It’s nice when there’s a not-so-hot day in Toronto during the summer. Krish was off for his phototherapy and we said we would meet afterwards. This takes some discussion about where we will go, but we settled on King Street East without much of a plan other than Krish mentioning the amazing almond croissants that we’d had some years ago (it was closed that day – a Wednesday) a possible pizza place and perhaps go into Toronto’s First Post Office.
I started my journey and changed to the College streetcar. This is now familiar to me. I love the Alice mural and I had a bit of a wait – also becoming too familiar. There was a lovely smell of baking nearby and I wandered over to a small bakery – Janelle’s and Southern Accent. The latter has meaning to me. The restaurant Southern Accent was undoubtedly my very favourite in town. It was Cajun and Creole and the owner prided himself on having taken the staff down to New Orleans every year to make sure they knew what the food was supposed to taste like. Later in New Orleans myself I didn’t have any food like it, but then I couldn’t get Cajun food so I won’t know how alike they might have been. Southern Accent had a lovely vibe – dark with coloured lights over the bar, cosy with two floors and some nice private alcoves with curtains to draw, with a Zydeco backing track. The server would come and explain the dishes, help you choose, and then bring them to you, always smiling. And it was delicious. Like most places, it fell on harder times, the menu shifted a bit and then the street was redeveloped. They moved, but never made a real success in their new spot. Portions had become smaller, more expensive, and the vibe just wasn’t there – none of it.
However, Janelle was pleased I was buying the spices. I asked her why Southern Accent. She said that they had been her neighbours, hadn’t survived the pandemic, but had befriended her. Good thing too. Janelle was also pleased to hear me ask about her still-warm scones. ‘I’m known for my scones,’ she told me with that broad Toronto accent where the ‘o’ sounds are different. I vowed to go back, ate the scone at the streetcar stop until my ride showed up.
Each time I come to College and Ossington I see the Alice mural. It remains the best street art in the city for me. I want more like thisScone and some blackening spice from Janelle’s
After meeting we started off at Queen Street. I wanted to take a look at the construction for the Ontario Line there. Things are fenced off and there are ‘guards’ around but no work was going on. This is going to take a long, long time to complete – estimate is 4.5 years but no one expects this to stick. It’s the latest transport controversy for Toronto, and there are many of them.
We also took a little detour into the Eaton Centre. Those flying geese overhead looked lovely but my photos just won’t capture the detail no matter how much I play with editing. It feels like this flock of sixty has been flying up there to who knows where for a very long time. Flightstop was installed in 1979 and was crafted by Canadian artist Michael Snow.
We don’t walk east that often. Yonge Street is the major divide in Toronto. Streets that run off from there are numbered at zero and there’s East and West. Like most cities there are people who love one side of town and those who love the other. I’m a West person in Toronto (East in London, but you knew that). But this time we headed east to see what we could see.
Love a ghost sign. I looked it up and Loew’s was a theatre chain back in the early 1900s. This sign at Queen and Victoria, on the Elgin Theatre, had deteriorated but in 2022 it was restored to its original appearanceI was struck by the two spires so close together. At the front is the Metropolitan United Church (The Met, founded in 1818 as a small wooden chapel and now relocated here to open in 1872. It has a special recognition for its acceptance of all genders) and at the back St Michael’s Cathedral BasilicaNot sure how clear this is but the gate of the church is in the form of two stone churchesA close up example of facadism in the making. The piece of building at the front is the old Richard Bigley building staying up at what will be Richard Bigley Lofts. I wonder what Richard, who sold the Happy Thought line of stoves (“‘Grate’ Happiness at Home” promised an 1885 ad in the Globe newspaper)
I asked Krish if he thought there was more construction going on in London or here in Toronto. He thought Toronto probably had. Anyone know? We were looking at a pizza place but it wasn’t open yet, the sun was shining down at full force now and we just moved along. Continue reading “Toronto Old Town”
We went down for breakfast. Carol welcomed us and then asked ‘Another fishy breakfast?’ She remembered everything we ate the day before and asked if we wanted the same. What a talent. Krish repeated his fish breakfast while i had a smaller version of a full English one and not longer afterwards wished I’d stuck with the haddock I’d had on Thursday. Too hot for meat!
