Suburban Narnias are found behind plain brick facades, in buildings so ordinary they are barely noticed. Any building can contain one, and in even my most casual glimpses through open doors and curtainless windows I hope to spot something unexpected inside.
I’d heard the rumours of the Egyptian Room inside the Petersham Masonic Centre on New Canterbury Road, a room lavishly decorated with images from Egyptian mythology. I think of it every time I pass by and try to imagine it but the exterior gives away no clues. It is brick office building, a neat box that attracts no attention.
One night a year, on the second Friday in November, the Egyptian Room is open to the public. On my way there I wonder if there will be queues, but the building looks as quiet and forbidding as any other day. I half expect the door to be locked, but it yields when I push against it. There is no one to be seen inside, but I can hear the clink of teacups from a far room and I tentatively head up the stairs following the sign to the Egyptian Room.