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London is anything but GREY

View from the Blue Bridge

One of the main complains about London is that it’s dirty, smelly and grey.  London can be very dirty and very smelly BUT London is NOT GREY.

If you look at a map of London you see two very distinct colours – blue and green. Blue is obviously the Thames and green is the parks and open spaces. There are bits of green all over London (on one of the train lines out of Liverpool St you pass through Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath, London Fields and Hackney Downs).

These sorts of green spaces with playgrounds, lidos, tennis courts, cafes and all kinds of exciting entertainment are found all over the city and I love them.

But…if you were to ask me to pick my favourite green space, it would have to St James Park https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/st-jamess-park   and my favourite spot in St James Park is the Blue Bridge across the lake. Look one way and you see Buckingham Palace and the other you see The London Eye. It’s a tough choice which view is better.

The St James Pelicans : Louis, Vaclav and Gargi

Not only does St James Park have great views it is also teeming with wildlife (according to the royal parks website there are 15 different species of waterfowl, I don’t know what a water fowl is but I want to find out). The biggest wildlife draw are the 3 pelicans, they’re called Louis, Vaclav and Gargi and you can see them being fed at 2.30pm every day.

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Walking on history

It wasn’t until I moved to London that I even knew there is a ‘city’ within this city. It’s so confusing. People would talk to me about ‘The City’ and I’d think ‘yes London is a city, that’s right’. It was a while before I realised they were talking about a tiny bit of London.

I love stomping around to the City of London. During the week it’s fun to watch the suited office workers marching purposefully, often talking energetically on their mobiles. I like to guess what they’re up to, imagining they’re planning another multi-million pound deal (in reality, they’re probably just thinking where they’ll get their lunch from). I also love visiting The City at the weekend, the contrast with the weekly crowd is vast…there is no one there. You’ll see a whole lot of tourists around St Paul’s but the heart of The City is generally empty and a quiet haven.

When you’re walking around The City there is a real feeling of stepping on history. This area truly is where London began and where it has existed (almost continuously) for close to 2000 years. I find it amazing that (despite constant building) it’s still possible to make out the Roman street system. (Bishopsgate, what is now the A10, was the main Roman route out of London to the North and we’re still using it now).

The contrast of old and new is possible to see all over London but nowhere more than The City. Just have a look at St Andrew’s Undershaft, it is totally surrounded by glass and steel squeezed in between the Gherkin and The Lloyds Building.

But for me, it’s The City Dragons which are fascinating. Once you start looking Dragon symbols are absolutely EVERYWHERE, on every lampost, every bollard, many building, plus Dragon statues welcome visitors in and out of The City. The funny thing is that no one really seems to know why Dragons were adopted as The City’s symbol. It might be something to do with St George and his slaying of the dragon or simply that dragons are scary and would deter unwelcome visitors. Next time you’re in The City count how many dragons you see – I’m sure it will be in the hundreds.

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Hurrah for lifts

 

Hurrah for liftsv1

I’ve been using Finsbury Park station for almost 20 years and in many ways it is one of the best points on the tube network. This station is so well connected you can pretty much be anywhere in London within half an hour, Brixton, Moorgate, Leicester Sq, Heathrow (OK, 45 minutes) and even Cambridge can be reached within the hour.

There is just one thing wrong with Finsbury Park and that is the stairs. I’ve dragged single buggies, double buggies and wailing toddlers up those stairs. I’ve always found my fellow tube passengers to pretty helpful offering a strong pair of arms when most needed.

Stairs

The stairs bothered me before I had children, after a long day it was often hard to drag myself up but being pretty fit and able I always managed it. Transporting children offers a small insight into the lives of those who are less mobile and unable to use stairs.

London is not a hugely accessible city BUT it is getting better.

From 2019 Finsbury Park will have a lift. It will be accessible for everyone.

