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  • London – Islington (Borough of) – Hammerton Brewery

    London – Islington (Borough of) – Hammerton Brewery

    The Hammerton Brewery has been trading since 2014, although they brought back the name of an historic brewery that had closed in the late 1950s. I’ve had some rather decent beers from Hammerton in the past, so thought this made a handy taproom to visit. I booked on-line earlier in the week, although it didn’t like me trying to book a table for myself (it needed two people). I booked anyway with a note on the booking, but didn’t receive a reply and so I assumed they were content with what I’d done.

    Normally I write about how good customer service is at pubs and breweries, indeed, it’s perhaps just a little dull how I keep writing about the engagement and passion of the staff. The staff weren’t unfriendly here, but they weren’t really engaging with any customers in a way that I thought they might. Not this overly bothered me, being British I don’t need too much social interaction.

    In a bid not to be too awkward, I just booked a table for two (as I have already mentioned I had to) in an uncovered area. This was loyally provided, although I suspect it might have been better to just move me to a table that was undercover and larger since they had so few other customers. They didn’t complain though when I self-upgraded when it started to rain. I was slightly humoured when a table for two turned up and were then shown to a table that was drenched in water and that didn’t seem ideal.

    Anyway, I was perfectly content here and had no complaints, it just wasn’t quite what I expected in terms of customer engagement, especially given the incredible beers that they brew.

    It’s all a perfectly serviceable set-up and they had a pop-up kitchen offering calzone pizzas, which I thought was a rather lovely idea. The food offering changes to add some variety to proceedings. Ordering is done via an app and that all seemed to work well, with beers brought out within a couple of minutes of ordering.

    The inside is closed due to the current lockdown situation, but it’s an on-trend and fun sort of place. I say on-trend, it’s an industrial unit, but they’ve done it up nicely. I don’t really do interior decor commentary if I’m being honest. Bung a few beer barrels, a couple of pot plants, a dangling electricity cable and I’ll happily call it on-trend if there’s craft beer.

    Before anyone comments, these are actually slightly over-poured as I had ordered half pints, so there were no short measures. One thing I do feel best to dwell on here is that Hammerton make some bloody good beers. Actually some seriously good beers, and they way exceeded my expectations. I knew Hammerton for their cans of Crunch, which is a peanut butter milk stout stocked in many pubs, not least the Artichoke in Norwich.

    I had four half pints at the brewery, namely Wald, Le Roux Project, Pecilla and City of Cake. All of these are stouts, and it’s rare that I get such a plentiful choice of these in one venue (and they had another two stouts on top of those). City of Cake is a chocolate fudge cake milk stout, Pecilla is a vanilla & pecan pastry stout, Le Roux Project is a chocolate salted caramel pastry stout and Wald is an Black Forest Gateau imperial stout.

    Despite all four beers being delightful, it’s the Wald that I feel I shall dwell on here for the longest. Their tasting notes say:

    “Wald, this year’s Black Forest Gateau Stout brewed with a more complex malt bill, to create a strong, deep, rich, milk stout. Then conditioned on 140kg of fresh cherries, balancing roasted coffee and chocolate notes with aromas of vanilla, caramel and cherry”.

    Very decadent. And this is one of the best beers that I’ve had, certainly full-bodied and it felt like an imperial stout in terms of the alcohol content whilst also retaining some sweetness. The cherries were up-front in the flavour, but there was a rich chocolate and cherry aftertaste that was as strong as a cherry brandy liqueur. Smooth, not too powerful and with subtle notes to add to the whole proceedings.  And that of course all sounds pretentious, but this was a beautiful beer and apologies to my friends who I felt the need to tell immediately about the situation.

    It’s fair to say that I was pleased that I visited Hammerton and I shall likely opt for their beers whenever I see them again in the future.

  • London – City of London – St. Dunstan’s Court

    London – City of London – St. Dunstan’s Court

    Like the yards of Norwich, I rather expected the series of courts off Fleet Street to have some kind of long heritage.

