‘Lamb’s been banished.
Where’ve they sent him? Somewhere awful?
Bad as it gets.
God, not Slough?
Might as well be.’

In the middle of the third Covid-19 lockdown, Lloyd and Tim get together virtually for a Zoom around London’s Aldersgate Street and key points north and west of Slough House, the headquarters for Mick Herron’s titular Slow Horses.

They spy on Slough House itself, uncovering countless off-the-shelf companies which might be fronts for unseen agents, but probably aren’t, not to mention watchful owls which might be hints of a conspiracy or might just be there to scare off the pigeons. 

Rummaging around in the Companies House website they find out more than they possibly should have done about Mick Herron himself, and seek to put themselves in the writer’s own shoes as he travels from Oxford to the Barbican to Moorgate via Bunhill Fields.

Then it’s off to the Islington Tunnel and the former home of a certain floppy-haired ex-Mayor of London, now denizen of 10 Downing Street, and his avatar in the book in question. Mick Herron’s somewhat spooky prescience about the course of British politics over the last decade is put to the test, and hats are doffed.

Finally, the inevitable argument about dating ensues, with a vicious disagreement over which particular England qualifying game the book is referring to, and an unwelcome reminder of the fleeting electoral successes of the British National Party.

When time and the guidelines allow, we road test works of fiction that appear to be curiously specific about dates and locations. We go to the places mentioned and see if descriptions are accurate, journey times credible, dates and days all in order. Along the way, we learn things, about the book, and its author.

Sources & Credits

The Office theme – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9llfUGKW4KI 

Boris and Darius – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVq7ZGlvapM&t=1148s

Boris and his gaffes – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5hyb9RzA98

Boris gets the giggles –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-5axDMdWbA

Boris makes you a cup of tea –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r799U_-jAnk

Boris and the spliff – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoJRthjdOR4&feature=youtu.be

Alexei Sayle’s London Bike Ride - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGO22mT2plc&t=334s
===
I’m a firm adherent of the school of Making Stuff Up - https://www.mickherron.com/qanda.html

No work being done - https://www.mickherron.com/articles/page21/page21.html

Mick Herron interview - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/15/mick-herron-i-look-at-jackson-lamb-and-think-my-god-did-i-write-that-my-mother-reads-this-stuff

A fictional spy walk in London - https://spywrite.com/2017/09/22/fictional-spies-in-london/

Businesses at 126 Aldersgate Street - https://becsltd.com/about/ and https://cbc-legal.com/

Companies House - https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/

288 Companies in EC1A 4JQ, Aldersgate Street, London - https://suite.endole.co.uk/explorer/postcode/ec1a-4jq

Secret Owl Society - https://www.richardcassaro.com/uncovering-the-secret-owl-society/

Regent Park Buildings - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winfield_House and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_Place

Royal College of Physicians - https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/architecture

The Islington Tunnel – https://www.londoncanals.online/2010/01/19/londons-three-canal-tunnels-islington-tunnel/
Platform 9 and 3/4 to be disapparated- https://londonist.com/2008/07/platform_9_and_34_to_be_disapparate

Winter Test match 2008/9 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_cricket_team_in_India_in_2008%E2%80%9309

The British National Party - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_National_Party

BNP faces court case over membership rules – https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/aug/24/bnp-court-case-membership-discrimination

Slow Horses

Practise being a spy in Noughties London in 'Slow Horses': S1 Ep14

Lloyd and Tim take on the 'holy scripture' of spy novels, John Le Carré's classic tale of 1970s Cold War intrigue and betrayal; the book that established George Smiley as one of the all-time great fictional characters - 'Tinker Tailor  Soldier Spy'.

When time and guidelines allow, we road test works of fiction that appear to be curiously specific about dates and locations. We go to the places mentioned and see if descriptions are accurate, journey times credible, dates and days all in order. Along the way, we learn things, about the book, and its author.

