
Double bed in the County Hall Premier Inn hotel, with a strip of purple light glowing from above the headboard on the wall.
Flat screen TV above a desk in the bedroom at the Premier Inn County Hall. On the desk are tea and coffee making facilities, a lamp, the remote control for the TV and the restaurant menu.
The London Eye, the huge white observation wheel that towers high over the County Hall building and trees that are on opposite sides of the wide pathway leading towards it.

Dans Le Noir – Dining in The Dark

On the first evening that my friend Simon arrived, we went over to Farringdon for a meal at Dans Le Noir, where you eat in complete darkness. It’s a concept that’s been around since 2004, when it was launched in Paris, and they now have several branches in France, along with venues in Brussels, Luxembourg, Geneva, Madrid, St Petersburg, Auckland and Cairo, as well as London. So it’s been on my bucket list for some time, and we enjoyed trying such a unique experience.

The entrance to the Dans Le Noir restaurant, which has the tagline Explore Your Senses beside its name.

All possible light sources have to be surrendered before going in to the dining room, including phones, cameras, watches, lighters, etc, which is fair enough. So our iPhones and my friend’s Fitbit were locked away and I was given the key to hold on to. Then we went down some stairs to meet our friendly, blind, female waitress, who led us into the pitch black dining room and was very attentive to us throughout the evening. To get to our table, we were taken through a short weaving pathway, where you could feel the walls on one or both sides, and we could tell that we were sat at the end of the room, as we had other customers talking to one side of us, and a wall on our other side. We had a nice chat to the couple on the table next to us while we were there.

We had booked the 3-course meal with a glass of wine each, and the exact dishes you get are a surprise, so you only find out what you had after you come out at the end. We were simply told that the surprise menu consisted of meat and fish for the main course, but we could opt to have one or the other, so we went for just meat. You’re also given the opportunity to specify whether you have any specific dietary requirements or allergies, for which they further adapt the menu accordingly.

It was certainly an interesting experience, and not at all uncomfortable. We weren’t worried before going in anyway, but if we had been nervous then our waitress would have put us at ease. And because she made sure we knew where everything was, in terms of our plates, cutlery, drinking glasses, etc, we didn’t make a mess or knock anything over.

Indeed, it forces you to focus more using your other senses, so you adapt more quickly than you think you will, and it makes you more aware of your own actions and habits. I found myself looking around every so often to see if I could spot anything, because it felt natural to do so, despite knowing full well my eyes had no light to adjust to. And we were trying to visualise the layout of the room in our heads, from what we could figure out from our route in and the noise around us, but we’ll never know how accurate we were. Only the infrared CCTV cameras can see what’s going on in there.

It was strange having to feel where the food was on my plate for each course, and to use my hand to guide some of it on to my fork or spoon, but that’s part of the fun of it. And I did get to a point in the main course where I was able to use my knife and fork with a reasonable degree of accuracy for a short period, before I had to feel for all the bits I’d missed with my hand. So I ate everything, and I didn’t make a mess of myself or the table in the process.

Most importantly, the textures and flavours of the foods had clearly been carefully chosen, as they were all very distinctive. That doesn’t mean they were recognisable – we only figured out what a couple of the more obvious items were – but everything was very different as well as delicious. And it was quite the eye-opener, so to speak, when we found out what we’d had afterwards. I can’t remember everything exactly, as we weren’t given a list to keep, and I don’t want to spoil everything for people planning a visit anyway. But the main course was lamb that had been slow-cooked for 8 hours, while the dessert involved a chocolate-topped item with gin and tonic sorbet, which we would never have guessed but it was certainly nice!

So it was definitely well worth doing. You get up to 2 hours in there from the time of your reservation, and that was plenty of time for us, as we were out after about an hour and a half. It wasn’t cheap – it came to £130.90 altogether (for two 3-course meals, each with a glass of wine) – and that was with a slight discount because we’re both visually impaired. But you’re paying for the unique experience as much as the food, and it was a birthday treat for myself, so I’m fine with that.

There are cheaper options as well though, including a 3-course menu without wine, or a 2-course meal with or without wine. Or there’s a 5-course option that adds in an extra main, a cheese course, and an extra glass of wine, if you want to push the boat out.

So if you’ve been considering giving it a go, I can certainly recommend it. It’s good fun and very interesting to try it out, and the food’s very nice.

City Cruises – Thames Lunch Cruise

On my actual birthday my mate Simon and I went on a lunch cruise on the Thames, which was very nice, and thankfully the weather behaved for it.

The Millennium Of London boat, run by City Cruises, departed from the Tower Millennium Pier next to the Tower Of London. And because I’d booked the Champagne Daytime Package for 2 people, which comes with priority boarding and a guaranteed window seat, we had the best possible view from inside. There were quite a few tables in the dining room, but 6 of them in particular had white tablecloths and were specially arranged on a wood-effect floor at the very front of the boat – and we had the frontmost table, so we could see straight out of the large windows. It doesn’t matter how many times you walk up and down the banks of the Thames, nothing beats sailing down the middle of it for the unique views of the city and bridges that it grants you (except perhaps for the helicopter ride I did for a friend’s birthday last year of course!).

