Sailors Fighting In The Dance Hall

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Another day. Another high rise breakfast. We were restricted today to our lofty perch in Finchley. I positioned the 2 plastic containers of Lidl instant oats on the window sill to recreate the photos yesterday from Floor 32, The Shard. At 45 pence each, the oats worked out substantially cheaper. We left for the City and hoped the Northern Line was behaving itself. We had timed tickets to go up to the Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street (otherwise known as the Walkie Talkie Building). A short walk from Bank or Monument Underground stations, the “Garden” is basically a covered roof space with bars and restaurants overlooking other familiar city landmarks like the Gherkin. The tickets are free on a limited first come, first come basis from their website and go on release approximately 2 weeks beforehand. In theory the tickets are technically valid for an hour, but I can’t say I saw anyone coming to chase anybody down. We were fashionably early and after an initial delay were allowed to join the security queue. The security is airport style and ID was requested to show the name marked on the ticket. The Sky Garden has a lower deck area facing out towards The Shard, with a higher deck facing out to the Gherkin side on the north. A bar is on each level – prices not a total disaster - with a restaurant complex on the very top level. Reservations essential. The weather hadn’t exactly played the game. Low clouds and rain. It was still a decent view and if your budgets don’t stretch to The Shard, an obvious saving to make. We descended to street level and it stopped raining. Typical.



The rain was still present in Kensington High Street, but we were going to another indoor location – Kensington Palace. The most impressive building on Kensington High Street is the Art Deco Barkers Department store, but generally the area is no Knightsbridge. The police guards were on patrol with their armoury on the approach to the Palace, which is an obvious reaction given a lot of the senior Royals could actually be in residence. The signposts direct you away from the private apartments to the front of the building. I am normally found wandering obscure football grounds, so it even comes as a surprise to me that I find myself at an all ticket “fixture” at Kensington Palace. The occasion? A Dress Collection of Lady Di! The Other Half was keen to view, so I humoured her. All ticket??! Yes it was genuinely sold out, having only gone on release to the public at the previous weekend. The ladies that seriously lunch were the most common form of visitor, all making complimentary observations about the various gowns. In addition to the dresses – all safe from inquisitive fingers behind glass cases – there were a few sketches from the designers, some with handwritten notes by Diana herself. A number of photographic portraits by Mario Testino adorn the walls of the final room of the exhibition, facing inward towards the respective dresses. We toured the rest of the state apartments, which were standard royal fayre and in all honesty a bit uninspiring.



The weather had brightened up and the temperature climbed dramatically. We caught a bus in the general direction of Battersea, crossing river somewhere near Cheyne Walk. I forgot to call on Roman Abramovich for old times’ sake. Battersea seemed to be in midst of a traffic crisis. The afternoon sun was quite pleasant. The Sun Gate for Battersea Park was therefore appropriate. A Grammar School was using the local pitches for rugby practice. There was some serious construction facing the Thames by Chelsea Bridge. The area is under development, as the area once occupied by Battersea Power Station is reclaimed for residential use. There was an eerie quiet, as the finishing touches to buildings and retail units were not quite complete. The only sign of life was wearing a hard hat or working as an estate agent. The old iconic towers of the Power Station are still in place, but the area was inaccessible from our location. A hoarding pronounced “Battersea Power Station. Adventure Starts Here”. A nice view, but I remain to be convinced.



Our evening entertainment was near Angel. I had found an all you can eat vegetarian Indian buffet on Chapel Market. £7.95 per head, although that seemed to have increased somewhat in the last couple of years judging by the posters on the wall. It is amazing what Tripadvisor reviews can do for profit margins. It was BYO, so that was a bonus. It was not only good value for London, but also surprisingly good. The reviews were indeed correct. The almost full house at 7.30 pm seemed additional testament. After checking the band venue location, we had a very acceptable pint in a brew pub on Chapel Market. The band were playing upstairs at the Lexington. The venue was only small and seemed in need of a makeover. The Other Half pointed at the hole in the ceiling. Small is often beautiful, but not if you can’t move far enough away from people who attend with the sole intention of talking to irritate others. Why do people do this? We always seem to attract them at the Rescue Rooms, but if this ever happened at the Coatham Bowl in the day I can’t remember and I am sure they would have been unceremoniously dispatched! I had high hopes, that proved a false dawn. The girl on vocals was quite impressive, but the electronic wizard on the keyboards etc. seemed intent on taking the limelight and being the star. A mistake, I fear, going forward.