    But, at first this didn’t seem to be the case. The red cursor on the above map from 1920 shows where the court goes through the building today. Indeed, on late nineteenth century maps, it shows that this was the site of a pub rather than a court. The court takes its name from the nearby medieval church of St Dunstan in the West (this makes sense as there’s another one in the East, albeit mostly destroyed during the Second World War, which isn’t too far from the Tower of London).

    However, the 1886 Insurance Plan of London shows that the court was there and this tallies up with 160 Fleet Street being the Hole in the Wall pub. The court doesn’t really go anywhere, it just reaches what was a playground in 1886 and then joins onto Bolt Court, which is as it is today (although the playground has gone). Also visible in this map is an electrotype facility, a useful and quite modern publishing device at the time. There’s a photo on Wikipedia of a set-up in 1902 that was used at the New York Herald, and I imagine that it was equally cramped.

    Each of the courts off Fleet Street on the north side of the road has tablets which show the heritage of the newspaper industry, which is what this area was once known for. This one shows the 1980s computerised printing technology that was introduced, that brought about the demise of the traditional printed processes. The usage of the Space Invaders as an example of something from the 1980s is perhaps a little obscure, but it stands out on the pavement.

    There was a court case heard at the Mansion House in September 1896 when a Mr Charles Pensotti was accused of stealing letters from a post box on St. Dunstan’s Court. He had been interfering with letters placed there by Dean & Son, a publisher of some note, who wondered why cheques and postal orders had been going missing. When arrested, Pensotti was found to have a number of blank cheque books and six picklock keys, but he said to the police that it was a big mistake.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Virginia Settlers’ Memorial

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Virginia Settlers’ Memorial

    This area near East India Dock has changed considerably over the last 100 years, with the bulk of the docks now completely filled in. Just to the left of the cursor on the above map is where the Virginia Settlers’ Memorial is now located.

    The buildings to the left of this photo are on Jamestown Way, standing on what 100 years ago was Blackwall railway station, although that closed in 1926. There’s a DLR station of that name today, but it’s a little distance away.

    It was from this location in Blackwall on 19 December 1606 that three ships, Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery, set sail for the new world. It took them four months to get there, which I can’t imagine was a pleasant cruising arrangement, and then two thirds of the settlers died by 1608 when further relief ships arrived. It was all an enterprise established by the London Company who wanted to establish a series of colonial settlements along the coast in what is now the United States, not a project that went entirely well.

    The plaque here was placed on a nearby building in 1928 by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, but that structure was badly damaged during air raid bombings during the Second World War. The memorial plaque was moved onto this current memorial in 1951 following an unveiling which was attended by the United States Ambassador. The memorial was left abandoned and was vandalised, with someone pinching the mermaid that was on top, although in 1999 this was replaced by an astrolabe following the redevelopment of the nearby residential properties. It’s all a much more salubrious area today, peaceful and with extensive views along the River Thames.

    I wonder what those who set sail over 400 years ago would have thought about the Millennium Dome (or whatever it’s called now) in the background, and indeed what would they have thought about Virginia today. There’s not much at Jamestown now, which is where the settlers ended up, just a heritage site noting the colonial landings. The plaque notes those who went on the ships as “adventurers” and it’s hard to deny that since they founded the first permanent English colony in America.

  • London – Greenwich (Borough of) – Conor Harrington Street Art

    London – Greenwich (Borough of) – Conor Harrington Street Art

    I thought that this was really quite striking on Trafalgar Road in Greenwich, an artwork created by Conor Harrington as part of the London Mural Festival. There are photographs of the artwork being created at https://arrestedmotion.com/2020/10/streets-conor-harrington-london-mural-festival/. The site in the front of the photo was going to be used for housing, but agreement hasn’t yet been reached with the local council as to how that’s all going to work out. The artist said that his artwork was “big flag energy”, all part of the debate about international policy.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Greggs at Canary Wharf

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Greggs at Canary Wharf

    I was slightly surprised to see this at Canary Wharf, Greggs are opening their first ever outlet in the capital’s financial district. I always thought that this shopping centre was like Heathrow T5, where they tried to avoid any cheaper brands for fear of it damaging the prestige of their retail operation. I’m glad that sense has prevailed, and perhaps even Heathrow T5 will have a Greggs before we know it….

