#Throgmorton Avenue

[aneverydaything]

Day 1762, 20 April 2023

[aimeedaisies]

Court Circular | 26th November 2024

St James’s Palace

The Princess Royal this morning opened the Hospice UK National Conference at the Scottish Event Campus, Exhibition Way, Glasgow, and was received by His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the City of Glasgow (Councillor Jacqueline McLaren, the Rt Hon the Lord Provost).

Court Circular | 27th November 2024

St James’s Palace

The Princess Royal, Chancellor, Health Sciences University, this afternoon attended a Graduation Ceremony at the Bridge Theatre, 3 Potters Fields Park, London SE1, and was received by Colonel Simon Duckworth (Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London).

Her Royal Highness, Patron, Transaid, afterwards attended the Annual Showcase at the Africa Centre, 66-68 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1, and was received by Mrs Lynn Cooper (Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London).

The Princess Royal, Royal Fellow, the Royal Academy of Engineering, this evening attended a New Fellows’ Dinner at Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2.

[sometimeslondon]

Drapers’ Hall on Throgmorton Avenue, City of London

[gentlemanjester]

The Sinking City: First Impressions

So, the Sinking City. A horror-mystery game inspired by H. P. Lovecraft. I am a big fan of Lovecraft’s stories (not of the man himself, no sensible person is), and as such, I like a lot of things inspired by his works, chief among them being Bloodborne. But this is a game which is directly set in the world of Lovecraft, and so I will be giving my first impressions of several aspects of the game. Here we go!

The setting

The game is set in the port city of Oakmont. The player character, private eye Charles Reed, is a former navy soldier who has come to Oakmont to seek answers for the horrific visions he’s been having, and knows others have had. Those others also came to Oakmont. However, half of Oakmont has been flooded, and a mania has gripped many of the citizens, driving them to insanity and violence. There are also monsters who are terrorising certain parts of the city, called Wylebeasts by the locals. On top of that, the destruction of another coastal town of Innsmouth has caused the residents of that town to take refuge in Oakmont, which has led to a lot of tension between the Innsmouthers and the Oakmont locals. 

As soon as we start the game, we’re introduced to the feel of the city: Innsmouthers are the outcasts, hated and discriminated by many of Oakmont’s citizens. When the son of one of the most influential citizens goes missing, Albert Throgmorton, Reed is immediately hired to find him. Reed finds Albert’s corpse, murdered, but not after learning that Albert had washed ashore in a lifeboat, one of the only members of an expedition to return, and subsequently went mad and became hostile. 

Oakmont is an insular community, and constantly refer to Reed (with contempt) as “Newcomer,” and reference how other Newcomers have brought nothing but trouble and madness with them. The Oakmonters worship a deity they refer to as Kay, and are very accusatory when Reed doesn’t know who that is. 

Another interesting thing: there aren’t a lot of tentacles. The Lovecraft aspect, at least so far, comes primarily from the mystery. The otherworldly creatures, of whom I have not seen a lot of, and the odd, queer people who reside in Oakmont. They don’t like sharing much with Reed unless it’s pertinent to his investigations, and will often try to get him to steer clear of certain areas unless he presses them for information. 

The gameplay

The gameplay is fantastic so far, at least insofar as the investigations are. There aren’t any quest markers, with the exception of areas you’ve already visited which are part of an investigation. And even then, those markers only tell you if there are clues left, or if you’ve found all the clues. They never tell you where the clues are. 

I’ve found myself using the map and ingame street signs a LOT. There are lots of street signs, and I find myself checking the casebook to see “okay, so the house is on C. Smith Avenue, between Polaris Road and Old Church Street...” then I’ll get onto Old Church Street, and watch for the street sign that says C. Smith Avenue. It makes you feel like you’re actually navigating the city. 

Each of the investigation scenes have a plethora of clues to find. Reed also has a sort of second vision you can activate, which can let you see glimpses of the past at certain places. For example, when investigating a family who became infected, you use this sight on the bed, and see a creature leaning over one of the girls sleeping there, seemingly pouring some black fluid into her mouth while she slept. Combining this with the diary you find in the house, and you learn that the creatures who’d been living in the water beneath the house were coming up at night to infect the family. 

Once you find all the relevant clues, you go through a gateway, to a place you can see ghosts of events that have transpired, and have to put them in order of how they occurred. Using the above example, you find out that the family had been being infected during the night, and the father went to work despite his sickness. Then, after an incubation period, the infection took over and turned them into monsters. 

