Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: London

Wembley – England vs Wales

The excitement of Wembley Stadium ahead of the friendly match between England and Wales.

The crowds slowly starting to form for the match, which was in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society.

The stadium before the crowds arrived.

Getting busier. Apparently matches can have as many as 2,000 stewards and everything felt organised.

The players arrive. I hope no-one is expecting a detailed summary of the players, their performance or anything substantial about the football.

And we’re off. Well, the players came out to have a little kick about before going back in for a rest, or whatever it is that they do.

Getting ready to lay the FA flag onto the pitch. They didn’t use kids for the mascots and instead had 22 fans who were living with dementia, something that I thought was a rather lovely idea.

The flag in place. I did a video of the pre-match excitement….

Players walked onto the field and then they played the national anthems. The Welsh fans were very vocal and energetic during the match, they did their team proud.

There were three goals in quick succession at the beginning of the match, so England were 3-0 up after 20 minutes. Apparently the players who kicked the ball into the net were Morgan Rogers (3 minutes), Ollie Watkins (11 minutes) and Bukayo Saka (20 minutes) with the last one being quite good I think. I was pleased that no-one in the area near me felt the need to jump up and down a lot (or actually at all) as I find it easier to stay sitting down.

Thomas Tuchel, who I understand is the England manager. He also seems very good and I rather like this European approach of the FA.

I was puzzled as to why the players didn’t have their names on their shirts during the second half as I was sure that they did in the first half. It transpired that this was to fit into the theme of Alzheimer’s and it aimed to raise awareness of how the illness impacts memory. I must admit that is lovely, although it had the side issue that unless it was Jordan Pickford (I find it easy to identify the goalkeeper and I did learn the name of the Welsh one, but I’ve since forgotten it) I didn’t know who was kicking the ball.

The attendance at the game was 78,126 which seems like a lot of people. The stadium can in theory hold 90,000 people, but this was a higher attendance that I had been anticipating.

The final score was 3-0.

The expert football supporters might notice that I’m not really entirely knowledgeable about the current England and Wales football squads and I might have had to look up on Wikipedia who the managers were. But the venue was safe, secure and the football was interesting to watch, so I might go and do this again…..

October 10, 2025
Wembley – England vs Wales (Video of Opening)

And for anyone interested, of which I accept the number is limited, here’s the opening ceremony (as it were) of the England vs Wales match at Wembley. I feel that the person searching for their seat adds a little something to this video. More about the match (of which very little will be football related as this isn’t a sporty blog) in the next post…

October 10, 2025
London – Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal (2 Star Michelin Restaurant)

Richard does some very sensible things sometimes, like going to a charity auction, having too much to drink and then bidding on a five course tasting menu with champagne at a two star Michelin restaurant. So that’s why I was here. I haven’t yet won the lottery.

The restaurant is located on the first floor of the Hotel Café Royal, one of Oscar Wilde’s favourite restaurants.

Overlooking the hotel reception where rooms start from £700 per night. I had booked the £38 Travelodge at ExCel though, I know my place. Richard compromised and was at the Novotel ExCel at nearly £100 a night, but he has aspirations of grandeur.

It’s all quite decadent. I think that would go without saying though.

We were seated at a table overlooking Regent Street, it was like sitting in a calm and suitably chilled observatory looking out onto a hectic street.

The champagne, which was Bollinger and which tasted like every other champagne to me, but I don’t claim expertise here. I didn’t expect otherwise, but I wasn’t surprised and delighted at the beer list, so I stuck to the free sparkling water, but Richard splashed out £120 on the wine pairing and spent the evening beaming like he had purchased a stake in a vineyard. I would have gone for a craft beer pairing, but although this is becoming more common, it’s still not treated in the way that wine is.

The menu for the evening which was swept away soon after, but not before I took this photo of it.

I think that they expected diners to have one roll each, but Richard had three, so I did the same. And then asked for another one later on, so that was four delicious rolls. The chorizo one, which is the fluffy puff pastry roll on the left, was really quite glorious and bakery certainly isn’t just a side show here.

The amuse bouche.

This is the aged Kaluga caviar. I’m not sure I understand the mystique of caviar, this was clearly a rather decent one with a creamy and buttery flavour, but I don’t understand why it has the luxury tag attached to it other than its rarity. But, hippo is quite rare, and they wouldn’t serve that. Anyway hippo matters aside, the sweetcorn retained some bite and the prawns added some texture to the arrangement.

This is the John Dory with brown crab and lovage, which proved to be my favourite dish of the evening. I like John Dory, it’s light but flavoursome, delicate and easy to bully, but it was the crab on the side that I thought was the decadent and rich tasting element to this dish. The presentation was rather fine as well, with a range of tastes and textures running through it.

