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  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – Original Site of Globe Theatre

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – Original Site of Globe Theatre

    I’ve walked in this area around London Bridge railway station hundreds of times, but I was never aware that the original site of the Globe Theatre is partly marked out. The theatre was first constructed in 1599, but was destroyed by fire in 1613 (a cannon misfired during a performance of Henry VIII, which wasn’t ideal), before being rebuilt in 1614. The Puritans ordered theatres to close in 1642 in case anyone might dare enjoy themselves, with the building demolished between 1644 and 1645.

    That was really that for the theatre, until 1988 when construction in the area found some of the building’s foundations. The area has been heavily built on over the last few centuries, not least the listed building at 67-70 Anchor Terrace. It’s not possible to dig more without taking the Anchor Terrace buildings down, but there are likely some foundations from the theatre present under those properties.

    The location of the former theatre is on the South Bank of the Thames and is marked out with a cursor on the above map (clicking on the image makes it a little larger and easier to see) from the early twentieth century, at a time when they weren’t aware of the foundations being there. The Globe was rebuilt in a modern form in 1997 (although as true to the original as they realistically could and it’s the only building in the city of London which is thatched and they had to get special permission for that), but is on a site a little further west, around 250 metres, along the Thames.

    There are a number of information boards at the site, including this easy to understand map of the site, which helped place things in the modern built-up environment. For anyone interested in the history of theatre and similar things, I’d say that it’s worth a little meander here to have a look, and it’s also known that Shakespeare lived nearby so that he could be at the theatre on a regular basis.

  • London – Bromley (Borough of) – Bromley North Branch Line

    London – Bromley (Borough of) – Bromley North Branch Line

    The lighting in this photo isn’t at all ideal, but I couldn’t use the night mode as this takes a few seconds of keeping the phone still and people kept walking in front of me. There are better day-time photos available on-line anyway…… I went on a little visit to Bromley to have a look at this slightly odd branch line, which goes to just three stations.

    And here is this quirky section of line, comprising the three stations of Grove Park, Sundridge Park and Bromley North.

    From Openstreetmap the branch line is clearly visible, coming off the South Eastern Main Line.

    The main part of the station building was closed, so the line could only be accessed by walking around the side. I poked my camera through the gates to take a photo of the concourse area that passengers couldn’t access. There was a sad event in April 1920, when a couple abandoned a four-week old baby on the train from Charing Cross railway station and the child was discovered here and taken to the waiting room, before the police later took the poor young soul to Bromley Infirmary. The newspaper noted that the child was left in the second-class section of the train….

    This area hasn’t much changed since the railway station was built in 1878, the odd set-up is historic and not because the line has been cut off during its history.

    The platforms at Bromley North railway station, with the station being extensively remodelled in the mid-1920s, which annoyed the dozen tradesmen who had premises at the station and were given notice to leave in 1924. The Southern Railway Company were displeased to discover in 1939 that their leading parcel porter and a colleague at the station had been on the steal for some time, primarily pinching clothes. The police investigated the two men responsible, Frederick William Smart (aged 52) and Sidney White (aged 40 and no relation) and they were sentenced to six months in prison.

    And the train coming in, with another not very clear photo…..

    The train just goes up and down the branch line, it’s not particularly decadent, but it is perfectly functional.

    And here we are ten minutes later at Grove Park, where there are direct trains into London. When the station was built, there were direct trains to London from these branch line stations, but they became peak-only in 1976 and they were then entirely withdrawn in 1990.

    These are the main lines into London, the branch line is at the rear of the photo and can be accessed by going over that bridge.

    The railway set-up is the same today as it was 100 years ago when the map was produced, but the entire area is now surrounded by housing.

    There has been some debate as to whether more can be done with this line, but there’s a limited capacity on the mainline which means that there aren’t really that many options available. For the moment this little set-up remains as a slight oddity and I can’t imagine this arrangement makes much money for the rail company, especially given the alternative bus alternatives that are available, and that there’s another railway station in Bromley. However, I’m glad it’s all still here (although surprised that it wasn’t closed down in the 1960s or 1970s), it felt just slightly quirky….

  • Braintree – The Picture Palace

    Braintree – The Picture Palace

    On the way down to London last week, we popped into this JD Wetherspoon pub in Braintree (a town we were near as Liam want to charge his electric car there, as he’s very environmental) as I hadn’t visited it before, and I felt that this was a sufficient reason to go there.