For more details go to http://www.curiouslyspecific.com

Sources & Credits
David Essex - Rock On - https://youtu.be/-XfmHyG8y-g
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979) Trailer - https://youtu.be/5h1XZ0LzVg4
Pink Floyd - Speak To Me / Breathe - https://youtu.be/R49d4f5sEs4
John le Carré: An Evening with George Smiley Highlights - https://youtu.be/1uLG3l5zKv4
Genesis - Cinema Show/Selling England By The Pound - https://youtu.be/E-jS4e3zacI
New Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Clip - https://youtu.be/442J1ASPseQ
TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY - INSIDE THE CIRCUS FEATURETTE - https://youtu.be/abBtFP8qCXI
Live And Let Die - https://youtu.be/NR0UmZcf89E
Colin Firth's Official 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' Interview - https://youtu.be/5r9vE2B2Oj8
B J Arnau Live And Let Die 1973 - https://youtu.be/LWKGfbs8dzo
==
John Le Carré - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_le_Carr%C3%A9
The Secret Life of John Le Carré - https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/share/32650cf6-3fad-418d-8e33-4a7906ed6d68
Le Carré the spy who betrayed his best friend... - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3258942/Secrets-lies-le-Carr-love-stellar-spy-novel-success-drove-arms-wife-womanising-best-friend-told-time-sensational-new-biography.html
1973 in the UK - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_in_the_United_Kingdom
Sparrows Farm, Great Henny - https://colnestour.org/magazine_article/story-sparrows-farm-great-henny/ 
Daphne Machin-Goodall - https://www.janebadgerbooks-oldsite.co.uk/misc/machingoodall.html
The Story of Cedar Falls - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001BP34N8
Winston Churchill at Watts House - https://sites.google.com/site/jbseatrobe/political-somerset/winston-churchill-in-somerset
Cedar Falls Health Farm - https://www.cedarfalls.co.uk/cedarfalls/
A bench with a view - https://www.123rf.com/photo_117287663_a-bench-with-view-over-the-quantock-hills-landscape-near-west-bagborough-somerset-england-uk.html
Shaftesbury Theatre ceiling collapse (Hair) - https://www.shaftesburytheatre.com/about-us/theatre-history-2/
A house in St Marks Crescent - http://www.englishcubist.co.uk/house.html

Track down Smiley's Circus in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy': S1 Ep15

‘A plan to brain-wash the entire framework of the nation,’ said Jean, over the coffee and croissants. ‘It’s hardly credible.’

After a long hiatus, Tim and Lloyd are back with the (unlucky-for-some) 13th Curiously Specific Book Club podcast.

They start the new series with something that comes easy to them both – a leisurely stroll around Soho. Who knew Len Deighton’s classic 1962 spy novel The Ipcress File was the perfect excuse for a long lunch and a general loaf?

Each month we road test a work of fiction that appears to be curiously specific about dates and locations. We go to the places mentioned and see if descriptions are accurate, journey times credible, dates and days all in order. Along the way, we learn things, about the book, and its author.

See http://www.curiouslyspecific.com for more details.

Sources & Credits

Pick of the Pops Soundtrack and Alan Freeman - https://youtu.be/f_9jpTyRabM and  https://youtu.be/3FbSO773oQM

The Ipcress File brainwashing scene - https://youtu.be/4wwQpACwcoM

Golden Wonder crisp advert - https://youtu.be/k6SchrCyr1Y?t=34

Interview with Len Deighton -  https://youtu.be/XJun7546t_s

The Shadows, Bongo Blues -  https://youtu.be/JtVkTESeXAo

Fairey Band - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Band

Paul McCartney, Summer of 59 - https://youtu.be/hpnCoK6ixJA

Atom Bomb Explosion Aka Atom Bomb Test At Eniwetok (1956) - https://youtu.be/FltHbYJj-tA

Cadburys Drinking Chocolate advert - https://youtu.be/uO96gv1i0mY

Candid Caine - A Self Portrait of Michael Caine (1969) - https://youtu.be/b8s7S65YlDo

Theme Tune to The Ipcress File - https://youtu.be/pBCqP7R42K0

===

Len Deighton wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Deighton

Len Deighton London Dossier - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Deighton%27s_London_Dossier

Town: A Day in the life of Len Deighton: https://deightondossier.blogspot.com/2010/04/town-day-in-life-of-len-deighton-3.html

1962 Events - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_in_the_United_Kingdom#Events

Look at Life Coffee Bar 1959 - https://youtu.be/_nsRHHcq1P8

Flamingo Club  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flamingo_Club

William Burroughs and the strange demise of London’s first espresso bar - https://greatwen.com/2011/11/09/william-burroughs-and-the-strange-demise-of-londons-first-espresso-bar/

La Trattoria Terrazza - https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/48-la-trattoria-terrazza/1160721

William Sargant - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_SargantCommunist

Psychological Warfare: 'Brainwashing' - http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/globalism/Congress.htm

George Blake - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Blake

Etinawok atoll /US nuclear testing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Proving_Grounds

Johnston Atoll - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnston_Atoll

The Curiously Specific Book Club

Explore swinging 60s Soho with 'The Ipcress File': S1 Ep13

We road-test works of fiction that appear to be curiously specific about dates and locations.

Curiously Specific

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