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London – Wandsworth (Borough of) – Holiday Inn Express

I’m posting out of order again in case anyone wonders how I’ve gone so quickly from Warsaw to Wandsworth….. This is my stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Wandsworth, London from last week which was handily paid for by rewards points.

I arrived a little early, at around 14:30, which is well before the 16:00 check-in, but I thought I could always sit and work in the hotel’s bar if the room wasn’t ready. I mentioned to the friendly member of check-in staff that I knew I was quite early and he said that a room probably wasn’t ready, but he’d have a look. I gave him my name and he replied:

“Mr White, you’re a Platinum member, there’s always a room ready”.

I don’t think I’d ever dare go into a hotel and say “I’m Platinum, I want a room now” as that might lead to a DYKWIA moment (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2002071-dykwia-2020-21-edition.html) but handy to know. I suspect that I’ve reached Platinum status with one of the lowest spends possible, other than people such as my friend Richard who just bought their status (but he’s very decadent and would very likely go into a hotel and demand a room).

The room, all to brand standard and spotlessly clean, so all rather lovely.

The view from my window and that’s the Thames between the buildings. The windows opened so that I could hear the comings and goings of Wandsworth…..

The beer choice wasn’t entirely ideal and I only realised that they had Goose Island IPA too late, the staff member didn’t list that as an option. This is Peroni, which I personally think is bland and a bit pointless, but that makes me sound like a craft beer snob who sneers at lagers, but there we go…..

I like these, indications of when breakfast will be the busiest.

Breakfast was busy, although I was able to take this photo during a lull in proceedings. It did get quite a bit more hectic and I didn’t think that things were entirely logically laid out. By that, I mean I kept getting muddled up, so I blame the hotel rather than myself.

The standard Holiday Inn Express breakfast options were available, which were the four hot items of baked beans, sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs, alongside pastries, yoghurt, cereals, toast and the like. Breakfast is included in the room rate of Holiday Inn Express outlets and it’s entirely serviceable.

Given that this stay was free with rewards points, I’m not entirely sure what it usually costs, but I think it’s usually somewhere around the £70 per night mark, which is rather too decadent for me. However, it’s easy to get to by public transport and it took me just over an hour to walk to Victoria Coach Station the next morning. The staff were friendly, the hotel was clean and so all was well.

November 16, 2021
National Express : London Victoria Coach Station to Bradford

I’m posting out of order again (as in not in date order, I’m not being any more controversial than usual) as this was my National Express journey from London to get to the LDWA groups’ weekend being held in Haworth.

This is the National Express coach that departed from Gate 14 at the always cramped Victoria coach station in London. I was the first to board, not least as I was keen to get to my emergency exit row seat to get about an extra 2.5 centimetres of space. There was a friendly welcome from the drivers, who were switching around at Milton Keynes or somewhere similar given the distance.

Here we are after having boarded, with the coach being clean and comfortable. National Express seem to be one of the companies who are doing their best to keep their transport clean given the current health crisis.

And then we sat there for a while….. The driver made an announcement at the departure time that the coach was going to wait on a delayed coach given that there were connecting passengers. He had been told by the control room that the passengers were at the coach station and would be boarding soon, but after numerous delays the driver came on about 15 minutes after departure time and said “control said that we can go without the other passengers”.

That put us 15 minutes behind, but London was busy and the coach crawled out of the capital slowly and clearly getting behind schedule. I’m surprised that National Express make these schedules so optimistic, as there was nothing that the driver could have done and I’d have thought it’s better to err on the side of caution and expect delays rather than to expect the coach driver to storm the vehicle up the M1. The coach was meant to take just over five hours to get from London to Bradford, but it transpired to be nearer to seven hours by the time that it got there.

The coach was quiet until Milton Keynes, when it became pretty packed. It was still comfortable enough though and the air vents and power worked as expected, so the temperature was appropriate. The driver did make regular announcements about the delay, so he did what he could and kept everyone informed.

