Author Archives: Geoff Clements

*the epitome of being “Up to your ears in work”

Posted on by Posted in Quirky Topics .

Saw this ‘quirky’ one the other day whilst visiting Kensington Palace, and it made me larf 😆

Have you ever felt like your job is getting on top of you – you’re surrounded by ‘work’ and cant see a way out of it – then spare a thought for this poor fella 😂

In the first photo, you can just about see his ‘filbert’ in the middle of the ornamental hedge – and the second photo is a close-up of the poor old boy, literally up-to-his-ears in his work!!!

The obvious question has to be – how the hell did he get in there, and how does he get out?

 

*The unique “Elms Lesters Painting Rooms” building & it’s big front door-WC2

Posted on by Posted in Art, Quirky Topics .

Even though this week’s London Shoes trek out to the ‘Smoke’ was only a short & sweet quickie, the subject matter was nonetheless an interesting one, as it perfectly epitomises the ‘Shoes’ doctrine of being a ‘lesser known & more unusual’ aspect of London’s history.

In fact, ‘Shoes’ only recently became aware of the existence of this place, even though I had worked only a few streets away from it, back in the 70’s when I was at Barclays Bank in Wardour St – and probably walked past it many times without taking a blind bit of notice.

It wasn’t until my old ‘pencil squeezer’ mate Professor Mick pointed the place out to me the other week that I decided that the topic was certainly worthy of a London Shoes visit.

So – the topic in question is the unique “Elms Lesters Painting Rooms” building situated in Flitcroft Street, just a couple of minutes’ walk from Tottenham Court Road tube station.

Not only does this building itself tell an interesting story, it probably has the tallest front door of any building in London!!!

The ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ are tucked away down an old narrow alley situated at the side of the historically iconic St. Giles Church.

The ‘Painting Rooms’ building was built and opened in 1903/04, and was designed specifically to house the production of, and the storage of, stage scenery and the huge theatrical backdrops of London’s thriving theatreland.

 

 

 

This narrow 3 storey building was designed to a unique specification so that these massive scenery backdrops, an integral part of any stage production – could be created, worked on, stored and then transported safely off to the many theatres of London’s west-end.

Scenery and picture frames in excess of 50’x30’ could easily be accommodated in the Painting Rooms, and the material was moved about, raised & lowered by a system of electric winches, so that they could be worked on, or moved out to the theatres via a huge ‘front-door’, probably the tallest of its kind in London and beyond.

Another advantage of the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ back in the day, was that it had a massive glass ceiling, creating natural light for the artists to work in.

The building itself retains some of its lovely original 1904 architectural features and touches – and it is no surprise that it today has a Grade II Listed status.

With the advent of TV and cinema, the reliance on facilities such as those created in the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Room’; slowly fell into decline, as new production technologies evolved.

 

However, because of the way in which it was built and the facilities it offered, the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ enjoyed a new lease of life as an artist’s workshop and a gallery – as it was the ideal working environment for artists producing massively large pieces of work.

Sadly in 2017 the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ were no longer used for what they had been created for, and were sold-off – and now its interior has been converted into corporate offices, so unfortunately I couldn’t take any photos inside – but fortunately, because of its Listed status, the original exterior of the building with its unique architectural features, will remain intact and unaltered, so that it lives on to tell the tale.

So – having sought out the ‘Elms Lester Painting Rooms’, it was ‘cheeky one-a-clock’ and so I popped in to ‘The Angel’ pub, just round the corner, and right next door to the famous St. Giles Church – (one of the most historic and infamous churches in London-and a blog topic in its own right).

Records show that there has been a ‘tavern’ on the site of ‘The Angel’ pub, since the 16th Century – and this boozer has its own unique little vibe going on, as it was one of the main ‘stopping-off’ pubs where condemned criminals were allowed to have just one last beer, on their way to their execution at the gallows at Tyburn.

The current pub building was built in 1834 and still retains some of the original fixtures & fittings from that time – such as a lovely little decorative glazed tiled entrance to where the carriages would park-up – its large Georgian windows – ornate ceiling roses – chandeliers – old leather bound chairs and bar stools & wooden wall paneling, all of which is on view in the pubs 3 cosy drinking bars.

These sort of features make the place extremely popular with tourists especially those visiting the famous St. Giles Church next door – and of course, the ideal place for me to sink a couple of ‘cheeky’ ones (‘organic’ lager this time), before heading back out into the pouring rain to make my way back home.

Hope you enjoyed this little insight into one of the more unusual and certainly lesser known London buildings – and that the photos, albeit with a rainy backdrop, do the place justice.

 

 

See below for a more detailed summary of photos from this ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ blog

Flitcroft Street – just a couple of minutes walk from Tottenham Court Road tube station – and the location of the iconic ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ building

The ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ building, with its huge green front door – in Flitcroft Street

Another view of the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ building – in Flitcroft Street

 

A different view of the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ building – in Flitcroft Street

 

A side view of the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ – built in 1903/04 – with the historically iconic St. Giles Church towering over it in the background.

 

Me – & possibly one of London’s tallest front door entrances – The ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ – Flitcroft Street

 

The building itself retains some of its lovely original 1904 architectural features and touches – and it is no surprise that it today has a Grade II Listed status.

 

Scenery and picture frames in excess of 50’x30’ could easily be accommodated in the Painting Rooms, and the material was moved about, raised & lowered by a system of electric winches, so that they could be worked on, or moved out to the theatres via a huge ‘front-door’, probably the tallest of its kind in London and beyond.

 

Another different view of the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ building – in Flitcroft Street

 

This narrow 3 storey building was designed to a unique specification so that these massive scenery backdrops, an integral part of any stage production – could be created, worked on, stored and then transported safely off to the many theatres of London’s west-end.

 

Scenery material was moved about, raised & lowered by a system of electric winches, so that they could be worked on, or moved out to the theatres via a huge ‘front-door’, probably the tallest of its kind in London and beyond.

 

The only bit of graffiti on the huge green doors of the ‘Elms Lesters ‘Painting Rooms’ building – relates to my beloved ‘West Ham Utd’ football team….”Come on you Hammers…Over Land & Sea” 🙂

 

With the advent of TV and cinema, the reliance on facilities such as those created in the ‘Elms Lester Painting Room’; slowly fell into decline, as new production technologies evolved. However, because of the way in which it was built and the facilities it offered, the ‘Elms Lester Painting Rooms’ enjoyed a new lease of life as an artist’s workshop and a gallery – as it was the ideal working environment for artists producing massively large pieces of work.

 

Me – down by the side of the Elms Lesters Painting Rooms building in Flitcroft Street

 

The west-end’s famous ‘Phoenix Theatre’ in the Charing Cross Road – just at the back of the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’ – Built in 1930, the ‘Phoenix’ would have been one of the many west-end theatres that used the Elms Lesters Painting Room facilities

 

Some old stage-door Johnny outside the Phoenix Theatre

The ‘Palace Theatre’ in Shaftesbury Avenue – just a couple of minutes walk from the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms’. This 1892 built Theatre would have used the ‘Painting Rooms facilities for its scenery nd backdrops

 

‘The Angel’ pub – St. Giles – right next door to the famous church of the same name. Records show that there has been a pub on this site since the 16th Century

 

‘The Angel’ was a well known stopping off place for criminals on their way to the Tyburn gallows – so that they could have one last ‘cheeky one’ before being executed

 

Inside ‘The Angel’ pub – St.Giles

 

A barrel table top inside The Angel pub

 

Inside ‘The Angel’ pub – St.Giles

 

Me – neckin’ down an organic ‘cheeky’ one inside The Angel pub – St. Giles

 

Neckin down another organic ‘cheeky’ in “The Angel” pub, right next door to St. Giles Church, and just around the corner from the ‘Elms Lesters Painting Rooms building in Flitcroft Street-W2

*The history of “Kensington Palace” – one of London’s most magnificent Royal residencies

Posted on by Posted in Historic Buildings, People, Stately Homes .

Those that follow London Shoes will be aware that they rarely walk the more popular touristy type attractions of this wonderful City – but last week an exception was made – mainly because I had the rare but absolute pleasure of having 2 accomplices for the day, namely the good lady wife Angela and my ex-Canary Wharf work colleague Jackie – both of whom had expressed a desire for a ‘nice day-out’ in town and who both suggested that we spend it at this particular place.

So – the topic in question, published on the London Shoes website, FB page and Twitter feed, is all about the magnificent London royal abode of “Kensington Palace” – and I have to say that I found the visit there to be far more interesting and enjoyable than I thought it would be.

Kensington Palace is one of the most iconic royal palaces in London – and from the very first day it was built, it has had royal connections – connections which have continued over the centuries, right up to the present day.

It is a building that is steeped in history and has certainly seen a bit of life within its 4 walls – some good, and some downright tragic – but it still lives on today, to tell the tale.

 

The Palace’s origins date back to the early 1600’s when Kensington was just a quiet sleepy little village on the outskirts of the bustling City of London.

It was an ideal location for a quiet country retreat, where you could get the best of both worlds, as it wasn’t that far away from where the ‘action’ was.

The first building to be constructed on the site of where Kensington Palace is today, was built in 1605, and consisted of a very large 2 storey house.

In 1619 it was bought by the Earl of Nottingham and re-named ‘Nottingham House’.

In 1689 it was purchased by the reigning Monarchs of the time William III & his consort Queen Mary – who very much saw it as an alternative to the royal palace of that time, which was situated in Whitehall.

Upon moving in to Nottingham House, William & Mary immediately called upon the services of Sir Christopher Wren to transform the property into a Royal residence – and they renamed the property ‘Kensington Palace’.

Sir Christopher Wren made significant structural changes to the residence, adding a chapel, large kitchens, stables, a military barracks and accommodation for servants and courtiers – but the biggest alteration he made was the construction of numerous ‘state rooms’ and ‘apartments’.

King William & Queen Mary were very much party animals, and wanted a palace where they could wine, dine and entertain the ‘in-crowd’ from not only Britain but from all over Europe – all in separate halls, drawing rooms and galleries throughout the building.

By 1692 Wren’s extensive renovation work was fully completed – but the first of what was to become a whole series of serious tragedies, struck the palace, when poor old Queen Mary suddenly contracted the disease smallpox and died shortly after in her bed chamber at the palace.

 

Following his wife’s sudden death poor old William III quite naturally lost interest in living the high-life at the palace as he had previously – but he did continue to oversee the addition of a separate Gallery room – which doubled up as a top-secret meeting room for the many ‘spies’ that he had scattered about town and beyond.

William III’s successor ‘Queen Anne’ (who only reigned from 1702 to 1714) didn’t have anything against Kensington Palace, but she much preferred Hampton Court further on down the River Thames, because of the hunting activities carried out there – and she loved hunting.

Sadly, the 2nd major tragedy fell upon a ‘royal’ at Kensington Palace when, in 1714, Queen Anne at the age of 49, suffered a stroke whilst staying at the palace – and died as a result.

However, she did leave her own footprint by having a huge ‘Orangery’ built alongside the palace building – where plants, trees and shrubs from around the globe were grown. She also used the Orangery as a venue to hold lavish parties, banquets and ceremonies.

As Queen Anne left no heirs, on her death the British Monarchy passed to one of her distant relatives ‘George of Hanover’, who became George I.

