2025: A Year in Review

HMS Belfast 'fires' her guns.

What a year 2025 turned out to be!

I surpassed last year's walking and underground distances, while visiting new places, and some familiar places, with family and friends.

January

Almost good enough to eat.

Some of the highlights from January included visiting Paddington and Kensington, where we saw 'The Wild Table of Love', 'Man in a Clock', Kensington Gardens, Gnome Land (again), the Design Museum and Japan House. At Japan House Keilyn and I visited the 'Looks delicious! Exploring Japan's food replica culture' exhibition, which was a wonderful and informative exhibition, which Keilyn really enjoyed.

Camden, Hampstead Heath, 'London School of Mosaic', the 'World Peace Garden' and the Regent's Park were all visited, too.

The 'Whitechapel Bell Foundry', 'Trinity Green Almshouses', the Regent's Canal, Mile End Park and Ropemakers Fields, Canary Wharf and Trinity Buoy Wharf, for what would be the first of three visits this year.

February

Knight of Cnihtengild.

February saw me partaking in only a few walks. I saw the statue of the 'Knight of Cnihtengild' by Denys Mitchell, Elsyng Spital Church Tower, the Bell Building in Lambeth and the 'Sam the Cat' statue, all while learning much more.

March

BBC Television Centre.

Some of the highlights from March saw us visit Swiss Cottage, Lancaster Gate, Portobello Road Market, BBC Television Centre, Shepherd's Bush Market and 'The Princess Victoria', one of London's last 'Gin Palaces'. 

Crystal Palace Park and its dinosaurs, Primrose Hill, Camley Street Natural Park, the 'Word on the Water' bookshop on a boat, the grave of Joseph Grimaldi and various alleyways were also explored. A highlight was Emma and I staying at The Tower Hotel, for our anniversary.

April

Whale on the Wharf (Skyscraper).

April highlights included visiting Barbican, the 'hidden' garden at St Vedast-alias-Foster, seeing possibly the oldest tree in the City of London, Tower Hill Market, Borough Market and Lambeth, where we discovered a piano that was once played by Charlie Chaplin Senior. 

East India Docks, the 'Whale on the Wharf (Skyscraper)', West India Docks, Trinity Buoy Wharf (second visit) and the Royal Docks.

Walking with family: Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Blue Ball Yard.

Friday December 12, 2025.

Erin arrived home from school, at which point Emma left to meet Keilyn from school. I arrived home shortly after and, once we were ready, waited for my mum, before booking a taxi to Watford underground station, where Emma and Keilyn were awaiting our arrival.

We boarded our train and settled into our seats for the trip to Finchley Road. Here we changed to a Jubilee line train and continued our journey to Green Park. We exited the station via the Green Park entrance and began our walk at Piccadilly and the magnificent Ritz Hotel. 

Hancocks on St James's Street.

Instead of following the crowds we turned down St James's Street and admired the various Christmas trees and window displays that the businesses and shops displayed. Jermyn Street was the first street with lights stretched across it, that we saw. We passed Hancocks Goldsmiths, before we entered Blue Ball Yard, where the American Bar was festooned with Christmas decorations.

A Christmas tree in London's smallest square.

We then crossed the road and entered Pickering Place, London' smallest square, where a Christmas tree took up much of the place. We left Pickering Place and continued down St James's Street and turned onto Pall Mall until we reached Waterloo Place, with its blue star-topped Christmas tree. Here, more 'Angel' Christmas lights stretched across the road.

The Norwegian spruce in Trafalgar Square.

We then continued along Pall Mall onto Pall Mall East, which brought us to Trafalgar Square and the giant Norwegian spruce at its centre. A Christmas market, filled with stalls selling all sorts of trinkets, gifts and food occupied the area outside the steps to The National Gallery, while a choir sang carols from in front of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree.

St Martin's Lane.

On leaving Trafalgar Square we headed up Charing Cross Road and onto St Martin's Lane, with its Theatreland Christmas lights. 

Goodwin's Court cottages.

As we approached New Row, my mum, Keilyn and I decided to walk through Goodwin's Court, while Emma and Erin continued along New Row. With its gas-fuelled lamps and cottages that have been here since the 17th century, this thoroughfare is a time capsule of old London. We weren't the only ones using the street, as a small group of people had also chosen this route, but, in their case, for its association with Harry Potter.

Covent Garden Christmas tree.

We exited Goodwin's Court, onto Bedfordbury, and joined New Row, where we headed east along King Street, where we met up with Emma and Erin by the Covent Garden Christmas tree. Emma and Erin had witnessed the 'snow' falling, which occurs every hour, but were less than impressed with it. It was a 'bubble-machine', that lasted less than a minute. 