    I would say what a time to be alive, but that might be overkill just because a new Greggs is opening.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth

    This is the current art installation on the fourth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square and it’s the thirteenth to be placed there since this project started in 1998. The installation is by Heather Phillipson and the description reads:

    “This sculpture attempts to address the specific physical context of the square, whilst considering a broader ideological one. How do we negotiate congregation, the intimacy of personal experience, broadcast and surveillance in one space?”

    That puts it better than I can as I didn’t really understand it.

    What I hadn’t realised before is that if you go to https://web102.secure-secure.co.uk/theend.today/, then it’s possible to see a live feed from the drone which is on the fourth plinth. I was in a bit of a rush to get a train and so I’m not really that visible in the above image, but that’ll do, it is definitely me (although mostly my shadow, but perhaps that’s in keeping with the art installation).

  • Hull Daily Mail – “Real Ale Aficionado”

    Hull Daily Mail – “Real Ale Aficionado”

    Happy with being called a “real ale aficionado” in the Hull Daily Mail today, and thanks to Tony at the wonderful Hop and Vine for telling me about it   🙂   I’ll be there again soon.

    https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink/uks-smallest-beer-garden-lockdown-5399775

  • London – Greenwich (Borough of) – Blackheath – Zerodegrees Microbrewery

    London – Greenwich (Borough of) – Blackheath – Zerodegrees Microbrewery

    This is the Zerodegrees brewery outlet in Blackheath and although they now have other outlets around the country, this is where it started. Blackheath is located just a short walk away from Greenwich (with its meridian line), hence why they chose that name for the business in 2000. They were early adopters of the pizza and craft beer concept, one which I very much applaud.

    Only the outside of the pub is open at the moment and there are also only a handful of tables available. Most people were ordering food as well, but my stop wasn’t for a decadent lunchtime purpose. Staffing was excellent, plenty of helpful staff and they were knowledgeable about the beers, so there was a welcoming feel to the whole arrangement.

    The specials list, which wasn’t entirely balanced in terms of the types of beer, but these are challenging times and at least there were three additional options. The brewery has also produced a ferocious number of beers over the years, with some rather interesting and innovative flavours and beer types.

    There are some standard Zerodegrees beers, alongside the specials. One thing that I’ve never seen at anywhere that is interested in beers is that sort of price differential between a half pint and a pint. CAMRA don’t like this and it really seems to try and discourage people from trying numerous different beers. It gave me a bad vibe about Zerodegrees, almost that they knew their product was of a poor quality and they thought people wouldn’t try additional products after trying one. It meant that I scrapped my intention to have a pint of Lollipop and half of the Linus Blanket to just half a pint of the former, as I had doubts about their quality. I did try and just cut it down to 2/3rds of a pint, but the pub doesn’t serve anything in thirds. I forget the luxury of places like the Artichoke in Norwich.

    The Lollipop milkshake IPA was fine, at the appropriate temperature as someone I won’t mention will be pleased to know, although it’s a slightly strange drink given it’s got a sour element. I quite liked it, although half a pint was actually enough.

    All told, I rather enjoyed this visit, but I still don’t entirely understand why the brewery isn’t keen to promote people trying a variety of their beers. Having a third of a pint samplers which customers could buy seems near universal at breweries, but here they seemed to be wanting customers to stick to the same product. So nothing really bad, but I’m not really sure whether I understand whether this place is pushing their food, their cocktails or their beer. I rather got the impression that beer was third on their list of priorities.

  • Greater Anglia : Norwich to London Liverpool Street

    Greater Anglia : Norwich to London Liverpool Street

    This is my first rail journey of 2021 and it’s certainly a step-up from the bus travel that I’ve been limited to for the last few months. It wasn’t busy at Norwich railway station with just a few people walking around the concourse, a couple peering into the M&S that has remained closed since March 2020. I still think that should have been a Greggs, but I don’t go on about it…..