    The entrance to the former cinema, which was purpose-built in 1935 as the Embassy (the name of which is still visible on the exterior of the building, as can be seen in the top photo). Before it, the Picture Palace had stood here, which was built in 1912 on the site of a former sand-pit and this name has been brought back by JD Wetherspoon. Braintree was growing by the 1930s (and has grown almost exponentially since) and the demand for a larger venue was required, hence the construction of the Embassy.

    The pub is located to what was the bottom left corner of Fair Field in this map from the early twentieth century and Victoria Street now cuts across this site from west to east.

    My friend Richard will be delighted at this, he adores Bells and would swap his entire whisky collection for a few shots of this.

    The interior of the pub and it appeared to be a sensitive conversion into a pub which hasn’t damaged the historic integrity of the building (or at least as little as shoving a pub into an old building can damage it). It’s not brilliantly reviewed on-line, although there’s nothing too serious.

    I couldn’t find any amusing reviews, but I liked this:

    “Came in at 8 to order food. Didn’t order any alcohol. Got harassed at quarter to 8, trying to rush us to eat our food. Wasn’t even 9 yet. No sign showing that was there policy on the door. Rude staff. Extremely rude staff. Do not go here if you want a nice night or evening.”

    I guess that there was a child in the group and the pub were honouring their licence restrictions,something which seems to infuriate no end of customers as they feel their children should be exempt. But, I noted that they arrived at 20:00, but complain that they were being hurried at 19:45. Anyway, I digress in a pointless manner.

    I had a quick half of the Ridley’s Rite beer from Bishop Nick brewery who are from Braintree itself, which is at least some effort to stock local drinks. That tasted very acceptable, although the others on the table just opted for coffees, although I didn’t say anything of course….. As a pub, it wasn’t entirely clean (as Ross discovered when put his sleeve into a pool of tomato sauce, although we all saw the funny side in that – other than Ross), but it’s keenly priced and a decent transformation of what is a relatively grand building.

  • London – Thames Rocket Speedboat

    London – Thames Rocket Speedboat

    The Admiral of the Wild Seas

    Mostly photos in this post from when four of us had a little ride on the Thames Rocket in London last weekend, something I got with some Virgin vouchers I needed to spend (well, got for my friend Liam and I, the others paid separately as I’m not that generous). After a slight debacle on timing where we got muddled up and had to rush our breakfast in the Liberty Bounds pub (Scott dithered, luckily I had been served first so I didn’t have to rush), we arrived a little early at the pier in front of the London Eye. There’s plenty of clear signage about where to go, even though the pier is used by several different companies.

    There was a friendly welcome from the staff member dealing with ticket checking and we were given life-jackets, but it was mentioned that no-one had yet managed to fall out of the boat. We hoped that Scott would fall out to provide us with some extra entertainment, but unfortunately he remained firmly seated throughout. There were 12 spaces on the boat, but only 8 passengers, although they were sending out another full boat at the same time, so it was still busy. Two of the passengers were a father and youngish son, with it being evident that the father was having a lot more fun than the son.

    The journey lasted for forty minutes, which included a moderately paced sail to the river down to Tower Bridge before the pace stepped up (apparently the local maritime rules prohibit speedboats from rushing along in the central area of the city). It was never overly scary, although Liam sat there looking at his phone whilst I held onto the bit of metal in front of me, primarily as I’m more risk averse than he is. Scott kept taking videos which required me to look casual and calm, which is never an easy thing when forced upon me…. I took photos on the sedate part of the journey, but I absolutely wasn’t using it when the boat driver was doing twists and thuds (or whatever the nautical terms are) as Liam would have had to spend his afternoon diving in the Thames to recover my phone (I’m sure I would have tried to convince him that this was a sensible idea in that eventuality). The music wasn’t ideal I thought, they could have done with some Wurzels, but it was a different way to see the Canary Wharf stretch of the river.

    After the speedy bit of the adventure, there was a tour back down the river to the Houses of Parliament and I thought this was interesting, and I found out some things that I didn’t know about the city’s history. I’ve now forgotten what they were, but I was engaged with the whole thing at the time. I thought that this was a rather lovely way to spend a lunch-time in London and I rewarded myself by taking everyone along the Bermondsey Beer Mile for the afternoon.

    Oh, and it was agreed by me that I was the bravest.