A little mango based palate cleanser. Richard was struggling to keep up with his wines, as he had one per course. I was busy keeping up with my rolls.

This is the quail with courgette, anchovy and Parmesan, also being Richard’s favourite dish of the evening. I don’t get to eat quail very often, it’s not something Greggs pop in their selection of bakes very often, but it was gamey in flavour and also tender. The anchovy packed a salt punch through the dish, with the ingredients all complementing each other to give a real depth of flavour, with the Parmesan giving it that suitable umami feel.

The presentation here is quite special, with the meringue at the base being punchy and the sorbet being smooth and sweet.

A final trio closed proceedings, my favourite being a little praline number with a whisper of gold and a pleasing roasted-nut finish.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was inviting and comfortable, with a quite modern selection of music playing which I hadn’t anticipated. But, the aim appears to be to have a welcoming and informal dining experience, rather than a stuffy and unnecessarily upmarket one. There’s not much point in having a beautiful restaurant if no-one is comfortable in it though, so I felt that the design elements were all appropriate and in keeping with their aspirations. There was always a touch of theatre in the presentation of the food and plating elements at the table, but that never became intrusive. The restaurant was quieter earlier on, but got steadily busier so it was nearly full by the time that we left.

Overall, this was a rather lovely decadent experience, with the service being impeccable throughout. We were never rushed, but the pace of the dine was constant and appropriate, although it of course felt that it was over too soon. The quality of the food was as expected high and Richard was beyond excited about his wines, with the servers busily clearing crumbs off the table from my excessive consumption of rolls. I thought a lot of the dishes were quite understated and I reference that in a positive way, there was a competence rather than a desire to surprise by being quirky. The only problem Richard has now is that he’s decided this is the way he needs to live, so I expect to see him at all manner of Michelin restaurants over the coming few months….

August 29, 2025
2013 KFC Forest Gate Receipt

As to what’s this doing here….

Of no great relevance, but a minor piece of social history from January 2013 and a two piece variety meal.

August 11, 2025
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Edith Cavell and the Royal London Hospital

Although I know a good deal of Edith Cavell’s story because of her links with Norfolk and her burial at Norwich Cathedral, I hadn’t realised that she had trained at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. She had applied in 1896 to be a nurse practitioner at the hospital at the age of 30 and she trained under the leadership of the hospital’s matron Eva Luckes. This was Whitechapel in its gritty Victorian prime, all soot-stained streets, overcrowded housing, and the lingering reputation of Jack the Ripper’s handiwork still hanging in the air. It wasn’t exactly the sort of place you moved to for its charm and craft beer options. She was known for being conscientious, which in nursing terms usually means ‘worked twice as hard for half the recognition.’ Her superiors noticed, and so did her patients. She remained at the hospital until 1901 when Luckes nominated Cavell for the position of night superintendent at St. Pancras Infirmary.

The plaque on the building, which is now used by the London Borough Council of Tower Hamlets and I won’t go on about the integrity of its mayor, Lutfur Rahman, and I will instead let Wikipedia do that. It’s perhaps hard to find a greater contrast of the morals of public service than Edith Cavell and Lutfur Rahman, but this isn’t a political blog and so I will limit myself.

July 22, 2025
London Craft Beer Festival 2025

My friend Simon mentioned last year about going to the London Craft Beer Festival, but I wondered if it was a bit expensive and so I didn’t get a ticket to join him. By chance, he mentioned last week that he knew someone selling a ticket at a much lower cost of £30, so I was there without much hesitation. Here’s the walk to Magazine, where this year’s event was being held.

There’s Susie and Simon, with the former’s efforts somehow getting us to the front of the queue. I hadn’t let myself get too excited about the event in case the ticket didn’t come to pass, but all was well and it’s fair to say that the excitement soon started when I had the wristband safely around my wrist.

Well, that’s exciting straight away.

The first beer of the day. The concept here is that all beers are free of charge and I won’t list here what I tried, but I did ensure that my Untappd remain updated for anyone who is interested.

We grabbed a table outside, but it soon became apparent that there was large amounts of seating, so this wasn’t an issue. Inside there were also fans and air conditioning, they didn’t want their beer drinkers over-heating, and I was happy to drink to that forward-thinking philosophy.

One of the two internal halls.

This was all so much bigger than I expected. There were some issues with the delayed opening where we left in the sun and that was sub-optimal, but once the event got going, it all felt well organised. There were maps dotted around of where all of the breweries were, but I’d need more than one afternoon to really visit every one that interested me.

