Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: London

  • National Express : Norwich to London Victoria Coach Station

    National Express : Norwich to London Victoria Coach Station

    Tonight I’m offering some variety to my usual Greater Anglia stories about my trips from Norwich to London and back. Indeed, I haven’t bothered even writing those up recently unless something has annoyed me. I’m not really a coach person, not least because people like Liam will make an Inbetweeners reference. Anyway, the cheapest rail ticket to get from Norwich to London were £15 today and I’m not made of money, so I looked for alternatives. I discovered that National Express have got rid of booking fees for those with an account (I like this, as booking fees annoy me), and they were offering this journey for just £4.60. I think that’s a bargain, so I bought it.

    Gone are the days when customers needed to print out National Express tickets, it’s possible now just to show the driver your phone with the ticket on it (or print it out if you want). And I have some words about the driver today. He was simply brilliant and was just one of those personable and warm people that could lift the journey of a customer. Someone wanted to board without a ticket and they didn’t have time to buy it. He suggested they buy a ticket online from Thetford to London when onboard the coach so that they didn’t have to wait a few hours for the next service. He didn’t have to do that, but he made someone’s day much easier and National Express got some money for the trip that they might have lost. The driver engaged with enthusiasm and, as might be evident, I thought he was a shining role model of customer service. I did post on Twitter about the friendly driver and National Express have at least liked what I put, so I’m pleased they’re aware of the whole situation (specifically their friendly driver rather than me being happy, which I imagine isn’t at the top of their corporate list of worries).

    Then I had to choose a seat after boarding. This is tricky, the two with the most legroom are at the back. But, they’re near the toilets. That’s a convenience for me in some ways (no pun intended), but also a danger if the toilets don’t smell too fresh. Fortunately, the gamble paid off today, all was pleasant and lovely. The bus set off on time and the air conditioning worked. The power sockets didn’t, but I was content as the coach wasn’t too hot and everything was clean. The service runs from Great Yarmouth to London (NX491) and it was relatively empty throughout, maybe 15 people on board at its busiest.

    I liked the emergency exit seats where I was located, they reminded me that I might be on an aircraft in a couple of months. Now, that’s a nice thought for me.

    This is the best photo I could get after arriving into Victoria Coach station. We arrived pretty much on time and I could hear the driver was still being friendly. I remember a Megabus a few years ago where the driver spent most of his time in London shouting at other road users and I’m surprised he didn’t give himself a heart attack or similar with the level of anger he had. The driver today seemed calm, even when confronted by idiotic other drivers, including one in Thetford who seemed perplexed on how to deal with an oncoming bus on a narrow road.

    It would be hard to fault a service that only cost £4.60 and achieved its aim of getting the customer to their destination. But, National Express did this with style, with a clean coach, easy to book service and a driver who was simply a decent guy doing a job he gave the impression that he loved. This was an impeccably run coach service, and I’m very impressed at National Express. How very lovely.

  • London – City of London – Old Bank of England Pub

    London – City of London – Old Bank of England Pub

    London is a strange place at the moment to establish when and where it will get busy. Usually when I’m walking down Fleet Street and this part of the city, pubs would be pretty packed out in the evening. I walked by this pub and thought it looked interesting, but also thought it might be one of those decadent food pubs who hardly wanted someone in there for a quick pint before their train home. But, whilst merrily walking by and already having pre-judged it, I checked CAMRA’s Whatpub and discovered that it was in the Good Beer Guide. So I walked back again, trying to not look like a confused tourist.

    I had guessed the bit about decadent correctly. However, it wasn’t a gastropub at all as I had thought it might be, although their pies are apparently pretty decent. The building was from 1888 until 1975 used by the Bank of England as their Law Courts and then it was for a while used by a building society, before it was used for a much better purpose, as a pub. The building once had gold bullion in its cellars and the Wikipedia page for the building notes that it might have held the Crown Jewels for a time.

    Going back to the pies that I just made reference to, the pub themselves mention that it’s located between where Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett operated (or allegedly operated since it’s likely entirely made up), noting:

    “It was in the tunnels and vaults below the present building that his victims were butchered before being cooked and sold in the pies to Mrs Lovett’s unsuspecting customers”.

    What a lovely selling point for the pies today…..

    The service was professional and efficient, although it seemed slightly over-staffed, so maybe they had been expecting more customers. It got a little bit busier during my visit, but nothing that was going to be a challenge for the staff to cope with in terms of the numbers.

    It’s a pub run by McMullen brewery, so it had their beers in, which is fair enough for their perspective, but gives less incentive for me to return to try something new.