The Millennium of London boat, with a single deck indoors and an open deck on the top.
The wide walkway on to Tower Millennium Pier.
Dining room on the Millennium of London boat, viewed from our position at the front of the vessel. Some diners are sitting at 3 tables that are covered in white tablecloths on a wood-effect floor, while behind them in a carpeted area are many more diners seated at rows of plain tables.
The large windows at the front of the Millennium of London boat, with a view along the Thames.
View through the large central window at the front of the Millennium of London boat, looking along the Thames. Just outside the window, a white flag bulges in the breeze, on which is written City Cruises by Hornblower in dark blue lettering.

The boat sailed to Westminster Bridge, where it turned around, and at that point the live commentary started, during which we were told interesting facts about various sights we were passing. Some of them I was already aware of, but there were several nuggets of trivia I didn’t know or had forgotten. And the guy was also quite humorous in a typically cynical British way, which made it fun too. After we passed under Tower Bridge, he stopped talking until we got to the bend by Canary Wharf, at which point we turned around once more and he commentated on the section of the river from there back to our starting point.

Tower Bridge, viewed from the front of the Millennium of London boat as it's about to pass underneath it.
The tall pointed glass building known as the Shard, viewed from the front of the Millennium of London boat.
London Bridge, viewed from the front of the Millennium of London boat as it's about to pass underneath it.
The huge observational wheel known as the London Eye, viewed from the front of the Millennium of London boat.
The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Bridge, viewed from the front of the Millennium of London boat.
The skyscrapers at Canary Wharf, viewed from the front of the Millennium of London boat.

The meal we had along the way was delicious as well, served by very friendly and smartly dressed waiters. We had been given a bread roll with butter for a starter, then the main course was a roasted supreme of chicken, described on the menu as: “Thyme, rosemary and lemon chicken with a creamy leek, tarragon and mushroom sauce, served with Dauphinois potatoes, and seasonal vegetables.” And then we had lemon meringue tart with berry coulis for dessert. We also had a very nice glass of champagne each and shared a bottle of refreshing Harrogate Spring Water as well. So we were pleasantly full by the end of it.

A flute of champagne and a glass of water, on a table covered in a white tablecloth, on the Millennium of London boat.
The menu for my lunch cruise on the Thames. The main course is a Roast Supreme of Chicken, described as Thyme, Rosemary and Lemon Chicken with a Creamy Leek, Tarragon and Mushroom Sauce served with Dauphinois Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables. The alternative main course for vegetarians consists of Foraged Oyster Mushroom & White Bean Cassoulet, Herb & Parmesan Crust, Dauphinoise Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables The dessert in both cases is lemon meringue tart with berry coulis.

The whole journey covered over 9 miles and lasted about an hour and three-quarters, so it wasn’t rushed. And it was nice that the tour guide wasn’t talking all the time, allowing us periods to ourselves to enjoy the views, our food and general conversation. It cost £49 each to have a seat on the vessel, plus £18 each for the champagne experience upgrade, and we felt it was well worth it.

A map showing the route of the Thames Lunch cruise. Starting by the Tower of London, it heads west to Westminster Bridge. It then turns and heads east, passing under Tower Bridge and continuing to the bend by Canary Wharf. It then turns around again and returns to its starting point by the Tower of London.

So all in all it was a very relaxing and enjoyable way to celebrate my birthday, and I’ve uploaded a selection of video clips on my Youtube channel so you can see what the views were like and hear a bit of the commentary.

Comedy Store – The Best In Stand Up

After our lunch cruise, followed by a leisurely walk back to our hotel along the South Bank and a little rest to freshen up, my mate and I spent my birthday evening at the Comedy Store near Leicester Square. The last time we had been there was 5 years ago, when we saw their resident improv group The Comedy Store Players, so it was long overdue for us to go back, as it’s a decent venue with a pleasant vibe to it. And again we had a great night, seeing a selection of stand-up comedy acts on this occasion.

People standing on the pavement outside the Comedy Store in Oxendon Street. A large round sign, lit up above the entrance, has The Comedy Store written around the edge, while in the centre there's a laughing mouth with bright red lips, along with its teeth and tongue showing. A printed version of the same logo appears on the doors below.

We arrived shortly before the doors opened at 7pm, so we were amongst the first in the queue. As we entered the auditorium, we explained that we were visually impaired, and a lady kindly led us to the Premium area we’d booked in advance, which is the raised area a few rows back from the front, its steps clearly edge-marked with yellow and black tape for safety. So, being the first in there, we were able to grab the central table in the front row of that section, which gave us a direct view of the stage.

