Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: London

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – West End Comedy Club

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – West End Comedy Club

    There was a Time Out offer on last week to get a comedy club ticket for £5, instead of the usual £12, and as I haven’t been to one before, I thought this seemed like a good idea. Live comedy has been rather decimated over the last two years, so there are big efforts being made to try and bring people back in. The West End Comedy Club is a new set-up upstairs at the Covent Garden Social Club, at Great Newport Street. It was easy to find and the signage was clear.

    I read that it was good to get there at opening to get a seat as it wasn’t a large venue, with an absolute limit of 70 people. It certainly wasn’t a big space, just one quite large room with a bar in it, so it felt quite an intimate performance area.

    There was a friendly welcome from the organiser, who mentioned to me that it was sold out and to find a space that wouldn’t take up a larger space give that there were groups coming.

    Given what I was told, I decided to opt for a seat by the bar, this is always a comforting place for me to be. Only two people had got there earlier than me, so I didn’t have to fight for space.

    I had also read about the decadent drinks prices, although £5 for Staropramen isn’t entirely unreasonable given the location. Since this was a night of comedy I won’t comment on the lack of beer options, humorous as the limited selection was. Incidentally, the bar mostly served cocktails and there was one poor barman on his own making these drinks and causing quite a queue to develop although not because he wasn’t actually a decent barman, but because those drinks take so long to serve. And the bar is also brave as any customers wanting a tab had to leave their card behind the bar, which will likely haunt them at some random point in the future. Anyway, bar commentary aside, onto the main event.

    Photos from the venue itself, with Michael Odewale (top-left) being particularly good and I hadn’t realised that he had been on BBC’s Mock the Week before. There was one performer who wasn’t named before the event, and was just listed as a celebrity, and that transpired to be Simon Brodkin (bottom left) who I’ve never really paid much attention to in the past other than reading about some of his stunts, the best known to me being Brodkin’s great work in annoying the disgrace that is Sepp Blatter and also his handing Theresa May a P45 at a party conference.

    Inevitably some material was stronger than others and one comedian had a more muted reaction from the audience as his content was a bit strained. Some of the material is new and the comedians are trying it out with a live audience, with Tom Ward (top-right) having the most surreal of the content, but he integrated music well into his act. Brodkin seemed the smoothest performer out of them all, but he’s had the chance to have more experience and opportunities so I guess that’s inevitable. Incidentally, I hadn’t realised that Brodkin was a trained doctor (I say that not to suggest that some doctors are untrained, just to show he had completed training) before starting a stand-up career, which made his Covid health jokes seem even more appropriate.

    There was a smattering of political humour through the performances and inevitably Boris Johnson and Priti Patel didn’t come out too well from that. Covid humour was also in there quite regularly, but not to excess as that would have likely grated after a while given that people want to get away from it. It was a decent balance of different styles of humour and content, all nicely done.

    Fortunately, my seating location meant I avoided any of the audience participation, although I think the comedians were most interested in those sitting just in front of them on the sofas. Anyone sitting there would deliberately want attention, so that seems fair enough. And a Scottish man who kept shouting, but the comedians had him sussed quite early on. It all went quite quickly, which must have meant that it was an enjoyable enough experience and I thought rather good for a total cost of £10 for the entry and the drink. Something different at least.

  • London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – Holiday Inn Express London Chingford North Circular

    London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – Holiday Inn Express London Chingford North Circular

    The hotel option for the last two days has been this Holiday Inn Express, around a fifteen minute walk from Highams Park Overground station and around a thirty minute from Walthamstow Central. And indeed, about a 15 second walk from the North Circular, but that was less relevant to me.

    I didn’t have any particular problems here and the staff at the hotel were all friendly throughout my stay, with the check-in process being efficient enough. For reasons unknown, the atmosphere at reception felt more like a stressed budget American hotel, but the environment seemed safe and organised.

