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Tag: London

  • London – Camden – Old Street Sign on Heathcote Street

    London – Camden – Old Street Sign on Heathcote Street

    I’m sure there are many older examples of street signs, but I’m still impressed that this one remains. The WC postcode was scrapped in 1917 and replaced with WC1 and WC2. Or, more precisely, it was a postal district back when it was created in the mid nineteenth century, as postcodes are more modern. But they’re of a similar principle.

    The Heathcote Street sign mentions that it leads on to Mecklenburgh Square, Doughty Street, Caroline Place and Guilford Street. The sign has lasted longer than one of the streets, as Caroline Place has now become part of Mecklenburgh Square, likely because there’s another Caroline Place in the city.

  • London – Central London (Photos of St. Paul’s)

    London – Central London (Photos of St. Paul’s)

    Just photos, I quite liked the colour of the sky because of the heavy rain which was just passing by.

  • London – City of London – London Liverpool Street – Fur das Kind

    London – City of London – London Liverpool Street – Fur das Kind

    I’ve wanted to take a photo of this numerous times before, but there have always been people sitting either on the sculpture or perched on the seat like thing next to it. Since London is suffering from a lack of visitors and workers at the moment, the railway station is quiet and there were few people around at all.

    The sculpture is designed by Flor Kent and not by Frank Meisler as I had thought, although he designed the sculpture on the main concourse and the one in Gdansk. They commemorate the same thing though, the Kindertransport which saved thousands of Jewish children from death. Unfortunately, the transports were brought to a halt by the start of the Second World War, but the lives of 10,000 children were saved.

    Originally this sculpture was placed on the main outside concourse of the railway station, but just the girl, which is a life size cast of one of the survivor’s grand-children. Along with the girl was a large perspex case of actual items that had been brought over by the children. Today, the figure of a child has been added and the case is no more, and they have been placed in the railway station as a reminder that this is where many children came on their rescue mission. I’m not sure that it’s best placed by the entrance to the underground station as it’s easily missed because of the people who often stand in front of it.

    There are other similar sculptures across Europe which note other parts of the journey that children went on. It’s a very emotive piece and a reminder of what went on here.

  • London – Hard Rock Cafe Oxford Street

    London – Hard Rock Cafe Oxford Street

    I haven’t grumbled about anything in a while, so now feels appropriate. I received an e-mail on behalf of Hard Rock Cafe saying that they had a 50% offer which was off all food in their Oxford Street location in London. This is a very good offer, as Hard Rock might be a little expensive, but that makes it quite a reasonable expedition to get food at half price. I’ve been to around ten Hard Rock Cafes over the years, with the service in Atlanta and Krakow being outstanding, and my visit a few months to Hard Rock Cafe Bucharest was also perfectly enjoyable.

    Anyway, after being quite interested in this offer, it was then noted that solo diners were excluded from taking part. So, group sizes of 2 to 6. I don’t much like this at the best of times, but it’s vaguely understandable as solo diners don’t make as much money. But, nor do three diners at a table for four. And, judging from recent reviews, Hard Rock Cafe Oxford Street is not exactly busy. Which is evident from their deluging food out at half price.

    I remember doing some work for a certain Italian restaurant a few years ago which was how to make solo diners welcome. This was marvellous, there are people who are on business trips, who might be lonely, key workers or just people who want to get out of the house. Ideally, the welcome should be positive and engaging for all of those, especially somewhere upbeat such as Hard Rock Cafe which can offer that friendly feel.

    Or, they could be like the management at Hard Rock Cafe in Oxford Street who puts two fingers up at solo diners. Unimpressed.

    Anyway, moving on, I can write about the rather lovely brewery I’ve just been to.

  • London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – The Drum

    London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – The Drum

    This is one of the oldest pubs in the JD Wetherspoon estate (opened in the mid-1980s) and it’s one of their smaller locations as well. Since I was staying at the Ibis Styles nearly next door, this proved to be a convenient breakfast option and it’s the best part of a decade since I was last here.

    As an aside, this is the opposite side of the street, and in the middle (with the white doors) is the former JD Wetherspoon pub that was known as The Auctioneers. That pub was even smaller than The Drum, which is named incidentally as the former owners had a collection of commemorative drums hanging from the ceiling.

    Photos of the interior and this is about the entire size of the place. It was all sufficiently clean, the health protocols were followed and the staff member was personable and helpful.

    A dray delivery arrived when I was there, which meant closing off the bar area and pretty much suspending service as well.

    And the traditional breakfast, purchased under the bargain JD Wetherspoon £2.99 for a traditional breakfast which is running at the moment. This is as good as their breakfasts get, the egg was runny and the bacon was crisp, with everything served hot. There were a couple of other customers in the pub, but it was otherwise quiet when I was there, although that was between 08:00 and 09:00 to be fair….

