In Which it is Palm Sunday

It was Palm Sunday this weekend and St. Paul's Cathedral held their traditionally re-enactment of Christ's entry into Jerusalem. When I heard that this would be an outdoor procession complete with a live donkey, I decided I had to attend. After all, it's not every day that there's a religious procession with a donkey parading through the streets of London

The Procession Approaches (the donkeys are behind the head on the left)

I waited for the procession at Paternoster Square, outside of the Cathedral. When I arrived, I was greeted by St. Paul's sharply dressed ushers, who presented me with a bulletin and a cross made from a palm frond. The ushers at St Paul's are always dressed in formal attire:  morning coats, waistcoats, and large medallions of the Cathedral's arms worn around their necks. I have often wondered whether possessing such fine clothing is a prerequisite to serving as an usher, but I digress…

The London Metropolitan Archives – Basics

Hours:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday – 9:30-4:45
Tuesday and Thursday – 9:30-7:30
Select Saturdays – 9:30-4:45

Getting there:
The 3 closest tube stations are King's Cross-St. Pancras, Angel, and Farringdon. The LMA isn't terribly close to any of these. The 63 bus towards Honour Oak runs fairly regularly from outside of King's Cross and the Bowling Green Lane stop (next to a large parking garage) is very close to the LMA. Presumably there are similar services from the other tube stations.

Sign in at the desk on the first floor and collect a clear plastic bag. Stow your stuff in locker on the "mezzanine" level and go up one more flight of stairs to the reading room.

Getting a "History Card" (i.e. reader's ticket):
If you want to make photocopies, print from a microfilm, or use original documents, you'll need a History Card. Ask at the information desk.  You'll need proof of address and proof of signature.

Ordering Documents:
Documents are ordered using paper slips. Apparently, you can order them using the internet, too, but I have never seen anyone do this. The slips are collected from the Information Desk about every 20 minutes and it takes 20 minutes from the time of their collection for the document to be available.

In addition to being able to order the LMA's documents, you can also have documents delivered from the Guildhall Library, although it takes 48 hours for them to be delivered. As the Guildhall Library's reading room is, I believe, still being renovated, this is the only way to access their manuscripts.

Taking pictures:
£2.70 per day

In Which We Visit the London Metropolitan Archives

In my opinion, the London Metropolitan Archive (LMA) is a good place to start in London. The LMA was the first archive I visited here. This was largely because, with the exception of the British Library, it is the closest to where I am staying in Bloomsbury. The archive, which is located off of Farringdon Road in Islington, is about a twenty minute walk away. I will admit that it took me several attempts to locate the archive, but this was because I was operating under the assumption that the street the archive was on actually came out unto Farringdon Road, which it does not. It instead becomes the tributary of a slightly larger street about 10 or 20 yards earlier.