You learn all these clues and stories largely by yourself, with very little in the way of help besides a small interactive dot when you get close enough. There are also illusory walls, which can be difficult to spot but are very satisfying when you do find them, and they reveal even more clues. 

There are also archives you can access with your clues. You can access the police, hospital, newspaper, and university archives, all with varying search criteria. You can usually search by district, time period, personnel, and each archive has its own unique 4th option. You choose 3 options (each option also has sub-options) which pertain to your selected clue, and it will give you an excerpt from those archives. For example, I had to find an advert about a ship which was hiring help. So, I went to the newspapers archive and I searched for advertisements, Grimhaven Bay, and civillians. That gave me the excerpt of the advert to help me track down the crewmembers and the captain. 

There is combat in the game, although it is rather rudimentary. You can use your trowel to melee attack and (so far) I have two guns: a service pistol and a revolver. Looking at the perks, you can also unlock a shotgun, a hunting rifle, and an army-issue rifle. There are also traps and grenades, as well as first-aid kits and sanity meds. You have to craft ammunition, meds, and gadgets using materials you scavenge from the world, and it’s often worth saving your bullets for when you really need them. A point which the game makes clear. 

As well as your basic health bar, you have a sanity bar. Your sanity will slowly drain as you use your supernatural strength, but it will drain much quicker when you’re fighting Wylebeasts, especially the larger variants. At certain points of low sanity, you’ll start to see hallucinations; ghostly apparitions of doctors with no eyes, Wylebeasts, Reed in a straightjackets, and monsters will begin to spawn in the middle of the street to attack you. Using the sanity meds will fill up your bar and make things much easier. 

The gunfights, as mentioned before, are bog-basic. You can aim and shoot, and that’s about it. From my experience so far, the revolver seems to do more damage, but can only hold 6 rounds before reloading, whereas the service pistol can hold up to 9 rounds. 

The story

So far, the story is great. I’m finding myself eager to find out more about the city and its inhabitants, as well as the secrets it holds. I look forward to finding new investigations and clues, I am surprisingly loving the lack of quest markers, I love how it drags me further into the game. It makes me read the case clues and learn more about the world, makes me pay attention to it, and I love that. 

As of yet, I have just finished the first main case, Lost At Sea, where I found the fate of the expedition members and found the undersea cave, where the expedition members have all gone mad. The professor has been kidnapped by Innsmouthers, who I’m assuming still worship Dagon. Oh, just an aside, I love the appearance of the Innsmouthers in this game. They look exactly how I’d imagined them when reading Shadow Over Innsmouth. I’ve finished one of the side investigations, and plan to do more. 

I haven’t played many detective games, but this one is absolutely drawing me in. It’s got all the hallmarks of a Lovecraft story, yet there are not a whole lot of tentacles yet, which is a trap that many Lovecraftian adaptations fall into. 

Final verdict

The Sinking City is shaping up to be a very engaging and interactive game. I am so far enjoying it thoroughly, and cannot wait to play more! 

[thewomenofwindsor]

Tomorrow :

The Duke of Gloucester - President, Crown Agents Foundation, will attend an Afternoon Tea at Buckingham Palace, London.

The Princess Royal will open The Queen's Royal Hussars Regimental Museum, Trinity Mews, Priory Road, Warwick, Warwickshire.

The Princess Royal - President, Riding for the Disabled Association, will visit Wellow Group RDA, Kilkenny Stables, Kilkenny Lane, Bath, Somerset.

The Princess Royal - Patron, Livability, will attend an Afternoon Tea and Reception at Drapers' Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2.

[londiniumlundene]

Lost London: Walking the River Walbrook Part 2: Via Liverpool Street and Livery Companies

As the route of the Walbrook crosses into the City of London, one is immediately reminded that they are now in the district of high finance, as many of the buildings suddenly sport shiny metal and glass exteriors, the seemingly standard modern way of showing the wealth of the companies that occupy them.

Nowhere does this seem more apparent than the Broadgate Centre, a 1980s development next to Liverpool Street station, bisected underground by the route of the Walbrook. This area was once the site of the burial ground for Bethlem Royal Hospital (and an occasional plague pit), so the river must have been culverted away to dry the ground. 

Later, the burial ground would be built over during the construction of Broad Street Station, a rare example of a completely demolished (in 1984) central London railway terminus. Its replacement, the current Broadgate Centre, is undergoing significant redevelopment, which seems to involve much of the aforementioned metal-cladding, and installation of large artworks. 