I was impressed that there were no real queues at any of the brewery stands, you could get served nearly immediately.

There was a separate American beer bar and the list of options here was much wider than I had expected. As I’m not planning to visit the US for a while, this was an opportunity to tick some beers off.

One of the bar staff modelling a bottle of beer for my Untappd photo.

There was free water available of the sparkling and still options.

That path was what Liam and I walked on the Capital Challenge a few weeks ago…..

There’s Simon chatting away about Brazilian beer. I was pleased that the glasses were made of plastic, rather than, er, glass. So we had branded plastics, which means I could keep it without fear of it getting broken on the aircraft. Susie picked up a heap of free merchandise, which I’m merrily carrying around Portugal now, including baseball hats, t-shirts, lanyards and stickers.

I like a bit of Vault City, I should be visiting their new tap room later in the year.

A free ice cream and a beer slushie from Vault City which made me love them even more.

Simon wanted to go to the Vault City tasting, which was a marvellous idea, and this beer was handed around at the end of the session before.

One of the beers from the Vault City tasting.

Overall, I really enjoyed this evening and the atmosphere was informal and friendly throughout. There were no issues of anyone over-indulging, despite the large amount of free beer that was available. The organisation was better than I had expected, the scale of the event was broader than I had realised and the speed of service was faster than I had anticipated. I was very much surprised and delighted, so I think that I might just be back for next year’s event….

July 20, 2025
London – Giant Stickers on Elizabeth Line to Tackle Unexpected ‘Backprint’ Problem

I thought that it would be a marvellous idea for Liam and I to go a slightly convoluted way back to the hotel after the LDWA Capital Challenge to see these new stickers that TFL had put at some stations along the Elizabeth Line last week. The stickers have the moquette design that is used on Elizabeth Line trains, with a total cost of £30,000.

The sleek, pale wall panels, admired for their minimalist aesthetic, had instead become rather unintended canvases for human outlines which was seen by TFL as sub-optimal. TFL said that they would ensure that the stickers blended in and added:

“The Elizabeth Line has been hugely popular, and with high footfall comes unexpected wear. These stickers are a simple, cost-effective way to maintain the appearance of the stations while reducing maintenance needs.”

Liam pretended he was really excited at this piece of infra-structure development.

April 22, 2025
Barking – Premier Inn Meal Deal

As Liam and I had completed the LDWA Capital Challenge earlier in the day, we thought we’d amend our original plans for us to drive somewhere (well, for Liam to drive somewhere whilst I had a nap in the passenger seat) and eat in the hotel since it worked out around £31 each for a three course evening meal, a pint and breakfast in the morning.

I was initially a little sceptical that it would be one of those half board arrangements where the only thing included was the salad or something ridiculous, but it actually included everything with a just a couple of relatively small surcharges for the mixed grill and steak. I’m not a mixed grill or steak person, so that was that sorted for me. Liam, however, being a civil engineer (a profession I suspect requires a daily intake of at least three different types of grilled animal), naturally gravitated towards the mixed grill. It’s in the blueprints, I’m sure.

I had asked the team member at reception a little earlier if we had to book for the evening meal or tell them in advance we wanted the deal. I liked his informality and he hinted that this wasn’t really necessary and I can see why he thought that when we arrived in the bustling restaurant. However, I quite like the idea of a private dining club and I felt that had been achieved here.

We were effectively the only customers, although there was one other table somewhere just out of sight just finishing their meals. The server was trying to man reception, welcome customers, welcome diners and he told us he had to go to a room to provide the customers with more pillows in between serving us. He was enthusiastic, over-worked and kept forgetting Liam’s order before he reached the till, which was actually located just behind Liam so it wasn’t far. On one occasion the team member mouthed “what did he order?” and I liked his whole engagement and attention, it was an informal, endearing and welcoming performance that I thought was perfect for the service we wanted.

Firstly, let me admit that the beer that came with the meal deal was Coors Light. Now, as I had walked 27 miles earlier that day, I needed water and so this was a perfect fit. I went for the prawn cocktail and I’m not entirely sure of the presentation here as it was quite a lot of sauce with some slightly firm prawns, but they had a pleasant enough flavour. I wasn’t sure about the piece of bread and butter, but it was handy for mopping up the sauce. Liam looks surprised and delighted here.

It was becoming evident that presentation wasn’t the key here. However, the chips had a pleasant taste, the chicken was tender and had some flavour to the coating with the bun being fresh and the salad being salady. It was certainly a very reasonable tasting affair and Liam seemed pleased with whatever he was doing with his mixed grill.