    My IHG and Accor preferences both say that I prefer a room on the top floor away from the lift, and it’s unusual for me not to get that. Here, the staff gave me a room next to the lift on the first floor which wasn’t entirely ideal, but didn’t give me any particular noise issues. The room was clean and felt sufficiently modern, with housekeeping cleaning the room daily and fully restocking everything. There were no plugs by the bed, but there was a USB socket, so that was all sufficient.

    There was the noise of traffic from the North Circular, but I like that random hum of city life, so it didn’t disturb me. The room had working air conditioning and also a window that opened, so ventilation was just as I liked it. There were also no real noise disturbances either internally or externally, although I don’t think that the hotel is that busy at the moment.

    The carefully completed welcome drink voucher.

    The beer choice was far from ideal, it was effectively this, pints of Stella or bottles of Corona. I’m not expecting craft beer heaven from a Holiday Inn Express, but this is weak even by the chain’s standards. I’m not sure why if a hotel has one draft line on for beer that it would choose Stella, that’s brave to say the least. And the hotel didn’t burden themselves with offering the free snack that was promised.

    The breakfast arrangements were a little better than the usual Holiday Inn Express brand standard, and I’ve never seen tinned tomatoes available in this chain. I’m not going to claim that this is hugely decadent or exciting, but I thought it was a useful addition given that there are usually only ever four hot options (sausages, bacon, baked beans and scrambled egg). The area was clean and tidy, although they probably need to deal with their dishwasher which isn’t working as well as it perhaps could (and I’m assuming here they’re using a machine) judging by the state of some of the dishes.

    Just down the road is Walthamstow Stadium, which I remember when it actually had a stadium behind the frontage. Other than this section it has all been demolished now, with housing behind the frontage.

    The hotel is generally well reviewed on-line, although the average friendliness of the staff score is lower than usual, not that I experienced any issues along those lines. I did like the review on the IHG web-site which said simply and without any other comment:

    “The lady at the front desk refused to sell me a kit kat at the front desk”.

    I’d like to think that there’s an exciting back story there, but I suspect that it’s just because the hotel is card only and the guest was trying to pay with cash. Not that I have to worry as I don’t have a vehicle, but there appear to have been a fair few thefts which have taken place in the car park, which I can imagine is more than a little annoying for any tradespeople staying here.

    Anyway, as a hotel I thought that it was all entirely reasonable, especially as the price came in at under £35 per night including breakfast. They’re playing just a bit fast and loose with the IHG Rewards Programme, but given the hotel was clean, the staff were friendly and the breakfast was as expected, it’d be hard for me to complain too much (or no more than normal anyway).

  • London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – Chingford Mount Cemetery (War Grave of William Henry Drew)

    London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – Chingford Mount Cemetery (War Grave of William Henry Drew)

    This is the war grave of William Henry Drew which is located in Chingford Mount Cemetery. William was born on 26 July 1909, the son of William and Anne Drew of Walthamstow.

    He was the husband of Elizabeth Blanche Drew (born on 10 August 1910) and on the outbreak of the Second World War they lived at 105 Northbank Road in Walthamstow (the property is still standing), with William working as a wholesale meat salesman. After joining the military to fight in the conflict, he served as a Corporal in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC), service number 14626305.

    William died on 14 January 1947 at the age of 38. His wife, Elizabeth, died on 17 January 1989. I can’t find the reason for William’s death, whether it was ill health or linked to the work of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, which in 1947 was mostly the disposal of ammunition. Even the archive of the Royal Logistics Corp (the successor organisation of the RAOC) has no information about him. This will have to be a mystery that hopefully I’ll resolve at some point in the future….

