Sunflowers: 2020

I follow Stirchley Primary School on Twitter. Liz’s grandchildren go there. I don’t know who manages their Twitter account, and posts, but whoever does it is brilliant. They appear to get wonderful pictures of the children working hard and then displaying that work. It’s not the same children every time, not even the same class. Sometimes, it is a baking project, or sometimes raising money for Comic Relief; it may be a history or art project. It is a really good way of using social media, keeping parents and grandparents in touch, especially in this weird time of Coronavirus. Congratulations to them!

However, there is a point to all this praise for Stirchley Primary School. Not long before the Lockdown in March 2020, Year 2 were given the task of replicating Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ using pastels. There were some amazing pictures. It inspired me to get out my ‘Van Gogh’ tea towel, given to me by my cousin Amanda. I sent Stirchley Primary School a photo of it and said that if they sent me a picture of each child’s work, I would choose one to get transferred onto a tea towel. So they sent me all the pictures. It was really difficult to choose from so many different styles. In the end, I gave in and chose two: the one at the top of the blog because it really captured the essence of Van Gogh’s work; the one at the bottom of the page because they had really captured the colours from the original painting. I know a few people in the tea Towel Business and got a good ‘deal’ and was able to give each artist two tea towels of their drawing AND each also went into the Museum.

I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the paintings, realising what budding artists (and possibly Tea Towel Designers) there were, at such a young age. Sadly, it was a long time before the children were able to get their tea towels because the school shut down for a long time due to Coronavirus. I have no idea who the artists were but congratulations to them And I hope you are enjoying using your tea towels!!! It’s good to learn to dry up, from an early age.

This project went on to inspire me and involve the Virtual Tea Towel Museum in Home Schooling and enable people to share their thoughts about Coronavirus. I set up a section in the Museum called ‘We’re all in this together’. Some school children wrote a Seven Day Diary about Lockdown, others took up some history or geography challenges. Someone in Austria and another from Italy wrote about their experiences of Coronavirus and Catherine has written thirty Diary Entries, charting her journey into Lockdown, out of it and more recently back into it, almost like the Mass Observation project which ran from 1937 to the 1980s. “We’re all in this together” continues with different people contributing. It is a great record of the feelings of individuals during a difficult time. Thank you to Stirchley Primary School for inspiring me in this.

Tywyn: Acquired 2020

When my friend Gwyn died in July 2020, I said that I would use up all my Welsh tea towels to blog about my memories of her.  Gwyn, whose full name was Gwyneth but only her family in Anglesey called her that, had a great affinity with Wales, and Anglesey in particular.   It’s a while since I last did a direct blog about Gwyn but I still have some tea towels left.  I’ve seen where Tywyn is on the map but I have no idea if she ever went there, and I don’t know anything about it.

Recently, as Nottingham goes into Tier 3 of Coronavirus Lockdown, I have been thinking of Gwyn more, probably because she was so scared of getting the virus; she was in the highest level of vulnerability because she was on chemo.  When Liz went to a hospital outpatient appointment yesterday, I can see why she was frightened, it is an unnatural environment these days.  No people sitting around with a coffee and a biscuit, the car park full of people sitting in their cars waiting until their appointment is five minutes away, because you aren’t allowed to wait in hospital.  Doctors and nurses gowned up like something from Dr Who.  The NHS did Gwyn proud; during her hospital stay, and with the carers she had at home, she never got the virus.

It isn’t just Coronavirus I was thinking about but also Mah Jongg.  Almost every time that Gwyn visited us, and even when we visited her house, since 2013, we played Mah Jongg.  I know I have previously talked about her skills in reading the Rule Book of any game, and understanding it.  But I just miss playing with her.  Although it was me that wanted to get the game originally, Gwyn loved playing it.  Between us, we had a wide range of games to play but she always wanted to start with Mah Jongg.  It’s not that she always won (although she was very good) but she just enjoyed it.  I never asked her what it was that she so liked.  I know she liked, like us all, the sound of clicking of the tiles and the feel of the tiles.  She liked packing up the tiles in the box, choosing a different order each time.  I was always sad, that when we played games on Zoom (or similar) that it wasn’t possible to play Mah Jongg.  At present, the little suitcase of Mah Jongg sits in the cupboard, unused since February.  Maybe one day it will come out again but you can’t play with two people, only four or three.