We went up and packed everything. I suggested we might have a cool morning and go to the media museum that everyone raves about so we stored our luggage and walked over.
On the way we went into the Waterstones bookshop where i bought some cards. I’d read about it in my research. It’s been called the most beautiful bookshop in the world, and most certainly the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have left this till the last day because I could have spent much more time here. The bookshop is inside The Wool Exchange Building, a grade I-listed building built as a wool-trading centre in the 19th century (1864-1867). It is likely the most significant building in Bradford. From the outside you’re not so aware what awaits you inside. The Wool Exchange is a lovely enough building, with lots of elaborate stonework, turrets and a great clock tower, but along the side on Hustlergate, Waterstones entrance is on a very modern glass wall. Once inside, it’s a different story. It feels like you are inside a beautiful old chapel. Leaving it to the last day also meant that I was hurrying a bit and only now see how, if I’d sat upstairs in their cafe, I’d have had a better view of the whole shop.
(Pictured before) Krish peering into Waterstones through its modern glass wall entrance
On our way over to the Science and Media Museum I thought it would be good to pop into Sunbridge Wells, which is an underground retail complex with Victorian style units running the length of the tunnels. We didn’t make it – we got a bit confused by where it was, then deterred by Krish’s dislike of anything remotely cellar or cave-ish. On these short visits, and with my limits on walking and climbing, there will always be things we don’t see. It’s hard to not regret this. However, we did see some interesting things. Over near the chip shop there was loud Indian music. When I traced the source it seemed to be coming from a balcony at the top of a lovely red brick corner building. Each time we’d passed here, the music was playing. The square below had benches and had they not been some sort of convention spot for people to lay around on, I’d have sat a while listening to the music and admiring the building.
The Grade II building opposite isn’t bad either. Prudential Assurance, 1895. The only major building in Bradford to be built of red brick and terracotta.
We also had to pass the town hall again. It has a really large square, Centenary Square and City Park, in front that has a huge mirror pool with 100 fountains. When we walked through there was no water – that might have been nice though, like running through the sprinklers. Bradford City Hall was opened in 1873. The building was designed in the Venetian style. The bell tower was inspired by Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and houses 13 bells.
Near the town hall is the opulent looking Alhambra Theatre. This is where we would have eaten had there been a performance day while we were there. The restaurant has British food and a great view of the city, they say. The theatre is an interesting looking one, rather like a Brighton building. In 1964, and in 1974, it was designated a Grade II listed building. It underwent extensive refurbishment in 1986 and seats 1,456. Too bad we didn’t go in. Near the theatre, the streets are anything than opulent. There’s a lot redevelopment needed around there.
The museum is just beyond the town hall next to an Ice Skating building. It’s across a major road with traffic to and from Leeds. Things really open up around here and there are nice views.
The museum itself is in a modern building. It opened in 1983 as the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television. There are five floors of exhibits and there are cinemas, one being the first IMAX theatre in Europe. Today two of the floors were closed, getting ready for new exhibits. We wandered around and I have mixed feelings about this place, bearing in mind that we probably lost out on seeing some good stuff on those closed floors. Some of it was very interesting but other bits felt dated and amateur – the TV area especially. There was a videogame section I’d love to have looked at but mostly I saw arcade machines and an extra entry price. Some of the things we saw:
In the science section, they had a mirror maze. I thought it might trigger my vertigo but Krish had a go. Was fun watching him trying to figure out where he was and which way to turnA lovely statue of JB Priestley outside the museumAn interesting schematic map near the museum
We wanted to have some lunch before the train and eventually settled on a place in The Broadway that did grilled chicken and burgers. I had a chicken on a naan thing and Krish a burger. To be honest, this fast food option was the best thing we ate the entire time – something to think about for the future. Fast food is not always such a bad idea!