On the other side of the Broadgate Centre, construction works and a purple roundel outside of Liverpool Street Station remind the walker of one of the latest additions to subterranean London – the ongoing Crossrail/Elizabeth Line project, completion date still TBC.

A short walk down Blomfield Street brings the walker to London Wall; not much of the Roman or Medieval fortifications remain here, at what would have once been the original boundary of the City of London, and where the Walbrook would have entered. The glass and steel of Broadgate is now replaced by stone facades, and the closest walking route to the Walbrook continues along the private road of Throgmorton Avenue, reached via wrought-iron gates.

This street is home to two livery companies; the northern end is taken by the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, the southern end by the Master and Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild or Fraternity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of the Mystery of Drapers. Not content with already having a very long names, the drapers also have a completely private, gated stretch of road, so to keep up with a Walbrook, a diversion through a narrow alleyway and archway is needed.

This brings the walker to Tokenhouse Yard, once home to medieval tannery pits that would have drawn water from the nearby Walbrook. At the southern end of this street is the imposing curtain wall of the Bank of England – the river flows right under the bank, which means another diversion, this time via Tivoli corner.

Tivoli Corner is a miniature version of the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum; two of its decorations – an eagle on the prow of a ship, and a bearded head of Neptune – are a fitting, if perhaps not deliberate, reminder of the presence of the Walbrook. The CCTV cameras peering in through the oculus are a fitting reminder of the security measures the Bank of England has in place to deter any would-be bank robbers.

Ideally, to be following the Walbrook as closely as possible, the next part of the route would be past Grocers’ Hall – home to the Worshipful Company of Drapers – but this is another private road and is often locked up, so instead a (further) significant diversion along Princes Street before turning onto Poultry to find the entrance to the Grocers’ Hall yard is required.

Having now reached the Ward of Walbrook, this marks an appropriate point to once again pause this account, before following the Walbrook down to the Thames next time.

[aref-adib]

The Dreamers Hall (at The Drapers Hall, Throgmorton Avenue) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1iy58NgRoh/?igshid=svji14sz8bhe

[lovingtheroyals]

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Joint Patrons, the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, this evening attended the Endeavour Fund Awards at Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2.

Court Circular | 7 February, 2019

[pervitin-of-visions]

Drapers Gardens, Throgmorton Avenue, City of London, circa 1968 Richard Seifert & Partners with Norman James.

[konradolsson]

Is creativity more important now than ever? This was the big and difficult topic of the panel during Tech Forum by @sccuk Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK. Thankfully, I shared the stage with a lot of thoughtfulness. Thanks again Peter Sandberg and Andreas Tysk for inviting me. Great day! #tech #creativity #techforum (at The Drapers Hall, Throgmorton Avenue) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci2uD9HjRa1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[aimeedaisies]

Court Circular | 28th September 2023

St James’s Palace

The Princess Royal, President, UK Fashion and Textile Association, this morning attended the Sustainability in UK Textiles Conference at Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2.

Her Royal Highness later received Brigadier Dan Duff (Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands).

The Princess Royal, Founders’ Patron, Benenden School, and President, the Benenden Society, later attended the Centenary Global Conference “Inspiring Future Female Leaders”, opened the Seniors’ Courtyard, launched “Benenden 100” Centenary Book and attended the Benenden Society Reception, Benenden School, Benenden, Cranbrook, and was received by His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Kent (the Lady Colgrain).

[nellainlondonblog-blog]

It's sometimes hard to get your head around the fact that many buildings in London are over 400 years old. There are a lot of these little courtyards of that age and older. This one, in the heart of the City of London, is a great example and has been featured in movies. 😊 Enjoy your day. 💘 ♥️ ♥️ #artm#artphotogram #artgallery #artex#artwork #artcurators #artwatcher #artdealer #artexhibition #artcurator #artwatcher #artphoto #artdealer #fineartcuration #fineartphotography#streets#streetphotography #london #londra #abstractart #abstractpainting #contemporaryartist #femaleartist #fineartcuration #wallart #cityscape #cityoflondon #abstractph (at The Drapers Hall, Throgmorton Avenue) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4PbGK7h5j1/?igshid=1774kbkhzgyfk

[thewomenofwindsor]

Court Circular: 25th January 2022

Sandringham, Norfolk The Duke of Cambridge, on behalf of The Queen, held an Investiture at Windsor Castle this morning.

Clarence House The Duchess of Cornwall this morning visited Refuge, Chiswick, London.

Her Royal Highness this afternoon held a Reception at Clarence House to mark the Fiftieth Anniversary of Refuge.

