Westminster Walking

My Top Ten Central London pubs - Part One

2012-01-23T00:19:00.000Z

As many of my walking tours include pubs I am often asked what is my favourite. I am always flummoxed by this question as don't have one particular favourite but a number and all for different reasons. I just can't pin my choice down to one.

Whilst thinking about this list I have discovered there are a number of pubs I have yet to visit and I will shortly post a separate blog about these. So one of my New Year's resolutions is to visit more pubs! There are also a number of pubs that I need to re-visit - I think I am getting a bit obsessed!

In no particular order:

The Star Tavern, Belgravia
There are 5 good pubs that I know of in Belgravia and all are ones I would go out of my way for; 4 out of 5 are pretty hidden too. My favourite is the Star as it is one of those pubs where you could easily while away a Sunday afternoon with a pint and the papers. In fact when researching my Belgravia pub walk I got caught in a downpour and took refuge in there (for a roast and a large glass of vino) and felt very comfortable doing so by myself. This pub is especially cosy in the winter months when the real fires are lit; it’s very hard to leave. Unless you know Belgravia it's very hard to find too but really worth the effort. Alternatively you could come on my tour (next public tours are on Sunday 29th January and Sunday 26th February).

The Harrison, Kings Cross
I would never have discovered this fantastic pub if I didn’t have friends that worked in the locality. It’s opposite a block of flats called Mulletsfield which always makes me laugh but the pub is not what you would expect at all in the area. The food is really good and it has a similar warm comfortable feel as the Star does. Looking at the website I've now discovered they have rooms upstairs and a micro brewery in the basement.

The Seven Stars, WC2
This is a pub I would love to include on a tour as don't know another one like it but it is far too small to take a group inside. Unusually for one on the borders of the City (and tucked away) it is open at the weekends although I’ve only visited weekday lunchtimes the clientele then being mainly lawyers from the Royal Courts of Justice and surrounding Inns of Court. According to Pevsner the pub was built in the late 17^th Century and the jewellers next door The Silver Mousetrap dates from the same period. One word of warning though the stairs to the loos must be some of the most precipitous in London and that’s after only a half a pint.

The Harrow, off Fleet Street, EC4
I have only discovered this one in the past year and it is now one of my favourites. It’s really tucked away and I have even introduced a couple of other pub aficionados to it! Run by Fullers its historic interior is well worth visiting. There are entrances in both Primrose Hill and Whitefriars Street but the tiny snug and upstairs bar are only accessible via Primrose Hill. Unfortunately it's not open at the weekends even on Lord Mayor's Show day.

The Red Lion, SW1 (Crown Passage)

There are two Red Lions in the vicinity so don't go to the wrong one although the other one in Duke of York Street is well worth visiting too for its amazing mirrors and etched glass (another Fullers pub).

The Crown Passage pub just off Pall Mall feels like a local even though it is in prime tourist territory yards away from St James's Palace; in fact "it is said" that a tunnel once linked to the Palace from the pub. However you are more likely to see Monopoly pub crawl participants (being the nearest pub to Pall Mall) and masons from the lodge around the corner at 86 St James's Street which incidentally has a bar and carvery open to the public; the restaurant's website (which unfortunately isn't working at the moment) mentions nothing of its usual clientele. This pub always has a friendly atmosphere especially on a Saturday (it's not open on Sundays) and it is probably the pub where I have had the most conversations with strangers, normally started by commenting on the Monopoly crawl participants' amazing costumes. It's worth visiting the upstairs bar too which is where The Whisky Lounge hold occasional tastings the next one being this Thursday 26th January (the day after Burns' Night).

House wine is from Berry Brothers (Britain's oldest wine and spirit merchant) around the corner and they also stock the King's Ginger (a liqueur created for King Edward VII to keep him warm on long wintry drives) so there are more than enough reasons to visit this pub.

****************

There are so many fantastic pubs in London it will be hard to restrict my favourites to 10.

If you're looking to visit some of London's best pubs whilst learning about the history of the area email me and I would be happy to put together a bespoke tour.

I'm also obsessed with afternoon tea places too - but that's for another time.

The author of this blog (Joanna Moncrieff) is a qualified and insured City of Westminster Tour Guide who specialises in food and drink themed walks in the West End.

Details of all her walks are listed here and upcoming public walks are here.

Madame Tussaud's - A Souvenir Brochure from the 1930s

2012-01-14T10:43:00.003Z

When I saw Pete Berthoud's recent blog post reproducing a review of Madame Tussaud's from the 1880s this prompted me to look out a Souvenir Brochure from the very same place that I had acquired from a charity shop a few years ago.

The brochure isn't dated but it was produced sometime from 1928 to 1935. The original Madame Tussaud's in Baker Street burned down in 1925 and reopened 3 years later in 1928 in its current home in Marylebone Road. The brochure's Foreword comments on the fire in the third paragraph from the bottom.

The second date is gained from the First Plate in the brochure which is of "Their Majesties King George The Fifth and Queen Mary". The text talks about them in the present tense. George V died on 20 January 1936.

The next plate refers to "His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales" who later became Edward VIII and we all know what happened to him.

There are another 13 plates in this brochure; far too many to put on one blog post so I will be dipping into them occasionally maybe on the relevant anniversary.

On this occasion the last set shows "Madame Tussaud the Foundress of the Exhibition" standing next to The Sleeping Beauty.

The author of this blog (Joanna Moncrieff) is a qualified and insured City of Westminster Tour Guide who specialises in food and drink themed walks in the West End.

Details of all her walks are listed here and upcoming public walks are here.

North East London Christmas Quiz results

2011-12-30T18:16:00.000Z

After a slow start I had quite a few entries come through last night including several with ten out of ten correct answers so the prize of 2 free walk places has been awarded and the winner "ND" has been notified.

Some of the questions were compiled from plaques around Waltham Forest. The (almost) complete list is here but misses the Johnny Dankworth plaque as it was only put up a couple of months ago.

Here are the answers (and questions for ease of reference):

1. What world famous aircraft invented in the 1960s was designed by a man whose parents owned a toy shop on the corner of Beech Hall Road and Hale End Road, Highams Park, London E4?

Concorde

2. Which famous jazz musician spent his childhood in a house in Hollywood Way, Woodford Green?

Johnny Dankworth

3. What other world famous aircraft invented in the 1920s was designed by a man who lived as a child in Silverdale Road, Highams Park? Richmond Crescent also in Highams Park was named after the designer.

R101

4. What famous TV cookery expert was born in Fairlop Road, E11 in 1909?

Fanny Craddock

5. What famous novel (later a film) was written by a man who lived in both College Road, Walthamstow and Oak Hill Gardens, Woodford Green and as a boy attended Sir George Monoux Grammar School in Walthamstow?

Goodbye Mr Chips

6. What film director was born on the site of 517 High Road, Leytonstone, E11 in 1899 and famously had a cameo role in most of his films?

Alfred Hitchcock

7. Which comedian frequently seen on QI spent his childhood in Chingford?

Alan Davies

8. Which Top Ten band whose first single hit the charts in 2002 were formed at Highams Park School?

Blazin' Squad

9. Which Walthamstow resident has curated an exhibition currently on at the British Museum called "Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman"?

Grayson Perry

10. Which famous crime writer was born in South Woodford, E18 in 1930?

Ruth Rendell

I might make this a regular posting but will probably stick to Central London in future and the next quiz will be on historic pubs, my specialist subject!

The Moncrieff Christmas Quiz 2011

2011-12-26T17:32:00.001Z

Last year my family started a new tradition - for each of us to contribute a home-made present to the rest of the family. Last year we made and received home-made soaps, scarves and raspberry gin. My brother, Angus composed and sang a song entitled the "Moncrieff Christmas" about the idiosyncracies of our family Christmas and I took them on a short walk in the vicinity which included telling them about the Tottenham Outrage the wages snatch which ended in a Keystone Cops style chase across Walthamstow Marshes finishing in Oak Hill Cottages just opposite where my parents live.

This year our home-made haul included soap, bath oil, woolly mittens, millionaire's shortbread, a photo album of long lost pictures from our childhood and a calendar of Hunstanton scenes (from our frequent summer trips there) taken by my sister's boyfriend, A. My niece created the amazing game Moncrieffopoly adapted from Monopoly with all the places changed to locations relevant to our family and many of the Chance and Community Chest instructions changed too. Angus did a re-run of the Moncrieff Christmas song this time with hymn sheets so we all joined in with the chorus. My favourite line in the song remains "And mother's proclivity to knit the nativity"; it's too complicated to explain!

This year rather than a walk I created a Christmas Quiz about some of the famous people that have lived in the local area and some of their inventions; my family were quite surprised at some of the answers.

You may not be able to Google all the answers but they can definitely be guessed. Email me with your answers and the first person with ten correct will win two places on one of my upcoming walks. Good luck!

1. What world famous aircraft invented in the 1960s was designed by a man whose parents owned a toy shop on the corner of Beech Hall Road and Hale End Road, Highams Park, London E4?

2. Which famous jazz musician spent his childhood in a house in Hollywood Way, Woodford Green?

3. What other world famous aircraft invented in the 1920s was designed by a man who lived as a child in Silverdale Road, Highams Park? Richmond Crescent also in Highams Park was named after the designer.

4. What famous TV cookery expert was born in Fairlop Road, E11 in 1909?

5. What famous novel (later a film) was written by a man who lived in both College Road, Walthamstow and Oak Hill Gardens, Woodford Green and as a boy attended Sir George Monoux Grammar School in Walthamstow?

6. What film director was born on the site of 517 High Road, Leytonstone, E11 in 1899 and famously had a cameo role in most of his films?

7. Which comedian frequently seen on QI spent his childhood in Chingford?

8. Which Top Ten band whose first single hit the charts in 2002 were formed at Highams Park School?

9. Which Walthamstow resident has curated an exhibition currently on at the British Museum called "Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman"?

10. Which famous crime writer was born in South Woodford, E18 in 1930?

First person to get all 10 correct wins. No cash alternative. If no-one gets all 10 by midnight 31 December the person with the most right will win.

The author of this blog (Joanna Moncrieff) is a qualified City of Westminster Tour Guide who specialises in food and drink themed walks in the West End.

Details of all her walks are listed here and upcoming public walks are here.

My favourite new bar

2011-12-22T15:05:00.000Z

This post originally appeared on fellow guide Pete Berthoud's London blog which is well worth bookmarking for his amazing London knowledge. Whenever I want to know about a new sculpture somewhere in the City I check his blog first.

Just to clarify - following an erroneous article in the press last night - this cafe/bar is here to stay and won't be closing. Clarification has come direct from the owner..

**********************************

I’m always exploring London looking for hidden cafes and tucked away pubs to feature in future guided walks. So when I was told about an unusual cocktail bar in Hollen Street, W1 I was intrigued. I couldn’t initially place where Hollen Street was so it was even more of a treat, first of all finding an amazing cocktail bar, plus going down a street I’d never been to before (that could just be a London obsessive thing).

Hollen Street is on the very edge of the Crossrail development just north west of Soho Square yards from Oxford Street.

On the corner of Hollen Street and what’s left of Great Chapel Street (partly swallowed up by Crossrail) the cocktail bar the Star at Night operates from the same premises as the Star Café which has been serving breakfast, lunch and tea to people working in the area since 1933; one of the oldest independent establishments left in Soho. The night-time bar is run by the grand-daughter of the original owner of the café.

It is an unpretentious, friendly bar serving first class cocktails, wine and food; the type of place I have been searching for forever.

On sitting down at your candlelit table your eyes are drawn to the collection of old enamel signs plastered around the bar. Advertisements for “Goddard’s famous embrocation”, Bovril, Tizer and an ancient KP nut dispenser adorn the walls; there is always something to look at should your conversation dry up.

This is the place to come for a classic cocktail without breaking the bank. Most cocktails are £7 and are made to 5 star hotel standards with premium spirits. Small touches such as all glasses being polished before being used adds to the experience.

There are so many cocktails on the menu, which runs to 6 pages, it’s very hard to choose. I’m no way an expert on cocktails but this is an amazing list. The blazer cocktails and nightcap shots served in glasses made of ice sound especially tempting.

They have seasonal specials too so I went for the Christmas Pudding Blazer which comprised of dark rum and brandy flamed with fig syrup, cinnamon and orange peel served in a warm brandy sniffer. I have never had a warm cocktail before and this was absolutely amazing to drink; Christmas in a glass!

I was also tempted by the faux egg nog which is an eggless blend of 5 ingredients including spiced rum and limoncello. I’m rather partial to a drop of limoncello and I was amazed to discover that The Star’s limoncello is made locally. Soho has so much more for me to discover.

It’s not just cocktails though as there is a good wine list, beers, soft drinks and mocktails too. I loved the touch that the tap water was served in old Hendricks Gin bottles.

The food is good too with plenty to soak up the alcohol, it’s a tapas style menu including tortillas, bruschetta and a cheese board with the most expensive item being just £6.75.

I have a significant birthday coming up in 2012 and after spending a fantastic few hours at the Star at Night think I may have found my perfect party venue.

They are open Tuesday – Saturday, 6pm – 11.30pm and directions can be found here.

The author of this blog (Joanna Moncrieff) is a qualified City of Westminster Tour Guide who specialises in food and drink themed walks in the West End.

Details of all her walks are listed here and upcoming public walks are here.

Top 10 Free Carol Services/Concerts

2011-12-09T14:46:00.002Z

I love listening to carol singing at Christmas and normally try to visit a couple of lunchtime services before finishing with the lighting of the tree in my local church in Highams Park on Christmas Eve.

With this in mind I’ve compiled a Top Ten of Free Carol Services/Concerts in Central London. They are more or less in date order. This list is not exhaustive so if you know of any other ones please put in the comments below.

There is also of course the free Celebration of Christmas concert at St Paul's on 15th December at 6.30pm with celebrity readers. However from past experience this involves a lot of queueing in the cold to ensure a reasonable seat otherwise you end up towards the back of the cathedral with no view at all plus a freezing cold draught coming in so wear your thermals! I now prefer a smaller venue where you can actually see what's going on and feel more involved.

1. Trafalgar Square

Each night from now until 22nd December there will be carol singing around the tree in Trafalgar Square by various choirs from 5 until 9pm each choir having an hour slot.

2. St Paul’s Covent Garden

Known as the Actors' Church, St Paul's designed by Inigo Jones is worth visiting anyway to see the amazing amount of memorials inside the church to playwrights, actors and others connected with the entertainment industry. They also have their own theatre company Iris.

Sunday 11th December at 6pm Advent Carols with the choir of St Paul’s.

Sunday 18th December at 3.30pm Nine Lessons and Carols by Candlelight, sung by The Friends' Musick in period costume, with readings by actors from the King James Bible.

3. Temple Church

Since the publication of the Da Vinci Code the Temple Church now charges £3 entrance. However I am assuming (please correct me if I'm wrong) that if you visit a carol service you can enter for free.

Tuesday 13th December at 1.15-1.45pm Christmas Carol Sing-along, an informal half-hour of carol singing; requests will be taken!
Friday 16th December at 1.10pm Britten: A Ceremony of Carols sung by The Temple Singers.

4. St Stephen's Walbrook

Wren's try-out for the dome of St Paul's St Stephen's Walbrook is worth visiting anyway. At the moment there is also a temporary view of the church to be had across the Walbrook Square building site from Cannon Street.

Wednesday 14th December at 6.30pm St Stephen Parish Carols for the Business Community with the choir of St Stephen Walbrook.

5. St Bartholomew the Great

The Priory Church was founded in AD 1123 as part of a monastery of Augustinian Canons but the church is probably more famous amongst the general public for having featured in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral. Another church which I really should have visited; each time I'm on a guided tour of the area it goes to the top of my "to visit" list. Am hoping to attend one of these carol services which means I can hopefully save the £4 entrance fee. There is a cafe here too.

Thursday 15th December at 6.00 pm A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols

Sunday 18th December at 6.30 pm A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols

Tuesday 20th December at 6.00 pm A Service of Readings and Carols

6. All Hallows by the Tower

The oldest church in the City of London and one which I am ashamed to say I haven't visited even though I worked opposite it for years (1990-1996) but that was before I was so interested in London and its history. I've just discovered they have a new cafe which might prove the carrot to get me there but their carol services look very tempting too.