I was getting picked up at Bradford Interchange to get a lift to YHA Haworth, but it transpired that it was better for me to get off at Leeds and my lift picked me up from there instead. That was handy as it gave me chance to walk to a Head of Steam that I haven’t visited before, but meant I didn’t get to go on the coach all the way to Bradford, and incidentally nor did nearly anyone else and this seemed primarily a service used by customers going to Leeds.

I would have preferred to get the train from London to Keighley, which is the nearest railway station to Haworth, but that would have cost at least £70 which was just too decadent. This coach journey cost £10 and that seems pretty decent value to me.

November 15, 2021
London – Islington (Borough of) – Travelodge Farringdon

Not to be confused with the Travelodge King’s Cross Royal Scot, which is located about a two-minute walk down the road, I’ve stayed at this hotel for £24.99 per night over the last two Sundays. It’s about a ten-minute walk from London King’s Cross and a little further from Farringdon station. That situation was particularly ideal as my train into London was arriving at King’s Cross, avoiding me needing to cross London in the late evening. I like walking, but there are no shortages of buses going down the road for anyone with luggage or accessibility issues.

The double room which was spacious as it had a separate seating area and it was clean, although the carpet in places looked like they’d picked it up out of a skip. Plenty of teas and coffees, a modern looking television (although I didn’t turn it on) and a working air conditioning unit which I think is really quite impressive for a budget chain such as Travelodge. It was easy to control the temperature and I was pleased to make the room nice and cold, with no real noise disturbances internally or externally that couldn’t be expected from a central London location.

The view from my room, with those windows to the right being the corridor, it wasn’t possible to look into the rooms of other guests. It wasn’t herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain in terms of the view, but I’ve had worse.

I didn’t realise at the time, but last Sunday I had booked a single room, whereas for the same price this week I had a double room. This size room was fine for me though, but I preferred the larger amount of space.

Anyway, a perfectly decent hotel with friendly staff, a clean environment and a need for some refurbishment, although I think that this process is now underway. Really though for £24.99 in central London, it’d be hard to expect anything more (well, I suppose they could have given me a Twix, but that’s not something I expected in a Travelodge) so I was really quite pleased with the whole arrangement on both visits.

November 15, 2021
London – Southwark (Borough of) – Cloudwater Tap Room

I tried to come to the Cloudwater tap room on the Bermondsey Beer Mile last year, but it was only open as a take-away and so I got a couple of beers then for whatever hotel I was located in. However, I got the opportunity for the first time to pop in last weekend.

The beer list which is located on a chalkboard at the end of the bar. Service was warm and welcoming, with the staff member being knowledgeable about the various beer options. This felt a friendly location, all very on-trend.

This is the Canal at St. Mark’s which is Cloudwater’s own imperial IPA, coming in at 8%. This was really rather lovely, such a depth of flavour and beautifully tropical. It’s described as ‘dank’ which I wasn’t quite sure of the definition in beer terms, but apparently it’s referring to “very hoppy, cloudy IPAs”. I suppose it was dank FWIW….

But then there was something even better, the I Know You Know We Know beer, also from Cloudwater, although it’s a collaboration with the Three Chiefs Brewing Co. of Los Angeles from the beautiful state of California. This was insanely good and is one of the best beers that I’ve had, with initial hits of chocolate and fruit, but with an aftertaste of rose water which made it taste like a Turkish Delight. If that wasn’t enough there was also some raspberry in there, like a chocolate Quality Street treat. I noted that the brewery toasted my Untappd check-in to this beer when I was in the bar, perhaps they were standing nearby (not that it much matters). Definitely a world class beer in my mind, I was very pleased with this decadent treat.

The bar was moderately busy, but when a group of six men in fancy dress came in they were asked to leave, with the manager saying that fancy dress was prohibited by their licence. I think he’s right, but his comment that the group probably wouldn’t be served anywhere else on the Beer Mile didn’t turn out to be right, as they seemed to be served everywhere else. Either way, I liked the policy, a bar of this quality deserves to be revered…..

I was very pleased to get to come here at last and the quality of beers didn’t disappoint. The service was friendly, the pub was clean, it was a comfortable environment and they served me one of the best stouts that I’ve had. All really rather lovely. Cloudwater also have a tap room in Manchester and I want to go there now…..

November 11, 2021
London – Southwark (Borough of) – Hiver Beers Taproom

This was a new location to me when meandering along the Bermondsey Beer Mile, Hiver Beer Taproom, a brewery which focuses on honey in their products. It’s located on Stanworth Street and I think is worth the slight diversion to go and visit.

Scott looks like he’s having a lovely time here….. Anyway, this photo isn’t really of him and his very bright coat, I was trying to take a photo of the bar and the interior. There’s a small upstairs area in the bar, although it was full when we visited with a group celebrating a birthday or something similar. There was just one large table left on the ground floor which was reserved, but the staff said that we could have it as it wasn’t needed for another hour or so. It’s not a large venue, but there’s some external seating as well and I usually avoid that in case bees attack me, but that might be quite appropriate here (the bees, not being attacked).

I went for the Hiver Blonde Beer and thought it was a perfectly good honey based Belgian Blonde. It’s not really a beer style that I’d particularly head towards, but I wasn’t disappointed and the honey flavour was clearly evident. Pricing was reasonable and like pretty much every venue on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, they accept cards.

It’s a pleasantly laid-back environment and I liked the engagement and enthusiasm of the staff, they were good ambassadors for the brand. For those who want to, the bar allows customers to bring their own food in from nearby takeaways to eat as well, which looking back might have been a useful option for our group.

November 11, 2021
London – Southwark (Borough of) – The Rake

As my friend Richard was staying at a decadent hotel in London on Sunday (whilst I was in a cheap Travelodge) we thought a quick drink in a venue that we hadn’t been to before would be a good idea. This is the Rake bar located on Winchester Walk, situated next to Borough Market.

The keg and cask beer selection is visible on the DigitalPour app (which I had never heard of before, but downloaded in advance of a visit here) and also on a screen inside the bar. The location is relatively small, with just a handful of tables inside, although there are several external tables in the garden and this was relatively busy. There were a range of beer styles represented here, with a number of interested options.

The service in the bar was friendly and the staff member was knowledgeable, so that was rather lovely. The bar area with its rustic feel is in the above photo. I wasn’t convinced by the suitability of the tables though as they weren’t entirely level.

The uneven tables was a problem when a drink is poured like this (I had to use the window sill instead), although I appreciated the Goose Island glass. I went for the Anastasia’s Stout from the Ascot Brewing Company and the Infinite Cerise from Solvay Society, both of which were entirely acceptable, if not having exceptional depths of flavour.

The bar is generally well reviewed on-line, some people complaining about the pries, but I felt that they were relatively moderate given the quality of the bars and the location of the premises.

All told, I liked this venue which is located in a touristy part of London, but which had a feel of a local bar with its own community. There are also cans and bottles which add to the selection available, but there was plenty of choice with the draft options. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the decor in the bar, which seems reliant on graffiti to add character, but I suppose it’s different and quirky.

November 10, 2021
London – Southwark (Borough of) – Original Site of Globe Theatre

I’ve walked in this area around London Bridge railway station hundreds of times, but I was never aware that the original site of the Globe Theatre is partly marked out. The theatre was first constructed in 1599, but was destroyed by fire in 1613 (a cannon misfired during a performance of Henry VIII, which wasn’t ideal), before being rebuilt in 1614. The Puritans ordered theatres to close in 1642 in case anyone might dare enjoy themselves, with the building demolished between 1644 and 1645.

That was really that for the theatre, until 1988 when construction in the area found some of the building’s foundations. The area has been heavily built on over the last few centuries, not least the listed building at 67-70 Anchor Terrace. It’s not possible to dig more without taking the Anchor Terrace buildings down, but there are likely some foundations from the theatre present under those properties.

The location of the former theatre is on the South Bank of the Thames and is marked out with a cursor on the above map (clicking on the image makes it a little larger and easier to see) from the early twentieth century, at a time when they weren’t aware of the foundations being there. The Globe was rebuilt in a modern form in 1997 (although as true to the original as they realistically could and it’s the only building in the city of London which is thatched and they had to get special permission for that), but is on a site a little further west, around 250 metres, along the Thames.

