Walking – Page 17 – slightly weird

22nd April 201824th April 2018

Heart of Hackney Tour

Sunday, 22 April, 2018

I’ve seen Hackney tours advertised quite often but they’re on Saturdays – I can’t manage Saturday before lunch. For some reason, the last time I saw a tour advertised it was on a Sunday so I set about rearranging my day before worrying about my ability to keep up with a group and on a tour that promised we would climb St Augustine’s Tower, all 135 steps of it.

No matter. I arrived at Hackney Town Hall for 11am and hoped for the best! The group were mostly older but a few young ‘uns thrown in there. I think we were all more or less locals and wondering what we’d learn that we didn’t know.

The tour guide is Sean Gubbins and, because Hackney is a very large borough (the largest in London), every two or three weeks he tours around a different area. Today was the Heart of Hackney tour – around the town hall, the Narrow Way, and some stops on the way over to Sutton House.

Hackney Town Hall, it turns out, is the third town hall of Hackney. The first was a little one over on the Narrow Way. It became a bank at one point and I remember going in and seeing a plaque that said that Ted Cohen, the founder of Tesco, had started his business with a loan there. Now it’s a betting shop, one of far too many around the borough. The second incarnation was where the new one is now but closer to the main road of Mare Street. This one was very imposing but I do think that the new one, being set back from the road with the square in front of it and the new library and Hackney empire flanking it, is nicely located if not beautiful.

Hackney Town Hall with the library on one side and The Empire on the other — **The side of the Hackney Empire**

Ever wondered why there are palm trees at the Town Hall and around the borough?

A world-renowned Victorian nursery garden and hothouse once stood near Mare Street – where Hackney Town Hall is now. It was called Loddiges, founded by Joachim Conrad Loddiges.

Described as a ‘latter-day Eden,’ the original Loddiges was home to the world’s largest hothouse. Famed for its collection of orchids and ferns, the nursery was a pioneer in the import and cultivation of rare exotic plants into Britain and attracted visitors from all over Europe and was known as the Grand Palm House. Here palms flourished like nowhere else in the world, set amidst an array of other tropical plants.

Over time, Loddiges supplied plants to places like Kew Gardens, Woburn Abbey, Chatsworth House, St James’ Park and Kensington Gardens, as well as the Imperial Gardens of St. Petersburg and the Adelaide Botanic Garden.

Unfortunately, following the deaths of Joachim’s sons, William and George and due to the changing London landscape, Loddiges closed its gates in 1852. Two years later, Londoners witnessed the stately procession of thirty-two plumed horses as they drew a giant palm tree, the jewel in the Loddiges Nursery’s crown, to its final resting place at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham. The Loddiges tomb can be found in the former churchyard behind St Augustine’s Tower. Continue reading “Heart of Hackney Tour”

21st April 201822nd April 2018

A wander in Stoke Newington, the high street, Old Church, Church Street, and Abney Park

Saturday, 21 April, 2018

My brother, John, has been a keen genealogist for some time and keeps me honest on these pages. The amount of history my family has – on both sides – with this borough of Hackney and that of Tower Hamlets is quite astonishing. No wonder I feel completely at home on these streets. Although it’s not as prolific as the connection with Mile End, Bethnal Green, Spitalfields and Whitechapel, there is a pretty strong line in Hackney so I’ve chased some of the places up.

‘Birth cert of Kate Lees (Samuel Simmons’ – my paternal grandmother – mother) of 1865 shows she was born at 25 Wentworth St. Terrible reputation but maybe the street was not as bad at that time.
Also, her mother Hannah’s last address was 140 Imperial. The Willing great grandparents also lived on Imperial (#37), not sure if they overlapped.’

So on a walk up to Stoke Newington for bread and fabric, I looked for ‘Imperial.’ On a street called Victorian Road is a complex of flats that I immediately recognised as one of the Four Percent Industrial Dwellings that are still scattered around the east end of London.

And part way along, almost where the road becomes a much more modern housing estate, is a chained and padlocked gate. If you look through the bars, there is Imperial Avenue – like a row of mews houses – a hidden pocket of homes.