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – Kernel Brewery Taproom Arch 7

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – Kernel Brewery Taproom Arch 7

    A group of four us had a great idea to visit some pubs along the Bermondsey Beer Mile (specifically it was my idea, but I don’t mind sharing the credit) including a trip to Kernel, which is a bar that I haven’t visited before and it’s the brewery known for its quirky branding on brown paper labels. Although this is a relatively new location at Arch 7, Kernel were the first breweries to have a taproom along here and they still brew a few doors down from this unit.

    Although I’m sure it’s mostly just me, I found this to be one of the more confusing beer menus I’ve seen, so much so it confused the staff as well when taking orders. I ordered the Export India Porter and the India Double Porter, with the friendly staff member handing me one glass and saying “that’s the India Porter” which I only realised wasn’t entirely helpful when I sat down, it would have perhaps been easier to have beer names than using the beer style as the name. What initially looks to be a beer name are actually the hops which are used, which I noted confused other customers as well. Anyway, the drink needs of our group were quite varied, but there was something for all of us (and primarily me, which was my main priority if I’m being honest) as there were numerous different beer styles available.

    One of my two porters, both were suitably decadent and drinkable.

    This is what I thought to be a welcoming environment in its surroundings under the railway arches with several tables on the ground floor and there’s also a few seats on the upper level looking down. The availability of power points was useful and the whole arrangement is almost inevitably all on-trend given the location and products being sold.

    For anyone meandering along the Bermondsey Beer Mile I’d recommend this bar (which is also very well-reviewed on-line), not least because of its heritage in the area. Kernel brew some really nice stouts and they didn’t let me down on that score, with the staff being friendly and everything was clean and organised.

  • London – Newham (Borough of) – Stratford – ArcelorMittal Orbit Slide

    London – Newham (Borough of) – Stratford – ArcelorMittal Orbit Slide

    We were meant to go on this slide at the Sir Anish Kapoor designed ArcelorMittal Orbit in Stratford, which is the largest piece of public art in the country (the sculpture, not specifically the slide), a few weeks ago. However, it was having technical issues so they let our little party of two adults and two children to the observation deck and rescheduled the date for the slide. We’re rescheduling that separately and since the location let us use our vouchers for three adults instead, my friends Ross and Liam came along with me.

    It’s quite a big piece of public sculpture when you’re standing at the bottom, so I did think maybe I had been a little too brave. The sculpture was designed to be a permanent reminder of the 2012 Olympics Games which were held here, and the Olympic Stadium (now West Ham Football Club) is just over the road.

    It’s possible to see the slide merged in with the sculpture, with some gaps in the metal so that riders of the slide can have a little look out whilst plummeting down. It wasn’t designed like this, but so many people thought that the original sculpture allowed people to slide down that they added the feature in 2016.

    We had seen this a few weeks ago, but this is the slide arrangement. It goes without saying that I was beyond brave, although Ross and Liam were quite courageous as well I suppose. Liam doesn’t let anything stress or worry him, which annoys me, so he was fine. We had a wait in the queue of around thirty minutes, although we had arrived early and so that balanced out nicely. That wait is the worst bit, especially when some people decide to scream loudly down the entire slide when they’re chucked down it. It adds worry to the whole proceedings…. Whilst waiting in the queue, I had a nice conversation with the man behind who was doing the slide with his son, and we both agreed how brave I was.

    They require every rider to wear a hat and elbow protectors and I thought I looked a bloody idiot. But safety first…. After the opportunity for a photo, it was then time for my little slide. They ask you to get partly into a bag thing, lie all the way back and then shuffle forwards before plunging down into oblivion. There’s a sign saying that the staff won’t push you down, although they did help the children gently which was done rather kindly. The staff also spoke a number of languages, so a French speaker was able to talk to the French group which was handy.

    The ride reaches speeds of 15 miles an hour and although the start seemed quite sedate it all sped up quickly. There were plenty of twists and turns, including a corkscrew, before the 40 second ride is complete. There were more twists and turns that I had expected, although nothing too dramatic (although I shut my eyes for some of it). I stopped a bit short of the end, as did Liam, and the guy there was a bit grumpy telling me to shuffle along. Although he was being rude to everyone else, but he’s probably heard every line possible standing there all day. I have to say though that all the other staff (and there’s lots of them at the venue) were very friendly and conversational, so it all seemed welcoming. The venue had been great in responding to e-mails as well, trying to sort out dates and the like.

