Day 44 Calcutta

Day 44                        Saturday 8^th October 2011                  Calcutta

After a fairly good night in our bunks, the train arrived right on time at 7am at Sealdah Station.

It was hot & humid even at this time. We caught a taxi to a hotel & negotiated a good deal. Also put our laundry in as we have been on the move for days & no chance to get any washing done & running out of clean clothes.

First task was to book a train to Delhi. At the first booking office we were directed to go to the Foreign Booking Office in

Fairlie Place

. We got a taxi there but found it didn’t open until 10am and there were already people waiting. A quick walk around the area & back to the queue. As the doors opened we were handed a booking slip with a number on it. We were customer 15.

When our number was called we quickly purchased tickets to Delhi for Thursday evening. Senior citizens automatically get a 50% discount.

Next we went to St Andrew’s Church where Dr Macwhirter had become the first elder in 1814. He had also loaned the Church 20,000 rupees in 1819 so that a spire could be erected.

Interestingly there is now an historical plaque outside the Church. It mentions that when the Church wanted to erect the spire, the Bishop of Calcutta refused as the spire would make it taller than the Cathedral Church of St John’s. The Minister (Rev Bryce) had the spire erected & on top he placed a crowing cock. The furious Bishop then declared that the Public Works Department responsible for cleaning the spire were not to clean the cock. The bird remains there to this day.

No photography is allowed within the Church & there is a superb oil portrait of Rev Bryce in the adjoining office. In the Church newsletter, concern was expressed that with the death of some long standing elders & other issues, the leadership of the church is in jeopardy. The 200^th anniversary is due in 2015 so it is to be hoped that there will be some celebrations to mark the occasion.

We walked to

Tank Square

(still filthy) although beside it now there is underground parking for VIPs & visiting ministers. Above this there is manicured lawn & garden, but fenced off from the public. People were actually fishing in the Tank & on one side people are living on the street in makeshift shanties. We went to Tank Square as

Red Cross Place

(formerly known as

Wellesley Place

) runs off  there, which was where the HEICS dispensary was located, Dr John Macwhirter having lived next door

We found

Red Cross Place

. We knew the Dispensary was at No 4 so Dr Macwhirter lived at either No 2 or No 6.  In 1821 there was a fire at No 4 & Dr Macwhirter gave an engraved plate to the officers of the 87^th Regiment who saved his property.

We were disappointed to find that the Central Telegraph Office now stands here & that it was built in 1873. Even if the street had been renumbered, there was nothing of the early 1800’s still standing.

Dr Macwhirter was the personal physician to the Governor General at the Raj Bhavan which is at the end of Wellesley Place & St Andrew’s is a short walk away.

Next stop was the State Archives which is a short distance from our hotel. It is closed until Monday at 11am so we’ll go back then.

We walked along

Park Street

to find somewhere for dinner & found Peter Cat restaurant.