In Which We Arrive (in Amsterdam)

The biggest problem with traveling to Europe (including Britain!) is the time difference. This inevitably means taking a red eye flight and arriving in Europe at some ungodly hour of the morning. I hate red eye flights with a passion. In theory, it's a good idea: Leave at night, sleep on the plane, and arrive bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready to face a new day. In practice, I have never been so lucky. Although I am very skilled at catching up on my sleep while reading for class or attending lectures, sleeping on trans-Atlantic flights is not an area of my expertise. When I flew to London, I was very fortunate to be able to take a flight that left in the morning and arrived at Heathrow around 10pm. This was absolutely brilliant because, after having to get to the airport at 5am and undergoing a grueling day of travel, I was more than ready to call it a day when I arrived, despite it only being about 5pm in New York. If only all flights to Europe were so convenient!

In Which We Return

Gentle Reader,

I am pleased to announce that, thanks to the generous support of a year long fellowship, I am once again able to attempt to conduct research. Rather than return to the humdrum life of a graduate student at a Midwestern university, I am free to dissertate. I therefore present to you a second season, if you will, of archival investigations, cultural perambulations, and personal tribulations.

However, not unlike a long running tv series desperate to boost sagging ratings, there is a twist – no longer am resident in London, but instead have moved to the continent and to the Netherlands. Having researched the English side of my dissertation, it is now time to do the same for the Dutch half. So, while I hope to still pepper this space with a few more anecdotes from the British Isles, I will now predominantly be writing about my life in the Netherlands.

First though, at the request of my patrons, I must herewith state that this blog is in not the official blog of any grant, fellowship, or program. Likewise, the views expressed here are solely my own and are not those of any grant program, government department, or their partner organizations. They are mine and mine alone.

Thank you.

In Which It is Easter

Lest anyone should think that all I do is visit archives and join religious processions, please allow me to share one the other highlights of my Easter Weekend. One of my personal hobbies is to consume as many different varieties of "ethnic" British food as possible.

Presenting The Cadbury Easter Cake Selection Box:

In Which It Is Good Friday

It was recently Good Friday and the start of a four day bank holiday in the UK. Since all the archives were closed, I decided to participate in some of London's unique Good Friday events.

King's Cross-St. Pancras Ecumenical Walk of Witness:

Following the Cross outside of St. Pancras Station

 The first event on my agenda was this morning procession through the streets of the neighborhoods just south of the King's Cross and St. Pancras railway stations. The walk was organized by members of local churches and lead by members of the clergy carrying a large cross. The walk stopped at a number of "churches," each representing one of the Stations of the Cross. This year's walk began at St. Pancras Church and included stops such as the International Lutheran Student Centre, King's Cross Methodist Church, and Goodenough College. I found the stop at St. Pancras Station, however, to be the most interesting. Since the station has an Anglican chaplain, it was included as one of the neighborhood "churches" we visited. The people in the station seemed quite surprised, and rightly so, by the sight of our little procession passing through. St. Pancras is a busy hub for both commuter and long distance trains, not to mention Eurostar and the Underground. Living in the area, I pass through St. Pancras on a regular basis and I can honestly say that I have never seen anything there before like the Good Friday procession.

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.