Thursday 15th December at 6pm Traditional Carols by Candlelight with carols, stories and seasonal refreshments.
Sunday 18th December at 4pm Festival of Lessons and Carols.
Monday 19th December at 6pm Noël, Noël, Chantons Noël! pour les Francophiles et leurs amis.

7. St James's the Less

Built by G E Street who went on to build the Royal Courts of Justice which eventually unfortunately killed him. The church's website isn't working at the moment but they do have a Facebook group which is kept up-to-date.

Sunday 18th December at 6pm Candlelit carol service followed by mulled wine and mince pies.

8. St James's Piccadilly

One of only two Wren churches outside the City of London, the other being St Clement Danes, St James's Piccadilly is well worth visiting. Wren built it so that all 2000 people in the congregation could see and hear the preacher.

Tuesday 20th December at 5.30pm Carols for Shoppers: traditional carols with readings and music from the Vigala Singers - mince pies and mulled wine served afterwards.

Not carols but on Wednesday 21st December at 1.10pm The Askew Sisters will sing traditional English folk music and songs with a festive feel.

9. St Bride's Church

The journalists' church and also (it is said) its spire is the basis for the design of the wedding cake. Worth visiting the crypt too and/or going on one of their guided tours.

Wednesday 21st December at 12.00pm and 5pm - Carols for Fleet Street

10. St Dunstans in the West

This is one of my favourite churches to visit for their regular Wednesday recitals although I still haven't got the hang of how to open the doors on the end of the pews.

Wednesday 21st December at 1.15pm Guild Church Carol Service and Civic Procession Sung by Chantage their local choir. I went last year and it was very good.

I hope the above is useful and I must get some of these into my own diary. Maybe see you there!

The author of this blog (Joanna Moncrieff) is a qualified City of Westminster Tour Guide who specialises in food and drink themed walks in the West End.

Details of all her walks are listed here and upcoming public walks are here.

Fit for a Lord - Guest post by Maggie Moncrieff (my Mum)

2011-12-04T18:36:00.000Z

It has been a very busy, happy year celebrating. In chronological order, as they say, our golden wedding in April, Chris's 80th birthday and recently reaching 50 years of reporting politics for the Press Association in Parliament, and trailing exhaustingly after Maggie Thatcher!

To mark Chris's birthday, Lord Cormack very kindly arranged a lunch for us in the Lords' dining room with the wonderful Baroness Boothroyd and Lord Tebbit, our former MP.

It was a crisp, sunny morning and we arrived in plenty of time, duly noted by the attendant who boomed, "You're a bit early". As we waited to be collected various personalities passed through and Chris whispered their names to me.

Lord Cormack arrived and asked if I would like to see the chamber. So he took us all round the Lords part of the Palace of Westminster.We saw the glittering Queen's throne and the Princes' chamber which was on the original site of the royal children's room and had amazing paintings, cornice-high, of the family of Tudors and Stuarts on the opposite wall.

So amazing, and the decorations were breathtaking. We peeped into the Long Room where the Lords meet for dinners, with a long table reaching the full length of the room, each place setting with its stiff red furled napkin on the glistening white cloth.

Then onwards into the dining room where the Lords meet their invited guests; a lovely warm room with tables for four dotted around and plush furnishing in rich red.

After lunch Lord Cormack graciously escorted us off the premises after a truly memorable occasion recalled with great pleasure.

Whoopee!

Maggie Moncrieff

Visit to the Government Art Collection

2011-11-24T11:30:00.002Z

Tucked away off Tottenham Court Road in a nondescript yard can be found a building housing the Government Art Collection which isn't normally open to the public. At any one time two-thirds of the collection is distributed amongst government buildings both at home and abroad. The art works furnish places like 10 Downing Street, the Treasury and many overseas embassies and high commissions.

My visit to the home of the GAC on Saturday 19^th November had been postponed from Open House weekend back in September; it also fitted in very well with a walk I was doing in Marylebone that afternoon being only a ten minute walk away.

Although works from the collection are frequently lent out to galleries to supplement exhibitions, for the first time in its 113 year history art from the collection is being showcased in a series of exhibitions at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. There are five separate exhibitions; the second one is currently in progress which is a selection of works chosen by contemporary artist Cornelia Parker. This runs until 4^th December and then the following exhibition will be works selected by historian Simon Schama which starts on 16^th December. A list of all the exhibitions is here. Artworks featured in the entire series will then tour galleries in Birmingham and Belfast.

The permanent home of the GAC is only occasionally open to the public; for Open House weekend and open for group bookings for 3 evenings a month. Their diary is full until January 2013 so I was very lucky to be able to get in.

We were taken round by a very knowledgeable guide whose name I omitted to record.

The first picture I saw was one that remained my favourite from the whole tour. C R W Nevinson’s St Paul’s from the South seen through the smog from Waterloo station; a very atmospheric picture.

We also saw a mini version of Nelson's Ship in a Bottle which is currently on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, Peas are the New Beans by Bob and Roberta Smith which had proved particularly popular with ministers because of its allusion to bean counters and a very detailed View of Florence by Edward Lear where you felt you could almost step into the painting.

We were told that the collection comprised of some 13,000 works of mostly British art. Their budget used to be £200,000 a year; it is now zero.

It is hard to believe but we were told that one of the reasons in the past they had bought large paintings was to save on wallpaper! The emphasis is now on promoting British art; the artworks will be seen by thousands of people around the world.

The tour included a visit to the workshop where we were shown the effects of acid paper on old prints and told of the process which protects paintings in countries with a high humidity; they are given a plastic backed frame, sealed with a metal tape and hung so the picture doesn't touch the wall.

Our tour finished with a visit to what would in any other gallery be a store but here it was a showroom.

Details and pictures of the paintings held in the collection are on their website but make a date in your diary to visit the Whitechapel Art Gallery to see some of them in the flesh so to speak which will be a lot easier to get into than visiting the GAC itself.

Freebie Friday

2011-11-22T22:02:00.001Z

A few years ago before pedestrianisation I, and probably a lot of other Londoners, would never have ventured into Trafalgar Square being a destination primarily it seemed for tourists and pigeons.

However since the redevelopment it’s been host to a number of events including this year’s West End Live and the final Harry Potter premiere and for me it is now a regular cut through.

I’m on a bit of a tight budget at the moment so when I heard that there was going to be a free lunch for 5,000 people at Trafalgar Square I was on my way. This was organised by Feeding the 5000 to highlight the amount of waste food that is thrown away each year by consumers and by supermarkets too. Misshapen vegetables are rejected by supermarkets and although some are used for animal feed a lot ends up in landfill. This is outrageous.

We are all guilty of wasting food. According to new research an average family in this country wastes £680 worth of food each year. More facts and figures are here.

Wandering around the square before the event started we picked up some recipe cards from Love Food Hate Waste one of which suggested you used leftover vegetables for a lasagne another suggesting you freeze leftovers which is something I regularly do anyway.

This is the second time the event has run, firstly in 2009, and it was very well organised with a whole team of people serving. Myself and my friend, D, joined the queue dead on 12pm and by 12.20 we were sitting on a bench enjoying the food. Obviously the shape of the vegetables make no difference to the taste so hopefully the 4,998 other people that enjoyed their curries will realise this too and we can harass the supermarkets to let us buy them.

Whilst finishing our food we were aware of being filmed by what looked like a TV camera so if anyone saw us on the news let me know!

Next stop was for some freshly pressed apple juice from some rejected apples – this was delicious too and then we found ourselves surrounded by children pressing free bananas into our hands. These looked perfectly normal.

On continuing our wander around the square I was amazed to bump into someone I hadn’t seen for probably ten years who thankfully recognised me too. C works for FareShare which is a national charity that helps to prevent food poverty and his job at the event was to marshal people into a queue to help them bag misshapen vegetables for distribution to other charities. He had no problem in this as people seemed willing to join the queue presumably not knowing exactly what they were queuing for!

We then left Trafalgar Square to go our separate ways – myself onto the Tea and Coffee Festival at Southbank Centre Square (a few more freebies) and D to work. Before we parted we came across someone giving away free samples of Green & Black chocolate which seemed to be perfect timing.

What a Fab Friday.

Lord Mayor's Show 2011

2011-11-16T01:07:00.003Z

Having lived in London all my life I used to regularly attend the Lord Mayor’s Show with my family when I was a child. However apart from one visit in 1996 after returning from 9 months in the Antipodes this is something I haven’t really done as an adult although have usually watched it on TV.

Having done a History of the City course earlier in the year and intending to apply for the City of London Guiding course in 2012 I have recently become more interested in the City. This prompted me to accompany some fellow Westminster Guides to the Show last Saturday several of whom are current City of London students.

Everyone in London recognises Boris Johnson as the Mayor of London. However the name of David Wootton, the 684th Lord Mayor of the City of London is less well known.

There has been a Lord Mayor in the City since the 12th Century, the first being Henry FitzAilwin who served from 1189 until his death some 20 years later. However they weren't calling themselves "Lord" Mayors until some 400 years later. The most famous Lord Mayor is of course Dick Whittington. Unlike the pantomime story he was the son of a wealthy Gloucestershire landowner who came to London to apprentice as a mercer, (someone who deals with silk and other luxury fabrics). He held office 3 times in the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

We had amongst us a frequent attendee of the Show who over the years had found the optimum place to view it from. I’m not saying where it is (to keep it exclusive!) but eagle-eyed readers will be able to tell from the photos.

We met early to view the river pageant. For several hundred years from the 15th Century the Show took place on the river which is where the term "float" comes from. This year a pageant of approximately 22 traditional Thames Waterman's Cutters escorted the new Lord Mayor aboard the shallop "Jubilant" from Westminster through Tower Bridge to HMS President where he continued his journey by coach to Mansion House.

However I misunderstood our meeting instructions and managed somehow to be on the wrong side of the river from the rest of the group. I was wearing thermals too, having completely misread the weather forecast, so by the time I caught up with everyone I was roasting. I saw Tower Bridge rise which is something I will never get tired of but somehow missed the pageant although it was going through the Bridge at the time! As an aside Tower Bridge's openings are listed here and are fairly frequent eg this Saturday 19^th November it will raise 4 times to allow for the paddle steamer Dixie Queen to pass through.

We arrived at our vantage point in the City for the road procession with 45 minutes to spare. I felt privileged to be able to see well without too much effort. It was great too to be with trainee City guides; hopefully next year I will be in their position. Dominic Reid, the Pageantmaster was pointed out who had recently given a Gresham College lecture at the Museum of London. The lecture was fascinating and can be viewed online. I was surprised to find out that the whole procession is organised by just two people, Mr Reid and his PA. For those interested in more of the City’s history Gresham College recently had a lecture on the Freemen of the City of London and coming up on 7^th December there is one on the Livery Companies. All these lectures are free and definitely worth attending or watching online.

We stood and watched as some 150 floats (representing many livery companies and associations) historic marching bands, vintage vehicles and dancers passed us by. We were impressed by the multi-tasking musicians on horseback and the skill of the stiltwalkers. We also did a lot of waving as did the group of aldermen standing opposite us who had the privileged position of both watching the procession and taking part in it. Appropriately coming up at the rear of the procession was the City of London Cleansing Department!

After lunch and a few pints in the historic Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street a few of us carried on to the Blackfriar the amazing art nouveau pub near Blackfriars. Taking up much of the room in the interior were the Greensleeves Morris Men. The dancing had finished before we got there but the singing had begun. I made my way to the bar whilst listening to the old Music Hall song I’m Henery the Eighth I Am. I had hoped we could watch the Lord Mayor's fireworks whilst standing outside the pub but although we could hear them and see the reflections our view was obscured by Unilever House. However standing listening to the singing with a beer in hand was still a perfect end to a fantastic day.

The author of this blog (Joanna Moncrieff) is a qualified City of Westminster Tour Guide who specialises in food and drink themed walks in the West End.

Details of all her walks are listed here and upcoming public walks are here.

Chingford: the best place to live in London

2011-11-09T19:32:00.001Z

I’m always saying (when the subject comes up) that Chingford is the best place to live in London and, yes, Chingford is in London not Essex (just).

People are sometimes under the impression that because it is in Zone 5 and not on the tube then it must be miles away from the City. That isn’t true. In fact the train to Liverpool Street takes only 25 minutes and if I change at Walthamstow Central for the Victoria Line I can easily get into the West End. The last train from Liverpool Street is also much later than many other lines being around 1am.

It’s not just the easy access to London which attracts me but the fact that I have Epping Forest at the end of my road. I mean this literally; not a car ride away but within 5 minutes’ walk from my flat I am in the Forest.

Epping Forest is the largest public open space in the London area at around 6,000 acres and has been owned and managed by the City of London Corporation since 1878. When Queen Victoria visited in 1882 she famously gave the Forest to the people of London saying: "It gives me the greatest satisfaction to dedicate this beautiful Forest to the use and enjoyment of my people for all time."

At the end of my road is a path leading up Pole Hill from where there is a panoramic view of London although the view in the photo just shows Chingford!

There’s an obelisk marking the Greenwich Meridian which has since moved 19 feet to the east and a plaque to author/soldier T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) who once lived on Pole Hill in a hut now removed.

Continuing with the history theme on Chingford Plain about 7 or 8 minutes’ walk from the station can be found Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge. As someone who grew up in this same area all I remember from my childhood were the stuffed animals which seemed to be everywhere and always gave me the creeps. Thankfully the museum has been totally transformed since the 1970s and is worth visiting as they have many exhibitions on Tudor life.

Until I joined a local cycle group a few years ago I had completely taken for granted the fact that I had a forest on my doorstep. I was amazed that people travelled for an hour in order to cycle there. The cycle group (MBR Over 35s) is still going but I’m no longer part of it. I was never quite fit enough! Looking at the photos on their website now I’m amazed I was ever part of it as am more suited to a pootle along the bridleways and am not keen on going fast or on too much single track. As someone once pointed out to me I had “All the gear but no idea”!

My busy life as a guide has got in the way of my regular cycling trips but I do still want to get back out in the Forest as realise I am very lucky to live where I do.

Pass the Port

2011-11-02T15:57:00.001Z

For those “in the know” there are lots of things to do in London that are free or reasonably priced including of course my guided walks (shameless self plug) but you might be surprised to know that there are various places around the capital that offer very reasonably priced tastings.

Last night I attended one of the Hide Bar’s regular Tuesday tastings. The Hide Bar is in Bermondsey Street only a few minutes’ walk from London Bridge station.

This week’s theme was port. Over the course of a couple of hours around 25 of us tasted 6 different ports that started with a chilled white port to which we were asked to try neat and then add tonic, ice cubes and mint. This one was greatly improved by the additions (in my mind anyway).

The second port was also a bit unusual being pink and also not to my taste but it improved dramatically on having ice and tonic added.

During the course of the evening we learned about the production of port and what distinguished the different varieties. It was really interesting.

Next we were on to more traditional ports of which there were 4 although I can't remember now what they were; next time I will take notes. However we were each given a small booklet with more information about the production and varieties and some useful tips on cheese and port and dessert and port pairings.

Trying not to drink too fast as they were all delicious we waited for the accompanying cheese to arrive. It was worth waiting for. Each group of 2 or 3 people had their own cheeseboard including 3 different types of cheese, biscuits, grapes, quince jelly and chutney.

The tasting finished we all gave the host a round of applause. There was no hard sell involved; in fact no mention of prices was made at all during the evening. The cost of the evening: just £10.

Another successful walk

2011-10-16T23:01:00.001+01:00

Unbelievably yesterday was the first time ever that I have led two walks in one day and it definitely won’t be the last.

I was leading walks as part of the annual Local London Guiding Day where all 4 guiding associations (Westminster, City of London, Clerkenwell & Islington and Greenwich) join together to offer free walks. This year's theme was "That's Entertainment" and our walk started in the heart of the West End, Leicester Square outside Westminster Reference Library.

My allotted slot to lead a walk was 3pm but I didn’t want to wait that long; I was itching to get out there with a group. As a result of lots of online publicity I was also worried that we would be inundated with people so wanted to do my bit to help. My worries were unfounded; we had a steady stream of people throughout the day but not the hordes I had been expecting. I wonder why?

My first walk at 1pm consisted of a friendly group of 5 people and I really enjoyed leading the walk. They seemed receptive to my commentary and laughed at my jokes which is always good. I finished the walk on a high as this is what guiding is all about and why I love it so much.

