I found numerous references to Postcard Teas when I was writing my article on Where to Buy Tea in London but I couldn’t get my head round it…what has a postcard got to do with tea?
I had also never heard of Dering Street where Postcard Teas is located.
So this establishment went ignored until I started researching luxury within a block of Oxford Street and stumbled on it.
The Postcard Teas Shop
While the exterior has an almost Dickensian London feel with its double fronted small paned windows, there is definitely a minimalist Japanese aesthetic going on inside. One wall is lined with tea, not as you would expect in caddies but in oblong boxes resembling post cards.
The postcard drawings are a delight. They look as if they come straight out of a children’s book from the last century. There are ladies in fancy, feathered hats sitting on wicker chairs enjoying tea in fine porcelain cups, Monet style water lilies in a lake and children drinking tea poured by mum from a large tea pot.
On the reverse of these manila cardboard boxes is a detailed explanation of the tea that they contain.
I purchased the London Roast at £7.95 for a 50g postcard box.
These teas make unusual, postable presents or the perfect hostess gift for a breakfast or afternoon tea invitation.
Postcard Teas’ Description of the London Roast
Description of London Roast on rear of box
A robust blend of fine black teas that have been roasted in the UK using our unique London Roast process to create a new kind of black tea. The base material comes from a mixture of our Hijiri Black and Family Tea, as well a strong black tea from the Cubbagudta Plantation in Australia.
The result of the roasting is a rich, aromatic tea with a full body, addictive roasted taste and dark caramel sweetness that works equally well with and without milk. Out of all the blends we have made in the past eleven years, this may be the one we are the most proud of creating.
Are you also a coffee and cake eater? If so you may enjoy this post on where to buy coffee and cake in London. Of course you can have tea with your cake if you prefer.
My Postcard Teas London Roast Brew
When I was ready to brew I took out my sturdy stainless steel tea pot for one, warmed it with boiling water and put in two scant teaspoons of tea…and poured on the slightly off-the-boil water.
However, subsequently I have discovered that this tea tastes best with less tea and a shorter brewing time… 2-3 minutes is all that is needed.
The London Roast has an unmistakable almost savoury smell. It reminds me a bit of hot oxo (a stock cube) which we drank as kids. The taste is richer than standard black tea. It has a smokey, caramel aftertaste which is very pleasant.
My Postcard Teas London Roast Brew
Post Card Teas London Blends
Postcard Teas has a special selection of other London Blends
These include:
English Breakfast
English Afternoon
London Lapsangang
London Rose
My Verdict on Postcard Teas London Roast
Postcard Teas London Roast is almost addictive. I will definitely be buying more. I guess it is better to be addicted to upmarket tea than gin.
Marylebone on a budget? It can be done! Explore this little known area sandwiched between Marble Arch and Baker’s Street with a unique village atmosphere, many independent shops, a church that rivals some cathedrals and a sumptuously ornate, free museum. Here is a nuts and bolts guide on how you can have a fabulous day in Marylebone on the cheap.
Each month I show you how to plan a budget day out in an interesting part of London, I throw in some cheap eats, shopping and culture and help you do it for less than £15. If you are travelling on a shoestring budget read on…
Rules for the Marylebone on a Budget, London for £15 challenge
I don’t include tube travel …the over 60s with a London address have a Oyster 60+ card which gives them free travel on the London Underground and buses. Many working Londoners are using Oyster cards with capped daily spends and and most tourists have a prepaid Oyster card.
And I don’t include memberships. If you are a Londoner on a low budget, I advise you to stock up on every subscription and membership that you can lay your hands on…just make sure that they are for venues that you will actually go to several times in the course of the year.
Why Marylebone High Street?
Marylebone is probably the only place that I can think of in the centre of London that has a village feel with markets, charity shops, churches and museums. It has a great foodie vibe with a handful of artisan food shops with authentic produce…no E numbers or factory produce here. What appeals to me is the sheer variety of sights and activities all with the feel of London a hundred years ago.
Moxton Street – a Foodie Heaven off Marylebone High Street
Moxton Street is the epicentre of foodie heaven with some surprising budget finds. At the weekends there is a food market at the end of the road where locals buy their produce and they then stop off at La Fromagerie to recover from their exertions and catch up with friends. Bill Nighy is often spotted in the restaurant Aubaine opposite.
Ginger Pig
The Ginger Pig is renowned for offering a roast lunch which is costed by weight…pork, stuffing, gravy…roasted vegetables with minty, lemony seasonings and gravy. There are also pies worthy of any Charles Dickens novel…hot sausage rolls, Cornish pasties etc. You can easily pick up allow cost takeaway lunch here for £5-£8.
The Butchery section of Marylebone’s famous Ginger Pig.
A good selection of high quality low priced cold meat pies
Great value sausage rolls. Choose the hot ones.
Roast pork with vegetables and salad priced by weight. Infinitely more delicious than the photograph.
La Fromagerie
And then head next door to La Fromagerie which prides itself on sourcing its ingredients directly from top artisanal producers in the UK and Europe.Their food is fresh and beautifully presented. At the rear of the shop are tables dedicated to people sampling cheese boards and wine and there is a cafe with a small kitchen menu that includes the very popular Portuguese Sardines on toasted sough dough with caper berries and Amalfi lemon at £11.50…but as we are on a shoestring budget, I recommend sticking with the picnic idea from the Ginger Pig. Or to hell with it…blow your budget on a Yorkshire Salt Beef Sandwich with homemade slaw at £12 and focus on free activities for the rest of the day!
