My Backyard...B Is For Brixton

Having returned from playing away in Abu Dhabi for a week, it was time to play a little closer to home again so this morning I was up and on the way to Brixton for another 'backyard' walking tour. 

Brixton is in South London and being most notable for the Brixton Riots in 1981, it's an area of London that it's fair to say has been somewhat tainted by its turbulent past. But the area is also one of those 'up-and-coming' parts of London as home buyers seeking lower property prices move outwards from the city while still remaining in commuting range. In fact it's one of the things that surprised me today - how near Brixton is to central London. (I thought it was much further out!) 

Anyway our small group met at the Ritzy Cinema at 11am and headed down Coldharbour Lane to the frontline of the 1981 Riots at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue.

After a bit of background on the Riots from our guide Angela, we continued down Coldharbour Lane a little further to see Nuclear Dawn. This extraordinary mural was painted by Brian Barnes and finished in 1981. It features a large skeleton swathed in the flags of nations who had nuclear weapons at the time and paints a grimly powerful portrait of politics and the Cold War during the late 70s/early 80s. 

Turning away from the mural, we faced Southwyck House - also known as Brixton's Barrier Block - an unusual building featuring the Brutalist architectural style common of the period in which it was built. 

The Barrier Block has played a controversial role in Brixton's history. The other side of the building features large windows and balconies and has been home to one of the world's most famous artists, Damien Hirst. Ex Prime Minister John Major lived briefly in Brixton and his support for the demolition of the block later in his career was more than a little undermined by the fact his Planning Committee had approved its construction. Oops!

Our next stop was Brixton Village, a series of markets accessed through an entrance across Coldharbour Lane from the Nuclear Dawn mural. Fascinatingly enough, our short dash across the road was peppered with more art from the locals...

French street artist Space Invader leaves his mark at the corner of Coldharbour Lane and Atlantic Avenue.

Bee (top left) can be found at the intersection of Coldharbour Lane and Atlantic Avenue as can the image bottom right. The image top right was right near Nuclear Dawn and 'B Our Guest' adorns the railway bridge over Brixton Hill.

Lucy' Casson's Foxes and Cherries sculpture (top left) adorns the roof on the corner of Electric Lane and Electric Avenue; bottom left - collaborative mural near the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Coldharbour Lane; right - an homage to Brixton-born David Bowie (or David Robert Jones as he was christened) painted by Australian street artist James Cochrane.

Brixton Village was traditionally a food market where the local Caribbean community would buy fresh produce, particularly specialities like ackee, plantain, yams and salt fish.

On our little tour, I got a bit of an education about Caribbean cuisine, also finding flying fish (top left) - which I saw flying several years ago on a trip to Tobago - and breadfruit (bottom left). The biggest surprise came when I was introduced to chow chow, which I knew as choko growing up in Australia! We also laughed at the ubiquity of Milo (a malted chocolate powder that we add to big glasses of milk) in both the Caribbean and Australia - how strange that such similarities exist between islands so far away from each other.

The produce stalls are far fewer and the markets have been taken over by restaurants and cafes. It was fairly quiet as we walked through but you could just imagine the little lanes buzzing with the energy and chatter of lunchtime or after work crowds.

Clockwise from top left: Traditional Caribbean fare from Fish, Wings and Tings; enjoy a tipple and nibble at Champagne and Fromage; tuck in to morsels from the sea at Etta's Seafood Kitchen; beat the crowds for a cuppa at Federation Cafe, graced in the past by none other than Hollywood star, Will Smith.

Emerging from the markets it was a short walk down to Electric Avenue - yes the one made famous by the Eddy Grant song.

Electric Avenue, so named as it was the first market street to receive electric lighting. Bottom left: Healthy Eaters' delivery vehicles feature the names of prominent locals.

Further down Electric Avenue, we found Brixton Speaks an installation on the wall of the Iceland store. Created by author Will Self, Brixton Speaks pays homage to the unique Caribbean patois of the area. Click here for a much better photo! This was also the site where a nail-bomb exploded in 1999 injuring 39 people.

Turning right onto Brixton Hill we walked under the railway bridges to visit our next point of interest, the Ricky Bishop Memorial Tree. Ricky Bishop was taken into police custody in 2001 and was later admitted to hospital with unexplained injuries. The tree serves as a poignant reminder of the still-fractious relationship between the community and the local police.

We crossed over Brixton Hill and spent about 20 minutes away from the cacophony of the high street.

Left: emergiing from Stockwell Avenue between the twin buildings of Bon Marche, London's first purpose built department store; top right: the Grade II listed Brixton Academy which started life as the Astoria Theatre in 1929; bottom right: Trinity House on Acre Lane, Georgian architecture preserved since 1822.

