Quirky London
So the phrase goes 'If you are tired of London, you are tired of life'. I guess that stands quite true of many cities. There are many quirky and unexpected places in the UK capital, I am sure if you live to get really old there will always be something you miss.
A myriad of roads you have never been down, art work on street corners and tunnels, pubs and bars unvisited, museums and gardens waiting to be explored.ย
I have worked in London for many years and to be quite honest I am tired of the 'commute' when I have to go into the office (although it's not that far really), but at the weekend, when it is our own time I love having the capital on our 'doorstep' and finding new things. Have a look at where we popped to a little while back in the gallery below...
An 'Un-Natural' History Museum
We discovered this arcane museum of general weirdness off the beaten track a little just past Cambridge Heath station, nearby Victoria Park. The outside looks quite cool and funky and inside is a candlelit world of absinthe cocktails and below decks a collection of some of the strangest articles, a real 'theatre of diseased imaginings'!
Missions, Cafes & Factoriesย
Whilst around the area we popped to Whitechapel to the 'Mission' to drop off some stuff for the homeless and also to have breakfast in Root/25 another charitable place where you know the money goes to good causes. Just up the way from the cafรฉ is the old Bryant and May match factory in Bow which opened as in 1861, by 1895 it employed over 2,000 people, mostly women and girls. The Chancellor Of The Exchequer of the day decided to impose a tax on the match makers which 'hurt' the women in terms of wages more than the actual company, they decided to protest and marched toward Westminster and they succeeded! Westminster decided to do a U Turn and stop the tax. The life in the factory for the poor women wasn't easy and the phosphorous used in the match making process often caused 'phossy jaw' a disfigurement caused by the chemical. The factory is now used as housing, we got lucky and were able to get into the grounds, the history of the place is on a plaque near the entrance. Regardless of what it is used for today it is still a beautiful old building, the picture below is only a very small part of it.
Parks 'n' Canals
In East London around Whitechapel, Bow, Mile End and Stepney Green there are a myriad of different cultures to be found. London tends to get associated with being a bit of a 'concrete jungle' with lots of high rise buildings i.e. grey boring concrete and no green spaces, this particular area of London although having enough of the former has quite a lot of green, Victoria and Mile End parks offer loads of greenery, some lovely places to walk and The Regents Canal. quiet pubs sit alongside the towpath and cafes a plenty inside the parks.
Wrong Un's & Restaurants
Not too far from Victoria Park there is Bethnal Green with it's links to London's Underworld and The Kray Twins, including the little Italian cafรฉ they used to eat at called E. Pellicci (does a lovely bacon ciabatta btw!) to the infamous Blind Beggar Pub were Ronnie Kray murdered George Cornell. If that wasn't grisly enough go a bit further up the road to Whitechapel and Aldgate and you can step back further in time to Jack The Ripper and take a guided 'Ripper Walk' which having done it I can honestly say is really interesting and showed me some parts of London I hadn't ever been to before.
Playing Out With...
And to round off a whistle stop tour playing out with a bit of old skool Punk by the Anti-Nowhere League with a track about good old London!
Anti-Nowhere League Streets Of London
it was recorded in 1981 on the Independent WXYZ Records label and reached #1 in the UK Independent record charts way back on 16th January 1982. The song was originally performed (and perhaps more melodically by Ralph McTell) further back in 1969 but not released as a single in the UK until 1974 reaching #2 in the UK National Charts of the day.
And just to cop the lot the track that caused the Police of the day to seize copies of the record under the 'Obscene Publications Act' back in the day.ย ย
Wishing you all a good week and have fun whatever you decide to get up to!๐๐๐ถ
Photo Sources
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