Advertisement
Published: November 6th 2012
Edit Blog Post
There are no references to the creatures of the Common here, but you can hum along to a Wombles tune if it makes you happy. In fact, the blog goes nowhere near SW19. This was primarily supposed to be an East London experience ......... it didn’t turn out that way of course with a, a trip to the Houses of Parliament and the National Theatre on the Southbank. There was also a quick wander round Heals on Tottenham Court Road in search of inspiration for cushions. Yes, indeed ...... another story of which more later. The title was inspired by yet another night out in Shoreditch at the Village Underground. A happening music venue and artists space, complete with 2 old carriages from the Jubilee Line perched on top of the building. I use the word building loosely. They use the underground carriages as offices by the way. Village Underground is probably the best kept secret in the music world, but the cat got out of the bag sometime in the summer when the Stone Roses played a secret gig surrounded by gold winning Olympians such as King Bradley and Queen Jessica. The object of the exercise were Francois and his
Atlas Mountains. Anyway, more of the music later.
We spent the day on the Museum trail. Free museums to boot. London can get expensive and make me all nervous, so any bargains are to my liking. At £4 a can of Grolsch later in the day, you can imagine how fraught my world became especially when the good lady fancied a cider which was even more over the top. Dorset Nectar indeed! I had more than one can too! The Museum of London Docklands was a good place to hole up as the weather turned distinctly damp. We kept dry learning of the history of London from a dock perspective in the comfortable surroundings of an old warehouse at West India Quay. The Canary Wharf area was somewhat less busy than my last visit “on business” about 11 years ago, although with the new Jubilee Line extension it is a damn sight easier to escape from! It all sounds a long time ago - 11 years - I've only probably worn a suit half a dozen times since and most of those were for weddings or funerals.
We escaped for a true London tradition for lunch all the
way to Hoxton - pie and mash. F Cooke seemed a recommended choice - serving up a real taste of London. The tradition dates back to the 18th century - a home made mince beef pie, a liberal side helping of mash and liquor. We opted against the eels, although many of the locals seemed keen. The liquor is parsley gravy. Where in London can you get a reasonably filling home made meal for £4 - and don't all write in to mention Wetherspoons, because that isn't home made - although the burger meal isn't half bad! In F Cookes you are buying tradition. The decor is a bit spit and sawdust - there is sawdust on the floor not just for effect - but it's a decent meal, friendly service and it does what it says on the tin. Hoxton High Street is real East End too - no comic book strip of trendies up here - just real people going about their daily business.
After our wholesome lunch, the Geffrye Museum was the next port of call just around the corner. The Museum of the Home - a heaven for all lovers of design. Home decor throughout
Village Underground
..............underground overground the ages, all the way to the 90's. A fellow visitor passed scorn on the room layout from the 1960's ............. "I don't like she said to her daughter, it reminds me of your grandads". She clearly didn't have an eye for the value of Hans Wegner creations - probably sent them to the junk shop. The school groups seemed equally unimpressed by the genuine Alvar Aalto stools, judging by the way they were bashing them around. Genuine too, I checked!
We retreated back to Shoreditch to indulge in an afternoon coffee. Shoreditch is blessed with an over supply of independent coffee houses - take your pick - we favoured the Nude Expresso. The beans roasted just behind the main car park of the Truman Brewery. The street artists were out in force. A Brazilian was busy painting on Pedley Street. It could have been Felipe, but his English and my Portuguese merely established that he was from Sao Paolo and he was adding Brazilian flags to his work as his trademark because he was from Sao Paolo. A bit of web research later identified the guy as Cranio.
The clouds lifted and we headed for Greenwich. The
Emirates Airline was a creation of the Olympics - a quick hop across the Thames from the Excel to the O2. It takes minutes, but last longer in the memory. There is a great view of Canary Wharf and the City beyond, before you land in a rather souless Royal Docks. It is £80 or whatever for a private car - no need on a quiet midweek in October - just handover your Oyster for a discount single and a private car is yours for the taking.
Anyway back to the music. Village Underground is in their own words "an evolving project building an international platform for creativity and culture". In other words, they host a platform for bands and artists in a community based project in an ever expensive part of East London. The tube trains dominate to catch the eye, but the walls outside are a base for the street artists with a well known boot manufacturer commissioning a giant mural - painting in progress while we were there. Mr Street Artist was busy high up on his cherry picker with a TV cameraman recording his every spray. We'd come to see Francois and his Atlas Mountains,
but found ourselves on the Pictish Trail. It's difficult to dislike a man with a woollen bobble hat and a snood, entertaining a bemused audience with song and verse. He deserved an easy night - all the way down on the train from Fife with part of the journey shared with Little Mix fans. 1
st Class mind – it was only £11 more. He'd left his fish and chips, the seagulls and the epi-centre of Fence Records in the East Neuk to entertain! Francois was better than I had hoped. My good lady was a bit "Who??" beforehand, but was won over even though she was less than familiar with the material.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.087s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0474s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb