Tilling Society Gathering, October 2000
THURSDAY, October 5: Arrived in Rye late morning, checked into the Old Borough Arms down on The Strand - an old sailor's inn built into the wall of the town - and went looking for a bite to eat.  The Mermaid Coffee House sits at the top of Mermaid Street on the corner of West Street, a few doors down from Lamb House.  After a toasted cheese and bacon sandwich, I returned to my room for a nap - had been awake for approximately 24 hours and the street and buildings were seeming none too stable around me. 

After 5:00, I went up to the Mermaid Inn where our 'Mrs. Wyse' and her spouse were staying and made myself comfy in a lounge til they returned from a shopping spree.  After chatting in the bar for awhile, we moved to the dining room.  After dinner, followed by coffee in the lounge and discussing Halloween customs on both sides of the pond with several other guests, they walked me around to the High Street to a bank machine, then to my room.  Midnight.
(1)   'Mrs. Susan Wyse' and 'Miss Susan Leg' at the Mermaid Inn, Rye. 
(2) '  Quaint1' and 'Bibelot' at 102 Oakley Street, London, one of Mr. Benson's residences. 
FRIDAY morning: Up, breakfasted, and down to the station to catch the 8:49 train to London/Charing Cross via Ashford/Kent.  There were several delays along the way cutting down on the time I needed for an errand before meeting our 'Bibelot' and 'Quaint1' at 11:30.  Off to Kensington, where there were more delays - folks kept stopping me and asking for directions!  I managed to get my photo of 5 Thurloe Square, one of the studio residences of the artist George Plank, a friend of E.F. Benson (designed EFB's bookplate), and back to Sloane Square Station only a little late.  'Bibelot' was there but 'Q1' hadn't arrived yet. 

After a bus ride down King's Road, my friends were very patient while I took photos of another couple of addresses where Plank had lived - at 217 King's Road (where Ellen Terry had lived next door) and 55 Glebe Place.  Photos were also taken at 102 Oakley Street, where Benson lived before moving to 25 Brompton Square.  Last year, the three of us made a pilgrimage to Brompton Square for photos. 

While in Chelsea, we decided to visit the home of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), a National Trust property.  There are many books, portraits, and personal items from his 47 years there.  After visiting the 'Parlour' and 'Back Dining Room' and the 'China Closet' on the ground floor, the kitchen down below, and the 'Library/Drawing Room' and 'Mrs. Carlyle's Bedroom' on the first floor up, I went out back to enjoy the garden while the other two climbed up to the 'Attic Study' - where there had been an unsuccessful attempt at soundproofing for Carlyle's benefit. 

Time to feed 'Miss Leg,' who's always hungry:  The Kings Head & 8 Bells pub is at the end of Cheyne Row, corner of Cheyne Walk.  Imagining ourselves to be dining where Carlyle had, we plunked down for a long chat and Benson gossip over food and drink. 
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