Like some of his predecessors King George I loved Kensington Palace, but he felt that the place had become a bit worn and shabby, and so he commissioned a complete overhaul of the existing State Rooms plus adding a few more. He then went about filling the place with art and expensive bespoke furniture, much of which remains on display to the public today.

Following George I death in 1727, the monarchy was handed over to his son George II & his consort wife Queen Caroline – and they too, had a massive influence on the Kensington Palace that we know today.

They both really loved living at Kensington Palace, and regularly held big parties and events there, filling the place with all the big celebs of the time.

One of the main things they did structurally to the palace was to commission one of Britain’s most up and coming artists of the day, William Kent, to cover the walls, ceilings and staircases with life size murals – and they also filled the palace with the top furniture designs of the period.

However, when Queen Caroline died suddenly of a bowel blockage in 1737 – King George II completely lost the plot, and as a result, the palace fell into a bit of disrepair.

In 1760 King George II dropped dead of a heart attack in his private apartment at Kensington Palace.

His son George III succeeded his father to the throne – but he couldn’t really care less about Kensington Palace – he had no enthusiasm for the place at all.

However – what George III did do, which in a way set the precedent for Kensington Palace from then on and right up to this very day – was to let his son’s take up residence in a couple of the Palaces private apartments.

He also granted permission for lesser members of the extended Royal Family to take up residence in the Palaces other apartments. As a result, Kensington Palace came to be known affectionately among the masses as the royal ‘Aunt Heap’.

George III’s sons were Prince Augustus-the Duke of Sussex and Prince Edward-the Duke of Kent.

On May 24th 1819 Edward-the Duke of Kent’s German wife gave birth to their first child at Kensington Palace – a daughter who they named ‘Alexandrina Victoria’ (who was always commonly known as ‘Victoria’)…….and the rest, as they say–is history.

At just 8 months old, Victoria’s father died of a heart attack – leaving the young princess to be brought up by her widowed mother.

 

 

Victoria’s mother completely controlled and dominated every aspect of her daughters early life, at Kensington Palace.

During her childhood and early teenage years, Victoria was very rarely allowed to leave the confines of Kensington Palace – she was even schooled there by private tutors, and she was never allowed to mix with other children.

The strict code of discipline applied by her mother to bring-up and educate the young Victoria within the confines of Palace became known as the ‘Kensington System’.

On the morning of 20th June 1837, the 18 year old Victoria was woken-up to be told that her monarch Uncle has died suddenly, and that she was now England’s new ‘Queen’.

The very next day ‘Queen Victoria’ called for a meeting to be held at Kensington Palace with all of her now Government, military officials and advisors – to make it quite clear to them as to how she intended to rule the country, and that she would be no push-over.

The following day, Queen Victoria reluctantly said her goodbyes to Kensington Palace to take up royal residency in the nearby Buckingham Palace.

Kensington Palace continued to be occupied by members of the extended royal family, but the building became a bit neglected and dilapidated.

In 1898 Queen Victoria ordered that the entire building inside & outside, be given a through face-life and in 1899 upon her Golden Jubilee year, she gave the order for the Palaces ‘State Rooms’ to be opened up to the public – leaving one side of the building ‘public’ and the other side of the building ‘private’.

Throughout the following century and a half, leading right up to today – Kensington Palace has continued to be the ‘home’ of generations of royal family members.

Many of Queen Victoria’s children and subsequent grandchildren have lived there, including her daughter Princess Louise, who was a top sculptor in her time, and produced the iconic statue of her grandmother that stands proudly at the entrance to the Palace.

In more modern times Kensington Palace has been the home of royals such as the Queens sister Princess Margaret and her husband Lord Snowden, whose children David & Sarah were brought up there – Prince Michael of Kent and his life live there – Charles & Diana lived there – their sons William & Harry grew up there – Prince William & Kate and their 3 children live there – and Prince Harry & Megan lived there briefly following their marriage.

So – Kensington Palace – a building that started its life as just a simple country retreat, but went on to be the ‘hub’ of Royal family life and history – and continues to do so to this very day.

Although it costs ’21 notes’ to get in, Kensington Palace is definitely well worth a visit – you certainly won’t be disappointed.

Following hours of poking our noses every nook & cranny of Kensington Palace, London Shoes and its 2 female accomplices for the day, headed off to the nearby ‘Churchill Arms’ pub in Kensington, very close to Notting Hill Gate tube station.

The ‘Churchill Arms’ is probably without doubt, the most visually attractive pub in the whole of London – and the ideal venue to sink a couple of ‘cheeky’ beers before the trek home.

 

Hope you enjoy this brief history of the Palace and that the accompanying photos bring the place to life a bit.

See below for more detailed photographic coverage of this ‘Kensington Palace’ blog

Kensington Palace – with the magnificent statue of one of its longest residents – Queen Victoria

 

Just one area of the Royal Gardens at the public entrance to Kensington Palace

 

The ‘private’ entrance to Kensington Palace

 

Me – at the approach to the public entrance in to Kensington Palace

 

In the early 1700’s George II & his consort wife Queen Caroline, commissioned William Kent, an up and coming celeb artist of the day, to cover the walls, ceilings and staircases with life size murals.

 

Just one of the many reception rooms at the Palace, where Kings & Queens would ‘receive’ (and vet) their guests

Inside the Cupola Room

Inside the Cupola Room

 

Me – alongside some ‘threads’ in the Cupola Room – Kensington Palace

 

London Shoes’ 2 accomplices for the day – admiring the ornate ceiling of the Cupola Room in Kensington Palace

 

The magnificent ceiling of the Cupola Room in Kensington Palace

 

 

The Kings Gallery – Kensington Palace

 

The Queens Gallery – Kensington Palace

 

Me – and my ‘secret’ threads – in the Queens Gallery – Kensington Palace

 

Poor old Queen Mary’s dining room – Kensington Palace

 

The Queens bedroom – Kensington Palace

 

Entrance to the brilliant Queen Victoria exhibition within Kensington Palace

 

The room in Kensington Palace where Queen Victoria was born

 

A portrait of a young Queen Victoria – who spent all of her formative years inside the confines of Kensington Palace

 

Victoria’s comments to her advisors & the public – upon becoming Queen

 

One of the young Princess Vitoria’s many items of clothing that are on display at Kensington Palace

 

A lovely portrait of Queen Victoria – that hangs in Kensington Palace

 

A portrait of Victoria’s beloved husband and consort Prince Albert

 

Examples of Queen Victoria’s dresses – on display at Kensington Palace

 

Queen Victoria’s favorite jewels on display at Kensington Palace – that were given to her by her husband Prince Albert

 

Examples of some of Queen Victoria’s dresses – on display at Kensington Palace

 

Another of Queen Victoria’s famous quotes – this time its her views on being a mum

 

Victoria & her beloved husband and consort Prince Albert

 

A image of Queen Victoria in later life – that is beamed onto a wall of Kensington Palace

 

One of the many ‘mourning’ dresses that Queen Victoria would wear following her beloved Albert’s death

 

A wonderfully detailed portrait of an ageing Queen Victoria – one of many on display at Kensington Palace

 

A very effective young actress playing the part of newly appointed Queen Victoria – welcoming visitors to her Kensington Palace

 

The actress playing the part of the young  Queen Victoria – in the room within Kensington Palace, where she summoned all the Government & military ministers and officials, plus her advisors to a meeting, the day after she became Queen. This young actress played her part so well – answering all the visitors and children’s questions, in an amusing ‘We are not amused’ manner

 

Some of the more recent royal residents of Kensington Palace

 

Some more of the more recent royal residents of Kensington Palace

 

The stunning ‘Sunken Garden’ at Kensington Palace

 

More of the stunning ‘Sunken Garden’ at Kensington Palace

 

A view of Hyde Park from Kensington Palace’s ‘Sunken Garden’

 

Me – ‘soakin up the rays’ in the ‘Sunken Garden’

 

The extremely popular ‘Churchill Arms’ pub just down the road from Kensington Palace – probably the most visually decorative pub in London

 

Another view of the ‘Churchill Arms’ from a side street

 

Me – outside the ‘Churchill Arms’ pub – gagging for a ‘cheeky’ one, having spent hours mooching around Kensington Palace 🙂

 

The quirky interior of the ‘Churchill Arms’ pub – Kensington

 

Cheers – from the Churchill Arms 🙂

 

 

*The fabulous “Pizza Express Jazz Club”-Soho-W1 & the entertaining Chris Ingham Quintet gig

Posted on by Posted in Music .

 

 

Last week saw ‘London Shoes’ make two trips out to the big bad ‘smoke’ – the first being the already covered-off visit to the famous ‘Groucho Club’ – the second, on the following evening, was spookily to the very same street in Soho, and a location that was once of the very first establishment in London to serve up ‘Pizza’ as a ‘main’ item on a menu – and the purpose of visiting there, was to catch my old drum teacher ‘Gentleman’ George Double who was performing a gig down in the basement of the establishment in question.

So – my 2nd ‘Shoes’ blog this week is all about the renowned and extremely popular “Pizza Express Jazz Club” in Dean Street-Soho-London W1.

Although Italian restaurants had existed in London since the early 1800’s, pizza itself was never an item on the menus.

As time progressed and peoples tastes changed, pizza was available as a ‘food’ but could only be found and bought as singular items from the food halls of big department stores like Harrods & Selfridges etc – but never as a ‘dish’ in a restaurant.

It wasn’t until much much later in 1965, that London’s very first ‘Pizzeria’ opened – and the man who made all that happen was one “Peter Boizot”.

Peter Boizot (1929-2018) was an Englishman who had first discovered the delights of ‘Pizza’ whilst travelling around Europe in the 1940’s – but he was continually disappointed that there were no restaurants in London that served up a pizza as a main menu choice – in the way that they did in restaurants in all the main City’s throughout Europe.

So – to solve this matter, in 1965 Boizot decided to open up his own ‘Pizzeria’ in Wardour Street-Soho – the very first one of its kind in London.

In 1969, only 4 years after opening his first Pizzeria restaurant in Wardour St, Boizot invested in a large and magnificent old 1878 Victorian building in Dean Street-Soho, that had once been occupied by the ‘Dispensary for Diseases of the Ear’ – and being a mad fan of jazz music, he began looking at ways in which he could put on ‘live’ jazz music whilst his customers munched away at their pizza’s – and his new Dean Street restaurant was the ideal venue, as it had a large basement – and as a result, the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ was born.

 

The Jazz Club with its combined eatery soon became extremely popular with the punters – and all the top UK jazz stars of the day were queuing up to play there. By the mid 1970’s the big jazz acts from the USA began topping the bill there.

 

Today – every wall in this basement jazz club is adorned with photos of all the jazz performers who have played there over the years.

However – it wasn’t just pizza’s that Peter Boizot was famous for – the other big love in his life was his home town of Peterborough.

Born and raised in Peterborough he became a choirboy at Peterborough Cathedral and also Head Boy at the City’s prestigious Kings College.

Throughout his entire life he was extremely generous and charitable to his home town. He bought his beloved ‘Peterborough United Football Club’ when it was close to folding, and he immediately ploughed millions of £’s into it – He also did the very same with Peterborough’s famous ‘Broadway Theatre’, turning it into one of the top Theatre’s outside of London.

 

He became owner of the towns iconic 1852 built Victorian ‘Great Northern Hotel’ which stands directly opposite the entrance to Peterborough mainline railway station, and immediately financed a an expensive facelift of this historic old building.

