Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: London

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Letter to Wife of Man Killed)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Letter to Wife of Man Killed)

    This letter (clicking on the image brings up a larger version) is in the collections of the National Army Museum and was written on 23 November 1915 by Corporal Kempstell to the wife of the killed soldier Harry J Baldwin. This must have been a traumatic letter to write, and of course to receive, although it’s been very thoughtfully done and doesn’t seem to have been taken too much from a template.

    The museum notes that the place of death is never given, although there’s an address at the top of the letter which is the 2nd King’s Royal Rifles in France. I can find details of only one Harry Baldwin dying in 1915 and that person died on 22 November 1915, so I assume it must be the same one unless there’s something of a coincidence. Given that, the letter is nonsense, as Harry died in Basra fighting the Ottomans, so he wouldn’t likely have been killed by a German shell. Harry was buried near Basra, at a war cemetery which was moved to a new location in 1997.

    If it is the case that it’s the same Harry who died in Basra, I’m not entirely sure that the wife would have believed the rest of the letter when the truth came out.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Bombardier Beer Pump)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Bombardier Beer Pump)

    This is an exhibit from the rather wonderful National Army Museum and, as another of my irrelevant asides, it’s a word that I always have to think to pronounce. In this case, the beer from Wells Brewery is pronounced as the English military word, whereas if talking about the French Canadian multi-national Bombardier train and aviation company, it’s the different French pronunciation.

    As for beer, and this pump was donated to the museum in 2015, it was marketed for a time as the “beer of England”, although that was somewhat aspirational branding. There was some controversy a couple of years ago when the pump clip moved away from the traditional one in the photo, with the St George’s Flag in the background, towards a more generic style. The brewers perhaps felt that the claim of being the ‘beer of England’ was not really based in reality, so they’re kept the new generic branding and changed their claim to it being a “British beer”. This, to be fair, is now accurate.

  • London – Camden – British Museum (Rosetta Stone)

    London – Camden – British Museum (Rosetta Stone)

    This was from my visit to the British Museum a few weeks ago, the most viewed object in the collections apparently. This has meant that I’ve never really seen it that clearly before, it’s like the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, there are nearly always other visitors standing there and taking photos in front of it. Hence why I took so many photos of it this time with the museum being so empty when I visited in late October.

    There’s not much point writing much about the Rosetta Stone, it’s done much better in countless other places. But it dates to 196BC and it was rediscovered by the French in 1799, with the British deciding that they wanted it in 1802. The stone went to the British Museum in the same year and it has been there ever since. As visitors kept fiddling with it, the stone was barriered off in 1847, not that this stopped some people. Since 2004 it has been placed behind a rather more secure screen.


  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – The Old Salt Quay

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – The Old Salt Quay

    This visit to the Old Salt Quay (or just Salt Quay, I’m not quite sure what name they prefer) pre-dates 2020 and the current restrictions, and the photos were also taken on my older phone, so the quality isn’t great. Anyway, this is a Greene King pub located in a former warehouse by the River Thames.

    I liked the interior, it was spacious, interesting and clean, so all perfectly welcoming. There’s also further seating on the first floor, although that was closed off when I visited.

    I confess that this is Greene King IPA and I remember it tasted exactly as Greene King IPA is designed to taste, so I can’t really blame the pub for that.

    The chicken burger, all nicely presented, hot, perfectly reasonable quality.

    The reviews are mixed, although I noted this one:

    “My friends and I went to have a drink and something to eat . We go id’d on the door the man on the door knows us as we are regulars at this pub.”

    Which got the beautiful response from the pub of:

    “Unfortunately, the “man on the door” is not proof of ID.”

    Or the customer who posted:

    “Called into Salt Quay 12:30 on Thursday with my family and asked for a Cappuccino. The barman tutted, rolled his eyes and shook his head.”

    I accept that’s not great customer service, but I’m secretly a little impressed. But I shouldn’t be. In response to another customer, the pub noted:

    “We do have some staffing challenges at the moment, but we are trying to sort these out at haste!”

    That’s honest from the pub, I like that as well. This comment from a customer shouldn’t have also amused me, but it did, solely because I’ve built up a picture in my mind about this. I have a vivid imagination I think.

    “It was also freezing with the security guards opening and closing the doors every 5 minutes because they had absolutely nothing better to do.”

    But, this is my most favourite response of all from the pub to a customer:

    “I must disagree with your review for the simple fact that your narration does NOT correspond to the truth.

    Allow me to use this space primarily to apologize once again with all the guests present in the Pub during your presence.

    You phoned the pub check availability for 25 people within half an hour of arrival, the person speaking on the phone was told that unfortunately the pub was fully booking.

    This is the case on Sunday’s at this time of year. Almost after about 15 minutes from your phone call, you entered the pub without even responding to our welcome greeting of a member of your group, after ignoring the blackboard at the entrance that stated “before going to the first floor wait to speak with a staff member because the room is reserved “.

    We had drawn your attention and I had personally reaffirmed the state of affairs of our availability. I suggested you wait and occupy the tables that would be liberated in time. So you did, except then began to approach the tables already occupied by guests who were dining and drinking and you invited MY guests to leave the table for you, this for me is unacceptable. I pointed out that it was not an acceptable method and that for any request you should have referred to myself or another member of staff, instead you ignored my request and you had resulted to your personal “hunting” for a table.

    At that point, perhaps, I may have become a bit rude, but I can not allow my guests to be harassed during a moment of pleasure and relaxation. I would have done the same thing if anyone else had the same attitude towards you.

    Thank you for your time and God bless you.”

    That ‘God bless you’ at the end is rather beautiful, and this sounds a most exciting afternoon for the staff.