Royal Opera House Arcade.

Walking with family: Baker Street to Leicester Square... and beyond

Sunday December 22, 2024.

It was a cold late morning as Emma, Keilyn, Erin and her friend Summer and I made our way to the station, ready to take in the Christmas atmosphere of London.

I did give the girls' a mission for the walk. 'The first person to find a dinosaur would be given £1'.

Our first stop, after exiting Baker Street station, was to find somewhere to eat lunch. The girls unanimously voted for KFC, which we found across the road on Baker Street.

Suitably filled we headed south along Baker Street, crossing Oxford Street, until we reached Grosvenor Square. The square was remarkably quiet so we left, via its southeast corner, and headed onto Carlos Place, where we saw The Connaught Christmas tree, our first true Christmas tree of the day.

Continuing along Carlos Place we entered Berkeley Square and Keilyn, who had been slightly ahead of us, came running back to us, demanding £1, as she had found a dinosaur. Sure enough, as we reached the corner of Berkeley Square the cast of a dinosaur stood on a plinth, staring into the heart of the Square. I reached into my pocket and handed over the prize.

After admiring the display at Annabel's Members Only Club, we headed along Bruton Street to New Bond Street, passing the Coach and Horses pub on the way.

New Bond Street was considerably busier than anywhere else that we had so far visited, due to the ornate displays of the various big names along the street. Boodles, Bvlgari, Cartier, Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren, to name a few. 

The sky, though overcast, was still too light to get the full effect of the lights, but it still brought the feeling and atmosphere of Christmas to us.

Continuing on a light rain began to fall, so we headed into the Burlington Arcade, with its caped Beadles, exiting on Piccadilly, where the Fortnum & Mason building had its usual Advent Calendar display.

For a bit of a respite, Summer had never been on one of our walks, we headed into Waterstones bookshop, where we perused the books.

We then continued along Piccadilly to Piccadilly Circus and onto Coventry Street, where warm drinks were purchased. Before visiting the Winter Market, which had been erected in Leicester Square, Erin, Summer and I went off to see the various statues of Harry Potter, Bugs Bunny, Batman, etc.. After making a complete circuit, of the square, we met back up with Emma and Keilyn and entered the Winter Market. A few items were purchased, at inflated prices, before we headed off to grab some more snacks and warm food.

Walking with family: Westminster to Lambeth... and beyond

Tuesday December 10, 2024.

With a week off from work, and my girls being in school, I decided on a trip to London, inviting my mum and my uncle Martin along. Unfortunately my um couldn't make it, so it was just Martina and I that made the trip.

Martin drove us to Croxley station, where we caught a Metropolitan line train to Finchley Road, where we changed to a Jubilee line train to complete our journey to Westminster station.

On exiting the station we headed across Westminster Bridge, dodging the hordes of tourists that often congregate here as they jostle to get their perfect photo of the Elizabeth Tower that houses Big Ben. Crossing to the east side of the bridge we headed down the steps, beside St Thomas' Hospital and the Covid Memorial Wall, heading along the Albert Embankment to our first stop of the day... the Garden Museum.

The Garden Museum is situated at the western end of Lambeth Road, next to Lambeth Palace, and is housed within the old St Mary-at-Lambeth church. The church closed in 1972 and was due foe demolition, but was saved, reopening in 1977 as the world's first Gardening Museum.

After a brief look around the small garden, we entered the church and began looking at the building and its exhibits. After a quick look around we purchased tickets and made our way up the 131 steps of the tower, to check out the view.

And what a view it was. Being beside the River Thames the view allowed for views along the river towards Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station. The Palace of Westminster and Lambeth Palace were great from this vantage point, which then allowed you to gaze across to the City of London, The Shard and Canary Wharf.

Suitably impressed with the view we made our way back down the tower and went off to the Garden Museum cafe to grab a coffee. Once we were refreshed, and suitably warmed up from being outside in the wind, we continued our tour of the museum. 

William Bligh's tomb and the Tradescant family tomb were situated in a small garden area, with its plant nursery and other graves. We visited the Ark gallery and the other various rooms and galleries. The shop had everything horticultural, but there were no books or leaflets on the history of the church itself. Fortunately, one of the volunteers at the shop informed us about a 'magic pink folder', held at the main reception, which contained lots of information. 

So, making our way to the main reception, we asked to view this 'magic pink folder'. It was stuffed with pages about the building, its history, various graves, snippets of information all gleaned from various sources. The lady at reception was more than happy for us to take photos of various pages, which we did. After reading what we wanted we returned the 'magic pink folder' to reception, thanked the lady and made our way outside, ready to continue our walk.

