Walkie Talkies!

Walkers:  The ALES aka Farty and TB & The POOR - Mrs Provincial

Distance: A very respectable 8.9 miles!

Time taken:  We were out for 6 1/2 hours but that included a long lunch, a visit to the Geffrye Museum, Westland Salvage yard and numerous stops to gaze longingly at yummy menus

Weather:  Cold & dry, but wrapped up warm it was great walking weather

The Uckfield Express lived up to its name today and delivered Mrs P to East Croydon almost on time where by a feat of great planning (or more like good luck), The Ales were waiting for my train at precisely the right spot on the platform.  We then journeyed on to London Bridge where we started the walk at 11am sharp.

Straight over London Bridge, past Monument and towards Leadenhall Market. For those who haven't been, it's beautifully restored and looks a great spot to stop for a coffee, bite to eat or of course a little cheeky glass of something.  TB unfortunately met a very grumpy shoe shine cleaner who didn't feel having his photo taken was part of his remit ... ah, well, we carried on and past the Lloyd's building which is almost next door.  Very modern and non-too attractive, it is known as the Inside Out building as it has all its plumbing and pipes on the outside.  Just like a few people we have come across in the past!

Next stop the 'Walkie Talkie' building - 20 Fenchurch Street.  Mon had been looking online to see about the possibility of going up to the Sky Bar and garden on the roof but it seemed to be booked up.  So we popped in to check find out for ourselves - the very helpful chaps on the reception desk told us that if we came back when it opened at 6pm it was first come first served but we should have no problem getting in.  Now we had an incentive to get back on time!

There is just so much history in the City, almost every corner there is something else of interest.  Just after the Walkie Talkie building is the ancient St Helen's Bishopgate which was bomb damaged not so much during WW2 but by the IRA when they bombed  Baltic Exchange in St Mary's Axe in 1992 and again in 1993.  So much for being Christian ...  Unfortunately we had just missed the chance to visit inside so we carried on, stopping to look at the Grade 1 listed Gibson Hall in Bishopgate www.gibsonhall.com which was the old National Provincial Bank, then Westminster and finally Nat West.  Now a very posh, upmarket venue for various occasions - not for the likes of us sadly!

We saw the Gherkin, the Cheesegrater, and ended up at Bevis Marks Synagogue in Heneage Lane www.bevismarks.org.uk .Unsurprisingly, there was a security guard on the gate who also doubled as cashier as there was a charge for visiting.  We happily paid up as very much wanted to go inside, none of us ever having been inside a synagogue.  The building is Grade 1, simple but very beautiful.  We were fascinated by their displays of numerous and stunning old mantles - couldn't quite work out whether you were meant to wear them or cover some holy items with them!  Farty has duly obliged and informs me that they are for covering your Torah when you put it in the Ark .... well, now you know!

Duly enlightened, we wrap up warm again and carried on towards Devonshire Square where we found this chap - a very imposing statue of a knight on horseback.  Devonshire Place is where the East India Co had its warehouses but it's now full of offices and restaurants and is a lovely spot.  We particularly liked the look of a Lebanese restaurant called Kenza - take away menus collected, something tells me Farty & TB will be back!

We continued up Bishopsgate and over into Spitalfields and Artillery Lane - all very Dickensian with its narrow passageway and houses.  Down Gun Lane and through Spitalfields Market, along Hanbury Street, past the Trumans Brewery and to Brick Lane.  The wonderful aromas emanating from the curry houses made us realise how hungry we were getting - but no hanging around, still more ground to be covered before stopping for lunch!

We walked through Columbia Road where there is a flower market on Sundays - apparently well worth a visit - and through very ordinary residential roads with frighteningly expensive houses, past Hackney city farm and Haggerston Park until we arrived at Broadway Market and LUNCH!  Mon's chosen venue, the Dove, was an excellent choice - not a fancy gastro pub, just an old fashioned pub with good nosh: rather bizarrely the chefs are Thai but very miserable Thais they are too - Thai charm clearly having evaporated somewhere between Bangkok and London!