    Slightly mispoured, but by no great margin as I think this was a lined glass, but the beer range was slightly less riveting. I had half a pint of the AK and half a pint of the Country, which were both well kept and tasted fine, but they were perhaps just a bit routine. The Country had some interesting flavours, not least being biscuity as promised, and I like that clean taste. The prices were actually quite moderate (and looking through the food menu, they were reasonable too given the location), fortunately not matching the decadent surroundings.

    One unfortunate omission is a photograph of the double decker bus that they’ve managed to move into their beer garden. I was going to take a photo from the beer garden after leaving the pub, but it transpired you now need to go through the pub, and I decided against meandering around the building again looking for it. But it’s worth Googling this double decker bus they’ve managed to position into their central London location.

    All in all, I’m pleased I popped into here before my train back to sunny Norwich, certainly a memorable interior and the staff were friendly. Maybe I’ll come back for one of their pies at some point…..

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – Hawkes Cidery (Wasted Apples)

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – Hawkes Cidery (Wasted Apples)

    I’ve written about Hawkes Cidery on the Bermondsey Beer Mile before, but I hadn’t noticed this warning about food waste before. Every second the UK wastes enough apples to create 3.5 pints of cider and that certainly does feel like a crime….

  • London – Islington (Borough of) – Horseshoe

    London – Islington (Borough of) – Horseshoe

    The Horseshoe on Clerkenwell Close in London has, accordingly to CAMRA, been a pub since at least 1748. It’s a corner pub that was operated by Courage and although I didn’t realise at the time I was there how long it had been trading, it did feel like it had a real sense of history.

    This illustration is of a boxing contest that took place in the pub in the nineteenth century and the historical record is littered with events that have taken place here over the centuries. I also quite liked the advert placed by the pub in 1858 advertising for a head barman, with the comment that the applicant must be “a respectable young man whose character will bear the strictest investigation”. Entire books could be written about the history of this pub and I find it slightly magical that it has remained trading for so long.

    The bar today.

    The Brewdog Pale Ale had just run out (although luckily for Des, they had just poured his), so I went for the only real ale that was available, the Seafarers English Ale. The barman warned me that it might be off as a customer had just complained about it and I appreciated the warning and the chance to try it. It’s a tricky position to be in as a customer, as I felt a pressure to judge the pub’s beer keeping ability. But I remembered that a newspaper had called me a “real ale aficionado” a few weeks ago, so I felt ready and able to judge. Unfortunately, I had just eaten my body weight in chicken wings with a harsh sauce, so I suspect my taste buds were pretty much destroyed. I mentioned this to the barman who said, entirely fairly, that this was a bit of good luck. As far as I was concerned, the beer did have a distinctive taste, but I was content it wasn’t off.

    It took me a little while to realise that the television screen was showing the pub’s beer garden rather than some episode of Eastenders or the like. The barman was conversational and welcoming, although it was a shame (for the pub) that it was so quiet inside. I liked the character of the place, this felt like a community pub that someone new to the area could go to and be made to feel welcome. Quite clearly a pub that has a loyal following of customers, it still seemed an environment that wouldn’t scare anyone off.

    The pub is well reviewed, but there are of course some negative ones. One person gave the pub two stars out of five on Google with no comments, leading to what I think is a marvellous response from the pub of:

    “Many thanks for your insightful review. It’s always a pleasure to get a review like this so we know how we have gone wrong and how to fix it. Looking at some of your recent reviews here on Google , it does seem like you have visited many places in the last 24 hours, well done for fitting us in, it seems like everywhere you went you had a bad time, that’s a shame…Happy Christmas, and keep spreading that Christmas cheer.”

    A perfect response as far as I’m concerned, and someone else did the same of leaving two stars and no comment, with the pub on this occasion noting:

    “Many thanks for your very interesting and insightful comments. Luckily we are not the only establishment that manages to be blessed with your almost poetic words of wisdom in your reviews. Many thanks.

    I like that the pub doesn’t take itself too seriously. Although this isn’t a pub that has the greatest selection of craft beer or real ales, it does have a certain charm and genuineness to it. It hasn’t been modernised to death, so I really quite liked it.

  • London – Islington (Borough of) – The Jerusalem Tavern

    London – Islington (Borough of) – The Jerusalem Tavern

    This pub in Britton Street in Clerkenwell was suggested by Des and it was another one of his very good choices. I knew that St. Peter’s Brewery in Bungay had their own pub in London, although I’ve never understood quite why they choose there particularly, and I had meant to visit it at some stage. But I have a long list of places that I want to visit and I’d forgotten where in London it was, so this all worked out rather well. It’s also in the Good Beer Guide as well, so that’s another box ticked (not that I necessarily want my life to be a series of ticks, but there we go).