After a late night – anything after the 8.20 pm bus counts these days – we had a slow start the following morning. The journey to Ladbroke Grove was a bit more complicated than planned, due to a scheduled underground line closure. We ended up walking down outside Wood Lane, former home of the BBC. The Television Centre has been a very familiar building for most of my life, but I’d never actually been this close. It is all but closed down now and many of the former inhabitants are at Salford Quays, convincing themselves that they are not really missing the bright lights of London. We eventually arrived at the Museum for Brands, Packaging & Advertising. The Museum isn't the most accessible location in London. An unassuming side street in Ladbroke Grove had only been located by the few. National Trust members. Half price. I liked it already. There is something comforting about the past and the Museum is basically a timeline through history and the brands of the past. A learning experience and a wander through childhood. Bassett Liquorice All sorts. A still familiar brand today, but started by accident when a box of sweets spilled and got mixed up in 1899. Bryant & May matches. A very essential brand to light the fire in our youth or as most adults smoked, lighting a fag. Biro: the pen. As a cutting edge product in 1946, they cost 55 shillings. Wow! Craven cigarettes - they won't affect your throat. There was no mention of killing you! Weetabix - more than a breakfast food. It still is, but can it live with Lidl instant oats?



I was probably most taken by the games through the years. It transpired most were just reinventions for the new generations. I can vividly remember “a game of strategy” from my youth - playing Risk when rain stopped play at the Beechwood Avenue Cricket Academy. The Man from Montreal always won, by the way. In front of me in the glass cases is the same game in many First World War incarnations: With The Flag - To Berlin Exciting, Skilfull & Interesting. Catch The Kaiser. Obliterating Germany - The Latest War Puzzle. The game of snakes and ladders had even been reinvented as To Berlin and Bombarding The Zepps. The common theme on the box was British Made or of British Manufacture. If we weren't sure of the geography, the Oxo War Map was on hand to guide us. The technology had moved on in the Second World War to Air Raiding. I am not sure how anybody explained the concept of Let Us Play Sailors & Wrens. Disgraceful!!



Peace brought more TV themed material. Westerns were popular in the 1960s. Rawhide - the Cattle Drive Game. Cheyenne - Into the Wild West. I was too young to know Lonnie Donegan sung the World Cup Willie song for the 1966 World Cup. The B side by the way was the story of the Football Association thereafter. "Where In This World Are We Going?" Etch A Sketch. Lego. Stingray. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. A Steptoe & Son jigsaw. A Blue Peter Manual. A Rubik Cube. A Raleigh Chopper. A Space Hopper. The only constant sine 1914 was Blow Football. We had the Decimal Shopping Game. I wonder if there will be a How to Brexit Successfully game for the next 2 years? Popular Music took over in the 1970s, although I am not sure how the Bay City Rollers On Tour game fitted into the strategy theme.





We made a short stop to view the former Queens Buildings at Westbourne Grove. The old Art Deco cinema is now converted to flats and anchored by a small outlet of Heals furniture store. The afternoon was spent in Shoreditch. I like Shoreditch – there is always something new, always something changing. The street art is an evolving scene. A satirical view of the political landscape of the modern world was laid out in small posters featuring Mistress May “Let Them Eat Cake”, Vlad the Impaler and the democratically elected Bad Hombre from across the Pond. The latter would appear a few streets away under the slogan "Fake Views". A ballet dancer model posed in front of a painted wall for a photo shoot. A gaggle of expensive looking camera equipment made suggestions for the next required scene. Pop up shops popped. A new café on Brick Lane was offering all day breakfast fayre – the aptly named Cereal Killer Café. We stopped in our favourite coffee haunt – Nude Expresso – and meandered among the stalls in the Spittalfields market area. We had tickets for a dusk session in the Sky Garden. As the sun set, it turned into a high rise wine bar. We ended the day in a Pizza express nearby. The Tesco vouchers to the rescue again. Every little still helps!

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Photos

Kensington Palace
Lady Di Exhibition

Travelodge
... a cheaper breakfast

Comments

[Rainyb]

The Battersea dog/cat rescue center is near here. The TV show "for the love of dogs" was filmed here & it was my fav show on TV when it was on.

[Rainyb]

Love the gate!!

[Rainyb]

Love this area ;o)