Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Tower Hamlets (Borough of)

London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Travelodge Docklands

Judging from the price of hotels in the city, there is still not a huge enthusiasm to travel to London at the moment, not least with the obvious lack of international tourists and business travellers. This was the keenly priced Travelodge Docklands, which is a shortish walk from Canary Wharf that came to a total price of £24.99. Staffing here was minimal, but friendly, which suffices me when paying £24.99.

I’m not sure that Travelodge rooms vary much, and they haven’t departed from the standard here. All clean and well presented, and most importantly perhaps (to me) they have windows that actually open so that the room isn’t hermetically sealed. There were no noise issues either internally or externally, I suspect partly as there weren’t that many people actually in the hotel. But either way, that made for a peaceful night. Although I’d add that it’s quite a hike to get back to reception if you’ve placed in a room right in the far corner of the hotel. But if I can walk 100 miles (have I mentioned that before?) then I can get back to reception I suppose.

The view from the room, with Canary Wharf over on the left-hand side. For those who like taking their cars everywhere, there’s a large car park on site although I suspect they might charge a hefty sum for that. I wasn’t burdened by such issues though, the DLR stop is a three minute walk away.

The most exciting element for me was the history behind this whole site, as until 100 years ago, this was East India Docks. The Travelodge sits towards the top of East India Import Dock, but all of this is now gone, with the exception of the East India Dock Basin which is still there. The streets in the area around the Travelodge are named after products which were once imported into these docks, such as Coriander Avenue, Rosemary Drive, Saffron Avenue, Nutmeg Lane, Sorrel Lane and Clove Crescent.

My room was somewhere about where that boat is in the centre at the front, so it’s fair to say that quite a lot has changed here since this illustration was made around 200 years ago.

Anyway, for £24.99 I thought it was all excellent value for money. I suspect it’s usually a lot more than that and so perhaps less exciting value for what is quite a basic hotel. I didn’t need their wi-fi, but that’s a chargeable service (there’s 30 minutes free) and the whole arrangement is all more functional rather than luxurious.

I had a little look on TripAdvisor and the hotel isn’t badly reviewed, although there are of course some angry customers. The hotel’s lack of mattress protectors is incredibly brave of them, since they’ll end up chucking mattresses away at quite a pace (or picking up negative reviews about that). I liked the “upon arrival in the room there was no Kit Kat chocolate bar”, which reminds me of an episode of The Hotel with Mark Jenkins.

And the customer who was “shocked” at:

“The room cleaning service women was from Eastern Europe which is not an issue but the issue I had with her was she didn’t speak or understand a word of English”.

Odds are they did understand quite a lot of words of English (but studiously ignored the guest), but I’m not sure why a guest really needs an in-depth conversation with the room cleaning staff anyway, who are probably distracted with cleaning rooms. There was another angry guest that check-in is “very late”, despite it being 3pm which is hardly unusual.

And another guest who noted:

“To top it off there were people running around in their underwear in reception.”

I suppose readers have to picture the scene as they feel appropriate, as no more details were given. But my favourite of all was:

“We requested a wake up call and taxi for the following morning but nobody woke us up”.

The hotel reminded the customer that Travelodge don’t offer wake up calls, but I’d like to hear more about what the staff members had promised. A mischievous evening staff member perhaps…..

May 18, 2021
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Virginia Settlers’ Memorial

This area near East India Dock has changed considerably over the last 100 years, with the bulk of the docks now completely filled in. Just to the left of the cursor on the above map is where the Virginia Settlers’ Memorial is now located.

The buildings to the left of this photo are on Jamestown Way, standing on what 100 years ago was Blackwall railway station, although that closed in 1926. There’s a DLR station of that name today, but it’s a little distance away.

It was from this location in Blackwall on 19 December 1606 that three ships, Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery, set sail for the new world. It took them four months to get there, which I can’t imagine was a pleasant cruising arrangement, and then two thirds of the settlers died by 1608 when further relief ships arrived. It was all an enterprise established by the London Company who wanted to establish a series of colonial settlements along the coast in what is now the United States, not a project that went entirely well.

The plaque here was placed on a nearby building in 1928 by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, but that structure was badly damaged during air raid bombings during the Second World War. The memorial plaque was moved onto this current memorial in 1951 following an unveiling which was attended by the United States Ambassador. The memorial was left abandoned and was vandalised, with someone pinching the mermaid that was on top, although in 1999 this was replaced by an astrolabe following the redevelopment of the nearby residential properties. It’s all a much more salubrious area today, peaceful and with extensive views along the River Thames.

I wonder what those who set sail over 400 years ago would have thought about the Millennium Dome (or whatever it’s called now) in the background, and indeed what would they have thought about Virginia today. There’s not much at Jamestown now, which is where the settlers ended up, just a heritage site noting the colonial landings. The plaque notes those who went on the ships as “adventurers” and it’s hard to deny that since they founded the first permanent English colony in America.

