Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: London

  • London – Lewisham (Borough of) – Berlin Wall in Shopping Centre

    London – Lewisham (Borough of) – Berlin Wall in Shopping Centre

    I’ve written before on this blog about when I’ve encountered sections of the Berlin Wall around the world, and I’ve sometimes gone out of my way to go and see parts of this historic structure. It’s fair to say though that I didn’t expect when walking through a shopping centre in Lewisham to see two sections there, it’s not a location that I’d have associated with the Berlin Wall.

    They’re actually here because of the Migration Museum, which is also slightly oddly located in Lewisham Shopping Centre, although I understand that this is a temporary location. The museum notes:

    “Between 1984 and 1989 Thierry Noir illegally painted over five kilometres of the Berlin Wall. Noir’s aim was to perpetrate an act of artistic resistance with the intent of changing the perception of the Berlin Wall, to demystify it and remove its threat by making it colourful and ridiculous. STIK continues this tradition of unofficial public art as a tool for radical social change by creating public commissions aimed at unifying and consolidating a deep sense of community. In WALL, STIK and Thierry Noir directly reconnect with the historical movement of Berlin Wall art. The act of creating a new work on surviving sections further removes the intrinsic historical connotation of the Berlin Wall as a physical and mental barrier.”

    I wasn’t much interested in the recently painted section, I personally think it takes away from the brutal nature of the concrete and what it represented in the past. The austere side tells a much stronger story to me, each of these pieces of stone weighs two tonnes and was a barrier to limit hope an opportunity. It’s positive though that they’re trying to explain the wall and bring it to the attention of a new generation. And it’s probably a good idea to have bits of the Berlin Wall where people don’t expect them to be.

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – The Rake

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – The Rake

    As my friend Richard was staying at a decadent hotel in London on Sunday (whilst I was in a cheap Travelodge) we thought a quick drink in a venue that we hadn’t been to before would be a good idea. This is the Rake bar located on Winchester Walk, situated next to Borough Market.

    The keg and cask beer selection is visible on the DigitalPour app (which I had never heard of before, but downloaded in advance of a visit here) and also on a screen inside the bar. The location is relatively small, with just a handful of tables inside, although there are several external tables in the garden and this was relatively busy. There were a range of beer styles represented here, with a number of interested options.

    The service in the bar was friendly and the staff member was knowledgeable, so that was rather lovely. The bar area with its rustic feel is in the above photo. I wasn’t convinced by the suitability of the tables though as they weren’t entirely level.

    The uneven tables was a problem when a drink is poured like this (I had to use the window sill instead), although I appreciated the Goose Island glass. I went for the Anastasia’s Stout from the Ascot Brewing Company and the Infinite Cerise from Solvay Society, both of which were entirely acceptable, if not having exceptional depths of flavour.

    The bar is generally well reviewed on-line, some people complaining about the pries, but I felt that they were relatively moderate given the quality of the bars and the location of the premises.

    All told, I liked this venue which is located in a touristy part of London, but which had a feel of a local bar with its own community. There are also cans and bottles which add to the selection available, but there was plenty of choice with the draft options. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the decor in the bar, which seems reliant on graffiti to add character, but I suppose it’s different and quirky.

  • 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….

  • 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.

  • British Airways (Dublin to London City)

    British Airways (Dublin to London City)

    This was our flight back to London City Airport from Dublin Airport. It’s a decent terminal in Dublin and the boarding process at the gate was timely, albeit slightly clunky in terms of group boarding which seemed to be Group 1 and then everyone else, but the staff were friendly and helpful. The check-in staff did want to see my passport, which is the first time that I’ve been asked for it on this trip, as it was never needed at Heathrow. We were flying back to City Airport as our flight back to Heathrow was cancelled a few weeks ago, allowing me to change it free of charge to a different airport in the capital.

    The aircraft was G-LCYR, an Embraer E190 aircraft which is nine years old and has been with the airline since it was produced. This flight was serviced by BA CityFlyer, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways, but they do have different service standards.

