Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Author: admin

  • London – Ryan Taylor

    London – Ryan Taylor

    And in quite a complete departure from my usual boring drivel about museums, long distance walking, gossip, beer, American food and old things, this is Ryan Taylor. He’s the most famous YouTuber I’ve met with over 2 million followers. That is slightly higher than my blog readership.

    I was vaguely aware of a connection between Ryan and Ally Law, the latter of whom I would recognise immediately (primarily as some media really don’t like Ally), and I do follow Nightscape videos. I was also aware of Ryan entering the Big Brother house using methods that weren’t quite within the rules, but sorry to Ryan for being slow on the uptake and not recognising him (although he at the time had his face nearly entirely covered)…. I’m a bit old (only just) for all this, so my knowledge stops there….. Anyway, he’s a really nice guy and it was an interesting 30 minutes or so.

    To cut a long story short, there are PS5s in that bag, and he was on a YouTube / Instagram adventure to give them away to his fans. Hence why he was hiding, and why I’ve taken a couple of hours to post about this. I thought at first he was a delivery driver who had managed to give someone the wrong food and they were chasing him, which is why I didn’t object to his joining my table.

    I admit that cycling isn’t quite my thing (makes me tired), I love the adrenaline rush of the LDWA 100, but I really like the concept of getting youngsters (in his case I mean, not mine) getting out and about in whatever form they want. All good physical and spiritual engagement.

    Anyway, nice to be part of his adventure, and thanks for the selfie (I might upload that later). It seems the Daily Mail don’t much like Ryan, so that’s another plus on his side as far as I’m concerned   🙂

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 247

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 247

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Penthouse Nab

    This phrase is defined by Grose as “a broad brimmed hat”, although there’s an interesting (well I think there is) history to the word ‘penthouse’. The original meaning of this was some sort of outbuilding, usually shoved onto the side of a building, sometimes nothing more than a shed. Then there was a move in what the word meant, with reference to a building which sloped, and often the top of a building would slope at the top, which evolved into meaning the apartment or space at the top of a property.

    In recent years, the word has become used much more frequently and a penthouse is now seen as a desirable place to live. It’s usually the grand residence at the top of a building which has more space, extensive views and is most certainly not some old shed stuck onto the side.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Victoria and Albert Museum (Figures From Bristol High Cross)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Victoria and Albert Museum (Figures From Bristol High Cross)

    These are two of those random items at a museum, in this case the Victoria and Albert Museum, that might not look overly exciting at first glance, but they have a rather exotic heritage. Well, sort of. They date to around 1400 and were part of the Bristol High Cross, located in the heart of the city. Unfortunately, it was so central that it got in the way of traffic and so in 1733 it was taken down, in a forerunner to many similar decisions from councils in the centuries that followed.

    So, after the council faffed about with the bits of their High Cross for a few years, it was moved to College Green in 1736. And here it is above, located near to Bristol Cathedral, well out of everyone’s way. Then people complained again, it was in the way of how they wanted to promenade around the area, so they took it down in 1762 and shoved the bits in the cloisters of the Cathedral.

    Then, an overly generous Cutts Barton, the then Dean of Bristol, gave the city’s entire High Cross to the banker Henry Hoare II for his country estate at Stourhead. I’m not convinced that this was for the many and not the few, but there we go. A century later, the Victorians wanted to get their High Cross put back in Bristol, but it was now thought to be too badly damaged. After much faffing about, there is now a replica in Bristol which has been moved on numerous occasions to deal with the latest wave of complaints.

    Until 1980, all of Bristol’s High Cross still remained at Stourhead, now a National Trust property. This is when the four statues were sent to the Victoria and Albert Museum, although the rest of the cross is still there. And here they are today, likely representing four Kings who it’s thought might be King John, King Henry III, King Edward I and King Edward III.

  • London – Brent (Borough of) – Wembley – Ibis Wembley (Third Visit)

    London – Brent (Borough of) – Wembley – Ibis Wembley (Third Visit)

    Once again, this post is more for me to remember another night in Wembley rather than any extra use that a third report on the same hotel can offer anyone else. There’s not much useful I can add about the welcome, the staff member was friendly and the check-in procedure was painless. Certainly nothing negative to mention.

