Relocation

So it looks as though my time as a “Londoner” is at an end. I had one final walk into Central London along the Thames, taking in the breathtaking sight of the City skyline from the banks of the Thames at Bermondsey. I also finished the Capital Ring, the 78-mile path around London that starts and ends in Woolwich, passing through various locations largely in Zone 3. A fitting way to bow out of living here. I plan to be back, of course, although I envisage settling somewhere a little further out, probably northwards, so that I have better road & rail access to the rest of the UK.

Drinking & dining was weird in August, wasn’t it? I had a few people to catch up with before leaving, and each cafe, pub & restaurant had their own take on how to interpret the rules. Some operated on a near-normal basis, while others were decked out in perspex and required you to sign up to wifi, download apps and solve various cryptic equations before you could order a pint. It is of course nice to have this part of society back, and whilst theatres can now technically reopen indoors (and indeed some performances are underway), the large-scale productions I tend to work on still aren’t able to happen while the guidelines are in place. The wait goes on.

Moving house is always a good time to sort out life. In the end, I didn’t throw as much away as I thought I would, largely because as someone who tours a lot, I don’t have a great amount of stuff! Still, two boxes went to the tip and another two to a charity shop (which was happily accepting donations again). There looks to be enough space up here in Cheshire for me to unpack what I want, whilst keeping long-term items and memories safely boxed up ready for a move back south at some point.

With address changes nearly done and the unpack continuing nice and steadily, attention turns to autumnal plans. Without shows, it looks more like one-off gigs, workshops and educational-related projects are the way to go for now. Time to put the feelers out!