 

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May the Fourth be with you, Star Wars in London

may 4thIt’s no surprise that London is the most diverse region in England in terms of religious affiliation. Over a fifth of the population identify with a religion other than Christian. (2011 census)

We don’t know how many ‘Jedi’ there are in London but I’d like to take this opportunity to wish them all happy Star Wars day 2017. May the Fourth be with us all.

 

Photo credit : Facebook

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Celebrating London’s Plane-Tree

Green is the plane tree in the square,

The other trees are brown:

They droop and pine for country air;

The plane tree loves the town.

 

Here from my garret pane,

I mark The plane-tree bud and blow,

Shed her recuperative bark,

And spread her shade below.

 

Among her branches, in and out,

The city breezes play;

The dung fog wraps her round about;

Above, the smoke curls grey.

 

Others the country takes for choice,

And holds the town in scorn;

But she has listened to the voice

On city breezes born.

 

Amy Levy (1861-1889)

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Tips for overcoming January Blues.

Ugh, January is depressing. London is not at it’s best in January, it’s too cold, the parks look really scruffy and you can still see the Christmas lights although they are turned off.

I feel particularly sorry for my mum whose birthday is on 13th January which is surely one of the worst days of the year. No one wants to go out because they are still recovering from Christmas over indulgence AND they haven’t got any money.

I always try to make a big fuss of my mum’s birthday because (1) she’s my mum and she’s ace and (2) selfishly having plans on 13th January makes the first 12 days of the month more bearable.

This year was a big birthday -70! One to celebrate. For her 60th we’d had afternoon tea at the Savoy but I wanted to go one better – so this year I booked us a room at The Savoy for the night. Despite living in London for almost 20 years I haven’t actually stayed in a hotel here since I was a young tourist at the tender age of seven.

I booked the room months in advance and the anticipation had grown to fever pitch by the time we jumped on the bus to get there.

We were not disappointed.

There were 3 stand out memories

The phenomenal service.

Capture

The staff were friendly and helpful without being overbearing. In super upscale places I can feel a little bit scruffy, like I don’t belong…but that wasn’t the case at The Savoy.  The little touches, like a birthday cake, in the room were gorgeous.

The room was enormous.

wardrobe

I think the whole downstairs of my house could have fitted in it – I managed to lie down in the wardrobe with the door closed.

The Beaufort Bar

cocktails

After dinner (not at the hotel restaurant), we came back for a nighcap. The American Bar, close to the entrance of the hotel was full, so we were shown to the Beaufort Bar. It’s a little hidden away drinking venue at the back of the hotel which I would have never found if we hadn’t been directed. The cocktail menu was pop up and almost as stunning as the drinks. After a couple of cocktails and a complimentary champers (another birthday gift) we went to bed drunk and happy.

 

Looking forward to 2018 I’ll definitely be planning some January treats but next year will have to be slightly less expensive.

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The real Samuel Pepys

Pepys image for ATOC - web

There is only one way to arrive at Greenwich and that is by boat. (In fact if you’re coming from the centre of town this is the quickest way to travel) but the main reason for travelling by river is that it allows you to pretend you are in fact royalty visiting your Palaces in Greenwich.

My journey to Greenwich today was unfortunately not as a queen visiting her riverside palace but as an intrepid London explorer ticking off another gallery. I went to see the current Samuel Pepys exhibition at the National Maritime Museum.

I’m currently writing a tour of The City of London for kids and Samuel Pepys has featured strongly in my research as he’s diaries paint him as such a colourful character. He will obviously need to be slightly censored for younger ears.

The exhibition was excellent. There seems to be a fashion currently to curate exhibitions in themes (colours, cities, etc) which I often find quite confusing. Luckily, this exhibition was curated by good old fashioned chronology spanning from the death of Charles I in 1649 to Pepys death in 1701.