Well refreshed, we ventured out again and walked down towpath of the Regents Canal, coming off it at Kingsland Road.  Sadly the canal along here is somewhat neglected:  full of rubbish and very oily looking although it hadn't deterred a few coots who were somehow finding enough to eat - yuk, poor them.  We were now in Hoxton - all these areas are mega trendy now - and headed for our next planned venue, The Geffrye www.geffrye-museum.org.uk.   Another excellent find by Mon - how does she know all these places?! Its a wonderful museum in converted almshouses, dedicated to the history of English homes over the past 400 years.  And it's free!  Poor TB probably thought at this point that he would never get Farty and me out again - but we were well behaved and didn't linger too long.  It's a fabulous place to visit, they have rooms from most eras kitted out with original furniture.  Much reminiscing over the sets from the 50s & 60s, it brought back (ghastly?!) memories of the decor of houses we lived in, and those of the ageing relatives that we used to visit.

We continued down Kingland Road and Shoreditch High Street for Mon's next find - Westlands! http://www.westlandlondon.com - Architectural Salvage, but not as we know it out in the Provinces Jim - apparently they are antique specialists.  As they would be in London.   A veritable cornucopia of architectural delights!  It is housed in a converted church and is truly an Aladdin's cave, stuffed full of magnificent fireplaces, chandeliers, furniture, wood panelling and all sorts that you didn't know you needed - until now.  Prices for fireplaces seem to start at about £8,000 ...... possibly a tad out of our range?!!  But no doubt the trendy locals come in their droves ....


Cocktail time was calling by now!  So we walked back towards Liverpool Street and the City to the Walkie Talkie where we only had about a 20 minute wait before they opened the Sky bar www.skygarden.london.  Through security and we were whizzed up to the 34th floor and to the fabulous Sky Garden. The view from up there is just stunning - as is the venue itself.  The gardens are quite wonderful and stretch all the way up two staircases either side of the bar.  We bagged a couple of sofas with a beautiful view and treated ourselves to a very well deserved cocktail - martinis and bellinis all round!  Excellent!

Could have stayed here all evening but the train back to the Provinces beckoned once more for Mrs P so we reluctantly left and walked back to London Bridge.  However, the journey made a lot more bearable after our Sky Garden visit!

I've realised that this blog seems to have gone on for ever - that's the trouble with London walking, there is just so much to see and do and of course I can never condense it into a couple of sentences!  Just be glad that I left a fair bit out ......!

Watch this space for the next ALE/POOR outing.  We would love it if some of your could join us!  There may even be another cocktail at the end .......  Cheers!

Made in Chelsea? No, Rambling in Chelsea!

Walkers:  The ALES plus The POOR - Farty, TB and Mrs P.  ALES being Aborfield London Explorers and POOR being Provincial Odd Occasional Rambler!

Distance: approx 8 1/2 miles

Time taken: as usual, with lunch stops and lots of stopping to look at things, all day!

Weather:  Perfect for walking, cold but bright and sunny, we were well wrapped up

Down in the Provinces the day dawned with a sprinkling of snow, at which point Yours Truly, Mrs P, decided that the omens weren't good as the Uckfield Express had been most definitely not been the Express since New Year - snow would no doubt grind it to a halt.  However, having decided to give it a go, I was amazed when the 09.34 not only ran, but even left on time!  Having bought a Daily Mail for the journey and also to save TB from all the girlie talk over lunch, I found The Uckfield Express splashed all over one of the inside pages!  Its fame has spread far and wide ... and not in a good way.  A little girl had written to the boss to ask if her Daddy could please get home on time to read her a bedtime story - I think most of the passengers on the train knew how she felt!

Arrived at East Croydon to be met by The Ales who had also read the same story in the Metro - Uckfield is now famous! and we set off for Chelsea, making a quick detour to the bus office so I could pick up more copies of Capt Al's new favourite reading material, the London Bus Map!  Having been ably taught by Mon and Martin, there is no stopping him, the only way now is bus.