Whole Cheeses in the Window of La Fromagerie in Marylebone.
Beautiful Food Displays at La Fromagerie.
Go for the Carrot Cake a bargain at £3.20
You can return to La Fromagerie for afternoon tea. They have home made cakes with deep buttery icing that they serve in gargantuan slices…enough for two people. Their cakes are are really good value at £3-£4 a slice, approximately.
After that culinary overload you need to rest, so off to Pret. For frequent low budget adventurers I recommend the Pret Subscription as it allows you to have a free drink every 30 minutes, up to 5 times a day, for £30 a month and 10% off the food menu. Get a free barista coffee, or a cup of British Breakfast tea and leave the tea bag in to steep to get the full malty caffeine hit. I usually park myself on one of their outside tables and eat my picnic there. I know that this is frowned on but no one has said anything yet!
Charity Shops
The adjacent residential houses in Marylebone are all worth millions. They are where the super rich live. So it should come as no surprise that the charity shops on Marylebone High Street are choc full of discarded designer clothes, many unworn and still tagged from Harrods and Harvey Nichols.
Unlike the London suburbs. where you can pick up a piece of bargain second hand clothing for a couple of quid, these charity shop managers know how to price but you’d still be paying a fraction of the cost new.
Even if you don’t buy anything in the charity shops it is fun to look.
Found in a Marylebone charity shop. Is this a bargain? A £150 Pucci silk scarf.
Daunt Books
Welcome to Daunt Books which is probably the most photographed book store in London – an independent bookseller with an original Edwardian interior featuring a two storey gallery which contributes to its olde world charms.
This is the place where celebrities come to do their book signings, so be sure to check out their Events page. Boris Johnson was photographed here recently.
Daunt Books exterior on Marylebone High Street.
Gallery at Daunt BooksThere is a huge selection of London books including this one on London for free.
St James’s Church a Marylebone Church with a Beautiful Gothic Interior
St James’s Church in Spanish Place is not on the tourist circuit but it has an interior that would rival that of many a famous European cathedral. It’s in an early Gothic style. There has been a church in this site for centuries and the current church opened in 1890. There are beautiful paintings, statues and brasses. The church does a lot of work for the homeless. There is a daily mass. The church is free to visit and is a must for your Marylebone on a budget day out – you can make a small donation in the boxes provided.
St James’s church exterior in Marylebone with its flying buttress
Gothic revival interior.
Polished brass tomb covering.
Altar frieze.
Wallace Collection is Marylebone’s Glitzy Glamorous Free Museum
TheWallace Collection is the jewel of Marylebone – a gilded, glitzy, glamorous museum in Manchester Square. It is stuffed with objet d’art, hand carved furniture, armoury and marble statues. And best of all it is free to visit but a small donation is encouraged.
Visit Marylebone’s free museum and see this amazing ornate fireplace offset by red flock wallpaper.
Frans Hals The Laughing Cavalier
The grand marble staircase with gilded balustrade and burgundy carpet.
The Wallace Collection museum shop has things that you might actually want in your home which makes it a rare find in the world of souvenir type shops and it is not too pricy.
Stylish dressing gowns many with London maps or typography.
For those looking for a tasteful apron depicting a naked man.
Entry to exhibitions is currently £14 but you can buy annual membership for the Wallace Collection that would give you free entry to exhibitions for a year for £45 (single adult membership 2023). If you have a National Arts Club Fund membership you can gain admission at a 50% discount for £7. And of course, if you are on a tight budget and without the necessary memberships, there’s plenty to see in the free permanent galleries.
Harley Street and Selfridges
I ended my day with a walk down Harley Street gazing at the practitioners’ plaques and window boxes and did a bit of browsing in Selfridges.
Instead of heading south towards Oxford Street you could extend your day by going north towards Baker’s Street and visiting the free Queen Mary’s Rose Garden in Regents Park. We have a blog post entitled Queen Mary’s Rose Garden – A Sublime Floral Display.
Total Spend for my Marylebone on a Budget Day Out
My low cost day in Marylebone was only £3.20! I only spent money on the cake in La Fromagerie. I was gifted a few food samples as part of my blog research which kept me going.
If you had a picnic lunch from the Ginger Pig or one of the many cafes in Marylebone High Street, used your Pret subscription and focussed on free entry to the church and the Wallace Collection you could have a fab day out for well under £15.
There’s far more to see in Marylebone on a budget, so please subscribe so you don’t miss another London for £15 blog post in the area.
In my wildest fantasies, I imagine being gifted a hamper…not just any old hamper but a wicker Fortnum and Mason hamper bearing the chic black monogram and brim filled with exquisite treats – each one in beautiful packaging A hamper fit for a Londoner of refined taste (me). And it would be the sort of hamper that would thrill all Londoners from monarchs to the locked-down and quarantined in the London suburbs.