 

Peter Boizot also got into politics in a big way as a Liberal Candidate – and was awarded an MBE in 1986 for his political and public services.

His 2014 biography is entitled “Mr. Pizza & all that Jazz”  – but for those who knew him and who lived around the area, he will always be known as ‘Mr. Peterborough’.

 

So – returning to the reason as to why London Shoes made the trip to the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ – my old drum tutor ‘Gentleman’ George Double, from the time when I was manager of Barclays Bank-Mare St Hackney in the mid 1990’s onwards – was thumping the tubs for the excellent and entertaining ‘Chris Ingham Quintet’ who were performing their highly acclaimed ‘Rebop’ set of music inspired by the late legendary jazz musician and composer ‘Horace Silver’ (1928-2014).

Horace Silver was one of the all time great jazz pianists throughout the 40’s-50’s-60’s and beyond, who had a major influence on jazz music throughout his and future generation.

He spent 28 years making records with the famous ‘Blue Note’ jazz record label, plus many other jazz labels.

Horace Silver passed away in 2014 at the age of 86, but left a vast legacy of work comprising of some 36 studio albums – 3 ‘live’ albums plus 7 compilation albums, containing all time jazz classics such as ‘Song for my Father’ – ‘Doodlin’ – ‘Peace’ – ‘Sister Sadie’ – ‘The Jody Grind’ – ‘Serenade to a Soul Sister’ plus many many more.

The ‘Chris Ingham Quintet’ for this Pizza Express Jazz Club gig comprised of George Double on drums – Paul Higgs on trumpet – Colin Watling on sax – Arnie Somogyi on double bass and of course Chris Ingham himself on piano.

The band banged out two 50min sets of Horace Silver classics to an extremely enthusiastic and appreciative audience down in the Pizza Express basement, and certainly did justice to old Horace Silver’s legacy of music.

The great thing about Chris Ingham is that all the way through the set he provides a detailed and interesting running commentary between numbers – giving the audience facts such as when the numbers were recorded, who played on the original recordings, any unusual circumstances or history behind the songs themselves – So you don’t necessarily need to be a big fan, or know a lot about jazz when watching the band perform – because by the time the gig is over, you will certainly know a lot more than you did before the shows started.

The atmosphere and ambience down in the Pizza Express basement creates such a fantastic vibe – which I am guessing is probably similar to that in the famous ‘jazz joints’ of New York, Chicago and New Orleans.

So what better way for London Shoes to spend an evening – than to be down in the Pizza Express Jazz Club basement – munching away on a tasty margherita pizza – necking down a few bottles of chilled Peroni beer – whilst watching the Chris Ingham Quintet (with me old mate ‘Gentleman’ George Double thumping tubs) knocking out jazz classics, and keeping the old ‘Billy Bunters’ thoroughly entertained.

Hope you enjoyed this article and are now all jazzed-up in your zoot suit and ready to go

See the full selection of photos accompanying the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ blog below

Dean Street-Soho-London W1 – The location of the “Pizza Express Jazz Club”

 

In 1969, only 4 years after opening his initial restaurant – Boizot bought a large magnificent old 1878 Victorian building in Dean Street-Soho, that had once been occupied by the ‘Dispensary for Diseases of the Ear’

The empty stage down in the basement of the “Pizza Express Jazz Club” – Dean Street-Soho

 

Me – on the ‘tubs’, pre-gig – on the stage of the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’

 

The empty Pizza Express Jazz Club stage – pre-gig

 

Every wall in the Pizza Express basement jazz club is adorned with photos of all the jazz performers who have played there.

 

Every wall in the Pizza Express basement jazz club is adorned with photos of all the jazz performers who have played there.

 

The Pizza Express Jazz Club – pre-gig & pre-punters

 

The ‘Chris Ingham Quintet’ being put through their paces on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club during the sound-check

 

The ‘Chris Ingham Quintet’ during their sound-check – on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club

 

Me – with the Chris Ingham Quintet doing their sound check – on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet doing their ‘Rebop’ set sound check

 

The punters start to arrive and take their seats (and eat their pizza) at the Pizza Express Jazz Club

 

The late Horace Silver was one of the all-time great jazz pianists – who left a vast legacy of work comprising of some 36 studio albums – 3 ‘live’ albums – 7 compilation albums, containing all time jazz classics

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho – knocking out their set of Horace Silver classics

 

Chris Ingham – tickling the ivories on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho – knocking out their set of Horace Silver classics

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet’s Colin Watling – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

Me – sneaking in a ‘cheeky’ Peroni before the start of the bands 2nd set of jazz legend Horace Silver’s classics

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho – knocking out their set of Horace Silver classics

 

Chris Ingham provides a detailed and interesting running commentary between numbers – that covers off facts such as when the numbers were recorded, who played on the original recordings, any unusual circumstances or history behind the songs themselves – So- you don’t necessarily need to be a big fan, or know a lot about jazz when watching the band perform – because by the time the gig is over, you will certainly know a lot more than you did before the shows started.

 

Horace Silver was one of the all-time great jazz pianists throughout the last 40’s-50’s-60’s and beyond, who had a major influence on jazz music throughout his generation and beyond. He spent 28 years making records with the famous ‘Blue Note’ jazz record label, plus many other jazz labels.

 

Paul Higgs of the Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

Me old mate ‘Gentleman’ George Double – thumping the tubs for the Chris Ingham Quintet – on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho – knocking out their set of Horace Silver classics

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

Chris Ingham ‘at the mic’ and continuing to provide a detailed and interesting running commentary between numbers

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – continue to enthuse the audience with Horace Silver classics – on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

The late great ‘Peter Boizot’ – (aka Mr Pizza and/or Mr Peterborough) – and the founder of Pizza Express & it’s Jazz Club

 

Throughout Peter Boizot’s life he was extremely generous and charitable to his home town of Peterborough. He even bought his beloved ‘Peterborough United Football Club’ when it was close to folding, and immediately ploughed millions of £’s into it

 

Peterborough United Football Club – once owner by Peter Boizot

 

Peterborough’s iconic 1852 built Victorian ‘Great Northern Hotel’ which stands directly opposite the entrance to Peterborough mainline railway station – once owned by Peter Boizot

 

Peter Boizot was once the owner of Peterborough’s iconic 1852 built Victorian ‘Great Northern Hotel’ which stands directly opposite the entrance to Peterborough mainline railway station.

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – draw their energizing set to its finale

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – take a bow at the end of their enthusiastically received ‘Rebop’ set – at the Pizza Express Jazz Club

Me & ‘Gentleman’ George Double post-gig – in the shadows of the Pizza Express Jazz Club stage

 

Me – sneaking down a cheeky final Peroni down in the basement of the Pizza Express Jazz Club – before heading off into the Soho night, and back to home

 

Me & ‘Gentleman’ George Double bid a final farewell post-gig – down in the basement of the Pizza Express Jazz Club

 

Leaving the Pizza Express Jazz Club, and out into the warm (and very late night) Soho air – making my way back home, following a really entertaining evening 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

*A celebratory lunch at the world famous “Groucho Club”-Dean Street-Soho-W1

Posted on by Posted in Art, People, Quirky Topics .

 

This week’s ‘London Shoes’ trek out, was a little bit different from the ‘norm’ – as it was all about having ‘lunch’ at an excusive world renowned private members club, deep in the heart of London’s Soho district – a far cry from the ‘Egg, Bacon, Beans & a Fried Slice’ that London Shoes usually has, when out-on-the-road.

So – this week’s ‘London Shoes’ topic is all about the exclusive “Groucho Club” situated in Dean Street-Soho-London W1, where I went to meet up with and enjoy a lunch appointment with my old mate Mick Finch, who I’ve been pal’s with since we were both pupils at Mayfield Boys Secondary Modern School-Goodmayes, over 47 years ago.

Me & Mick – way back in 1974

This lunch arrangement was not just for the purposes of an enjoyable afternoon’s catch-up over a few beers – it was also to celebrate Mick’s recent appointment as ‘Professor of Visual Art Practice’ at London’s prestigious “Central St. Martins College of Arts & Design” (formerly known as The Saint Martins School of Art) – some achievement, bearing in mind we went to a school where almost every lesson was geared towards pupils working for the ‘Ford Motor Company’ or its ancillary industries-in nearby Dagenham.

However, young Mick had other aspirations and went on to college then university, to study art – which (to cut a long story very short) has seen him progress considerably to the extent that he has taught art to a high level, in places as far flung as the ‘Ohio State University’ in the USA, and prestigious university establishments in Paris.

Throughout his extensive and extremely successful career ‘journey’ young Michael has consistently exhibited his own highly acclaimed art works and creations, gaining many high level awards and commendations – and has also written many ‘papers’ and research project outputs, as well as contributions to many books on numerous aspects of art & design – in other words, he is a renowned top ‘face’ throughout the entire art world.

Anyway – to celebrate him recently becoming a ‘Professor’, Mick had booked us a table at the world famous ‘Groucho Club’ – where young Michael is a ‘life-member’ – and what an experience that was for me and my ‘Shoes’.

The ‘Groucho Club’ was opened in 1985 by a group of top players in the Arts, Publishing, Media and Entertainment worlds – who wanted to run their own ‘private members’ club, away from the snobby vibes of other gentlemen’s clubs scattered across London.

This new club was named the ‘Groucho’  in reference to a classic quote from the iconic comedian & actor ‘Groucho Marx’, who once famously said “I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member”.

The Groucho in Dean Street consists of 3 bars, 2 restaurants, a snooker room, 4 rooms for private hire and 20 bedrooms for members who may want to stay overnight.

 

Membership is very expensive, and any new applicant has to firstly be nominated by 2 existing members.

On display throughout the Groucho Club, are ‘works’ from some of the world’s most renowned artists, such as Damien Hirst, Sir Peter Blake & Grayson Perry, to name just a few.

Within the Groucho Club’s wall you could find yourself rubbing shoulders with celebs from the entertainment world, such as Noel Gallagher, Lord Melvyn Bragg, Grayson Perry, Stephen Fry, Janet Street Porter, Sheridan Smith, Damien Lewis, Noel Fielding, Nick Grimshaw, and the Reverend Richard Coles plus many more.

The only down-side to London Shoes visit was that there is no photography allowed inside the Groucho, as the members are extremely sensitive and protective about their privacy, and there are often ‘paps’ hanging around outside trying to invade the privacy of the celebs by taking snaps of them. So unfortunately, I was unable to furnish this article with photos of the Club’s interior and it’s artistic fixtures & features – but we were given permission to snap a quick one as we left the building following our meal.

However, for lunch, me & Mick selected food from the Groucho’s ‘Bernie’s Restaurant’ menu – and tucked into such delights as ‘charcoal taglionin with girolle, peas and board beans-confit tuna campers with red onion-taggiasa Olive pizzette-pork chops with carrot and fennel’ – now, I haven’t got a bloody clue what all that was about, but it was extremely tasty – and in any case, it was all washed down with copious amounts of some deliciously chilled Czech lager.

So – all in all, visiting the world famous Groucho Club was an extremely enjoyable experience for London Shoes – which now enables me to nonchalantly say ‘Been There’.

Hope you enjoyed this little ‘Shoes’ story, and the limited number of photos that accompany it.