Life in a leafy Brixton Square: a two bedroom (top right) will set you back at least £750,000 but you can always drown your sorrows at the Trinity Arms (bottom right).

With that we headed out onto Acre Lane and wandered back to the Ritzy Cinema. 

Nursing my hot chocolate on the tube ride home, I felt like I'd barely scratched the surface of this colourful neighbourhood, so different from my own yet discovering so many unexpected similarities in our cultures. And I mused once again at how utterly fascinating this big backyard of mine called London truly is.

My Backyard... Building Blocks

Today I was reading an interesting piece on Fevered Mutterings on what constitutes 'travel' and the premise that we tend to think about the packing of a suitcase, backpack or even overnight bag as an activity inextricably linked to travelling. 

When I think of travel, I think of going from point A to point B (which is the definition that comes to my mind given the Transport for London website exhorts me to 'travel by foot' for a portion of most of my journeys) but this is not a vision that will keep me going in the depths of winter darkness. Thank goodness Mike Sowden suggested that redefining travelling as 'venturing somewhere new' means it is right under our noses - that 'travel *is* our own backyard'.

And last Sunday it was my own 'backyard' that I ventured out into to have a gander around Old London Town. I'm not sure that under normal circumstances, I would be up for an architecturally themed stroll on a wintery Sunday morning but I enjoyed Blue Badge Guide Paula's trek around Shardlake's London so much last September that it was an easy and enthusiastic 'yes' when the flyer came through for her guided walk through Post-War City Architecture. 

So we started at Barbican tube station and followed Paula - and her post-war story - through the City of London. Here's what we saw...

Standing outside Barbican station on a crisp January morning

Following the bombing raid on London on 29th December 1940, much of Greater London was flattened. But contrary to wider plans, the City took its own view of its rebuilding and commissioned architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon to create urban villages for the working class...

The Golden Lane Estate was originally positioned outside the City boundaries until 're-zoning' brought it into the fold - perhaps that explains why a 2 bedroom apartment here goes for around £680,000.

...and the more affluent inhabitants of the City.

The Barbican Estate was opened in 1969 (that makes it as old as me) and stretches over a 40 acre site. It contains more than 2,000 flats, of which a 2 bedroom version will set you back about £900,000. Oh and check out the upside looking windows top right.

We then ambled around the back of the Museum of London, took a quick peek at the Pedway System (a scheme based on raised pedestrian walkways which never really took hold) then crossed London Wall to Wood Street.

Traditional building blocks adorn the home of the City's Police Force (yes, a separate force from that of Greater London). Standing with your back against the wall will give you a great view of the tower reflected in the building opposite.

The tower of St Alban stands in the centre of the street in stark contrast to the architecture around it and here the Norman Foster designed 100 Wood Street forms a geometric backdrop to Christopher Wren's deft touch. But walk through its checkerboard frontage and you'll find a veritable oasis. Soaring windows angled outwards bring light into the old churchyard and provide space for the old plane tree's leafy boughs.

Next it was a trot down Gutter Lane to emerge on Cheapside - crossing the road, we found ourselves standing in One New Change with this rather spectacular view...

The dome of St Paul's pierces the sky right opposite One New Change. Thirteen 'views' of the cathedral are protected by the London View Management Framework which prevents the construction of any buildings which may impinge on the view. There's even a protected view from Richmond Park's King Henry's Mound several miles away.

We headed out of One New Change and down to Bank Junction where the architectural contrasts abounded again.

This is No 1 Poultry: the street, like those around it (Milk Street, Bread Street) named after the market produce originally sold here. The building, designed by James Stirling for Peter Palumbo, carves a ship-like post modern silhouette against the sky and has caused much outcry from those - including Prince Charles - whose more conservative sensibilities it offends.

Turning from the post-modernist perspective, we found more traditional architecture clustered around the junction with the Royal Exchange (top left) and the Bank of England (bottom left) dominating the view.

We headed up Cornhill, our guide Paula setting a brisk pace...

The Leadenhall Building (the 'Cheesegrater') looms above the stone buildings along Cornhill while St Michael's doors (right) are tucked a few neat steps back from the street.

...and came to a stop on the corner of Leadenhall Street and St Mary Axe, finding ourselves both surrounded and dwarfed by edifices of steel and glass...