Fortnum and Mason Hampers are a Right Royal Treat
Today I had an email from the Queen’s grocer, Fortnum and Mason informing me of their Locked Down Lovers Hamper…a worthy alternative, in these times of virus, to a Valentine’s dinner
An opportunity for lovers everywhere to change into seductive jimjams and snuggle on the sofa with the delights of a bottle of Cote du Rhone, chocolate covered raspberries, stilton, butter biscuits, rose petal and prosecco jelly and dark chocolate macadamia nut biscuits amongst other delectables.
But in my small household of me and my cat, we have a more savoury meaty, fishy tooth, we like sharper, bitter umami tasting things, London things. A pork pie or scotch egg anyone?
My Fortnum and Mason hamper needs a good selection of savoury items like this delicious pork pie.
As a double royal warrant holder, Fortnum and Mason supplies both the Queen and the Prince of Wales. And naturally, I want whatever she is having!
I can’t quite picture Her Majesty, on the sofa, snuggled up to the Duke of Edinburgh with a bag of chocolate covered raspberries.
Anything that I choose for my perfect Fortnum and Mason hamper has to shout from the rooftops “supplied by the Queen’s grocer and fit for the Queen”.
So I have trawled through the Fortnum and Mason’s omnibus of fine delicacies, condiments and preserves to see if I could create the perfect selection, the most scrumptious of scrumptious, the most Toad of Toad Hall and the most Rupert Bear of all offerings.
Fortnum and Mason est. 1707, is a jewel box of a shop with liveried staff. Decked in an iconic turquoise blue, it screams luxury and refinement. Stopping off point for stage coaches, sender of sustenance to wars and boarding schools. Purveyor of goods to royals. A lifeline in the heart of Piccadilly.
What is the Winning Fortnum and Mason’s Hamper formula?
I analysed all Superior and Show Stopper Fortnum and Mason hampers priced £200-£2,500 and concluded that a magic and majestic hamper needs to contain items in these categories:
Tea and coffee
Preserves and honey
Savoury crackers
Pates and spreads
Ham and cheese
Chutney and mustard
Sweet Biscuits
Chocolates
Wine and spirits
A gift item eg. a cook book or a tea pot
A top of the range Fortnum and Mason hamper.
My Winning Criteria
All delicious consumables would need to pass the following test:
Something I couldn’t, or wouldn’t, make from a recipe
Delectable to the extent that I would be salivating as I tear open the packaging
Uniquely English and preferably with a London twist
True to its royal heritage and fitting for Queen Elizabeth II
Something clearly superior to a supermarket product
Here’s a Fortnum and Mason Hamper Fit for a Londoner – This Londoner! Me!
In blue, black and white – here is my gift list for birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s, Pancake Day, My Cat’s Name Day or any other special occasion. The work has been done for you!
Traditional Potted Stilton
This cheese is the celebrity of Stiltons, it is made from the last family-owned Stilton producer in the UK, and only with milk from the three ‘Stilton counties’ – Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. And the jar has cachet.
Welsh Rarebit Cheese Straws
My mother used to make cheese straws with pastry, cheddar and mustard powder.
But the best cheese straws are the ones wheeled out at the Goring Hotel. It is well worth going there for a few drinks just for the complimentary bar snacks.
Can Fortnum and Mason win a cheese straw competition? Theirs is made with cheddar cheese and hints of mustard and is perfect to enjoy alongside a tipple or two.
Piccadilly Piccalilli Pantry Jar
I like English mustard, I like cauliflower, onions, and gherkins, carrots and green beans and I like piccalilli. It’s like an adult version of Heinz Sandwich Spread. And I think it pairs very nicely with ham so this is going in.
Walnut & Seed Crackers
Traditionally, British crackers have been a bit bland. I have a loathing for cream crackers. They always seem to emerge slightly stale from the tin. I would be excited to have these bold nutty, savoury biscuits.
Pork pie, cheese, piccalilli and crackers are the perfect park picnic – just add grapes.
Jubilee Blend Tea
A special blend of tea brought out to commemorate the Queen’s Jubilee.
In 2012, Queen Elizabeth had her Diamond Jubilee and we were invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace.
On arrival, we received a wicker hamper containing chilled country garden soup, jubilee chicken, smoked salmon, cheese and chutney, bread and cakes with lavish servings of champagne.
It was a dreary and rainy afternoon but we feasted on blankets in the grounds, serenaded by a string quartet.
Fortnum and Mason marked the occasion by producing a special tea blend of Indian, Ceylon and China teas, creating a slightly smoky tea. Perfect for a Queen’s garden party.
Rose & Violet English Creams
Rose and Violet Creams are a London thing.Gifts inside the Fortnum and Mason hamper have their pretty signature turquoise packaging.
Growing up, I liked parma violet sweets which came in a thin tube and tasted artificial and violetty. But how much better it would be to have chocolates made with real flower essences suspended in fondant cream and enrobed in dark chocolate with their pretty crystallised flower decorations.
Floral creams are beloved by royalty. Fortnum and Mason Rose & Violet English Creams are proclaimed to be their signature chocolates.
Very English. Very Royal. Very London.
Burlington Breakfast Marmalade
No food hamper would be complete without a marmalade.
Many years ago, I was stumbling about exploring a local park in Chiswick and came across a tiny neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by sphinx statues and filled with priceless antiquities.
Chiswick House
It was Chiswick House, Lord Burlington’s summer house and here I was on a glorious Summer day overcome by the urge, not just to visit, but to work there, surrounded by the beautiful treasures that he acquired on his Grand Tour.