    We were allowed back up to take photos of the surrounding area, although I’d already done that a few weeks ago. I’ll add photos from that in a separate post this week (how exciting for my three readers…..). We walked back down the 430 or so steps back down, although they do let you go down in the lift.

    Whilst walking down it’s possible to see the slide winding its way down. It’s not cheap to go on the slide, about £17 each, but I had Virgin vouchers that I needed to use up. I admit to being a bit worried whilst waiting at the top, as I tend to be concerned about throwing myself down a huge tunnel, but it was an enjoyable experience and I’d do it again. One of the staff said that the split of screamers and silent riders was about the same, although I was obviously silent and placid and didn’t yell loudly, which Ross and Liam also fortunately replicated as I didn’t want us to be a raucous group.

    So, all very lovely, and I’d recommend others to chuck themselves down the slide as well. It’s not cheap, but as a staff member said, it’s an experience that can be crossed off the bucket list and it’s suitable for children of around eight years or older (and up to 22 stone, but beyond that there’s a danger of getting stuck). For those who are even braver, you can abseil down the tower as well.

  • London – Newham (Borough of) – Ibis Canning Town

    London – Newham (Borough of) – Ibis Canning Town

    I’ve worked my around a good number of the Accor hotels in London, well, other than the expensive ones as I’m not that decadent. This Ibis in Canning Town is new to me and is located opposite the Underground and DLR station in the beating heart of Newham.

    The check-in was efficient and what appeared to be a manager was standing near to the reception desk welcoming and talking to guests. I thought that was a nice touch, there was a really warm feel to this hotel in terms of the welcome. They gave me a room on the top floor and the interior was the Ibis brand standard affair, but spotlessly clean.

    Well, that really is very lovely as Ibis don’t have to provide a welcome gift. Some other Accor branded hotels do, although often don’t, so this was another nice little touch. My loyalty is easily bought with popcorn and a drink.

    The extensive view from my window, a reminder of when I got the DLR every day into Canning Town when I lived near here.

    For the welcome drink I went for Meantime London Lager, a perfectly acceptable option for a chain hotel, although I was slightly puzzled when asked if I wanted ice with it. The hotel has done well here with its cafe, as they have a limited amount of space and it was busy with what appeared to be a combination of guests and locals. Hotels often have quite anonymous and quiet cafe bar set-ups which aren’t really much used, something that didn’t happen here. Although the flip side of that was that I couldn’t get any work done as the set-up wasn’t conducive to that as it was a little too loud, so I didn’t linger for long.

    The view from the hotel room at night. The window in the room opened which meant that I could listen to the sound of traffic and activity, something I find quite relaxing (who needs the quiet countryside?).

    I particularly liked watching this, the three levels of Canning Town platforms and the bus station in front of it, there’s quite a lot of integrated transport going on there.

    As another one of my irrelevant asides and a clear sign that I’m spending too much time in Accor hotels, but there has been a switch from the white dispensers to the black ones. This hotel had one of each, but the ‘Rock Your Body’ ones are often broken, such as this one, not really a very well thought through design as around a third of these dispensers I’ve had just don’t work (they’re full, but the mechanism at the top doesn’t do anything). It’s not ideal from Accor, although I accept that it’s not the world’s most pressing issue at the moment…..

    Anyway, I very much like this hotel, with friendly staff, clean rooms, a nice touch with the welcome gift and the views over the River Thames. It’s well reviewed on-line and it’s a quick journey into central London given how near the Jubilee Line station is, and it’s a short DLR journey to get to London City Airport and the ExCeL centre.

  • Norwich – St. Peter Mancroft Church (Gaia Earth Art Installation)

    Norwich – St. Peter Mancroft Church (Gaia Earth Art Installation)

    I missed this Gaia art installation by a couple of days when it was in Hull a few weeks ago, so I was pleased to see that it was coming to St. Peter Mancroft Church in central Norwich. The installation is designed by Luke Jerram to encourage people to think about environmental issues and also our place on the planet.

    The earth gently revolves and there’s some background music as well to support the whole arrangement.

    The installation certainly brought lots of visitors to the church and apparently it was popular with families last week during Half Term. There was a friendly team of volunteers at the entrance to the church who were giving Gaia bookmarks out and welcoming people, which I thought was rather lovely. I also saw the church’s shop doing a brisk trade in various different items such as Christmas cards, so it seems to have been a worthwhile project for them.

