TAFF - pg 21 Inside the Tower ther was such a queue for the Crown Jewels that we decided to give it a miss. In any case, no cameras were allowed in there at all, whereas permission could be obtained to take photographs in the White Tower. Now it was the first time that I had been in the armoury section of the tower and all the boys got from me was "But where's the fifteenth century plate armour?" We reached it eventually, but just beforehand Ron came up to me and said "Have you seen the obscene suit of armour in the glass case?" I hadn't, but I got over to see it with in- decent haste. The armour had belonged to Henry VIII for use in foot combats and it had been made so that there was not a crack or crevice where a weapon could enter. But egad! The steel codpiece. Henry was a hefty character, but I still think he was bragging. Don of course, took a photograph of it, helped by Ron, accompanied by scandalised looks from several of the visitors who were probably wishing they had the nerve to ask Don to send them a copy of the photo when developed. The Yeoman of the Guard eventually persuaded us they were closing down for the night and back we went to Ted's office to pick up some gear. From there we went on to Ella's place where a number of fen were waiting to say hello to Don. I had to leave fairly early, but no doubt Don has persuaded Ella or Ron in writing up that part of his trip. Don was taken along to the Globe on the Thursday night, but again I had not a lot of time to spare so it was a case of "good-evening, goodnight." Friday was the day the fans started moving in to the Kingsley Hotel and discovering where the cafes and restaurants were in the district. I had gone to meet Bill, but the coach was early and I finally rang the hotel to discover that he was already there. When I arrived myself Ella had alr- eady done stalwart work introducing people around. As the Convention proper did not start until Saturday the evening was spent in meeting and reunions and getting the geography of the place. The following morning Bill and I went to the National Gallery as I had been telling him for months about Da Vinci's painting "The Virgin of the Rocks" and this was an opportunity of showing him why I was so enthusia- stic about it. Then I remembered that I had never see the original por- trait of Richard III, and as the National Portrait gallery was next door in we went. Then it was back to the hotel for the official opening of the Conven- tion. Doc Weir introduced Ted Carnell, the guest of honour, who in turn introduced Don, the TAPP candidate. By this time I had found that Don could keep an extremely straight face when he was kidding one along and I was prepared, but the audience had found out, too, and his speech went down very well. I may add at this point that the British fen were wondering if Don were an American. He didn't drink coffee, he didn't smoke, he didn't drink whisky and he didn't hustle. Nevertheless, I noticed that what Don had planned to do during his visit did get done. After Ted Carnell's talk on the state of present day S.F. there was break for tea, followed by an auction and then one of the highlights of the Convention - Don's slide show. This made quite an impression on the audience and was much appreciated.