We walked through Belgravia towards Sloane Square, admiring the beautiful and imposing houses on the way.  All very Upstairs Downstairs!  Farty got a few ideas from the very tasteful and immaculate window boxes and planters - Carshalton you have been warned! - and we marveled at how clean and freshly painted all the houses were.  Clearly the owners do not do it themselves, no doubt a whole army is employed to keep their houses up to scratch.  Not an English army either I suspect!

We arrived at Sloane Square and headed straight for the Arts and Crafts Holy Trinity Church which Farty was keen to visit - and how right she was.  It has a stunning stained glass east window and beautiful brass screenwork either side of the altar.

Back out into the cold and off we headed towards the Royal Hospital to find ourselves a few Pensioners!  We had a wander around, admiring the grounds and had a quick look at the statue of Charles II - it looked very blingy with it's bright shiny brass - has it had a recent polish we wondered? They could have saved themselves a lot of time and trouble by keeping it as it was!  As we headed through the building we spotted a long line of Pensioners headed towards the dining rooms and a nice old chap stopped to chat.  Having found out what was on the menu today (salmon for him!) he then told us about the refurbishment of the rooms.  At the moment they are being housed in Portakabins while the new rooms are being made ready.  Apparently the old rooms were, as he said, less comfortable than a prison cell with shared ablutions, but he was really pleased with the new ones as they were bright, spacious with a small study area and en suite facilities. Long overdue too, it's no less than our brave old boys deserve.

A quick peek into their Chapel and we then found our way out from the gardens and towards Chelsea Bridge.  Over the bridge with great views of the old Battersea Power Station, now in the process of being refurbished and turned into apartments.  Into Battersea Park where we stopped at the Peace Pagoda for a quick look.  Reading the information boards we thought that it was a shame the great message of peace had clearly passed a number of people in this world by - notably those murderous ISIS lot.  Grrrr!

Round the gardens and back towards Albert Bridge which, as Farty says, looks very much like a wedding cake!  Very pretty and girly with its pink paint!  Over the bridge and down the very posh Cheyne Walk for lots more gawping and a search for the house in one of Farty's property mags which is for rent at ....£12k per week!! A bargain!!

By this time our rumbly tums told us lunch was overdue so we headed for a pub Farty had been to before - The Surprise! Expecting it to be quiet as it was past 2 o'clock we were amazed to find it crammed as they were holding a wake for for what must have been a posh funeral - all braying Chelsea voices.  Plates of sandwiches and other goodies on the bar, but we resisted the temptation to funeral-crash and instead found a quiet table out of the way of the braying Chelsea-ites.  Fish and chips all round, very yummy too.

Suitably refreshed we carried on - back down Cheyne Walk and towards Chelsea Old Church where we were met with a cleaner brandishing a feather duster - ooo, scary!  The church is beautiful and we spent some time looking at various plaques of famous local residents, Henry James amongst them.  Out once more into the cold, a quick look at Thomas More's statue, all very topical with Wolfe Hall on the goggle box, and back round the lovely villagey back streets towards the Kings Road and Sloane Square.  In places it was hard to remember that we were bang in the centre of London, the roads were quiet and the houses almost reminscent of Brighton with their pastel colours.  All very pretty - and frighteningly expensive no doubt.

Down the Kings Road which we thought in places was quite tatty - even a Macdonalds, how very un-Chelsea!  Back to Sloane Square where we decided that as the legs felt fine we would carry on walking back to Victoria.  We dived on a train to East Croydon and TB finally got to read the Daily Mail while Farty and I carried on burbling!  Good news though, according to the Mail once you hit 70 salt isn't bad for you (just a few more years to go then!) and a glass of wine a day is positively to be encouraged.  We had to check to make sure they didn't say a bottle a day - sadly they didn't!  Ah well, we'll just carry on regardless.

We'll be back in London again soon for some more urban perambulations - watch this space!

Hope you are all well, see you soon!