And each day for that summer, I sat on a carved, mahogany chair in one of the upstairs interconnecting rooms reading books about Lord Burlington.
Lord Burlington’s London residence, Burlington House (the Royal Academy) is opposite Fortnum’s which is why they decided to name a marmalade in his honour. They believe that there is a parallel between his love of 16th century architecture and the fine construction of this marmalade of pale golden jelly mixed with fine cut peel.
Who knows? But I think I would be every happy with a jar of anything with his name on it.
Blackberry Preserve
Make sure that your Fortnum and Mason hamper has Blackberry Preserve. It would be nice on fresh hot scones.
Jam used to be something that was made in every kitchen. As kids, we used to go foraging in late August for blackberries in the local fields. Then my mother would mix them with apples to make a dense, treacly jam with cellophane paper lids held firm with a rubber band. It was like a blue-blooded murder in the kitchen, all of us stained with blackberry juice.
Stirring the berries with the sugar for jam making.Jars of home made blackberry jam.Fresh scones with blackberry jam and clotted cream.Blackberry jam making
Fortunately, in the 2020s we don’t need to go to all that trouble. Fortnum and Mason Blackberry Preserve is described as “juicy and fragrant without being too sweet”. This would be amazing on warm, home-made fruit scones with a thick layer of clotted cream.
Rose Petal & English Honey Jelly
Rose petal jelly for those who like the finer things in life.
My father used to have an Egyptian friend who was addicted to the finer things in life and one of his peculiar penchants was for the Fortnum and Mason’s Rose Petal Jam. I’m still trying to get my head round this! Being curious, I ventured into a local Asian area and bought some rose jam which has been languishing in my cupboard untried for a year or so.
But I’d be keen to try this honey jelly with a fragrant rose scent. It would be memorable. Really, how many people have tasted a rose petal honey jelly? A dinner table talking point.
Lemon Curd Biscuits
Lemon Curd biscuits a Fortnum and Mason hamper staple.
This is a classic lemon curd buttery biscuit and would be moreishly delicious with a zesty flavour created from real lemon-curd. This is going in!
London gin perfect for difficult days. It’s everyone’s favourite tipple.
As I learned at a pre-lockdown gin tasting at Ronnie Scott’s, gin doesn’t have much flavour until botanicals are added. This information was gleaned before I over-tasted and things became a blur. The botanicals for this gin include bergamot, nutmeg and juniper…and it tastes citrussy and spicy. Nothing quite hits the spot after a difficult locked down day than a gin and tonic with a few nibbles.
Blanc de Blanc
A bottle of Blanc de Blanc premium champagne.
A few years ago, I went to a show at the Hippodrome Casino, an adult themed musical, hilarious in its vulgarity, called Blanc de Blanc. It ended with a semi-naked man (with very tight speedos) cavorting in a glass of champagne. It was at that precise moment that I realised that there was champagne and champagne, and that the Rolls Royce of champagnes was Blanc de Blanc.
The Fortnum and Mason Cook Book
A Fortnum and Mason Hamper must have a Cookbook.
I have been the privileged attendee at many of the events in the Fortnum and Mason kitchen shop on the first floor. Dishes are frequently demonstrated from the Fortnum and Mason Cook Book. Everything (and I mean everything) that comes out of the oven is mouth-wateringly divine and served by uniformed staff on silver platters.
This book is written by Tom Parker Bowles, a London based food writer broadcaster and restaurant critic for The Mail on Sunday and Food Editor of Esquire magazine. I like its old fashioned logic (Breakfast, Morning Tea, Lunch etc.) and simple quintessentially British recipes covering all the important things in life like how to cook kippers, boil eggs, and pair blueberry scones with stilton…old fashioned food at its best.
Pickled Brussel Sprouts
Pickled Brussels sprouts are clearly a Fortnum and Mason Hamper essential
I’ve got to be honest this statement by Fortnum and Mason is something I somewhat doubt,
“Deliciously crunchy and oh-so-British, we’re sure these glorious Pickled Brussels Sprouts will win over even the most ardent of sprout naysayers.”
but I’d be prising the lid off with alacrity to try them.
I could be one of the handful of people in London who has eaten a pickled Brussel sprout. Surely, it’s worth a shot?
You may also be interested in our blog post on less upmarket popular London snacks.
Where to buy a Fortnum and Mason Hamper
A Fortnum and Mason hamper and other delectables can be purchased online from www.fortnumandmason.com
As soon as I set eyes on the ENO’s Gilbert and Sullivan walking tour I pounced. There was everything to like about it…free tickets, curated by my favourite bass baritone John Savournin and an opportunity to hear great opera sung outside of a traditional auditorium.
ENO’s Gilbert and Sullivan Walking Tour
The ENO’s Gilbert and Sullivan walking tour started at the entrance to the Savoy Hotel. This was my very first surprise. I have been basking in the misapprehension that the Savoy entrance was on the Strand next to the Savoy Theatre. Who would have thought that an even grander hotel entrance with floral gardens existed behind the other grand hotel entrance?
In the midst of the flora and foliage are monuments paying homage to the combined talents of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Monuments and statues to Gilbert and Sullivan grace Victoria Embankment.
John Savournin kicked things off wearing a black topper and giving an equally stylish rendition.