Santa’s Christmas Shopping: Acquired 2020

I follow hannahberridgeceramics on Instagram. She makes hand painted ceramics: plates, candle-holders, jugs, bowls, tea pots…… The other thing that she does is post ceramic, hand-painted numbers, each day as a ‘Countdown to Christmas’, starting with 100 days to go. Today is 60. It’s scary watching how quickly Christmas creeps up on you. This year, however, it is very handy. If you are not going out into town, or to a shopping centre, which I’m not, (Tier 3 and all that), then you are not watching the stores get decorated and display their Christmas goods. You don’t know how quickly it is all approaching, you can’t see what’s in fashion for Christmas..

Coronavirus isn’t going away, it is just getting worse but that doesn’t mean that we can’t celebrate Christmas in a very distanced, not even socially-distanced, sort of a way. I decided that the best way to celebrate Christmas this year is to get organised, and get organised early. Throughout my ‘Coronavirus Journey’, I have ‘met’ some wonderful independent ‘artists’ (not just tea towel designers) who have struggled on, when their outlets have been shut, who have developed their websites so that online shopping is must easier. Artists who have expanded their range of goods when you might think they wouldn’t want to take the gamble to expand. I have seen Museum Shops that are going strong, even when the Museum wasn’t open.

So this year I have decided to support the small independent outlets and artists who sell online. Yesterday, I started browsing and, wow, what a wonderful range of distinctive and original goods there are about, goods that will be reasonable easy to pack and post, especially as Royal Mail are collecting from your home. When the Government announces that Nottingham is in Tier 3 later today we will be restricted from travelling outside our area so the Royal Mail will come in handy.

Sadly, I cannot reveal what exciting bargains I have bought, otherwise people will know what they will be getting for Christmas but what you need to do is go the the Virtual Tea Towel Museum because in the ‘Museum Shop’ is the list of some of the exciting places to support.

So this year Santa’s Sack will be full but maybe with a different kind of gift from that which I would usually give. I’m quite excited about the coming of Christmas this year because it does require more imagination but maybe less physical effort of trudging around the shops, and crowds.

2011 Calendar Tea Towel

My last Blog was about the 2010 Calendar Tea Towel, which belongs to Liz K. But she also owns a 2011 one, another Pat Albeck one, designed for the National Trust. Liz K read the 2010 Blog and said “That is lovely Barbara. I had quite a thrill when I opened it and saw ‘that’s my tea towel’. The tone is a bit final though, as if we will never see each other again. I certainly hope that is not true”

My response was “Plonker! It’s 2011 next”

And that was always my intention, to think about what is possible for the future. I seriously could not imagine never seeing Liz K again. After all, in normal circumstances, we would be going to Scotland at least 6 times a year, to see Jean in Aberdeen and to go on holiday. It is still my ambition to see the Edinburgh Tattoo at least one more time, to go back to Tiree, to visit Islay again and Colonsay for the first time. I still want to go back to Orkney and Shetland, to see the dolphins in the Moray Forth, to stand by the road sign in John O’Groats and much more. I want to see the Benmore Botanical Gardens, go back to Gairloch, visit Skye again and, if possible, go back to Canna. I’m sure I have forgotten other things I have been dreaming about doing in the future. But all those things involve passing where Liz will be living.

But we are also thinking about the Christmas Buffet. It won’t be this year (because I’m sure Nottingham will be in Tier 3 with no mixing of households within a few days, otherwise we would invite Liz K to stay) unless it is online. But I am hopeful Liz K might be able to spend some time in Nottingham in order that we can celebrate, next year; I’m not sure if it even matters whether it is in December, it will still be a Christmas Buffet, with her Cheese Straws.

So, after all, this is a Calendar Tea Towel, what did happen in 2011? I have absolutely no idea. But, of course, I can look back through my tea towel blogs. How stupid can I be? It was the year of a ‘significant’ birthday of mine. We went to Manchester for the weekend and had Afternoon Tea in the Lowrie Hotel, visited the Lowrie Museum, bought a load of tea towels, went on the Manchester Wheel (and I still have a fridge magnet with a picture taken coming off the wheel looking somewhat pale and shaky).

