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Foiled Plans, Shoreditch and Whitechapel

Thursday, 24 May, 2018

What a crazy and too-warm day I had! After starting out so late yesterday I decided that I’d make an earlier start to see the London Hospital Museum. It’s been on my list for just ages. I took a quick look online for the location, decided where to have lunch, and added the Citizen M Hotel into the mix since the lobby concept looked interesting.

I started from Dalston Junction, a short bus ride from here and after three stops I arrived at Shoreditch High Street Station.  Hard to remember what it was like before this line arrived in the area. So convenient and a pleasure to ride.

Dalston Junction station
Dalston Junction station
Arriving at the cavernous ticket hall at Shoreditch High Street Station
Arriving at the cavernous ticket hall at Shoreditch High Street Station
Outside, a cornucopia of colourful street art
Outside, a cornucopia of colourful street art
Redchurch Street, eerily quiet
Redchurch Street, eerily quiet

I had decided to go to Dishoom and try their signature dish, black dal. It’s my second visit, my first being with my friends Mylene and Michele a couple of years back. This is billed as Indian street food. There’s a big effort to make the place look like somewhere in India, with lots of attention to detail in the fixtures, furnishings and ambience. Since I’ve never been to India, I can’t say how authentic it is.

Verdict – that black dal is fabulous. There were spices that I couldn’t quite figure out. Definitely one to research and make at home! I also had bhel, which I thought would be a refreshing contrast to the spicy, creamy dal. The drink is a sweet and salty lemonade. Perfect choice! £15 later…

I left Dishoom and headed over to Shoreditch High Street to find the hotel. I searched and searched. I had the address, I had the map, I even had the voice GPS on and, even after two complete circuits of the small block, I could locate neither a sign nor an entrance. It’s a mystery! I’m a bad map reader but this is ridiculous and way too time-consuming, so I headed for a bus over to the museum. At least I saw some nice art.

Pretty diverse art at the back of Great Eastern Road and Shoreditch High Street
Pretty diverse art at the back of Great Eastern Road and Shoreditch High Street

If I was frustrated by not finding the hotel, I was due for more confusion. After first not finding the street with the museum because I was talking on my phone and not focussed enough, I then couldn’t find the museum anywhere. I looked again and again. It’s supposed to be in a church between Newark Road and Stepney Way. I could find no such thing. This puzzled me no end but no amount of looking or checking turned up anything that resembled a church or signage for the museum. There were, however, some original buldings around the hospital – reminds me of childhood. I was getting warmer and sweatier and on my third circuit, I headed for the bus home. Foiled twice in one day!

Old homes around the new London Hospital
Old homes around the new London Hospital

I’ve looked at the map at home since, with a cooler head. I think I may know what I did wrong. I’ll try again in the next week or two.

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Penge Street Art Trail

Wednesday, 23 May, 2018 (afternoon)

I follow the Instagram account London Calling Blog ‘Documenting Street Art since 2015.’ They blog about and post street art from every London neighbourhood and have often helped me identify the pieces I’ve photographed. One thing I noticed is that Penge has a lot of street art. It has do with LCB’s Street Art Community Project aka SprayExhibition20 when a lot of pieces went up. The trend has continued.

I used to live not too far from Penge and I remember it being a not-too-desirable fairly boring place to be back then, so I wasn’t expecting too much. I knew it was quite residential and that it had a high street and that’s about all.

I was at a disadvantage, Krish having asked where I wanted to go and me having rattled off a half dozen options. He chose Penge. In a parallel universe I’d have prepared a map and plotted art pieces along the route. Instead I had some roughly scrawled notes to go with my admitted lousy map reading skills. Argh.

We set off about 2pm and arrived just after 3pm – love the Overground! We started at the southern end of the route, Anerly. Not much to see here but one shop shutter near the station did set the pace. Walking to our first stop, Maple Road, I remarked this looked quite a lot like Herne Hill but not as grand. Krish agreed.

Shutter near Anerly Station
Shutter near Anerly Station

Maple Road is a pretty ordinary street. It starts off small and residential and then starts to gain momentum with shops before meeting Penge High Street. We explored along the route and in some back alleys (quite reference to notes) and found quite a lot of art, good, bad, and indifferent. It’s a hard job choosing photos to post here but here we go with the first lot. I’ll add artists when I find the names.

This one is famous - doesn't quite do it for me
This one is famous – doesn’t quite do it for me

Mr Cenz
Mr Cenz
Leon Seesix - Dotmaster
Leon Seesix – Dotmaster
iCON
iCON

On a toilet door in a back alley
On a toilet door in a back alley

We are not the droids you are looking for
We are not the droids you are looking for
Dope
Dope
Neequaye Dreph Dsane - Dreph
Neequaye Dreph Dsane – Dreph

Leon Seesix – Dotmaster  

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Amhurst Road, Hackney Downs Studio, and Evelyn Court

Wednesday, 23 May, 2018

A busy day planned today! It started with a trip to the doctor where I asked about my leg pain and inability to walk like I used to. Of course, it’s to do with my arthritis and the fact I tore my meniscus several years ago. Advice is to lose some weight (noted) exercise my legs every day (noted) and to take better pain relief (noted) – I noted all these with some trepidation. The final bit of advice – This is normal and natural. Don’t beat yourself up! I like this new doctor.

