We met on a rainy day in front of Gringott’s bank. Well, the Bank of England. Richard, our tour guide (dressed in Gryffindor cap and scarf) told us how JK Rowling was working in London just before she had the idea for the first Harry Potter novel. We walked to Leadenhall Market, where the film scene of Harry and Hagrid’s first trip to London had been shot.
We walked through hidden alleys and saw the Leaky Cauldron (twice, as it was also filmed at Borough Market in later films), the Millenium Bridge where Death Eaters are sometimes seen, the Globe Theatre (creation of actor Sam Wanamaker whose daughter Zoe plays Madam Hooch), Daniel Radcliffe’s school and finally St Paul’s cathedral, adorned by Fawkes the phoenix. Richard tested us regularly with entertaining quiz questions.
Afterwards we took the bus to Kings Cross St Pancras where the queue for the wall to Platform 9 ¾ eclipsed those of the ticket offices. From there it was a short walk to busy Friends House where we shared a picnic and enjoyed some time to talk and dry off!
It was encouraging to see some new faces and we all had a wonderful time.
· Twelve participants
· Five adults + one baby
Finance summary:
Total monies collected: £70
Total cost: £110
(Loss subsidised by current balance)
Thank you to all the participants and volunteers.
November 26, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Do you need some more money to make up the difference?
November 27, 2012 at 1:28 pm
Gratefully we have funds to cover the loss. I’ll update the post to make that clearer.