May 13, 2021
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Greggs at Canary Wharf

I was slightly surprised to see this at Canary Wharf, Greggs are opening their first ever outlet in the capital’s financial district. I always thought that this shopping centre was like Heathrow T5, where they tried to avoid any cheaper brands for fear of it damaging the prestige of their retail operation. I’m glad that sense has prevailed, and perhaps even Heathrow T5 will have a Greggs before we know it….

I would say what a time to be alive, but that might be overkill just because a new Greggs is opening.

May 12, 2021
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Ibis Shoreditch

Back a few weeks to when people could actually visit London, this is the Ibis Hotel in Shoreditch which is just a short walk from London Liverpool Street. Ideally also, it’s opposite Aldgate East Underground station, so it’s an easy hotel to get to.

This visit was at a time when people could have a drink if they were also ordering a substantial meal. But, although the hotel was offering meals, there wasn’t much of a take-up.

Part of the hotel’s decor, trying to give that East London theme to proceedings. The whole arrangement felt modern and welcoming, with something of an Ibis Styles type approach to the design rather than Ibis.

This is the free welcome drink, one of the better ones which I’ve been offered. It’s not the finest in the Brewdog range, but I do very much like Punk IPA, nice and citrusy…. I look forwards to other Ibis hotels offering something slightly more exciting than Budweiser.

The bedroom, all clean and comfortable. And it was located on the top floor and away from the elevator, just where I like. There were no noise issues either, although I’m not sure that the 348-room hotel was actually that busy. The hotel also had windows that could open, as I’m one of those slightly strange customers who likes the noise of city traffic and police sirens. It also meant that the temperature in the room was easy to control, something which I do most appreciate.

I did very much appreciate the gesture and that’s a nice handwritten card, although secretly (well, not that secretly actually) I would have preferred chocolate…..

Anyway, the stay as all sufficiently uneventful, which is ideally how hotel stays should be if it means that no disasters took place. Staff seemed friendly, although slightly underworked through the lack of guests, and I’ll come back here again.

January 3, 2021
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Bethnal Green Tube Disaster Memorial

This monument, also known as the Stairway to Heaven Memorial, commemorates those who lost their lives in the Bethnal Green Tube disaster of 1943. It’s a striking monument for what was the worst civilian disaster during the Second World War.

During the late 1930s, the Central Line was being expanded from Liverpool Street over to locations in Essex. The construction work had nearly been completed when the Second World War commenced, but there was no track laid and the site was taken over to be used as war shelters.

On the evening of the 3 March 1943, there was an air raid warning and many locals proceeded to the station site to find safety. Near to the bottom of the steps down a mother and daughter slipped, which led to people behind falling and then crushing those below. A total of 173 people were killed during the incident, including 62 children, with their names placed on the above panels.

Clicking on the above photo should make this readable and it’s an account of what happened on that fateful evening. The press weren’t permitted to write about the incident, although the occasional sly mention got through, as there were fears that it might induce a national panic as well as being damaging to the morale of the nation. A report into the incident was commissioned, but wasn’t published by the Government until 1946.

I think this looks quite sleek and elegant, with the main part of the memorial at the rear being an inverted flight of stairs. The memorial was designed by Harry Paticas, who was also one of the key visionaries behind the entire project. He had noted just a small plaque inside the station marking the event and he wanted something more visible, so that the story wasn’t entirely forgotten.

These are quotes from survivors and although they’re a little hard to read (both at the memorial and on-line) they add some poignancy to the memorial. A comprehensive web-site was also created alongside the memorial, available at http://stairwaytoheavenmemorial.org/.

There’s more about the incident on this video, from BBC’s The One Show.

December 30, 2020
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Drinking Fountain at St. Mary’s Churchyard

I know that these drinking fountains are of marginal interest really, but I like them, a reminder of the time that many Londoners needed access to them to get clean water. This one dates to 1860, although they had to shuffle it around when they rebuilt the church.

Nice Norman style arch decoration.

And here’s what it looked like over 100 years ago.

December 7, 2020
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – St. Mary’s Park / Altab Ali Park

This park is of some considerable importance in the history of the Whitechapel area of London, as it’s where St. Mary Matfelon church once stood. This church was created as a chapel at ease in around 1250 and it stood until 1286, with this being a simple structure which was covered in whitewash, hence the name of White Chapel. A more substantial church, St. Mary Matfelon, was built in 1329 and this was extended and expanded numerous times over the next few centuries. As an aside, I like the idea of the Head of Parks having a 24-hour phone number.

Here’s what it looked like around 100 years ago, but unfortunately the church was bombed during the Second World War and knocked down a few years later. A new church had been built in 1877 (partly on top of the earlier churches), but, and this isn’t ideal, it burnt down in 1880. A new one was constructed and that’s the one that was lost during the bombings on 29 December 1940.