    This is one of the Greater Anglia fleet that has no tables, as passenger surveys have apparently told them that customers don’t like them. I make no comment….. Anyway, the train was clean, shiny and nearly completely empty. Everything on the train was working though, including the power and even all the toilets were functional. How lovely.

    One of the slight problems with the rail journey into London is that it stopped at Witham, one of the few towns in Essex that I haven’t visited. I looked at TripAdvisor to see the top four rated attractions in the town and they are (i) a walk by the river, (ii) the library, (iii) the statue of Dorothy L Sayers and (iv) the town hall information centre. Given that, and with respect to the denizens of the town, I might wait just a little longer before making a proper visit.

    Anyway, there were plenty of Greater Anglia staff to guide customers onto the buses which would take us to Newbury Park. I’m not sure where Greater Anglia had found these staff, but they were particularly friendly and engaging, all a really organised effort.

    I try not to complain about things, but on my bus travels in recent years I’ve discovered that just about every vehicle has no more than four seats across. This is because there is only space for four seats and an aisle between them. But, no, this bus company has decided that more is better and have crammed in five seats across. I accept that if all the passengers were five years old, then this would be a perfectly sensible transportation move. But, the rail passengers were all above 18, which presented me with an interesting time watching them try to fit into the space provided, which was made more exciting as the bus company have given customers no real amount of leg room either. One man looked positively annoyed. I’d add that wasn’t me.

    I moved to the back of the bus to get some space, and I’m pleased to say that unlike the Inbetweeners, I wasn’t moved off those seats by anyone. The fortunate thing is that social distancing means that customers are kept apart, so there were only about 12 of us on the vehicle. About 105 seats, but only 12 people sitting on them.

    The rail replacement bus arrived into Newbury Park, where we were politely told to get on the Central Line into London. I asked the gateline staff if I was allowed to continue travelling down the Central Line to Oxford Circus, or whether I needed to get off at London Liverpool Street. To cut a long story short, he told me that I should really get off at London Liverpool Street, but that wasn’t what he recommended I should do. He suggested winging it with the gateline staff at Oxford Circus as that would be much quicker. He mentioned though that this was all at my own risk. Indeed, he mentioned that three times.

    I worry if I don’t have the right ticket, so I decided not to spend an hour worrying and I got off at London Liverpool Street. That also meant I didn’t have to try and enter into protracted negotiations with the gateline staff at Oxford Circus, which didn’t sound an exciting game to play. I had to faff about finding a member of gateline staff to let me out of London Liverpool underground station, and he looked slightly annoyed to watch me then go back through from where I had come from around thirty seconds later. But, my journey was now fully compliant with railway rules and I didn’t have to fear any TFL ticket inspectors. And more excitingly, I was back in London after way too many months.

  • London – Camden (Borough of) – Hampstead Heath Sightline

    London – Camden (Borough of) – Hampstead Heath Sightline

    There are a number of these protected views and sightlines in London and they’re listed on Wikipedia. This is from Parliament Hill in Hampstead Heath and I think it’s quite beautiful. Clicking on the image makes it larger and it’s possible to see not just the big skyscrapers, but also buildings such as St. Paul’s Cathedral which are all about six or so miles away.

    A slightly different view and this is the spot where it’s said that Guy Fawkes and Robert Catesby stood on 5 November 1605 when waiting to see if the Houses of Parliament blew up. There’s no certainty about this at all, but it seems conceivable and it would have been easy to see the destruction of the buildings if the plot had been successful.

    The name of Parliament Hill isn’t from the view, it’s thought to be from when the Parliamentary troops were stationed here during the English Civil War. Incidentally, it’s also the highest point in London, standing at 98 metres in height, so that’s another mountain that I’ve climbed.

    There are numerous benches for people to sit and gaze over London city centre, along with a little map of the various things to look out for.

    The BT Tower is the most obvious in this photo, but just to the left of that is the Houses of Parliament.