    The room, on the fourteenth and top floor again. All clean and as it should be, although it doesn’t have a television like the first time I stayed where I could cast my phone to it. I managed to get by without such decadence. I did note that the desk had been fixed, by use of supports, from what looked like when a previous guest had sat on it or similar…

    The Government’s new rules means that hotel bars can stay open if customers order a substantial meal with their alcohol, or if they just have soft drinks. The hotel rules do though allow customers to take alcohol to their room, so that’s what happened to my welcome drink. Not really ideally poured, but I was just pleased that the drink option was still available and that Goose Island Midway Session IPA was still there.

    The view from the room over the Borough of Brent. There’s no shortage of construction work going on around here, I assume primarily residential as it’s quite an easy location to commute to and from for those wanting to work in the capital.

    And the view over Wembley in the morning, although I think I prefer the night-time view. Anyway, all was quiet in the hotel, they have windows that open to allow for ventilation, the temperature was perfect and I have nothing negative to say. How very lovely.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Victoria and Albert Museum (Reliquary Diptych)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Victoria and Albert Museum (Reliquary Diptych)

    This rather lovely item (or, to be precise, two items as it’s two halves of a folding reliquary and has two catalogue numbers) is in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum. And, whilst I’m wittering on, I’m very impressed at the level of information about this item (and I’m hoping many others) on their web-site, there are tens of paragraphs of information about these reliquaries and far more than I can ever really understand.

    I like reliquaries, especially personal ones which would have been deeply important to their owners, although this was likely made for a monastery. This one is thought to have been made in Spoleto, a town nearby to Perugia in Italy, in the 1320s. Some of the relics are still in the recessed area, although others are missing or have moved about. It’s not entirely clear who each item was associated with, but there are a few bone fragments.

    There’s lots of provenance for this item, something I’m nearly always intrigued by, I quite like how ownership of items has worked out over time. It was owned by Serafino Tordelli (1787-1864) who was a collector of items who lived in Spoleto, and it was purchased by the dealer Giuseppe Baslini (1817-1877) after Tordelli’s death. The museum then purchased the reliquaries for £4 (£250 in today’s money according to the National Archives) on 17 July 1868.

    The number of faked relics reached the point in the medieval period that there were more body parts for some saints than the individual had limbs for. Many of relics were destroyed during the Reformation and there’s no evidence for many relics at all, other than hearsay. But, at the time it was a personal connection which would have been important and the destruction of so many relics during the Reformation must have caused some considerable distress.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Victoria and Albert Museum

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Victoria and Albert Museum

    I can’t remember the last time that I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, it certainly isn’t in the last few years. I’ve also never quite understood what the collections policy of the museum is and what they focus on, although I think it’s primarily decorative items that aren’t covered by other national museums.

    The museum opened in 1852 as the Museum of Manufactures, something of a legacy from the Great Exhibition of 1851. The museum was renamed as the South Kensington Museum, moved to its current location in 1857 and was renamed again as the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1899.

    The V&A is is one of the best rated museums in the world on review sites and I couldn’t find anything negative about my four hour visit there today. The staff at the entrance were welcoming, the security guard was friendly, the signage was clear, the web-site is detailed, everything worked as it should. The collections are enormous, I hadn’t realised that there were seven miles of exhibits should they somehow be stretched out.

    Anyway, lots more individual posts on certain exhibits to follow, but below are some photos from the interior. One thing that might be apparent is that it wasn’t exactly packed with other visitors. Despite spending four hours at the museum, I didn’t get to see everything, this is somewhere that needs multiple visits to properly understand.

  • London – Croydon (Borough of) – Numbers 2-8 Church Road

    London – Croydon (Borough of) – Numbers 2-8 Church Road

    Located near to Croydon Minster (the one with the paving slabs made out of gravestones) I thought that these looked rather beautiful in the otherwise urban environment of the town. From a time where design and heritage was given at least some thought, these are actually from the late nineteenth century and have some nice bits of decorative work.

    There we go, something positive about Croydon.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 246

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 246

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Penny-Wise and Pound Foolish

    This definition hasn’t changed over the last two centuries, defined by Grose as “saving in small matters, and extravagant in great”. I don’t have much to add here, other than I find it surprising that the phrase has been in usage since the early seventeenth century, as it perhaps feels a little more modern.