  • London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – Chingford Mount Cemetery (Grave of Charles James Kray)

    London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – Chingford Mount Cemetery (Grave of Charles James Kray)

    Charles James Kray (1927-2000) was the older brother of Ronnie and Reggie Kray and he’s buried at Chingford Mount Cemetery next to his infamous brothers. The actress Barbara Windsor is known for her one-night stand with Reggie Kray, but she had a full-blown affair with Charles. He was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1968 and was released in 1975, saying that his name was a major problem for him after this time given the reputation that his brothers had. Kray returned to crime in the 1990s and he was sent back to prison, which is where he died.

    The grave mentions his son Gary, who died in 1996 and was the only child of any of the three Krays. Gary is buried with Reggie’s wife Frances Shea, but more about that in another post….

    The grave’s location in Chingford Mount Cemetery.

  • London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – Chingford Mount Cemetery (Grave of Ronnie and Reggie Kray)

    London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – Chingford Mount Cemetery (Grave of Ronnie and Reggie Kray)

    This large cemetery in Chingford Mount was opened in May 1884 and covers an enormous site, still being actively used.

    I can’t claim to be a particularly huge fan of Ronnie Kray (1933-1995) and Reggie Kray (1933-2000), but they are a major part of London’s history, so I was interested in finding their grave. They have a family plot, but they were refused permission by the Home Office to come here in 1982 following the death of their mother Violet. I’m not sure that the family had any particular connection with Chingford, but this is one of the largest cemeteries where people living in the East End were buried. Incidentally, I don’t know what is in the flasks….

    For anyone who wants to watch the funeral and burial of Ronnie Kray.

    For anyone wanting to visit themselves, go in the main gate and head to the back left of the cemetery. I’ve created this professional image (I accept graphic design isn’t a strong point of mine) with a reddish circle to help find it.

  • Chiltern Railways : Wembley Stadium to London Marylebone

    Chiltern Railways : Wembley Stadium to London Marylebone

    And another in my niche series of rail journeys around the UK, which are primarily for me to remember what rail companies I’ve travelled with, primarily with an interest in how they do things differently.

    Wembley Stadium isn’t the most exciting of railway stations and the history of railways around here is confused, as there was a different station with the same name at one point. This station opened in 1906 as Wembley Hill, was renamed Wembley Complex in 1978 and took its current name of Wembley Stadium in 1987. Incidentally, the Wembley Complex isn’t what I would consider to be a traditional way of naming British railway stations (and sounds more like a psychological conjecture) so I’m pleased that it was changed. The railway station is around a five minute walk away from Wembley Stadium, so the naming is appropriate.

    In the above photo, at the back is the White Horse Bridge, opened in 2008 and replacing the old concrete footbridge which was built for the British Empire Exhibition in 1925.

    The railway station is solely used by Chiltern Railways on their mainline to Birmingham and it’s a fast connection into the city centre as it gets into London Marylebone in only around ten minutes. I stood here and then realised that the train stops a little back way, with the platform being longer than it needs to be as occasionally they bring in longer trains when there are matches or events taking place at Wembley Stadium.

    The train was about a third full, not overly busy. I don’t know if there was a guard on board the train, but if there was, I didn’t see him or her at any stage of the journey. Legroom isn’t ideal and the interior of these trains probably need a more modern refit soon with a return to 2+2 seating rather than 3+2 which doesn’t really fit.

    And here we are ten minutes later in London Marylebone. There are usually two services which operate between Wembley Stadium and London Marylebone every hour, so the service is relatively frequent.

    As I’ve written about before, Marylebone is the smallest London mainline railway station, and also the last one to be completed.

    And the station’s frontage. Everything ran to time, the train was clean and the service was easy to get a ticket for as it just uses contactless at each end. Looping back to the start, there’s not a lot that Chiltern Railways seem to do differently of particular note, especially for a short journey such as this, but they’ve invested considerably in the infra-structure of this route over the last couple of decades. Only a few weeks ago a new franchise was given to the company to operate this route and this lasts until the end of 2027, but with the proviso that the contract might change with the introduction of Great British Railways in 2025ish.

