Newham 10K

Okay, the other thing I did this last weekend, was run in my first 10K of the season. It wasn't my fastest time, 57:55, but I finished under an hour, which is always good! I averaged about 9 minute miles / 5.5 min kilometres.

This race is know as the Newham 10K. It's run in Stratford, which is Northeast London. I live in Southwest London; it takes me longer to get there than it does to run the race! Nearly two hours. The reason for participating in this race is because it is the sight of the 2012 Olympic Park. We ran through the Olympic Village, around the outside of Olympic Stadium ... which by the way, had the last of the turf laid yesterday, and past a few of the smaller arenas where they will play hockey, basketball, handball, etc.

I ran this last year, too, so it was nice to see the progress, and hopefully, next year, attend a few events as a spectator!

650th Anniversary of the Magistracy

So, on Saturday night, I was invited by a member of my staff to participate in a black tie dinner to celebrate the 650th anniversary of The Magistracy, the Middlesex Branch. As an American, I really have no concept of an organisation that has been around for 650 years!

A magistrates' court is the lowest level of court in England and Wales. A magistrates' court is presided over by a tribunal consisting of two or more (most commonly three) justices of the peace [Steve is a justice of the peace] and dispenses summary justice [a ruling without a jury]. The tribunal that presides over the Court is commonly referred to simply as the Bench.

Magistrates' courts deal with minor offenses (generally, fines of up to £5,000 and imprisonment of up to 6 months). For certain specified offenses, maximum fines may be higher (for example, for fly tipping ... dumping trash ... up to £50,000).

The Magistrates courts are often considered to be the 'workhorses' of the criminal justice system and handle over 95 percent of the criminal cases in that jurisdiction.

A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer elected or appointed [Steve is appointed] by to keep the peace. Justices of the peace are appointed or elected from the citizens of the jurisdiction in which they serve, and are usually not required to have a formal legal education in order to qualify for the office.

So, how has it been 650 years?

In 1195 [that's 816 years ago...], Richard I ("the Lionheart") commissioned certain knights to preserve the peace in unruly areas. They were responsible to the king for ensuring that the law was upheld, and preserved the 'king's peace', and were known as "keepers of the peace".

An act of 1327 [that's 684 years ago ...] had referred to "good and lawful men" to be appointed in every county in the land to "guard the peace"; such individuals were first referred to as conservators or wardens of the peace. The title "justice of the peace" derives from 1361 [ah! 650 years!], in the reign of King Eward III. The "peace" to be guarded is the "king's peace" that justices of the peace use the power conferred to bind over unruly persons "to be of good behaviour." The bind over is not a punishment, but a preventive measure, intended to ensure that people thought likely to offend will not do so. The justices' alternative title of ''magistrate' dates from the sixteenth century.

And there you have it. So there was a champagne reception, a sit down dinner, and several speeches to celebrate the Middlesex bench which has about 150 members, I am told.

Sights Around London

A couple of weeks ago, there were some colleagues in from the States visiting the office and I had the opportunity to do a little sight-seeing while I was hosting our guests. There are lots of sights around London that I either don't frequent or haven't thought of in a while that I get to see with a fresh pair of 'tourists' eyes when someone comes to visit and says, 'Hey, can you take me to ... ?' So here are some highlights.

Buckingham Palace

You might have heard that we have a little thing coming up in 37 days [yes, there is a daily count down here] known as 'The Royal Wedding'. Prince William will marry Kate Middleton on 29th of April. To help celebrate, we get an extra bank holiday [yay!]. There will be plenty of reasons to blog about this in the coming month, so I'll just say that I escorted my colleague over to the Palace early one afternoon. It was too late [and the wrong day] for the changing of the guard, but we did get to see a dignitary being escorted from Buckingham Palace down The Mall to some place towards Downing Street [where the Prime Minister lives] in a horse and carriage.

The guards are all wearing their winter wool grays [as opposed to their summer wool reds] and without being able to see their buttons, there would be no way to tell which guard was standing watch at the gate. The Royal Standard was flying, however, and four guards were posted at the Palace, so the Queen was in residence.

The statues out front of Buckingham Palace are all under scaffolding and tarps; I am assuming getting a good scrub in preparation for the wedding.