View towards the stage in the Comedy Store, from the red table at the front of the slightly raised Premium area, on which there are a couple of plastic glasses of cider, and a small black sign that has Premium Seats Table 2 written on it in white. There are 4 rows of standard seating ahead, between the table and the stage. The Comedy Store logo, with a big laughing mouth in the centre of a white circle with the venue name around its edge, is lit up on the left, centre and right of the stage.

We also had plenty of time to order and eat our food before the show started at 8pm. When booking the tickets I’d included a meal deal for each of us, consisting of a main course plus 2 drinks. So we shared a pepperoni pizza and a carne pizza between us, which were very nice. The carne pizza included Jalapeño peppers, which had a nice initial kick to them that quickly dissipated, meaning they were tasty without being too hot. And for our drinks we each had a couple of glasses of Orchard Pig cider on tap, having our first drinks with our food and then I got the others in during the interval.

The stage at the Comedy Store, lit by a row of six red spotlights above it. The Comedy Store logo, with a big laughing mouth in the centre of a white circle with the venue name around its edge, is lit up on the curtain at the back of the stage.

The show itself was part of their Best In Stand Up series, which they put on every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It was a lot of fun and lasted for over 2 hours, including an interval, with a good mix of comedians:

  • Ian Coppinger was really good as the MC for the evening, introducing the acts as well as doing some material himself. He had plenty of good jokes, including a few relating to the fact that he’s short, Irish and bald. And he had a lot of banter with members of the audience, including a really tall guy who was 6ft 10in and towered over him, people with a wide variety of jobs, and an unimaginative heckler who he dealt with easily.
  • Michael Akadiri works as a junior doctor in the NHS, and spoke about the birth of his child and his baldness, among other things. He recently posted a full stand-up special on his Youtube channel, where he talks about his work and other stuff.
  • The Open Spot is a point in each show where they give an up-and-coming comedian a chance to perform in the Comedy Store for the first time. So here we had a female comedian, whose name I didn’t catch unfortunately, but she was confident and did well. Among her routine she talked about smiling at old people, and seeing her friends in relationships and marriages while she’s single.
  • Markus Birdman is blind in one eye due to a stroke, so he made a few fun jokes in relation to that, as well as talking about various people he feels are stupid and can get lost, to put it politely. Online you can see a 20-minute set he did at another comedy club, as well as his audition and semi-final performances on this year’s series of Britain’s Got Talent (he didn’t make it to the final but was still popular).
  • The Noise Next Door are a clever improvisation group of 4 guys, and as our final act of the evening they performed songs and sketches using suggestions from the audience. These included a penis enlargement business called Boris’s Johnsons (with Liz Truss on reception), a training class about Heelys performed in different styles (e.g. This Morning, angry Yorkshiremen, the Georgian period, Narnia and the ending of Scarface), a Latvian man who’s the smartest person in the world (actually two of the guys speaking in alternate words as they gave definitions for phrases suggested to them), and finally a song explaining why the Tube, bar mitzvahs, oranges and the hobby of painting are sexy.

So it was perfect for a Friday night out. I wouldn’t want to see a full show by any of those comedians particularly, as nobody grabbed me quite that strongly, but as part of a selection like this it was great to have such a variety, it worked really well.

Vue Cinema – Mission Impossible 7

On the day after my birthday, I hadn’t booked anything until the evening, as I wanted to leave the rest of the time free for my mate Simon and I to do whatever we felt like on a whim.

So after a bit of a lie-in and a slightly later breakfast than the previous day, we wandered back over to Leicester Square, where we decided to see the new Mission Impossible film – Dead Reckoning: Part One, the 7th movie in the series.

We saw it in the Vue Cinema, which was surprisingly quiet when we entered, considering how busy London inevitably was for the bank holiday weekend. There were several people in the screening room itself of course, just barely anybody in the lobby. But that was good, as it made things easier for us – as did the lovely, friendly staff who sold us our tickets at the discounted access rate, showed us where the toilets were, helped us to get our snacks and carry them down to the screening room, showed us to our seats, and gave us the audio description headsets we requested that worked perfectly throughout the film.

The film stars Tom Cruise as field agent Ethan Hunt as usual, and taps into people’s fears about Artificial Intelligence (AI), by taking the threat to a very extreme level that feels (and hopefully is) rather implausible. The plot is basically about Ethan racing against the bad guys to track down a special key that will bring it back under control, although they naturally make it a bit more complicated than that.

But regardless of the story, the main things that people expect are great visuals and action sequences, and naturally this film delivers on that score, with an impressively elaborate car chase in Rome and a big finale set around a runaway Orient Express. The latter includes what is claimed to be the biggest and most dangerous stunt in cinema history that took a huge amount of preparation. I think at the time, as cool as it looked, I’d just assumed it had been achieved with the aid of computer and camera trickery in some way, as is commonplace these days. So having since learned how it was really achieved, I think I’ll appreciate it more whenever I see the film again.