I am really pleased that I did that extra walk as my second group at 3pm consisted of 14 people many of whom appeared to be tourists and my initial jokes didn’t seem to work. However the buzz gained from my earlier walk really helped my confidence for the second one. After a shaky start I gained their attention and all of them stayed with me to the end after which I received several compliments from them about the walk; one saying it was the best of the three they had been on that day which was brilliant to hear and another saying my enthusiasm for London shone through.

As a result of my research I now have another few things to add to my “to do” list: to visit the “pop-up” William Curley chocolate shop on St Martin’s Lane, to attend a free Monday night concert at the Hungarian Cultural Centre and to visit the National Portrait Gallery for both Glamour of the Gods ending on 23 October and The First Actresses starting on 20^th October.

I couldn't finish the walk without mentioning a couple of good pubs in the area notably the Sam Smiths' Lyceum Tavern and the Coal Hole with its bar named after a club for repressed husbands who weren't allowed to sing in the bath!

I then went on to meet my fellow guides in the aforementioned pub hoping that those who had come on my walks would be inspired to explore London further.

A lunchtime wander: Chancery Lane

2011-10-02T21:41:00.001+01:00

Following on from my recommended lunchtime spots in Fleet Street my next area to highlight is Chancery Lane. As with my previous post it’s not exhaustive; in fact I know I made a couple of omissions and I may have to do a Fleet Street Part Two to include such gems as The Blackfriar, the Cheshire Cheese and Dr Johnson’s House.

Starting with places to picnic on a sunny day there are several that spring to mind, each of which is fairly hidden so not obvious to the passer-by. My favourite in this area has to be the gardens of Lincoln’s Inn in particular Stone Buildings. These gardens are within the perimeter wall of Lincoln’s Inn and accessible either from Lincoln’s Inn Fields or Chancery Lane; they basically sit behind Stone Buildings. There are a number of benches and a grassy slope to sunbathe on. Like the other Inns of Court gardens they are only open to the public Monday to Friday lunchtimes. They are also a lot lighter than these photos suggest.

Another of the Inns of Court, Gray’s Inn’s gardens, can be accessed via the walkway next to the Cittie of Yorke pub (of which more later), from Theobalds Road opposite the library or from Gray’s Inn Road. These gardens are massive and again only open to the public weekday lunchtimes.

Although the small garden of Staple Inn (behind the Tudor façade on High Holborn close to Chancery Lane tube) is closed to the public there is a circular bench in the courtyard and some more benches through the archway. It is remarkably peaceful there considering how close it is to the main road.

On your way to the Stone Buildings gardens you will pass Lincoln’s Inn Chapel. They offer occasional recitals the next ones being Tuesday 18 October and Tuesday 22 November from 1.05 to 1.50pm. If you’re interested in finding out more about Lincoln’s Inn on the first Friday of every month they offer public tours (ie just turn up) for £5.

More or less opposite the entrance to Stone Buildings is another London gem; this time somewhere to go on a rainy day. The London Silver Vaults is an amazing place full of tiny vaults/shops open to the public selling items for all budgets from a Champagne swizzle stick right up to soup tureens and beyond. Starting tomorrow (3 October 2011) and continuing until the end of January is a selling exhibition of historical culinary silverware. Exactly my sort of thing as most of my walks are food and drink themed.

Continuing down Chancery Lane towards the Fleet Street end you will come across a shopping arcade called Chichester Rents. On the corner is the amazing gift shop Mercer & Wells but don’t get waylaid, continue into the passageway. Up until now I would never have considered having my nails "done" but this might change now I've discovered MW Nails The shop is housed in the shell of an American Airlines Boeing 737. It definitely sounds like a place that doesn’t take itself seriously evidenced by the names of some of the treatments. I have to admit I am tempted.

Back to my usual lunchtime interests and continuing with the historic theme Gresham College close to Holborn Circus has been offering free lunchtime and evening talks for around 400 years! Coming up on 12 October at 1pm is a talk on the History of the Lord Mayor’s Show. No need to book but probably best to get there early.

Now onto one of my favourite subjects: pubs. The Sam Smiths’ pub the Cittie of Yorke is probably best visited at the weekend to appreciate its many qualities and to get a seat. There has been a place of refreshment on this site for many hundreds of years but the present incarnation isn't as old as it looks. The back bar will take your breath away with its long bar, giant wine vats above and individual seating compartments. The cellar bar is worth visiting too and is much older than the rest of the pub.

My other favourite pub in the area is the quirky Seven Stars tucked behind the RCJ in Carey Street just off Chancery Lane. This pub has some of the most vertiginous stairs to toilets I have ever come across in a pub (but may be equal to those at the Red Lion, Duke of York St, SW1).

In researching this post I have just discovered the Castle, that I knew about but never visited; that will have to be remedied as it looks like it has a good choice of real ales.

Close to the Castle ie between Fetter and Chancery Lanes can be found the upmarket vegetarian restaurant Vanilla Black another place I would love to visit.

Not really a pub but more of a bar and also one I’ve yet to visit – the Craft Beer Co in Leather Lane has only been open a few months. They claim to always have 37 beers on tap. Londonist reviewed it when they opened back in June. If you do visit look up at the amazing mirrored ceiling.

Leather Lane Market is of course an obvious place to spend your lunch hour (and your money). In the last few years it seems to have diversified with many more food retailers and an occasional visiting French Market but the fruit and veg and clothes stalls still remain. If you make it down to the other end of the Market pay a visit to International Magic on the corner of Clerkenwell Road an amazing place.

Parallel with Leather Lane is Hatton Garden the street famous worldwide for its jewellers and diamond merchants. Walking up Hatton Garden from Holborn Circus look out for the lamppost with the blue mitre by a hidden passageway. This is the entrance to Ely Court which links Hatton Garden to Ely Place and where you can find the Mitre another of the area’s fantastic pubs.

And one last place – not a lunchtime venue (apart from Afternoon Tease on Sunday afternoons) but something rather unexpected - Volupté which is a burlesque club.

Is there anything obvious I have missed?

Saturday 15th October - FREE WALKS!

2011-10-02T17:34:00.000+01:00

Rotherhithe Ramblings

2011-09-18T21:40:00.001+01:00

Most London obsessives I know have a “to visit” list which is rather like a “to be read” book pile; it never gets any shorter. When I saw a volunteer spot at one such place on my list as part of the Open House weekend I jumped at the chance.

The Brunel Museum is in Rotherhithe on the site of the ThamesTunnel where Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel worked on their only joint project, the first tunnel underneath a river anywhere in the world.

My job was to marshal people at the entrance to the descent to the Grand Entrance Hall where around 145 years ago millions of visitors had descended to see what was then known as The Eighth Wonder of the World.

As people waited for the next tour to begin I found that my knowledge gleaned from studying the Thames Tunnel in 2009 as part of the Westminster Guiding course proved to be extremely useful together with a book entitled "The Brunels' Tunnel" which has been produced and is sold by the Museum.

The Grand Entrance Hall is only open occasionally but the fascinating Museum is open seven days a week, 10 until 5 and must be one of the cheapest places to visit in London with the entrance priced at £2, £1 for concessions and free to under 16s. If you’re local it is definitely worth seeking out as it has a real community feel to it with regular yoga, creative writing and knitting evenings. There is also a tiny café with a selection of home-made cakes.

I didn’t fancy a cake for lunch so ventured just around the corner to another gem (and entry on my list), Rotherhithe Picture Research Library and Sands Film Studios. Because of a pre-booked boat trip from Blackfriars later in the afternoon I didn’t have time to do the tour but did visit their café which must be one of the cheapest in London – nothing is priced but they suggest a donation of £2.50. It was hard to believe I was less than 1.5 miles from Tower Bridge.

Continuing with the community feel of the area every Tuesday at 9pm they show films from around the world in their tiny cinema. Only 30 people can be accommodated so you do need to book. Further details are on the website and on 10/11 December this year they are showing the 1987 Sands Films’ production of Little Dorrit in two parts over two days – it is 6 hours long. To book email LittleDorrit@sandsfilms.co.uk; I definitely need to return.

Leaving the studios I discovered another amazing place to visit. Art at the Mills is an annual event coinciding with Open House and takes place in a former flour mill which has now been converted into residential accommodation.

There is so much more to discover in the area and next year I will return to visit The Old Mortuary and the churches and maybe stop for a pint or two in one of the two amazing pubs The Mayflower or The Angel.

A lunchtime wander: Fleet Street

2011-07-29T00:37:00.001+01:00

My blog post is long overdue so I'm going to do what I love best which is recommending places to go in London starting with a lunch hour in Fleet Street.

First of all the pubs ... The Punch Tavern in Fleet Street is not the pub it once was, part of it now being sectioned off to be an entirely new pub the Crown and Sugar Loaf a Sam Smiths pub whose entrance is around the corner. However since the days of the Punch being a venue for hard drinking journalists this pub has reinvented itself and has a very good food menu made even better by their weekly special offers offering mains such as fish and chips or home made burger for £5. They also have a regular programme of events including quiz nights and wine tastings.

My favourite pub in the area has to be the Fullers pub the Harrow tucked away in the back streets with its 3 separate bars each with a different character.

Near Ludgate Circus in Farringdon Street there is the Shepherd Neame pub the Hoop and Grapes. This is good not just for eating and drinking but is also a BookCrossing zone. See my virtual bookshelf here.

Opposite the Hoop and Grapes is a fantastic tea shop, To a Tea that deserves a visit. The tea is brewed to perfection before being served so there is no danger of it being stewed. The soup and cheese scone deal is a particular favourite of mine and good value too.

Not too far away from To a Tea is a Spanish cafe Brass Mongoose which is offering all coffees for £1 from 7 to 9.30 every morning until 12 August.

If you want to do more than just eat and drink in your lunch hour you could take in a free recital. These take place at St Bride's Church every Tuesday and Friday 1.15 to 1.45 (apart from August) and St Dunstans in the West every Wednesday from 1.15 to 2pm. When you emerge from St Dunstans you could grab a coffee in the tiny mobile cafe in the churchyard.

Alternatively you could take in a lecture at Shoe Lane library, go to see a 45 minute play at the Bridewell Theatre or go on a guided walk with Walk City.

But if you would prefer to just find somewhere pleasant to eat your sandwiches Inner Temple Garden is definitely the place to be. This amazing garden is only open to the public on weekday lunchtimes. It is accessed through the gate at the west end of Tudor Street. Cross the car park towards the pillar box, follow the road round and you will discover one of my favourite gardens in London.

If you would like suggestions of where to go in Central London maybe I could help. I am a City of Westminster Guide but also have a pretty good knowledge of the rest of the City.

A Week of Walks

2011-05-23T22:59:00.000+01:00

It's always the same - no events for ages and then everything at once. I am always pretty busy but last week was exceptionally so having attended 3 walks and led one myself in less than a week not to mention going to a talk by Monica Ali at the Royal Academy on Monday, having my London Ambassadors' interview on Thursday afternoon and doing 4.5 days' work in my day job!

Last Sunday I joined Walthamstow Historical Society for the first of this year's free walks this one starting at Walthamstow Central station and finishing near the Baker's Arms. For details of the rest of this summer's walks email walthamstowwalks@mz48.myzen.co.uk

Last Sunday's walk was mainly along Hoe Street which is now a very busy road and one which I would hardly glance at when passing along on a bus. It's hard to imagine now that Cleveland House on the corner of Orford Road which has now been converted into flats was home in the 18th Century to botanist Edward Forster before he moved to Beech Hall Farm in Hale End (now long gone) and Chestnuts House further down the road was home to another well-to-do family. Both houses have survived primarily because they were or are being used by the Council. On this walk I also discovered where the now long gone Queen's Cinema was having read about it on the London Sideways blog.

On Wednesday night I went on a walk around St Giles by the writer of London Sideways who also leads walks with old maps. This was the 3rd old maps walk I had been on with Ken (or 4th if you include his non-mapped tour around Somerset House). I have always been fascinated by maps and his walks bring another dimension to a guided walk and you can really get an idea of how the area looked in past times. We were very lucky to get a glimpse into the hidden courtyard garden of St Giles Almshouses in Macklin Street which I had walked past many times before without even noticing.

Thursday night I was led around Decadent London by the author of a book of the same name, Antony Clayton. Unfortunately Antony only does one walk a year so I couldn't miss this having really enjoyed his Hogarth walk last year. There was a bit of everything on this walk and I learned a lot and his book is now on my wishlist. We started by the Westminster Reference Library, walked through Leicester Square learning about the music halls and entertainment places of the past, to Piccadilly Circus, then to the back of Albany in Mayfair to learn about the notorious Yellow Book and Bodley Head (this bit is on my Mayfair literary walk coming up soon) and then onto St James's finishing in one of my favourite pubs, the Red Lion in Crown Passage.

On Saturday I led my walk around St James's for Spice. On Sunday I had a well deserved rest!

A privileged visit

2011-03-27T12:58:00.001+01:00

As Visits Organiser for the Westminster Guides Association it's my privilege to organise visits for wherever I want to go, dependent of course on access being granted to us.

A few months ago my Dad, Chris Moncrieff suggested a visit to the Speaker's House as he had attended several dinners there and thought it would be of interest which of course it was.

Our visit earlier this month was an amazing experience. It started with us viewing the Speaker's Procession which occurs before every Commons sitting and passes through the Central Lobby. It is well worth seeing. Amongst those in the procession are the Serjeant at Arms carring a mace which is the symbol of Royal authority and the Speaker's trainbearer who doesn't this time have a train to bear. John Bercow has chosen not to wear the traditional dress preferring instead to wear a simple black gown over a suit which makes him look rather like an old-fashioned headmaster.

We were welcomed into the state rooms of the Speaker's House by noneother than the Trainbearer, Ian Davis MBE who was dressed in the traditional costume of breeches, buckled shoes, frock coat etc. Ian had been Trainbearer to Betty Boothroyd and Michael Martin before the present incumbent so must have some stories to tell.

The first room we were shown was the Speaker's study. Here we were told something of the history of the Speaker's role but Ian had expected us to have prepared for our visit as tested us with a number of questions ie when had the first Speaker taken office (1377), what was his name (Thomas Hungerford) and how many Speakers had there been since then (amazingly John Bercow is only the 157th Speaker).

In the study is a glass display case containing lots of silver and in the centre a priceless Faberge plate. Up until the 1800s Speakers weren't given a very good salary and were allowed to purchase a set of silver whilst in office and then keep it when they left office! In the mid 1800s the salary was put up and the silver had to stay.

The second room we entered was the Crimson Drawing Room also known as the Red Room for obvious reasons. Most of the portraits in this room hailed from the 17th Century.

The Corner Room also decorated in red was where portraits of most of the more recent speakers hang, with an empty space opposite the mirror (so it would dominate the room) for John Bercow's portrait which should be finished later this year.

Each Speaker has his/her own coat of arms designed for them by the College of Arms if they don't already have one. Michael Martin's coat of arms was a very busy affair which included a locomotive wheel, the martin bird, a metal rule, bagpipes and a galleon. Ian told us that Bernard Weatherill who was a tailor and always carried a piece of tailor's chalk around with him was refused the saying "A stich in time" for his coat of arms as being too frivolous so decided to leave it blank.

The Dining Room was next where we were told 40 people can be seated for dinner. The 19th Century candelabras were regularly used for dinners although we were surprised to find out that the large one was worth around £4m!

The final room we were shown was the State Bedroom which was a smaller dining room dominated by an enormous bed. The bed had traditionally been used by the monarch-to-be on the night before a coronation when such monarch could sleep in the Speaker's House if they so wished. During the 2nd World War the bed had been put into storage but somehow it was forgotten and later sold.

In 1979 after an article in the Daily Telegraph about lost treasures which included a picture of the State Bed a family living in woollen mill in Dyfed recognised their bed which they had bought from a Northampton auction room for £100 and got in touch with the paper. Two years later it was back in its rightful place.

Our visit finished with Ian showing us out the grand main entrance into Speaker's Court.

We all felt very privileged to be given such a fascinating tour. I just hope my next arranged visit (The Garrick Club) lives up to this one!

An evening with Mike Leigh - on Architecture

2011-01-31T21:58:00.001Z

As a Westminster Guide I'm interested in buildings. However I wouldn't say I was particularly interested in the technicalities of architecture more about the look of a place and how it fits in with its surroundings.