‘Bottoms Up’

Dean Street-Soho-London W1 – the home of the renowned exclusive ‘Groucho Club’

 

 

A street view of the ‘Groucho Club’ – a renowned world famous excusive private members club in Dean Street-Soho

 

A different angled view of the ‘Groucho Club’ in Dean Street-London W1

 

Me – outside the entrance to the ‘Groucho Club’ in Dean Street – and the point at which all further photos inside, were not permitted 🙁

 

A photo of me & my old school mate ‘Professor Mick Finch’ – a photo we were given permission to take as we were leaving the club – with a Damien Hirst ‘piece’ up on my wall behind us

 

Me – in the reception area of the ‘Groucho Club’ – taken on our way out, having had a delicious lunch.

 

 

 

 

A big ‘thumbs-up’ from me, to the whole Groucho Club experience 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*The historic “Coldharbour” & the “Blackwall Basin”-London E14

Posted on by Posted in Historic Docks, Streets .

This week’s ‘London Shoes’ escapade had a touch of irony about it as the actual location visited is only a few hundred yards away from where I used to work in Canary Wharf – and yet, in all the 15 or so years that I worked there, I had never ever ventured anywhere near the topic in question. 🤭

So – the subject matter for this particular article published on the London Shoes-website, Twitter & Facebook sites, is all about the amazing “Coldharbour & the Blackwall Basin”. 😜

For the final chapter of my 43 year career with Barclays Bank, I spent my days working at their head-office building at Churchill Place, Canary Wharf – where I was located high up on the 24th floor of a 30 storey building.

Being up on the 24th Floor I was able to enjoy uninterrupted panoramic views of the metropolis and beyond. 🔭

To the north you could clearly see the ‘London Stadium’ and Olympic Park, plus other football grounds and other landmarks all the way up to Woodford and the northern stretch of the M25 – To the south I could look down on Greenwich and right out to the Crystal Palace communication aerial – To the west you could see all the way over to the Wembley Stadium arch and also Alexandra Palace – and to the east the Thames Barrier could clearly be seen, plus towns such as Ilford, Romford & Barking, and on a really clear day, the Millennium Bridge over at the Dartford crossing could also be seen. 🔭

However, directly below me to the east of my 24th floor vantage point in the Barclays building – lies the ‘Blackwall Basin’ and the street known as ‘Coldharbour’ – and even though I used to look out at this particular site every single day of every years that I worked at Canary Wharf, I had never ever actually walked amongst its streets – probably because I thought it didn’t seem as interesting or attractive as some of the other more popular landmarks on the Isle-of-Dogs – how wrong I was!!! 🤔

Having done a bit of the old pre-visit research that I do for all ‘Shoes’ blogs, I soon discovered that the entire ‘Coldharbour’ and ‘Blackwall’ area of Docklands was steeped in a wealth of history, some of which was pivotal to the development of London at the time. 🤓

‘Coldharbour’ is a very old street on the Isle-of-Dogs, where some parts of it have remained untouched for over 350 years, despite all the extensive redevelopment work that has taken place in Docklands throughout the past few decades.

The ‘Coldharbour’ street itself was once a medieval path that ran alongside the north side of the River Thames connecting the ‘Blackwall Stairs’ to the ‘West India Dock’.

Not surprisingly the very first buildings in Coldharbour both industrial and residential – were all connected with the River Thames and its ever developing waterfront industries such as shipbuilding – iron works – rope making – carpentry joiners – mast makers – barrel makers – lightermen – oil & candle workers…….and of course……Pubs!!! 👷‍♂️🔧🔨🔩🍺

In fact, one of the most historical pubs located down at Coldharbour was the ‘Fishing Smack’ – that started pulling pints way back in the mid 1700’s. One of the ‘Fishing Smack’s regulars was the one and only ‘Charles Dickens’ who spent many hours there and would often write about what he had witnessed and the characters he encountered there. 🎩✒️📚

This old pub landmark was finally demolished in 1948, and to this day there is still a section of the pubs original brown-glazed brick work in the corner of one of Coldharbour’s houses, which is amazing bearing in mind this piece of masonry has survived almost 400 years. 😲👍

At no.3 Coldharbour is an old Georgian style house that was built in the early 1800’s – where apparent Admiral Lord Nelson used to reside whenever his fleet was being re-fitted.

At the bottom end of Coldharbour sits ‘The Gun’ pub – where there has been a tavern at the site since way back in the early 1700’s. The current pub building was built in 1820 and is the place where Nelson used to secretly meet up with Lady Emma Hamilton on a regular basis – and discreetly the pub used to keep an upstairs room free for them and their little get-together’s. 💏

Because of its close proximity to the River Thames, ‘The Gun’ pub also had close associations with smugglers and river pirates, who would unload and distribute their ‘booty’ via hidden tunnels situated in the pubs cellar – and to this very day there is still a ‘spy-hole’ situated in the building that was used to keep an eye out for ‘The Revenue Men’. ☠️⚓️

I didn’t get to neck down a ‘cheeky’ beer in ‘The Gun’ as I was there ahead opening time – but the pub staff did very kindly allow me to mooch about the building, so that I could take the photos I wanted. 📷🍻

Today – Coldharbour’s surviving Georgian and Victorian buildings are protected as a designated conservation and perseveration area, and nearly all of its older buildings, quite rightly, enjoy Grade II listed status. 👍

 

The introduction of the Docklands Light Railway station at Blackwall in the 1990’s, makes Coldharbour easily accessible and therefore well worth a visit. 🚇

Situated right next to Coldharbour, and just a few hundred yards to the east of my old Barclays workplace, is the magnificent stretch of water known as the ‘Blackwall Basin’.

Historic records refer to ‘Blackwall’ as far back as the early 1400’s – and it is thought that its name probably comes as a result of the colour of a high river wall that was built back in the 14th century.

By the late 15th century Blackwall was a major sea-hub, in fact the explorers who discovered the North West Passage back in 1576, set sail from Blackwall.

By the time the East India Dock was constructed in the early 19th century, the entire district of Blackwall was a hive of nearby riverside & sea-faring industries, including the famous ‘Thames Iron Works’ (the original home of my beloved West Ham Utd). 🚢🔧🔨🔩⚙️

 

What I personally wasn’t aware of, and I’m sure many other Londoner’s aren’t also – is that the ‘London & Blackwall Railway’ opened in 1840, was one of the very first railway systems in London. Not only was it one of the first, it was also one of the smallest, as it only ran from Fenchurch Street in the city on a 20min journey down to Blackwall – and from there its passengers were shunted across the Thames to Gravesend, where they would board steamers to take them to places all over the world. 😲

The ‘Blackwall Basin’ was constructed in 1806 as part of the West India Dock complex – and was, at the time, the first ever ‘non-tidal’ dock entrance ever built – however, from the 1960’s onwards, the ‘Basin’ remained unused, until such time that the Docklands redevelopment projects started kicking-in.

 

Right up until 1987 industries and businesses scattered around the ‘Blackwall Basin’ were still heavily involved in ship repairing activities. 🚢

Today, the Blackwall Basin is better known as a ‘Barge Village’ where up to 27 boats have permanent residence.

In 1985 the Blackwall Basin was the site where ‘Jamestown Harbour’, the very first Docklands ‘luxury housing’ development was built. ⛵️🚤

Anyway – I was really pleased that I finally got to explore and discover this particular area of the Isle-of-Dogs – just disappointed that I didn’t bother to go and explore it when I worked literally next door for all those years – but better late than never I guess. 👍

So – for a refreshing ‘cheeky’ beer before heading back to base, I popped into ‘The Ledger’ pub situated at the very far end of Canary Wharf, and a pub that used to be my ‘local’ when I worked at the (now demolished) Hertsmere House in the early ‘noughties’ before being relocated to the new Barclays Head Office at Churchill Place. ❤️🍺

‘The Ledger’ was always my preferred watering hole in Canary Wharf – simply because, with it being a Wetherspoons pub, you weren’t paying the extortionate prices for a ‘cheeky’ one that the other more swanky bars charged. 🍻

So – after a couple of ‘cheekies’ and a big bowl of Wetherspoons finest chips – it was time to bid farewell to my old work place ‘manor’, but this time, much better informed of its history and surroundings.

‘Coldharbour’ & the ‘Blackwell Basin’ – a really enjoyable place to spend a couple of hours, if you are ever in the area.😉

Hope you enjoy the photos. 👍

_____________________

See below, more photographs of this ‘Coldharbour & Blackwell Basin blog:-

 

The approach road to the ‘Coldharbour’ & the ‘Blackwall Basin’ – with my former workplace ‘Barclays Bank’ in the background

 

A view of my old Barclays Bank workplace – as seen from the northern section of the Blackwall Basin

 

‘Coldharbour’ – one of the oldest streets on the Isle-of-Dogs, and where a handful of its old residential buildings have remained unaffected by all the redevelopment that has taken place around them throughout the past few decades

 

The old cobbled street of ‘Coldharbour’

 

Just one of the old Georgian buildings situated down Coldharbour

 

The old cobbled street of ‘Coldharbour’

 

At no.3 Coldharbour is an old Georgian style house that was built in the early 1800’s – where apparently Admiral Lord Nelson used to reside whenever his fleet was being re-fitted

 

The old front door of no.3 Coldharbour – an old Georgian style house that was built in the early 1800’s – where apparently Admiral Lord Nelson used to reside whenever his fleet was being re-fitted.

 

Another of the Georgian / Victorian houses situated in Coldharbour

 

The site of where once stood the famous 18th century built ‘Fishing Smack’ pub, that was eventually demolished in 1948. To this day there is still a section of the pubs original brown-glazed brick work in the corner of one of Coldharbour’s houses, which is amazing bearing in mind this piece of masonry has survived almost 400 years.

 

A close-up of the original brown-glazed brick work of what once the old ‘Fishing Smack’ pub, dating right back to the mid 1700’s.

 

Me – outside the front door of a couple of the old Georgian/Victorian houses in Coldharbour.

 

An example of the early Victorian architecture located in ‘Coldharbour’

 

Another example of the early Victorian architecture located in ‘Coldharbour’

 

Another example of the magnificent Georgian architecture that can be found near ‘Coldharbour’

 

Scenes of ‘The Gun’ pub at no.27 ‘Coldharbour’

 

At the bottom end of Coldharbour sits ‘The Gun’ pub – where there has been a tavern at the site since way back in the early 1700’s. The current pub building was built in 1820 and is the place where Nelson used to secretly meet up with Lady Emma Hamilton on a regular basis – and discreetly the pub used to keep an upstairs room free for them and their little get-together’s.