There were a huge amount of varied items used to tell the story. I saw the gloves Charles I wore to his execution (lent by the Archbishop of Canterbury) a court dress with a gorgeous lace scarf (lent by the Montegu family), the original transcript of Pepys diary (lent by Cambridge university).

The items of historical value were all enclosed, so no need to constantly try to stop small sticky fingers touching things. That’s not to say there was nothing to play with, there were interactive maps of Pepys London, and an amazing map showing how the fire cut through the city in 1666. The most interesting and gruesome exhibit was a timeline of plague deaths by month through 1664 & 5. The level of those dying culminating in September with over 20 thousand depths. For the first time I could begin to visualise the massive volume of Londoners who were simply wiped out by plague.

I visited at a quiet time but the interactive elements of the exhibition made the whole experience very noisy and evocative of London during Pepys time.

There were a few surprising facts about the man (which I’m sure most people already knew). (1) He only wrote the diary for 9 years – the way it was sold to me a school was a lifelong magnum opus. (2) Pepys lived much longer then his wife, poor long suffering Elizabeth died when she was only 29 years and Samuel went on to out live her for 34 years, never remarrying (maybe it really was love) (3) He was genuinely famous in his lifetime, I’d thought that he was posthumously well known because of his diaries but it turns out he was THE restoration man about town.

The exhibition is on until the end of March and I’d recommend a trip. Small people would also enjoy it and I’m sure they’d approve of arriving by boat.

If you want to listen to the curators check out this Londonist Podcast.

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Shoes, Pleasure and Pain

Credit : V&A
Credit : V&A

There is no question that the V&A is stunning. The Cromwell Rd facade could rival a Byzantine church for stature and the courtyard is elegant but welcoming and feels comfortable for young and old. I’ve conduced substantial research and believe the cafe to be the most beautiful place to drink coffee in any museum.

So, I was very excited to be finally visiting the Shoes Pleasure and Pain exhibition which has been on my list since it opened in June.

I was disappointed.

The exhibition it’s self was great. So, let’s start with the pleasure. The content was very interesting and well curated. Shoes from all eras (ancient Egypt to 21st Century) were displayed in themes alongside each other. Heels, wedges and flats all appeared frequently, showing that as humans we are united by footwear with little changing through time or across cultures.

Now, the pain. I visited at a quiet time on a cold Thursday January morning. The museum was not busy and this exhibition is at the end of it’s run. However, I was jostled as I moved through and had to constantly juggle my viewing. I felt as though I was constantly in someone’s way and became frustrated by other visitors. I remembered the old days when i’d use the buggy to cleverly create space. It was a real relief to get the second part of the exhibition, which was upstairs in a more spacious part of the gallery.

The space was very hot. As I said it was very cold the day we visited but I’d almost broken out into a small sweat by the time we left the exhibition. I just can’t imagine how hot is must have been when the space was full at the height of summer.

Ultimately, the space was too small for this exhibition. The way the shoes were displayed made them impossible to view by more than one visitor at a time and the volume of visitors simply created the effect of a sauna. Next time I’m taking a buggy (without baby obviously) and a fan. 

 

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A new appreciation for TfL

 

image

So it’s back to work after two weeks of family and gluttony.

I spent much of the Christmas period away from London, visiting family in various parts of the county. The iPad seat holder was a revelation but I think even the kids became bored by the third showing of Frozen in two days.

Never ending sky in East Yorks.
Never ending sky in East Yorks.

We started our journey going up north to the extreme flatlands of East Yorkshire. This is a place where the smallest of bumps is called a hill and there seems to be an almost uninterrupted stunning view of the sky.

From there we journeyed down to the Home Counties staying in a chocolate box Buckinghamshire village where you expect Miss Marple to appear at any moment.

We had a couple of trips to the park and the local market town but our contact with the outside world was limited as most places were closed.

What struck me was how isolated I’d be if I lived in either place. I don’t drive and so was totally reliant on others for transport for four days. Both villages we stayed in are quite well served by buses (two an hour) but this service all but shuts down over the festive period.