Krish walked to the hotel for our case while I walked to the station. On the way I passed Bradford Hotel and St George’s Hall, the buildings that had welcomed us when we first arrived. St George’s Hall opened in 1853 as a stunning Victorian Concert Hall, renovated in 2016. A huge building!
I waited for Krish on the street level and started to feel anxious ten minutes before our train time. He showed up with about four minutes to spare. We hurried up to the platform to find our train. No one had got in yet and then a station worker came over to tell us it was cancelled. Not only was it not going anywhere, but there were no trains to London for the rest of the day. We could instead use our tickets to get on a train to Leeds and then from there another train, leaving in an hour, would honour our tickets and get us to London. No choice then. We got on the train for the short journey to Leeds, then found our platform for the next leg. Although this was all a bit annoying, in the end it worked out OK. The Leeds to London train was an hour faster and not crowded since the train had put on extra carriages for those of us who had been stuck in Bradford. The only drawback was that I lost my first class carriage that I’d bid for back in Bradford. The train journey was easier than the original, though, since we had only three stops instead of the eight with the other train line.
At Kings Cross there was the usual culture shock of arriving back in busy London. We let one bus pass us and then got in the next and off to home again! Bradford crossed off our list.
A post script – I hadn’t been keen on Bradford, even while I was there. Thinking back and gathering the photos gives me a chance to reflect on it all. It was a very interesting place and there are things I didn’t see that I would like to see again. Perhaps a combined visit with Leeds could work. I’d go to the Peace Museum if it were open, and the Industrial Museum, and I’d definitely see Sunbridge Wells and the village of Saltaire. I’d even go to the Indian restaurant I’d never reached .
Is it? Not at first glance but look more closelyThis plaque was embedded in the ground near The Broadway
The Geffrye museum has finally reopened (June 12), except now it’s called Museum of the Home and, as with any museum at the moment, you have to book ‘a slot’ to go in. Luckily for me, it’s close to home and also very close to my physiotherapist.
People have questioned me, Museum of the Home, what does that mean? Built in an area that once boasted many furniture makers, in almshouses from 1714, it originally showed ‘the middle class’ interiors through time. As well, there were always modern exhibits of how people lived in their own spaces. When the museum closed to renovate, there was an opportunity to put a bigger focus on the latter. The larger space can now house events and classrooms.
I have gone to the museum over many years and I’ve done the almshouse tour. But my favourite has always been Christmas time. And before Christmas I’ve gone to the wreath workshops, then afterwards to the Twelfth Night celebrations. I went soon after they closed for a hardhat tour and was really looking forward to seeing the finished renovation. The links are all to past blogs mentioning these visits.
On its very first day of reopening, the museum encountered opposition.
There has been a lot of controversy about the statue of Robert Geffrye which stands outside. Geffrye had connections with the forced labour and trading of enslaved Africans and it was money from his estate that allowed the building of the almshouses that now house the museum. There has been a demand for the statue to be taken down, indeed all statues and memorials to those involved with slave ownership. Despite the protests, the museum’s Board of Trustees decided in July 2020 to leave the statue where it is and contextualise it. The day of the reopening, there were protests by Hackney’s Stand Up To Racism group.
I wasn’t sure if our visit might be disrupted by the protests when we went the next day, but it was quiet.
There’s a new entrance now, at the back of the almshouses, by the Hoxton Overground station. We arrived by bus at the front of the almshouses so had to walk around the block to get in. I believe that there would normally be an entrance from that direction, but like many places the museum is operating a one-way system – so in at the back, out at the front.
HRNX art seen from Cremer StreetMolly’s Café, on the corner of Cremer and Geffrye Street, is now the museum’s café. It’s in a once-derelict Victorian pub, The Marquis. It’s named after Molly Harrison, a museum curator and educator in the 40s and 50sAs Victorian as Molly’s Café is at the front, the back is 21st century (notice the clear ghost sign beyond it)Gordon Fabrics ghost sign on Cremer StreetOn the right is Hoxton Overground Station, in the left foreground is Molly’s Café, and further along – opposite the station – the new museum entranceThe entrance to the museum is the lovely atrium where the café used to be. We were greeted by a young woman who checked us in and sent us on our way
We started on the lower floor, on the one-way system. This lower floor is what was made during the renovations. It features how people live and what home means to them, in terms of culture, religion, and comfort. During the hardhat tour I couldn’t imagine what would go in there but many old spaces had been uncovered and I really like this ‘new’ area. The chance to see how everyone creates their own space is really welcome.
