Baby coot

Our archivist (who trained as a walking tour guide a little while ago) did another free walk for a bunch of us from work this evening.  She took us down Chiswell Street and all around the Barbican - it was fascinating.  My top fact of the night - the distressed 'rough-hewn' finish of the concrete used all over the Barbican complex was created by workmen with pneumatic drills, dangling in harnesses and methodically chipping away at the surface.  When you stand at the foot of one of the huge tower blocks and consider that, it's quite mind-blowing.

This young coot was swimming about in a body of water I'd never even noticed at the Barbican before - round behind the St Giles Cripplegate church.  Another fact - the name Cripplegate comes from Crepelgaate (I'm guessing slightly at the spelling), which meant 'covered walkway' in Anglo-Saxon.  The name morphed into Cripplegate, and eventually St Giles became associated as the patron saint of cripples.  How odd is that?!

Went for a couple of drinks at a nearby pub afterwards, then walked to London Bridge to catch the train home - where Tim me at the station :)