So overall we enjoyed the movie. It was nothing exceptional, relative to other action films we’re big fans of, but it was still a decent way to kill a couple of hours, and I’ll certainly see Dead Reckoning: Part Two at some point after it comes out next year.

The Bear & Staff – Evening Dinner

After seeing the Mission Impossible film, Simon and I went back to our hotel for a little while, before returning to Leicester Square yet again for a meal I’d booked at a Nicholson’s pub called The Bear & Staff. It had come highly recommended to us by his wife, when she’d visited her family a little while back, and also has very good reviews online, and we weren’t disappointed.

When we entered the pub, a guy kindly showed us to the dining room upstairs, which is a nice cosy area where the food is served in a timely manner by friendly staff, and the background music is at a sufficiently low level that you can have a normal conversation.

A small painting of Trafalgar Square, including Nelson's column, on the wall in the Bear And Staff pub.
A small reproduction of an old London Underground poster on the wall in the Bear And Staff pub, featuring a woman dancing in a white dress with its skirt flaring outwards, above the words For The Stage.
The Famous Pies menu on the wall in the Bear and Staff pub. The options include wild boar and chorizo pie, hand-pulled lamb shank shepherd's pie, British chicken and portobello mushroom pie, steak and Nicholson's pale ale pie, slow cooked beef rib, shin and pulled brisket pie, sweet potato and goats cheese pie, puy vegetable and lentil cottage pie, and fish pie containing salmon and king prawns.

We both had the Steak & Nicholson’s Pale Ale Pie in shortcrust pastry, with mashed potatoes and vegetables, which was once awarded gold at the British Pie Awards. And while we wouldn’t rate it as award-winning particularly, it was still very tasty nonetheless. We then followed that with dessert of course, for which I had sticky toffee pudding and custard, while my friend had apple pie and ice cream.

Steak and ale pie in shortcrust pastry, with mashed potatoes, vegetable and a small jug of gravy at the Bear And Staff pub.
Sticky toffee pudding and a small jug of custard at the Bear And Staff pub.

We also made use of a birthday voucher that they had sent me as a member of their mailing list, which allowed us to spend up to £30 on drinks (with a minimum spend of £20). So for our first round we each had a pint of Mortimer’s Orchard cider (part of the Westons Cider range). I then had another pint of that for the second round, while Simon fancied a double rum and Coke instead. So we got the very generous £30 discount because of that, and I’d already paid a £10 deposit in advance, meaning I only had to pay £43.52 in the end.

And that was the end of my friend’s visit really, as we simply had lunch the following day before I saw him off at Waterloo station. It was lovely to hang out with him as always, so I’m really glad he was able to come over for my special occasion.

After he’d gone I then saw my friend James from the Aniridia Network for a catch-up over a drink, which was nice too. I couldn’t make to the charity’s latest conference at the start of September, because I was working, but I gather it went well, and I will be helping to gradually upload copies of their presentations to their Youtube channel in the weeks and months ahead.

Exhibitions

Sotheby’s – Freddie Mercury Collection

As I had a free day to myself on Bank Holiday Monday, I grasped the opportunity as a huge Queen fan to see the Freddie Mercury exhibition A World Of His Own at Sotheby’s. I had to queue for an hour around the block – literally the whole block, as the end of the queue was almost meeting the front of itself at the entrance – but it was well worth the wait to get in.

The Sotheby's building in Bond Street, with people queuing for the Freddie Mercury exhibition. A large thick black moustache, like Freddie's, hangs over the entrance.

Freddie’s former fiancée and closest friend Mary Austin is selling off almost 1,500 of his personal possessions from his home at Garden Lodge in Kensington, to “put her affairs in order” now that she’s 72 years old. She’s keeping some personal gifts and photographs, but pretty much everything else is going, from the residence that had been left pretty much as it was since his death in 1991. As much as she hates to part with a lot of it, she felt that it had to be all or nothing if she was going to start selling things.

A large kimono, covered in beautiful leaves and flowers predominantly in vivid shades of red, green, blue and white.
A tall, free-standing, ornately gold decorated, gramophone player, with the lid open to reveal the stylus inside.

She’s perfectly entitled to make that decision, as it’s a clear mark of trust by Freddie that he left everything to her, and chances are they discussed what she should or shouldn’t do with it all. It’s also a comfort to know that some of the proceeds will be going to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and Elton John Aids Foundation, as well as Sotheby’s for their fees and to Mary herself. So fair play to her.

But it is nevertheless a great shame that the collection will be spread amongst private collectors instead of being kept together in a museum for his millions of fans to enjoy for years to come, as we’ll never see most of this stuff ever again, except random bits and pieces at future auctions. Queen guitarist Brian May has expressed his sadness as well.