There are a number of information boards at the site, including this easy to understand map of the site, which helped place things in the modern built-up environment. For anyone interested in the history of theatre and similar things, I’d say that it’s worth a little meander here to have a look, and it’s also known that Shakespeare lived nearby so that he could be at the theatre on a regular basis.

November 10, 2021
London – Thames Rocket Speedboat

The Admiral of the Wild Seas

Mostly photos in this post from when four of us had a little ride on the Thames Rocket in London last weekend, something I got with some Virgin vouchers I needed to spend (well, got for my friend Liam and I, the others paid separately as I’m not that generous). After a slight debacle on timing where we got muddled up and had to rush our breakfast in the Liberty Bounds pub (Scott dithered, luckily I had been served first so I didn’t have to rush), we arrived a little early at the pier in front of the London Eye. There’s plenty of clear signage about where to go, even though the pier is used by several different companies.

There was a friendly welcome from the staff member dealing with ticket checking and we were given life-jackets, but it was mentioned that no-one had yet managed to fall out of the boat. We hoped that Scott would fall out to provide us with some extra entertainment, but unfortunately he remained firmly seated throughout. There were 12 spaces on the boat, but only 8 passengers, although they were sending out another full boat at the same time, so it was still busy. Two of the passengers were a father and youngish son, with it being evident that the father was having a lot more fun than the son.

The journey lasted for forty minutes, which included a moderately paced sail to the river down to Tower Bridge before the pace stepped up (apparently the local maritime rules prohibit speedboats from rushing along in the central area of the city). It was never overly scary, although Liam sat there looking at his phone whilst I held onto the bit of metal in front of me, primarily as I’m more risk averse than he is. Scott kept taking videos which required me to look casual and calm, which is never an easy thing when forced upon me…. I took photos on the sedate part of the journey, but I absolutely wasn’t using it when the boat driver was doing twists and thuds (or whatever the nautical terms are) as Liam would have had to spend his afternoon diving in the Thames to recover my phone (I’m sure I would have tried to convince him that this was a sensible idea in that eventuality). The music wasn’t ideal I thought, they could have done with some Wurzels, but it was a different way to see the Canary Wharf stretch of the river.

After the speedy bit of the adventure, there was a tour back down the river to the Houses of Parliament and I thought this was interesting, and I found out some things that I didn’t know about the city’s history. I’ve now forgotten what they were, but I was engaged with the whole thing at the time. I thought that this was a rather lovely way to spend a lunch-time in London and I rewarded myself by taking everyone along the Bermondsey Beer Mile for the afternoon.

Oh, and it was agreed by me that I was the bravest.

November 10, 2021
London – Southwark (Borough of) – Kernel Brewery Taproom Arch 7

A group of four us had a great idea to visit some pubs along the Bermondsey Beer Mile (specifically it was my idea, but I don’t mind sharing the credit) including a trip to Kernel, which is a bar that I haven’t visited before and it’s the brewery known for its quirky branding on brown paper labels. Although this is a relatively new location at Arch 7, Kernel were the first breweries to have a taproom along here and they still brew a few doors down from this unit.

Although I’m sure it’s mostly just me, I found this to be one of the more confusing beer menus I’ve seen, so much so it confused the staff as well when taking orders. I ordered the Export India Porter and the India Double Porter, with the friendly staff member handing me one glass and saying “that’s the India Porter” which I only realised wasn’t entirely helpful when I sat down, it would have perhaps been easier to have beer names than using the beer style as the name. What initially looks to be a beer name are actually the hops which are used, which I noted confused other customers as well. Anyway, the drink needs of our group were quite varied, but there was something for all of us (and primarily me, which was my main priority if I’m being honest) as there were numerous different beer styles available.

One of my two porters, both were suitably decadent and drinkable.

This is what I thought to be a welcoming environment in its surroundings under the railway arches with several tables on the ground floor and there’s also a few seats on the upper level looking down. The availability of power points was useful and the whole arrangement is almost inevitably all on-trend given the location and products being sold.