Ethelburga Tower is an exhibit I had seen years ago at the museum. There’s a nod to it here. The exhibit showed how identical council flats in a tower block (apartment building) were used and furnished differently by each tenant. I find it fascinatingA collection of floor/vacuum cleaners throughout time
One of the most fascinating things in the museum is the John Evelyn Cabinet, purchased by its owner in 1644. Sounds like it was in the V&A before. I wouldn’t want it in my house but it’s an elaborate work of art, which would make any cabinetmaker cry with envy. Its description is as elaborate as the woodwork, but in brief it’s an ebony veneered oak cabinet made up of many drawers, fourteen of which were secret. It was probably bought in Florence during a European ‘grand tour.’ John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist. I’ll let you read more about the cabinet yourself. If you’re a cabinetmaker, you can read about the construction in detail here. For me, even without its astounding appearance and construction, it is of significant importance. In 1813 diaries were discovered in one of the secret drawers. They were published in 1817. Although Samuel Pepys’s diaries are more celebrated, Evelyn’s diaries came first and probably prompted the attention given to Pepys’s. I’ve read neither so there’s a challenge!
John Evelyn’s Cabinet. My photo won’t do it justice so check it out from this page.In this room you could play classic videogames on an old TV setMe being me, this is my favourite thing downstairs, a doll from the almshouse time. Maybe not an artifact but a new one, but I love it
Hackney has a lovely little museum. It’s housed in the modern library building beside the town hall. Despite its small size, they’ve managed to capture the history and spirit of the area. The focus is on immigration to Hackney and its oldest exhibit is from Saxon Times – it’s a logboat believed to have been made from a tree felled in 950 to 1000 when the tree was 200-250 years old. It was found near the Lea River in 1987. If such things fascinate you, you can read about it here. You’ll also see photos since my own were hindered by too much glare. The logboat itself is under glass in the floor but there is usually a model of it on the floor – it’s been stored away for now.
Of course the museum has been closed for some time but opened mid October with an exhibit of photos taken in the 1980s. I booked my slot online and waited for the day to arrive. Then on that day, I planned my route over there so that I could make the most of the time outside.
My walk started with a walk past these two ‘ladies.’ Ming Hai, a rather terrible Chinese restaurant and Casablanca, a Caribbean restaurant. I’d say both are worth a miss for food but they are constants around here. Ming was closed for some time and just reopened a week or so ago. Every day the owner comes out at the same time to open the shutters and set up her day. Her customers are loyal. Casablanca seems to be open for long, long hours – from early until quite late. People come from far away and we have our theories about its role in the community, based on who comes, who goes, and who hangs around outside.
Ming Hai and Casablanca
At the junction of Dalston Lane there’s Navarino Mansions. They were built in 1904 by the Four Per Cent Dwellings Company (now IDS, Industrial Dwellings Society) a group of Jewish philanthropists to relieve the overcrowding in homes in the East End of London. I love these buildings and they definitely deserve a lot more photographs and research but for now here are three images.
Navarino Road is an elegant street and quite different in character than how I started on Wayland Avenue (Navarino Road beginning on the other side of Dalston Lane). I can imagine that this street was settled by people who had a bit more money in their pocket.
Navarino Road housesOn the other side of Graham Road, Navarino Road looks autumnal and spacious
I always turn down Wilton Way. I love the villagey feel of that street. To my right a bit is Violet, the bakery which baked the cake for the royal wedding of Harry and Meghan. I’ve been going to Violet since I moved to Hackney. and Claire its American owner was an unknown. Claire lives on Wilton Way still but I don’t know where exactly. Today I turned left instead to head towards the back of the Hackney Empire and eventually the library.