    As an aside, Rob and I walked by the Brewery last year on one of our little meanders near Bungay. Rereading that post back, where there’s a photo of the brewery, I even noted that I wanted to go to this pub in Farringdon (even though I had forgotten where it was in the intervening few months).

    The pub was busy outside and it wasn’t clear that we’d be able to get a seat inside as it’s not that spacious. Fortunately (well, fortunately for us, perhaps considerably less so for the pub), they were quiet inside and so there was a choice of tables available. They’re running with three different beers on draft from St. Peter’s, although unfortunately nothing dark at the moment, along with numerous other options. They were also doing a pint, scampi and chips for £10 which seemed like quite a decent meal deal arrangement.

    CAMRA’s Whatpub gives some background to the slightly confusing (to me) history of the pub, which they note was opened by St. Peter’s Brewery in 1996. The building was constructed as a shop with a residence above in the early eighteenth century (the pub itself has a date of “anno 1720” on the front) and it has today a Victorian wooden shop-front (visible in the photo above) from the same period, although I’m unsure where that was recovered from.

    Here’s a photo of the shop from 1961, after a long period of it being used as offices and as a shop. I like its current usage the best….

    A not very clear photo of the front part of the pub, which is quirky and different in its design, all adding to the atmosphere. The stand-out drink for me, despite some relatively low reviews on Untappd, was the citrus beer from St. Peter’s, a nice fruit flavour which was simple and as far as I’m concerned is a perfect way of getting five a day. This was previously known as Grapefruit Beer, but that perhaps put people off, hence the name change. I thought the citrus was more refreshing than sharp, so an admirable beer.

    The pub is well reviewed on-line and I like the current table service set-up, although that’s been rather forced out of necessity, with the staff member being able to helpfully remind me what beers they had after I managed to forget by the time it came to order a second drink….. They have had a little difficulty with some of their residential neighbours, which might be why they call last orders at near to 22:00. But, anyway, I liked this pub, relaxed, uncrowded, comfortable and a reminder of the joys of Suffolk where St. Peter’s Brewery is located.

  • London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – West Brompton The Hub by Premier Inn

    London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – West Brompton The Hub by Premier Inn

    I like new hotel concepts and The Hub is Premier Inn’s attempt to create an on-trend accommodation option which has more flexibly sized rooms (by flexible, I mean smaller) which allows them to charge a little less. It’s not quite the capsule style as the rooms are larger than that, but they are of course much smaller than traditional hotel rooms.

    The room with the television at the end of the bed and plenty of space for bags underneath the bed.

    The lighting controls are at the end of the bed.

    This table pulls out to provide an element of desk space. The bottle of water is free and although there are no coffee or tea facilities in the room, they are available free of charge downstairs.

    The view from the end of the bed.

    There is a large television and it allows mirroring from smartphones, so this is what happens when you do that and point the phone towards the television. I accept, I need to get out more….

    The bathroom, which is pretty much the same size as in most hotel rooms.

    When I stayed in India, it was common for a digital display outside the room to indicate whether the guest wanted to have their room cleaned or whether they wanted privacy. I’ve wondered when this would come across to Europe in more hotels at a budget level, as it’s much better than hanging bits of card from the room door.

    The pricing was competitive, coming in at under £30 for the night and the hotel is just a very short walk from West Brompton underground station. I very much liked this concept, as the execution is brilliant. A lot of thought has gone into the design of the room to maximise space, and it is entirely functional. There’s storage space, a chair, desk, comfortable bed and a perfectly sized bathroom. The bin is in a cupboard (that’s more appropriate than it sounds) and the bottle of water is a nice little touch. The room was incredibly quiet, with no noise impact from either inside or outside of the hotel.

    I accept that the room isn’t ideal for romantic breaks or for families who need more space for their children and to argue, but as a place to stay I really rather like it. There are some larger rooms in the hotel, but there wasn’t a floor plan on the back of the door as there usually is to guide customers out in the event of a fire. That was a slight shame as I couldn’t establish just how the hotel was laid out in terms of how large the rooms are.