 

A ‘history board at the entrance to  ‘The Gun’ pub at no.27 ‘Coldharbour’

 

Inside the old ‘Gun’ pub at no.27 Coldharbour

 

3 ‘old bores’ – inside the old ‘Gun’ pub at no.27 Coldharbour

 

Inside the old ‘Gun’ pub at no.27 Coldharbour

 

A reference to Lord Nelson – inside the old ‘Gun’ pub at no.27 Coldharbour

 

A reference to Admiral Lord Nelson’s ‘bird’ – inside ‘The Gun’ pub

 

A picture hanging in ‘The Gun’ which depicts Admiral Lord Nelson’s dying moments 🙁 This scene always reminds me of an old Morecambe & Wise comedy sketch – where Ernie Wise was playing the part of Admiral Nelson, and Eric Morecambe was playing the part of Nelson’s assistant ‘Captain Hardy’ – and Nelson utters the now legendary words ‘Kiss me Hardy’ – to which Eric Morecambe replies “I would, if I knew where it was”

 

A view of the ‘Coldharbour’ houses from the river front

 

A close-up of the Thames side balcony & veranda of The Gun pub in Coldharbour

 

Me – giving me old ‘trotters’ a little rest – on the veranda of The Gun pub – Coldharbour

 

The O2 – as viewed from the balcony of ‘The Gun’ pub across the other side of the River Thames in Coldharbour

A view from the ‘Blackwall Basin’ – literally on the door step of where I spent the last 15 or so years of my working life, on the 24th floor of the Barclays Head Office building

 

Views from the ‘Blackwall Basin’

 

Views from the ‘Blackwall Basin’

Views from the ‘Blackwall Basin’

A bit of wildlife on the Blackwall Basin

 

The old cranes in situ at the Blackwall Basin – reminding people of the hive of dockland activity it once was

 

A more closer view of the old cranes in situ at the Blackwall Basin – reminding people of the hive of dockland activity it once was

Me – under one of the old Blackwall Basin dock cranes

 

Views of just some of the permanent moorings on the Blackwall Basin

 

Views from the ‘Blackwall Basin’

 

Views of just some of the 27 permanent moorings on the Blackwall Basin

 

Met Police caution notice at Blackwall Basin – as they were on a diving exercise at the time of my visit there.

 

Some of the Blackwall Basin wildlife – with a Met Police lorry in the background – the Met were conducting a diving exercise whilst I was there.

 

Views from the ‘Blackwall Basin’

 

Water homes & luxury homes – scattered all around the ‘Blackwall Basin’

 

Just some of the 27 permanent moorings on the Blackwall Basin

 

Me – amongst just some of the permanent houseboat moorings on the Blackwell Basin – with some of the earliest luxury apartments erected in Canary Wharf

 

Just a few of the old dock fixtures & fittings still in situ at the ‘Blackwall Basin’

 

Some of the old dock fixtures & fittings still in situ at the ‘Blackwall Basin’

 

More of the old dock fixtures & fittings still in situ at the ‘Blackwall Basin’

 

More views from the ‘Blackwall Basin’

 

The introduction of the Docklands Light Railway station at Blackwall in the 1990’s, makes Coldharbour and the Blackwall Basin easily accessible to the public

 

‘The Ledger’ pub situated at the very far end of Canary Wharf, and a pub that used to be my ‘local’ when I worked at the (now demolished) Hertsmere House in the early ‘noughties’ before being relocated to the new Barclays Head Office at Churchill Place

 

Me – neckin’ down a ‘cheeky’ one in ‘The Ledger’

 

Another shot of ‘The Ledger’ pub situated at the very far end of Canary Wharf,

 

Me – neckin’ down a second ‘cheeky’ one in ‘The Ledger’ beer garden – before setting off back home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*The “606 Club”- Chelsea-SW11 & and an evening of jazz from John Ethgeridge’s Blue Spirit Trio with special guest Art Themen

Posted on by Posted in Music, Pubs .

This week ‘London Shoes’ made a welcomed return to the topic of ‘live-music’ – and to an event that required a trek out to a basement jazz venue in deepest darkest Chelsea.

The venue for this ‘gig’ was the extremely popular and charismatic “606 Club” in Lots Road–Chelsea-London SW11, and the reason for journeying all the way from east to west London, was for the purpose of watching my old drumming tutor ‘Gentleman’ George Double from way back in the 1990’s when I was manager of the Barclays Bank branch in Mare Street-Hackney, and young George (as he was then) was one of my customers.

Anyway – for this particular event, George was thumping tubs for a legendary and much respected guitarist in the music industry, who although his name might not necessarily be immediately recognised by your average music lover – he’s a musician who has been on the scene for over 50 years now, and could quite easily be accurately described as being the ‘guitarists guitarist’ – namely Londoner “John Etheridge”.

However, before summarising the achievements of John Etheridge and this particular gig – I thought it would be useful to provide a little bit of background to the famous “606 Club” – the venue for the gig.

 

The “606 Club” or “The Six” as it is commonly referred to – is definitely up there as being probably one of the busiest jazz clubs in the whole of Europe, as it has performances every night of the week, and sometimes 2 gigs per day at the weekends.

The club itself has been in existence for over 40 years and has operated from its Lots Road venue since 1988.

Now – Lots Road itself is a street that has an interesting history in its own right.

It’s situated alongside the River Thames next to Chelsea Creek and is the location of a magnificent old building and site that was once one of the largest power stations in the world!!!

The ‘Lots Road Power Station’ (not be confused with the Battersea Power Station across the other side of the River), was built in the late 1800’s and sold to the ‘Metropolitan District Traction Company’ in 1901 who used it as a centre to provide power to its ‘District Railways’ service, which in turn enabled the company to keep up with the times by converting its steam powered trains to be powered electrically.

At the height of its historic background, the Lots Road Power Station was burning 700 tons of coal per day, generating up to 50,000 kw’s of power.

As the decades moved on, the Lots Road Power Station was continually being modernised, developed and equipped as rail technology evolved – to the extent that it ended up supplying the power to run the entire London Underground tube network.

It also has a ‘non-power station’ claim-to-fame as well, in that it played a major part in the launch of commercial radio in London in the early 1970’s – when ‘Capital Radio’ and ‘LBC’ used the power stations chimneys to set-up and erect temporary radio transmission masts, until such time permanent transmitters were set up elsewhere.

The Lots Road Power Station finally closed down for good in 2002 when the London Underground tube network switched over to the National Grid to provide the power it needed.

The power station site and buildings remained unused and empty up until very recently, when high level sanction was given to re-develop the site into luxury flats and apartments – and the photos I have published to accompany this article, provide an idea of the extent of the development work involved.

Anyway – back to the “606 Club” – it’s not necessarily the easiest of places to get to – the nearest tube station is probably ‘Fulham Broadway’ on the District Line, which is about a 10/15min walk away – however it is a very famous and popular venue, that not only puts on jazz gigs, it also puts on performances of R&B, Funk, Gospel, Latin, Soul & Blues music – and most of today’s top British jazz acts would have probably played the “606” at some time in their careers.

So – back to the gig, and John Etheridge.

John Etheridge has been performing in bands since the mid 1960’s the most well-known with music lovers of my generation – would probably be ‘Soft Machine’ who were a top-of-the bill act throughout the late 60’s and 70’s – and are currently experiencing a resurgence of interest and still gigging and knocking out albums of their unique style of jazz fusion music, to a new audience today.

Apart from ‘Soft Machine’ John Etheridge has played, recorded and toured the world several times over, performing with the likes of legendary jazz violinist ‘Stephane Grappelli’ – classical guitarist legend ‘ John Williams’ – the popular violin performer ‘Nigel Kennedy’ – and the acclaimed once Police guitarist ‘Andy Summers’…..to name but a few.

Reading through John Etheridge’s discography – the amount of work he has been involved in and churned out over the years is mind-blowing – as it reads something like this:-
4 albums where he has been the band leader
11 albums (and counting) with Soft Machine
5 albums with Stephane Grappelli
2 albums with Nigel Kennedy
13 plus albums with other artists
And that doesn’t include his solo output – all whilst he still continues to perform gigs with Soft Machine and solo gigs, like the one ‘London Shoes’ attended for this article.

It’s no wonder that in a famous quote from “Sting” (the legendary Police frontman) he revealed to the interviewer “I never wanted to be a star, just a highly respected musician like John Etheridge”…high praise indeed.

So – for the gig at the “606 Club” basement this week – John Etheridge was accompanied by my old mate ‘Gentleman’ George Double on drums – Pete Whittaker on organ – special guest Art Themen on sax, who together knocked out nearly 3hrs worth of quality guitar-led modern jazz – creating a fantastic vibe that was really entertaining and thoroughly enjoyed by me and all the other punters who were fortunate enough to be there.

The ‘606 Club’ – a great venue & a great night of musical entertainment provided by John Etheridge & the band – long may he continue to perform.

Please see below more detailed photos of John Etheridge & the “606 Club” blog

Lots Road – Chelsea-London SW11 -. Location of the famous “606 Club” and (at the moment) the iconic old Lots Road Power Station

 

The “606 Club” where the entrance leads down the stairs to the basement club & stage

 

Another shot of the “606 Club” entrance

 

The old ‘Lots Road Power Station’ – that at one time, provided power to the entire Tube Network

 

The Lots Road Power Station – now undergoing some seriously extensive re-development – to turn it into luxury apartments

 

Another view of the old Lots Road Power Station – taken from the entrance top the “606 Club” across the road

 

The old Lots Road Power Station – alongside something that it could look like once its been developed into luxury apartments

 

Outside the entrance to the “606 Club” – in Lots Rd

 

The ‘Gig Guide’ at the entrance to the “606 Club” – highlighting the John Etheridge gig attended by ‘London Shoes’

 

Inside the “606 Club” – pre-punters & pre-gig

 

Inside the “606 Club”

 

Inside the “606 Club”

 

The “606 Club” stage – pre-punters & pre- pre-gig

 

Another view of the “606 Club” stage – pre-punters & pre- pre-gig

 

A pre-gig ‘cheeky’ one for me at the “606 Club”

 

A soundcheck for John Etheridge & the band

 

A soundcheck for John Etheridge & the band

 

Another quick ‘cheeky’ beer for me, before the start of the evenings entertainment

 

John Etheridge – on guitar – ‘Gentleman’ George Double on drums – Pete Whittaker on organ & guest Art Themen on sax – performing on stage at the “606 Club”

 

John Etheridge & the band knocking out their set to all the punters, from the “606 Club” stage

 

John Etheridge & the band on the “606 Club” stage – knocking out their set to all the punters at the club

 

John Etheridge & the band on the “606 Club” stage

 

My old good friend ‘Gentleman’ George Double thumping tubs on the “606 Club” stage

 

the band back on stage to kick-off the 2nd half of their set

 

An old 70’s photo of the band ‘Soft Machine’ – with John Etheridge 3rd from left

 

John Etheridge, Art Themen & George Double – doing their stuff on stage at the “606 Club”

 

John Etheridge having some ‘bants’ with the “606 Club” audience

 

John Etheridge and the boys performing on the “606 Club” stage

 

An old ads from music press such as the Melody Maker and New Musical Express from the early 1970’s – with Soft Machine topping the bill at the legendary Marquee Club in Wardour St.

An old ad from music press such as the Melody Maker and New Musical Express from the early 1970’s – with Soft Machine topping the bill at a gig at the late John Peel’s club ‘Middle Earth’ in Covent Garden

 

Me – neckin’ down a quick ‘cheeky’ beer during the interval 🙂

 

John Etheridge and the band back on stage to kick-off the 2nd half of their set

 

The band back on stage delivering the 2nd half of their set

 

John Etheridge knocking out another guitar solo from the “606 Club” stage

 

Art Themen & George Double on stage at the “606 club”

 

John Etheridge and the boys performing on the “606 Club” stage

 

John Etheridge knocking out another guitar solo from the “606 Club” stage

 

John Etheridge and the boys performing on the “606 Club” stage

 

My ex-drum tutor George Double pulling a typical drummer-face – on stage at the “606 Club” 🙂

 

Me – enjoying a ‘cheeky’ post gig beer at the “606 Club” before heading back east to home – following a great nights entertainment in a great venue :-))

 

 

 

 

 

*”Bow-London E3 – its amazing history & historic landmarks”

Posted on by Posted in Historic Buildings, Streets .

