Lombes and Lambing.

I went to the British Library today to try and find out more about Thomas Lombe and his silk mill. I did find something that could be useful - a document from the early eighteenth century. However, I didn't manage to see it because it had a 'malformed shelfmark' in the catalogue.

The British Library staff put every effort into finding it for me - and came to the conclusion that they would have to make a special journey to 'the second basement'and would send me an email if they managed to find anything. This sounded very interesting and made me wish I could go and take a look there.

Writing that makes me wonder if the 'second basement' is really underground, and if it is how it can be adequately protected against flooding - should the Thames break through its barriers, as I have heard it could as the climate warms. I hope it is.

The main reason I went to London, however, was to go to the Science Factory's Christmas Drinks at The Lamb, a pub in nearby Lambs Conduit Street. The Lamb in question was a man called William Lamb, and in 1577 (according to this website) he improved the conduit that brought fresh water to the area (presumably from some nearby river, maybe even the Thames). The original pub bearing his name was built in 1720 - a pleasing synchronicity and chiming of words because this is the date of the Lombe mill. However, the pub as it stands today is Victorian, and last night it was quite a battle fighting my way through to the function room upstairs. There are complaints about short measures on the website, but I have to say that my measure of Pinot Grigio was very generous indeed!