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Category: London

South Western Railway : Hounslow to Clapham Junction

And another in my irrelevant series of posts about rail journeys that I’ve been on. I admit this isn’t riveting content, but at least it’s a handy reminder to me of where I’ve been….

Hounslow railway station was built in 1850 by the London and South Western Railway and it feels like a rural station, which it was when it was constructed.

Even by 1900 there was little development to the south of the railway line and this is now all housing today. At the time, the station was known as Hounslow and Whitton, but this was changed as in 1930 the village of Whitton (located a little to the south of Hounslow) got its own station.

The station is located in Zone 5 along the Hounslow Loop Line, where trains start and end at London Waterloo railway station.

I mentioned yesterday about how a child was found abandoned at Bromley North railway station, but in February 1926 a deceased baby was found at Hounslow Whitton railway station, a female aged just 6 months old. The coroner Reginald Kemp noted in court that:

“People who do these things put the country to a lot of unnecessary expense, but I suppose it is done to avoid the payment of a few shillings for a burial”.

Very understanding…..

The platforms, with a bridge to the other side. There’s a ticket office with toilets in the main station building (although this is all mostly only open on Monday to Saturday mornings), but no ticket barriers, just Oyster/card touch-in points.

And here’s the six carriage thunderbolt from South Western Railway pulling into the station.

It’s fair to say that it wasn’t the busiest rail service that I’ve seen.

Although it wasn’t very busy at this point of its journey, it got a little busier as we got closer to London city centre. It wasn’t spotlessly clean as a train, but it was comfortable enough, although all a bit dated and lacking any power points which is usually a sign of whether there has been a recent refurbishment of the carriages. There were some announcements made by the driver, but they were so quiet that I couldn’t hear what was being said. I didn’t see a guard on board, so there might just have been a driver.

We arrived into Clapham Junction on time and the train plodded on back to Waterloo from where it had started. An efficient way to get into London for anyone in Hounslow and it’s probably quicker than taking the Piccadilly Underground line which also goes through the town.

Final word on Hounslow though to Chabuddy G 🙂

November 11, 2021
London – Southwark (Borough of) – Cloudwater Tap Room

I tried to come to the Cloudwater tap room on the Bermondsey Beer Mile last year, but it was only open as a take-away and so I got a couple of beers then for whatever hotel I was located in. However, I got the opportunity for the first time to pop in last weekend.

The beer list which is located on a chalkboard at the end of the bar. Service was warm and welcoming, with the staff member being knowledgeable about the various beer options. This felt a friendly location, all very on-trend.

This is the Canal at St. Mark’s which is Cloudwater’s own imperial IPA, coming in at 8%. This was really rather lovely, such a depth of flavour and beautifully tropical. It’s described as ‘dank’ which I wasn’t quite sure of the definition in beer terms, but apparently it’s referring to “very hoppy, cloudy IPAs”. I suppose it was dank FWIW….

But then there was something even better, the I Know You Know We Know beer, also from Cloudwater, although it’s a collaboration with the Three Chiefs Brewing Co. of Los Angeles from the beautiful state of California. This was insanely good and is one of the best beers that I’ve had, with initial hits of chocolate and fruit, but with an aftertaste of rose water which made it taste like a Turkish Delight. If that wasn’t enough there was also some raspberry in there, like a chocolate Quality Street treat. I noted that the brewery toasted my Untappd check-in to this beer when I was in the bar, perhaps they were standing nearby (not that it much matters). Definitely a world class beer in my mind, I was very pleased with this decadent treat.

The bar was moderately busy, but when a group of six men in fancy dress came in they were asked to leave, with the manager saying that fancy dress was prohibited by their licence. I think he’s right, but his comment that the group probably wouldn’t be served anywhere else on the Beer Mile didn’t turn out to be right, as they seemed to be served everywhere else. Either way, I liked the policy, a bar of this quality deserves to be revered…..

I was very pleased to get to come here at last and the quality of beers didn’t disappoint. The service was friendly, the pub was clean, it was a comfortable environment and they served me one of the best stouts that I’ve had. All really rather lovely. Cloudwater also have a tap room in Manchester and I want to go there now…..

November 11, 2021
London – Southwark (Borough of) – Hiver Beers Taproom

This was a new location to me when meandering along the Bermondsey Beer Mile, Hiver Beer Taproom, a brewery which focuses on honey in their products. It’s located on Stanworth Street and I think is worth the slight diversion to go and visit.

Scott looks like he’s having a lovely time here….. Anyway, this photo isn’t really of him and his very bright coat, I was trying to take a photo of the bar and the interior. There’s a small upstairs area in the bar, although it was full when we visited with a group celebrating a birthday or something similar. There was just one large table left on the ground floor which was reserved, but the staff said that we could have it as it wasn’t needed for another hour or so. It’s not a large venue, but there’s some external seating as well and I usually avoid that in case bees attack me, but that might be quite appropriate here (the bees, not being attacked).

I went for the Hiver Blonde Beer and thought it was a perfectly good honey based Belgian Blonde. It’s not really a beer style that I’d particularly head towards, but I wasn’t disappointed and the honey flavour was clearly evident. Pricing was reasonable and like pretty much every venue on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, they accept cards.

It’s a pleasantly laid-back environment and I liked the engagement and enthusiasm of the staff, they were good ambassadors for the brand. For those who want to, the bar allows customers to bring their own food in from nearby takeaways to eat as well, which looking back might have been a useful option for our group.

November 11, 2021
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.

November 11, 2021
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.

November 10, 2021
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.

November 10, 2021
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….

November 10, 2021
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.

November 10, 2021
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.

November 8, 2021
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.

November 6, 2021