STA Blog

Walking up Threadneedle Street from the Bank of England at lunchtime on April Fool’s Day – and a New Moon to boot – I should have expected a flurry of snow. Reconvening for a post-pandemic annual lunch, Fellows of the Society of Technical Analysts had been invited for a get-together – drinks supplied by the STA.

I was in The City of London for the first time in a while, and was quite shocked by what I saw. So many empty retail premises; no hustle and bustle of a Friday as sandwiches were snatched or pints quaffed. Quite honestly, people drifting through an arid wasteland. Post-pandemic indeed!

Which was very apropos, as this month marks the centenary of the publication of T. S. Eliot’s The Wasteland. As I understand, he was employed (unhappily) in the basement office of the foreign transactions department of Lloyds Bank at 20 King William Street. One of its most famous stanzas is:

‘’April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.’’

Eleven of us were sat around a long table in a private room with a delightful Italian waitress. Nice food, lots of catching up, and a bit of reminiscing over old times. Interesting that several had suffered from a bout of Covid this year, and that few had travelled abroad over the last two years.

As of today, Thursday the 7th April, the estate of T. S. Eliot has organised events to coincide with the centenary, including 22 City churches, where as they suggest are ‘’a moment in which to pause and reflect’’.

https://thewasteland2022.com/