    I think this is one of the better pubs in the JD Wetherspoon estate as it retains some atmosphere to it, unlike some of their larger more sterile pubs. Having written that though, I think it fills up quickly, so it’s probably a nuisance to get a seat quite a lot of the time. As a piece of JD Wetherspoon history, it’s interesting though, and perhaps an unusual survivor.

  • London – Shoreditch – Goose Island Brewpub (Visit 2)

    London – Shoreditch – Goose Island Brewpub (Visit 2)

    I’ve pinched this exterior photo from my first visit to Goose Island, but the rest are from my second visit. I went as I had a voucher for a free drink, so thought this visit would be a marvellous idea after arriving into London Liverpool Street railway station.

    The tap list, which had a wide range of different beer styles including from Goose Island themselves and also guests. And, this is what I have to say annoys me a little about other pubs. I don’t expect country pubs to have this spectacular array of drinks, but it’s a shame that some make nearly no effort other than to offer some bland mass-produced IPA. Especially given a lot of this stuff is also available in cans, making it easy to store and with long best before dates.

    It wasn’t overly busy.

    The service was exceptional and the barman knew his stuff about the beers, which was a delight in itself. It’s rather lovely when the staff don’t just name beers, but also really engage about them. I know a barman in Norwich who was moderately good at doing this, but I won’t name him here….. The health requirements were well managed and one customer who came in and didn’t want to use his phone to sign in, instead wanting to write his name down, was refused entry.

    I went for the Eric by Brewski and the Forty Watermelons from Goose Island themselves, being rather delighted that one was free. The other drink isn’t a gin or tonic, it’s a water since I picked two different beer types and wanted something between them.

    The Eric by Brewski was decadent, a word I’ve been using too much recently, but absolutely appropriate here. Rich, smooth and a flavour of coffee and chocolate running through, with a slightly sweet aftertaste. The Forty Watermelons was a bit complex with its strong flavours of watermelon and mint, being rather quite sour, although that’s not a bad thing since it is a sour. Not quite as packed with flavour as I had expected, but still very drinkable and a nice contrast to the imperial stout.

    The bar is doing money off food and soft drinks at the moment, 25% off and this is a continuation of the Eat Out to Help Out campaign. I didn’t eat today, although I know from my previous visit that the food is excellent. Anyway, this is a quite beautiful bar and it’s another place which is on-trend not because that’s how they’ve designed it, but because others are following this sort of style. The staff members were knowledgeable and helpful, so this was another pretty much perfect visit.

  • London – Thames Photos

    London – Thames Photos

    Back in London today, giving me an opportunity to take more night-time photos by the River Thames, a little further downstream the river than last week.

  • London – River Thames City Walk

    London – River Thames City Walk

    And another walk led by the formidable Des (the one with the bag swung nonchalantly over his shoulder) and I deliberately booked a later train back to Norwich so that I could come on this. That’s dedication…. I was fortunate that someone on the walk kindly explained how I could use my phone to take photos at night, there was a setting that I never bothered to explore. Anyway, that means I could take photos and below is the result of that experimentation.

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – Churchyard of St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – Churchyard of St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey

    This is the former churchyard of St. Mary Magdalen church in Bermondsey, which closed to new burials in 1854. There was a growing concern in urban areas that disease was spreading due to these graveyards and space was often limited anyway, so there was a move towards the provision of municipal cemeteries. Today, the area is a park, although there are a few monuments remaining and some which are of historic note. The land was given by the church to the council in 1882, which after some changes in local Government over time means it’s now under the care of Southwark Council.

    But, away from the memorials of note which are still in situ, this is the little arrangement that Southwark Council seems to think is entirely acceptable. It doesn’t look ideal to me, shattered stones just dumped here at the edge of the park. A sad end to these stones, some of which would have likely caused the family some difficulties to afford at the time.

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – Marquis of Wellington

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – Marquis of Wellington

    This looked like an intriguing pub and so I thought I’d have a little sit down in here, since it was quite a long walk from where I had just come from, which was Hawkes. Well, it was around thirty metres, but walking can be a thirsty exercise. The pub is operated by the Bermondsey Pub Company, the managed house division of the EI Group, formerly known as Enterprise Inns.

    There was a particularly personable staff member at the entrance and he set the tone for this pub, quirky, off-beat and comfortable. That’s not a bad set of attributes for a pub to aim for. I had already eaten sufficient pizza for the day, but this pub also offered them, although a customer tried to order at just gone 18:00 and they had already stopped serving for the day.

    I’m not sure how practical this is for a table, but I like the concept. Incidentally, this is another pub that has installed plenty of power points, I’ve had a good day for these today.

    I thought that the drinks selection was a bit disjointed, although they have the Gamma Ray from Beavertown, which is acceptable to me. They also have a web-site in some need of attention, as their newsletter and offers page is broken when anything is submitted. Anyway, there was a warm welcome here and a comfortable environment, with the quirkiness all working well. With a slightly more intriguing range of beers, this would have been a lot better, but everything seemed well managed and I’d merrily recommend it to others.