[Apologies to Fr Tat Hean – I know you don’t come cheaply]. And neither do the clergy vestments here. Having visited various Papal purveyors in Rome, I set off to visit the principal suppliers to the Church of England and caught the tube from my local, Russell Square.
For some reason this is the deepest tube station, some 15 stories down. Access to the platforms is by lifts not escalators, but they do operate very efficiently. I have not been on the Jubilee line (below) and whilst I know it was named after an earlier jubilee of HM, it still seemed appropriate to use it on this occasion.
I arrived at Parliament station on one of the newer trains, having changed to the Jubilee line at Green Park and followed the labyrinthine underground tunnels,
and finally into Parliament Square with Big Ben towering above (top photo, but you knew that).
Shops do not open till 10am so I ducked into Westminster Abbey to snap a shot of a family memorial (see earlier post).
Two of my favourite treasures here are the tomb of Edward the Confessor
and the Chapel of the Pyx (below).
But enough of clergy houses, it was on to clergy clothes. Watts & Co and Wippels are just behind the abbey.
I was fairly constrained (I’ll have to get upgraded to ‘pilot’ status to get all my luggage onto the plane home!). Then it was on to the Church Bookshop. Though you can order anything on line, it is always more fun to browse.
On the way home, armed with some purchases, I stopped at my local coffee shop for a snack.
Father M 