On the way back from the doctor, I checked out a new cafe called Fingers Crossed on Amhurst Road at Shacklewell Lane.

A not-flaky-or-chocolatey-enough chocolate croissant and a perfect handmade no-sugar chai latte at Fingers Crossed
A not-flaky-or-chocolatey-enough chocolate croissant and a perfect handmade no-sugar chai latte at Fingers Crossed

Around the corner from the doctor is a little inner yard full of artisans of many kinds. You would definitely have to know it was there to venture in. So I did walk in there to see how things were. I was surprised to see that they are building new places back there – looks like studios etc, and the cafe/events centre was padlocked so I’m not sure if it’s just an overnight or a permanent thing. Will keep checking on that!

Somewhat hidden entrance to Amhurst Studios from Shacklewell Lane
Somewhat hidden entrance to Hackney Downs Studios from Shacklewell Lane
Some of the older Studios in the yard
Some of the older Studios in the yard
Work on new studios at Hackney Downs Studios yard
Work on new studios at Hackney Downs Studios yard
Going back up to Amhurst Road from Hackney Downs Studios - local secret
Going back up to Amhurst Road from Hackney Downs Studios – local secret

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Green Park, and Piccadilly for lunch

Sunday, 20 May, 2018

I love going to the Galvin restaurants. A few months ago they closed what I think was their original location on Baker Street and customers (including me) got a conciliatory fifty percent off invitation to their Piccadilly location. At first I didn’t think I would make it since Krish is not a fan. Then my friend Caroline let me know she was free for lunch on the 20th. Booked!

Sunday morning dawned warm and bright so I set off as soon as I could, allowing lots of time to get there. For one thing, the Hackney Half Marathon was on. Since 7am the organisers had been outside planting beacons and Road Closed signs. They were very loud, as were the dozens of drivers who came along afterwards when they discovered their way was blocked. Add to this, Krish yelling out of the window for everyone to shut up and it wasn’t the most peaceful of Sunday mornings!

The five way junction closed for the marathon and eerily empty
The five way junction closed for the marathon and eerily empty

So off I set on foot, knowing there were no buses to the station today. I had decided to take the overground and underground for once. I am  not fond of underground travel so this was a challenge for me.

In the end, I got there so quickly it was silly. five super-packed tube stops from Highbury (which is itself only five to ten mins by overground from Hackney Central). I’d decided to wear a dress and some new shoes since Caroline is always impeccably dressed. I thought about throwing my running shoes in a back pack and decided not to carry that into a fancy hotel.

The way to the tube at Highbury is so claustrophobic
The way to the tube at Highbury is so claustrophobic
The platform isn't much better but there was only a one minute wait
The platform isn’t much better but there was only a one minute wait
Escalator Green Park
A major obstacle for me is going down an escalator. I ask people to stand in front of me – vertigo! This is a shot upwards at Green Park

Coming out of the station into Green Park is crazy. Instant green trees everywhere in such an urban area. Green Park leads down through St James’s Park and on to Buckingham Palace. St James’s is my favourite park in central London but today I wasn’t going to get there. Meanwhile, Green Park was resplendently green and dotted with deckchairs – a very amusing British custom.

Stunning entry to the park from the underground at Green Park
Stunning entry to the park from the underground at Green Park
Deckchairs out for the sun worshipers at Green Park
Deckchairs out for the sun worshipers at Green Park

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Abney Park, Stoke Newington

Saturday, 19 May, 2018

This morning I watched the Harry and Meghan wedding and enjoyed almost all of it. I will go down as one who found Bishop Curry’s sermon overwhelming and annoying. I enjoyed the cello playing of Sheku Kanneh-Mason, whose career will surely skyrocket now.  Windsor looked beautiful, Meghan was radiant, Harry was besotted and tender.  What more can you ask for?

Wedding watching accomplished and BBC moving on to the FA Cup, I ventured out to Stoke Newington for the Abney Park Open House.

Abney Park Entrance
Abney Park Entrance

Abney Park dates from the early 18th century and  is one of the ‘magnificent seven’ garden cemeteries of London. It’s a woodland memorial park, an arboretum, and a local Nature Reserve, as well as housing events and workshops.  It’s a unique cemetery in that it’s non-denominational, doesn’t have an orderly layout, is as much a park as a cemetery, and has some amazing botanicals. Its 2,500 trees and shrubs were all labelled, and arranged around the perimeter alphabetically, from A for Acer to Z for Zanthoxylum.  This  planting was carefully designed to do as little as possible to change the existing picturesque land.

All of this gives it a ‘wild’ look. The grass and wildflowers are overgrown and the ivy climbs everywhere, sometimes obscuring the graves. If you go to any of the stones along the path edges and peer past, you’ll see other stones and graves further in, hidden by accident or design.  And, although, it’s a cemetery housing many dead, it has a lived-in atmosphere since people wander in here studying the plants, and sit among the graves, picnic, and enjoy music.

I’ll confess to having had a hard time knowing what photos to include here. To me, this the most beautiful cemetery I’ve seen and so forgive the sheer number of images. There are many that I didn’t include.

People enjoying the park
People enjoying the park

While some graves appear to have been placed in some order, others are random and partly obscured, seeming part of the woodland landscape
While some graves appear to have been placed in some order, others are random and partly obscured, seeming part of the woodland landscape

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