**Imperial Avenue, seen through the bars of a sturdy modern gate**

I was interested and, as always, my own neighbourhood had surprised me with something I hadn’t seen before. And ‘victorian rd, imperial ave and coronation road. I sense a theme,’ I told John.

Stoke Newington (aka Stokey) can be a grim area along the high street. It’s somehow escaped the gentrification of neighbouring Dalston. However, its age also brings some treasures and I’m very fond of things tour guide Eleanor Blum calls ‘ghosts.’ These are remnants of past times. Still partially there but not in keeping with today.

**This ghost sign on Stoke Newington High Street was painted twice, one on top of the other**

I often buy fresh burrata and newly baked ciabatta at Gallo Nero along the grubby high street. It’s not quite Italy but it’s packed with Italian goods.

Saturday, after a busy morning, I set off again to Stoke Newington. (The New Town in the Woods.) This time to Church Street (Stoke Newington Church Street) because I’d heard there were St George Day celebrations at the last remaining Elizabethan church in London, The Old Church. Contrary to the main high street, Church Street is charming, leafy and feels far different. Continue reading “A wander in Stoke Newington, the high street, Old Church, Church Street, and Abney Park”

18th April 201820th April 2018

Dim Sum adventures

Wednesday, 18 April, 2018

A return visit for dim sum at Shikumen was in store. We did a fair amount of walking and it was hot! Shikumen is having a four for £10 lunch. We’ll go back and try four different ones before the promotion ends.

**A beautifully crafted vegetable dumpling**

The foru for £10 dim sum lunch. Missing are the chicken gyoza — **The four for £10 dim sum lunch. Missing are the chicken gyoza**

I wanted to check out the new bar that overlooks the city so we took the lift up to the fourteenth floor but were foiled. It goes as far as floor 13 and then you see a notice: You have to come up from the ground floor and be escorted. Are they keeping the riffraff out? I’m coming back at night when it’s open, to have a silly cocktail and take photos before the light fades.

A bit more walking in the heat followed. I wished I had on my summer clothes, which are packed away from last year.

**At the south side of Bethnal Green Road time stands still**

Home to a nice cool shower!

16th April 201816th April 2018

Nostalgia, Islington, Victoria Park…cheese

Monday, 16 April, 2018

Today, forty-five years ago (Yes! I mean Noooooo!) I was married. It was a very blustery, cool Toronto day.

**Me in my carefully chosen wedding outfit, 1973**

There were two friends on my side, and two on John’s, at the city hall ceremony. I don’t want to say too much about it – the wedding or the dinner afterwards, or the party we threw for our friends, or the aftermath – but I do think about it every year and go over the day and the years that followed.

Back to the present.

**We were waiting for Spring and then suddenly it arrived**

I’m listless. I want to do something, go somewhere, although I’m unsure what or where. Spring is happening but oh so slowly. My legs hurt. I’m tired. That’s my mood. Right. There.

We did have a nice time out on Friday. We walked along Upper Street and discovered a plaque for Kate Greenaway. To my surprise I remembered that name from my mum’s books of children’s fashion and from other childhood books. She had an instantly recognisable style and it was nice to think she would have walked those same streets.

Upper Street, St Mary's Church — Upper Street, St Mary’s Church

We walked along Chapel Market as it wound down and at the pub on the corner of Penton Street I discovered a board that was quite funny.

So I investigated. The pub is called The Joker and is a nod to Islington’s most famous resident, Joseph Grimaldi. Grimaldi was a clown – the founder of the modern day clown, in fact. He was certainly the most popular entertainer of his time (1778-1837). The pub has many photos and memorabilia of clowns and also a huge (ten-foot wide) clock (THE clock from Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now’ tour). We didn’t go in but it’s now on my list.

A quick and interesting ride on the 205 bus and we ended up in Brick Lane to have a lunch at Meraz, and to buy some ghee.