We headed down Lambeth Road, passing the Novotel Hotel, which was once Norfolk House, home of the Howard family. This hotel is next to the Bell Building, which stands on the site of the Bell Inn, which was built in 1560.

Bank of England Museum Late: The Christmas Special, 2023

A solid gold bar.

Thursday December 21, 2023.

It was a remarkably mild evening as Emma, Erin, Keilyn and I made our way from Watford to London, for the evening. Our plan had been to catch a fast train from Watford Junction to Euston, but problems with the overhead power cables saw us take the London Overground, instead. We changed to the Northern line, at Euston, and continued on to Bank station. This route put an extra twenty minutes-or-so on our journey, but we still made it in plenty of time.

Our reason for travelling to London, late on a Thursday afternoon... to see the Bank of England Museum and, hopefully, receive a bauble filled with shredded bank notes. The queue was already at the corner of Threadneedle Street and Princes Street, so that's where we joined it. The time was just after 16:30.

We have joined the queue.

We chatted to other people in the queue, plus those who stopped to ask what we were all queuing for, as we passed the time. Slowly, very slowly, the train of people began to move as 17:00 arrived and the doors to the museum opened. All the while Erin was keeping her eyes peeled, in case she spotted the ghost of Sarah Whitehead, who is said to haunt Threadneedle Street. We saw no sign of her.

Keilyn standing in an alcove, outside the Bank of England.

However, due to the capacity of the museum, only small groups were able to enter at a time. 

By now the queue behind us had travelled the length of Threadneedle Street and up Princes Street, around onto Lothbury and then across the road to Throgmorton Street. One of the museum staff had estimated that there were nearly 2,000 people in the queue, at one point.

Christmas Lights By Bus Tour

 

Crowning Glory.

Sunday November 27, 2022.

As a treat my mum booked tickets for herself, my grandson Theodore, Erin, Keilyn, Emma and myself.

After meeting up at Watford Metropolitan line station, we made our way to Finchley Road, where we changed to a Jubilee line train and continued on to Waterloo.

As we had arrived early we had time to grab a warm drink and a quick snack, form one of the many stalls along the Embankment.

A little something to warm us up.

Suitably fed and watered we made our way to our stop, on Belvedere Road, and waited in line for our bus. Being at the front of the queue enabled us to pick the best seats. Erin, Keilyn and Theodore sat at the front of the top deck, below the covered area while Emma, mum and myself sat in the open air, which allowed for a better view.

Our Carriage Awaits.

The weather, which had been unsettled and drizzly for most of the morning, was dry with a mild temperature, until we boarded the bus and the drizzle started again. 

'Walking with The Snowman'

The Snowman with Tower Bridge.

Sunday December 29, 2019.

With our Christmas celebrations finished, I thought it would be nice to get the girls out of the house, for some fresh air. London seemed the obvious place to go, Especially as there were still all of the Christmas Fairs, selling their wares, and a sculpture trail celebrating Raymond Briggs' 'The Snowman' to follow.

Arriving at London Bridge station we crossed Tooley Street and immediately found Snowman number 3 (Three French hens). All of the maps, showing the route to take, were already gone, but that didn't put us off.

So, we headed into Hay's Galleria, where we found Snowman number 4 (Four calling birds). Passing through the Galleria we soon found ourselves on the Queen's Walk and headed eastward. Sure enough, as we approached HMS Belfast, we found Snowman number 5 (Five golden rings} quickly followed by Snowman number 6 (Six geese a-laying).

Snowman number 10 (Ten lords a-leaping) was found by the water fountains, by More London, followed by Snowman number 11 (Eleven pipers piping), by City Hall.

We spotted a huge crowd near Duchess Walk and headed over. It was here that we found Snowman number 12 (Twelve drummers drumming).

Realising that we needed to backtrack, we headed along Duchess Walk, to avoid the crowds, and along Tooley Street, before returning to More London.

Snowman number 9 (Nine ladies dancing) was swiftly followed by Snowman number 8 (Eight maids a-milking).

Next, we discovered Snowman number 7 (Seven geese a-swimming) on English Grounds. We now only had to find two more.

Determining that they were probably on the Queen's Walk we headed into Hay's Galleria, again, and headed westward, towards London Bridge.

Just beyond London Bridge City Pier we discovered Snowman number 2 (Two turtle doves) and, just a short walk away, Snowman number 1 (A partridge in a pear tree), just before the steps that lead up to London Bridge.

With all of the Snowmen accounted for and photographed, we headed back to Hay's Galleria to get a hot chocolate and warm up.

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