The chocolate sundae was served as a large portion and it had a Flake. You can’t argue with a Flake. It’s the universal language of dessert satisfaction.

Breakfast in the morning wasn’t much busier and similarly low-key, but there was a friendly and engaging welcome. I asked if there were fried eggs and there were, I just hadn’t noticed them, but the team member had some more made up for us. They didn’t make the amount we asked for as there was some confusion, but the thought was there and the team members seemed jovial enough despite it being a Sunday morning.

I’m more of a continental breakfast person, but this was a much better cooked offering than somewhere say Travelodge. Travelodge cooked breakfasts are broadly terrible, they don’t deep fry anything and so their hash browns are oven baked (so they’re hard on the outside and uninspiring on the inside), the bacon is often not really cooked and there is no fried egg, just some awful scrambled egg. Here, there are fried eggs, the hash browns are fried and there’s also black pudding.

All very satisfactory and there was a supporting cast of yoghurts, juices, coffees, fruit and the like to add to the arrangement. I would have liked the bacon cooked a little more, but I cut the fat off and was aware they’d probably go and burn me some if I asked as that’s how I like it served. The croissants are also better than the ones at Travelodge that have less taste than the packaging they come in.

Anyway, I was suitably impressed with the whole offer of just under £31 for three courses, a pint and breakfast. The presentation wasn’t great, but the quality was reasonable for a chain restaurant and the service was well above average. Indeed, so good was the service in the evening that I messaged Whitbread who said they’d pass on my thoughts, which I imagine they probably have. Given that there wasn’t anything else nearby in Barking that didn’t require a fifteen minute walk each way (and we’d done enough of that) it was more than satisfactory as a post marathon refuel. I wouldn’t rule out doing this again in future, although it’s obviously dependent on what else is in the local area.

April 20, 2025
2025 LDWA Capital Challenge

Someone, which I accept was likely me, thought that it would be a great idea to complete the LDWA Capital Challenge event again. So, after getting up way too early, here’s Liam on the train all excited for the day of traipsing around London. The event has three different routes, although we happened to be doing the same route that we had completed before.

An early morning Tower of London.

The Tower of London with a pond in the moat.

Old and new, it looks a little AI created, but is authentic.

Walking over Tower Bridge to the start of the event, which this time was at a community centre. The first London LDWA marshal we saw was Pete C and it’s always a delight to catch up with him.

The fog on the Tyne is all mine all mine…. It’s the Thames, I accept, but I don’t know any songs about the foggy Thames.

Liam at Canary Wharf.

Some decorative elements at Canary Wharf.

One of the two city farms that we walked by.

Some pigs.

Looking back to the city.

Liam in the Greenwich foot tunnel. I would say that there’s a fun fact that the tunnel was bombed during the war and the heavily patched up area in the middle is testament to that, but I’m not sure that is quite a “fun” thing… Incidentally, we had to walk up and down the stairs as the lifts were broken. However, as Liam and I are just natural and accidental Olympian types, we would have walked up and down anyway.

The Cutty Sark, a majestic clipper ship launched in 1869, embodies the romance of the high seas and the fierce competition of the 19th-century tea trade. Built for speed, with the odd name “short shirt” (Scots for a short undergarment, the name of a witch in Robert Burns’ poem) was designed to be the fastest vessel on the China tea route. Though she never quite clinched the title, her sleek lines and impressive sail area allowed her to achieve remarkable speeds, later dominating the Australian wool trade. It became a training ship used by the Royal Navy and it then became a museum ship before a sub-optimal situation when it caught fire a few years ago. There’s a bit of the Ship of Theseus about all this, I wonder how much is actually original….

The first snack of the day, from the Tesco Meal Deal we had obtained earlier in the day.

The River Thames and my fun fact about this is that the river has its very own species of seahorse, which is a short-snouted seahorse that has been found living in the tidal parts of the river, particularly in the area around Greenwich.

Looking back on where we’d walked earlier in the day.

Clever, if you walk in that direction for 24,859 miles then you end up back in the same place. There are some technical reasons why that might be quite challenging, but I like the theory.

This is the ‘Demon with Bowl’ sculpture by Damian Hurst located on Edmund Halley Way and designed to look like a Ancient Mesopotamian demon.

I used to live over there…….

Liam enjoying the exciting view. We were making a good pace at this point, trying to keep other walkers in sight to help with the navigation. As a little treat for him, I let Liam do all the navigation on this event. Actually, I’ve let him do that for the last 23 events, which is a reminder of how we work so well together.

Approaching the Thames Barrier. As today’s fun fact, the design of the Thames Barrier’s rising sector gates was actually inspired by the humble taps on a gas cooker. Reginald Charles Draper, who conceived the idea, based the rotating cylinders on the way gas cooker taps work.

