Tim Bryars

Pinda is official donkey wrangler this morning. Palm Sunday @great

Can a human ever be as comfortable as a cat? Bit parky this morning, but Ernest is toasting his paws on an iron throne.

Fresh clues about when Plato was enlaved and where he was buried, newly deciphered from the charred scrolls recovered from the house of the papyri in Herculaneum. Could a major lost work still be among the unexamined scrolls? Colossally exciting. smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pla…

And the evening's not over. A 1982 Chateau d'Yquem

Lent 28 hours and counting. Thank you Tom and Emilia at Doppo.

Well, tonight took an interesting turn. A 2013 montrachet, 'Apollo's Praise' (upper state New York riesling), a selection of sake, and Moutai Prince (very fancy). We also sell books.

No half measures, but Lent is just around the corner. There's something very pleasing about a magnum of Riesling.

50 years later, Adrian Murphy explores what has happened to the venues advertised on the 1976 London 'Gay to Z' map which we sold to the British Library (featured in their Secret Maps exhibition). Interesting project, but none seem to have survived. ace-museums.beehiiv.com/p/1976-london-…

Knowing my love of classical antiquity, a friend brought a bottle of Antikythera to the bookshop today. Wonderful! I've seen the original, mysterious mechanism in Athens and this was every bit as complex. From Oregon, so I'd better not get a taste for it - hard to find over here!

Still two-shirt weather @StBartholomews this morning.

@WalkerMarcus 'Silent stand the surly troopers'. Hope it's in the order of service for tomorrow morning!

On the day when we remember the Martyrdom of Charles I, the best way to remember it is definitely through the medium of this hymn!

@WalkerMarcus @HRP_palaces How utterly miserable. Why do that? Another reason to be thankful I was there in 2024, on the 375th anniversary.

A sad refurbishment of the Banqueting House by @HRP_palaces, removing the throne and Stuart Arms, from the Banqueting House.

If you want to stop this because the price is too high in terms of commuting misery, impact on the heritage buildings, and placing the local community in the shadow of another tall building, object here: bit.ly/4jLWsim

If you've ever attended the Bryars & Bryars salon, and been sent downstairs for more glasses because 'you've got young legs', this could be for you.

@TheArcLampMan Thanks, I believe those gate lamps are already gone, sadly.

@TimBryars Good news. Any change to the Buckingham palace gate post lamps? They have not been lit for years and I don't think that king Charles pays the gas bill. So sad that not one carbon arc street lamp has been preserved. All gone but a few posts survive.

Surviving historic gas lamps illuminating the frontage of the Palace of Westminster, rare globe lamps at a world heritage site, will be preserved as working gas lamps, cared for by my friends the London Lamplighters. News to brighten both night and day! dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…

Congratulations to the new Archbishop of Canterbury @bishopSarahM! From all of us at Great St Bart's, thank you for your friendship and support in London. May God bless you as you embark on this new chapter in your ministry.

A lovely little 18th century almanac, printed in Liege in 1772 in a contemporary embroidered silk binding, with a raised floral design in silver thread. Delightful.

@keithhann Absolutely Keith, I've objected too (again!)

Acme? As in the legendary supplier to Wile E. Coyote? Tempting though it is to see what mayhem ensues at Liverpool Street [sic], I think I had better object.

@JuliaLopezMP Thanks for the kind words and the amazing support. Our campaign was completely apolitical (support from heritage bodies, local residents' groups, the GMB union... ) but you were one of the first to appreciate what we were trying to do, and you backed us to the hilt.

LONDON'S HERITAGE KEPT ALIVE BY UPMINSTER RESIDENT - A LITTLE STORY A lot of the time in politics, you don’t see the outcome of things you worked on until years down the line. But it is such a joy when you see those positive results. A really quirky one revealed itself this week in a random way. I was out on College Green in Westminster with constituent, Alan Smith, to speak to the BBC about his campaign on firework regulation and our latest meeting with the Minister. A man came up to me and asked if I was Julia Lopez. His name was Aran and it turned out he lives in Upminster. He explained that he’s one of London’s four remaining lamp lighters - people who look after the 1100 gas lamps that still operate in the capital. Aran started life as a British Gas engineer and now preserves this amazing network of heritage lamps in our capital city - the first street lamps in the world, some of which date from the 1800s. Those lamps are only still in operation because a few years ago, a campaign was set up to stop Westminster City Council replacing these heritage assets with LED lighting. The Gasketeers, as the campaign group became known, fought the proposals hard, to the point where the issue reached parliament. When the time came for the debate, I was the Minister who had to answer on behalf of the government. The lamps were eventually saved, a beautiful reminder of our heritage and the fact that so many modern innovations have their roots in London, a city of firsts. As I discovered when preparing for the debate, the man behind the Gasketeer campaign is a guy called Tim Bryars. I knew Tim from years back because I helped his campaign to save the antiquarian map and booksellers of Cecil Court, before I was an MP. Today, those merchants still remain as one of the specialist heritage shopping streets that give London character and I ended up buying a beautiful, 1816 silk pocket map of the city from Tim as a memento. It was a pleasure to meet Aran on College Green, hear about the work he does every day to preserve our rich heritage and to remember that debate and the connection to Tim and his two brilliant campaigns. I am glad to have played a small role in protecting and celebrating our city’s history, and was not expecting to see the result this week, as Aran went about his role as a London lamplighter. @London_lamplighters @TimBryars