Liz organised a very posh Afternoon Tea, strangely in our kitchen, for my family and oldest friends. It was a fabulous day. Ann came. I had shared a room with her at university; she was the bridesmaid at my wedding but I hadn’t actually seen her for about 25 years. My uncle, Christopher, came; we sat him next to Liz’s mother. She thought he was wonderful and talked about him for years to come, about how good looking, charming and intelligent he was. We never told him! Gwyneth came. I went to Stockport College of Technology with her. She came to my second wedding. She was the rebel of the course, and the youngest. She bought me (although I made it clear I didn’t want any presents) a red Acer. I planted it in the garden but when we moved to Nottingham two years ago, I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving it behind. I thought I must at least give it a try to move it. Now it looks beautiful, in front of the very large beech hedge. Jai came. Jai with her toddler, Hamish, and heavily pregnant with Lyra. Hamish was there, pulling out all of the DVDs from the cupboard, putting them in a large Spode jug (I just shut my eyes and held my breath) and then carefully removed them from the Spode jug; the process began again, and again, and again. We have so many photos of Hamish going through this process.

So, thanks to Liz K for giving me the opportunity to reflect on, and remember, my ‘special birthday’ and plan for the future when this evil, life-threatening, world-wide, divisive pandemic has forgotten that health and life should come before politics and selfishness. I’m looking forward to visiting Liz K in Scotland and holding the 2021 Christmas Buffet in Nottingham, in the meantime I’m preparing for Tier 3!

2010 Calendar Tea Towel

A couple of months ago, I asked my ‘Followers’ if they had any Calendar Tea Towels that they could photograph for me. I had just got ‘into’ Calendar Tea Towels but have so few myself. My friend, Liz K, sent me three photos. I blogged about 1984 on 14 July 2020 but then ‘events’ took over. So I still have two left. Today is 2010.

What a great tea towel! I say that because it is a Pat Albeck, one of 43 Calendar Tea Towels she designed for the National Trust; one every year since 1976. I so miss her Calendar Tea Towels.

This seems like the appropriate moment to write about one of Liz K’s. For some time, she has had a growing desire to move to Scotland, to live near her two daughters, their partners and her grandchildren. It’s a feeling that many grandparents experience. If you don’t make the most of your grandchildren when they are young that time will be gone. For her, Scotland was too far away. Don’t get me wrong, she has probably spent more time with her grandchildren than many grandparents have but it has had to be in ‘big chunks’. It is a bit difficult to be spontaneous when we are talking about a 250 mile one-way trip; you can’t pop in for a cup of coffee or decide to go for a trip to the park.

The decision to sell up and move was not easy. She had shared a house with her best friend for more than 15 years, a house of their dreams that offered separate living space, with the company of a friend thrown in. If she left then they both left. They sorted that out. Then the house had to go on the market. This was no ordinary house and it was the sort that you either loved or hated but wouldn’t feel indifferent about. And then there was Coronavirus but somehow Coronavirus was in their favour because once estate agents were open again, after Lockdown, they had more viewings than ever before. Other people have talked about more people wanting to get away from town centres, more people wanting to find a place where they can have an appropriate office at home rather than working on the kitchen table, more people wanting to appreciate the countryside, have land, grow veg…….

The house was sold and now Liz K has moved to Scotland, last week. We met up in a socially distanced outdoor space to go for a walk and say goodbye in a socially distanced way, no hugging, not even a shake of the hand. Without that, it doesn’t really seem real.

There are several things that we did with Liz K. When I say ‘we’, that means Liz (M), Gwyn and Pete. We’ve been on days out on a narrowboat, been out for meals and ‘Highlight of the Year’ was the Christmas Buffet, held at our house. We had a substantial buffet, with Liz K always bringing her speciality, her homemade Cheese Straws. Gwyn supplied the Goodie Bags, Pete the drink and we supplied the Christmas Crackers and games. The crackers always had games inside them like wind-up Racing Santas or Selfie Brussel Sprout Glasses.

Gwyn’s Goodie bags were amazing. Each present was wrapped up and each present was so imaginative. We played Christmas Bingo (with prizes) and Throw the Hoop on the Reindeer Antlers. We did Animal Sculptures with Balloons and Liz K was excellent at that (although some of the photos of her with her animal sculpture did look quite obscene). Gwyn gave us battery-operated ‘Penguins Racing Up the Ski Slope’ about eight years ago which comes out, and is put on display, on 1 December each year, an integral part of the Christmas Buffet.

The fact is, this year Gwyn is no longer with us and Liz K has moved away. Times change, things move on but the memories of those Christmases will never fade, mainly because there are soooooooooooo many photos.