    There are our two seats, both by the emergency exit giving us extra legroom.

    Liam, who I kindly gave the window seat to again.

    And me. Cabin crew were all personable, with the announcements made by them and the pilots being appropriate and useful.

    Boarding was well managed other than there were problems again with trying to fit all the bags on board. I write here regularly about the situation where people who bring a small bag are forced to put it by their feet, whereas those who bring their entire spare bedroom in a bag get to put it in the overhead lockers. It was a bit irrelevant for us as we had emergency exit row seats where bags have to go in the lockers, but it’s not an ideal arrangement. Where flights are nearly full, as this one was, there perhaps needs to be a change in emphasis now and maximum bag sizes could be brought down a little.

    This being a CityFlyer flight meant that we got free food and drink. The food options weren’t decadent (a small brownie, crisps or corn nuts), but it was perfectly acceptable for an hour long flight. The Brewdog beer was very handy, although given I’d had a Guinness in the airport lounge, I probably didn’t need it. But it was free and so I panicked and ordered it. I decided not to drink any more beer that day…… This is where service standards differ a little from regular British Airways short haul services, as the only free drink offered on those is water.

    And here we are back in London, all on time and without any issue. The delight of London City Airport is that it’s a short hop on the DLR back into Stratford, where Liam had parked his car, taking us no more than 25 minutes after landing to be back at the car. After Avios discounts and the like, this flight cost me about £20 (so, £40 return) which I think is excellent value for money and indeed so cheap I’m not sure that BA made any money on this little expedition of mine.

  • Heathrow T5 (BA Galleries South Lounge in October 2021)

    Heathrow T5 (BA Galleries South Lounge in October 2021)

    I’m now back from my weekend trip to Dublin with Liam, leaving me with quite a backlog of posts to get through. How my excited audience must be positively radiant with joy and anticipation…… Above is Heathrow Terminal T5, the home of British Airways, where we departed from last Thursday.

    The view of the terminal building, which was all a little more exciting this time as Liam spent five years here as part of the construction team who worked on this complex. That the terminal is still there is testament to his competence.

    Before the flight, we went to the south lounges at the terminal, which were moderately busy. The ordering process has changed since my last visit to the lounge in August 2021, with food still being ordered by the app, but self-service has returned for all drinks. We noticed a few customers struggling to order via the app, sometimes because they didn’t have a smartphone and sometimes it seems because they were just getting muddled up.

    I was delighted to see that British Airways are now offering more than Heineken, which is far as I’m concerned a bland and generic beer with no logical connection to the airline. This is the Jet Stream beer, a perfectly decent option which follows on from the partnership with the brewery which last year delivered Speedbird.

    Liam played soup roulette as he didn’t know what it was when he ordered it, but it turned out to be lentil which was apparently all perfectly good. I’m pleased to note that Liam also liked the Brewdog beer, which might be evident from the cans in the photo. I did have a look for the flavoured vodkas that I enjoyed last time, but they seem to have disappeared. We had a little Baileys each instead for some decadence….

    I ordered a starter of sandwiches, which are the standard British Airways options of tuna, Coronation chicken and egg,

    The main course of chicken tagine with bulgur wheat, the kind of dish that I think British Airways do very well. It is difficult to provide food options that cater to both short haul and long haul passengers which also don’t cost the airline too much.

    I ordered carrot cake and I’m not sure that this is carrot cake, but it was rather lovely anyway. I did note that the crisps have disappeared from the lounge over the last year, I hope that they make a return. I accept that there’s more to life than crisps, but nonetheless..

    This was another very acceptable visit, with the staff being friendly and polite. The environment was clean and although the food sometimes took a little while to arrive the service was always helpful. Normality seems to be returning quite quickly now to the airport in general and I suspect that the food service will become self-service soon enough.

    It was then just a short walk to the bus gates for our flight to Dublin…..