Open House: Sunday

A quick recap before I finish packing and leave for the airport. On Sunday, I set out with many more index cards in my stack than the number of places we could possibly visit. I figured that, if queues were long or took more time than I'd thought to visit, we could skip some and move on to others. The first two stops were non-starters. When we got to the Andaz Hotel, the queue for the Masonic temple inside was already 100 people long. It was supposed to open at 10 am, but the queue didn't begin to move until 10:20. By 10:30, we'd only moved a few feet, so we pushed on to St Helen's Bishopsgate, where the morning service had just begun and we weren't allowed in. After that, we were much more successful and saw seven OH venues:

• St Mary-le-Bow, a small Wren church in Cheapside
• Billingsgate Roman bath and house (archeology under a new building)
• Custom House, just across Lower Thames Street
• After a bus ride to Bermondsey and lunch at Maltby Street Market, we hopped back on the bus to Rotherhithe to see Brunel's shaft, recently fitted with a proper staircase inside. It's the 8th wonder of the world, as we were repeatedly told by the director of the museum during his talk/tout of museum shitknacks. 
• The nearby Old Mortuary, now the Time and Talents Community Centre
• A quick look at Sands Films Picture Library
• Through the tunnel to Wapping to Metropolitan Wharf, where we visited an architectural studio overlooking the river.

We walked along the Ornamental Canal up to London Docks in hopes of seeing Pennington Warehouse, but reached it too late to get in. So, we ended our trek at St Katharine Docks, where we saw the royal barge Gloriana moored. No, we didn't get to go aboard.

Making an early night of it so we both could go back to our Airbnb flats to pack, we had dinner at Mr Fish, the local chippy in Queen's Park, which was quite good. Thanks for treating,  Molly!

Speaking of my Airbnb, it was totally lovely and comfortable. And the location was perfect.

Final stats:

1 pound 85 for egg and avocado on a mini roll

4 quid for lunch

90p for water

85p for coconut macaroon

23303 steps

10.01 miles

Open House: Saturday

It's been a number of years since I was last in London for Open House, an annual September event during which over 800 venues are open across the capital. It's a fantastic opportunity to see the inside of buildings normally not open to the public or to go on special tours to learn about the unique architecture of sites. I do my research well, choose my destinations, make an index card for each, put them in order and plan the transport route from one to the next.

Armed with my stack of index cards, I headed to the first venue, a home and studio near Brondesbury station, stopping in the cafe in the middle of Queen's Park (the actual park) for something to eat on the way, and was the first to arrive at the gate at ten minutes to ten. I was soon joined by a woman wearing an Open House volunteer name tag and her husband. We chatted a bit and then we're confronted by a snotty youth demanding to know why we were standing in front of his house. The woman explained that we were there for Open House. He kept insisting that the house was not open and finally said that his parents changed their plans and it would be open only on Sunday. I'm guessing that the bratty attitude is a case of the apple not falling far from the tree.

The rest of the day went much better. I did one residence/studio near my Airbnb myself and Molly then caught me up for the rest. Here's what I saw:

• Studio McLeod in Kilburn Lane, an architect's studio and residence that made amazing use of a small space, even finding places to conceal and store three motorcycles.
• Simon Court in Saltram Crescent, where we saw a small flat in a converted Victorian church.
• 264 Westbourne Park Road, two contemporary houses built one atop the other on what had been a small corner of derelict land. We were the last people admitted for the last tour of the day. The architect/owner/occupant showed us most of the house and explained his design and the construction. It was a great tour.
• Royal Albert Hall. As I'm not sure if I'll be able to attend a concert here anytime soon, this was a good opportunity for hoi polloi like me to see it.
• Holy Trinity Church in Sloane Street, with lots of Art and Crafts elements. 
• Moravian Close, just off the King's Road, on a site dating back to Tudor times, where there's a more recent Moravian burial ground and chapel. I need to do more reading about this spot (we missed the talk).
• We walked down to Cadogan Pier, where there was supposed to be an exhibition of art made from bits and bobs found on the foreshore, but it wasn't there. (This was something I read about on the Totally Thames website, not an Open House venue.)
• Sambourne House at 18 Stafford Terrace in Holland Park. Again, we got there in the nick of time to be among the last people admitted. This is said to be the best surviving late Victorian middle-class home in the UK, and I'd had it on my spreadsheet for ages but had never managed to get to it on one of the days that it's open each week. It was totally rammed with people, but we got to see most of the rooms.

Much in need of a drink, we stopped at the Elephant and Castle, a nearby neibourhood pub, for bevvies and nibbles. Next, it was back to Queen's Park for a pub meal at the Salusbury to end a long and full day.

So, seven venues seen, two closed or missing, and two index cards skipped. All told, a highly successful day.

Stats:

2 pounds for pastry in the park caff

2 pounds 86 for meal deal for Tesco (eaten in a park off the Portobello Road)

1 quid for pamphlet about Holy Trinity Church

2 pounds 35 for half pint of beer

20 pounds for pub meal

25019 steps

10.28 miles

Bermondsey, Bankside and Victoria Embankment

Friday was a very full day spent on both sides of the river. The weather cooperated through the daylight hours and we got some great views of Westminster, the City and Southwark.

I started my day at White Cube Bermondsey to see an exhibition of women surrealists called Dreamers Awake. I hadn't read much about it beforehand and there was no text in the gallery to help me understand what each artist's intent was or how the pieces fit in the surrealism movement. What I saw were some disturbing images, a lot of genetalia and many dismembered body parts. Not my favourite exhibition of those I've seen this week.

Molly caught me up and we walked up to Borough Market for lunch, followed by a walk along Bankside under a warm September sun. This was the weather I was hoping for, not the dreary damp of earlier in the week.