The charming part of WIlton WayThe stark contrast of the estate on Witon Way when you get closer to Mare Street
After Wilton Way’s residential area there’s a pretty dramatic fork in the road, with one side (to the left) called Penpoll Road, a colourful but mysterious name.
Wlton Way meets Penpoll Road, a fork with a mysterious name
I took a chance on something I had never done before the day after getting back from Wales.
I saw that Open House London was coming up and that the Geffrye Museum was running hard hat tours for its renovations. The museum has been closed since last year and will reopen in 2020 some time. It’s my favourite museum in London and it’s right here in Hackney, so I’ve really missed it. There were only four tours and each had ten places so I booked a ticket and got one!
I’ve written about the Geffrye before but it’s a lovely concept. It’s housed in some almshouses , which once was home to 56 people. The almshouses were built in 1714 with a bequest from Sir Robert Geffrye, former Lord Mayor of London and Master of the Ironmonger’s Company. At that time the area was quite rural but within a couple of hundred years it became one of the most densely populated areas in London so the owners closed up and moved. The London County Council bought it and the Arts and Crafts movement persuaded them to turn the houses into a museum.
It opened in 1914 and showed off the furniture from local trades people – this was, after all, The Furniture District. From that, the collections were moved into period rooms to show how middle class people lived over the centuries. I find it fascinating to see the rooms – the fashions and customs changing from period to period – and my favourite time was always Christmas. Amazing to see how each generation has celebrated it. Now I’m missing that and here comes another Christmas without those gorgeous tableaux.
The new museum is going to be larger, with a lower level and an upper level, as well as a new cafe, and two pavilions either end for events and education. I do hope I’m in London when it opens its doors properly again.
On Saturday they opened the door to a small ante room where we left our bags and ventured into the construction site, putting on a hardhat and a high viz vest each. The tour guide was Irish so it took me a while to retune my ear. The goal of the new museum will be to feature more than just the middle class home and to improve the flow of traffic. Before there was a narrow corridor that took you past each room and, when done, you returned the same way. This caused traffic jams! Now there will be a one-way system, which will allow you to move through the periods comfortably.
The model for the new style museumThis will be the green roof for one of the new event pavilions. To the right you can see the Hoxton Overground stationHoxton Overground Station with the hoarding to the left. When that goes down, there will be a brand new entry to the museum straight from where the majority of visitors arriveOur guide shows us the finished pavilion photoThe basement has been dug deeper to allow higher ceilings and good storage space for cables. Formerly blocked windows will be exposed now to let in more lightThis glorious tunnel will be a sound tunnel – a space to reflect on the periods you have passed throughA construction staircase leading up to the new upper level. When I started up I thought I could do it. Halfway up I almost panicked but, with four people behind me, I had to complete the climb!The new upper floor. Plenty of ceiling space!The guide points out the larger pavilion space, the most complete part of the project so farInside the larger pavilion – this is right next to where the old entrance area was
The furniture and other artifacts are safely boarded up for safety and the construction continues. I liked the fact that the building would be as green as possible. I asked about solar panels but was told this wasn’t possible right now. That’s a shame. The gorgeous atrium cafe space is going to be turned into the new entrance area – I’ll miss sitting in there with tea and scones. The new cafe will be housed in an old pub on Cremer Street, which they want to renovate to the period that it once belonged to.
All of the plans were exciting and I hope to be one of the first ones in the door. As for Christmas, well, the Geffrye has had special events and pop ups since it closed and Christmas will be no exception. I think I’ll take the wreath course again.
After I left the museum, I went to Song Que. I haven’t been for years. It’s the most popular Vietnamese restaurant in Hackney. I’m not 100% convinced. However, I wanted to give it a chance. I ordered a small soup (was asked if I was sure since it wasn’t a big bowl – yes!) and some cold rolls that were slightly too tough. But it was a pleasant time-out after the tour. Not sure I’ll bother again.
The very large Song Que spacePerfect size but not rare enough rare beef pho and those chewy Summer rollsA quick stop at The Grocer, a Whole Foods type store on Kingsland Road. Left with nothing