John Savournin kicked the opera tour off in style.
We were then whisked away to meet a handcuffed Ruairi Bowen singing a sad lament while dolefully awaiting his execution.
A doleful performance from a singer about to be executed.
Zoe Drummond convinced us of her prim and ladylike virtues with melodic voice, all the while dancing demurely with a parasol. She wasn’t even fazed when an elderly old crock like myself tripped on the grass in front of her. Next time I hope she chooses a younger and more agile audience participant.
Prim ladylike and ultimately unfazed vocal performance.
Trevor Eliot Bowes made a fine copper with his menacing Victorian gestures and his cartoonish antics. His truncheon holding and silly walk was straight out of a silent movie accompanied by a lively yet stern vocal performance. He was a proper “job’s worth”.
A comically stern vocal performance from a Victorian policeman.
On our travels down Whitehall we came across an overheating Ossian Huskian in full bear skinned hat regalia who entertained us royally. He caused much consternation to bemused strolling tourists.
A Royal opera treat from a singing soldier.
We met Sir Joseph (Richard Suart), “The Ruler of the Queen’s Navee” outside Admiralty Arch. It was a perfect moment, the magnificence of Trafalgar Square and the Admiralty buildings, an eccentric and exquisitely attired admiral in his embroidery and feathers singing the most famous of Gilbert and Sullivan Songs “When I was a Lad”.
The spendors of Admiralty Arch and Trafalgar Square contributed to the tour.Meeting the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee was the highlight of ENO’s Gilbert & Sullivan Walking Tour
We ended the tour back at the London Coliseum where we were met by two dancing and singing faeries, so sweet they looked as if they had been plucked from the pages of Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales.
The creative and office team who had masterminded this wonderful tour were there to wave us off and we were each presented with a beautifully illustrated book of Jonathan Miller’s production of The Mikado.
It was a perfect day…perfect opera, perfect weather and perfect logistics. It is productions like this that make the ENO such an important cultural asset to London.
If you are a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan you may enjoy our review of the ENO’s HMS Pinafore.
Opera Holland Park’s La bohème has memorable staging and standout vocals.
Opera Holland Park, La bohème (c) Craig Fuller
La bohème is a Scintillating New Production for Opera Holland Park
Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème may be the most famous opera of all time: the spartan, gloomy scenes of impoverished Bohemian life are balanced by colourful street scenes and punctuated by dramatic arias. I always look forward to the warm, convivial meal in Café Momus in Act II which takes my mind off these freezing living conditions, lack of food and a dying heroine.
The popularity of La bohème lies in its pathos. Audiences are often moved to tears. For me, the acid test is plausibility. Do I feel that I am freezing in Paris? Am I convinced by the camaraderie of the flat sharers? Do I feel that Rodolfo is in love with Mimi and is Musetta sufficiently exasperating?
La Boheme is Set in a 1950s Film Studio
Director, Natascha Metherill makes her Holland Park debut with an unusual twist on this 1896 classic setting it in a 1950s Italian film studio where our Bohemians are filming La Vie Parisienne.
In Act I, Adam Gilbert as Rodolfo, warmed gently to Mimì (Katie Bird), a wardrobe girl, who knocks on his attic door asking for a light for her candle. Rodolfo moves from awkward suitor to a star struck lover, all in the space of a short duet. Their sumptuous voices intensify as they become increasingly more enamoured and besotted.
The Italian film studio staging is not entirely successful and you are left puzzled why Rodolfo is wearing smart trousers, a red tie and a business shirt. It also seems unlikely that he would burn his film script in frustration at not being paid. However, this concept does effectively resolve an issue which is how to make use of the extra wide stage and additional stage in front of the audience pit. The back of the stage is the wardrobe department and scene cloth back drops while the protruding front stage is the preserve of the cameraman who is pushed along as if on a dolly.
Commendable Set and Costume Designs
Designer, Madeleine Boyd’s evocative street scenes are straight out of a Belle Époque poster; women in black, ruched dresses and feathered hats and men equally resplendent in tail coats and top hats were all carefully accentuated in a deep Parisian red. The staging was enhanced by some memorable choreography of children chanting, dancing and clapping. In the midst of this, the toy seller, Papaginoli (Philip Costovski), clambers on his box and does his Greatest Show Man routine. A perfect slice of French life.
Opera Holland Park La bohème Comic Elements
The arrival of Benoît (Henry Grant Kerswell) is always a treat; the landlord who comes to collect his rent but becomes entrapped by over sharing with his tenants who then taunt him over his womanising and throw him out. Kerswell did not disappoint, dressed in a baggy suit with a splendid voice and comical moves. Later, he plays Alcindor at the Café Momus, an elderly suitor who is perfect prey for the women of the night. Much hilarity ensues from his oafish gestures and nauseating table manners.
Musetta, a Femme Fatale with Strong Vocals
There was a standout performance from Musetta (Elizabeth Karani) with her big voice and equally large repertoire of femme fatale poses…a scary wench if there ever was one. In her duet with Marcello (Ross Ramgobin) there’s no need to read the surtitles, or speak fluent Italian, to realise that he was singing something on the lines of “Wimmen! Can’t live with them and can’t live without them”.