    I’m not sure that I’d say this is a pub worth travelling far to get it, as Greene King’s turnkey operation means their pubs are often all a bit too samey and bland. But, the staff were friendly, it felt a safe environment and it’s a perfectly good option for anyone in the area. It’s an interesting building though, with decent views over the Thames and apparently (CAMRA say this, I trust them) the carveries on Sunday are first class.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Earl Haig Fund Poppy Badge)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Earl Haig Fund Poppy Badge)

    This is my photo of the Earl Haig fund poppy which is on display at the National Army Museum.

    This image (courtesy of NAM) is much clearer though. The poppy was made at a factory in Edinburgh and the operations there were set up Earl Haig’s wife, as few of the poppies produced in London were getting to Scotland. The factory was opened in March 1926 and initially employed just two people, but this increased to over 100 within just a few years.

    The poppy in the collections of the National Army Museum dates to around 1930, at a time when poppies were made out of different materials which were charged at different prices. It wasn’t until 1954 that only the paper poppy was produced, with no fixed price but offered instead by donation.

    And one thing I never knew until today, the Scottish poppy has four petals, whereas those produced in the Richmond factory in London have two petals. Which goes to show how unobservant I am…..

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – The Rockingham Arms

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – The Rockingham Arms

    I’ll add now that this visit was from some weeks ago, they’re not open during the second lockdown. I’m working through old photos since I can’t currently go to pubs….

    This is an image from Google Streetview of the front of the Rockingham Arms (taking its name from another pub which had been in the area), the JD Wetherspoon pub in Elephant and Castle, London. It’s not the most glamorous of buildings, it’s in the 1960s Metro Central Heights building, the former home of the Department of Health and Social Security. It was another little design error, the Government were very pleased with their new building, but it soon fell out of favour and it suffered from sick building syndrome. The civil servants moved to a lovely new building in Whitehall and this structure was repurposed to be used for residential flats.

    Anyway, back to what it is now, a JD Wetherspoon pub. Punk IPA, always cheaper than Brewdog charge in their own pubs, I find that this a very drinkable beer. It might be one of Brewdog’s more generic beers, but it’s still nicely citrusy and with some depth of flavour to it.

    And the chicken jalfrezi from Curry Club, which is very rarely a disappointment and wasn’t here either. Served quickly, at a hot temperature and by a staff member who was perfectly polite, it’s hard to find anything to complain about here.

    The pub interior is perhaps a bit bland, but it feels like a safe environment and I’ve never experienced any problems in the times that I’ve visited here. It lacks the atmosphere of some of the more historic buildings that Wetherspoons operate and the open plan of this pub does make it all feel a bit generic. The toilets, which are located downstairs in the basement, could do with a little bit of a refurbishment as well.

    The reviews for the pub aren’t great, but I think that’s more because some customers are keen to complain and the ones who are happy don’t tend to post. There was a 1-star review as the barman didn’t serve a customer who was on the phone, with the customer noting “I told him that it doesn’t matter that I’m at the phone as far as I order properly”. I suspect a fair few bar staff would have agreed with the pub here.

    Anyway, all perfectly acceptable, keenly priced and just a short walk away from the London Underground.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Fragments of Arm Bone)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Fragments of Arm Bone)

    This is another cheery little number from the collections of the National Army Museum, it’s fragments of bone taken from the damaged arm of Lieutenant Charles Fletcher, from the 48th Bengal Native Infantry. The incident took place during the Indian Rebellion when the compound at the Residency in Lucknow came under attack in 1857. A musket ball hit Fletcher, which isn’t ideal, causing this damage to his arm. The Residency building is still there in ruins, a reminder of the last days of the East India Company, before the 1858 Government of India Act transferred power to the British Raj. It’s an interesting souvenir to keep, I’m not sure that it’s something I would have kept in a little box though to remind me of the event….

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Ration Biscuit)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Ration Biscuit)

    I’ve seen ration biscuits that have been sent home in many museums, they weren’t particularly popular with troops and they did make for useful souvenirs. Bread couldn’t be distributed because it went mouldy, so members of the armed forces received these dried things usually made from flour, water and salt, which then had to be mixed with a liquid to become vaguely edible.

    The National Army Museum has this item on display, sent back home by Trumpeter S Foster from the 12th (Prince of Wales’s Royal) Lancers. It can’t be seen from how the museum has presented it, but on the rear is the receiver’s address and two postage stamps, so it really did go through the postal system. I imagine that amused the postal authorities and it is remarkably undamaged given its journey from South Africa.

  • London – Tier Two

    London – Tier Two

    That’s a relief, since despite not having planned to travel for the rest of the year, I had accidentally booked a train journey to London and some hotel nights in early December before the Government’s announcement. So, here comes London and some ‘substantial meals’ with craft beer. I’m pleased that Brewdog have told me that they consider unlimited chicken wings to be a substantial meal (because it clearly is), so I’ve booked that as a little treat for myself in London….

  • London – Newham (Borough of) – Stratford – Cart & Horses

    London – Newham (Borough of) – Stratford – Cart & Horses

    I walked by this pub in Stratford a couple of weeks ago (just before the second lockdown), slightly concerned that it was boarded up. It has transpired it’s just being refurbished internally and will re-open in the spring of 2021. It’s perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Iron Maiden, where the band played numerous times in the mid-1970s. I have no knowledge about Iron Maiden (nor indeed much knowledge about anything music related to be honest), but the pub’s web-site does note the band’s pyrotechnics and theatre which soon meant that the building wasn’t big enough for the number of fans who wanted to get in.

    On a different matter, CAMRA report that the pub doesn’t offer real ale (let alone craft beer), which I have to confess is more relevant to me.