Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum

    I had read some reviews of the National Army Museum that their relatively recent expensive (nearly £24 million) refurbishment had dumbed down the museum and removed many of the interesting displays. So, I had made myself pre-annoyed at the museum before I had even visited. That’s the starting point of this expedition….

    The welcome at the museum was though friendly and the staff were helpful. Although, without jumping ahead, the only negative was a staff member merrily criticising a customer who had complained as someone who probably wrote in green ink. He proceeded to loudly say how he was proud to ignore the complaint to other staff members, which didn’t exactly give a great impression to visitors. I suspect he could have waited until no other visitors could hear before starting off on his rant. I don’t know what the complaint was, I think I would have liked to though, nothing beats some exciting drama like that (other than chicken bakes).

    The displays in the museum were bright, clearly displayed and there were numerous interactive elements. However, the interactive elements hadn’t negatively impacted on the experience and there were plenty to read, see and do. The museum is incidentally free of charge, although pre-booking is required at the moment.

    Most of the displays were uncluttered, although I didn’t like how the museum has changed the display of Napoleon’s horse from a dignified display case to shoved in with a load of other items. But, there are bigger things to worry about than a dead horse.

    I know that some visitors didn’t like this sort of approach, but I think that the museum is right in that war shouldn’t be glorified. That doesn’t detract from the bravery of the armed forces, but I imagine that most soldiers would rather they didn’t get involved in war zones and having to kill other people. So, questioning whether people could be a soldier seems a sensible approach, it can’t be that easy.

    Some interesting statistics.

    I’ve written separately about some individual exhibits, not least:

    Arm Severing Shrapnel

    Leg Bones of John Fraser

    Child’s Shoe from Siege of Cawnpore

    Earl of Uxbridge Loses his Leg

    Ruhleben Fighting City

    Captain Sir Tom Moore Painting

    The King’s Man Film Set

    Note Written in Blood

    Wellington’s Despatch Case

    Napoleon’s Horse Marengo

    REME

    There’s enough here for a visit to last at least two hours, with a cafe on-site for those who want that. Some displays really aren’t entirely suitable for children, but I suppose they can be ushered by quickly. There are elements that should engage children though, particularly the display where visitors can take part in a drill with some sergeant major (or whatever he is) shouting from a video screen.

    The museum was founded in 1961 and it’s in a brutalist designed building next to the Royal Hospital at Chelsea. The rebuilding and redesign was substantial, shutting the museum between 2014 and 2017, when it was reopened by HM Queen Elizabeth II.

    So, I left not being annoyed, which is always a bonus, as the museum seems quite thoughtfully laid out. It wasn’t particularly busy, so it all felt safe and secure given the current challenging environment. And as for those reviews which said that it apologised for war, I’m not entirely sure that it did, it was more just trying to make people think about what war meant and I’m not sure that’s the same.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Arm Severing Shrapnel)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Arm Severing Shrapnel)

    More agonies of war at the National Army Museum, this is the shrapnel that severed Serjeant Major Andrew Stockton’s arm in 2006. The museum helpfully note that “pieces of his uniform are still stuck to the distorted metal”. Stockton gave Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message a few years ago where he talked about his experiences of being in the military and losing his arm. Not nice, but a reminder of what war is about.

  • London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Ibis Earls Court (Third Visit)

    London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Ibis Earls Court (Third Visit)

    In danger of repeating myself, but I’ll take that risk, this was my third visit to the Ibis at Earl’s Court. A short walk from West Brompton underground station, it’s a huge hotel which is running significantly under occupancy by the looks of it. The receptionist remembered me, although I imagine that there aren’t that many guests to have to recall at the moment. And I probably made some faux pas that made me memorable.

    The welcome drink of Leffe, once again, which is something a little different to what is offered by other Ibis hotels. I accept it’s not the most exotic drink that they could have, but it brings some slight excitement to proceedings. Although it wasn’t as good as the drink at the Craft Beer Co at Old Street that I’d had shortly before, but I digress.

    Room number 1010 on the tenth floor, which was next door to room 1009 that I had last week (I don’t expect anyone to care about that, but it interests me, which is case again that I need to get out more). This is something that the hotel isn’t doing brilliantly on, which is keeping guests at least slightly apart. If the hotel is near empty, it probably makes sense to put gaps between occupied rooms, not particularly for health reasons, but for noise reasons.

    This is a new addition to proceedings, a selection of soaps. Normally these are in dispensers, and they still are in this room, but this was extra and I didn’t have this on my last two visits. Perhaps it’s a welcome gift to reward me for my loyalty, I’ll pretend that to myself. As I’ve drivelled on about before, this is a clean hotel and although it probably needs a little refurbishment, it’s all organised and the staff are suitably helpful. The cleaner was so chatty I struggled to get away, but I appreciated the positive attitude at the hotel.