The famous Lloyd's of London 'inside out' building (right) was designed by Richard Rogers (who also designed the Pompidou Centre in Paris with Renzo Piano) on the site of both the previous Lloyd's building and before that, East India House. The construction style (called Bowellism) is notable for having its interiors - stairwells (spirals), restrooms - the boxes behind the piping which contain electrical and water conduits -  and air conditioning ducts easily accessible to ensure that building never need close due to any malfunction of its 'essential' services. This 1986 building was Grade I listed in 2011 much to the chagrin of Lloyd's (the listing means that the building cannot be changed in any way) so the insurance company's 'overflow' will be moved right across the road to...

...the Cheesegrater (official name The Leadenhall Building). Situated at 122 Leadenhall Street, this building is nearing completion and is expected to open in Spring this year.

And not to be outdone, just a stone's throw away stands The Gherkin.

The Gherkin's official name is the Swiss Re Building - or that's what previous owners Swiss Re insisted on. Another Norman Foster design and completed in 2003, 30 St Mary Axe was built on the site of the former Baltic Exchange which was damaged in a Provisional IRA bombing in 1992. I thought it seemed rather fitting that The Cheesegrater is within arms reach of The Gherkin...

And with that, it was a short walk to Bishopsgate and the end of our tour. Almost 3 hours (including what Paula likes to call a 'warming coffee break' at the Costa Coffee halfway point).

I strolled back towards Moorgate tube station filled with excitement at what a dynamic and fascinating city I live in. The time had flown by and I was so glad that I had dragged myself out of bed and braved the chill to explore this amazing 'backyard' of mine. I kept gazing around, wondering about the stories of the buildings that loomed over me and as I reached the intersection of London Wall and Moorgate again, I couldn't help but take just one last parting shot.

The old and the new right next to each other again.

I don't know their story. But I am sure it's fascinating.

Composers, Canalboats And Christmas Cheer...

What with lots of changes, challenges and general excitement over the last few months I've been a little lax in my pottering about London (note I do not include my recent tourist-ing with Lil Chicky in this - that was by no stretch 'pottering') and today it was a combination of music and markets that had my full attention. Having been in Chicago for work this week (and slept the morning away yesterday 'in recovery'), today saw me up, about and out the door for a little culture and some festive cheer. 

First stop (well after the tube ride and the large soy cappuccino purchase at Caffe Nero) was Kings Place for Bach Unwrapped, a one hour concert featuring the work of JS Bach, his protege JG Goldberg, and his son, CPE Bach. For those of you in the know about these things, today's Trio Sonatas programme consisted of:

Trio in G for flute and violin
Trio in C for two violins (collaboration with Goldberg)
Trio in D Minor for two violins (collaboration with his son)
Trio Sonata from Musical Offering

(For those of you who know nothing about these things, the violin, cello and harpsichord were joined by another violin for the second and third pieces and a flute for the first and the fourth.)

Apparently the last piece, Musical Offering was borne of the composer's meeting with Frederick The Great in 1747 - the King challenged Bach to improvise over a theme he had written and while Bach rose to the immediate challenge, on returning home he composed Musical Offering and despatched it to King Frederick. The programme note claimed that Musical Offering has been dazzling musicians with its brilliance ever since.

While I don't know very much about classical music, I find it incredibly moving and very easy to lose myself in the ebb and flow of the music so after an enjoyable hour, I wandered out and headed back to Kings Cross Station in a leisurely snap-happy stroll. 

Despite my having been there several times, I had never actually walked out the back of Kings Place before today - lo and behold there's a rather lovely deck which overlooks Regent's Canal...

...and the stroll back to the station along the canal was quite pretty too.

The area around Kings Cross and St Pancras Stations has been undergoing a major redevelopment since 2008 and in the midst of the construction site, there's quite a pleasant walkway - dotted with titbits about the area's history - which connects the stations to Regent's Canal. This is the view coming back from the canal, the spire of the Grade I listed St Pancras International station building standing tall above the 'debris'.

The forecourt between Kings Cross and St Pancras stations.

The second half of my Sunday foray was spent wandering along the Southbank Christmas Market. There is something deliciously festive about this market. The decorated stalls stretched along the riverside path from The London Eye to the National Theatre with stallholders plugging their wares (hand made gifts and eclectic arts and crafts feature heavily), tempting passersby with a fresh waffle, a little glühwein or perhaps some kind of German sausage concoction.

Nearly there - this glimpse of Big Ben framed by the railway bridge caught my eye from Concert Hall Walk on the way to Southbank.

This 'urban' paint job decorated the entrance at the back of Royal Festival Hall. 

Traditional festive cheer above one stall...

...faced off against Scrooge on another.

German sausage concoction? Enough said...

The twinkling lights, the smell of roasted chestnuts...I just love it. Even the nip in the air as I snuggled deeper into my coat, hat and scarf was a reminder of the merriment to come...in just 31 sleeps.