An interesting park entrance with that stone. There was an archaeological dig a few years ago and amongst the items found there were some Roman items and evidence of Roman cremations, with this once being the route of the main Roman road from London to Colchester.

The Whitechapel Road side (which is the old Roman road), with what appears in places to be an older wall for the church.

Some of the floor tiles and structure of the church are still in situ. The tiles don’t seem to be as protected as they could perhaps be.

There are very few burials here now (well, there probably are, but they’re unmarked), this is one of the grand box tombs.

Although my interest in this park was initially its history, it would be remiss of me not to mention that it is no longer formally known as St. Mary’s Park, instead being known as Altab Ali Park. Ali was a 25-year old Bangladeshi man who was murdered near here in 1978 in a racist attack, something that was causing problems and fear in London at the time. His death has been seen as a turning point as there was a large demonstration with 7,000 people on a few days later to protest about the racist attacks, with awareness raised of the huge challenges that existed.

December 7, 2020
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Spitalfields Column

I’m not entirely sure that the official name of this is “the Spitalfields Column”, but that’s what it seems to be called by some locals and so that’s good enough for me. It’s a totem pole type structure and it was placed here in 1995, designed by Richard Perry and he hasn’t given the sculpture a name on his web-site. The depictions on the column are meant to represent the items that would have been traded in the Whitechapel area of the city over the last few centuries. Shame there’s not a nearby information panel to add some details and background to this though.

December 7, 2020
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Limehouse – Craft Beer Co

I’ve been to a couple of other pubs in this small chain, notably the Brighton and Clerkenwell ones and I’m going to make an effort to tick all them off my list over the next few weeks. This one is located pretty much under Limehouse DLR and railway station, indeed the rail bridge is visible in the above photo.

I arrived shortly after it opened at 17:00, which is a little later than before the current crisis when it opened earlier on in the afternoon.

The pub was formerly known as the Railway Tavern and was operated by Charrington’s, a larger brewery who became part of Bass.

The beer menu, which is different to what is listed as the latest one on the web-site. On checking, this is because they haven’t updated their web-site since July, which isn’t perhaps ideal. Anyway, there’s a decent list of beer styles here, although a few of these beers aren’t particularly well reviewed, many are from smaller breweries and so it’s good to support them. The Mexican Cake which I had a couple of weeks is on there, but although it’s a quite brilliant beer (one of the best that I’ve had), I felt I’ve tried it enough in 2020 at that price.The Pentuple from Hoppin’ Frog sounds amazing, but it’s nearly £30 per pint and I wasn’t feeling that decadent.

I went for a third of the Strip and Drift from Polly’s, a small brewery in Wales, and the staff member apologised that she had over-poured it, although the pub didn’t charge for that. This wasn’t a problem for me. It’s not my normal beer style, but experimentation is the key as I’m sure someone once said, and this was delightful. I’m not used to the flavours in this kind of beer, but there was a sweetness, pineapple (which isn’t in there and no-one else noticed, so I’m likely just wrong on that), citrus and even some biscuit. OK, I think I’m going overboard here again, but there was a decadence and richness to this that was rather lovely.

The staff member was friendly and engaging throughout, although she got a bit behind as she was trying offer table service, which meant that two tables walked out without ordering. I felt that the atmosphere was relaxed though and I felt really welcome, this is definitely one of my favourite pubs in this area. It’s not a large pub and Monday is the day that they don’t serve food, so I imagine that it’s often quite hard to get a table. It was also clear that many of the customers were regulars, but the pub didn’t have a cliquey feel.

So, I liked this pub and I very much like this chain. It might not be the cheapest, but I like the innovative choice of beers that they have. Nice.

October 26, 2020
London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Canary Wharf – Brewdog

Carrying on with my theme of working around the Brewdog pubs of the UK, this is their outlet at Canary Wharf. As may be visible from the photo, their rolling shutter was broken and so one of their staff had managed to get underneath to get in, but it was impossible for anyone else. This did mean that the inside of the pub was closed, but they could serve customers with the staff getting in and out via the fire escape.

So, this was the limit of the Brewdog seating, this covered external area which was actually rather comfortable. There were a couple of other customers during the time that I was here, but a surprisingly small number of customers who tried to get in. This can’t be a good time for Brewdog at Canary Wharf even if they could open up properly.

The Velvet Vengeance is Brewdog’s own beer and I’ve never had this one before. Poured badly and in a glass that was slightly chipped at the top, it wasn’t a tour de force from the staff. But, they were clearly in trying circumstances and they were unfailingly polite. There were tastes of chocolate and biscuits I thought, with it all being smooth, although not quite as rich as I had expected. Still decent though and at the appropriate slightly chilled temperature.

So, this was all perfectly OK, although it’s not quite the visit that I had expected and there are of course no photos of the interior. I’m sure that I’ll have chance to pop in again at some point in the future though.

October 26, 2020