We reached Westminster Pier for my friend Jen's guided walk, Beyond the Great Stink. Jen does her walks through a collective called Footprints of London, a group of qualified guides who give well-researched walks on a variety of topics in locations all across the capital. This walk was no exception. I had read the book The Great Stink, but the walk really did take my understanding beyond the miasma. I learned a lot about Joseph Bazalgette's engineering of the sewers and the Embankment. We saw 16th and 17th century watergates, which showed us just where the pre- Embankment Thames would have been, and peered through a grate where we saw a platform on the District line just a few meters below us, made possible once the river was contained.

As it was Friday Lates, we were able to go back to the south bank and spend time at Tate Modern, where we saw Soul of a Nation, an exhibition of black American artists' work from the 60s and 70s. It's a massive exhibition that covers many themes and perspectives on a turbulent time in American history, and it exposed me to scores of artists I didn't know of. If I lived here, I'd go back and see the exhibition a second time.

We also went to the observation deck on the new extension (great views) and had a look round the building and the tanks.

Stats:
4 pounds 50 for lunch
8 quid for walk
7 pounds 50 for Tate exhibition (50% off with Art Pass)
A fiver for dinner at Leon (not great but ok)

30041 steps
12.97 miles

Exploring

Thursday was my day to explore Stepney and Mile End. On each visit to London, I choose at least one area I don't know, do my reading and research before coming, and set out with map and camera to explore. I used a walk in Stephen Millar's series London's Hidden Walks for my guide. (I have all three volumes of the series and think the walks are great.) This walk starts at Whitechapel station and ends at Bow Church, but I knew I wouldn't do it all.

Along the way, I passed former breweries, hospitals, social housing, a workhouse, two Jewish cemeteries and various institutions of education and culture. Through the buildings and the geography, I saw the history of immigration to this part of the East End, as well as poverty and wealth, alcohol and temperance, work and home, life and death. One of my favourite stops was Stepney Green, with a lovely garden in the middle. Around the green are Georgian houses, two Victorian social housing blocks, some more recent social housing, the Stepney Jewish School and a sweet little memorial clock tower. Just a few meters from the busy, noisy Mile End Road. it's a green oasis of quiet.

I made it as far as the Green Bridge when I knew it was time to start making my way back to Spitalfields to meet Molly at 1:30, so I hopped the tube from Mile End to Whitechapel and worked my way northwest towards Hanbury and Pedley streets, passing Spitalfields City Farm as I walked along. My destination was the Nomadic Community Gardens in the derelict goods yard to the east of Shoreditch High Street station. With so much development going on in Shoreditch, mostly unaffordable residential tower blocks, my fear is always that I'll return to the East End one year to find a monstrosity on this site. Happily, for now, the local community has taken the land for gardening and other community use. I had a sit down at the Roving Cafe and ate tuna mayo on a bagel, then rushed to Bishop's Square to meet Molly under the white goat (only five minutes late).

I'd promised Molly we'd look at streetart around Brick Lane, but first we popped into the Bishopsgate Institute to use the loo and look at the library. After that, we zigzagged around for a couple hours, then had tea and a sit down at the Albion Cafe in Red Church Street. No time to walk round the Boundary Estate, but we did go over to Village Underground to see the latest streetart piece by Ben Eine, which is in tribute to the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Our final destination was the Walkietalkie, where I had booked us tickets for Sky Garden. We took in the view, had a drink and watched rain clouds move in from North London.

Stats:
£1.60 for cookies
£4 for lunch
£2.75 for tea
£3.20 for dinner (Sainsbury and M&S)
6 quid for a bottle of wine

30275 steps
13.33 miles

The Euston Road

Either the distance between points has gotten greater or I'm just not as speedy as I once was. Yesterday had me rushing from place to place in order to work everything in, but I managed to do it. Today's plan is probably overly ambitious given my slower mph, and I want to get an early start for my long walk on the Mile End Road, so this post will be brief.

Here's what I saw and did on Wednesday:

• Got to the Design Museum right when it opened. Saw two exhibitions -- Breathing Colour and California -- and took a quick look through the permanent collection. Also got a good look at the building, the former Commonwealth Institute, which is an amazing work of design.
• On to the V&A to see the Plywood exhibition and to look at the new entrance in Exhibition Road.
• Up to Regent's Park for the Frieze sculpture. Had to take shelter in the station to wait out a torrential downpour, then ducked under trees in the park as the sky changed from bright blue to stormy grey every five minutes. (Notice I have more to say about the weather than about the sculpture.)
• Met Molly and started our walk down the Euston Road. She likes Antony Gormley, so I promised I'd show her his four pieces along with the other public art I knew of between Regent's Park and King's Cross.
• Stopped in at the Wellcome Collection, one of my London favourite places, to see objects contributed by the public to represent their personal relationship with nature.
• Stopped at Platform 9 3/4 so Molly could get a snap of the punters getting their own snaps.
• Didn't make it up to Granary Square for a look around, but pointed out some of the refurbs and new development. I hadn't seen the buildings in the gasometers. Glad to see the beloved gasometers back in place, but not impressed with the look of the buildings. 
• Hopped the tube for the Barbican and walked to the Museum of London to hear the Gresham Lecture about the Thames by the bloke who used to be head of English Heritage. He told the history of the river through art, from the sixteenth century. Very interesting up to the end, when he covered the whole of the twentieth century with, "After the war, the Pool of London closed." No 20th century images. If he couldn't find a modern piece of art, I would have closed with a photo of the cranes lowering as Churchill's funeral barge passed, but I wasn't consulted.
• Back to Queen's Park for a pub meal at the Alice House.

Stats:

9 pounds for Design Museum exhibitions (50% off with Art Pass)

4 pounds 25 for quick lunch at EAT.

20 quid for dinner

23707 steps

10.17 miles