Kensington Palace The Duchess of Cambridge, Joint Patron, the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, this morning held a Centre for Early Childhood Meeting.

Her Royal Highness this afternoon held a Meeting with Miss Jennifer Urquhart (Chairman, Johnstons of Elgin) via telephone.

The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, this afternoon held a Meeting with Dr Edward Morris (President) and Ms Kate Lancaster (Chief Executive) via telephone

St James’s Palace The Earl of Wessex, Vice Patron, Commonwealth Games Federation, this afternoon attended a Meeting at the Grand Hotel, Colmore Row, Birmingham, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of West Midlands (Mr John Crabtree).

His Royal Highness, Vice Patron, Commonwealth Games Federation, subsequently met volunteers at the Library of Birmingham, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham.

The Earl of Wessex, Vice Patron, Commonwealth Games Federation, later visited the Headquarters of the Birmingham Organising Committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Brindley Place, Birmingham.

The Countess of Wessex this afternoon received Ms Victoria Ford MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean) to discuss the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.

Her Royal Highness this evening attended the Worshipful Company of Farmers’ Livery Dinner at Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2.

St James’s Palace The Princess Royal, President, Racing Welfare, this morning visited the Racing Support Line at Care First, 1230 Lansdowne Court, Gloucester Business Park, Gloucester, and was received by Mrs Jane Jenner-Fust (Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire).

Her Royal Highness later opened the Chamwell Centre at the Milestone School, Longford Lane, Gloucester, and was received by Dr Roger Head (Deputy Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire).

The Princess Royal this afternoon visited Kohler Mira Limited, Cromwell Road, Cheltenham, to mark its Centenary, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire (Mr Edward Gillespie).

[brfdaily-blog]

Thursday 7 February 2019

On Behalf of the Queen, the Prince of Wales held an investiture at Buckingham Palace. 

The Prince of Wales this afternoon received the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch (His Beatitude Youssef Absi).

His Royal Highness, President, The Prince’s Trust Group, afterwards held a Meeting at Clarence House.

The Prince of Wales, Colonel, Welsh Guards, later received Lieutenant Colonel David Bevan upon relinquishing his appointment as Commanding Officer and Lieutenant Colonel Henry Llewelyn-Usher upon assuming the appointment.

His Royal Highness, President, The Prince’s Trust Group, this evening attended the “Invest in Futures” Reception at the Savoy, Strand, London WC2, and was received by Mrs Sandra Cahill (Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London).

The Duchess of Cornwall visited St. John's Angell Town Church and St. John's Angell Town Church of England Primary School, St John's Angell Town, Wiltshire Road, Brixton, London SW9.

Her Royal Highness afterwards attended a Lambeth General Practice Co-operative Reception at Stockwell Community Centre, Studley Road, London SW4, and was received by Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Traverse-Healy (Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London).

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Joint Patrons, the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, this evening attended the Endeavour Fund Awards at Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2.

The Countess of Wessex visited the Merlin MS Centre, Bradbury House, Hewas Water, St. Austell, Cornwall.

HRH visited Wheal Martyn, Carthew, St Austell, Cornwall.

As President, Truro Christmas Primestock & Produce Society, attended the Truro Primestock Show Annual Dinner at Hotel Tresanton, St Mawes, Cornwall.

...

The Princess Royal this morning opened Foyle College’s Springham Campus, 67 Limavady Road, Londonderry, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the County Borough of Londonderry (Dr Angela Garvey).

Her Royal Highness, Fourth Warden, the Fishmongers’ Company, this afternoon visited Ballykelly Primary School, 8 Glenhead Road, Ballykelly, and was received by Mrs Stella Burnside (Vice Lord-Lieutenant of County Londonderry).

The Princess Royal afterwards visited the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs’ Ballykelly House, 111 Ballykelly Road, Ballykelly, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of County Londonderry (Mrs Alison Millar).

Her Royal Highness later opened the renovated Coleraine Library, Queen’s Street, Coleraine, County Londonderry.

...

[kevinjona4]

Climate change activists target BlackRock offices in London

Climate change activists target BlackRock offices in London

Protesters ‘eat money’ as a form of demonstration outside the BlackRock headquarters in Throgmorton Avenue in London, during an Extinction Rebellion (XR) climate change protest. (Photo by Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images)

Jonathan Brady | PA Images Images | Getty Images

Climate change activists targeted BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, in London on Monday, demanding…

[stevekiddart]

Throgmorton Avenue, a spooky face peering out of the wall. #stevekiddart #london #sketchbook (at Austin Friars, London)