Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Tower Hamlets (Borough of)

  • 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 – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Changed Priorities Ahead

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Changed Priorities Ahead

    Well, quite….

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Howling Hops

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Howling Hops

    As an aside, I’ve been trying to ensure that my London posts get put in the right borough, rather than just putting London. It looks like by just a metre or two that this bar is in Tower Hamlets and not Hackney, not that it makes a great deal of difference to anything….

    This was one of Nathan’s bar suggestions, the brewery of Howling Hops and their own tap room. There was a prompt and friendly welcome from one of the staff members when I arrived, with the menu available by scanning a QR code. Table service was then offered and the surroundings were all comfortable and on-trend. The place is just outside of Hackney Wick overground station and it’s well reviewed on-line.

    The beer is poured from the tanks and they also have a wider selection of beer available in cans as well. I opted for the Soft Top, which is the brewery’s stout, and this was rather lovely, all the appropriate temperature and with a richness of taste. The brewery use the word decadent in their description of the beer, so that’s another selling point to me.

    It wasn’t particularly busy, although it was the early afternoon and so I can’t imagine that it’s ever noticeable busy at that time on weekdays. The prices weren’t the cheapest, but my half pint of stout wasn’t unreasonable, and the surroundings are all suitably industrial for a brewery. Definitely one of Nathan’s better recommendations (although he always seems to be in the pub, so he should be good with suggestions).

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Museum of London Docklands (Lascars Only Sign)

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Museum of London Docklands (Lascars Only Sign)

    This sign is now on display at the Museum of London Docklands and it was also located here when it was being converted. It’s a sign that wouldn’t normally survive and it’s thought to be from a toilet block within West India Quays. Lascars were sailors from the India region, south-east Asia and what are now the Arab States. There were relatively large numbers employed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the East India Company and they were primarily Muslims, although with some Christians from Goa employed as well.

    The life of most sailors wasn’t one of wealth, but the Lascars fared badly and there were much poverty with the sailors and this was evident in their living conditions in London. The sailors were though well-regarded and the docks did make an effort to provide reasonable facilities for them. The facilities installed were squatting toilets and so it was more about meeting different cultural standards than segregation, but lascars did face discrimination in many areas.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Museum of London Docklands (St. Paul’s Church, Dock Street)

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Museum of London Docklands (St. Paul’s Church, Dock Street)

    St. Katharine Docks, located near to the Tower of London, was once an important part of the city’s working docks, although it was damaged during the Second World War and is now more of a marina type affair. Back in the nineteenth century, the docks area was surrounded by slums and poverty, a dangerous part of London to be around.

    St. Paul’s Church was constructed on nearby Dock Street between 1846 and 1847, designed by William Cubitt & Co. Prince Albert came along to lay the foundation stone and the building was funded by wealthy donors and local seaman, who would have likely had little money. It could seat around 800 people and the church became an important part of the local community, trying to offer charity and guidance where it could.

    The church closed for religious services in 1968, but the building has remained and has now been converted into a nursery. There were hopes that a religious institution could continue to use the building, but it was finally sold in 1989. Anyway, this sign is one of the reminders of when the church was in operation, offering services throughout Sunday and offering a time when children could attend.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Museum of London Docklands

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Museum of London Docklands

    After my trip to the Museum of London a couple of weeks ago, it reminded me that I hadn’t visited the Museum of London Docklands for eight years. Located near to Canary Wharf, it first opened in 2003 in former sugar warehouses and it’s an extensive collection that looks at the history of shipping and trade in London. It’s well put together and there’s plenty of material that is accessible to younger visitors, such as a recreation of a dockside scene.

    The museum ticketing process was all well managed and they didn’t have many people in the building at one time, I’m not sure whether by design or lack of demand. Like the Museum of London’s main location, they scan visitors in and out so that they know how many people are in the building. A visit here is likely to take a good ninety minutes or so, perhaps longer, with the museum being free of charge.

    The museum is very well-reviewed, they’ve only picked up three very poor reviews on TripAdvisor, which is some going. One of those was last week because someone came with a cabin bag and was confused they couldn’t get in, despite the museum making that clear in advance. Another person objected to being asked if they’d make a donation and the remaining negative reviewer complained that they spent thirty minutes in the cafe nearly to the last entry of the day and then were refused access to the galleries.

    Anyway, I digress. Here are some photos…..

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hung, Drawn and Quartered

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hung, Drawn and Quartered

    [NB – since I wrote this, the pub has entered the Good Beer Guide]

    I’m going to try not to comment that I think this pub name should be the Hanged, Drawn and Quartered. Even Wikipedia agrees that Hung, Drawn and Quartered is wrong, with meat being hung and humans being hanged. However, I won’t dwell….. This is a Fuller’s pub located near to the Tower of London, which has always seemed busy when I’ve walked by in the past (the pub that is, not the Tower of London, although that is generally busy too).

    The beer choice didn’t surprise and delight me, but at least there were three options to choose from.

    The London Pride was at the appropriate temperature and tasted as it should have done.

    It’s fair to say that the pub wasn’t packed. However, there were a couple of customers who came in, but they sat outside. This enabled me at least to get photos of the interior, in what is a clean and comfortable location. There were three bar staff and two kitchen staff, so I’m not sure they were making a fortune at the pub, but everything seemed professional managed.

    The service was engaging and welcoming, the staff were keen to greet customers at the door, although that wasn’t difficult given there weren’t many of them coming in. The environment was clean and comfortable, with the track and trace being properly implemented. The drinks prices are reasonable, although the food prices are towards the higher end of the scale.

    The reviews of this pub aren’t too bad at all, indeed, it’s clear that the customer service is actually excellent here. The pub responds with some integrity and professionalism to any negative reviews, and it just all feels well managed. In all fairness, this was a much better pub that I had expected given that it would have been easy to turn it into a tourist trap given its location.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Mikkeller Bar

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Mikkeller Bar

    This is the UK outpost of Mikkeller, a Danish brewer who have become all rather on-trend. They’re located in what was the George & Dragon pub (although it was turned into a shop before Mikkeller took it over) which was rather smaller than I had expected.

    The selection of beers, beautifully well balanced to ensure something for most tastes. They’re not the cheapest pub going, but the quality of the beers is high and there are some interesting options. The service was friendly, engaging and welcoming, with the staff members being knowledgeable about the beers.

    Part of the pub’s interior, it was otherwise busy and I was trying to avoid getting too many people in a photo that they might not have wanted to be in. I mentioned that my phone was low on charge (I’ve managed to forget to bring my battery pack with me this week) and I was hopefully shown a table which had a power socket by it, so that was a relief as I’d find it a little hard to cope without my phone….. (perhaps I need to get out more). The decor is just a little bit harsh and utilitarian, probably not conducive to people staying for a long time.

    My two beer choices were the Dry Stout Centennial Mosaic from the Kernel Brewery and the Hallo Ich Bin Berliner Weisse Raspberry from Mikkeller. No prizes for anyone who guesses correctly which one the above photo is of. The stout is made by a small local brewery in London and had a smokiness and bitterness to it. The raspberry sour was piquant and flavoursome (that sounds pretentious I think, but there we go), both beers being very drinkable.

    Anyway, all very lovely, although the bar was full soon after they opened, so I’m wondering whether they might be tempted to return to their more normal hours rather than the slightly more limited ones they’re operating with at the moment. The pub also has pizzas which are supplied from Yard Sale Pizza, a third party company, which did sound tempting and it’s a clever way of providing a food offering.