Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Westminster (Borough of)

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – National Gallery (Visit 2)

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – National Gallery (Visit 2)

    This is my second visit to the National Gallery under the current restrictions, as there was just too much to see during my first visit. It’s free to get in, although tickets have to be pre-booked and they do enforce that, although someone did try and just sneak in when I was there. As can be seen in the photos below, this wasn’t the busiest of locations, although it got a bit busier during the early afternoon when I was leaving.

    As an aside, this is now rated on TripAdvisor as the top thing to do in London, number 1 out of 2,339 places, which is a pretty impressive effort. Although I noticed a few times on this visit and my last one that the staff struggled to answer questions that other people were asking, and although the staff were polite, I did wonder whether some of them were interested in art at all. I’m not quite sure if art knowledge is part of their required job role and how much of their role is ensuring the security and the safety of the gallery, perhaps that’s their only function. I had no such issues, I have the Internet to answer my questions…..

    Anyway, all rather lovely, more posts to come on this.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – White Horse

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – White Horse

    This isn’t a recent visit, I went to this Nicholson’s pub in Soho back in August, when things looked a little more hopeful for the hospitality industry…..

    I like pubs which have signs explaining their history, including why so many pubs have the name ‘The White Horse’. Incidentally, there are lots of pubs called ‘The Black Horse’, many of which are named after Dick Turpin’s horse because of the mystery and intrigue that caused. In short, this pub was rebuilt in 1939, replacing the earlier 1718 pub of the same name, and the exterior of the new building has some Art Deco features.

    Everything felt safe and there was a staff member at the front door welcoming customers and taking them to their seats. I visited in the early afternoon and it did get a little busier, although the outside seating area was always busier with customers people watching (on my visit I preferred sitting inside phone watching in case anything exciting was happening on social media).

    I have to add here that Nicholson’s gave this pint away to me via a promotion on their app, so I can’t much complain about the range of drinks. But, there were no dark ales and another customer later asked for the same, we were both told that they had Guinness and that was it.

    This was the Nicholson’s Pale Ale (made for the company by St. Austell Brewery), perhaps just a little unexciting, but drinkable with a depth of taste to it at least. Nicholson’s seem to have a habit of pushing drinks that aren’t beer, instead particularly advertising gins and other spirits, but they do have some marvellously historic pubs in their estate that are worth visiting in their own right.

    As an irrelevant aside here, I’m moderately confused why the pub has this on the front page of their web-site:

    “It’s only 12 minutes on foot from Bond Street Underground Station.”

    It’s also only four minutes walk (according to Google) from Oxford Street underground station, which is on the same line and around the corner from the pub. Strange…

    Anyway, most of the recent reviews are positive and the staff here were friendly and helpful. Food is a bit richly priced, but the White Horse focuses on their selection of pies which is part of the Nicholson’s aim to push a certain style of food in each of their pubs. I’m not entirely sure I’d return here as the beer selection isn’t really exciting enough (even before the current restrictions) in an area with plenty of competition.

  • London – City of Westminster – Star Tavern

    London – City of Westminster – Star Tavern

    I suspect most people have to come looking for this pub, it’s not one you’d easily stumble on, tucked away on Belgrave Mews. It’s in the heart of the diplomatic area of London, with the German and Austrian embassies being located over the road.

    The history is one of the selling points of the pub and although it has been serving customers since the Victorian period, it’s the 1950s and 1960s that perhaps are the most notorious. This period was when the pub was frequented with criminals and also many celebrities from the period, not least figures such as Princess Margaret, Diana Dors, Clement Freud, Elizabeth Taylor and Bing Crosby. It’s also where the Great Train Robbery was planned, in the room upstairs, and where corrupt police officers were known to hang out.

    The pub themselves have some history about the building and its characters on their web-site, I like it when an effort is made like this. The pub also haven’t glorified the crimes that took place, which caused substantial suffering to many, so it remains an intriguing part of the history.

    The main room downstairs, all rather comfortable and cosy. The welcome was friendly and the beer selection reasonable, mostly Fuller’s since it’s one of their pubs.

    The half pint of ESB and bacon crisps, reasonably priced for the location, and the beer was everything it should be in terms of the taste and temperature.

    I liked this pub, all laid-back and comfortable, with the clientele seemingly much more genteel than they perhaps once were. The pub is listed in the Good Beer Guide, but that might be an under-statement, it has been in every single issue which as of 2017 was an achievement just five pubs had managed. These are this pub, the Buckingham Arms in Westminster, the Square & Compass in Swanage, the Queen’s Head in Cambridge and the Roscoe Head in Liverpool. They received their 45th entry award in 2017 which was presented by the brilliant Roger Protz, so not long until they hit 50 years of entries in the guide. A remarkable achievement.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – Victoria (Paddington)

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – Victoria (Paddington)

    This is part of my continued meander around Good Beer Guide pubs and it’s located a relatively short walk away from Paddington railway station. It is named, as so many things are, after Queen Victoria and it might have opened on the same day as she was born. But this might be a myth, but it’s what CAMRA say might be true….

    The inside of the pub, which is listed on the CAMRA’s list of nationally important historic interiors. Much of what remains is mid-Victorian or inspired from the period, with the pub having avoided the modernisation that so many other locations have suffered from.

    The pub didn’t have any dark beer options, for which the staff member apologised and explained they weren’t busy enough to get the throughput that they’d need at the moment. So, I settled for half a pint of Fuller’s London Pride and some Mini Cheddars. The drink was as good a pint of London Pride as I’ve had, but it was just a little disappointing this was as exciting as it got.

