Millbank Prison

From Here to Australia.

Saturday March 8, 2014.

It was during one of my wanders along the north bank, of the River Thames, from Battersea to Westminster, that I spotted this bollard. The inscription, read...

"Near this site stood Millbank Prison which was opened in 1816 and

 closed in 1890. This buttress stood at the head of the river steps

 from which, until 1867, prisoners sentenced to transportation

 embarked on their journey to Australia."

Intrigued, I was determined to find out more.

London Peace Pagoda

Peace in our Time.

Saturday March 8, 2014.

Having never visited Battersea Park, I couldn't wait to see the place for myself. It was a warm Spring afternoon when I finally reached my destination, where I took many photographs, from various angles. But, in the end, it was the image above, which was the first one I took, that I liked the most. The light and vibrancy of the colours really gave the area a serene feel, considering the bustle of joggers, dog walkers and fitness fanatics that were all around me.

Westminster Cathedral

As yet, unfinished.

Saturday March 8, 2014.

Westminster Cathedral is one of those places, in the Unfinished City, that I had heard a lot about, but had never visited. So I rectified that by paying it a visit. As it is a working Cathedral there are services running, so it is worth picking a suitable time ti visit.

The exterior of the building is impressive, but doesn't look intimidating, as it stands at the back of a small plaza.

However, once inside, you begin to feel dwarfed by the sheer scale of the building, which is cavernous. The ceiling, which seems to be hidden in a small haze, caused by the smoke from a multitude of candles, seems further away than the altar. And the pillars, which are covered in marble at their lower region, barely seem strong enough to hold up the massive triple-domed roof.

There is also an amazing model of the Cathedral and an exhibition that shows some some religious artefacts that have been acquired by the cathedral, since it opened.

A trip up to the top of the bell tower allows you to see London in all of its glory, that easily rival those of the more popular tourist sights.

Prince Charles Cinema: Arnie All Nighter

Saturday November 9, 2013.

Finally, the weeks of waiting were over. The Arnie All Nighter was finally here. This would be mine and Jason's first trip to the Prince Charles Cinema, for an all nighter. Predator is Jason's favourite film and he had always wanted to see it on the big screen. Plus, it came out in 1987, which is the same year in which Jason was born. Go figure. So, when the Prince Charles Cinema announced an Arnie All Nighter which would include Predator, the tickets were booked, immediately. 

The Prince Charles Cinema was built in the early 1960s, operating as a theatre, then a cinema of ill repute before becoming a repertory cinema. Quentin Tarantino once said, "The Prince Charles Cinema is everything an independent movie theatre should be. For lovers of quality films, this is Mecca." adding "The day Kill Bill plays the Prince Charles is the day Kill Bill truly comes home." Unlike most cinemas, the Prince Charles Cinema doesn't use the canopy to just advertise upcoming movies. Sometimes it will add a quote from a movie or just put a random message out for everyone to see.

We arrived at Baker Street and began our slow walk to Leicester Square. Marylebone Road, Park Crescent, Portland Place, Great Portland Street on to Carnaby Street before ending up at Old Compton Street to show Jason Gerry's Wine & Spirits. A place that I have visited on many an occasion, that stocks a wide variety of rare and expensive spirits. After a good nose around, we headed towards Leicester Square, where we ate at KFC. From here we headed to the cinema, where we collected our tickets, before heading for a drink. As most of the bars and pubs were rammed full of revellers, I decided it would be best to head away from the usual spots and so, we headed down the Charing Cross Road to The Chandos on St. Martin's Lane. A nice Samuel Smith pub that, although busy, was had friendly and efficient staff. After two pints each, we headed back to the Prince Charles Cinema, where we joined a queue that had begun to form. We waited for what seemed like an eternity, but was in fact barely twenty minutes, for the doors to open and then we all piled in. The Prince Charles Cinema has two screens, upstairs (screen 2) with 104 high back purple leather recliner chairs and downstairs (screen 1) with 285 high back red leather chairs. We were downstairs so there were 285 of us, Arnie fans, all up for a marathon movie night. The upper auditorium was also sold out, as they were showing six Wes Anderson movies; Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom. Our marathon was due to begin at 20:45 but, due to this being their first sell-out in a while, it started nearer 21:15.

The Arnie All nighter began with some trailers for movies that didn't make it into the all nighter. The first was for Pumping Iron (1977) and the second was This Is America (1977). Both of these were documentaries about body building and showed the Austrian Oak at his body building best. These were followed by the trailer for Hercules in New York (1969). 

Once the laughter had subsided the marathon truly began with Conan the Barbarian (1982). This was followed by Terminator (1984). We were then treated to some adverts that Arnie had filmed for the Japanese, promoting what I can only assume to be some sort of energy/vitamin drink. 

Follow this link to see what I mean; CrAzY aRnIe AdS  

The marathon then continued with Commando (1986) after which we went outside for some fresh air and to stretch our legs. We then headed back in for the main event: Predator (1987), on the big screen. Amazingly, they followed this with Predator: The Musical. Brilliant! 

At this point some people started to leave, obviously having commitments for the tomorrow, or today. What day was it anyway? This meant that the auditorium was only two-thirds full when the fifth film Total Recall (1990), began. With the delay in the start of the marathon, Total Recall didn't finish until 07:00, at which point Jason and I left the building. (We weren't really keen on seeing T2: Judgement Day, as what is the point of a Terminator that is not allowed to kill?)

From Leicester Square we headed straight up Regent Street, where I managed to get a photo of the lights, before stopping at McDonald's so that Jason could get an egg mcmuffin and I could grab a coffee. We then continued on our way to Baker Street, where our train was pretty much waiting for us. We filled the journey home with talk of the films and other chit-chat as we tried to keep each other awake.

All in all it was great, if long, evening out.

Until next time, May It Be Well With You.

Len's 53rd birthday: Baker Street to Borough Market... and beyond

Saturday September 7, 2013.

As has become customary, Len, Steve and myself headed off to London to celebrate Len’s birthday. Arriving at Baker Street, we took a slow walk along the Marylebone Road, turning in to Park Crescent and onto Portland Place. 

As we passed the BBC Broadcasting House, I pointed out the Dalek guarding the BBC Canteen. Seeing as both Steve and Len had never been inside, we headed in. The BBC Shop, which was due to open on September 1st still wasn’t open, so Steve settled for having his picture taken with the Dalek. We then continued our stroll by turning from Regent Street on to Margaret Street, so that we could grab a drink at the ‘Cock Tavern’ (1).

After our refreshment, we headed down Great Portland Street, crossed Oxford Street, headed along Argyll Street, crossed Great Marlborough Street and entered Carnaby Street, which is where we spotted the comedian, Sean Walsh. Still keeping a leisurely pace, we sauntered down Carnaby Street until we reached Beak Street. It was then that we noticed that many of the bars, that both Steve and I knew, were gone. Sacrilege! So, we turned on to Great Pulteney Street and headed for the ‘Vintage Magazine Shop’ on Brewer Street. 

After a damn good look around, I thought I would show Len and Steve my favourite Wine and Spirit shop. As we headed down Brewer Street to turn onto Rupert Street, we were passed by Simon ‘Scotty’ Pegg and his family. Unfortunately, due to the surprise of seeing him, I didn’t get a chance to say anything to him, so we continued on our way by turning on to Winnett Street and finally on to Old Compton Street, where ‘Gerry’s Wines & Spirits’ is situated. This was a place that my Dad had taken me to, many years ago, when he was looking for a special Vodka. Being a speciality shop, the prices on some items are truly astonishing, but it is still worth a visit.