After watching the horse and carriage leave the a Palace, we walked the same route down The Mall, along St. James Park toward the Horse Guards. In case you are interested, the Horse Guards Parade will be the sight of the Beach Volleyball in the 2012 Olympics. As luck would have it, we arrived at the same time the Royal Horse Guards were changing the horse and guards standing at the gate. This is a much smaller venue and there is very little crowd control as people wandered around and tried to catch photos of the guards, both on foot and on the horses. My pics aren't that great, but you get the gist of it.

Harrod's

Harrods is a high-end department store located Knightsbridge, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The store occupies a 5-acre and has over one million square feet of selling space in over 330 departments. We made our way to the level below ground to the gift shop. No sense in cruising the other 329 departments when you are just looking for things that say 'Harrods', eh?

Along the way, we stopped at the bottom of the Egyptian staircase to see the Diana and Dodi memorial statue. It contains the ring that Dodi bought for Dianna and the last glass that Diana had a drink from.

We also went to the food hall [which is unbelievable]. It is room after room of full-on counters and markets, by specialty. If you wander over 'The Bakery', you will find the Krispy Kreme counter!

Hamleys

Hamleys is one of the world's oldest toy shops. Its flagship store is in Regent Street, London and is considered one of London's major tourist attractions, receiving about five million visitors a year. Hamleys is named after William Hamley, who founded a toy shop called "Noah's Ark" at 231 High Holborn in London in 1760 [the Holborn branch was destroyed by fire in 1901]. The branch at 200 Regent Street was opened in 1881 and is the largest toy shop in the world.

Burough Market

I have written about Burough Market a couple of times, so I'll focus on something new: The Globe pub. Bridget Jones's singleton flat is above the pub in the 2001 movie blockbuster 'Bridget Jones's Diary'. It is typically packed with standing room only.

Royal Wimbledon Golf Club

Yesterday, I was invited to join one of my staff members, Margaret, to have 'a cuppa' [tea] and tour the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club. We met a friend of Margaret's, Norman Smith, whom is the current sitting club Secretary. This is one of two courses around the corner from me, literally. Here's a little history.

Golf had been played informally on Wimbledon Common from the beginning of the 19th Century and in 1864 a few members of the London Scottish Rifle Volunteers, posted nearby, formed the London Scottish Golf Club, playing from Mrs Doggett’s Cottage beside the Windmill. The course was limited to seven holes (three rounds being played to approximate to the 18 hole standard). Civilians were admitted to membership in 1869 and by 1874 numbered 250 against the Corps’ 50. Allegedly, the RWGC is the third oldest in England.

In 1871 the course was extended to eighteen holes before the newly formed Common Conservators ... set up to manage the Common and protect it from commercial exploitation ... could interfere. It is described as ‘one of the finest courses in this country, equal in extent and superior in the number and variety of hazards to the far famed links of St Andrews’.

The military maintained control over the Club’s affairs and in the winter of 1880, the civilians’ resentment. The civilians' subscription was 4 guineas and a Corp's Member was 1/2 guinea, AND no democratic rights attached.

Which begs the question, 'what is a guinea'? It was the first English machine-struck gold coin, originally worth one English Pound Sterling, but as the price of gold fluctuated, the Guinea was abandoned for the gold standard.

Anyway, the two parties went their separate ways. The military retained the "London Scottish" title; the breakaways, who had found premises nearer the town, claimed "Wimbledon Golf Club" and a year later their Patron, the Prince of Wales, agreed to the addition of the "Royal" prefix. So, on 6th June 1882, in calmer waters after the storm of secession, the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club was born.

The London Scottish Golfers are required to wear a pillar box red upper garment when playing golf; including Waterproofs when needed. This begs the question, what is 'pillar box red'? Funny you should ask. A pillar box is a free-standing post box and they are red! Norman said this is because it is a 'free course'.

Initially, the two Clubs shared the same Wimbledon Common course designed by Tom Dunn. In 1907, the RWGC began construction of a new course on the present site, designed by Willie Park Jr. It was radically redesigned in 1924 by a member, the renowned Harry Colt (Rye, Swinley Forest, Wentworth and St Germain, Paris). Essentially this is the course played today.

After having a bit of wine [new definition of 'having tea'], Norman took us for a ride in a golf cart around the course. It is beautiful. Really, really nice. And as we were in a golf cart built for two, we were a 'sight' on the course because not only were there three of us, apparently golf carts are not how a 'proper golfer' plays the game. Though I did learn that the course is acquiring six carts this year ... 'for the old guys'.

After the tour, we actually did have that 'cuppa'. Very cool.