Perfect day
09/04/25 07:43
It’s a while since I had an adventure. So on Tuesday I decided to be Ariane for the day. It worked out better than I could have hoped.
Ariadne at Naxos (1877)
My outfit for the day was a long pale blue summer dress with a leather jacket and ankle boots. This seemed the most practical as I was expecting to be on the move for much of the time.
I started with Morning Prayer at my local church in Shalford. This was the first service I have attended there as Ariane. But it was no big deal because I knew the only attenders would be Rev Sarah and myself. Afterwards we discussed my desire to come out as Ariane at church. Rev Sarah has been supporting me throughout and I hope to make more progress with this soon.
Off then to Guildford station for the train to London. On arrival I headed to the City of London. I stopped off for a peaceful coffee at a quiet, independent coffee house on Gresham Street, before my first cultural engagement, round the corner at the Guildhall Art Gallery. I had not been there before so was not sure what to expect.
The gallery has just opened an exhibition of the work of the Victorian painter Evelyn de Morgan (1855 – 1919). She is described as ‘a pioneering artist whose richly coloured paintings reflect themes of feminism, spirituality, and a passionate rejection of war and materialism.’ And this was an accurate introduction. Her subjects are beautiful but not all that expressive, in a pre-Renaissance kind of way.
My favourite painting was Ariadne at Naxos (1877). It had to be, because my name Ariane is the French form of Ariadne. In Greek mythology, Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete, and the half-sister of the Minotaur. She fell in love with Theseus and, in a betrayal of her family and country, she helped him escape from the Minotaur’s labyrinth and then they eloped. Unfortunately Theseus had no time for Ariadne and abandoned her on the island of Naxos, where the painting shows her looking dejected. In different versions of the myth, she either dies on Naxos, or is rescued by the Greek god Dionysus (aka the Roman god Bacchus).
As well as this exhibition, the gallery has a permanent collection of Victorian paintings. Most of these were new to me. They were beautiful. If I’d had more time I would have sat there indefinitely just taking them in. I particularly liked The Three Princesses (1881) by Edward Matthew Hale, and Sun and Moon Flowers (1889) by George Dunlop Leslie. I will be back.
Onwards to the church of St Mary-le-Bow Cheapside, for a lunchtime piano recital by the young Canadian pianist Chloé Dumoulin. This famous old church, in its current form a design by Sir Christopher Wren, features in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons. She performed Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke op.12, then Bartok’s Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs. Again, these were new to me. Her playing was lively, expressive and technically brilliant. It was a privilege to hear her play: nothing beats live performance.
It was time to refuel so I travelled west to Soho for a civilised lunch at the LGBT-friendly Balans on Old Compton Street. Their Cobb Salad was excellent. The place had a relaxed vibe and it wasn’t so busy in the early afternoon.
My second art intake of the day was at the Photographers’ Gallery on Ramillies Street, just off Oxford Street. Also my first visit to this large building. It does not seem to have a permanent collection but offers a series of changing exhibitions. At the moment floors 4 and 5 are dedicated to the work of the four photographers shortlisted for the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. Most of the works on display were in black and white.
In contrast, the floor 3 exhibition Nothing Lasts Forever by Peter Mitchell is in colour. He recorded changes in urban life in Leeds in the 1970s and 1980s. There is a poignant collection of photographs of the Quarry Hill Flats. This utopian social housing development, the largest of its kind in Britain at the time, opened in Leeds in 1938 with accommodation for 3,000 people. Unfortunately its construction was not robust and the flats eventually deteriorated. It was demolished in 1978.
My final engagement of the day was the Sanctuary Eucharist offered by the team of St James’s Piccadilly at the current venue of St Pancras Euston Road. As before, this was a beautiful quiet service with Taizé chants. It was good to reconnect with the leadership team and the small but regular congregation.
It felt completely natural to live as Ariane for the day. No one paid me special attention. Last year’s self-conscious starter girl is a distant memory.
The day ended with a message from Rev Sarah, who had disclosed Ariane (with my consent) to that evening’s PCC meeting. She relayed their very positive and fully supportive response. So that clears the way for further conversations with church members. And soon a grand first appearance, coming out like a debutante.
What a beautiful day that was.