But there is one ‘Special’ event that I associate with 2010. Nothing to do with Liz K or Gwyn. It was ‘The Move to the New Building’. Since 1999, I had been the Director of an organisation run by disabled people, providing services to disabled people. I loved the job and I loved the building we were based in. It was built in 1907, the first new building built for services to disabled people. It had a history. It was fully accessible, well almost fully accessible. The doors were very wide to accommodate ‘spinal carriages’. However, the door handles were very high. The main hall was huge, flat and could accommodate the equivalent of more than 150 wheelchairs. However, there was a stage/dias that could not be made accessible. There was a large downstairs kitchen where food could be prepared for the huge social gatherings that were held every week. However, it needed modernisation. There was also a balcony at the back of the hall, no one today really knew why.

But the Guild Hall’s fate was sealed, back in 1992, when it was made into a Grade II Listed building. As someone who loved history, it should be a listed building because it was a central feature in the social history of the lives of disabled people, in Leicester and UK. It was radical in it’s time but to be radical in 21st century there needed to be alterations. Those alterations like making fully accessible toilets, redesigning the kitchen, making alterations to the stage and installing a lift, even lowering the door handles, were not allowed because it was a Grade II Listed building and so in 2000 the process of selling the Guild Hall, and the process of finding a New Building, began. And wow, was it hard‽ It involved a ‘temporary’ move to a building that was suitable until suddenly our services expanded greatly and it was much too small. It involved clearing out the Guild Hall, a building with huge cupboards and spare rooms. Nobody had to throw away anything away in 90 years because there was always a cupboard to stuff things in. Not only was there an enormous amount of furniture, crockery, equipment to get rid of but people had just put scraps of paper and bags of rubbish in the cupboards as well. No one else was interested in doing this job but I loved it. I ‘felt’ the history. Things went to the local museum and the records archives. Things were sold at auction houses; we ‘loaned’ some (150) chairs, and china that would cater for 100 people, to local charities and took very little with us.

In 2010, at Easter Weekend, we moved into a brand new office, not necessarily how we originally envisaged it, on a Business Park. People loved it, and ten years on it is still there.

So, 2010 was a very significant year for mosaic: shaping disability services. Having achieved the move I knew that I would stay with the organisation until I retired. It was the best 16 years of my working life. I loved it and consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have such a job.

So, thank you Liz K, for the photograph of the 2010 Calendar Tea Towel, for the memories of our friendship, for the great times we shared together (especially the Christmas Buffet), more memories of Gwyn and letting me go down the ‘Rabbit Warren’ of my time at mosaic: shaping disability services.

Who’s Drying Up?: 2016

I love this tea towel. It works for me, in the same way as a box of photos does. What I would call ‘The Rabbit Warren Effect’. You look at the picture, all the memories come flooding back, memories that link with other events, you then look for more photos and you ask yourself “what has happened to the day?”.

The photograph was taken by Liz, probably in 2014. She was looking after her grandchildren for a week. I was at work. They went to Bradgate Park, with a picnic, on a beautifully warm and sunny day. Hamish and Lyra spent most of the day playing about in the stream that runs through the Park, jumping from rock to rock, paddling in the water, wearing just T-shirts and a pair of pants. They loved it. We have a lot of photos of that day, all with two happy, smiling children. (I might add that when they grow up into adults maybe they wouldn’t want this photo on a tea towel!)

Liz thought that this photo was good enough to have transferred on to a tea towel, as a present for her mother, their great grandmother. It was done as a birthday present. Sadly, the line of wording didn’t come out in full contrast, thus making it difficult to read but it says: “Who’s drying up?”

The photo at the bottom of the page was taken when Liz’s mother received her present. I remember her saying “I’ll never be able to use this as a tea towel. It’s like a picture”. She kept to her word and never did use it. I inherited it when she moved into a Residential Care Home in 2016. That picture of her holding the tea towel shows the joy she felt when she got it, although she never did understand how photos were transferred onto tea towels. And I can confirm the photo was taken in March 2016 (look at the calendar)

I use it. Because I believe that tea towels are made for using. When I use it I remember how happy she was to get this as a birthday present but also how happy Liz was having spent a wonderful day in Bradgate Park with her grandchildren, something she can’t do today because of Coronavirus; those days will return, even if the grandchildren will be so much older!