    Given the Government’s announcement about a potential lockdown, well, the Daily Mail’s announcement about a potential lockdown, it might be a while before I’m back at this hotel….

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Glorious Beauty by Simon Hitchens

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Glorious Beauty by Simon Hitchens

    This sculpture is located where Holland Road and Warwick Road meet and was installed here in 2014. Designed by Simon Hitchens, it’s called ‘Glorious Beauty’ and rather than me explain it, I thought I’d use the information on the artist’s web-site:

    “Glorious Beauty is a playful arrangement of natural forms in an urban environment. A man made celebration of nature’s beauty that echoes a piece of the natural world and represents innovation, technology and a fast changing world. The solidity of a large glacial boulder sitting in the urban world has a reassuring permanence to it. Seemingly weightless, balanced on the top of the boulder is a mirrored copy of its form in stainless steel. Simon digitally scanned the boulder and flipped its form to create a mirror image which reflects the size and intricate detail of the original. Standing almost as tall as a double decker bus, its presence is captivating. The surface of Glorious Beauty gives the impression of an endless state of flux, due to the ever-changing distorted reflections in it as people pass by.”

    It’s fair to say that there’s more detail there than I would have given. For what it’s worth, I liked it, this country seems to be in an endless state of flux, so perhaps we should plonk this at Whitehall instead. Anyway, I digress. The artist’s focus in general is regarding “how we comprehend the geological and human worlds” and how they work together, an interesting concept.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Beatrix Potter

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Beatrix Potter

    This plaque marks the site of where Beatrix Potter lived in West Brompton, from when she was born in 1866 until she was married in 1913. The house, at 2 Bolton Gardens, was unfortunately destroyed during bombings in the Second World War. What is perhaps most intriguing is that Potter lived just a short distance from Brompton Cemetery and graves have been discovered there with the same names as some characters from Peter Rabbit. These include names such as Nutkins, McGregor and Jeremiah Fisher, so it’s entirely possible that she named the characters in her books after graves which she had seen.

  • London – Hackney (Borough of) – Shoreditch – Old Street Craft Beer Co

    London – Hackney (Borough of) – Shoreditch – Old Street Craft Beer Co

    This is the next outlet of the Craft Beer Co that I’m working around, which seemed to me to have a frontage that didn’t shout out classy crafty beer. It’s in an on-trend area, well sort of, near to Old Street and WhatPub note has previously been called the Canvas Bar, Nelson’s Retreat, Gluepot and the Murphy Tavern. It seems a challenging location to make work, but I suspect the Craft Beer Co can make something of this.

    The interior of the bar is minimalistic, retro and also very slightly exciting with those beer pumps. In the past, the left-hand side has been a kitchen area, but it’s all been opened out now.

    A sweet little niche area at one end of the pub. The staff member was friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable, with the environment being comfortable and relaxed. I can’t say that there were many other customers, although a few more trickled in as the early Friday evening progressed. They don’t do food themselves here, but they can order pizzas in and I think that’s a decent compromise.

    But, this is why I visited, for the beer choice. The glass looks quite empty here, but this is a third of the 8th Anniversary Pecan Cookie Stout from Westbrook Brewing Co, with my previous beer from them at the Beer Merchants being spectacular. This one, which was slightly cheaper, was again beautiful, with a richness of flavour and competing tastes from the pecan and vanilla. OK, I’m getting over-excited again, but this really deserved to be called decadent, smooth, full in flavour and soothing. My friends Gordon, Steve and Bev will mock these words, so I hope they don’t read them, but what do they know about beer……

    So, another way above average pub and I’m delighted to see that it’s in the 2021 Good Beer Guide. Indeed, with one exception, every single pub in the chain is in the guide, so I’m delighted that CAMRA has recognised just how good these pubs are. They have a large number of bottles and cans here, but the main selection is so well thought out that I haven’t needed to go looking into that option.

  • London – Hackney (Borough of) – Shoreditch – Goose Island (Third Visit)

    London – Hackney (Borough of) – Shoreditch – Goose Island (Third Visit)

    This is my third visit to Goose Island this year as I think this might be my pub of the year and I need to ensure that I’ve made the right decision…… It might necessitate a fourth visit if I’m being honest, just so I’m entirely sure.

    The tap list behind the bar, but it’s also available on-line. Table service is offered by knowledgeable staff members, with the friendliness here being high, always welcoming. The staff seemed disappointed that the pub was quiet, but these are challenging times and London is in Tier 2. I suspect that in usual times that this pub would be full on an early Friday evening in central London.

    This is the pub’s new menu, from Nanny Bills and it’s primarily a burger menu. Interesting, although I’ve got my dining options sorted for the evening.

    The bar, all clean and organised.