    There are a few similar installations to allow for multiple events, but there’s a list of where Gaia is going to be in the future at https://my-earth.org/tour-dates/ and it’s at Keele for three weeks this month, which I can imagine will look suitably exciting in the chapel. This is all free of charge for visitors and I liked the whole air of optimism behind the project, which seemed evident in the friendliness and warmth of the volunteers. An uplifting experience I’d say.

  • Dublin – National Museum of Ireland (Bog Bodies)

    Dublin – National Museum of Ireland (Bog Bodies)

    Firstly, I did wonder whether it was appropriate to take and upload photos of dead bodies, but I noticed that the museum themselves did extensively, with no shortage of other imagery available on-line.

    There are four different bog bodies on display at the National Museum of Ireland, perhaps not really being displayed with a great amount of dignity. Three of those bodies are below, preserved because the conditions in the bog effectively mummified them. There are around 100 bodies of this type which have been found around the world, some of whom are Soviet soldiers from the Second World War.

    This is Gallagh Man who was discovered in 1821 when peat cutting and his body dates to around 200 and 400 BC.

    This is Clonycavan Man who was only discovered in 2003, when a peat harvesting machine was being used. This poor man hasn’t had an ideal time of it, as it’s thought that he was murdered, perhaps as part of a sacrifice. Although historians often use the reason of sacrifice, when it was maybe just as likely there was some sort of dispute. Anyway, the body dates to between 200 and 400 BC.

    This is the Baronstown West Man who was discovered in 1953 when workmen were peat cutting. He lived in the early Iron Age between around 200 to 400 AD and he was aged between around 25 and 30.

    There’s plenty of information in the museum’s exhibition about the individuals, as well as reconstructions of what they looked like which does bring them to life somewhat from the rather exposed state that they are currently lying in. The preservation is though quite incredible, allowing archaeologists to get a deep understanding of the bodies, not least because the internal organs have mostly survived to some degree. It’s clear from reviews that the bog bodies are what most visitors consider to be the most intriguing part of the museum.

    There’s more information about the bog bodies at https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Irish-Antiquities-Division-Collections/Collections-List-(1)/Iron-Age/Bog-Bodies-Research-Project.

  • Dublin – Porterhouse Temple Bar

    Dublin – Porterhouse Temple Bar

    I went to Porterhouse Central in Dublin a few years ago, so when Liam and I were in Dublin a couple of weeks ago we (well, I mainly) decided to try the Porterhouse Temple Bar located near to the River Liffey.

    It was a Saturday evening and quite busy, with this photo being taken during a lull in proceedings. We were taken to a table which was suitable for our drinking needs, with the ordering process being efficient. It was perhaps a little soulless though in terms of the service, the downside of a busy bar. Although it’s Temple Bar on a Saturday evening, it would be unfair to expect exceptional personal treatment, but everyone was friendly.

    The lighting didn’t make for great photos, but it was a convivial atmosphere with plenty going on in terms of the internal decoration.

    I was going to get a photo of the drinks menu, but they took it away, so I made do taking a photo of the one in the toilets (there were no other customers in there). Not quite as decadent, not quite as clear, but it shows the various beer styles.

    There were three dark beers, so I had half a pint of each to save me burdening myself by having to choose. I think I got them in the right order for putting on Untappd, although it was slightly fiddly as they all looked the same. They were all brewed by the brewery who operates the pub, the Porterhouse Brew Co and I thought they were all pretty much of an equal quality, which was decent but not exceptional in terms of the richness of taste. The three beers were the Irish Stout, the Plain Porter and the XXXX (that’s the name, I haven’t forgotten what the beer was called). As a random aside, it reminded me that Dublin is a great place to get dark beer given the whole presence of Guinness ensuring that stouts and porters are never far from the mind of the customer.

    Some of the decoration outside the toilets.

    And enjoying the drinks. I note that I always look slightly grumpy…..

    Although this is a touristy and busy location, it’s still a really good pub with a friendly ambience, an interesting atmosphere and a comfortable environment. Although I went for a dark beer fest, there are numerous other beer types available brewed by Porterhouse. The service was timely, the prices were reasonable and I’m fairly confident from my experience in their other venue that the food would also be of a very acceptable quality. It might be a little touristy, but that shouldn’t deter tourists from going at least for a quick (or not quite so quick) drink……