Club swells the ranks of Chappist flâneurie
As a celebration of the louche art of flâneurie—wandering the city simply to experience it rather than with any destination in mind—The Chap magazine organised a Grand Flaneur Walk. This was first held in 2019 and was intended to be an annual event, but sadly Covid-19 intervened and we had to wait three years for a second outing.
I say that it was "organised" by The Chap, but the whole point of flâneurie is that it is spontaneous, which, on the one hand, presents a few obvious problems for an organised event; but, on the other hand, this is precisely the level of organisational responsibility that suits Chap editor Gustav Temple. In the end the main emphasis seemed to be on the initial gathering by the Beau Brummell statue on Jermyn Street for a photo op with a number of press photographers.
After they were sated, we finally set off to do some flâning, making it around the corner to the top of St James's where the coffee shop Gentleman Baristas was giving away free coffee to flâneurs. After this we strode on to Savile Row, where Gustav and Mr B. the Gentleman Rhymer posed in front of the defunct Abercrombie and Fitch shop against which they had previously protested (arguably successfully).
Doubtless sensing the mood of the mob, Gustav's next port of call was a pub, the Guinea on Bruton Place where we supped a few ales in the company of some Chelsea supporters (who were in a chipper mood as their team hadn't yet lost the FA cup final). Our ultimate destination (not that we had one of course) was a small party at the HQ of the Camden Watch Company (in Camden), so we headed north again.
Aware that people would need to eat at some point, we hunted for a pub that could serve that need and either rejected or were rejected by a couple before landing at the Angel in the Fields on Thayer Street, conveniently opposite a Pret a Manger sandwich shop. The pub has a remarkable interior (I'm guessing 1920s does medieval) all oak panelling and stained glass depicting plants and flowers. After a couple more tinctures it was time to head for Camden. I gather the bulk of the group (we were about 50 in total, certainly at the beginning of the day) took a bus, but I lingered finishing my pint with half a dozen others and we actually walked—and a very pleasant walk it was, through Regent's Park.
We were, of course, blessed with perfect weather, but even in the rain it would have been a very agreeable day, an opportunity to meet up with people I haven't seen in a long while and meet several new types, many of whom I hope will join the New Sheridan Club (needless to say, NSC members made up the bulk of those attending).
You can see the full set of photos on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/sheridanclub/albums/72177720298967556.