Last week, ‘London Shoes’ didn’t have to venture too far from home, only a 20min train journey to the east-end for the purpose of exploring a specific area, where literally every street appears to have some sort of history behind it and its own fascinating story to tell.

So – the latest article to be published onto the London Shoes website, Twitter feed and Facebook page goes under the title of “Bow-London E3 and its amazing history & landmarks”.

For this trip out I was delighted to be accompanied again by my old work colleague ‘Les’, who I worked with way back in the late 1980’s, at Barclays Bank –Whitechapel, just a couple of minutes’ walk down the road from Bow. Les himself actually worked at the Barclays branch in Bow, during the early 1980’s, and so he was very keen to join me on this particular jaunt, and revisit some of his old haunts.

Centuries ago, Bow (like a lot of London) was a rural area, sitting just outside the Roman settlement of Londinuim, to the west.

Historic records dating back to the 12th Century show that the area was then known as ‘Stratford-atte-Bow’, which had built up around a causeway built by the Romans to aid the crossing of the River Lea.

It was an area that the Roman roads used to pass through on route to their other fortresses out-in-the-sticks in places such as Colchester in Essex.

Legend has it that in 1100, Queen Matilda wife of King Henry 1st, had a little accident which resulted in her falling into the River Lea – and as a result she ordered that a 3 arched bridge be built at ‘Stratford-atte-Bow’ to prevent such a disastrous thing happening again.

By the 1700’s, because of all its open fields and transport routes, Bow had become the centre of the animal slaughter and butchery businesses that serviced the busy London markets just down the road.

Throughout the centuries Bow witnessed a rapid demise of its countryside because of the increase in manufacturing industries, residential housing, commercial businesses – all servicing London, and all benefiting from Bow’s varied communication and transport networks (i.e. road, river & canal)

Bow also became one of London’s poorest districts – in terms of overcrowded housing and social depravity and awful working conditions – however today, like a lot of the old inner-city areas, Bow has seen a resurgence of development over the past few decades, and is today a desirable, though very expensive – place to live.

It’s one of those areas where every street seems to have some sort of history about it – some good, but other bits not so good – but a load of its historic landmarks are still in situ today, and my quest for the day was to track down some of the more important ones.

St. Mary’s Church<

St. Mary’s is the main church in Bow, and is uniquely situated on an island right in the middle of the extremely busy Bow Road.There has been a place of worship on the site for over 700 years, and the present church building dates way back to 1490.

Throughout its life, St Mary’s has certainly seen a bit of action – as it was once an execution site for topping-off Catholics – it was once a safe haven for Roundhead soldiers being persecuted by Royalists during the English Civil War.

Today though, it is probably best known for the statue of ex-Prime Minister ‘William Gladstone’ that stands directly outside in front of the church entrance.

This William Gladstone statue has its own notoriety because at its unveiling back in 1882 the outstretched hand of Gladstone was covered in the blood of a group of Match Girls from the nearby Bryant & May Match Factory in Fairfield Road – who cut themselves and used their own blood to deface the statue, in protest of their awful working conditions and the fact that the statue had been paid for by their blood, as William Bryant had commissioned the building of the statue, and had docked the ‘girls’ wages to help pay for it.

Even to this very day, unknown sympathisers cover Gladstone’s hand in red paint to commemorate this event and the terrible plight of the Match Girls.

>Three Mills<
The ‘Three Mills’ site on the River Lea is one of Bow’s many historic landmarks that is still in use today – but for completely different purposes than what it was built for.

It was originally an area of the River Lea where defense fortresses were built to prevent the Danes and then the French, from getting too far up the river and invading London.

Because the River Lea is tidal, it was the ideal place for flour mills to be built, and originally there were 4 mills situated there, grinding down grain for the baking of bread to feed London’s ever increasing population.

In Elizabethan times the mills at Three Mills were used to grind down gunpowder – and later on it was the site of a large distillery.

Today, Three Mills houses an education centre, a recording studio – and is a very popular tourist attraction.

Bow Bus Garage<

One of London’s largest historic bus garages is situated in Bow’s Fairfield Road.

This wonderful Grade II listed building first opened as a ‘Tram’ depot back in 1908, and then converted to a ‘Trolley Bus’ depot in 1939 – and then it was the main depot that garaged London’s iconic ‘Routemaster’ buses, right up until 2004 – and it is still operative today to garage the majority of TfL’s east London’s bus fleets.

>Bow Locks<
No – I’m not using profane language here.

Bow’s historic and still fully operative old Locks are situated along the Bow stretch of the River Lea – and link the tidal ‘Bow Creek’ with the River Lea and the ‘Limehouse-Cut’ and also Bow’s canal networks.

Historic records show that there has been tidal control at this particular site as far back as the 1300’s.

The Bow Locks have obviously been rebuilt several times throughout the centuries to accommodate Bow’s manufacturing industries and trade, and also to prevent local flooding – but today they are still fully operative and are also a big tourist attraction.

>The Bryant & May Match Factory<
This historic factory site in Bow’s Fairfield Road, is one of London’s most famous industrial landmarks.

In 1843 a William Bryant and Francis May went into business selling matches.

The purchased an old rope and candle factory in Fairfield Road and turned it into the iconic Bryant & May Match Factory.

By 1860 the factory had a workforce of around 5,000 that were knocking out 300 million matches per day – making it one of London’s largest and most successful factory sites.

However, things didn’t always go smoothly for the owners, as in 1888 they became embroiled in the historic ‘Match Girls Strike’ – an event that paved the way in which industrial relations were subsequently conducted.

Today – this 7 acre site has been converted into luxury apartments and flats, all with a gated community – which is now known as ‘The Bow Quarter’.

>The Chisenhale Gallery<
This art gallery in Bow’s Chisenhale Road was once a massive veneer factory that manufactured all the propellers for ‘Spitfire’ planes throughout WW2.

Roman Road – Market<

Named because it was originally built by the Romans as one of their main routes out of Londinium, to their fortress up in Colchester-Essex – and as a result the area surrounding it was a hive of industry, manufacturing and residential housing.

Throughout the past couple of centuries, Londoner’s particularly EastEnders, it is the site of what was one of London’s oldest, largest and most popular Street Markets.

Known by east Londoner’s as ‘The Roman’ where a visit there would be announced as ‘Im gahn dahn the Roman’ (eg ‘Im going down to the Roman Road market!!)

In 1986 two commemorative arches were erected at each end of this famous road, that are partly inscribed in Latin to acknowledge the Roman influence and heritage of the street.

>Pelican Cottage<
Close by to Roman Road is a small quaint little cottage, that is totally out of character with all the other modern buildings surrounding it.
Built way back in the early 1800’s this beautiful little house is still in use today and has, quite rightly, been given Grade II listed status.

>Three Colts Bridge<
The Three Colts Bridge dates back to 1830 when it was constructed as a crossing the newly constructed ‘Hertford Union Canal’ that links up with the Regents Canal and the Grand Union Canal.

>Grove Hall Park<

This very small piece of public parkland is all that remains of what once was the Bow countryside.

In 1703 the huge mansion of Grove Hall and its large estate, occupied this specific area.

The estate used to be the site of the infamous annual ‘Green Goose Fair’ – a local event that also attracted people from all over London, and in 1823 had to be stopped and banned – because of the continuous drunken, bawdy and rowdy behavior by the revelers.

The beautiful trees that run through the centre of the parkland are hundreds of years old and are today protected by a preservation order.

>The Docklands Mosaic<
Tucked away underneath the canopy of an entrance door to what was the old Poplar Town Hall, is a unique, but little known and rarely noticed mosaic. Designed and built in 1938 the mosaic beautifully depicts the River Thames and the Docklands connections to Bow.

>Kingsley Hall<
Kingsley Hall is today a local arts & crafts centre and meeting hall.

It was built back in 1928 and is famous for being the place where Mahatma Gandhi once lived, and this is commemorated by the fact that it is the HQ of the Gandhi Foundation.

>Flying Bomb-Blue Plaque<
In 1944 the Bow Railway Bridge took a direct hit from the very first V1 Flying Bomb launched by the Germans on London.

The blue plaque next to today’s bridge commemorates the fact that 6 people were killed, 30 seriously injured and over 200 Bow residents made homeless as a result of this terrible event.

>Sylvia Pankhurst<
References to the influence that legendary women’s rights campaigner has had on Bow.

Sylvia was the daughter of the UK’s main Suffragette campaigner Emeline Pankhurst – however, Sylvia also campaigned the plight of women surviving in London slums – of which Bow was one of the largest and worst.

Sylvia Pankhurst was a demonstrative force in the Bow area – holding regular women only meetings in some of its pubs – setting up a women only factory that manufactured toys, and had the iconic Selfridges as one of its main customers.

She also set-up nurseries for working mothers, so that their children could be looked after whilst they were out at work trying to earn a living and better their lives and conditions.

>Bow’s historic Pubs<

As with most inner city areas Bow has been the location of a number of historic and iconic old pubs – and fortunately some of Bow’s are still open-for-business today – and so London Shoes went to seek some of them out.

The Lord Morpeth

This is a pub with a wealth of history behind it.
It was originally opened as a pub in 1848, and was the regular drinking-hole and meeting place for the Sylvia Pankhurst led suffragette and women’s rights movement. Pankhurst “East London Federation of Suffragettes” headquarters was once situated right next door to the pub – making it an ideal spot for Federation meetings.

Today a magnificent mural covers the entire side of the pub building –that depicts Sylvia Pankhurst and the work and responsibility that she undertook throughout Bow, to better the lives and conditions of its women residents.

The Bow Bells
This pub has been serving pints here in the Bow Road since 1860. One of its claims to fame is that the ladies toilets down in its basement are said to be haunted – and as a result it is one of the locations visited on a ‘Haunted Pubs of London’ walking tour.

The Coburn

This old boozer that sits nicely in the middle of a residential street was built in 1833 and today is now a swanky and very popular gastro-pub.

The Morgan Arms
The Morgan Arms was built in 1892 in an area that was once locally known as ‘cut-throat-alley’. Today it is one of those trendy hipster pubs.

The Lord Tredegar
Is another old pub dating back to 1850, and is named after a famous military man who had connections to the Bow area. Bow’s Tredegar Square and Tredegar Street are also named after Lord Tredegar.

The Pearly King
Sadly this old 1895 built pub has been closed down for some time now, but the building still remains. The reason we sought out this one during this particular trek out is because it was once the much loved watering-hole of my accomplice Les, when he worked nearby at the Bow branch of Barclays back in the early 1980’s.

The Eleanor Arms

Another quality old Bow boozer, and probably my personal favourite of the ones visited during this blog.

Like the Lord Morpeth in the same street this 1869 built pub also has close links to Sylvia Pankhurst and her ‘East London Federation of Suffragette’ movement, as they used to use the pub to hold their meetings.

The Eleanor Arms was also the pub that me & Les chose to sink a couple of ‘cheeky’ beers in its lovely beer-garden, following a very long day traipsing the magnificent streets of Bow.

So – that is ‘Bow’ for ya – a place full of history where every almost every street has an interesting story to tell – Hope you enjoyed reading this article and its accompanying photos.