Before becoming a Guide however I would never have attended a lecture on architecture even it was being given by Mike Leigh, the film director. The talk took place at the Geological Society, next door to the Linnean Society where I had volunteered in September. The subject of this lecture was London's hidden gems. However it transpired that Mike Leigh had only noticed this subtitle on arriving at the Society so confessed this to us and started to talk about his two favourite buildings by way of a fascinating autobiographical journey.

Mike Leigh grew up in Manchester just after the Second World War and told us how dirty and polluted the City was although an audience member later pointed out that Manchester was the first city to benefit from the Clean Air Act. His first sight of London on any trip down was of course Euston station and this station with its historic Doric Arch was one of his favourite buildings. He talked about the Victorian station and how the porters looked like figures from Ronald Searle cartoons. The sight that I think all of us wanted to see again (now long gone) was the barbershop and marble lined public bathrooms that used to lie beneath platform 6 where you could go for a long uninterrupted soak and all for a shilling.

Moving to London as a RADA student he lived for 10 years in a mouse infested flat in Eversholt Street which runs alongside the station. He experienced his first curry in Drummond Street (still a great place for curries). He talked about the demise of the station and the demolishing of the arch and how could this possibly have been allowed to happen.

His second favourite building the British Museum is not that far away from Euston and he passed it many times on his way to and from drama school walking through it as part of his journey or just popping in for short periods of time. He told us how swathes of streets were threatened in the early 1970s with the new British Library being originally intended for Bloomsbury, this plan thankfully being defeated by local opposition and being built instead at St Pancras. Mike Leigh still lives close to the museum; what an ideal place to live.

The panel discussion after Mike Leigh's talk was fascinating. The panellists were Jonathan Glancey from the Guardian, Ptomely Dean the presenter of Restoration and architect Liza Fior.

The phrase that stuck out for me from the evening was Jonathan Glancey saying (whilst talking about Jean Nouvel's One New Change and other similarly designed buildings) "Why do some of the world's best architects build their worst buildings in London".

It was a fascinating evening and I am looking forward to two more in the series - Will Self talking about Stockwell Bus Garage and Monica Ali discussing 19 Princelet Street.

As a last word I wouldn't have found out about these lectures if I hadn't been regularly reading Ian Visits' calendar of events.

An unexpected pub crawl

2011-01-03T16:23:00.000Z

As someone who lives in London, works in London and is obsessed with London it's always good to have a free day in London with no plans and to see where you end up. As I am also obsessed with London's pubs I should have known it would turn into a bit of a pub crawl (without alcohol though!)

This New Year was spent looking after a large group of people staying at a hotel in South West London prior to a boat trip down the Thames on New Year's Eve.

It turned out however that most of the group had made their own plans for the daytime of the 31st and had left the hotel early. It was just three of us who got the train to Waterloo around about 11am. We decided to start with a walk along the South Bank to see what took our fancy.

The first thing we came across was an exhibition of limited edition prints of iconic album covers at the Bargehouse Gallery on the ground floor of the Oxo Tower. These included Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" and Ian Dury's "New Boots and Panties". Not sure either of them would fit in with my home decor!

After this our journey continued into The Founders Arms for lunch - a Youngs pub - appropriate I thought as our hotel in Wandsworth was very close to Youngs' former base at the Ram Brewery (they moved to Bedford in 2006). Looking at the pub's website it seems they provide blankets and hot water bottles if you want to sit outside and enjoy the view!

Our next stop was for a coffee in the Members bar at the Tate Modern - am ashamed to admit it was not only my first visit to the Members Bar but also to the gallery.

The decision was then made to cross the "Wobbly Bridge" and walk past St Paul's. It wasn't long before my two companions wanted refreshments so I took them to The Counting House in Cornhill run by Fullers the Chiswick brewers which as the pub name suggests is in the premises of a former bank.

Although I couldn't drink because of my forthcoming hosting duties and was also on antibiotics it is always great to visit London's pubs and we continued on our way, unsuccessfully avoiding being in numerous tourists' photos on Tower Bridge, before stopping for another drink in a pub just off Borough High Street - the Old King's Head. This wasn't really our cup of tea being a bit too much of a sports pub so we soon left.

Our final pub stop for the daytime was the King's Arms in Roupell Street, SE1. This is very close to Waterloo station but in another world. Amazing late Georgian terraces line the street and the cosy pub is a great place to while away an afternoon.

Several hours later we found ourselves in a riverside pub waiting to board our boat at Putney pier. The obvious venue, the Star and Garter next to the pier was ticket only so the group split between the remaining places and a few of us stopped for a very quick drink in a fantastic pub with an amazing real ale selection - the Bricklayer's Arms . I would definitely like to return here on a day when I can drink!

Onto the boat for our cruise down the Thames. What an experience. I felt so privileged to be on a boat in the middle of the Thames moored by the Houses of Parliament watching the New Year fireworks. It was amazing waving to all the hordes of people on the bridges that we sailed under and toasting the occupants of the many other boats on the river. What a great start to 2011.

Historic Books for Cooks

2010-10-21T22:35:00.000+01:00

The Guildhall reference library in London EC2 is known by many as the place to research London's history. However their extensive collection of food and wine books is less well known.

I'm a regular visitor to the library but their food and wine collection only came to my attention in the past week when I attended an event entitled Regency Cookery at Keats' House in Hampstead. The speaker Dr Peter Ross from the Guildhall Library gave a very interesting talk about cooking and eating during the Regency period.

He started the talk by showing us a number of books from the Guildhall collection. On my Mayfair walk I talk about Frederic Nutt's "The Complete Confectioner" written in 1789 and I was amazed to see he had a copy of that book and at the first opportunity I was up leafing through it. The book includes recipes for 32 flavours of ice cream and 24 of water ice and I am still finding it hard to comprehend how this was achieved in the days before refrigeration. The ice was cut from lakes and ponds during the winter and stored either in a hole in the ground lined with straw or in a specially made ice house. The ice cream was made in a sort of double bowl; the interior bowl had the mixture and the exterior bowl had ice mixed with salt. The reactions between the ice and the salt water caused the ingredient mixture to fall below the freezing point of water and hence the ice cream was made. If you take a trip up to Ivan Day's Historic Food cookery school in the Lake District you can even enrol on a course to make your own ice creams in this 18th Century style.

I digress ...

Details of the Guildhall Library's wine and food collection can be found here and include 600 items from Elizabeth David's private collection which the library bought on her death. Many of her books were annotated in the margin with her comments which gives an insight into her life. Some more information on her books and possibly the worst recipe ever created can be found here. Ingredients include cold cooked macaroni - need I go on!

The library is open Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 5pm and is located near St Paul's at Aldermanbury, London EC2V 7HH.

Open City 2010

2010-09-18T23:11:00.000+01:00

Working full time during the day as a legal secretary plus working as a walking tour guide means I have little spare time. I must have temporarily forgotten this when I booked myself onto a half-day volunteering slot for Open City weekend (formerly Open House), this morning. Although I accessed the Open City website on the evening of the day volunteer places became available there were few sites left. The City of Westminster was of course my preferred location being a Westminster Guide but there really were only a handful of locations to choose from. I plumped for The Linnean Society one of the Courtyard Societies which surround the courtyard of Burlington House in Piccadilly. My knowledge of the Society was minimal but it was a good time slot 10am to 1pm and central too. The week before my posting I did some research on the Internet. I had walked past the Society before and had heard of Carl Linnaeus the Swedish naturalist but that was the sum of my knowledge.

I was stationed in the "double cube" library which turned out to not be a double cube at all as it seemed the architects had made a mistake. The back wall lined up with Burlington House but the front wall didn't. Each succeeding window recess along the front wall was increasingly smaller.

In 2007 to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the birth of Linnaeus the library had had a refurbishment so was still looking amazing. Sunlight poured through the decorated strengthened glass in the roof which had been replaced to the original design. The original glass had been destroyed in the Second World War. The room was dominated by 2 oil paintings one of James Edward Smith the founder and first President of the Society and the other of Sir Joseph Banks explorer and naturalist and between them highlighted by sunlight was a bust of Carl Linnaeus whose collection, sold by his widow to pay for their daughter's dowry was the basis for the Society's formation.

I was volunteering with 3 people who were very knowledgeable about the Society and it was a pleasure to volunteer with them. Lynda the librarian, David a former President and Alan a Fellow. In between the constant stream of visitors I had many interesting conversations with them the only downside being the back ache you get from standing around for 3 hours.

When my time was up I was offered a cheese scone and a cup of tea and most importantly a chance to sit down. Whilst eating I gazed outside the window onto the courtyard below. On the wall next to me I noticed a chart entitled "Window to the Stars" which listed a number of famous people who had been spotted outside the window; names as diverse as Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen and The Queen! I was told later that only people who weren't members of the Society were counted so if you spotted David Attenborough or John Craven they wouldn't be included.

Feeling enriched by my morning's volunteering I continued on my way. I only managed 2 more buildings as had other plans for the afternoon but went on a fascinating tour around the King's Fund in Cavendish Square and was amazed to discover a convent tucked away down a mews yards from John Lewis that I never knew existed and had some very interesting conversations in John Nash's only church, All Souls Langham Place.

Definitely worth sparing the time.

Beating the Strike

2010-09-17T22:31:00.000+01:00

Discovering that my latest Mayfair walk was on the date of the planned tube strike was not going to force me to cancel it. I had 17 people booked and my thinking was that people would delay their journey home and thus come on my walk. My thinking was wrong. The day before the strike the numbers had gone down to 12 and on the day of the walk 7 were expected. 3 turned up. Despite the low numbers it was an enjoyable walk - the 3 attendees who had met for the first time at the beginning of the walk seemed to get on well. Rain had been forecast too which would have been another downer but thankfully this didn't materialise.

Three-quarters of the way around the walk I discovered that this particular walk probably works better on a summer evening as we nearly got locked into Mount Street Gardens the gardens closing half an hour earlier than I had anticipated. However I'm glad they did see the gardens as they are one of my favourite small parks in London tucked away in the back streets of Mayfair - see my Londonist review. The walk finished with a drink in Ye Grapes in Shepherd Market and then we each headed home in different directions.

When passing through Green Park tube before the start of the walk I was pleased to see the Victoria Line was running. However I hadn't looked closely enough; it was running but only to Seven Sisters. With no Central Line or other obvious way back to Walthamstow or Liverpool Street by tube the only answer would be a bus as I really couldn't walk another step having walked from Fleet Street to Green Park earlier that evening and of course all the way around Mayfair. At 9pm the buses were still crammed and I had to stand all the way back to Liverpool Street. The only saving grace was that the Chingford trains were thankfully empty which wouldn't have been the case had I cancelled the walk and gone home at the usual time. Did I do the right thing or should I have cancelled the walk? My feelings are still the same i.e. not to let the strike affect my life if at all possible.

Guiding the Guides

2010-06-29T22:21:00.001+01:00

I thought my worst nightmare had come true on Saturday morning whilst waiting to start my St James's walk for some fellow City of Westminster Guides. Waiting for my group in the one shady spot on Queen's Walk beside the Ritz a large London Walks group descended on the very same shady corner. One of my group members, J, said she wasn't going to move as we had got there first. I agreed with her in principle but thought the rest of my group wouldn't see me hidden by the second group so I moved further up the path towards Piccadilly. I could partly hear the commentary however and my heart sunk when I realised it was also a food and drink themed walk. Taking other qualified guides around was something I had been a bit nervous about anyway but how was I going to cope if I was following the same route as a London Walks group. Thankfully however they retraced their steps up Queen's Walk and disappeared into the crowds on Piccadilly so my panic was over.

Probably due to the hot weather and the World Cup I was joined by only 5 people on my walk. After a slightly nervous start (I'm always the same) I got into my stride, lost my nerves and started enjoying the tour.

My St James's food and drink walk has to be my favourite walk as it is one of those areas unknown to most Londoners and with many hidden courtyards and passages that even some people who have worked in the area haven't come across. In addition to the history of the coffee houses that evolved into gentleman's clubs, the 19th Century celebrity chef and the cook who inspired the Duchess of Duke Street this walk includes a lot of current information about hidden cocktail bars and places for afternoon tea. I was a bit nervous about this aspect of the walk as although the man on the street likes this angle I did wonder whether other guides would also appreciate it. They did. I was amazed and pleased to see several of them taking notes.

As with all good guiding outings we finished in the Red Lion with a couple of glasses of Berry's wine and I finally got to try the King's Ginger - if you book my walk I'll tell you about it!

Enjoying London

2010-05-22T11:07:00.003+01:00

My list of places to visit in London gets ever longer but as I've had lots of free time recently I've been making a stab at getting to some of them. Funny how my plans never entirely materialise as intended though.

I was in town on Tuesday to sign on at yet another agency so the plan was to do one of the tours on my list. There is the fortnightly tour of the Royal Courts of Justice at 11am or 2pm, the weekly tour of the Lord Mayor of London's home the Mansion House or the almost daily free tour of the John Madejski Fine Rooms at the Royal Academy.

My first port of call was Shoe Lane Library to print some flyers. When I finished my session on the computer I noticed that one of their free lectures was starting. It was entitled "The Bowels of the City: Dirt, Disease and the Making of Modern London" so I stayed to listen.

On leaving the library I picked up a leaflet for the River Sounding exhibition at Somerset House. It was a nice day so I thought it would be a good place to stop for lunch. It was the perfect spot. I sat in the sun watching the fountains and listening to the River Sounding sound installation in the background. I must have sat there for 2 hours; all my plans went out the window as sitting in the sun was so perfect.

The following day I was back in London again so headed for the Royal Academy to do the aforementioned tour to find it wasn't happening this week. I did however stop to see the photography exhibition Relics of Old London. A recce of my Mayfair walk followed and then on to Marylebone to explore for a possible new walk. Walking past Sotheby's I realised I had never yet made it in there to view any upcoming items for auction. On 20th May there was an auction of photographs. They may never again be seen in public but I saw them on Wednesday. There were portraits by Irving Penn (there is a current exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery) and by Andy Warhol.

Next Wednesday is an auction of 20th Century British art including works by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and LS Lowry. Viewing is on now from Sunday 23rd May to Tuesday 25th May. Some of these items haven't been seen in public for decades. I must go. Viewing of items coming up for auction is free and open to anyone - just stroll in.

Just north of Selfridges I came across Manchester Square and the Wallace Collection which was at least one of the places on my list that I have been meaning to re-visit for years. I didn't have long enough but will return soon for a proper look.

The day finished listening to free live jazz at The Old Red Cow in EC1. Unsurprisingly I was exhausted but happy.

A ghost walk in St Ives

2010-05-17T21:32:00.000+01:00

On holiday in St Ives, Cornwall recently I was attracted to a ghost walk being held on the Sunday evening. Shanty Baba's Lantern Ghost Story Walk started at Westcott's Quay by St Ives Arts Club at 9.15pm. I managed to get a little crowd of people from our group and we went along. Shanty Baba was waiting for us gazing out to sea with his lantern beside him.

I have been on a couple of ghost walks in the past and I have to say this is the first that has ever gone through a graveyard in the dark. As a qualified guide it was hard not to think that I couldn't possibly do this on my walks because of the health and safety implications! As we walked uphill towards Barnoon Cemetery the guide told us to walk in silence which I thought was effective in creating an eerie ambience. We arrived at the cemetery on the hill above St Ives to hear the waves crashing on the beach below. A stunning location for a cemetery especially in the dark and one that had featured in the film Raise the Titanic. Shanty used dramatic pauses and his voice to great effect when telling us the stories; at one point (whilst standing on a possible plague pit in another part of town) slamming down his stick so hard we all jumped (well I did!).

However after telling us several spooky stories in the cemetery including one which involved giant rats living under the graveyard and dragging all the bodies out of the graves to eat them (a bit too far fetched) he suddenly reverted to his normal voice and, in my opinion, completely ruined the atmosphere.

He had told us to remain silent until we left the cemetery so when he asked us a question as to who knew what film he might have been talking about made us all come back to reality. The film, The Fog was partly based on the legend of the lepers who lived at Clodgy Point and encouraged boats (by using lights) to crash onto the rocks.