A pair of yellow garden chairs, either side of a low glass table, in front of a large backdrop representing the garden at Freddie Mercury's home, Garden Lodge, with trees, bushes and other leafy plants.
A large wooden kitchen cabinet, with lots of ornately decorated crockery visible on the shelves through the windows of its 4 doors. On the sideboard below the doors, a small photo of Freddie Mercury stands next to a few pots and bowls.
A large corner sofa, next to which is a table containing a tea set on a tray, books and ornaments.
A large dining table, fully laid out with white crockery, glassware and ornaments.

So this was the one and only chance to get intimately close to Freddie’s private world, and what a pleasure and privilege it was. From fashion to furniture, artworks to awards, ornaments to instruments, printed books to handwritten lyrics, etc, there was just so much to admire. He had such exquisite taste and attention to detail, and it was both thrilling and moving to browse a collection so vast that it took up every single viewing room in the auction house, with every visitor able to get a fair view of every item thanks to a well-organised one-way system.

Documents relating to Queen's appearance at Live Aid, including programmes, press releases and letters.
A cornucopia of cat ornaments in various sizes and designs.
Three paintings of Freddie Mercury by his fans. Two are head and shoulder potraits, one in black and white and one in colour. The other and much larger painting shows Freddie singing loudly into a microphone as he pumps his right fist in the air, with colourful lighting behind him.
4 photos from the shoot for the Queen video I'm Going Slightly Mad, showing Freddie Mercury with a bunch of bananas on his head, walking through rows of yellow flowers, posing with a man in a gorilla suit, and posing in a furry jacket.

And then in the early evening I paid a quick visit to the actual Garden Lodge near Earl’s Court station. You can’t really see anything, as the high brick wall is topped by a tall fence with razor wire for obvious privacy and security reasons. But it’s one of those pilgrimages that every big Queen fan has to make at least once if possible, just to be outside the place where such a musical genius once lived. So this was the ideal excuse and opportunity to pop over there, and a passer-by very kindly took a photo of me next to the sealed-off street entrance.

Garden Lodge, Freddie Mercury's former home. The top of the house is only just visible above the security fence lined with razor wire, on top of the tall brick wall surrounding the premises.
Glen smiling as he stands next to the entrance gate to Garden Lodge, which is shielded by a large plastic screen bolted to the wall. Glen is wearing a black t-shirt featuring the cover from Queen's Made In Heaven album, which shows a silhouette of the Freddie Mercury statue looking out over the water at Montreux in Switzerland.
The tall gate from Garden Lodge, covered in layers of graffiti where Freddie Mercury's fans wrote messages in tribute after he died.

I haven’t got involved with the auctions, because I simply cannot afford to bid for anything given the inevitably high prices. But I have bought the limited edition £50 hardback book that goes with the collection, which has photos and information about many of the items, and discusses Freddie’s life at Garden Lodge. Having that as a souvenir is pretty special in itself.

The cover of the book accompanying the Freddie Mercury exhibition at Sotheby's, entitled Freddie Mercury, A World Of His Own. It shows Freddie posing on stage in white trousers and a bare chest, with a large red cape draped over his shoulders and a crown on his head, punching the air triumphantly. The stage is full of colourful lights behind him, and Brian May can be seen playing the guitar in the background.
A double-page collage of photos of Freddie Mercury with his beloved cats, from the inside cover of the book for his exhibition at Sotheby's.
Double-page spread, from the book accompanying the Freddie Mercury exhibition at Sotheby's. This section of the book is entitled Behind The Green Door, with text about Freddie's life at Garden Lodge on one page, and a picture of the garden on the other page.
Quote by Freddie Mercury that says I like to be surrounded by splendid things.

I also took loads of photos in the exhibition of course, of which the few I’ve included here are just a tiny selection. So at a later date, once I’ve had a chance to look through the book more thoroughly, I hope to do a more extensive post to share more images and information about my favourite items.

A huge royal red cloak with gold decorations and white trim, accompanied by an ornate gold crown, on display in the Freddie Mercury exhibition, with people keenly taking photos of it from mall angles.
Freddie Mercury’s signature crown and cloak ensemble.
An asymmetrical scarlet elastane catsuit, the right side and arm made of intricate red lacing, the left side with long sleeve, the stirrup legs with diagonal pleats overall in a vein-like pattern. The torso is embellished with thirteen ‘eyeballs’ of white plastic, hand-painted in black and brown, surrounded by red velvet ‘eyelids’ with hand-drawn black outlines extending up the torso to the shoulder. The back has a detachable decorative ‘spine’ made of layers of different fabrics in red, black and gold cut to resemble flames, one end with a sheaf of long plumes worn at the left shoulder, including peacock and ostrich.
Freddie Mercury’s fantastical ‘It’s A Hard Life’ video outfit, 1984
The black Yamaha Baby Grand Piano, which is actually quite large despite the name, on which Freddie Mercury is believed to have composed Bohemian Rhapsody.
Freddie Mercury's handwritten lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody, scribbled on a piece of British Midland Airways headed notepaper.