Directing and Conducting Triumphed Over the Usual La bohème Pitfalls
One of the tricky issues in directing La bohème concerns the Act IV attic scene with its macho camaraderie between Rodolfo, Schaunard, Colline and Marcello. If played towards the audience, it looks awkward and unconvincing and if acted more naturally facing each other, it is difficult to distinguish the voices. Natascha Metherill manages to get this just right.
The British bass, Barnaby Rea, in the role of Colline, decides to pawn his beloved jacket to pay for Mimi’s medicines. He sings “Vecchia zimarra” with deep, powerful vocals and laddish, gallic gestures. The conductor is to be commended for ensuring that this aria is nice and slow as befitting a funeral dirge.
The City of London Sinfonia Orchestra Capably Led by George Jackson
The City of London Sinfonia was capably conducted by George Jackson. He produced an almost cinematic, musical backdrop to the action leaving plenty of space for occasional pieces which were sung a capella. The music in the street scenes was bright and lively. Violins exquisitely played some befitting, sadder notes when the lovers decide to separate and on Mimì’s death scene.
Opera Holland Park’s La bohème Ticks Most of My Boxes
While the 1950s fit set staging was not entirely plausible, Opera Holland Park ensures that its La bohème is a knockout with a poignant capture of love, forceful arias, warm street vignettes, cosy café scenes and joyful camaraderie set against a backdrop of poverty, parting and death. There were many wet eyes in the house as the lights went up.
London snacks are not to everyone’s taste. You maybe salivating when you read through this list or decide that our snacks are an abomination.
Snacking in London on Traditional British Foods
As one man’s meat is another man’s poison, l will take you through my personal snacks from heaven to hell, in descending order, with one snack that I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole.
1. Marmite
Traditional British Foods. Marmite comes top in my list of London snacks.
During the first world war Marmite was including in a soldier’s rations as it is choc full of vitamins and its treacly appearance looks like something medicinal.
Marmite is an industrial by-product of beer brewing but tastes nothing like beer. It has a distinctive savoury, almost anchovy taste.
A little goes a long way and it needs to be spread very thinly on buttered toast.
You either love or loathe it. The ones who hate it have probably tried to eat it on a teaspoon straight from the jar!
“Marmite. You either love it or hate It” is the manufacturer’s clever advertising slogan to get the masses to rise to the challenge of tasting this tongue tingling spread.
However, I don’t need any persuading….I could wake up in the middle of the night craving English Breakfast tea and Marmite on toast. I’m voting this as the acme of my personal food heaven. And if you want to know where I buy my tea from here it is.
2. Warburton’s Crumpets
Warburton’s are famous among Traditional British Foods.
A crumpet is a cold rubbery thing and extremely unappetising if eaten cold straight from the packet. Crumpets need to be put through the toaster several times until they are almost crunchy on top.
Butter is then lavishly spread. When the butter has trickled down the bubbly holes and coated the underside, they are ready to be livened up with a slathering of fruity jam like Tiptree Strawberry Preserve.
This is what all sane Londoners enjoy for afternoon tea at home on wintery days.
3. Heinz Baked Beans
Heinz Baked Beans prized among gourmet chefs.
Beans on toast is apparently the dish of choice for Michelin starred London chefs. They come home exhausted after creating gourmet delicacies in their restaurant kitchen and heat up a simple tin of beans until it is bubbling and eat them on buttered toast.
Quick and delicious, beans on toast can be greatly enhanced with a grating of cheddar cheese.
4. McVities Digestive Biscuits
McVities Digestive Biscuits. Nice with cheese, or a cuppa, or both.
Perhaps digestive biscuits are not the king of British biscuits – they are far too plain for that. However, their wheaty, malty taste and crumbly texture make them the perfect accompaniment to a British cuppa.
The chocolate versions are very popular. Milk chocolate or dark chocolate is rippled in the surface of the digestive biscuit.
I like the plain ones which make a tasty snack with a corner of cheddar cheese.
5. Nestle Kit Kat
Nestle Kit Kat. Traditional British Foods in our famous London red.
I remember reading that Pricncess Diana (she was an avid dieter) was quite partial to two fingers of Kit Kat.
This iconic British chocolate biscuit is sold in two finger and four finger versions.
I used to get great pleasure from removing the paper wrapper followed by the thin foil covering.
Snapping the individual fingers apart was also strangely satisfying.
Now in my opinion, the manufacturers have royally screwed things up. They have brought out bizarre flavours like orange, mint and apple pie. What’s that all about? And they have replaced the paper and foil wrapper with recyclable plastic. Nestle, stop interfering with our Traditional British foods!
6. Melton Mowbray Pork Pies
A Melton Mowbray Pork Pie make perfectly portable London snacks.
Pork Pies are one of those things that are almost impossible to make at home unless you are a Cordon Bleu trained cook with a few days of free time. The distinctive hot water pastry needs a deft hand. I won’t tell you how the jelly encasing the sausage meat is made. I’ll give you a clue its something to do with boiling animal feet. (try not to think about it).
Pork pies are one of the most portable of London snacks. Take them to your Ascot picnic. They are welcome in all social circles.
The best place to hunt out this snack is the Ginger Pig in Marylebone or Fortnum and Mason food hall however as we are shopping in the supermarket today, you could look for the Dickinson and Morris Melton Mowbray pork pie with the longest use-by-date ensuring that the thick pastry is at its freshest.