We trooped back to town where in a deserted car park he told those of us who were willing - strangely just the group I had brought - of a meditation process where if you trained yourself to spend hours staring at yourself in the mirror without blinking you would see people's faces. It sounded like a long-winded version of looking at those Magic Eye pictures that used to feature in the Sunday supplements.

If you're in St Ives and willing to suspend belief for a couple of hours it is a walk well worth going on but take a torch and wear non-slip shoes!

Another amazing experience in London

2010-04-17T15:43:00.000+01:00

My attempts to get fit in time for climbing the 334 steps of the Clock Tower at the Houses of Parliament were in vain. I was out of breath on the several attempts I had made climbing the escalator on the tube and suddenly the day was upon us and I was no fitter than I had been when the visit was first arranged.

However the ascent was much easier than anticipated. We stopped several times on the way up and I did wonder what I had been worrying about; it was just the excessive health and safety warnings that had frightened me.

The visit was with other members of the Westminster Guiding Association so it was a bit surreal having a guide tell us all about the history of the Palace of Westminster which we all already knew but the facts about the creation of the clock and the Great Bell (Big Ben) were fascinating. There are two theories as to how the bell got its nickname. The first and most plausible comes from Sir Benjamin Hall, First Commissioner for Works who was a rather large person and was himself nicknamed Big Ben. His name is inscribed on the bell. The second theory relates to a heavyweight boxer of the time called Ben Caunt.

Next we visited the rooms behind each of the 4 clock dials which was a bizarre experience. The clock survived the Second World War but was defeated by a flock of starlings in 1949 which roosted on the hands and caused the clock to lose 4 minutes. This won't happen again as they now employ 2 hawks to keep away rogue birds.

We then climbed a few more steps to the belfry. It was an amazing feeling to be right next to Big Ben when the bongs sounded at 10am. I felt very privileged to be there.

The views were fantastic too although there was a bit of a chilly wind up there! Afterwards we went to see the inner workings of the clock which was fascinating; however if I was a guide there I would find it difficult to remember all the technical details.

As it is mechanical the clock does have to be regularly wound up (although thankfully not by hand) and is regularly maintained together with the 2000 or so other clocks in the Parliamentary buildings. We asked how it was kept accurate; the answer being there was a phone on the wall and they used it to dial 123! The pendulum weight is altered by the addition or withdrawal of pre-decimal pennies.

The trip down the stairs was harder than going up but my energy levels were low as I hadn't had time for breakfast which could have explained my faint feeling!

Our visit finished with a look around the gallery level of Portcullis House where I finally saw the painting which shows the House of Commons in session in 1986 and if you use the controls to zoom in on the clock at the back of the Chamber (in the middle of the painting), then pan up and right you will find a portrait of my Dad (Chris Moncrieff a political journalist) at the right hand end of the second row of people who are standing.

Sunday in St James's

2010-03-08T22:32:00.000Z

My list of "must do" places in London and elsewhere is getting longer and longer yet I never seem to have the time to "do" any of them.

However last Sunday on the way back from hosting a Spice event at Kensington Palace I thought I'd do a dry run of a walk in St James's which was coming up the following week. Spencer House has been on my "must do" list for over a year. The house is minutes from Green Park tube. Although the grand front of the house can be viewed from Queen's Walk it is not obviously open to the public the entrance being through a secret passageway that leads to St James's Place (or the long way round via St James's Street). It's also only open on Sundays (closed January and August) and Sundays for me are normally spent visiting my parents and doing the usual household chores.

Only when I was standing by the entrance did it dawn on me that it was Sunday, it was open and I could visit. It was 4.30pm so I was in time for the final tour of the day beginning at 4.45pm. The short film that preceded the tour was obviously marketed for American tourists who were probably great Diana, Princess of Wales fans (who incidentally never lived there). Not being xenophobic I would however have preferred a British commentator to talk about an historic British house.

From seeing a documentary about Amanda Foreman who wrote the Georgiana - Duchess of Devonshire book I had been pronouncing the christian name as in "George jay na". This American presenter however pronounced it in the more usual way.

I was the only person on the 4.45pm tour. I asked the guide what the correct pronunciation of "Georgiana" was. It was "George jay na"'; the American commentator was wrong. I had mentioned in passing that I was guide and talked about Spencer House on my tours and had been meaning to visit the interior for months. Although the tour was interesting the guide seemed unable to vary her stock speech and much of what she said I already knew. I really wanted to know more about the parties and the lives of the people that lived there. The guide was, to be honest, slightly scary and as it was near closing time I felt unable to ask any more questions.

The decoration of the house is sumptuous beyond belief especially the Palm and Painted Rooms. The building had been left rather forlorn in the early 20th Century when the Spencer family took everything (fireplaces, skirting boards, doors etc) to their Northamptonshire home. In the 1980s Lord Rothschild took on a 125 year lease of the house and spent millions bringing it back to its former glory. He employed skilled craftsmen to create reproductions of the marble fireplaces. Furniture such as mirrors, tables and chairs are now 20th century copies of the 18th century originals. It's hard to tell the difference; the only obvious difference being that the 20th century copies can be used and are not museum pieces. Today Spencer House is primarily used for parties, weddings and dinners.

So that's one item crossed off my "to do" list but another added to my "wish list" - an invite to a party/dinner at Spencer House but that might be a bit harder to attain.

A Walk in the Rain

2010-02-28T22:32:00.000Z

It had to happen sooner or later; last Thursday night was my first walk in the pouring rain. The literary walk around Mayfair for my book group had been arranged months in advance. 9 people turned up despite the weather and they were still smiling at the end! Apart from the weather everything went well. I remembered most of what I was going to say, there weren't any questions I couldn't answer; in fact there were no questions at all and the best of it was that when we walked in the dining room of the pub at the end (the King's Head in Albemarle Street) there was a table for 10 people ready and waiting for us. I hadn't booked as wasn't sure how many would want to eat but I will next time as we were incredibly lucky.

In my research for the walk I had contacted Sotheran's of Sackville Street the oldest antiquarian bookshop in the country. They had sent me 6 catalogues. It seemed a waste to keep them at home so I brought some of them on the walk with the intention of showing them round in the pub afterwards. I should have put them in a plastic bag. The catalogues in the middle had survived unscathed but those on the outside of the bag were decidedly soggy. However people found them of interest and hopefully it will encourage them to visit the shop as it really is an amazing place; the interior is rather like a museum but the staff are very welcoming and friendly.

I'm hoping to repeat this walk for different book groups so if any of my readers are interested get in touch with me at westminsterwalks@yahoo.co.uk and I'll give you more information.

And ... I must get off the subject of weather for my next blog!

A Walk in the Sunshine

2010-01-24T23:25:00.000Z

As everyone who lives in the UK knows British weather is unpredictable to say the least. Forecasts are likely to change slightly or completely. Even so as soon as the 5 day forecast was available before my walk on 17 January I was on line looking it up. Five days before my walk the forecast was for 4 days of rain and general gloominess and then a big bright sun on the day of the walk. I kept my fingers' crossed all week. The day before the walk it teemed down with rain all day; sun was still forecast for the next day but my optimism was beginning to wane. However, unbelievably the forecast was correct and it was a beautiful day. Cold but sunny so with the right warm clothes on ideal weather for a walk around London.

Twelve people turned up for my Mayfair walk on the Sunday afternoon including some friends and ex-work colleagues. In addition my advertising on Ian Visits and Londonist had proved successful as 6 of the 12 came as a result of those adverts.

Readers of my blog will realise Mayfair is one of my favourite areas for guiding. There's lots to see and there are many interesting stories to tell. The pavements are also wide (compared to areas such as Soho and Covent Garden) and it's generally reasonably empty.

This current walk - A Culinary Tour - came about because during the course of studying for my exam (in Mayfair) I realised there were lots of hidden cafes and restaurants in the most unexpected places such as Sotheby's. Combined with historical anecdotes such as Handel's gluttony and Gunter's famous ice cream shop in Berkeley Square I more or less had a walk.

I know Mayfair really well now but forget that there are lots of places unknown to the general public such as Mount Street Gardens and Bruton Place with its cunningly hidden Pizza Express alongside upmarket restaurants such as Umu and "Steak Pie of the Century" pub, the Guinea. I love taking people into Mount Street Gardens as they do seem genuinely surprised. That's what I love about being a guide - showing people the hidden parts of the City and hoping they will want to explore more themselves.

Wintry Walking

2010-01-18T23:17:00.000Z

Back in December when I chose a date for my first Belgravia walk I was unable to foresee that London would be beset with very wintry weather and half the tube system would also be closed (well ... in retrospect I could have checked that out on Transport for London).

My "Bibulous Tour of Belgravia" includes visits to 3 pubs. There is also about an hour of walking and stopping at various places of historical interest so quite a bit of time is spent outside. I was reluctant to cancel knowing the forecast was likely to change but it did cross my mind that everyone would drop out and I would be left waiting at Victoria Station by myself.

Dressed like the Michelin Man in thermals, fleece and woolly gloves (and with a spare layer in my bag) I was relieved that there was no wind chill factor and it wasn't unbearably cold. However I'm sure adrenalin helped to keep me warm.

Thankfully 8 people braved the wintry conditions and came along. Belgravia pubs on a cold Sunday afternoon were cosy and empty so it was good that in the first two pubs we could all sit together although in the third pub, the Grenadier, half the pub was reserved for diners so that wasn't great. The fact that all 3 pubs are close together in the second half of the walk meant that the bulk of the walking and talking was out of the way and it was easier to prise everyone out of the 1st and 2nd pubs with the promise that there was an even better pub around the corner.

Belgravia has some unique pubs and unless you work in the area are pubs you would probably never come across. I got the impression that people were genuinely amazed at the pubs we visited which was really good. Now to conquer Marylebone as I know there are some good pubs there too.

A “sweetshop” for London obsessives

2009-12-30T22:35:00.001Z

Today, after a very interesting walk around Clerkenwell with City Highlights and a brief stop for some soup (to warm up) I decided to go to the Guildhall Library with the hope of discovering some new information for my Mayfair and Belgravia walks coming up soon.

Guildhall Library is a reference library filled to the brim with books about London history amongst many other subjects. Although it is open Saturdays it’s not open after 5pm on weekdays so unless I make a very quick visit in my lunch hour or organise myself on a Saturday I can’t normally get there.

At the moment I have no idea how the shelves are organised; to me the books don’t seem to be in any obvious order. However that is part of the fun. It’s rather like a second-hand bookstore although obviously you can’t take the books away.

The first book I discovered today was entitled “The London Pub”. My intention was to find out more information about the pubs on my walks but I couldn’t help but look at every single page just in case there was a pub in Central London that I didn’t know about! The authors had picked 116 of their favourite pubs in London as at the date of publication which was 2003. When I got home I looked up The Archery Tavern, W2 as this was a pub I had never heard of. Unfortunately it closed down in 2007. Another recommended pub, The Feathers in Marylebone has now been renamed the Swan and Edgar and seems to have been modernised in the process. I think I agree with Fay Maschler in that I would be horrified not impressed to see a bar made out of stuck together old paperbacks. The Star and Garter, Poland Street, Soho, is however still there so I’m looking forward to visiting soon.

Secondly I picked up “Belgravia” by James Dowsing. With repeated trips to Westminster libraries (including Belgravia library) I have struggled to find books on Belgravia so this was good. However the style of the book wasn’t really to my taste and I gained little from it. Thirdly I picked up Mayfair Madams by Maria Perry which I had borrowed from Mayfair library before and which gave me some more useful information.

I was starting to get hungry so my plan was to return the books to the shelves and go home. However when every book you see on the shelves is of interest Guildhall Library is a very hard place to leave. My fourth and final book was bizarrely a Mills and Boon publication entitled “Romance and Realities of Mayfair and Piccadilly”. What attracted me to this book was the amount of detail about who was occupying which house in which road in Mayfair. The book was dated 1927 so was interesting from an historic point of view.

I put this book back but couldn’t resist another look at the shelves. However I managed to restrain myself as I really needed to go home. After 2 hours I felt drained but happy.

I really must find the time to return more often and looking at the Guildhall website realise there is much more to see than just the books on the shelves.

London Quiz Part 3/Invasion of the Pipers

2009-12-13T22:25:00.000Z

Another night, another quiz. This time it was the City of Westminster Guide Lecturers Association Christmas party at the Adam & Eve pub and the questions were even more difficult than the Visit London quiz earlier in the week. Having said that with M, the highest scoring runner up in the current Brain of Britain (and also in the winning Londonist quiz team) on our team we came joint first.

After the Visit London quiz I had committed to memory all the answers just in case they came up at the Guides' quiz as wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if they had done and I couldn't answer them. However I needn't have troubled myself. Questions weren't specifically London based apart from one round and many were simply impossible (for me anyway).

The obscure questions included what well known airline once included a seahorse in its logo, the answer being Air France. We actually got this right as A knew that D the quiz master had once worked for them.

Out of a maximum score of 48 we got a respectable 36 and tied in first place with Team 2. The tie break question was however too easy so the prize (6 chocolate Santas) had to be shared between 12 people! Wish it had been the prize from the Visit London quiz - each team member won tickets for a flight on the London Eye.

After the quiz had finished and we were all standing around socialising the pub (which we had hired) was gatecrashed by some Irish guards, 3 in their red tunics and 2 pipers dressed in saffron kilts. One of the pipers marched up and down the pub playing some tunes (a good way to gatecrash as no-one can hear a thing). The medley was finished and some of us wanted more but the landlady was conscious of annoying the neighbours so the piper stopped. A bizarre end to another really good night.

London Quiz - Part 2

2009-12-11T23:47:00.000Z

Being in the winning team for the Londonist Quiz a few months ago I was excited when I read about a London quiz for London experts on the Londonist forum.

Unfortunately the response from Visit London to my enquiring email was that the team quota had been filled and there was no room for a guiding team. However Londonist were lacking a team member so I filled the space.

The venue was upstairs at the Shepherd Tavern one of my favourite pubs in Mayfair. The drinks were flowing and Visit London were paying. The teams consisted of cabbies, the Big Bus Company, Londonist and loads and loads of London bloggers. It was quite a bizarre experience to meet the people behind the blogs I'm signed up to. Ian Visits was there as was Faded London, Jane's London, Caroline's Miscellany and Tom Tired of London.

The questions ranged from fiendishly difficult to extremely easy. I had tried to do "revision" ie studying some of my books including statues, blue plaques and churches, but this didn't really help.

Londonist came a respectable third although there were only 4 points between us and the winners (the cabbies). Next year there will definitely be a hand-picked guiding team and we will win!

Practice Makes Perfect

2009-12-06T20:58:00.000Z

Today I took part in the first of a series of walk shops aimed at those of us qualified guides who are looking to get away from our comfort zone areas (mine being St James's and Mayfair) and explore new areas with a view to putting together walks there too.

Thankfully the rain had stopped by 11am when we met at the Charles I statue at Charing Cross for our walk around Whitehall. I was dressed (as is usual for me for winter walks) in thermals. I was too hot. Better to be too hot than too cold though. I was down to do 2 stops and whilst the adrenalin would be pumping when I would be talking I would be standing around the rest of the time.

One of my stops was Horse Guards and as we walked through the arch that only the Queen is allowed to drive through we were confronted by a gale. During my spiel my hair was I think keeping everyone amused as it was flying in all directions. Mental note to always carry a hair tie for similar situations. I was quite pleased with my talk as had found out several obscure/interesting facts including that the beach volleyball competition will be held at Horse Guards during the Olympics and that one of the statues on Horse Guards Parade - the first Viscount Wolseley - was the model for Gilbert and Sullivan's character the Modern Major General in Pirates of Penzance. I'm always looking for the obscure rather than the dry history. Not that I know the words but I've had that tune in my head all day!

It was an interesting walk as although I knew most of the guides from guiding meetings I hadn't seen them all in action. One of the most surprising was M who astounded me by quoting a Scottish poem in a convincing Scottish accent in the middle of his talk about Derby Gate. He was fantastic. He told me later that he had a Scottish English teacher at school and all the poems he learned when he was a child had stuck in his head. C who incidentally lives around the corner from me stopped opposite Downing Street and rather than talk about the human inhabitants talked about the various cats that had been in residence there. It was really different and funny.

Needless to say we retired to the pub afterwards The Old Shades where incidentally there is a BookCrossing zone (another of my interests) but I managed to resist the temptation to leave with any as have some walk planning to do.