Frameless – Audio Described Tour (AD)

My final big outing of the month came thanks to Frameless, who offered me complimentary admission to an audio described tour of their immersive galleries for feedback and review purposes. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I was blown away by it.

A large display on the outside of the Frameless gallery building, showing two people looking up in wonder, with colourful, thick strokes of paint behind them. Across the top, white text gives the names of the artists Rembrandt, Turner, Canaletto, Klimt, Rubens and Kandinksy. And at the bottom, on a thick stroke of orange paint, white text says 4 multi-sensory galleries take art to a new dimension, with icons for animation, interactive and surround sound below it.y on the outside of the Frameless gallery building, showing two people looking up in wonder, with colourful imagery of plants and thick strokes of paint behind them. Across the top, white text gives the names of the artists Rembrandt, Turner, Canaletto, Klimt, Rubens and Kandinksy. At the bottom, on a thick stroke of orange paint, white text says 4 multi-sensory galleries take art to a new dimension, with icons for animation, interactive and surround sound below it. And on the bottom right is a QR code with white text saying book now above it.

You’re basically taken through 4 galleries, where you’re completely surrounded by massive, animated, high definition representations of beautiful artworks, accompanied by fitting classical and contemporary music, all delivered through the use of cutting-edge projection and sound technology. One area has a mirrored ceiling and floor panels to add depth, another has motion sensing capabilities so that you can kick and sweep digital elements from the floor to the walls, the third room is the biggest space that engulfs you in a variety of different landscapes, and the final gallery has a maze of massive gauze screens displaying abstract imagery.

Waterlily Pond painting by Claude Monet, showing a bridge going over a waterlily pond, with greenery filling the background. The painting is being projected on a huge wall in the Frameless gallery, in front of which people are standing or sitting, so some of the projected image is appearing on them as well.

It all looks amazing, and the audio description, delivered live by Jonathan Nash, ensured I fully understood the context and finer details of what I was seeing. The team at Frameless are also keen to make things as accessible as possible, so they’re very open to feedback from all visitors.

Check out my full review post for further information about the experience. You can also find out about their next audio described tours, BSL tours, chilled sessions and more on their accessibility page.

A painting of Vesuvius in Eruption, with a View over the Islands in the Bay of Naples by Joseph Wright of Derby, projected on to a huge wall in the Frameless gallery.

TV

Chris McCausland & Dara Ó Briain

This month a couple of stand-up comedy shows were broadcast that I saw in person last year. So it was great to see them again, especially as I’d naturally forgotten some of the material after so many months:

First of all, Channel 4 showed Speaky Blinder by Chris McCausland, filmed at London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in May this year. The tour had started in April 2022, after a long delay because of the pandemic, and I saw him at the Leicester Square Theatre in June that year.

And it was good fun, as he spoke about his touring experience, technology with speech, meditation, the funniest name he’s heard, the birth and upbringing of his daughter Sophie, why men love boobs, non-violent communication, imagining what people look like, and not being able to see his wife and daughter, among other things. So it was great that people at home could see him in action ahead of his new tour, called Yonks!, which is one of several stand-up shows I’ve already bought tickets for in 2024.

The BBC, meanwhile, put on a 1-hour edit of So… Where Were We? by Dara Ó Briain, filmed at Vicar Street in Dublin last year. I saw him live at the Hammersmith Apollo last October – and he’s still currently touring the show, with upcoming gigs in Gibraltar, Switzerland, Canada, Australia & New Zealand, so don’t read the next bit or watch it online if you’re going to one of those and want to avoid spoilers!

But it’s an excellent set, during which he talks about coming out of the pandemic, teaching his child to read while homeschooling, his bad knee, getting massages, his teenage daughter, and having an undescended testicle. And he finishes with a fascinating, frank, funny and moving story about searching for his birth mother, who he had never known as he was adopted, including the legal and bureaucratic hurdles he had to overcome along the way. It’s a very personal tale to tell, but he does it brilliantly.

Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em

I rewatched my DVDs of the classic sitcom Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em this month, to mark its 50th anniversary. It’s always really funny, with Frank Spencer getting into all sorts of crazy mishaps, often with clever stunts involved. Even though it was all planned and executed very carefully back then, today’s health and safety requirements would undoubtedly prevent a lead actor doing a lot of that stuff now. Michael Crawford was certainly very brave to roller skate under a lorry, hang off a car dangling over a cliff and drive into the sea, as just a few examples of many classic moments.

His long-suffering yet loving and loyal wife Betty (Michele Dotrice) is also great, and in later episodes it’s sweet to see Frank entertaining their new baby Jessica as well. There are some fun guest stars too, including Glynn Edwards (as Frank’s neighbour in a few episodes), Richard Wilson, Fulton Mackay, Christopher Timothy, Christopher Biggins, David Ryall and Elisabeth Sladen, to name a few of the more familiar names. Plus of course it has that unique theme tune by legendary composer Ronnie Hazlehurst, which spells out the title of the series in Morse code (ignoring the apostrophes), and the full version gets very jazzy after the intro part that’s used on the show.

