This week’s blog brings some of the more unusual things you can enjoy in London: a Sunday canal wine tasting; an unusual station concert and a most unusual all night walk by women in bras – and some men too!
First we head to Camden for a wine tasting canal cruise. Run by a small independent wine shop and deli in Ealing, called Harrison’s, I was not sure what to expect but something called ‘Beaujolais Cru Cruise’ sounded worth a go. We boarded our canal narrow boat and found a warm welcome from the Harrison’s staff and the sight of loads of wine bottles and cheese and snacks laid out for us. Starting with a glass of sparkling red (yes!) we moved through whites, rose’s and reds. You can help yourself to as much or as little of each wine as you like and refill as many times as you want to and can manage. The ticket was £30 for all your wine and wonderful cheeses, pates, saucissons and breads and even Beaujolais region’s own pork scratchings!
Our route went from Camden Lock along the Regents Canal, past London Zoo, through Little Venice to Paddington Basin and back. It was a really enjoyable 4 hours on a wonderful sunny afternoon with a chance to get out at Paddington Basin to have a short wander around. We went with our own gang but also got chatting to lots of other folk on the trip so it was really sociable too and I even bumped into some old colleagues.
Photos are: the My Fair Lady; the first sighting of the wine challenge and these are just the reds!; our first lock; close encounters of the narrow boat kind; greenery en route; Paddington Basin; Little Venice; and, the tunnels – short and long with the light at the end.
I was passing through Paddington Station on a Friday evening and despite my hurry, had to stop and enjoy the playing of an amazing band. It seems they play between 7.30 and 9pm every Friday and have been there for years but I’d never heard of them! Going under the name of The Great Western Paddington Railway Band they are in the great world tradition of rail bands and are definitely worth not just stopping to see but going especially to see these dedicated, quality musicians!
My final unusual sight in London this week was the Moonwalk – a half or full marathon walk for breast cancer charities. Mostly women but also some men take to the streets of London and walk through the night to raise money for these charity and mostly are wearing bras and very little else on their tops! It was a really chilly night and I was volunteering by helping walkers cross the very busy traffic lights on Hyde Park corner. The traffic rushes past all night and we needed to make sure that walkers got across safely. I was wearing the unusual combination of tons of clothes to keep warm and a high vis jacket and hat so here’s a photo of yours truly in full gear. Millions of pounds are raised by the brave and hardy walkers and I was pleased to do what I could to help cheer them along and keep them safe.
The next party was Hyde Park where, surrounded by thousands of Londoners and visitors, we saw the balcony moment, the WW2 fly past and then the band struck up and there was dancing and flag waving everywhere! Dressing up as well of course with knights and lots of brides. And finally the street party back in Notting Hill. What a day!
Good job we had a long weekend to recover!
One show worth seeing was E.O. Hoppe’s photographs at the National Portrait Gallery which was really interesting. From his studio portraits of the famous faces of his day to his realistic street photos of the poorer citizens, we saw a wonderful range of work in the 150 photos on display. The photo of the very small boy in a pearlie king outfit over his stripey jumper and worn out shoes was funny and very sad at the same time as his poverty was clear to see. In contrast celebrity and royal faces also graced the walls from a very young Margot Fonteyn to the future King George V and Queen Elizabeth
They have some amazing items from history which blow you away (perhaps not the best choice of phrase!) There is the motorbike which Lawrence of Arabia was driving when he had his fatal accident, which looks brand new! There is a genuine Enigma machine which was so vital in the work at Bletchley Park decoding German messages. The Germans thought the enigma codes were unbreakable so used them for important secret mesages and being able to read them is believed to have shortened the Second World War considerably.
One of the great delights of living in Notting Hill is the number of cinemas we have (4!) and that we have some historic, quirky ones too. On Saturday we went to the Coronet on Notting Hill Gate which has gone for an all red interior look – see photo! It’s a place with history and famous among locals for being one of the last cinemas to allow smoking – in the upstairs section. It was opened in 1898 as a Victorian theatre and was considered one of the finest outside of the West End. It became a full time cinema in 1923 and claims to be the oldest in London, It now tends to attract the phrase ‘faded grandeur’ but shows good films at reasonable prices and you can even sit in the circle, from where the photo was taken, for a much better experience than many small screens can offer. We saw ‘Limitless’ which despite its title, was not as good as we hoped…… For film buffs, this is the cinema used for the scene in ‘Notting Hill’ where Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant watch a film, and Hugh has his prescription diving mask on which still makes me laugh after many viewings!