    And the phrase’s usage over the last two centuries.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Ibis Styles Kensington (Seventh Visit)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Ibis Styles Kensington (Seventh Visit)

    There has long not been much point my writing up my repeated visits to this hotel for anyone else, the duplication is rather high to say the least. But, since I’m writing this to remind me where I’ve been, I shall happily indulge myself.

    For the first time I’ve been given a room that I’ve had before, which was an upgrade to a larger double room. Spotlessly clean and with a window that opens to ensure ventilation. I like that. Incidentally, the hotel had a heap of heaters near to reception, so I’m probably the only guest that decided the room could be just that bit cooler. The only fault with the room was the one that was there weeks ago, the light on the table doesn’t work. But, I battled on without such luxury and decadence.

    The free welcome drink, my standard choice…..

    The breakfast hasn’t changed much over the last few months, it’s probably not going to satisfy some, but it’s perfectly sufficient as a little snack and I like their coffee. It’s hard for me to find fault, especially taking into account that this room cost under £25 per night, even before reward points are taken into account.

    So, not much else to add to my previous visits, but this is an excellent value for money option and just a short walk away from Earl’s Court railway station.

  • London – Croydon (Borough of) – Croydon Minster

    London – Croydon (Borough of) – Croydon Minster

    I feel I’m in danger of it sounding as if I like everywhere that I go, unless it’s in Croydon. I was hopeful that Croydon Minster would be something which lifted my spirits, but it was shut which wasn’t entirely ideal. However, these are challenging times and I hoped that the exterior would be interesting and intriguing.

    My first impressions were a little negative, as I approached the Minster which seemed to be in the middle of a car park. Also, and I can’t think of a similar sized church where this is the case (and I accept that there are likely many), but there were no information boards to help visitors understand the building.

    To be fair this isn’t just my view, as a council report (that I’ll mention later) did note about the Minster:

    “This is a car-dominated environment that harms the setting of this important asset”.

    Well, there was this to be fair, noting that the churchyard was closed down in 1950 and that a war memorial was placed within in it. Interesting, but not entirely what I was hoping for.

    Some of the problem is that the road has rather come crashing through in front of the church, as is evident from these two side by side images from 100 years ago and today (clicking on the image makes it larger).

    There has been a church here since the Saxon period, so the heritage is undeniable. Unfortunately, there was a substantial fire on 5 January 1867, with much of the interior being lost. That means that the interior is primarily Victorian, but there are six former Archbishops of Canterbury buried here, more than anywhere else other than Lambeth and Canterbury.

    This was the nicest photo I could take of the churchyard, or what is left of it. The box tomb is damaged, but the trees add character.

    This was the churchyard. I make no comment, which is very restrained of me.

    For anyone wondering what happened to the gravestones, clicking on the above image gives a clue. I have to say, I’m not overly impressed with the Church of England here. Someone in the nineteenth century would have likely made great sacrifices to pay for a gravestone for a family member, it would have very likely been something they treasured and would have perhaps thought would have been treated with respect. Knocking it down, cutting bits off to fit and then using it as a paving slab probably wasn’t at the forefront of their mind.

    And more paving slabs. The writing has become heavily eroded now, so it’s hard to make out the dates and names on them.

    Not wanting to labour a point, but the church clearly wanted to pave as wide an area as possible with their new slabs.

    Goodness knows what has happened here.

    But, at least Croydon Council has worked out something is wrong here. A report they commissioned a few ago noted:

    “When there are services at the Minster the area is tightly jammed with cars. The overall quality of the space is poor and
    it does not enhance the setting of the Minster. The subway and associated concrete wall has a negative impact on the character of the area.”

    It was added though that the core of the buildings were exceptional:

    “The Croydon Minster and the complex of buildings at Old Palace School are Grade I listed, the latter described in the Buildings of England series as ‘one of the best survivals in England of a medieval archbishop’s palace’”.

    As for the road plonked in front of the Minster:

    “Roman Way is a busy highway located immediately to the west of the Croydon Minster Conservation Area that has a direct impact on its setting, creating a noisy and car-dominated environment.”

    The report is one of the most sensible documents that I’ve seen, which did bring me some reassurance. Not much else did about this Minster, I think it’s possibly one of the most depressing churchyards I’ve seen.

    And below is how the church looked in 1890, really quite beautiful.