Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: London

  • London – Havering (Borough of) – Upminster – Upminster Park

    London – Havering (Borough of) – Upminster – Upminster Park

    I’m not usually too engaged with parks, but this one has an interesting backstory which is explained on this information board. In short, this was formerly land belonging to St. Laurence’s Church and the monies from this supported the parish. As the town of Hornchurch was increasing in population size exponentially from the 1920s, the authorities thought that it was probably best to get some space sorted out for a park.

    The information board suggests that there was a little argument between the Church Commissioners and the town when the sale was talked about in 1927. However, in 1929, the sale was completed and Hornchurch had a lovely new park. It was kept open during the Second World War and some air-raid shelters were constructed, although these were taken down in 1948 to build an ornamental garden.

    And the park today, it was being used by numerous sports teams, dog walkers and individuals when I meandered around it.

    This is what the area looked like in around 1920 when it was still glebe lands, it’s the square area which conveniently (for the purposes of this post) has the word Upminster in it.

  • London – Havering (Borough of) – Hornchurch – Old Buildings on High Street

    London – Havering (Borough of) – Hornchurch – Old Buildings on High Street

    This post isn’t of the greatest excitement I’ll admit, but this is the main street of Hornchurch and some of the historic buildings which have remained. The main building in the centre-right of the photo is 197-201 High Street and this dates from the seventeenth century. The smaller building in the centre-left of the photo is 195 High Street, a former residential property which was also built in the seventeenth century. The building in the left of the photo is now Prezzo, but was formerly the King’s Head Inn, again dating from the seventeenth century. It was only converted into a restaurant in the last few years, with this row of buildings being some of the oldest in Hornchurch. I’m moderately survived that this range of buildings has survived given the urban development that has taken place around here over the last century.

    This map is just over 100 years old and even then Hornchurch still resembled a village. The whole of this area is now built on, with the population being under 11,000 in 1920 and over 130,000 in 1960.

  • London – Camden (Borough of) – King’s Cross Railway Station – Nigel Gresley Statue

    London – Camden (Borough of) – King’s Cross Railway Station – Nigel Gresley Statue

    The rather beautiful extension to King’s Cross railway station, which opened in 2012 as part of a refurbishment of the building.

    The statue of Nigel Gresley, which was unveiled here on 5 April 2016, to mark the 75th anniversary of his death. There was quite an argument, which led to resignations from the Trust behind the statue, when grandsons of Gresley wanted the duck figure removed from the statue as they thought it was demeaning. Perhaps there are better things to worry about, but the end result was to remove the duck. I think I’d have left it as it might have encouraged more children to meander over to see what it was and they might then want to know what Gresley did.

    And there’s information about the engineering career which Gresley had, namely the Mallard and the Flying Scotsman.

    NB, as an aside, my friend Nathan grumbled that I didn’t link this post to the Nigel Gresley pub we visited in Swadlincote a few weeks ago. He was right to be fair, it is an omission of mine…

  • London – Camden (Borough of) – St Pancras Railway Station – Barrel Vault Pub

    London – Camden (Borough of) – St Pancras Railway Station – Barrel Vault Pub

    This is a relatively new JD Wetherspoon outlet at London St. Pancras railway station, located right near the back of the building. The pub is named after the station’s design, which is slightly elevated so that the huge undercroft could be used to store barrels of beer, mainly Burton Beer. In a running theme of things that British Rail wanted to demolish, this entire railway station was for a time at risk, but fortunately it has been saved.

    JD Wetherspoon had created a national pricing policy (excluding airports) for their extended eat out to help out campaign, meaning that London prices are now particularly cheap. This San Pellegrino cost 99p.

    And I’m still on my run of traditional breakfasts, with this being £2.99 instead of the usual price of £4.99. It was served promptly, although the staff member rushed off before I could get any sauces (which are now brought to the table) but it was otherwise all fine. Everything was hot that was meant to be and I liked that the toast was slightly burnt.

    Unsurprisingly, the pub wasn’t very busy given how few people are travelling at the moment. I quite like the review on TripAdvisor of when a customer was most upset when she wasn’t allowed to eat a croissant brought in from another station outlet, but otherwise there’s not much of excitement on there.

    The decor is a bit bland, although perhaps there’s not a great deal that JD Wetherspoon could do with the space. The staff were friendly and everything was clean, with it being hard to complain with a breakfast and drink for under £4. I didn’t order alcohol, but they had 11 different real ales on, but the range of beer styles was poorly managed so there was a lot of duplication and no dark beers.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Crate Brewery

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Crate Brewery

    This probably isn’t the best view of Crate’s exterior, but it’s the only one I took, so that’s that decided. This is a craft beer bar and they also sell pizza, located next door to Howling Hops.

    The interior wasn’t particularly busy, although there were a few people sitting outside overlooking the canal.

    The beer is their own, with the stout being pleasant and slightly sweeter than I had expected. Crate also produce some other stouts such as imperial coffee stout, toffee milk stout, imperial pecan stout, chocolate orange stout, bourbon barrel aged stout and sticky toffee stout to name just a few, although unfortunately none of these were available. They did have a few beers of varying different styles, so it felt like a well-balanced selection.

    Apparently this bar can get very busy at weekends and I can understand why, it feels like a place which would make for a good Saturday afternoon out….

    All told, I liked this bar, with the staff being friendly and helpful. It’s in an old factory setting which gives it some atmosphere, although the toilets probably need to be cleaner given the times in which we’re currently living. The reviews are mostly positive, although there are some ridiculous negative ones that the bar has responded to politely and with some considerable patience.