Back on my feet

2009-11-23T22:59:00.000Z

Having been more or less house bound/desk bound for the last month or so my toes are now well on the way to recovery and I'm back out there trawling the streets of Westminster for future walks.

Tonight, in preparation for a practice walk in a couple of weeks' time I walked up and down Whitehall looking for two memorials which I eventually found in a side street. I should have thought to check exactly where they were before my expedition which erroneously involved the whole length of Whitehall rather than the first third. I should also have gone to the library after the exploration rather than before as emerged from the library with possibly 4 of the heaviest books they had.

One of the books I borrowed was "One on Every Corner" which is a book about the history of some Westminster pubs. I can see this will be very useful for the historical pub tours and food and drink themed walks that I'm currently working on.

Tomorrow night I'm planning on walking around Belgravia to see how the pubs on my tour can form a logical walk and end nearish to the tube. From looking at the map this seems rather impossible as 1 of them is hidden down a mews quite a distance from the tube and the 2 that are near the tube are in a bit of a maze. I would also like to mention the Plumber's Arms (mentioning the Lord Lucan connection) in my walk but this one is completely out on a limb to the other 3 pubs. Am hopeful it will become clearer on the street tomorrow. I may need some help testing out these walks/pubs. No doubt I have some friends who would be interested in helping me!

Que sera sera

2009-10-19T19:11:00.000+01:00

Not even a week after getting my badge I am already out of action with a broken toe. I tripped over the hem of my pyjama trousers which made me lose my balance and I slammed my toes against the door jamb. I think I woke my neighbours up with my exclamations of pain.

However it was the nausea, blue lips and faintness that were worrying me more than the actual pain of the toe which wasn't in fact that great (until I tried to walk). NHS Direct said they would call me back in 1.5 hours. This was about 12.30am. Being far too late to call any family or friends I decided after only half an hour of waiting (rather like the girls recently trapped in the storm drain ) to update my Facebook status just really wanting to talk to someone. Everything seems much worse when you're on your own. My brother had just returned from a local jazz jam saw my message and got in contact. It was good to speak to someone.

I decided to take myself off to A&E but rather stupidly the only reading matter I took with me were the notes for my walk planned for Wednesday 21st. However walking from the flat to the taxi I soon realised I wouldn't be walking anywhere anytime soon. 3.5 hours on and off in the waiting room is a long time when there's nothing to read and nothing to eat - I was inexplicably starving for most of the time.

My toe is strapped up and I am in effect trapped in my flat. Walking to the other end of the flat is hard enough so commuting up to London let alone leading a walk is out of the question for the moment.

There's no point dwelling on what happened. I'm being positive and using this extra time at home to write my long overdue articles for the Londonist and to work on my next walk - a food and drink themed walk around Mayfair. Que sera sera as they say.

My first Westminster Walk

2009-10-18T19:44:00.001+01:00

Organising my first walk as a qualified guide on the evening after the badge ceremony was possibly not one of my better ideas. I should know by now that where wine is available my common sense disappears. However although I had suffered during the day from my over indulgence the night before once I was into my stride in the walk the adrenalin kicked in and my hangover disappeared.

This walk around St James's/Gentleman's London had originally been put together by me over the 2008 Christmas holidays and practiced on some friends in January. However standing at the top of Queen's Walk by the Ritz Hotel with my new badge on my lapel I felt very important and excited.

After a slightly nervous start I relaxed and began to enjoy myself which I hope came over to my group of 11 former work colleagues and friends.

I realised however that just by walking the route by myself and adding on the minutes taken at each stop is no indication of the actual length of a walk. Real people as opposed to guiding colleagues dawdle and stop to look in shop windows. My walk overran by 20 minutes.

I also discovered that at this time of the year even a week makes all the difference in how dark it is. My second stop was at the back of Spencer House in Queen's Walk. A week after doing a practice walk at the same time of the evening it was far too dark. I could barely see the group.

As I have quite an encyclopaedic knowledge of pubs that I want to share the plan was to include a 30 minute pub stop half way round at the Chequers. I have been told by already qualified guides that this would undoubtedly cause problems and once I had people in a pub I would have trouble getting them out. On this occasion at the time stipulated everyone bar one person was waiting outside ready to begin again. However on a freezing cold or rainy evening it may not be quite so easy.

Whilst in the pub I became aware again that I had my badge on and found it quite a talking point. In fact I managed to get business cards from several local businessmen interested in walks in the area.

I finished the walk in Pickering Place talking about Berry Brothers which I thought was a good link to the Red Lion in Crown Passage whose house wine is by the aforementioned shop and where we would finish the walk. On this occasion only 2 people joined me but I hope more people will in the future as it is one of my favourite pubs in London.

Ceremony at City Hall

2009-10-18T17:19:00.000+01:00

Arriving on the 18th floor of Westminster City Hall in Victoria Street I was rather nervous. I was about to get my guiding badge from the Lord Mayor of Westminster, Duncan Sandys, great grandson of Winston Churchill and at age 35 the youngest person ever to hold this office.

However on being invited into the Mayor's Parlour we were greeted by our guiding colleagues offering us wine. What a relief. It was a very informal affair and we mingled and chatted and drank wine with our fellow graduates for some time before the formal part of the evening by which time I had had 2 glasses of wine and my nerves had gone.

We were called forward individually and presented with the badge and a certificate. The badge is quite substantial and heavy. I was so pleased and excited to finally receive it.

After the ceremony we had the chance to look around the Plate Room in City Hall. I had expected this would be rather boring as the name didn't really sell itself; however it was fascinating. A former Lord Mayor and the President of the City of Westminster Guide Lecturers' Association Robert Davis was very enthusiastic and regaled us with the history and stories connected with the contents of that small strongroom that had been collected over the centuries. I came away wanting to know more.

The most fascinating story was regarding a tobacco box that had been given to the Society of Past Overseers as a gift in 1713 and inscribed with the name of the donor followed a few years later with the inscription commemorating an important historical event. Almost every year an event has been added although of course new receptacles were created. At first there were bigger and bigger boxes to fit inside each other rather like Russian dolls culminating in an enormous pedestal which was in the centre of the room. When that was full there followed a series of plates and other receptacles. 2013 is the 300th anniversary of this tradition and the Society is planning starting again from the very beginning with a new small tobacco box.

The Civic Plate Room isn't normally open to the public but this year for the first time it was accessible as part of Open House weekend. Hopefully it will be open again next year so I can return for another look.

I was reluctant to leave City Hall with its fantastic views and wanted more time to look at the many historical paintings on the walls but the time came when we had to leave so we reconvened around the corner in the Adam and Eve.

A Perfect Weekend

2009-09-24T23:07:00.000+01:00

If only every weekend was like the weekend just gone. London seemed to be on a high and I certainly was having found out on Saturday morning that I had qualified as a City of Westminster Walking Tour Guide.

19 and 20 September this year were the dates for Open House Weekend when 700 buildings across the capital are open for free access to the public.

Over the weekend I learned so much, saw some fantastic architecture and amazing interiors and met many interesting and friendly people.

I spent Saturday afternoon volunteering as a steward at Marlborough House in Pall Mall. It was very hot in there (and I was dressed for winter - it was cold when I left home in the morning) but I had a wonderful time. I had some interesting conversations, I people-watched and I enjoyed the interior of a fantastic historical building. It is certainly worth putting on your list to visit next year even just to sit in the enormous garden normally hidden and private.

Every building I went to I got chatting with people. I've been invited to bring a group back for a tour to the Royal Society in Carlton House Terrace, I've had tea at the RSA (incidentally open to the public for a wedding fair on 11 October when you will have another chance to tour the house), I've sat on the steps of the Lansdowne Club waiting for a tour telling a couple all about Harry Gordon Selfridge and his escapades after his wife died and I even bumped into one of our examiners and had a friendly chat with her. It might have been different had I failed though!

Sunday evening there was a party for volunteers at the German Gymnasium next to St Pancras station. This was an amazing space and I still have to read up about its history. At the party I bumped into the Chairman of the guiding association I am about to join and 2 people I have met before through other clubs. By the end of the weekend I had several email addresses of people interested in coming on my walks.

Am off to Yorkshire tomorrow morning and hope this weekend will be equally as rewarding.

Walthamstow Wanderings

2009-09-06T19:44:00.000+01:00

Not one to sit around twiddling my thumbs after my guiding exam was over yesterday I felt at a loose end. As readers of my blog will realise my life has been taken over by revision and practising for the exam rather too much lately hence no blogging for far too long.

I sat in Green Park in the sun for a while wondering what to do and then decided to join my friend, C, who was going on the E17 Art Trail . In retrospect probably not the best idea after traipsing the streets of Mayfair in sandals not really suited to long walks but I survived and it was only around about 6pm when we finished up in the Rose and Crown that I suddenly felt completely exhuasted.

I have lived in the E4/E17 area all my life but discovered parts of Walthamstow yesterday I never knew existed.

This is the 5th year for the Art Trail and there are 150 exhibitions, walks, talks and cycle rides at 90 different venues. Many of the exhibitions are in private homes. Everyone we met yesterday was really friendly, enthusiastic and welcoming. The art we saw was diverse no two venues having similar styles. The Art Trail runs until next Sunday 13 September.

My first surprise was a lovely green space - Stoneydown Park - just off Blackhorse Road where I met my friends C and V. Being a bit mentally exhausted from my exam it never occurred to me to take photos of our tour.

Our next surprise was no. 10 on the Art Trail entitled "Tales from the Forest" . The address was "The Secret Garden", Flat 3, etc etc. The flat was in a nondescript block just behind Walthamstow Market. At the top of the stairs we emerged onto a roof terrace which was amazingly quiet being so close to the market. Katja Rosenberg's prints and postcards and fairytales written by local schoolchildren were all around for us to browse. She welcomed us with a magic potion (wine or orange juice) and encouraged us to spend as much time as we wanted browsing or reading. It was a great place to start the trail. Katja's work will next be on view at Wonderland at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green from 26 September.

My other favourite venue was no 13 on the list "Teenage Pics" in the Outset Centre, (access via Frederick Street, E17) which I had never heard of and was surprised to find that my train passes within feet of it every day. This was an exhibition of deckchairs that had been reclaimed from old park buildings and given a new lease of life by local young artists. The painting was done directly onto the canvas and there were some striking designs. This exhibition is open Monday to Friday this week 10 to 5 and until 9pm on Tuesday.

Our last surprise of the day was a sample shop somewhere near to the Alpha Business Centre where we had seen no. 12 on the list "We have a Product Malfunction" which unfortunately I just didn't get. However we found this great shop selling samples from the Spanish clothes shop Almatrichi and I bought a gorgeous top in that green colour that you only seem to be able to buy in Spain for only £5.

Our penultimate stop was in Celsius in Hoe Street which included some collages by former Grange Hill actor Terry Sue Pat who played Benny back in the late 1970s/early 1980s and now lives locally. Our final stop was the Rose & Crown which has its own exhibitions as part of the Trail but I was just too exhausted to do anything more than sit down and have a drink.

A Busy Week

2009-08-09T20:01:00.000+01:00

I had so many plans for my blog this week. However I have basically been out too much enjoying London with no spare time to write my blog. It's unlikely I will catch up with myself so here's a summary with some of my blurry photos as have now figured out how to download from phone to PC although the actual editing of the photos (ie turning them the right way round and putting them at different locations in blog) is still beyond me. I can turn them round but for some reason I am unable to save them.

Friday - Sunday - a weekend trip to Oxfordshire to visit friends who live in a lovely village called Bampton near Oxford for the princely sum of £8 return on the train. Bampton is known for having 3 Morris dancing teams and my friends told me that over the May bank holiday (maybe next year!) the village is taken over by Morris dancers as they dance their way around the village. All the big house owners are legally bound to open their grounds so it's a good opportunity for the locals to see behind the scenes. We spent the weekend cycling although my fitness was sorely lacking and eating which I am quite good at.

Tuesday - a pub crawl with my American friend D to those 2 fantastic Belgravia pubs The Star Tavern (photo with all the hanging baskets) and The Grenadier (see my previous entry).

Wednesday - a guided tour around Charterhouse in Clerkenwell (the other photo) - absolutely fascinating and unknown to many of the people I work with in Farringdon probably less than half a mile away. This was followed by a practice walk in Mayfair for exam re-sit after which I was fit for nothing.

Thursday evening - was meant to be a walk down the Strand with Londonist and Chris Roberts to promote the latest edition of the Penny Dreadful for the 21st Century One Eyed Grey but the torrential rain thwarted us and we only made it a couple of hundred yards to the Lyceum Tavern which I had never realised was a cheap Sam Smiths pub and we stayed there for the duration of the evening. Good to meet some of the Londonist staff and see Chris again although a shame not to do the walk.

Friday - a night in but length of evening scuppered by the National Express rail strike.

Saturday - a VaughanTown meetup where I enthused about my 4 visits to VaughanTown (where you talk (not teach) English to Spaniards with a good standard of English for 6 days and stay in a luxury hotel with all meals included in remote parts of Spain and meet fantastic people and generally have a good time - mention my name if you book!).

Today - I hosted a Spice tour around the BBC at Portland Place followed by lunch at Strada.

Think I need a rest!

Cemetery Tour no. 2

2009-07-26T23:27:00.000+01:00

Following on from my visit to Kensal Green Cemetery in February I went on a tour of the City of London Cemetery in Manor Park yesterday. I had stopped at the lovely café by the gatehouse as part of a Ramblers walk last year but had no idea of the extent of the burial grounds. The Cemetery covers over 200 acres and is the biggest in the country. The memorial gardens within the cemetery are some 34 acres alone. The whole of Highgate Cemetery is only 37 acres.

David our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the Cemetery having worked there so we got to hear about the practicalities of burials and memorials as well as the history and stories connected with the graves.

The Cemetery came into being in the mid 19^th Century because the churchyards in the City of London were becoming overcrowded. David told us for example that St Andrew Holborn had so many dead in its graveyard that the ground was 15 feet higher than the street level and there was a danger of bodies overflowing onto the street. Some 12000 bodies were transferred from St Andrew to a new burial plot in this Cemetery and in recent years when they cleared the crypt another 3000 bodies followed. They had massively underestimated the amount of bodies in the crypt thinking there were only 700 or 800. Looking at the church’s website the crypt is now available for venue hire which doesn’t seem right given its past history.

Many of the other City churches cleared their graveyards when this Cemetery was created and the bodies were reinterred here. One memorial to St Helens Bishopsgate is said to include the body of Robert Hooke scientist and architect (amongst other things) who I had to confess I had not heard of before.

One of the most striking memorials we saw was that of Gladys Spencer a local music and dance teacher. Hers is the only memorial that includes a statue of a piano. According to David who has seen a picture of Gladys the representation of her is rather more attractive than she was in real life. She died aged only 34 in 1931. (Apologies I haven't yet worked out how to save photos after rotating them!)

The tour was full of fascinating information and I could probably go on for another few paragraphs. However if you get a chance to visit and go on a tour I would definitely recommend it. The nearest station is Manor Park which is only 12 minutes away from Liverpool Street. As mentioned before there’s a great café with an outdoor seating area which is lovely on a sunny day.

The Rialto - the tale of a forgotten cinema

2009-07-26T10:28:00.000+01:00

I discovered a forgotten gem in London last night. The Rialto Cinema in Coventry Street (near Leicester Square) was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as having "the finest early cinema interior in London, worthy of a full-scale theatre". Built in 1912-13 it is today used as a rather downmarket casino and the gamblers seem oblivious to their opulent surroundings. The exterior of no. 3-4 Coventry Street doesn't really stand out but the interior is breathtaking.

I've been unable to find an interior photo on the internet and there is a distinct lack of information available but this American website has a few details:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2502/

Details of the casino if you want to check out the interior for yourself are at:

http://www.gcasino.co.uk/piccadilly/index.php

It is a real shame that it's hidden away from the general public and isn't being used for its original purpose.