Needless to say I've started my Christmas shopping...

In Shardlake's Shoes...

It's Sunday again (where does the time go?) and I've been out and about today enjoying the lovely Autumn weather and indulging my passion for history and books in one fell swoop.

The City of London proved itself an excellent stage for Shardlake's City, a walking tour based on the novels of C.J. Sansom and his protagonist, Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer living in Tudor London. Blue Badge guide Paula met us this morning at the glorious Royal Courts of Justice and took us on a 2 hour odyssey back into 16th century London...


The Royal Courts of Justice, Fleet Street London

We visited Shardlake's 'home' at 124 Chancery Lane, the Inns of Courts where he plied his trade, the public houses frequented by his able assistant Barak and a whole range of locations pertinent to the five novels in the Shardlake series so far. Here are just a few pics...

Shardlake's offices were located at Lincoln's Inn in Chancery Lane, just a short walk from his front door....

...but he also petitioned at Gray's Inn and Clifford's Inn. The Prudential building actually housed one of the 'feeder' inns for London's legal profession.

The Old Mitre is representative of the back alley pubs where Barak, Shardlake's assistant, would have visited.

Shardlake's investigations took him all over the City of London, from Cromwell's corridors to the seedier parts of the city...

Clockwise from top left: Smithfields Market, site of public executions in the 16th century; getting our bearings coming out of St Bartholomew's; peering over the 'back fence' at St Bartholomew's Monastery and Chapel

Clockwise from top left: St Bartholomew's Hospital (with Henry VIII over the door), the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, the site of the infamous Newgate Prison (demolished in 1777) opposite the Old Bailey (right)

Near the end of the two hours, we approached one of our final stops on the tour, the Guildhall, to find that rather than a quiet square, the Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival was in full swing...

As the tour drew to a close in Poultry (which ended at the site of...ahem...Grope C*nt Lane - did what it says on the tin really) it was time for a well-earned coffee and chinwag. The conversation started with giving our guide Paula a bit of a grilling about the whys and wherefores of being a guide before weaving through subjects like architecture, book clubs and history just to name a few. It was a very pleasant way to cap off our shared walk through Shardlake's City together.

Finally, I headed for home, foot-sore and mind buzzing with all of the interesting tidbits that I'd learned about London over the course of the tour. As I sat on the tube going back to Finchley, I flicked through all of the photos I'd taken, reliving a fantastic three hours (including the post-tour coffee). And I marvelled at how a little girl from the other side of the world grew up to live in one of the most fascinating cities in the world.

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If you like the sound of this tour, check out crossingthecity.co.uk and find out when the next Shardlake City tour - or any of the other tours in Paula's repertoire for that matter - is scheduled. You might just fall a little bit more in love with London yourself.


Going Downto(w)n...

There has been a blogging hiatus here at Gidday HQ as life in general overtook...well everything over the last couple of weeks. Preparing our exhibition at an international industry fair last week has been a six month affair but the last couple of weeks have been all-consuming and short of tapping out my 3am lists of things to do here on Gidday - not very interesting reading - I've been a bit bereft of my usual ability to blog about the things that I have found fascinating, curious, annoying, inspiring and funny. It was like everything all got stuck in the pipe and I couldn't find the wherewithal to squeeze them out.

So this weekend has been a time for making space, for letting my head empty and my body unravel from the work of the last six months and in the process, I've discovered a whole new addiction...

...Downton Abbey.

Highclere Castle, or as we know it, Downton Abbey.

I know many of you may be wondering how I have managed to come so late to this particular party in light of my predilection for the historical. Well, a few weeks ago I was out for dinner with friends and they were talking about the show, how great it was, and were quite surprised that I hadn't succumbed. We left the pub agreeing that Season 1 would find myself to me the following day...and the rest, as they say, is history. Season 2 was done and dusted soon after.

With both a purposely empty Sunday - to recover from the last seven days away and enjoy an unimpeded re-aquaintance with my own bed - and the start of Season 4 screening tonight, I have spent this weekend watching Season 3. If any of you have watched a whole season of something in a compressed period of time, you might understand the emotional rollercoaster of watching a whole nine episodes in quick succession. There are A LOT of ups and downs in this season so I'm thinking that it was probably much less exhausting to allow a week in between viewings.

But be that as it may, I am completely hooked. So I'll be joining the hordes of fans for tonight's frolic through Fellowes' fictional take on upstairs and downstairs.

And just in case you were wondering (it's been a little while so you may have forgotten), there are 23 sleeps to go until Lil Chicky arrives at Gidday HQ.