For anyone meandering along the Bermondsey Beer Mile I’d recommend this bar (which is also very well-reviewed on-line), not least because of its heritage in the area. Kernel brew some really nice stouts and they didn’t let me down on that score, with the staff being friendly and everything was clean and organised.

November 8, 2021
London – Newham (Borough of) – Stratford – ArcelorMittal Orbit Slide

We were meant to go on this slide at the Sir Anish Kapoor designed ArcelorMittal Orbit in Stratford, which is the largest piece of public art in the country (the sculpture, not specifically the slide), a few weeks ago. However, it was having technical issues so they let our little party of two adults and two children to the observation deck and rescheduled the date for the slide. We’re rescheduling that separately and since the location let us use our vouchers for three adults instead, my friends Ross and Liam came along with me.

It’s quite a big piece of public sculpture when you’re standing at the bottom, so I did think maybe I had been a little too brave. The sculpture was designed to be a permanent reminder of the 2012 Olympics Games which were held here, and the Olympic Stadium (now West Ham Football Club) is just over the road.

It’s possible to see the slide merged in with the sculpture, with some gaps in the metal so that riders of the slide can have a little look out whilst plummeting down. It wasn’t designed like this, but so many people thought that the original sculpture allowed people to slide down that they added the feature in 2016.

We had seen this a few weeks ago, but this is the slide arrangement. It goes without saying that I was beyond brave, although Ross and Liam were quite courageous as well I suppose. Liam doesn’t let anything stress or worry him, which annoys me, so he was fine. We had a wait in the queue of around thirty minutes, although we had arrived early and so that balanced out nicely. That wait is the worst bit, especially when some people decide to scream loudly down the entire slide when they’re chucked down it. It adds worry to the whole proceedings…. Whilst waiting in the queue, I had a nice conversation with the man behind who was doing the slide with his son, and we both agreed how brave I was.

They require every rider to wear a hat and elbow protectors and I thought I looked a bloody idiot. But safety first…. After the opportunity for a photo, it was then time for my little slide. They ask you to get partly into a bag thing, lie all the way back and then shuffle forwards before plunging down into oblivion. There’s a sign saying that the staff won’t push you down, although they did help the children gently which was done rather kindly. The staff also spoke a number of languages, so a French speaker was able to talk to the French group which was handy.

The ride reaches speeds of 15 miles an hour and although the start seemed quite sedate it all sped up quickly. There were plenty of twists and turns, including a corkscrew, before the 40 second ride is complete. There were more twists and turns that I had expected, although nothing too dramatic (although I shut my eyes for some of it). I stopped a bit short of the end, as did Liam, and the guy there was a bit grumpy telling me to shuffle along. Although he was being rude to everyone else, but he’s probably heard every line possible standing there all day. I have to say though that all the other staff (and there’s lots of them at the venue) were very friendly and conversational, so it all seemed welcoming. The venue had been great in responding to e-mails as well, trying to sort out dates and the like.

We were allowed back up to take photos of the surrounding area, although I’d already done that a few weeks ago. I’ll add photos from that in a separate post this week (how exciting for my three readers…..). We walked back down the 430 or so steps back down, although they do let you go down in the lift.

Whilst walking down it’s possible to see the slide winding its way down. It’s not cheap to go on the slide, about £17 each, but I had Virgin vouchers that I needed to use up. I admit to being a bit worried whilst waiting at the top, as I tend to be concerned about throwing myself down a huge tunnel, but it was an enjoyable experience and I’d do it again. One of the staff said that the split of screamers and silent riders was about the same, although I was obviously silent and placid and didn’t yell loudly, which Ross and Liam also fortunately replicated as I didn’t want us to be a raucous group.

So, all very lovely, and I’d recommend others to chuck themselves down the slide as well. It’s not cheap, but as a staff member said, it’s an experience that can be crossed off the bucket list and it’s suitable for children of around eight years or older (and up to 22 stone, but beyond that there’s a danger of getting stuck). For those who are even braver, you can abseil down the tower as well.

November 6, 2021