A Secret Garden

2009-07-19T21:42:00.000+01:00

London is full of secret places and I am enjoying searching them out. Hill House Garden is a little known part of Hampstead Heath. It would be hard to come across this garden by accident as it is really tucked away off North End Way close to the former pub Jack Straw's Castle. When I visited it for the first time last year for a BookCrossing picnic I was absolutely blown away. The manicured gardens with the ornamental fish pond and the Edwardian pergola make this an amazing place. The pergola is in need of some much needed and probably costly refurbishment but you can still enjoy the beautiful views and imagine all the garden parties that took place here at the beginning of the 20th century Picnicking in these peaceful beautiful surroundings is a great way to spend a summer afternoon.

The pergola and gardens together with Hampstead Heath are owned by the City of London Corporation and more details about the history of the pergola can be found on this link. The garden is halfway between Golders Green and Hampstead tube stations on the Northern Line and on bus routes 210 and 268 and interestingly the building of the Northern Line helped in the creation of the garden.

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B5F7A42F-FA5A-4087-A3A4-C3FFE907EB2D/0/OS_HH_pergola.pdf

Running the Race

2009-07-16T23:06:00.000+01:00

Tonight I watched a great event - the annual City of London Road Race. However I wasn't joined on the streets by hundreds of people. In fact I was the only person in my stretch of the course near to Liverpool Street station.

The race sponsored by Standard Chartered started at 7.15pm at the Honourable Artillery Company ground near to Old Street so there were a lot of people on the streets but they were all rushing home and seemingly oblivious to the race about to start. They would have noticed the barriers on the roads, the buses diverted and the stewards with their yellow jackets but they didn't stop to think that it might be worth spending a few minutes to egg the runners on.

I had planned to get a bus from the Strand to Liverpool Street but ended up walking from St Paul's because of the diversions. I noticed the signs for the race but carried on like everyone else as it wasn't due to start for another 15 minutes. However standing in the station waiting for my train it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't want to be like everyone else and wanted to be back by the side of the road being a part of it.

In the 15 minutes or so that I watched the runners turn into Old Broad Street the winner would more than likely (going by last year's times) be crossing the finish line back at Old Street. Initially I was just going to watch the start but the pounding legs became quite hypnotic and I couldn't draw myself away. I then started looking out for people I knew and saw H, the Managing Partner of my old firm quite close to the front. I saw someone with an army backpack, someone dressed as a zebra, Wonderwoman and several people who had volunteered to dress up as human billboards for the sponsoring company and who looked very uncomfortable. However I mostly saw normal people from law firms, banks, barristers' chambers and accountancy firms concentrating on completing the 3.5 mile course in a respectable time.

I must have returned to my hypnotic state as was then amazed to hear someone call my name and noticed that a group of runners from my old company had recognised me!

Prior to watching this event I had been feeling a bit down and sorry for myself. This was the perfect antidote and I boarded the train home feeling quite happy.

http://www.cityrace.co.uk/

London Life

2009-07-15T22:23:00.000+01:00

Despite studying to become a London guide I haven't been enjoying London as much as I should have over the past few months as have been cooped up at home revising. However last weekend I got right back into the thick of it and have been celebrating living in London

I found out at late notice about a free event on Friday night at the Wellcome Collection in Euston Road called Quacks and Cures. Myself and my friend S started off the evening with a cheap veggie curry in Drummond Street (just behind Euston Square tube) and when we arrived at the Wellcome Collection the place was buzzing. Our visit started with a lecture by Ben Goldacre who writes the Bad Science column in the Guardian. I confess I had never heard of Ben but my friend S was keen to hear him. We had to queue for 20 minutes to get a seat but it was worth it. The talk was entitled "The Placebo Effect" and was very interesting and thought provoking.

http://www.badscience.net/

We then had a look around some of the exhibits in the Museum and the permanent collection which were fascinating although I did wonder whether the old fashioned prosthetic limbs and bottles of preserved organs would be featuring in my dreams that night. We stopped to look at some live leeches but I didn't get too close as slimy animals aren't my favourites. However I was completely unaware that they have found their way back into use today as part of plastic and reconstructive surgery.

After a restorative tonic in the cafe we went home.

http://www.wellcomecollection.org/index.htm

Saturday I was a volunteer host for another medically connected event - a visit to The Old Operating Theatre Museum just south of London Bridge. Visiting this museum is like going back in time. You go up a winding wooden staircase as if you are going up Rapunzel's Tower. When you reach the top you are in an old fashioned museum that doesn't take credit cards (so I unfortunately had to go back down, to the bank and then up again to get enough money to pay for 10 people). We sat in the old operating theatre and watched a demonstration (without the actual cutting obviously) of an amputation with a live volunteer. The surgeon at the time back in the mid 19th Century had perfected his technique and got it down to a record 27 seconds. Just as well as there were no anaesthetics. It's amazing how the population ever survived as there was absolutely no thought of hygiene. No hands or surgical coats were ever washed so the person being operated on at the end of the day would be contaminated with every other patient's germs and had little chance of survival.

http://www.thegarret.org.uk/

The London Bridge Festival was happening last weekend and on my way across the bridge in the morning I'd witnessed Freemen of the City of London exercising their right (after a substantial donation to the Lord Mayor of London's charity) to drive sheep across London Bridge. I had intended to have a proper look at the stalls on my way back north. However the first stall I came to was manned by the City of London Guides Association and I knew several of the people on the stall from my Westminster and Foundation Guiding courses. A walk was just about to set off so as I had nothing planned I joined the group.

http://www.cityoflondontouristguides.com/

http://www.londonbridgefestival.com/

When I worked at More London (near City Hall) I did a lot of exploring in the area. This part of Southwark is one of my favourite parts of London as it has so many surprises. On Saturday's walk I learnt that several hundred years ago the City of London extended several miles into Southwark, evidence of which can be seen on a gravestone in the Cathedral garden. On our walk we went down many alleyways and through busy Borough Market (and unfortunately lost quite a few of the group) and I discovered a few more interesting pubs to add to my collection. We visited one of the alcoves from the old London Bridge which can be seen in the grounds of Guy's Hospital and we also saw the final resting place of Thomas Guy. The evening finished with a couple of drinks in one of the aforementioned pubs.

Next weekend I will be BookCrossing in Hampstead and watching the latest Harry Potter whilst dressed as Professor Trelawney. Details soon.

A nice cup of tea

2009-06-26T20:29:00.000+01:00

Our exam walk has two subjects that crop up throughout the whole walk - one is Americans as there is a strong American connection in Mayfair - and the other is afternoon tea.

Afternoon tea is of course a very British institution and it seems to have become a meal in its own right at a price to match. Prices range from £37 at the Ritz to an amazing £6.25 (granted a much smaller tea) at Sothebys. If you want to have tea at the Ritz you need to book at least 12 weeks in advance and if you want afternoon tea on Christmas Day you will have to wait until Christmas 2010 as it's already fully booked this year.

Browns in Albemarle Street won the Tea Guild's annual award for Top London Afternoon Tea earlier this year. They have a choice of 17 different teas with 2 dedicated tea sommeliers to help you make your choice. Their tea is £35.

Claridge's tea includes a choice of 30 teas and they have also won a prestigious tea award this year. During Wimbledon fortnight their website indicates (although I may have misunderstood this) that guests taking afternoon tea (for £33) will be treated to strawberries, macaroons and a glass of champagne, served in a "garden party atmosphere". If that is right that is a bargain.

At the other end of the scale the auction house Sothebys in New Bond Street do a "Small Tea" for the real bargain price of £6.25 which is perfect for people with small appetites like me. This comprises a toasted teacake, a portion of scones with clotted cream and jam and tea or coffee. Whilst you're there you can preview any items coming up for auction or pop upstairs to the gallery to view one of the sales in progress which I did today. I watched a contemporary art sale and prices started at £20,000. There were plenty of people buying.

If you're shopping for perfumes in Miller Harris in Bruton Street they have their own minature cafe at the back of the shop where you can partake in one of 3 fragrant teas. A pot of tea here isn't cheap at £4 but it's not exactly PG Tips. All teas are from Postcard Teas in Dering Street.

The last place I'll mention isn't strictly only for afternoon tea but if you can get past the intimidating shop assistants (and security guards) in Dover Street Market (not a market in the normal sense of the word with very expensive clothes for sale and bizarre animal skulls for just under £2000) and make your way up to the 4th floor you will find an unexpected light and airy unpretentious cafe. It's set up rather like a slightly posher version of Food for Thought in Covent Garden with increased prices to match. The Rose Bakery was started by Rose Carrarini who co-founded Villandry in Marylebone and Rose and her French husband set up the original Rose Bakery in Paris in 2002. I haven't yet eaten there but the reviews look good.

Of course there are many more I haven't mentioned - not just Fortnum & Mason and The Connnaught Hotel - but other fashion stores and shops and I'm sure there are many more that I am still to discover.

This could be an idea for a themed walk. Watch this space ...

http://www.theritzlondon.com/tea/

http://www.brownshotel.com/dining/english_tea_room.htm

http://www.claridges.co.uk/london_afternoon_tea.aspx

http://www.sothebys.com/cafe/

http://www.millerharris.com/home/

http://www.postcardteas.com/

http://www.weebirdy.com/2008/09/london-must-eats-carrot-cake-at-dsms-rose-bakery.html

Almost there

2009-06-21T20:20:00.000+01:00

I think I've finally cracked it. I've finally realised what I have been doing wrong in relation to guiding and am all set to prove next Sunday that I can guide when I pass the exam.

I went out today with some of my trainee guide colleagues and we practised the exam walk not once but twice over the course of the day. They gave me what I needed which is constructive and detailed feedback. My mistakes (ie basically talking too much and too fast) have been hinted at by others on my course but no-one had actually spelled it out to me and I was too dim to realise what they were trying to tell me.

I have finally managed to smile as I talk (another thing I had had difficulty with) and had thought that was my only problem. However after talking about Lansdowne House (where Mr H G Selfridge lived in the 1920s) for 1 minute longer than I should have this morning I was told I was giving far too much information and that I should slow down, give less detail and put some pauses in. In the afternoon I tried the same stop with the pauses and cut the extraneous information and it worked.

S from the class has organised a couple more practice sessions during the week and I do still have a long way to go but feel that I have finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

Fingers' crossed for Sunday

London's secret pub tours

2009-05-17T16:29:00.000+01:00

One of the first tours I do when I qualify as a guide will be a tour around some of the many interesting pubs in London. In fact I think it will have to be a series of tours as we obviously want a decent amount of time in each pub and we will want a bit of history/interesting facts thrown in but we don't want to be traversing too far in the process.

Thursday night we had a practice walk around Belgravia and there, really is my first pub walk sorted. Firstly, as its history is associated with the disappearance of Lord Lucan (although I can't vouch what the actual pub is like) we have The Plumber's Arms in Lower Belgrave Street. It was on 7 November 1974 that Lady Lucan discovered the body of the nanny Sandra Rivett in the basement of their house at 46 Lower Belgrave Street. The nanny had been battered to death. Lady Lucan was grabbed from behind by a gloved hand and hit on the head by, she later claimed, her estranged husband. She managed to escape and ran out of the house and burst in the pub bloodstained and wet from the rain exclaiming that there had been a murder and that she believed the murderer still to be in her house along with her children. Later that night Lord Lucan told a friend that he had interrupted the murderer, slipped in a pool of blood (likely story!) and things didn't look good for him (too right!) so had decided to flee. He hasn't been seen since.

http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub1358.html

The middle part of the walk needs more research. However I do have 2 further fantastic pubs to be included.

Near to Hyde Park corner tube, just along from Pizza on the Park our guide took us down a very dodgy looking backstreet, where I would never have ventured by myself - Old Barrack Yard. Back in the mid 18th century this had been the entrance to a cow pasture on which a Foot Guards Barracks had been built. I wasn't the only person in my group of fellow trainee tour guides who had never been to this part of Belgravia. As we turned the corner we arrived in a cobbled mews and at the end of this mews was a picture postcard pub, The Grenadier. It was impossible to believe that Hyde Park Corner was so close as it was completely peaceful. We didn't have time to stop for a pint as had to be on our way but I will return.

http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub384.html

Our final pub of the night where we did stop was the Star Tavern. It is in deepest Belgravia near to Belgrave Square in Belgrave Mews West. This is reputedly the place where the Great Train Robbery was planned. It was very busy on a Thursday night so obviously I will have to return to check it out at different times of the day and night!

http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub933.html

After my course is finished I foresee that I might have to do a bit more exploring and sampling of the pubs in the area in order to put together a walk. I can see a full-time job of research for pub related walks all around the city. Watch this space ...

Undiscovered (for me) London

2009-05-10T18:12:00.000+01:00

I have had a stressful week in preparation for a practice walk around Little Venice/Paddington Basin which took place yesterday. All our previous practice walks have taken place in areas of London that I know well (ie the West End generally) but although I have been to Little Venice a couple of times on canal trips to and from Camden I can't say I really know it.

It was Little Venice pool that confused me. I just couldn't get my bearings with it. I even managed to spend 30 minutes walking up and down the wrong arm of the canal wondering where Edgware Road had gone to! I was worried that on the walk the person doing the stop before me would be somewhere I didn't know and I wouldn't be able to find my next stop! Over the last week I visited LV 3 times (including 2.5 hours after work on Friday) and by yesterday was just about confident not to get lost.

Last Saturday it was the annual Canal Cavalcade which is really worth seeing. Hundreds of narrowboats converge on the pool and you can get a feeling as to how the area was back in the 19th Century when it was a hive of activity with the barges delivering coal, hay, wood and even live sheep. Pickfords the removal company had their own fleet of boats at 2 speeds. One for normal deliveries and one for urgent or perishable goods. They couldn't have been that urgent though as top speed was 3 to 3.5 miles an hour. Wedgewood and Dalton also used the canal to deliver their pottery. There was unbelievably a 90% breakage rate by road. By canal it was down to less than 50%. The canal's heyday didn't last long though with the arrival of the railways.

4 of my class colleagues joined me on a free walk entitled "Little Venice Waterside Walk". It was interesting but most of the content had already been covered in class. I also couldn't help but notice when the unqualified guide did something wrong such as turn away from us when talking or start talking before we all got there. I suppose this is going to happen every time I go on a walk now but it must mean I'm learning!

Bank Holiday Monday I needed to go back there again as still hadn't figured out where I was going to stand for my 2 stops (Little Venice - Canal life and architecture and Bridges Railways and Heathrow Express). My brother A, was playing trumpet in one of his bands The BBJC Dance Band (who play 40s dance music) at the new amphitheatre at Sheldon Square (just along from LV) so that seemed a good reason to visit too. http://www.myspace.com/bbjcdanceband

After watching A unfortunately under cover as it was raining I then went on another free guided walk entiled "Big Changes in Paddington" with John, a qualified City of Westminster guide (what I hope to be at the end of my course). He was very good. This walk was around the new development at Paddington Basin and it will be fantastic when it is finished. If you get off the tube at Edgware Road, cross over to the new Hilton Metropole and then just walk around the corner you will be completely surprised to find the end of the Grand Union Canal. I have never seen the end of a canal before.

Part of the new development will be a new landscaped area, Merchant Square which will include shops, restaurants etc. http://www.merchantsquare.co.uk/main/index.php

John's walk started at the Hilton and we then walked along the canal crossing 3 of the new bridges. We saw the new development including buildings by Terry Farrell and Richard Rogers but we also saw some of what was left of the old Paddington. This was very interesting. A previous church on the site of the current St Mary's Church at Paddington Green is where Hogarth got married. The actress Sarah Siddons is commemorated by a statue on Paddington Green. Unfortunately she is facing the very busy main road and I feel the statue should be moved to a more peaceful spot. If you ignore the roar of the traffic and the ugly flyover you can almost imagine what Paddington used to be like when it was a village on the outskirts of London. This was all new to me.

Back to Monday's walk - John had arranged that the new Rolling Bridge would open for us. This was an amazing sight. The bridge curls up on itself completely silently and gracefully and ends up as a sculpture that rather looks like a hamster's wheel.

http://www.heatherwick.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=7

Our practice walk yesterday went well although I had a few problems on my stop because they were noisly cleaning one of the bridges and I couldn't immediately think of an alternative place to stand. However I now know to have a "reserve" stop and won't make that mistake again.

After the walk we adjourned to a local pub. This pub, the Royal Exchange, is definitely going in my list of good pubs for future pub crawls (although I know of no others around that area). Having been unemployed and on a strict budget recently I was really suprised by the good food at very cheap prices. A ham and cheese melt with "proper" ham and not too much cheese in "proper" bread was £3. Pie with veg and potatoes was £5.50. Very good value. Will definitely go there again if I'm exploring more.