St Marks: Acquired 2020

This was among 101 tea towels I was sent at the end of March 2020. It belonged to Vanessa, who inherited from her mother. Vanessa is a friend of my cousin Amanda, who is the daughter of Catherine (of Coronavirus Diary fame). I love the way there is a ‘Circle of Life’ once tea towels are involved. I am a big fan of Google, if I want to know something about a tea towel. You would think that ‘St Mark’s 150th Anniversary’ would be easy to research, especially with such a distinctive tea towel. If you thought that, you were wrong!!

Is St Mark’s a church, Cathedral, prayer circle, something religious‽ Is St Mark’s English, British or foreign‽ Is it a Primary School or a university college‽ I don’t know, nor does Google unless there are other questions I should be asking it. I imagine it’s British (or possibly Canadian, Australasian or American) because it is written in English. In terms of history it isn’t that old, so could be a school. It’s slightly weird having a celebratory tea towel, with nothing on it to identify where it might come from.

So how about the symbolic animal‽ Is it a ‘griffin’‽ A griffin being a lion, often with wings and the head of a bird. It is a lion, it does have wings but that isn’t the head of a bird. I got quite excited because Brentford Football Club’s old ground was ‘Griffin Park’ taking the Griffin from nearby Fuller’s Brewery (that has an Griffin as a logo) and then I remembered the St Mark’s bit, how would that fit in?.

So I would like to know (a) where this tea towel came from (b) what was 150 years old called St Mark’s and (c) is it still going? Please somebody help me!!!

The National Gallery: 2020

Don’t you love this Tea Towel? The detail? The River Thames with the floral patterning? The London Eye, so distinctive? The Shard and its elegance? Those out-of-proportion pigeons? It seems it will be ages before I will visit London again. So how come I acquired this tea towel, in the height of the Pandemic?

Through the door, in a very compact, plastic padded envelope came this beautiful tea towel. No address of sender on the envelope, no card inside. This must surely come from Amanda, my cousin but I don’t know. It’s really difficult to ask someone if they sent you a present when they haven’t ‘warned’ you. It sounds as though you are expecting a present, could sound rude. But having already had a box of 101 tea towels, from her, at the beginning of Lockdown, I know I can ask her. She won’t be offended. “Glad you liked it” was her answer. Problem solved. I am always amazed that Amanda is so generous; for no particular reason, she will send me a tea towel but these days she is using her IT skills to source them, from good online shops, rather than popping into a shop when she is on holiday.

A few weeks ago, it was one from the Florence Nightingale Museum and now the National Gallery. I like the idea that she is supporting the ‘culture’ sector, an area that is so badly hit by Coronavirus. I think it is a great idea and I’ve started thinking about my Christmas List, supporting museums and small artisan businesses rather than wending my way through Amazon or the big stores. It’s the small businesses that need help; they have given me such joy during Lockdown, so I want to give something back.

However, there was something about this tea towel that I recognised. I looked up Josie Shenoy on Google and, of course, she is one of the artists that Gibsons Jigsaws use. I had nearly bought one of her puzzles but wondered how tricky they might be. I think I’ll have another look because this design is delightful.

So thank-you, Amanda, for such a wonderful gift which has given me immense joy and lets hope we can meet up again soon.

Chesterfield Canal: 2020

A couple of weeks ago, 24 September 2020 to be precise, I wrote a Blog called ‘Narrowboats (or Cruising the Cut)’, about a walk from Tapton Lock to Hollingwood Hub. A new place for me, and delightful. I was able to buy the ‘Narrowboat’ tea towel at a gift shop at Hollingwood Hub; it’s rarely that you find a tourist gift shop, in a physical presence, these days. Anyone who knows me would know, given this rare chance, that I wouldn’t limit myself to one tea towel if there was the opportunity to expand my collection. I did buy two more, related to the Chesterfield Canal.

Since visiting Tapton Lock, I have finished watching ‘Cruising the Cut’. I have already contacted David Johns and asked when the next ‘Season’ is likely to be shown. He assures me that there should be something around Christmas. Hooray. In the meantime, I have found ‘Britain by Narrowboat’ and, once again, become addicted. I now await the next Season. How I love a narrowboat. Just remembered how much Gwyn, my friend who died in the summer, loved a trip on a narrowboat.

