Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Lambeth

  • EDF Energy London Eye in Lambeth

    EDF Energy London Eye in Lambeth

    EDF Energy London Eye

    Address: Silver Bonito,Waterloo Pier Riverside Buidling, County Hall, Wesminster Bridge Rd

    Local Council: Lambeth

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • London – Lambeth (Borough of) – Hercules

    London – Lambeth (Borough of) – Hercules

    I saw this pub when leaving Lambeth North underground station and it wasn’t listed in the Good Beer Guide and there didn’t seem anything obviously exciting. But, it looked an interesting building and I had anticipated getting half a pint of London Pride.

    The welcome was authentic, prompt and engaging, with the staff member seeming personable and keen to welcome customers. I looked at the beers on the pump clips and there were a few options, but I asked if there was anything dark anyway as it’s best to check.

    What I had managed to miss was the huge selection of beers behind the bar, with four dark options available. This was a ridiculously good selection and it’s marvellous to get offered dark beers of varying strengths. The staff member was very tempting in selling the imperial stout, but I went with the rather more moderate Coldblooded from Siren Craft Brew. This was a decent beer, initially unexciting perhaps, but with a delightful lingering taste of chocolate. I like this from a beer, subtle but with an element of decadence and it grew on me during the drinking.

    There weren’t any other customers for a while, although a couple came in for a Diet Pepsi each. It was a moderate shame that the pub’s fine beer selection wasn’t being taken advantage of and they must get busy in the evenings to justify having this range. There was a food menu available, but it was quite punchy in terms of the pricing and they probably needed a better value lunch-time menu given the current situation.

    All told, I think that this pub should be in the Good Beer Guide and it has changed my mind entirely about Fuller’s, as this is a beautiful location. I also liked how pro-active the staff member was in offering samples of beers, it gives me confidence in what they’re offering and it gave him a chance to show his knowledge. Friendly, comfortable and welcoming, it might yet be a candidate for my pub of the year…..

  • London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Margaret Thatcher Spitting Image Puppet)

    London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Margaret Thatcher Spitting Image Puppet)

    I’m not sure that I expected to see this former Spitting Image puppet of Baroness Thatcher at the Imperial War Museum, although it’s with reference to her image as a strong war leader when the Falklands Islands were attacked by Argentina.

    The puppet is made from metal, copper alloy and polyurethane foam, with a latex skin. It’s just over a metre in height and it was shown in the television’s musical sketch, ‘Go Now’. It appears in the Youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCO5q1SQJNQ, although it’s shown there backwards in an attempt I assume to avoid copyright issues.

  • London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Car Bomb)

    London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Car Bomb)

    I thought that this was a powerful exhibit at the Imperial War Museum, it’s an Iraqi civilian vehicle which was destroyed by a suicide bomber at the Mutanabbi Street book market in Baghdad, Iraq, on 5 March 2007. There were 38 people killed and over 100 people injured, with the artist Jeremy Deller then taking the car on tour in the United States as a reminder of the impact of war and hatred. The street was devastated by the attack and it wasn’t restored until 18 December 2008, when the then Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki was present at a ceremony at its re-opening.

    Abdul Baqi Faidhullah, a local poet, said at the time:

    “There are no Americans or Iraqi politicians here — there are only Iraqi intellectuals who represent themselves and their homeland, plus stationery and book dealers. Those who did this are like savage machines intent on harvesting souls and killing all bright minds.”

  • London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Pig’s Head)

    London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Pig’s Head)

    I have to say (write) that this is rather unusual…. Back in the First World War, British sailors from HMS Glasgow saved this pig when the German cruiser Dresden was sunk in Chile as part of the 1914 Battle of the Falkland Islands. They liked the pig and it became the ship’s pet, having a lovely bath every day and, on Sundays, they put an iron cross around its neck. It was named Tirpitz, after the German head of the navy Alfred von Tirpitz.

    In 1919, the loving members of the navy flogged off the pig (photographed above on the HMS Glasgow) for its meat to raise money for charity. It was purchased by William Cavendish-Bentinck, the 6th Duke of Portland, who preserved the pig’s head and trotters and gave them to the museum. It has remained in the collections of the Imperial War Museum and was first put on display in 1920 and has recently gone back in the First World War galleries. As for the trotters, they went to the replacement HMS Glasgow, but have since also arrived at the Imperial War Museum. And the pig must have been lucky for the ship, it was never damaged and it was sent for scrap in 1927 after having been used for a while as a training ship.

  • London – Lambeth – Westminster Bridge Road Pret a Manger (Eat Out to Help Out)

    London – Lambeth – Westminster Bridge Road Pret a Manger (Eat Out to Help Out)

    I wouldn’t normally post about a Pret, but one thing that moderately surprised me is that around 75% of customers were saying they’d take out rather than eat in. This is surprising only insomuch that if any customer said they were eating in, then they’d get their food and drink at half price.

    I took this photo at just about the only time there were no customers at the counter, there was a steady stream of sandwich and coffee buyers. The staff member at the counter didn’t mention the ‘eat out to help out campaign’, but then again he wasn’t meant to. I did though feel slightly sorry for the two people who dithered over whether to eat in or take away, then opted for the latter. It must have been quite a dilemma for Pret staff to know whether or not to mention this offer to customers.