I also rewatched the 2016 Sport Relief Special, which I purchased as a download at the time. It’s strange seeing Frank and Betty so much older, and it’s naturally not quite as good as the original series. But it’s still fun to see Frank trying to get to the Lee Valley Velopark by car, bike and roller skates to watch his grown-up daughter (played by Gemma Arterton) race in the velodrome, passing a few famous faces along the way (including Jenson Button, Boris Johnson, Paul McCartney & David Walliams), and interfering with a world record attempt by Bradley Wiggins when he does finally get there.

There were also a few programmes on BBC Four recently to celebrate the 50th anniversary. In particular, it was wonderful to see Michael and Michele getting back together to reminisce about making the show, during which they spoke about the casting and development of their characters, working with writer Raymond Allen, Michael’s comedy influences, doing his own stunts, the popularity of the series, comedians impersonating Frank, why the show ended, the risk of being typecast after playing such famous roles, and their joy at making people laugh. It was a great conversation as the two of them have always got on so well (which was also evident when Michele surprised Michael on Noel’s House Party in 1998 for the 25th anniversary – the look of delight on his face when Michele is brought on is adorable).

There was also a repeat of an insightful 1977 documentary called To Be Perfectly Frank, where Michael talks about his character and doing his own stunts, we see the extensive preparations for the driving stunts from the 1975 Christmas Special, we learn about the window cleaning stunt on a tower block that went wrong, and there are even a couple of amusing outtakes.

And finally there was a 1999 interview with Michael Crawford by the late chat show host Michael Parkinson (who sadly passed away during the month). It was very interesting, with Crawford talking about the sitcom, his family and children, writing his autobiography Parcel Arrived Safely: Tied With String, meeting Gene Kelly, and of course The Phantom Of The Opera, the musical in which he won awards and huge acclaim as the first person to play the title role. He performed Music Of The Night from that show, as well as promoting his Christmas album with beautiful renditions of Scarlet Ribbons (a sweet ballad) and Silent Night (with a children’s choir singing Peace, Peace as a counter-melody).

I don’t have or need that festive album, but I do have an album of him singing Andrew Lloyd Webber songs that was passed down to me from my parents ages ago, and it’s very good, as he’s an incredible performer and singer. He hasn’t played Frank Spencer on stage (the closest he got was his role in Billy in the 1970s), but Joe Pasquale did in a touring production that ran between 2018 and 2022, though I didn’t go to see that.

So I enjoyed watching all the episodes of Some Mothers again, and those extra bits and pieces too. The show is one of those timeless classics that I’ll never get tired of revisiting, that’s for sure.

Other Shows

I’ve also watched other TV shows this month of course, but there isn’t a lot to say about them.

In terms of comedy:

  • On Channel 4 I finished the latest series of The Last Leg, which was a lot of fun as usual, and we had a solitary new episode of 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown alongside a couple of compilations (there are more new episodes on the way though).
  • Over on Sky there’s a new series of Never Mind The Buzzcocks, but I haven’t been watching every episode. I think the novelty of its return has worn off for me now, as the guests seem to be much more of a mixed bag this time around, mainly consisting of people I’ve never heard of or have no interest in (Alex Brooker and Chesney Hawkes were good though). And Greg Davies is still a capable host, but I much prefer him in Taskmaster, the return of which I’m really looking forward to later in September. So I’ll keep an eye on the listings for Buzzcocks in case anyone I really like pops up on it, but otherwise I’m stepping away from it.
  • Similarly, ITV2 have started showing the 21st season of Family Guy, but I’ve called it a day on that. It’s been past its prime for quite a while, the first episodes of this new season didn’t grab me, and there are a lot of other things I’m far more interested in watching. So 20 seasons is a good round place to stop.

And as for other programmes:

  • I’m still watching the brilliant Secrets Of The London Underground, which I’ll give my thoughts on properly in my September Favourites post.
  • I’ve started going through the third series of Doctor Who as part of my 60th anniversary celebrations, so I hope to post a thorough review of that in the weeks ahead.

Reflections & Thanks

What a month it’s been! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about all of that.

I’m so blessed to have such great friends with whom I’ve been able to celebrate this special occasion, and who are just awesome all the time anyway. They’re always wonderful company, and they’ve always been there when I’ve needed them. I don’t know what I would do without their loyalty, love, laughter and support.

Likewise, I’ve had lots of messages from many other lovely friends and acquaintances, ranging from old school mates and colleagues to people I’ve befriended through my blog and social media channels, for which I’m very grateful indeed.