    There weren’t really any problems, I thought that the room in total darkness might be hard to find the control panel of lights, but it was still very slightly visible. I quickly checked the wi-fi and that was fast and functional. As for the staff member who checked me in, she was full of engagement and personality, so a credit to the hotel. There was a friendly checkout process as well (I say process, I put the key in a box and the staff called out asking if I had enjoyed my stay, so that works for me). London is competitively priced at the moment, but this could be an option I’ll consider in the future and Premier Inn have opened up a few of these already in the city.

    All really rather lovely.

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – Moor Beer Vaults

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – Moor Beer Vaults

    Part of my slow and steady walk along the Bermondsey Beer Mile, this is Moor Brewing. They’re a Bristol brewery who brew a range of different beer styles and they have this informal little arrangement in London. Friendly staff and I was offered a choice of tables, so made myself comfortable in the corner out of the way of the sun.

    This is the beer menu, which isn’t really suitable for children.

    The beer on the left is Moor Beer’s stout, and very acceptable it was too. But, it’s the one on the right, which is Moor’s Smoked Lager, that I’ll focus on here, as I wasn’t sure that I’d even like it. Fortunately, I did, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since (not constantly, just every now and then…..) and I should have rated it higher on Untappd.

    Anyway, without using the language that Moor use on their menu, it’s a smoked lager and I knew nothing about this concept. I was pleased to find out on Facebook from the wonderful Oliva (who I think is one of the foremost experts on beer in Norwich) and the no less wonderful Tony from the Hop & Vine in Hull that this is a beer style that is popular in Bamberg, in Germany. This is delightful information for me and I’m planning a trip there now (I mean Germany, not the Hop & Vine, to which a visit has already been planned) and I am unanimous in that……

    The smoked lager’s main strength for me was its beautiful aftertaste, that lingering smoky flavour and I can imagine some German sausages would go well alongside that (or a McRib come to think of it). Effectively, it’s a beer that tastes slightly of bacon, but without the greasiness (and without the need for me to cut the fat off) and it also had something of a sweet edge and limited bitterness. I very much liked the concept and feel the need to experience the area of Germany which inspired this beer.

    Bringing this back on track, I liked Moor’s, it was relaxed and calm, which is an atmosphere that I like. The prices weren’t listed on the menu, but they’re moderate and as I like, they really prefer card payments here. Like most of the places along the Bermondsey Beer Mile, it’s not particularly large inside, but it is definitely worth a visit. Very lovely.

  • London – Camden (Borough of) – Regent’s Canal Walk

    London – Camden (Borough of) – Regent’s Canal Walk

    Just photos on this post from my little meander along the Regent’s Canal. This is quite a beautiful nine-mile walk, connecting into locations such as London Zoo, Camden, Little Venice, Regent’s Park and King’s Cross, amongst many other locations. Work on the canal started in 1812, with the first section being completed in 1816. Projects like this, given the tools of the time, are hard not to be impressed by, they were large scale and complex construction efforts.

    The railway rather changed the commercial viability of the canal and there were several plans to build a railway line alongside it, although these didn’t get permission in Parliament. Today, the area is easy to walk along and although some stretches are inevitably busy, there are quieter parts where I didn’t see anyone for quite a way. I didn’t complete the entire route on this visit, but I might go back at some point and write something more substantial about this walk, one of my favourite in London. There’s something nice about being in central London, but feeling that the location is a little more remote and away from it all.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Canary Wharf – Brewdog (Attempt 2)

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Canary Wharf – Brewdog (Attempt 2)

    I tried to visit Brewdog at Canary Wharf at the end of last year and I was partly successful….. This was at a time when customers could go indoors, but there was a problem with the door to get in, so the only seating option was outside. This sufficed for a quick visit, but I wanted to return to see the main event.

    Richard accompanied me as he’s becoming ever more enthused about this whole beer drinking thing, although he’s now got some sort of weird obsession with brightly coloured gins. I try not to encourage that, but fortunately, he was entirely agreeable that this would be a beer night. Well, sort of, we left Brewdog and he then gets the most ridiculous coloured gin in the next pub, but I didn’t say anything.

    I’m not sure that Canary Wharf is ever really that busy on a Sunday night in summer, but it was certainly quiet during our visit. It’s a spacious bar, although not quite as large as I had expected, but we didn’t have any shortage of tables to choose from. I can imagine that when Canary Wharf is in full flow that this must be a very busy location and I can imagine the money that they make is substantial. As for this quiet Sunday evening, I can’t imagine there was much profit being made.

    There were the bright lights, looking only slightly like a brothel, that Brewdog often have in their pubs (I mean that Brewdog often have bright lights like this, not that they have brothels in their pubs).