7. Mr Kipling Cakes
Mr Kipling French Fancies. I’m sure these used to be called Fondant Fancies.
Mr Kipling is missing a trick. He needs to bring out a selection of his favourite cakes in one special tasting box.
The top of my personal list would be the Battenberg Cake which comprises lurid coloured sponge covered in a thin layer of jam and encased in marzipan.
I am also partial to a French Fancy, which was popular in the era of Lyons Corner Houses. A square of sponge is topped with a dollop of vanilla faux cream and enrobed with strawberry, chocolate or lemon flavoured icing.
You may also want to try Mr Kipling’s almond fingers or jam tarts.
8. Quality Street
Quality Street. Please put in more purple ones.
British families have bought tins of Quality Street for decades as a Christmas treat. We would watch the Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day while stuffing our faces and fighting over the purple ones with their caramel and hazelnut centres. They don’t put enough purple ones in the box in my opinion and the fruit creams and hard toffee are left to languish at the bottom.
Now that the supermarkets have introduced these smaller cardboard boxes there is no need to wait for Christmas to enjoy them – they make great London snacks when you are on the move as they are individually wrapped.
9. Bassett’s Liquorice All Sorts
Bassetts Liquorice All Sorts an acquired taste in the world of London snacks.
Obviously, you would need to be a massive fan of black liquorice to buy a packet of these chewy, black sweets. Some of these confections have a strange beaded coating in poisonous colours like pale blue. Liquorice All Sorts are something of acquired taste. The weird thing is that whichever one you eat they all seem to taste the same. I’d put them somewhere down the list beneath other old-fashioned British sweets like pear drops and jelly babies. We are here to live dangerously, so buy a packet.
10. Walkers Crisps
The game was over for me when Walker’s Crisps introduced their new flavours. We like our Traditional British foods to be just that – traditional and British.
When I was growing up crisps came in just one flavour; plain. A small blue twisted paper was somewhere at the bottom containing salt that you sprinkled to your taste.
I then recall the traumatic introduction of the cheese and onion, salt and vinegar and chicken flavours. This is when it all started to fall apart for me.
Then I saw someone set light to a crisp which oozed fats and oils and I knew my crisp eating career was over.
Let us not forget that crisps are part of the standard British lunch meal deal…a sandwich, a bag of crisps and a fizzy drink is lunch for millions.
All those millions of Brits can’t be wrong. Or can they?
My Snack From Food Hell
Pot Noodles
Pot Noodles are my personal nemesis among London Snacks.
I want to meet the man who invented the Pot Noodle.
I mean who in their right mind would invent a snack of dehydrated noodles and add assorted flavours which come to life with boiling water and then call it lunch.
When I was at University, there was a spotty science student who acquired a bad case of malnutrition by eating Pot Noodles for every meal. In the defence of Pot Noodle, I’m sure that these are intended as an occasional snack and who knows the recipe may now be fortified with micro-nutrients.
Personally, I don’t think I have had a pot noodles in fifty years and I am not about to start now.
These traditional London Snacks can be purchased at all the major supermarkets including Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Enjoy your London snacks.
Lewes in East Sussex is the perfect day trip from London. Just an hour away by train, you’ll find a town which is infinitely more picturesque than neighbouring Brighton and more accessible than the Cotswolds but with green rolling countryside and historic buildings. Moreover, Lewes is a stone’s throw from the sea at Seaford and near many interesting villages with a Bloomsbury Set connection.
Lewes – A Memorable Day Trip
Lewes, a few decades ago, used to be a pretty but dull, small town with a decidedly lefty vibe. It was home to bearded Sussex University academics who couldn’t face bumping into their Brighton based students while drinking at their local.
Lewes High Street with pretty period houses
However, in recent years Lewes has started to develop a Woodstock buzz with pavement cafes, craft galleries and artisan food shops with its beating heart in the south of the town around the picturesque Harvey’s Brewery.
Lewes Antique Emporiums
Lewes is jam packed with antique emporiums where numerous dealers trade out of a single outlet. Here you will find a genuine English souvenirs like Victorian embroidered English napkins, table cloths, cut glassware, bone handled cutlery, perfume bottles, vases and Sixties toys. Best of all there is no London, or posh store, mark up.
Lewes Antique Shops
The Flint Owl Bakery Artisan Bakery
Enter the Flint Owl Bakery and you will be dazzled by dozens of freshly baked cakes; each one is a delectable work of art. Popular choices are the fruit and cream meringues and carrot cake. Their selections change daily. At lunchtime you will find quiches and rustic bean salads, artisan toasted sandwiches, home-made lasagne and meaty sausage rolls. On a sunny day, there is nothing more perfect than having lunch in the rear garden, sipping wine and chatting to friends.
The Needlemakers Craft Hub
The Needlemakers is an artistic hub just behind the high street housing dozens of craft shops. You’ll find quirky pottery, vintage finds, books, unique clothing, hand-made jewellery, speciality foods and a vegan café.
Lewes Aerial View
Thrifting in Lewes Charity Shops
Thrifting in the half a dozen charity shops is also a great sport…you’ll have a fun few hours rifling through clothes, books and knick-knacks.
Oxfam has the best books and the worst clothes!
Lewes Castle – A Norman Ruin
If schlepping up Castle Hill wasn’t enough exercise, you could climb yet further to the top of Lewes Castle. This Norman castle was built after the Battle of Hastings by William the Conqueror’s supporters.