For the first time in my life I felt a real appreciation for London Transport. I can jump on a bus, train or tube and travel to any part of the capital and feel a real sense of freedom. I also find that it’s easier to transport kids on public transport as the boredom factor can be alleviated, sometimes just by looking at the people your travelling with.

I know that travelling through this city can be stressful and a right pain in the arse but it’s so much better that being completely reliant on others or totally stuck in the same place with little kids for four days. So, I’ve resolved to stop complaining about the tube and embrace my commute. I’ll use it as a learning opportunity not just reading and listening to music but looking at the people around me. Who knows maybe I’ll even strike up a conversation?

 

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King Cross, gentrification or regeneration –and does it matter?

granary squareThis morning after dropping my small people with their respective child-carers, I set off with a spring in my step to explore Kings Cross. This is an area I thought I knew pretty well as I used to work quite nearby and had jumped on a train up north many times.

I realised today that in the 15 years I had lived in London, I had never ventured behind Kings Cross station. That’s because until about 4 years ago there was absolutely nothing there and…IT WAS GRIM.

This land was at one time a bustling centre of industry used as train marshalling yards, coal drops and huge areas were given over to storage of goods that would be transported from rail to barge and moved around the country.

As the need for all of these services diminished Kings Cross became an industrial wasteland. Rail took over from the canals as a transport system and the goods yards were no longer needed. The clean air act in 1956 totally did for coal and the ‘coal drops’ simply became ‘drops’. After 1945 the area became unloved and declined, eventually becoming renowned for prostitution and drug crime.

As often happens to scruffy places the cheap rents and central location attracted an artistic crowd. Anthony Gormley had a studio here and an artistic group squatted in the coach shed where they built huge industrial structures out of scrap metal. I’d imagine there were always plenty of raw materials available in the vicinity.
The arts do live on in the new Kings Cross. There is Kings Place concert hall plus Central St Martin’s college and the UAL have both relocated here. This art is more mainstream and less antisocial than its predecessors. Nothing that exists in Kings Cross now will create any controversy, no gig venue is going to be closed down because of elicit raves.

Is this a bad thing? Well I probably wouldn’t have visited had the area not changed (I was never really a Bagley’s customer) and I would certainly wouldn’t have taken my kids there. Now I’m planning a trip for the whole family, including Granny.

What struck me most on my visit was the phenomenal volume of building work. Look at a map and most of the area is still ‘under construction’. I peered into one new office building and actually saw concrete drying. It was a four year old’s dream, there were diggers and cranes galore and the further you move back from the station the more construction you find.

I also found fountains to splash in, grass to run on and a random selection of outdoor soft play items. In fact, there was lots of fun to be had for small adventurers.

So, can we call this regeneration or is it gentrification? Is the new housing affordable? Are cafes and restaurants reasonably priced?

The answer is yes and no. A glass of wine at Kings Place’s Rotunda Bar will set you back between £4 and £8, which for London is pretty average. I paid £1.50 for a coffee at the Skip Garden, which is positively cheap compared to Starbucks. Restaurants like Caravan and Dishoom are not top end but they’re not cheap either. You’ll be pushed to find fast food places in the area and the only supermarket I saw was Waitrose.

So, if you want to eat and drink you can but it will be on a slightly above average budget.

That’s where it stops, if you want to live in King Cross, it seems that you need a more than generous budget. A 3 bedroom apartment in the new Plimpsoll building is on the market for £2.9m, far beyond the means of the average Londoner earning around £35k.

I really enjoyed my trip to Kings Cross and I will be returning, the regeneration is phenomenal and yes it has been gentrified. I’d like to see more affordable accommodation to help ensure the area can remain diverse and not become a bland location housing identikit families.

Whatever, my views of the price of housing or the cost of a coffee; Kings Cross today is far better than the industrial wasteland of the 1980s.