______

Please see below the more detailed photos of the ‘Bow’ blog

A map of Bow from a few centuries back, from a time when it was just a simple rural area just outside the City

 

St. Mary’s is the main church in Bow, and is uniquely situated on an island right in the middle of the extremely busy Bow Road. There has been a place of worship on the site for over 700 years, and the present church building dates way back to 1490

 

 

Me – outside the historic St. Mary’s Church in Bow. The DLR Station ‘Bow Church’ is named after this particular church.

 

St. Mary’s Church – Bow

 

The statue of William Gladstone – directly outside the entrance to St. Mary’s Church in Bow

 

The outstretched hand of the William Gladstone statue – where you can clearly see the discolouration caused by the red paint that is periodically splattered on to it by unknowns – in support of the Bryant & May Match Girls.

 

 

Three Mills – Bow

 

Three Mills – Bow

 

Three Mills – Bow

 

Three Mills – Bow

 

Three Mills – Bow

 

My old work mate Les – my accomplice for the day – across the road from what was once Barclays Bank-Bow branch, where he worked during the early 1980’s

 

Outside the historic and now Grade II Listed ‘Bow Bus Garage’

 

A 1932 photo of a group trolley bus workers outside the Bow Bus Garage in Fairfield Road-Bow

 

Views from the Bow Locks – where you can just about see my old work place ‘Canary Wharf’ in the distance

 

The Bow Locks

 

Me & Les on the bridge over the Bow Locks

 

The caption for this photo should read “A load of old Bow Locks”

 

The old Bryant & May Match Factory site in Fairfield Road-Bow. By 1860 the factory had a workforce of around 5,000 that were knocking out 300 million matches per day – making it one of London’s largest and most successful factory sites

 

inside the grounds of the old Bryant & May Match Factory – Fairfield Road-Bow – now converted into luxury apartments

 

Me & Les – inside the grounds of the old Bryant & May Match Factory – Fairfield Road-Bow – now converted into luxury apartments

 

inside the grounds of the old Bryant & May Match Factory – Fairfield Road-Bow – now converted into luxury apartments

 

 

This art gallery in Bow’s Chisenhale Road was once a massive veneer factory that manufactured all the propellers for ‘Spitfire’ planes throughout WW2

 

In 1986 two commemorative arches were erected at each end of Bow’s famous Roman Road,

 

The Roman Road arches are partly inscribed in Latin to acknowledge the Roman influence and heritage of the street

 

“I’m just gahn dahn the Roman” – (I hear the ladies say :-))

 

 

Close by to Roman Road is a small quaint little cottage, that is totally out of character with all the other modern buildings surrounding it. Built way back in the early 1800’s this beautiful little house is still in use today and has, quite rightly, been given Grade II listed status.

 

An old photo from the early 1960 of a derelict ‘Pelican Cottage’ – Bow

 

A side view of the magnificent little ‘Pelican Cottage’ – Bow

 

 

 

The Three Colts Bridge dates back to 1830 when it was constructed as a crossing for the newly constructed ‘Hertford Union Canal’ that links up with the Regents Canal and the Grand Union Canal

 

View of the ‘Hertford Union Canal’ from ‘Three Colts Bridge’

 

Me & Les on ‘Three Colts Bridge’ – Bow

 

Bow’s – ‘Grove Hall Park’

 

The beautiful trees that run through the centre of the ‘Grove Hall Park’ are hundreds of years old and are today protected by a preservation order

 

 

Me – with some of the ‘listed’ trees inside ‘Grove Hall Park’ – Bow

 

The canopy of the entrance door to what was the old Poplar Town Hall – where underneath is a unique, but little known and rarely noticed mosaic. Designed and built in 1938 the mosaic beautifully depicts the River Thames and the Docklands connections to Bow.

 

The little known and rarely noticed mosaic under bthe canopy of the entrance to the old Poplar Town Hall – It was designed and constructed in 1938 and the mosaic beautifully depicts the River Thames and the Docklands connections to Bow.

 

Bow’s ‘Kingsley Hall’ was built back in 1928 and is famous for being the place where Mahatma Gandhi once lived

 

The blue plaque displayed on the exterior wall of Kingsley Hall – commemorates the fact that Mahatma Gandhi once lived there

 

The top floor of the old Kingsley Hall building is now the HQ of the Gandhi Foundation.

 

 

The residential houses of Bow’s Tredegar Square

 

Tredegar Square – Bow

 

An magnificent old Victorian pillar-box located near to Tredegar Square – Bow

 

Me – having a ‘break’ in Kitcat Terrace – Bow

 

In 1944 the Bow Railway Bridge took a direct hit from the very first V1 Flying Bomb launched by the Germans on London. The blue plaque next to today’s bridge commemorates the fact that 6 people were killed, 30 seriously injured and over 200 Bow residents made homeless as a result of this terrible event.

 

The blue plaque next to Bow Railway bridge commemorates the fact that 6 people were killed, 30 seriously injured and over 200 Bow residents made homeless as a result of this terrible event.

 

Street scenes in Bow – where a large number of the old Georgian & Victorian residential houses/homes, are now protected by being granted a ‘Listed’ status.

 

Street scenes in Bow – where a large number of the old Georgian & Victorian residential houses/homes, are now protected by being granted a ‘Listed’ status.

 

Street scenes in Bow – where a large number of the old Georgian & Victorian residential houses/homes, are now protected by being granted a ‘Listed’ status.

 

Street scenes in Bow – where a large number of the old Georgian & Victorian residential houses/homes, are now protected by being granted a ‘Listed’ status.

 

A famous ex resident of Bow

 

Street scenes in Bow – where a large number of the old Georgian & Victorian residential houses/homes, are now protected by being granted a ‘Listed’ status.

 

A street scene in Bow – looking at the Orbital construction that is situated in nearby Stratford’s Olympic Park, right outside West Ham United’s London Stadium ground

 

Street scenes in Bow – where a large number of the old Georgian & Victorian residential houses/homes, are now protected by being granted a ‘Listed’ status.

 

Street scenes in Bow – where a large number of the old Georgian & Victorian residential houses/homes, are now protected by being granted a ‘Listed’ status.

 

An old photo of what was once ‘The Pearly King’ pub. Sadly this old 1895 built pub has been closed down for some time now, but the building still remains. The reason we sought this one out during this particular trek out is because it was once the much loved watering-hole of my accomplice Les, when he worked nearby at the Bow branch of Barclays back in the early 1980’s

 

My accomplice ‘Les’ outside what was once ‘The Pearly King’ pub – his old watering-hole when he worked at the Barclays branch in Bow during the early 1980’s

 

The ‘Lord Morpeth’ in Bow was originally opened as a pub in 1848, and was the regular drinking-hole and meeting place for the Sylvia Pankhurst led suffragette and women’s rights movement. Pankhurst “East London Federation of Suffragettes” headquarters was once situated right next door to the pub – making it an ideal spot for Federation meetings.

 

The magnificent mural covering the entire side of the Lord Morpeth pub building –the mora depicts Sylvia Pankhurst and the work that she undertook throughout Bow, to better the lives and conditions of its women residents

 

Sylvia Pankhurst rabbiting away in my ear-ole – outside the Lord Morpeth pub in Bow

 

A close up of The Lord Morpeth mural

 

A close up of The Lord Morpeth mural

 

Me & old Sylvia Pankhurst & the Lord Morpeth mural

 

The ‘Bow Bells’ pub has been serving pints here in the Bow Road since 1860. One of its claims to fame is that the ladies toilets down in its basement are said to be haunted – and as a result it is one of the locations visited on a ‘Haunted Pubs of London’ walking tour.

 

‘The Coburn’ pub – tucked away in a residential street in Bow

The Morgan Arms pub – built in 1892 in an area that was once locally known as ‘cut-throat-alley’. Today it is one of those trendy hipster pubs

 

The ‘Lord Tredegar’ is another old pub dating back to 1850, and is named after a famous military man who had connections to the Bow area. Bow’s Tredegar Square and Tredegar Street are also named after Lord Tredegar

 

 

The Eleanor Arms – another quality old Bow boozer, and probably my personal favourite of the ones visited during this blog. This 1869 built pub also has close links to Sylvia Pankhurst and her ‘East London Federation of Suffragette’ movement, as it is believed that they used to use the pub to hold their meetings

 

Inside the Eleanor Arms pub – Bow

 

Inside the Eleanor Arms pub – Bow

 

 

In the beer garden of the Eleanor Arms pub – Bow

 

Me & Les – my accomplice for the day – neckin’ down a couple of ‘cheeky’ ones in the Eleanor Arms – Bow

 

Another ‘cheeky’ one slips down in the Eleanor Arms – Bow

 

 

*What London cabbies call “Hot & Cold Corner” & the “Kensington Gore”

Posted on by Posted in Quirky Topics, Streets .

 

The topic for this week’s publication onto the London Shoes website, Twitter feed and Facebook page, came about as a result of a conversation with my London cabbie mate Lee, whilst he was ferrying me through a very busy Kensington the other week – when Lee suddenly pointed out a particular landmark that London cabbies refer to as “Hot & Cold Corner”.

I had no knowledge of the so called “Hot & Cold Corner” and so decided to do a little bit of research on the topic and blog it.

So – the subject matter for this week’s blog is entitled “Hot & Cold Corner & the Kensington Gore” – and the topic turned out to be more interesting than I thought it would be.

 

“Hot & Cold Corner” is the nickname given by ‘cabbies’ to the corner where 2 busy Knightsbridge streets converge – ‘Exhibition Street’ & ‘Kensington Gore’.

The is a very logical reason as to why it is called “Hot & Cold Corner” which I will explain.

The magnificent early Victorian building that occupies the corner of Exhibition Road & Kensington Gore, is the HQ of the globally renowned ‘Royal Geographical Society’ – that was formed way back in 1830 as a professional body for the advancement of Geographical studies – and today has thousands of members throughout the world.

The ‘Royal Geographical Society’ purchased this 1874 built property at no.1 Kensington Gore, known as ‘Lowther Lodge’ back in 1913 at a cost of £100,000.

On either side of the corner of the RGS building, embedded into its external walls, are 2 large statues – one of the famous explorer and missionary “Dr.David Livingstone” and the other of the famous polar explorer “Sir Ernest Shackleton”.

 

‘Doctor David Livingstone’ (1813-1873) was a physician, an explorer, a Christian missionary and an anti-slavery campaigner, who devoted his life exploring the sources of the River Nile in deepest Africa. He founded many missionaries during his explorations, and is the man behind the famous quote when he bumped into fellow explorer ‘Henry Stanley’ in the middle of the jungle – when Henry Stanley uttered the now historic sentence “Dr Livingstone, I presume”.

Livingstone died in 1873 whilst out in Zambia, and was buried there.

So – the statue of ‘David Livingstone’ represents the “HOT” part of the corner.

‘Sir Ernest Shackleton’ (1874-1922) on the other hand, was one of Britain’s most famous polar explorers, who lead 3 major expeditions to the Antarctic in the early 1900’s – and died whilst exploring the Atlantic islands of South Georgia – and is buried there.

So – the statue of ‘Sir Ernest Shackleton’ represents the “COLD” part of the corner.

And that is exactly why this landmark is referred to by cabbies as ‘Hot & Cold Corner’.