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/environment/landandpremises/parksandopenspaces/paddington-green.cfm (Sarah Siddons & Paddington Green)

http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/89/892/Royal_Exchange/Paddington

http://www.inpaddington.co.uk/walks/default.aspx (Free walks in Paddington/Little Venice) Incidentally my tutor, Lucy, is doing one of these walks although she hasn't told us which one!

Now onto my next lot of research for a walk on Thursday - Belgravia - another area I know little about.

St James's secret life

2009-05-04T19:51:00.000+01:00

I'm rather late posting this but it was an unusual evening so wanted to share it.

Last year or maybe the year before I bought 2 tickets for a whisky tasting and then couldn't find a friend who liked whisky enough to come with me so I went by myself. The last event was in a trendy bar in Bermondsey (The Hide Bar). I do like that bar and it was a good evening.

The Whisky Lounge are based up north so over a year passed before they returned to London and I could use my second ticket.

This year's tasting was in one of the poshest areas of London (St James's) and with a completely different clientele. The actual tasting format was very similar but because of the location and the guests the evening was unrecognisable from the Bermondsey one.

There were only 9 of us including Eddie, the organiser. The tasting took place in the Red Lion in Crown Passage one of those fantastic tucked away London pubs.

At first I felt a little out of my depth as not only was I the only female but I got the impression from some of the other guests that they knew a lot more about whisky than I did and were (on first impression) high up in their jobs and rather scary!

However after a couple of glasses I relaxed and started to enjoy the experience.

At one head of the table was Eddie and at the far end was Doug, the Spirits Manager for Berry Brothers & Rudd no less. Berry Brothers had been a stop on my St James's walk in the Christmas Holidays. They are Britain's oldest wine and spirit merchant and have been trading from the same shop in St James's Street for over 300 years. They also produce Cutty Sark Whisky. Doug had some very interesting stories to tell and I felt privileged to meet someone who worked there although he was partial to telling some rather terrible jokes.

It got better. To my left was David who was a very jovial Scottish man and was determined to guess all the Scottish whiskies correctly. The theme was Japan v. Scotland and it was very hard. He said he lived in St James's so I was really impressed with that fact. It turned out that he worked for a member of the Royal Family.

After the tasting we went down to the ground floor bar which had on my previous visit after my St James's walk been filled with Freemasons and drunk Monopoly pub crawl participants. This time, on a Monday evening, everyone (apart from me) was a local. They were all very friendly and welcoming especially David's wife.

By meeting these people I feel that I have entered into the world of St James's which I would have thought would never be accessible to me. I had never even considered that a pub like the Red Lion would have locals or regulars. I will definitely return.

And interestingly after at least 6 glasses of whisky I had no hangover the next morning.

http://www.thehidebar.com/drinks.htm

http://www.thewhiskylounge.com/Events.aspx

http://www.bbr.com/

http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub845.html

2009-04-02T23:27:00.001+01:00

Anorak tales ...

2009-03-16T22:20:00.000Z

I think I'm turning into an anorak although I am sure some people will say I already was one. Having to learn 17 five minute stops around the London Transport Museum for an exam this Saturday the 21st I am beginning to get obsessed with London's transport and its history. I am ashamed to say I found myself discussing the print font (ie Johnston) with someone from work that I got on the tube with. Am not really sure how that fact managed to come out of my mouth with no prompting. I must apologise next time I see her. I also found myself on Saturday getting off a no. 26 bus and trying to find out what was different about it and even looking it up on the Internet when I got home. It seemed a completely new style to all the other buses but I've yet to find the answer. I did notice however that the seat covers had "ELBG" woven into the design ie East London Bus Garage. Think I need to get out more.

I have, however, enjoyed having conversations with my fellow classmates about random obsessive websites we have discovered. I have already signed up to follow one very interesting blog and I think more may follow even beyond the date of the exam.

Tonight I've been researching the Routemaster and the Green Line bus and have discovered I can now talk for 5 minutes without even having to learn it as I find it so interesting. Did you know for example that the ceilings of the upper decks of the Routemasters were allegedly painted yellow to disguise cigarette stains? Right, I had better stop now ...

Gobbledygook on the buses

2009-03-11T22:58:00.000Z

Amazingly only 2 days after emailing TfL I have had a response. However I am at a loss to understand their explanation and have requested it in plain English. I requested that the 397 be either changed to a double-decker bus or the frequency of the service increased so I could actually get on it.

At present the buses run every half hour. TfL's response is:

"We have looked into this matter and found that it was a scheduling issue. We have therefore decided to shift the school AM and PM journeys to a spot half an hour earlier in the schedule. Our investigations show that this should better match services with demand and significantly reduce crowding, so a larger bus should not be necessary. This change is planned to be implemented from 13 April. "

Am I being dim? I just can't figure out how that changes anything seeing as the service is half hourly anyway. The "new" service is also starting on Easter Monday when the schools are closed! If anyone can translate this explanation let me know. In the meantime I await their response.

The novelty is wearing off ...

2009-03-10T23:14:00.001Z

Since starting work in 1979 I am now working locally for the first time ever. It did start off as a bit of a novelty as I could leave home at 8.30, catch the bus at 8.37 and be at work on time for 9am. However I had started in half-term week. The reality is that I wait at the bus stop and the bus goes sailing past full to the gills with students. The bus (397) runs once every half hour and is only a single decker. Grrrrr..... Can't TfL realise that either the service needs more frequency or a double-decker at least during school start/rush hour times! Last night I penned an email to TfL along those lines so watch this space. I'm trying to persuade other passengers to do the same! There is an alternative but it means getting 2 buses so I have to pay twice plus the first bus (179) goes from the opposite side of the road so you have to pay a dangerous chicken-type game scanning the horizon in both directions seeing which bus will appear first and then wondering whether you can even get on it. So much for a stress-free journey. I would rather travel up to town on the train as at least I can sit down and know I will get on train OK.

One good thing about working in Loughton is the quality of merchandise in the charity shops. I have odd wide feet and it's always a pain to buy shoes. Amazingly there is someone in Loughton with similar feet to myself who is donating nearly new boots to the Sue Ryder shop. In the past 2 weeks I have bought 2 pairs of boots for £9 each. Both pairs fit perfectly and both pairs are practically new. I don't think I have ever in my life bought more than 1 pair of boots a year let alone 2 in 2 weeks.

At least I have work. It is around about half the money I'm used to but it's good to be in the black again. The work is interminably boring but at least I'm earning some money to spend on boots!

Another bizarre comedy night

2009-03-08T21:58:00.000Z

True to my word I agreed to sell tickets on the door at the local Comedy Night last night. It was a strange night and I have to say I'm not inclined to go back with or without selling tickets.

When I arrived my first job was to lay paper tablecloths onto the tables. I must have led a sheltered life but I never knew that these paper tablecloths came in rolls like a giant kitchen roll. They were completely impossible to tear in a straight line and I was rather ashamed of my efforts.

The comedy was due to start at 8.30 but by 8.25 there were only 3 customers and one of those was my friend D who with me had got free entrance. 14 others eventually joined but it was a much smaller crowd than the month before.

During the first two acts I sat outside with the tickets hearing the acts through the door. I have to say I couldn't decide whether to listen (which lacked something in not being able to see them and didn't seem very funny) or get my course work out and study (but I couldn't concentrate and it felt wrong even though no-one could see me).

In the second half I was part of the audience. I was a bit nervous as had spoken to several of the comedians earlier in the evening when they had passed me at my ticket desk on their way to the gents and had made some remark or other about the lack of customers. I was a bit worried that I had drawn myself to their attention and as I was sitting near the front they would make some remark. I had nothing to worry about. They were more concerned with 2 drunk girls who were continually interrupting and ad-libbing plus talking across the room to the heckler from the first half. I really don't think the comedians knew how to deal with the situation.

I realise I haven't even mentioned the comedians but I'm afraid apart from Luke Graves who was quite cute I didn't really rate any of the comedians.

Apart from catching up with friends K and D I can't really say I enjoyed the evening. Last month had been so unexpected with a good atmosphere, free Ouzo, plate smashing and Greek dancing that this month had a lot to live up to and it just didn't do it for me.

Flamenco Flamenca

2009-02-22T00:10:00.000Z

I can't dance - I'm unco-ordinated and have been told during my one and only ceroc lesson that I was too wooden. However I love Spanish music so usually just sit and watch the experts.

Today I co-ordinated a flamenco lesson (ticked the names off etc then took party for tapas afterwards) for a social group I belong to. I would never have booked this event for the reasons in the first sentence.

However I had a fantastic time. I continuously got lost with which leg I should be stamping, I raised the wrong arm at the wrong time and was going in the opposite direction to everyone else. However this didn't matter. I wore a long swishy skirt and tried to dance in some sort of sexy manner swishing my skirt about (we were instructed that you need to act the part right from your very first lesson). This was OK until I caught myself in the mirror and realised that what I thought my dancing looked like was in fact something completely different - cringe-worthy in fact. However I really enjoyed myself. There's something really satisfying about doing some sort of activity as a one-off, giving it your all, but knowing it doesn't matter if it all goes wrong as it's just a bit of fun.

The teacher was very good and by the end of the hour we had a sort of routine although nowhere near as sexy as her interpretation. There was a man sitting in the corner playing the guitar and this rhythmn really helped - now in my flat with no guitar music I can't get any of the moves to come to mind.

I am now sitting typing this wondering how much I am going to ache tomorrow as this is the most exercise I've done in ages and even my fingers seem to be aching! Well worth it though and the tapas afterwards was good too.

http://www.la-escuela-de-baile.co.uk/location.htm

A trip to the Cemetery

2009-02-17T21:14:00.000Z

Kensal Green Cemetery is one of those places I always knew about but didn't really know much about. Last Saturday I went on a guided tour round it and now have a strange desire to tour other cemeteries around London.

I learnt a host of information not only about the lives of famous people buried there but about the symbolism of the various adornments to the graves. It was interesting to find out that plots were offered on a leasehold or freehold basis. Freehold meaning the grave would never be disturbed whereas leasehold meant that the body could be moved to another location.

If I had the time and was a bit closer I think I would probably join Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery as I find the whole thing fascinating.

Blondin, the tightrope walker is buried here. He crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope at least 4 times each time doing something completely bizarre such as carrying his manager on his back or stopping halfway across for a bite to eat. He died in his sleep at this home at Niagara House, Ealing. On the top of his grave is the Angel of Hope.

Mary Hogarth, Dickens' mistress (his sister-in-law) is buried here. We heard that he wanted to be buried with her but is in fact buried in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey.

The Brunel family including Marc Brunel who built the first Thames tunnel which took 18 years and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel famous for his many engineering feats are buried here.

The most over the top grave must go to Ducrow an equestrian circus performer who has a bizarre monument which includes classical columns, Egyptian sphinxes and many other outlandish items. He may not have been famous during his lifetime but his grave is almost certainly going to be a stop on every tour.

George Grossmith, author of Diary of a Nobody, Harold Pinter who died just a month or so ago, William Thackeray, Anthony Trollope the writer who I discovered also invented the pillar box (he worked for the Post Office), 2 of George III's children including his daughter Sophia who it is said had an incestuous affair and a child with her brother the Duke of Cumberland.

The eccentric 5th Duke of Portland is buried there. He created amongst other things an underground ballroom to which no-one was ever invited. He would eat alone and his servants would put his meals onto a model railway. The current Duke of Portland (although he may have renounced his title) is an actor, Timothy Bentinck who stars in The Archers.

The saddest grave was that to Marigold Churchill (2 1/2 year old daughter to Winston and Clementine Churchill) who died of meningitis. Her grave is hidden away off the beaten track. It's very simple but striking. Churchill employed Eric Gill the sculptor who some ten years after this went on to sculpt the controversial Aerial (whose genitals had to be reduced after complaints from passers-by) and Prospero outside the BBC in Langham Place. The inscription on the Churchill grave is written in a font which we heard is named after Eric Gill and is still in use today.

When my course is finished and I have more time I would like to go back, do another tour and discover some more. Our tour was private led by Blue Badge Guide Diana Kersey but the Cemetery do arrange their own tours.

http://www.kensalgreen.co.uk/

Another VaughanTown trip + Air Fare rip-off

2009-02-10T14:31:00.000Z

Despite not having any work I've been a bit reckless and booked myself onto another VaughanTown trip during the Easter holidays from my course. My theory is that as long as I don't spend too much in the bar or in Madrid it will be a very cheap week - and possibly the only break I'll get this year. The hotel in Salamanca looks fantastic and it will be good to be in an urban location rather than in the middle of nowhere. Am already looking forward to meeting everyone. Last time I went in September I was bitten very badly by mosquitos and possibly a spider in Madrid (I still have the mark) and ended up on anti-histamines and antibiotics so not only couldn't I drink any alcohol (which at least saved me money) but I was drowsy all the time. Will make sure I take loads of insect repellent with me this time.

Have just booked my flight as was tempted by very low fares with Ryanair which is what got me thinking about going. However my 99p return flight Stansted to Madrid actually came in at £83.34. Grrrr.......

I really must "pen a letter" to Ryanair over this deception. There are charges shown next to the flight costs which come to £45 but when you start the booking process you realise you have to pay £19 to take 1 bag plus check-in of £9.50 and £9.50 for paying by debit or credit card - but how else can you pay!

Having said that because the 6 days in Salamanca with 3 meals a day, wine with lunch and dinner are free and staying in a luxury room all to myself - it is a good deal for a week's break.

www.vaughantown.com

Greek Comedy night

2009-02-09T11:11:00.001Z

On a very cold Saturday night I was at first reluctant to leave my cosy home and wait for a bus to South Woodford, then a tube and then a walk to the Heathcote Arms in Leytonstone but I had promised my friend, D, I would go and am glad I managed it. D's friend was the compere of the evening - Manos - whom she had met on a retreat weekend. It was good to meet him and he was very kind and gave us a lift home afterwards.

When we arrived we were offered a free glass of Ouzo and there was a voucher for a free drink plus nibbles on the table.

The first 2 acts both had a confident manner and were good at presenting themselves. However they were just too rude and un PC for me. I'm not a prude but just find this sort of humour unfunny and the swearing unnecessary. We did find out however that Simon in the front row was (so he said) a Time Out reviewer. The 3rd act we recognised immediately as the lady who had been selling tickets on the door. I don't think this was a good plan by the organiser as this immediately gave us an opinion of her. At the end of the evening (after several glasses of Ouzo) I volunteered myself to sell tickets next time. Will see if they take me up on it.

The next act was an Italian who must be the worst comedy act I have ever seen. His English wasn't fantastic and his delivery of "jokes" was far too slow and painful. He completely lost the audience but although everyone was talking amongst themselves there wasn't anyone brave enough to shout him off.

After the break things improved. Canadian Wes Zaharuk entertained us in a Tommy Cooper type way with really silly antics using such props as a hoover, some sticky tape and several members of the audience - the funniest being a girl who stood behind him and used her hands to peel him a banana etc. This was absolutely hilarious. So absolutely silly but really funny. He ended up down to his boxer shorts at one point but he was never rude and he didn't swear as far as I remember. He's performing at quite a few venues in London in next few weeks - details on Chuckle website below.

The evening finished with some Greek music, more Ouzo, Greek dancing and plate smashing - not what you would usually find above a pub in Leytonstone. Will definitely go again and might even be selling the tickets next time.

http://www.manosthegreek.com/

http://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/w/33306/wes_zaharuk

http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub2045.html

Working for a living

2009-02-03T14:55:00.000Z

I'm now into my fourth week of no work but wonder how I ever managed to fit work in. I have so many projects on the go at the moment and still seem not to have enough hours in the day. In connection with the course I have to put together a walk on paper by the end of April and learn a route with 16 stops around the London Transport Museum by mid March. I also mentioned in passing on Facebook that I was thinking of putting together a tour around some historical London pubs as seem to have a bit of an encylopaedic knowledge of good pubs - and I've already had quite a few enquiries.

I still need to find some "proper" work though so I can pay my bills. Have put my mortgage on another "holiday" to take the pressure off a bit but not having any money isn't a great thing especially as I want to get out there exploring London and having been at home so much recently now notice all those jobs that need doing but require money!