    And the artworks on the wall, all very Brewdog.

    But, I’m not here to critique the bar’s interior design, it’s not that important to me. The main element here is the beer and there were numerous stouts for me to choose from. I went through a few beers here that included more than just stouts, doing my normal just purchasing them in one thirds, but the star of the show was the Russia Stout from Mikkeller. I ordered this one without much expectation and a staff member came over and said it was a beautiful example of its type, simple, but elegant. And he was right, this was just a well produced stout which didn’t have any gimmicks to it. It had a level of decadence that I didn’t expect it to have, meaning just small sips delivered the coffee and chocolate notes each time. Smooth, elegant and really rather lovely, rare to have such a richness when not an imperial stout (the ABV is just 5.1%).

    The staffing was excellent, knowledgeable, engaging and polite staff members who were keen to converse about the beers. The location was clean, the temperature wasn’t too hot, the beers were excellent, the staff knew what they were talking about and this is the first contender for my fiercely contested pub of the year award (when I say fiercely contested, I mean more, I think it should be fiercely contested). This is a bloody lovely bar. I suspect I’ll be back (although that sounds like a threat).

  • London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Fulham Travelodge

    London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Fulham Travelodge

    At the moment, I switch hotels to whichever seems to be the cheapest in London for the evening, with that exciting accolade going to Travelodge Fulham yesterday with their room for under £25 for the night. Easily accessible from the nearby Fulham Broadway underground station, it’s a convenient option for those coming from central London.

    It’s not exactly the most decadent choice, but it’s a serviceable hotel option and the staff members at the front desk were helpful and engaging. The public areas seemed clean, if not entirely well maintained, and one of the lifts had a missing button to get to one of the floors and that wasn’t entirely ideal.

    My room and this is the first time I’ve experienced a hotel in the UK that doesn’t have a duvet on the bed, just sheets. There was a reason for this, which was that the room was very hot and the building hasn’t been blessed with air conditioning. The duvet was though there in the room, in that blue bag in the corner, for anyone who wanted it.

    Richard was staying in the same hotel, and he looks for decadence and expense in everything, so he upgraded himself to a Super Room. In the interests of showing the difference, this is his room. I didn’t allow him in it until I had taken photographs of it, although fortunately he didn’t complain at that situation. It does have a nicer feel to it.

    The Super Room costs £5 per night more than the standard rate and for that the guest gets a coffee machine, a Kit Kat, nicer curtains, a nicer framed picture on the wall, a more comfortable (but less practical) chair and, well, that’s it. In some hotels, the guest would enjoy free air conditioning as well, but that wasn’t offered here. Richard did though get a fan that I didn’t get (although they’ve available at reception for us less decadent guests), so I think he felt his £5 was well spent. Incidentally, and I won’t go on about it, but Richard broke the coffee machine, but fortunately, I was there to ensure that the machine worked again. Sometimes you just need someone practical…..

    Although the hotel was quite hot, it is the case that London is quite hot at the moment, so that could perhaps be forgiven. Given the prices currently being charged, I thought that the value was really rather good, especially as there were no noise disturbances either externally or internally. The kettle in my room needed replacing, but I didn’t let that bother me, as I was busy collecting my free decadent coffee machine drinks from Richard’s room.

    The hotel is reasonably well reviewed, although on that review front, I did have a little browse through what guests had put on TripAdvisor. One reviewer had the title “teriminlly ill guest thrown out of hotel for having one ciggerate in room by manager” [sic] which is as it sounds, the guest decided to smoke in his room and was furious that the hotel was annoyed at this situation. The hotel unsurprisingly remained furious and stood by their decision.

    A few guests also noted that there was lovely air conditioning in reception and by the lifts, so they suggested moving bedding and sleeping there. To be fair, the reception area was kept beautifully cool, so that wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world, although I’d be interested to see what the staff thought about it if anyone tried. Another guest, also annoyed at the lack of air conditioning, posted a review titled “the oven of hell”, which summed up his experiences. He suggested, and this is a good strategy:

    “We had a fan on in the room, the curtains closed, window open, but the only way to sleep was to soak the towels in cold water and drape them over us whilst we slept!”

    He’s probably right though that it might have been better to put some form of air conditioning in rather than spend years fielding complaints from guests. The review about someone who left their phone charger is well worth a read, I can see why the staff soon got fed up with hearing about this phone charger.

    Anyway, I thought it was all clean and organised, so I’d happily stay here again, although only at a lower point. I note some guests paid over £100 for their rooms, and I can imagine why they were annoyed at the temperature issues.