    And my choice of beer, the Bangalore Breakfast from Goose Island themselves, a decadent milk stout. I limited myself to half a pint of this and despite someone else on Untappd saying it wasn’t very milky, I thought it was milky and smooth. Not quite as full a flavour as I’d been expecting, but suitably sweet to be moreish and sufficiently
    Epicurean. Although it was delicious, I did think that half a pint was probably enough, the sweetness did eventually become ever more apparent. It’s the same feeling that I get after accidentally eating two sharing packs (which is a stupid term, who shares them?) of Randoms.

    My friend Nathan gets annoyed that I keep saying just how good the Hop and Vine is (although it is), but he won’t mind me saying just how good this place is (he will be very slightly annoyed I’ve come here again though). Bearing in mind this is a relatively big bar in central London, the service element is perfect, the atmosphere is welcoming and the beer is delightful. Nicely beguiling, I’m happy here.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Leg Bones of John Fraser)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – National Army Museum (Leg Bones of John Fraser)

    The National Army Museum is a perfect reminder of just how painful, messy and disastrous war is, there are a lot of stories of agony here. This one isn’t different, these are the leg bones of John Fraser who lost them in Gibraltar in 1782. He thought he’d like to keep them so that they could be interred with the rest of him when he died.

    Fraser served in Gibraltar between 1780 and 1782, but he came home after losing his leg, which seems sensible. He did though become a captain of an invalid unit and he returned to Gibraltar a few years later as a judge advocate. He was perhaps fortunate to survive such a loss, living until 1843 when he died at the age of 83. He was buried at St Barnabas’ Church in Kensington, leg included, but for some reason they decided to remove it again during later work at the church. I’m not entirely sure that he would have been thrilled….

  • London – City of London – The Telegraph Pub

    London – City of London – The Telegraph Pub

    Firstly, thank you to Fuller’s for my free drink, which will of course influence everything else that I now write….. This is one of what I consider to be their upmarket pubs, located near to Moorgate and likely popular with city workers when there are any workers in the city…..

    The lighting wasn’t ideal for these photos, but a shot of the interior.

    And the bar area.

    My free drink was a pint of London Pride, which was entirely acceptable. I treated myself to the cheese and onion crisps, which seem to be sold throughout the Fuller’s estate, although I wish they’d stock Brannigans. Not that they can because Brannigans have been discontinued, which I find very annoying indeed. And I’ll try not to complain about this savage decision from KP Snacks too often.

    The pub is a bit tucked away and visitors to London are unlikely to just stumble upon it, unless they get a bit lost. It had around ten customers on Friday afternoon, none of whom were dining, but the food menu was available. This is quite an expensive pub for food and drink (unless you get a free pint) and I found it just a bit formulaic. Given the history of the area, it’s all a bit sterile for my liking. The building itself is though new, built in 2003, replacing the Butlers Head pub which was demolished in 2002. The staff were though friendly and helpful, so the welcome seemed authentic and genuine.

    Anyway, since this was rather a cheap visit for me, I can’t complain.

  • Greater Anglia : Norwich to London Liverpool Street

    Greater Anglia : Norwich to London Liverpool Street

    So, back to London Liverpool Street today, and this is my train having safely arrived into the capital.

    This wasn’t ideal when I arrived at Norwich railway station at 11:05, my train had been cancelled. I say not ideal, I wasn’t that displeased, as that means a delay repay gets triggered.

    I was travelling First today, which wasn’t some decision to switch to a more decadent lifestyle, but just because the price was pretty much the same as standard. I don’t think I’ve been in First on the new trains, they look all smart and tidy.

    The individual seats and I like these raised ones, there’s a ledge for my bag and also easily accessible power points. Despite the service having to cater for the 11:30 passengers as well as the 12:00 passengers from Norwich, it wasn’t overly busy.

    First class passengers get free snacks and drinks, so I merrily meandered to the cafe bar to collect my refreshments for the journey. There was a very friendly staff member at the cafe bar, although he told me something which I’ve suspected, which is that the InterCity 125s now removed from the route were more stable than the current new trains. He mentioned this as he was being flung about, as was I, and I can’t imagine how difficult it is to try and work like that. I had wondered if the trains were going faster and that was the problem, but he thought not. So, all that money and Greater Anglia have bought more rickety trains than the ones they already had.

    These new trains don’t really seem to be perfect in numerous ways, it was a train fault that caused the cancellation of my 11:30 journey. The automatic announcements also went wrong as it kept repeating that we were stopping at stations that we clearly weren’t (stations such as Goodmayes and Romford are not stops which this service ever calls at to my knowledge), which led to the driver (or guard, whoever does the announcements) having to clarify the situation. The train was though clean and all was comfortable.

    The fare for this journey was £18, more than the usual £10 that I pay. The train delay means that I get 50% back, so the journey cost me £9, which is entirely agreeable to me. So, all rather lovely.