My life has changed in so many ways, that would have seemed totally inconceivable and impossible to my young self back in primary school, when I was extremely shy and felt worthless to begin with after the bullying I received early on. But very gradually, as I began to receive the right support and encouragement, and discovered what I was particularly skilled at and what my passions were, I was able to make friends, earn solid qualifications, travel to new places and develop a career, building my confidence and independence as a result.

A picture of me at school with 2 female friends, each of us holding a white symbol cane in front of us, diagonally across our legs. I'm in the middle, wearing a grey jumper and black trousers, whilst the girls are wearing red jumpers and either a pink or grey skirt respectively.
Group photo of teenagers and school staff, their faces blurred out for privacy, admiring the mountainous scenery surrounding them in Snowdonia.
Me as a young child, smiling and leaning against Santa Claus, who has his arm around me. It's my grandad dressed up. We're in front of the Christmas tree and presents, next to the living room window.
Glen, as a young child, is standing and smiling on a paved garden patio, wearing a blue and white striped t-shirt, red shorts and black trainers. His father, sat behind him in a red shirt, blue jeans and white trainers, watches with a smile. Flower pots nearby contain a mix of red and white flowers. Bernie Sanders in his coat and mittens from President Biden's inauguration, an image that went viral in January 2021, is sitting in the kitchen doorway in the background.
My graduation photo. I'm wearing a dark navy suit and tie, with light blue strap around the neck, and a mortar board on my head. I'm smiling while holding a rolled up certificate tied with a red ribbon.

I was then able to build on those solid foundations and experiences when I moved to London, by putting myself out there through socialising and blogging, which has already resulted in guest posts, public speaking, TV and radio appearances, student documentaries, a charity abseil, a relationship, a new support worker job, countless opportunities to enjoy arts and culture in an accessible way, and more besides. Fate has naturally thrown me a few curveballs during these past four decades as well, like it does for everyone, but getting through the tougher times has also made me stronger.

Collage of 9 photos of Glen in 2018. The tall central photo shows Glen, Claire and James smiling and giving thumbs up below the tall Orbit Tower after their abseil. A column of 4 photos on the left shows Glen flying over Hogwarts castle on a broomstick, sitting in front of the London Eye, standing by the Freddie Mercury waxwork, and smiling while holding a plunger with a small model toilet on his head. The column of 4 photos on the right show Glen posing with members of East London Vision, student artist Nihan Karim, Aniridia Network members Fern and Jenny, and South East London Vision events organiser Jessica.
Collage of 9 photos of me in 2019, some with friends and some by myself. They show me admiring the view from a bridge in a park, riding on the Emirates Airline cable car, wearing my green-tinted sunglasses outside the Science Museum, posing by a red postbox in the Postal Museum and a War Horse model at the National Theatre, enjoying a pub social, giving a conference speech, eating dinner on a vintage Tube train, and appearing on 5 News on TV.
A collage of 9 images of me, including at a quiz night, at an escape room, in a TV audience, with Emily Davison, posing with sunglasses by an old building, posing with a crowd on a football pitch, posing with 2 ladies on Tower bridge, looking at a piece of fur with a lady at the Natural History Museum, and giving a public talk.

However, I couldn’t have done any of that on my own, and still can’t. Everyone who has played some part in my life so far, however big or small, has helped to shape me into the person I’m proud to be today – and that’s a lot of people over such a long time! The montage I put together at the beginning of the video accompanying this post shows a lot of them, and at the end of the video there’s a tribute to some of my late friends, colleagues and family members who I still dearly miss.

So lots of love and thanks to my family and all of my good friends, for everything they’ve brought and continue to bring to my life. It really does mean a great deal to me, and I’m pleased that I’m able to bring some joy and support to their lives in return.

And many thanks to all of my followers here on my blog and social media as well. Whether you read, share or comment on my ramblings, or get in touch for any other reason, it all makes doing this worthwhile. It’s flattering and gratifying to know that people take an interest in what I do and what I have to say, and that some even take inspiration and comfort from it.

So here’s to the future! Judging by the past 40 years, there’s no way to be sure what lies ahead, as anything’s potentially possible. But whatever happens, and whatever ups and downs there are along the way, I hope you’ll continue to share in it with me and support me. Thanks for everything!

Glen sitting at a table in a pub, smiling as he holds up a pint of cider. In front of him is a dinner of streak and chips, with peas, mushroom and tomato.
Selfie of Glen in a pub, smiling and holding a pint of cider.

Conclusion

So there you have it, that was fun,
With many thanks to everyone.
My friends are worth their weight in gold,
They make it stress-free growing old.

So cheers for reading, I’ll return,
With more that I have seen and learned.
Until then, have a good time too,
Whatever you have planned to do! 🙂


Unknown's avatar

Author: Glen

Love London, love a laugh, love life. Visually impaired blogger, culture vulture & accessibility advocate, with aniridia & nystagmus, posting about my experiences & adventures.