  • London – Brent (Borough of) – Wembley – Remains of Old Wembley Stadium

    London – Brent (Borough of) – Wembley – Remains of Old Wembley Stadium

    My random excursion of the day was to see this, in Brent River Park in Wembley.

    And OK, it looks a little random in its current landscape. Without any clues, no-one I showed this photo to was able to tell me what it was, although I would have been surprised if anyone did know as it’s quite out of context here.

    But, as this sign suggests, it’s one of the few things that remains from the Old Wembley Stadium and its the base of one of the flagpoles from the Twin Towers. Work on that stadium started 100 years ago, in 1922, and it was completed in 1923. There was a major renovation to the structure in 1963 before the World Cup in 1966, but the stadium was demolished between 2002 and 2003 to be replaced with the current arrangement. There was vague efforts made to save the famous twin towers which had been Grade II listed in 1976, but as they were made of ferro-concrete and had only ever been designed to be temporary, the developers claimed they couldn’t possibly be saved. Lots of planning arguments were made about this, but in the end the developers got their way and they were destroyed.

    This remaining section at least seems quite robust and it has been here since June 2003, a reminder of the Wembley Twin Towers.

    This is what the site looks like today with the modern stadium.

  • London – Central London – Salters’ Hall Gates

    London – Central London – Salters’ Hall Gates

    These gates are near to Fore Street, situated a few metres away from the Minotaur sculpture, but these have just a little more relevance to their surroundings. They are the gates purchased in 1887 by Salters’ Hall for their building then located off St. Swithin’s Lane. The gates weren’t specifically created for them, they had been displayed at the International Exhibition and were commissioned by Prince Albert (1819-1861) and designed by John Thomas (1813-1862) at the beginning of the 1860s, but they then both died and so it’s fair to say the project lost its shine a little. There were a few little amendments for the new owners, such as the addition of the Salters’ crest, but then they were good to go. And I’m sure that everyone was pleased with the gates until the 1941 Blitz saw Salters’ Hall destroyed. On the bright side, they still had the gates. In 1949, they were moved to Salters’ Almhouses in Watford and in 2017 they were moved to their current location, near to the new Salters’ Hall.

    The original location of the gates at the old Salters’ Hall (clicking on the map makes it larger).

  • London – Central London – The Minotaur Statue

    London – Central London – The Minotaur Statue

    With a stretch of Roman Wall in the background, this is the public space in front of Salters’ Hall.

    Part human and part bull, the sculpture of the Minotaur was designed by Michael Ayrton (1921-1975) in the early 1970s. I was interested to understand the significance of why the monument was placed here and the link, but it transpires that there’s absolutely none. It was originally designed for a private estate, with this cast going to a number of locations before the Corporation of London purchased it in 1973. They then placed it in Postman’s Park, but after just over twenty years it was thought that the sculpture needed a change of scenery and it was moved to a high walkway near to the Roman wall. When that was all redesigned, he was brought down to ground level on the terrace outside the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

    The sculpture does feel a little incongruous to its surroundings, as if it’s trying to make an artistic statement, but no-one is quite sure what it’s saying. It’ll perhaps be moved about again at some point in the future, maybe it’s more suited to somewhere like Canary Wharf where an aggressive sculpture might be more fitting.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – Plaque to Pret

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – Plaque to Pret

    I learn something every day (well, most days and a lot of what I learn is broadly irrelevant), and I’ve discovered that the existing Pret shop at 93-95 Victoria Street is just a stone’s throw from where it all began for the company in 1986, at 75B Victoria Street. There was actually a shop in Hampstead but that went bust and Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe purchased the name and imagery, and they opened at 75B. There are now 500 Prets around the world, with plans to open many more.

    Pret renamed their Head Office, which is nearby above Platform 1 at Victoria railway station, 75B in honour of their first shop. Incidentally, their designers have put up photos of the interior of their head office, very decadent….. I wonder if Greggs has a plaque anywhere.