A close-up of the barrier and Liam studied its engineering. I wondered if there were any nineteenth century clay pipes in that beach area.

Volunteers at the second checkpoint which was the first one with some little snacks to keep us going. As usual, thanks so much to all the volunteers who make events such as this possible.

My delicious lunch from the Tesco meal deal, fortunately not heated up too much in the blazing sun. I haven’t yet mentioned, but it was too hot.

Some fields. If I’m being honest, I’m more of an urban walker.

A bridge at Eltham Palace, once a favoured palace of kings, including Henry VIII who spent his childhood there, it fell into disrepair which wasn’t entirely ideal. In the 1930s, eccentric millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld built a stunning modern home onto the existing Great Hall, creating a unique architectural hybrid.

Anyone looking closely will see Dave M filming one of his videos. Dave started later than Liam and I, catching us up just before we reached the Palace. We walked together until the next checkpoint ensuring lots of gossip, but then he had to have a long rest at that checkpoint so Liam and I bravely walked on our own. I initially assumed that he just couldn’t keep up with the pace of us athletes, but it transpired he was waiting for his wife…. I wondered how much attention Dave actually pays though, we walked up about 12 enormous hills near Charlton and he didn’t even notice them. Actually, Dave was also reading from the route description, something which is completely beyond me, I’m more of a GPX person. But, I sometimes think I’m not a natural navigator….

Beckenham Place Mansion and time for another fun fact…. Despite its rather grand appearance as a Grade II* listed Georgian building, the impressive portico on the north-west side wasn’t originally part of the mansion. It was added later, around 1806-1812, and was actually salvaged from another demolished house in Blackheath called Wricklemarsh House showing that they had a desire for recyling.

Not that I’m one gossip, but it was evident to me that Liam was limping slightly, but he denied it. We are very different, at the first sign of pain or discomfort with me, then absolutely everyone knows about it, including members of the public who happen to be walking by. Liam is braver and doesn’t like to make a fuss, whereas I rather like a dramatic monologue, why be subtle when there’s an opportunity for a theatrical production?

Some street art somewhere near Crystal Palace. Liam’s foot wasn’t in the best of states by this time, but I rushed ahead to inspire him to walk quicker. As they always say, “the sooner you’re finished, the less time you’re stuck out there”. I accept I’m not sure who actually says that, but there’s some truth to it and tough love is important. I did say we could slow down if he wanted, but we both knew that I didn’t really want him to.

I did wonder about visiting a pub at the end of the walk, but the one near to the end point is operated by Sam Smiths and I can’t be navigating their odd rules and regulations.

The end of the walk and I think we were very brave. It was good to see Gavin at the finish with a smiling face and I announced that Liam was suffering a little in the hope that we might both get extra cake although that didn’t work. Although, and unusually, I thought Liam should win the ‘bravest walker’ out of the two of us as he had been a bit limpy but kept going. For anyone interested, the results are here and that was over twenty minutes faster than when we did it before. We never really worry about times, but we were surprised at how fast we got round, we must be getting fitter and healthier.

My certificate and my third pack of Mini Cheddars as I can’t be near them without eating them and I also needed sustenance after the long walk.

Liam and I at the end, with Sarah who trod on my shoelace but I was too polite to say. We then walked back to the nearby Overground station and then nearly boarded the train before I remembered we hadn’t touched in, so that would have been sub-optimal to have been fined. Luckily I remembered, we boarded and Liam soon recovered and didn’t collapse. As one of the finest athletes in the LDWA, I was uninjured. This tends to happen on urban walks, I like firm and flat surfaces, which isn’t the usual terrain of a challenge event. I should say we didn’t see much of the other walkers from Norfolk, but it was good to catch up with Andy and others at the end.

It was another lovely day out and marvellously organised. There is less food and drink than other challenge events, but the theory is that entrants walk by hundreds of food and drink options, so the need is a little different to a rural walk. I’ve now put my certificate on the wall at home, I’ve once again gone for blu-tac rather than a frame as that’s just, well, within my DIY skills.

April 18, 2025
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Sand Pit at East India Dock

As another one of my random asides, I often stay at the Travelodge at Docklands and it’s located in the top right of this map from the 1870s. One thing that I saw yesterday, which is a new addition, is a sand pit which is located to the bottom left of where the dock was.

I mean, what could possibly go wrong with this?

As an aside, what the dock area looks like now and there are already lots of residential properties and more are being constructed. There’s a new restaurant opening soon and a new Tesco Express, what more could a community want?

April 11, 2025