It was the in-house code word for when a shelf needed to be tidied because someone had bought a book -- usually this meant a face-out had found a new home. Whoever was nearest was tasked to fill the space left by the departed title. The shelves have been looking so anaemic lately, it's become quite fruitless to call out 'Gap!' The clearance sales that began on 6 January have depleted most of our stock.
We had always intended to celebrate our closing down in some way. We felt the closure was necessary, not just for us, but also for the team and our regulars from both our Bermondsey days and Bankside. We had planned to have a closing down 'party' of some sort in February, but the bare shelves screamed that the time was nigh.
Saturday, 25 January 2014. At around 1pm, I started to be a bit nervous. There were quite a few people milling about inside the shop already, but where were the usual familiar faces, our regulars who had told us they would be there? Shivaun had a little speech prepared, I had issued all W&T-ers, past and present, with lyric sheets, and the projector was all set up. The wine flowed, the cake was cut, the vegetable crisps sat pristine in big plastic bowls. Slowly, the crowd thickened; amidst them, regulars we have come to know on a first-name basis... Really, there was nothing to be anxious about. The room soon filled with much warmth and love; it was like a reunion of sorts.
About 1.40pm, we decided to kick off with our scheduled program. Shivaun recounted several memorable highlights from our time at both locations, thanking everyone for having made the journey special. The message was obstinately upbeat: We were sad, yes, but not bitter; we have given, but also taken away much, and were better for it. The W&T-ers then bravely got up and arranged themselves on some stools, our temporary podium for the day. We launched into an acapella rendition of That's What Friends Are For -- not too bad if I must say so myself; after all, we hadn't rehearsed or anything. We then played a little 'flashback' video of some vignettes from W&T's journey. The mood was celebratory, almost congratulatory... What can I say except what an awesome send-off - THANK YOU!
Thank you to everyone who dropped by. Kieran for the chocolates. Monica and Xana for the flowers. Tsewei for filling in for me and playing photographer. K and Kevin for giving us a hand in hauling about furniture as we rearranged the space. Thank you to Robin and Howard, who were there at the beginning, and who were there at our ending. They have made their way each Saturday morning to wherever we were to teach tai chi in our space, regardless of whether one or eight people showed up for classes. Some supporters from our time at Bermondsey couldn't make it to our afternoon gathering, but they braved the torrential downpour later that evening, even as we were about to close for the day, just so they could say 'goodbye' -- thank you Mick and Kim, Pete and Kate, you have inspired us in more ways than you'll ever know. Thank you Neil for being one of the first to arrive and the last to leave. (And no, you may not chain yourself to one of our pillars!) Thank you Sole and Anant for trekking across London to get to us; thanks Anant for playing deejay, Sole for being your always beautiful, smiling self. The list of people to thank is endless, among them John, Sue, Jennifer, David, Gary, Greg, Stephanie, Maggie, Barbara, Veronica, Julia, Kristen, Pamela, Karen, Mr Mahood... If I haven't named you, please forgive me, you know who you are; your support has meant a lot to us, and you made our closing down celebration both special and memorable.
With warm wishes, big hugs and much love from all of us at W&T.
W&T 'Flashback' video below for a trip down memory lane :)