Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Hornchurch

  • 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 – Havering (Borough of) – Hornchurch – Towers

    London – Havering (Borough of) – Hornchurch – Towers

    I couldn’t quite work out why on earth Lidl had put the word ‘Towers’ outside their supermarket, but it looked interesting so I took a photo. Wikipedia has the answer here though for me, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towers_Cinema, this was a cinema between 1935 and 1973. It was in the art deco style and looks an impressive building, operated by Odeon for most of its time as a cinema. It was then turned into a bingo hall, before closing in 2015.

    Unfortunately, the building didn’t survive despite the efforts of locals. This is a shame, I suspect they’ll regret the demolition of these art deco buildings over the next few decades. Wikipedia note, so it may or may not be true, that Everyman Cinemas tried to buy the building, but Lidl won through and wanted it demolished. Shame that such a beautiful building was lost for such a generic supermarket design, but they kept the Towers lettering and placed it outside.

    As a piece of art design, Lidl’s idea to place the lettering here seems a good one, a reminder of what once stood here.

  • London – Havering (Borough of) – Hornchurch – JJ Moons

    London – Havering (Borough of) – Hornchurch – JJ Moons

    This JD Wetherspoon outlet opened in 1993 and it’s the only pub in Hornchurch which is listed in the Good Beer Guide.

    It’s relatively sizeable inside, this is at the back of the pub and the bar is located towards the front. All relatively clean and organised, with the health precautions being taken seriously.

    A quick chicken wrap without chips, all entirely acceptable, although slightly unusually the food arrived before the drinks. I had a half of the Dodge City Delta from Kansas Avenue Brewing, quite a floral beer and it was well-kept. There was another customer holding court loudly about Brexit, but it made a change from listening to people angry at how the Government are dealing with the health crisis.

    I had a quick look at TripAdvisor and the pub has some mixed reviews, although I liked this one:

    “We visited most Thursday or Saturday for breakfast. Only TWICE in the last year did we enjoy our meal enough to thank the chef. Food was either look warm, congealed looking, ville tasting or rolls covered in oil…….horrible
    Today, we visited. I had a new dish… Shepherds Pie……once again almost cold.”

    So, someone visited just over 100 times and had good food only twice. I have to say, it’s surprising to say the least that they kept going. But each to their own. There’s also a photo of someone’s breakfast which shows toast which is burnt. Often the customer seems to be exaggerating, and I quite like toast which is on the well-done end of the scale, but the photo that the customer uploaded shows toast which is pretty solidly black. Perhaps not the best day in the kitchen.

    Anyway, all was well with my visit, there were around six real ales on although no dark beers, and I can see why the pub is in the Good Beer Guide.