And I only have six working days left until I move into my new role at work. 

So much excitement, I can hardly stand it.

Spring Frolic...

This afternoon I hosted a small group of friends at Gidday HQ.

Our quartet - or Fab Four if you like - makes an effort to do something together every month. March saw us venture into The Lost Lectures, February was lunch at The Banana Store and a wander around Borough Market (see my post on London's Hip Pocket for more on this outing) and last year we discovered  some rather delectable delights at Ceviche in London's Soho and beneath Tower Bridge at The Perkin Reveller.

It has been such a busy time for our little quartet that there was a danger of April slipping away without a Fab Four frolic. So I took matters into my own hands and invited my trio of lovely ladies for a Gidday soiree on the back patio.

To my delight (and great relief) the weather stayed dry and while it was a trifle chilly, I had blankets and wraps on hand. There was even much excitement when the sun made a cursory appearance between main course and dessert and for a few brief minutes, we basked in Spring-like warmth.

I learnt years ago that the key to being able to enjoy hosting these events is being prepared - I have no desire to be stuck in the kitchen while my guests are having all of the fun.  So we started proceedings with a vegetable platter, an avocado dip and some Mediterranean bread and seeded crackers for dipping - and I got to enjoy the wine and conversation, both of which flowed effortlessly.

To follow was a cheese and vegetable pastry-less quiche which went down a storm and after part-baking this morning, only need another 20mins in the oven. It came with a big bowl of green salad (easy to whip up) and some fresh vine tomatoes marinated in a light dressing (made last night) all of which meant I spent more time at the table...and drank more wine.

But the thing I am most proud of is my dessert - individual ginger and white chocolate cheesecakes...

..built to frame the cute champagne candles I had found in Tesco a couple of weeks ago and complete with golden 'bubbles'. And made last night meaning even more time at the table for me this afternoon.

Before long, over three hours had passed, the coffees had been finished and it was time for my visitors to go.

It was such a pleasant Sunday afternoon and it reminded me how much I love to cook for other people, an opportunity that needs to be 'manufactured' in my time of singledom versus being ever-present - as it was - when I was part of a couple. And in any case, solo cooking exploits can be quite dangerous. Prior experience tells me that one cannot should not consume cheesecake (or any baked goods for that matter) on one's own and still expect to fit into one's jeans. Sharing is definitely the key.

So here's to more Spring Sundays with fabulous friends, scrumptious sustenance and convivial conversation.

Proving A Point...

Yesterday I decided that Sunday would be baking day at Gidday HQ.

I've been thinking about this ever since I got the More Secrets from the Beechworth Bakery cookbook for Christmas. Reading through it has made me think how wonderful it would be to develop some proficiency in bread making so that I could just whip up a tasty loaf or two on a whim rather than it occurring like an enormous ordeal.

The silly part is that I've already had some previous successes with a scrumptious Rosemary and Walnut Loaf and my very first attempt at Easter buns being rather light and fruity (and delicious with lashings of butter) so my thinking's that I just need a little more practice.

Anyhow after an inspirational Saturday evening watching my favourite foodie movie Julie and Julia, I decided to face up to last year's Easter bun bomb and have another go.

Getting ready...I like to have everything measured out before I start.

Thirty minutes in and the first proving had appeared to have gone nicely...



Results of the first proving look promising

With hopeful spirit, I folded and rolled my dough and submitted it to its second proving...

Back into my home-made prover (hot water in the sink with a towel over it!)

I'm attempting Tiger Bread which involves painting the top of the proven dough with a paste of plain flour, rice flour, water, caster sugar, salt and vegetable oil. So it's swish swish swish with my brush and into the oven...

My basted Tiger Bread goes into the oven

...and about 40 minutes later look what I had!

Tiger Bread: looks more like leopard spots to me but who am I to argue with the Beechworth Bakery?

I tapped it on the bottom to make sure it was cooked through then left it to cool a little before carving myself a slice.

It was delicious! So much so that I decided that the only thing for it was to whip up a batch of pumpkin soup to go with it for lunch.

I feel positively Delia-ish!

And now that I've proven my point - albeit to myself - I can't wait to dip back into the secrets of the Beechworth Bakery and try something else. Easter's just around the corner you know and I need to redeem myself with regard to my unauspicious output from last year...


Gidday Disclaimer:
This is a bread-maker free home. I do not need another gadget to take up more valuable space at the back of the cupboard and the addition of my beloved birthday coffee maker to the Gidday HQ benchtop last year is as far as I'm prepared to go on that score.
Yours in Baking Earnestness
The (Only) Gidday Bread-Maker