    The bar also does tours of their on-site brewery with tastings, and a food option, so when things return to some form of normality, that might make a rather lovely day out. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll come back here again, I liked the atmosphere.

  • London – Hackney (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Beer Merchants Tap

    London – Hackney (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Beer Merchants Tap

    This is another recommendation from Nathan and he’s on a roll with these now…. This craft beer bar in Hackney Wick looked exciting from its selection on Untappd and it has a sizeable can and bottle selection. It’s a reminder of what can be done with a couple of fridges and some beer knowledge.

    The welcome was friendly, the pub was clean and the reviews are all positive. The pub is using Untappd as its menu system, which made things much easier, with food also being available in the form of toasties and cold platters. There’s an on-trend feel to nearly everything going on here.

    But, the most exciting thing about the visit for me was that they had Mexican Cake from Westbrook Brewing Co in the United States. This is a delightful stout with an array of flavours which almost fight for attention in the aftertaste, and, yes, this is a ridiculous statement, but I’m going with it. The taste of habanero peppers is there, along with chocolate, coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, biscuit and I think that’s it. Decadent and delightful, I can see why this is one of the best rated stouts in the world. I only had a third of it, namely because that’s all I could afford, but that was sufficient as it was rich and smooth. Or, in short, this was bloody lovely.

    I don’t feel I’ve written enough about this beer yet. To have tastes which are subtle make a beer more delightful, but it’s easy for one to over-power the other. I now feel I need to go to South Carolina to visit their tap room, I get the impression that I’d very much enjoy that.

    So, all told, this was an excellent bar and this is one of the best beers that I’ve had. Right, I’ll shut up now.

  • London – Camden (Borough of) – Euston Road Pret

    London – Camden (Borough of) – Euston Road Pret

    Pret have kindly appeased my random mutterings and whingeings of yesterday, so all is well with the world again. And, I wasn’t going to write about these Pret visits, but this one did a kind thing today and that’s nice….

    As an aside, I’ve become a fan of pumpkin spiced lattes. I probably need to get out more to be honest, but there we are.

    Anyway, my riveting story, which I feel I’m over-selling as it is. There was an elderly lady, and I need to use those words to paint at least something of a picture, who came in and looked as if she needed help choosing what to get for her breakfast. A staff member noticed, went over and spent a few minutes with her explaining the options. She then came over to the table, offered help and went through the food options again. The customer seemed rather pleased, with the staff member then coming over with the hot food she ordered and her coffee. As a gesture of goodwill, which Pret staff can do, the lady was given her coffee free of charge. A lovely gesture and it’s reassured me once again about Pret….

  • London – Camden (Borough of) – London St Pancras YHA

    London – Camden (Borough of) – London St Pancras YHA

    I’m booking a bit day to day at the moment, but returned to the YHA yesterday and their hostel which is located opposite the British Library and just a short walk away from King’s Cross St Pancras railway station.

    These are not good times for the YHA as they can’t let out dorm rooms (or at least, they’re not letting them out if they’re allowed to). This meant that this en-suite four-bed dorm room cost me £22 for the night, something which I’m not sure was ever in their financial plan for the year.

    The now switched-off air conditioning unit which is one of the largest I’ve seen and must have been from a previous incarnation of the building. There was also a working heater and fan in the room though to manage the temperature.

    My own Dyson hand dryer for the evening.

    And a rather lovely view from the window. That’s the British Library on the left, reminding me that I haven’t used my Reader’s Card recently. The building on the right is the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, the hugely impressive hotel designed by George Gilbert Scott. It’s out of my price range as it’s five-star luxury, but it’s worth noting that British Rail tried to demolish it in the 1960s. Great foresight as ever.

    And the same view at night.

    The staff at the hostel were friendly, engaging and helpful, with everything being clean and organised. Hostels aren’t quite the same when they’re nearly empty, but that did at least mean that it was all quiet and calm. I also liked the sound of traffic outside, but it wasn’t that loud as there was some sound protection going on with the windows.

    As an aside, this is a really well reviewed location as well, one of the highest of its type on TripAdvisor in London. It’s picked up just 17 one-star reviews over the years, a really low number given the variety of things that can go wrong in hostels. Although one person left a one-star review saying that she had stuff nicked from her bag, just as she had done in the same hostel the year before. She was brave to return. The guest that wrote “the ceiling collapsed leaving my bed filled with water and items of clothing and accessories were stolen from my case” didn’t seem to have had the best time….

    Anyway, I thought it was excellent value for money, all rather lovely.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Lord Napier Pub

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Lord Napier Pub

    This makes for quite an impactful sight, the former Lord Napier pub in Hackney Wick. Opened in the mid-1870s, it was just a typical back-street pub until it closed in 1995. It then became known for graffiti, raves and adventure. I say adventure, but I have no idea what would have gone on here as raves aren’t quite my thing.

    There were plans announced last year to turn it back into a pub, although I can only imagine that it’ll need a complete refurb inside both structurally and design-wise. Given the rise of craft beer pubs in the area, I imagine that it will do well, although there’s no sign of work having started yet. It has become regularly used by graffiti artists, as in the professional ones who do decent work, so there was talk of somehow allowing that to continue in a measured way.

  • London – City of London – Faceted Column by Stephen Cox

    London – City of London – Faceted Column by Stephen Cox

    Unfortunately, I fear that my art knowledge has let me down here, as this is probably an amazing work. However, I thought it was World War Two bomb damage initially, until realising it was too new. It has though been put here deliberately and has graced the pavement of Finsbury Square since 1999. I don’t like it as I can’t understand what it is, but I’m sure many do.