So all this watching Amazon Prime and walking the towpath of the Chesterfield Canal has made me ask: why didn’t I see the Chesterfield Canal on ‘Cruising the Cut’ or ‘Britain by Narrowboat’? Answer: it is not a functioning canal although it has the water. What is the Nottingham Canal, down the road from me, because I’ve never heard of it? Another canal that is disused. Why don’t I know all this about canals? Because I’m too lazy to have found out. But what I do know is that a canal towpath is usually beautifully flat, a good surface for a wheelchair or Tramper. I wonder how many miles of canals there are that are now disused? I must find out more.

Chesterfield Canal: 46 miles long, linked the Trent to the middle of Chesterfield. Opened in 1777, as a result of the work of James Brindley, known as ‘Father of the English Canals’. The tea towel immediately above, commemorates the 300th birthday of James Brindley, with a cute cartoon. “His pioneering work led to the building of 365 miles of canal at the heart of the network, eventually linking the four main river navigations of the Trent, Mersey, Severn and Thames”. The Chesterfield Canal formally closed in 1961 but campaigners managed to keep the stretch from Stockwith to Worksop open as a ‘cruiseway’, for leisure boats. Bits were sold off or left to decay. By 1976, the Chesterfield Canal Society had formed to link the canal up once more. Since 1989, 12 miles have been restored along with 37 locks, 11 bridges and 2 marinas. There are nine more miles to complete the link which they hope to complete by 2027, the 250th anniversary of its founding.

I need to learn a lot more about the canals, maybe ‘Cruising the Cut’ and ‘Britain by Narrowboat’ will do the trick. I am definitely going back to Hollingway Hub because they also had a load more tea towels!! And I’m going to find more towpaths along which Liz and I can walk, maybe with a Tramper but definitely with the wheelchair.

The Roundels: 2020

Don’t get me wrong, the ‘Roundel’ was associated with the London Underground way back in 1908, at the station now known as St James Park, not in 2020 as the title of this Blog implies. But then this Blog isn’t about the history of the London Transport Roundels or about Frank Pick (if you want to know more then ask Google or follow @MrTimDunn). Today’s Blog is about face coverings, very topical at this point in time.

Once I emerged from the confines of Lockdown, with Boris Johnson’s medical advisers saying that we should all wear a face covering (not full blown PPE) when we went outside and either could not social distance or were in a confined space like a shop or the doctors, I had to decide what to wear. I didn’t want to wear the pale blue face coverings that looked very ‘medical’. I wanted something stylish, unique, interesting. Don’t ask me why, because the rest of my outfit isn’t stylish, unique or interesting. As I looked online, at the beginning, most designs were ‘sold out’ and I ended up with a vintage Disney pattern of ‘Dumbo’; not really what I wanted, but better than the pale blue, or even black ones and looking sinister. ‘Dumbo’ was fine but not my style. As I went out more, making the most of the beautiful weather, I realised that I was going to need at least two sets, one to wear and one in the wash. Come winter it might be three.

I continued to search the internet for something more ‘me’. I’d also got to realise that I had other requirements: elastic loops around each ear and a means of altering the the ‘stretch’. Who knew that a simple face covering could be so complicated‽ I had tried a covering with ‘ties’ and ended up getting cramp, in my arms and up my neck, every time I tried to tie the strings and then it would always be in the wrong place.

One day, flicking through Twitter, I saw the London Transport Museum saying that their new batch of Face Coverings had come in, and one was a map of the tube line. That’s for me, I thought. I love a tube map. I put my order in. While I was doing that, I mooched through the online shop; I have been there in the flesh and know that it is really good. Oh, look at those tea towels of Roundels! Do I want the one with lines of Roundels in the different colours of the tube lines? It is nice and not controversial (the debate about Roundels and lettering goes on forever) but what about the one with Roundels through time, especially as in the top line is a 1908 Ealing Broadway Roundel. I used Ealing Broadway Station on a weekly basis, during my childhood and until I left home for university. Ealing Broadway, the end of the Central Line or even on the District Line and the main line to Paddington.

So it was decided for me, it was the Roundels through time. But the London Transport Museum had been closed for so long during Coronavirus, it would be good to support it through these difficult times, by buying the other tea towel (I can convince myself of anything), and some Tube Line socks that are so cool, and a box of Moquette Socks and a Moquette face mask for a friend. It was at that point that I realised that I had to stop. So now I have a very stylish face covering, two tea towels, a pair of socks and a couple of gifts. This is why I don’t shop online, I could go on for ever. So here is a Blog about tea towels completely avoiding talking about the subject of the tea towel. Well done Barbara!