My friend Alistair’s wife Julie is Canadian. She grew up in Montreal. I find her fascinating. She’s like a bright and flitting creature with good stories and a strong sense of herself. She arrived in London and wanted to spend an afternoon with me at Victoria Park. I didn’t realise I’d be going back there for soon but the last time I went it was dull and grey and cold. On Saturday it was warm and vibrant. We visited “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and the mural on The Morpeth Pub, then went to have a picnic.

Sitting near the duck pond, I think about my grandfather fishing in that water, putting mealworms and maggots on his hook, and me feeding the ducks with bits of bread. I wouldn’t say it feels like yesterday but I do close my eyes and imagine us there.

**Everybody was enjoying the duck pond and the Pavilion Cafe**

I want to go visit Julie in her Sussex home. Stay tuned.

And I ate the French cheese – not too impressed, I think I left it a week too long. The other cheeses continue to mature, although after piercing the guessed-at blue one I haven’t noticed any new mould growth so we shall see.

The French cheese. It never ran and I couldn't eat that rind, having seen it form — **The French cheese. It never ran and I couldn’t eat that rind, having seen it form**

23rd March 201823rd March 2018

Hobbling into Spring, a lovely new mural, and Victoria Park

Friday, 23 March, 2018

Somehow I missed the Spring Equinox. So no photos from that day, sadly. This Spring in London reminds me more of a Toronto Spring – warm days mixed with very cold, even snowy, days. A yoyo time and I’m so so ready for the day I can throw off the winter coat and boots.

My cheeses are worrying me. Yes, Philip and Keith both said leave them alone and they’ll be fine. They are now sitting in my fridge inside a cardboard box, on a trivet, with a cup of water to keep the humidity up. They are all covered in a grey fur (apparently normal) I have mixed up the blue and the white – was so careful to keep the labels close and then in the transfer got not-surprisingly confused. Now no idea which is which. The French cheese wouldn’t come out of the mould but when Philip suggested I turn it upside and let it fall out on its own, it did – almost immediately, ripping the bottom off. Now we just have to wait and see how it ends up!

My cheeses maturing - before the French one ripped — **My cheeses maturing** – before the French one (bottom left) ripped

On Wednesday I went to Leigh on Sea to see my aunt Ruth. We ate our usual fish and chips and talked about family. It was a pleasant and mild day – the sun shone and all was right with the world. I have yet to fix a date to see my other aunt, Kay – who is also my cousin, but that confuses everyone. My mum and dad officially met when mum’s cousin Kay married Dad’s older brother Ed. Couldn’t be easier but everyone looks stunned and mutters things like incest…um, no!

My aunt's suburban street and her usual seat — **My aunt’s suburban street and her usual seat**

Thursday, it was cooler again and quite grey. I put the finishing touches on another doll and I decided to take the bus to see a new mural that had been commissioned for the centenary of the vote for some UK women. But first, back to Green Papaya where I sat quietly and contemplated my life or my navel or perhaps the dish in front of me. My decision was that I prefer the Toronto version, which has the sauce served separately and uses a different type of pork – even a choice of grilled meats. However, these little breaks in my week are very important to me and it’s the best thing to eat in this neighbourhood!

The bus to Old Ford Road goes through Victoria Park, where I played as a child. There are a lot of memories but not many clear facts about this area. I don’t recall exploring as a child but instead treading the same streets many many times on the way to the market, to nursery school, to the sweet shop, going to the park, visiting my Aunt Kay’s dress factory (a treasure trove!) outside playing on the pavement, and walking down towards my maternal grandmother, Charlotte’s (Lottie’s) house (perhaps a mile away).

Today I was headed to see a mural, though. It’s on the Old Ford Road which runs adjacent to the park. A long time ago, as a child, my mother had a friend on this street. She lived in one of the tall houses, perhaps occupying one or two of the floors. She had a daughter my age and that daughter introduced me to the ‘interesting’ game of ‘doctor.’ The details are shameful and I hope no permanent damage was done! Other people’s children seemed far more experienced in such things. Always the ‘good girl,’ I’d follow along and wonder why. I still do.

Continue reading “Hobbling into Spring, a lovely new mural, and Victoria Park”