“Kensington Gore” is the name of the street on which the Royal Geographical Society is situated.

Kensington Gore isn’t just a simple straight road – it is actually 2 streets whose layout is ‘wedge-shaped’ as it worms its way around the perimeter of the Royal Albert Hall.

It’s strange ‘Gore’ reference actually comes from an old Anglo Saxon description for a ‘wedge shaped’ piece of land.

The majority of the magnificent tall terracotta bricked buildings situated in Kensington Gore were constructed around the time of Britain’s ‘Great Exhibition’ in 1851 an event that was the brainchild of Queen Victoria’s husband ‘Prince Albert’ to promote and celebrate modern industrial technology and design, on the world stage.

Today, the buildings in Kensington Gore are made up of luxury and extremely expensive private residential flats and apartments.

Throughout the years there have been many impressive and iconic photo-shoots conducted in and around the Kensington Gore properties and their apartments – especially in connection to the music and entertainment industries.

One of the most famous photo-shoots conducted at Kensington Gore, was probably the inside cover sleeve of the Rolling Stones brilliant 1968 album “Beggars Banquet” (just one of the many vinyl albums I still have in my record collection).

 

There are other notable historic landmarks in Kensington Gore – such as the unusual ‘milestone’ fixture situated outside the Royal Geographical Society building that dates back to 1911, and points the direction to Hyde Park-1 mile – and in the other direction 9 miles to ‘Hounslow’ (why it should specify the direction to Hounslow, gawd only knows!!)

No.26 Kensington Gore is a remarkably unusual property bang outside the Royal Albert Hall and completely different in style and structure to all the other buildings in the street. It is the home to ‘The Royal College of Organists’ – an education centre that provides examinations in organ-playing, choral directing and organ-teaching. (quite handy it being opposite the Albert Hall I guess)

Obviously, the Royal Albert Hall and also the magnificent Albert Memorial can also be seen from Kensington Gore.

Another really unusual and lesser known fact about ‘Kensington Gore’, that I certainly never knew about and I suspect many others don’t know about either, is that it gives its name to the ‘fake’ blood used in films and theatre!!!

Developed by scientists in the 1960’s ‘Kensington Gore’ is the brand name of one of the most popular fake-blood make-ups accoutrements used in the film industry……who knew???

 

So – having spent a good few hours trekking around this small area of London, and before setting off back home – I popped into the oldest pub in South Kensington, the ‘Hoop & Toy’ in Thurloe Place for the mandatory couple of post-blog ‘cheeky’ beers.

The ‘Hoop & Toy’ is an old Victorian boozer and is notorious for the fact that it is supposed to be London’s most ‘haunted’ pub.

The pub was built in the late 1700’s, on top of a tomb where loads of priests were buried.

When the South Kensington tube station was being built in the early 1860’s they had to remove all the skeletons, and it is said that ‘ghosts’ are regularly seen moving up and down the pub’s stairs – trying to find their way out.

I know from feedback received, that a number of London cabbies follow London Shoes, particularly those that are in the process of studying for the ‘Knowledge’ exam, as they find that the ‘Shoes’ blogs sometimes help them pick-up little snippets of info about some of the “Smoke’s” lesser known historic landmarks and places – so – now I know all about ‘Hot & Cold Corner’ and the ‘Kensington Gore’, I feel that perhaps I can now look a London cabbie in the eye and talk ‘routes’.

Hope you enjoyed this little piece of historic info, and its accompanying photos.

Some more photographs from the ‘Hot & Cold Corner’ and ‘Kensington Gore’ blog

What the London cabbies call ‘Hot & Cold Corner’ – London SW7

 

Across the road from ‘Hot & Cold Corner’ – where Exhibition Road meets Kensington Gore

 

The ‘Royal Geographical Society’ purchased ‘Lowther Lodge’ at no.1 Kensington Gore, back in 1913 at a cost of £100,000.

 

No.1 Kensington Gore, is the HQ of the globally renowned ‘Royal Geographical Society’ – that was formed way back in 1830 as a professional body for the advancement of Geographical studies – and today has thousands of members throughout the world.

 

On either side of the corner of the RGS building, embedded into its external walls, are 2 large statues – one of the famous explorer and missionary “Dr.David Livingstone” and the other of the famous polar explorer “Sir Ernest Shackleton”. – This is Dr. David Livingstone – I presume

 

On either side of the corner of the RGS building, embedded into its external walls, are 2 large statues – one of the famous explorer and missionary “Dr.David Livingstone” and the other of the famous polar explorer “Sir Ernest Shackleton”. This is Sir Ernest Shackleton

 

 

 

 

Street scenes and the wonderful architecture of Kensington Gore

 

Street scenes and the wonderful architecture of Kensington Gore

 

Street scenes and the wonderful architecture of Kensington Gore

 

Street scenes and the wonderful architecture of Kensington Gore

 

A famous ex resident of Kensington Gore

 

Street scenes and the wonderful architecture of Kensington Gore

 

 

The Royal Albert Hall – can be seen in all its glory from Kensington Gore

 

The Royal Albert Hall – from Kensington Gore

 

The Albert Memorial – as seen from Kensington Gore

 

The unusual ‘milestone’ fixture situated outside the Royal Geographical Society building that dates back to 1911, and points the direction to Hyde Park-1 mile – and in the other direction 9 miles to………. ‘Hounslow’!!!

 

No.26 Kensington Gore is a remarkably unusual property bang outside the Royal Albert Hall and completely different in style and structure to all the other buildings in the street. It is the home to ‘The Royal College of Organists’

 

The art work of the Rolling Stones 1968 classic album ‘Beggars Banquet’ – was shot inside an apartment located in Kensington Gore

 

Another image from the Stones ‘Beggars Banquet’ album photo-shoot, taken in an apartment in Kensington Gore

 

‘Kensington Gore’ is the brand name of one of the most popular fake-blood make-up accoutrements used in the film industry……who knew???

 

Street scenes and the wonderful architecture of Kensington Gore

 

The ‘Hoop & Toy’ is an old Victorian boozer and is notorious for the fact that it is supposed to be London’s most ‘haunted’ pub.

 

The ‘Hoop & Toy’ pub was built in the late 1700’s, on top of a tomb where loads of priests were buried.

 

Neckin’ down a ‘cheeky’ one (probably with a ghost) in the ‘Hoop & Toy’ pub – right next to South Kensington tube station

 

Supping up a 2nd ‘spooky’ one in the ‘Hoop & Toy’ pub – South Kensington

 

 

 

 

 

*The “75th Anniversary of the WW2 D-Day Operation” – & the HMS Belfast’s ‘3 Gun’ commemorative salute

Posted on by Posted in Military, WW2 .

 

Most Londoner’s and visitors to London will be aware of the HMS Belfast moored just off the Southbank between Tower Bridge & London Bridge – but today of all days, it is worth acknowledging and appreciating the massive and crucial part this grand old ship played in the D-Day Landing operation – 75 years ago this very day.

The HMS Belfast was launched on St. Patrick’s Day 1938, and commissioned to service in 1939, just before the outbreak of WW2.

She is one of only 3 remaining vessels that were involved in the D-Day Normandy Landings 75 years ago today on 6th June 1944.

HMS Belfast was one of the largest warships involved in the operation – and is believed to be the first ship to open fire on that historic day.

The Belfast’s guns fired over 5000 shells in total at the enemy throughout the entire operation.

The power and vibration of her guns on D-Day were so strong on that day that they ended up completely cracking the crew’s khazi’s (e.g. toilets).

HMS Belfast was fully equipped with a mini hospital sick-bay that was manned by military surgeons, and so it was used to treat the many hundreds of casualties.

She spent a total of 33 days off the Normandy coast-line supporting the entire D-Day Landings operation.

Following WW2 the HMS Belfast went on to see military action in the Korean War of 1950-1952.

By 1967 this great ship had been decommissioned and was heading for the scrapyard – however, following concerted efforts by the National Maritime Museum, the Imperial War Museum and the Ministry of Defence – the decision was made to retain the ship as a floating museum – and in October 1971 she was brought to London and moored on the River Thames between Tower Bridge & London Bridge – and has been open to the public ever since.

So today, being the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Landing, “London Shoes” took a trip up to the ‘Smoke’ for the specific purpose of witnessing and experiencing a ‘3 Gun’ salute by this historic ship HMS Belfast, in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings – and event in which it played such an important part.

Although it was typical London weather – grey, miserable and wet – it was certainly an experience enjoyed by the hundreds of people lining the Southbank and London Bridge – I’m just pleased that London Shoes was there to witness it.

Having watched (and certainly ‘heard’) HMS Belfast’s 3 Gun Salute – ‘Shoes’ ventured along to London Bridge Station to take a look at another display that has been situated there, in commemoration of the D-Day Landing 75th Anniversary.

Since the 31st May, there has been the spectacular sight of a WW2 ‘Spitfire’ plane in the stations main concourse.

This ‘Spitfire’ on display is actually a replica from the Imperial War Museum.

The ‘Spitfire’ aircraft is remembered as the iconic plane that won the ‘Battle of Britain’ in 1940 – but it also played a crucial role in the D-Day Normandy invasion of 1944.

It is fitting that the ‘Spitfire’ is on display close to the HMS Belfast – as both played a massive part in the airborne & sea-borne activities of the invasion to liberate Europe – giving us the freedom we experience today.

It is also fitting that the ‘Spitfire’ is on display at a main-line rail station – as the railways themselves played a vital role during WW2 – transporting troops and equipment to the front-lines in preparation for the D-Day operations.

A total of 4,414 men gave their lives during the Normandy Landings and although that was 75 years ago – let’s just hope that future generations will never forget the fact they gave their today for our tomorrow.

More photos from the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings – and the role of the ‘HMS Belfast’ & the ‘Spitfire’

 

Since the 31st May, there has been the spectacular sight of a WW2 ‘Spitfire’ plane in on main concourse of London Bridge Station – in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the WW2 D-Day Landings

 

The ‘Spitfire’ aircraft is remembered as the iconic plane that won the ‘Battle of Britain’ in 1940 – but it also played a crucial role in the D-Day Normandy invasion of 1944.

 

Views of the WW2 ‘Spitfire’ on display at London Bridge Station

 

A view from the tail-fin end of the WW2 ‘Spitfire’ on display at London Bridge Station

 

A closer view of the cock-pit of the WW2 ‘Spitfire’ on display at London Bridge Station

 

Me – and the old ‘Spitfire’ on display on the main concourse of London Bridge Station

 

A view of the River Thames from London Bridge – with the HMS Belfast in the distance to the right – and Tower Bridge in the far distance

 

 

Following its decommissioning – the HMS Belfast was brought to London in 1971 and moored on the Thames between Tower Bridge & London Bridge – and has been open to the public ever since.

 

A view of the HMS Belfast, with Tower Bridge in the background – taken from the southern side of London Bridge

 

A view of the HMS Belfast, with Tower Bridge in the background – as in prepared for its “3 Gun Salute” to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings

 

A close-up of the HMS Belfast as in prepared for its “3 Gun Salute” to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings – of which it played a major part.

 

The 1st Gun Salute goes off from the decks of the HMS Belfast

 

The 2nd Gun Salute goes off from the decks of the HMS Belfast

 

The 3rd and final Gun Salute goes off from the decks of the HMS Belfast

 

Me – from my vantage point on London Bridge