    The service though was marvellous, engaging and helpful, with the staff being friendly and polite. It was clear that most of the customers were locals, but the pub still seemed to be offering a warm welcome to all. I think that the staff member who served me was actually the operator and if so, they’ve been here for over fifteen years. Fuller’s do perhaps need to take off their web-site though that this was their pub of the year in 2007 and 2009, there’s a limited amount that customers can do with that information given it is now ten years out of date.

    As an aside, CAMRA notes that Charles Dickens might have written some of his works here and, in 1966, David Bowie hosted a gig here. Certainly, an interesting pub and it justifies its place in the Good Beer Guide, but hopefully, they can return to a wider selection of drinks as things get busier again. The pub is well-reviewed (and the owner takes great care in responding to feedback which I like) and they were also taking trace and trace seriously, with everything seeming to be managed in a professional manner. All rather lovely and a comfortable location to have a drink or two.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – Frank Pick Memorial at Piccadilly Circus

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – Frank Pick Memorial at Piccadilly Circus

    There’s a new one-way system at Piccadilly Circus which is of no relevance here other than it meant I had to go a different way to enter the underground network. Which meant that for the first time I saw this rather lovely tribute to Frank Pick, the first Chief Executive of the London Passenger Transport Board. He oversaw the introduction of new modern station buildings, new fonts and also the now famous roundel used across London Transport.

    This installation was opened on 7 November 2016, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pick’s death. Apparently a quiet and thoughtful man who shunned publicity, he declined a knighthood and a Peerage when they were offered to him. Nikolaus Pevsner, who as far as I’m concerned is the final word on matters such as this said:

    “He is the greatest patron of the arts whom this century has so far produced in England, and indeed the ideal patron of our age”.

    A true honour from such a respected man as Pevsner.

  • London – City of London – Museum of London (Ceramic Moulded Frog)

    London – City of London – Museum of London (Ceramic Moulded Frog)

    I’m quite impressed that from this fragment of pot that the Museum of London is able to know that it’s from the cult of Sabazios, a God from the Phrygian period. The pot dates from the second century and would have likely also had imagery of lizards and snakes on, which sounds awful if I’m being honest. It was found in 2010 when they demolished Bucklersbury House, an office building on Cannon Street, noted for incorporating a Roman Temple of Mithras in its cellar.

  • London – City of London – Museum of London (Plate Owned by Samuel Pepys)

    London – City of London – Museum of London (Plate Owned by Samuel Pepys)

    This is a new acquisition for the Museum of London and it belonged to Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist. It’s one of only three items of silver belonging to Pepys that still exists, with the other two now being in the United States. The silver is hallmarked, so it’s known that it was made in 1681 by Mary King in Foster Lane, a street near St. Pauls Cathedral that is still there. The one thing that the museum doesn’t state though is where this plate has been over the centuries (or where they acquired it from), although they note that its importance has only recently come to light.

  • London – City of London – Museum of London (Portrait of King Henry VIII)

    London – City of London – Museum of London (Portrait of King Henry VIII)

    The first thing I’ve discovered from this artwork is that the National Portrait Gallery is closed until the spring of 2023, I just thought that they were being a little slow to re-open after the health crisis. Anyway, this is one of the gallery’s artworks, currently on loan to the Museum of London.

    I’m puzzled that the Museum of London term this as a “portrait bust”, as I don’t know what that means. The National Portrait Gallery don’t use this terminology and it just looks like a portrait to me. It’s also mentioned to be after (ie, a copy of) a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, with the gallery saying it was painted between 1536 and 1537, but other on-line sources say it might be 1538. Some people can be very precise….

    Anyway, it came into the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in 1871 and Holbein’s studio seemingly produced numerous versions of these paintings. It was painted during the process of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, relevant since the artwork is located within the exhibits on this subject in the Museum of London. I’m not sure that the King looks particularly strong in this image either, his eyes look tired and he doesn’t appear very magisterial. I’m not entirely sure who would have bought this and I don’t think that its provenance is known.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – Wallace Collection (The Rainbow Landscape by Peter Paul Rubens)

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – Wallace Collection (The Rainbow Landscape by Peter Paul Rubens)

    I hadn’t realised how many artworks that Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) had painted, which was over 1,400, so it’s no surprise how many museums and galleries he appears in. This painting dates to around 1636 and it’s of the land outside Rubens’s country house, Het Steen, near Antwerp. It was painted towards the end of his life and the gallery say, as I hardly knew this, that it was only during this period that he worked on landscapes.

    Fortunately, the Wallace Collection have uploaded a clear version of the painting, one that doesn’t have a bronze animal in front of it. This is one of a pair of paintings, with the other being in the National Gallery in London (although it’s noted as not being on display at the moment), painted for his own enjoyment and to hang on his own walls. It must be handy being one of the greatest artists of the century if you fancy decorating your front room, it gives you some options….

    Anyway, the gallery has placed on its web-site a handy video of how to understand this painting, which is useful as I usually miss everything of note. It’s painted on wooden panels, and it is noticeable on the right-hand side where the artwork may have been extended. It was purchased by Richard Seymour-Conway in 1856 and was given to the nation in 1897 by Lady Wallace.

  • London – City of London – Museum of London (Fourteenth Century Royal Arms from Guildhall)

    London – City of London – Museum of London (Fourteenth Century Royal Arms from Guildhall)

    This rather lovely stone coat of arms is on display at the Museum of London and it dates to around the middle of the fourteenth century. The coat arms is from the Guildhall in London, which was where it was found in the roof during renovations of the building in 1864. The arms were for King Edward III after he claimed France (he claimed to be the heir as the grandson of Philip IV) and put the fleurs-de-lis into the coat of arms, alongside the English three lions. It wasn’t until 1801 that the fleurs-de-lis were finally dropped from the national coat of arms, a perhaps belated acknowledgement that the United Kingdom wasn’t going to include France.