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| Inappropriate touching-(up) |
Tuesday 14th November. Brexit appeared in a more personal way today as I attended the first meeting with a German delegation of restorers and conservators, craftsmen and women interested in establishing links with the UK. A common message from the UK contacts was, business had been good in 2016 and 2017, there was a worrying dip in prospective work for 2018.
Having completed our talks, which extended into lunchtime as they overran, I made my way with two of the visitors from our Hotel in Aldgate to Tower Pier, to catch a riverboat clipper to Greenwich to meet up with the rest of the delegation. We were caught by surprise as, after pulling away from the pier and taking to the centre of the river, the captain opened full throttle and the catamaran accelerated forward and roared downstream. It was an exhilarating ride in-between stops.
We arrived just in time to join the rest of the delegation on a tour of the restoration of the Painted Hall ceiling. There was a slight hiccup regarding our Health and Safety credentials, before we were accompanied in hard hats and reflective jackets, much to the bemusement of the Germans. We were in a building with an intact ceiling, standing on a secure floor!
With the ceiling within arm’s reach, and the lighting glancing and reflecting off the ceiling, we were too close to see the big picture. Instead, the excellent tour guide pointed out features and figures that had not been seen from below before restoration, in a voice reminiscent of Hillary Clinton. A hidden lion, figures that were in the background, the symbolism of the figures and icons surrounding the royal figures of Queen Anne and King William.
Inappropriate behaviour towards women is in the current news, and we were shown a 200 year old one. The appointed cleaner of the ceiling at that time left his signature on the Queen’s bosom, invisible from far below, but noticeable under the torch of the guide when viewed from a few feet away.
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