    And, back to Pret. Their food and drink is excellent, this was the half-price cheddar and pickle, one of the finest sandwich combinations that exist and, incidentally, pretty much the most popular choice at LDWA events. Anyway, I digress. I’m not sure how Pret are going to cope financially given that they are predominantly a London company and this is the area struggling at the moment to attract commuters back in. A fair few of their shops are currently closed in London and many are operating on reduced hours.

    As another aside, Pret for years have refused to operate a loyalty scheme, instead they let their staff give free things to customers who they like. I’m not sure that this has been particularly effective and perhaps they should have gone down the Greggs route (I mean the Greggs loyalty app rather than selling chicken bakes, although the latter would work for me too). Now Pret has no contact details for customers and needs their customers to show loyalty.

  • London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Fragment of Berlin Wall – Inside)

    London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Fragment of Berlin Wall – Inside)

    The Imperial War Museum has two sections of the Berlin Wall, this one is located within the galleries and the other is outside the entrance to the museum. There’s not much information given about this section, simply that it’s from the late 1970s and it’s made of reinforced concrete. It weighs over two and a half tons and stands just over two metres high, although it’s not as painted on as their other section. The Imperial War Museum also has a small fragment of the wall collected by the British Military Forces in Berlin and this is on display at the museum’s outpost in Manchester.

  • London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Poppy)

    London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Poppy)

    On display in the Imperial War Museum, this is one of the first remembrance poppies designed to raise money for veterans and their dependents. The idea was thought up by Madame Guérin and then taken on by the British Legion, who opened a factory in Richmond, Surrey, staffed by ex-service personnel. Guérin’s persistence with the British Legion was fortunate, as they were initially sceptical and she had to pay for the first batch of poppies herself before she was reimbursed. Today, over 35 million poppies are produced in Richmond and distributed for sale across England and Wales, one of the major fund-raisers for the Royal British Legion.

  • London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Old Plan)

    London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Old Plan)

    This plan (© IWM Q 60569) of the galleries of the Imperial War Museum dates to 1936 and would have been when they moved to their current site at the former Bethlem Royal Hospital. And, I have to say, I like this kind of layout for a museum, there’s a clear narrative to the story and it seems appealing to me looking at the map. This is probably why I’m not finding some current museum layouts to my taste, since it appears I’m getting on for a century out of date…..

  • London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum

    London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum

    I last went to the Imperial War Museum before it closed for a substantial refurbishment in early 2013 and the opportunity to visit now when it was quiet seemed quite appealing. It remains free of charge, provided with substantial funding from the Government, whilst it makes the rest from its commercial activities.

    The museum first opened in 1920 and it had become essential to tell the story of the First World War and other conflicts that the British had become involved with. This first museum was located at the Crystal Palace, before a new site being found in South Kensington in 1924 and then, finally, the museum moved to its current site in 1936, at what was previously the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Southwark.

    The entrance hall is impressive, with various military vehicles and planes visible. There are, broadly, four main exhibition halls which cover the First World War, the Second World War, the Holocaust and the Lord Ashcroft Gallery.

    The First World War gallery is perhaps the museum’s best, although I found it drifting all over the place and it didn’t present a clear narrative. The Second World War gallery was, in my limited view, hard to follow and again lacked any clear direction. There were lots of facts presented in a random manner and I’m not sure that I discovered anything new about the Second World War. It is a country mile behind the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk, although it might be unfair to compare it to this Polish institution, which is I think one of the best museums in the world.

    I’m not entirely sure why the Holocaust exhibition has been shoved into the Imperial War Museum, although it has been given the size and status that it deserves within the building. The UK needs a Holocaust Museum that isn’t just part of another institution, but the Imperial War Museum is currently working on a new set of displays that are meant to complement the controversial Holocaust memorial being built by the Palace of Westminster. The Holocaust displays are excellent, although very powerful, perhaps too powerful. They have some graphic images of nudity and videos of people about to be hanged, I’m always uneasy that someone who suffered in the Second World War should be further humiliated in this way. But, this was a sizeable display and it was laid out clearly and with a central narrative. Ideally, I’d have liked the Imperial War Museum to operate a Holocaust Museum on another site (preferably nearby) where it could have more space and more funding.

    This is the top of the building, I’m not sure what it’s usually used for.

    The Lord Ashcroft Gallery was, I think, designed for children and it has the world’s largest collection of Victoria Crosses. I struggled to engage with this gallery, I wanted them to pull out interesting stories of some of the individuals who had been awarded military honours, but there were just a few words about many individuals and the most confusing mixed usage of fonts, media and display methods that I think I can recall. I think I’m getting old and grumpy, but I did see lots of children reading the displays and that’s perhaps the most important thing, that they engage with the history.

    All told, I think I preferred the more traditional nature of the old museum displays, rather than the pared back current building. I often come to that conclusion though, but the Imperial War Museum is well-reviewed and is clearly doing something which appeals to the majority of visitors. But, the staff were all helpful and engaging, with visitors seeming to be enjoying their experiences. I think I wanted something with more narrative and I would have liked more exhibits and more stories about individuals. It was a perfectly pleasant way to spend a couple of hours though and more people should come here.

    And, as an aside, I have discovered that the Imperial War Museum has placed part of their vast photographic archive on-line, which is very exciting as there are over 350,000 photos on their web-site. That’s an impressive effort, but they have 11 million photos so the size of this archive will be incredible when they’ve finished making it all available.