As you’d expect the castle is now a crumbing ruin but you can enjoy its beautiful gardens which are the perfect place for a picnic.
Lewes Castle
The Bull House – Home to Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine famed for writing the Rights of Man lived at Bull House at the top of Lewes High Street from 1768 – 1774 and he married the landlord’s daughter. It seems that Lewes had an anarchist and alternative vibe even those days.
The Bull House Lewes
The Rights of Man Pub
The Rights of Man pub is named after Thomas Paine’s famous book and almost opposite the Bull’s Head in the High Street is this atmospheric pub. It comes into its own in the evening with several rooms dedicated to dining with dark wood panelling and a small but perfectly executed menu.
“This stylish pub, whose name reflects the fact that Thomas Paine once called Lewes home, is one of the best places to pair local Harvey’s ale with well executed food, albeit with a definite Continental lean. Wood panelling, art deco lighting and a summer terrace makes things feel a long way from the average British boozer”
Lonely Planet
Balmy, Beachy Seaford
The sea with a pebble beach is within a short drive from Lewes. Seaford is a traditional seaside resort with a beach shack café serving drinks and snacks. More energetic types can walk along its pretty white cliffs. The rest of us can breathe in the sea air and marvel at the waves and seagulls while sipping strong English breakfast tea.
Sitting on the beach trestle tables is particularly enjoyable early in the morning on a Summer’s day where locals gather and chat before the holidaymakers arrive.
The Beach at Seaford
Artistic Decadence at Charleston House
Charleston was the rented home of the Bloomsbury Set a group of artists, historians, writers and thinkers who used the house as their wartime refuge.
Charleston House
It is where the homosexual Duncan Grant had an affair with the artist Vanessa Bell. Her husband the art historian Clive Bell would visit frequently from London and the economist (and Duncan Grant’s lover) John Maynard Keynes had his own room.
“They lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles”
Dorothy Parker
Inside the house you can marvel at their unique naive pottery and wall decorations.
The garden at the rear of the house is exquisitely planted in its original style – a riot of clashing colours with plants tightly amassed and offset by Vanessa Bell’s mosaics.
Garden at Charleston House near Lewes
There is a café serving huge slabs of home-made cake and a Summer arts festival.
Their volunteer tour guides are particularly fun to talk to – they are as an eclectic bunch of Bohemians as the original inhabitants.
Cake and coffee at the Charleston House Cafe
Village Pubs and Bloomsbury Graves in Firle
Firle village is the final resting place of the Bloomsbury Set…the graves of Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and her husband, Clive Bell can be found in the local church.
St Peter’s Church with the Bloomsbury graves
When Clive Bell used to visit his wife at Charleston he used to stay here the Ram Inn.
The Ram Inn is still plying a vigorous trade and is a popular dinner spot for Lewes locals. You may also enjoy their breakfast menu which is served until 11am. You’ll find everything from yoghurt, berries and granola to poached eggs with avocado on toast and of course the full English.
Avocado and poached eggs on toast with smoked salmon at the Ram Inn near Lewes
On a rainy day, you can park yourself inside its black painted interior with a crackling fire
Interior of the Ram Inn at Firle near Lewes
And in the summer months you can enjoy the outside terrace which overlooks its picturesque high street.
Before you leave take a stroll through the village to marvel at the quaint cottages many of which have garden produce being sold on trestle tables outside accompanied by an honesty box to leave some change.
Fire near Lewes Village Post Office and General StoreGarden grown produce outside houses in Fire
If you miss breakfast at the Ram Inn there is an amazing mobile cafe on the main road before the turn off that does bacon and egg sandwiches and cappuccino. You can sit on a faux sheepskin covered stool at the side of the van and tuck into your butty while enjoying the country views.
The perfect bacon and egg butty.
Bloomsbury War Murals at Berwick Church
Berwick Church is home to the original war murals painted by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant making this is a perfect next stop if you are on a Bloomsbury Set pilgrimage. These paintings were commissioned by Bishop Bell in 1941 and are the only example of a traditional village church being decorated by renowned contemporary artists. The murals are now showing signs of flaking and a restoration appeal is currently underway.
Chocolate Box Alfriston with its British Winery
Alfriston is the quintessential Sussex Village. Its high street has beautiful period houses bedecked with plants and interlaced with small private shops…a book shop, cards, a vintage clothes shop with delightful period costume jewellery and the 15th century The Star Inn. This has recently been acquired by the Polizzi family (Alex Polizzi of the TV Hotel Inspector fame) with its legendary fastidious standards.
A picture perfect house in AlfristonThe General Store in Alfriston
If you are planning a romantic weekend there is no finer village to take your beloved to.
The Alfriston car parks start filling up as the hour of afternoon tea approaches. The Singing Kettle which overlooks the village square, has sweet and savoury scones and delicious home-made cakes. Try and grab one their outside tables and you can watch the world go by.
The Singing Kettle in Alfriston
Or if you are into fine dining and wine tasting, you can visit the local Rathfinny Wine Estate and sample their world class sparkling wines while taking in the views out over the vineyards.
The Tasting Room is open for two and three course lunches from Wednesday to Sunday. Their menu changes weekly according the produce in season.
Rathfinny Wine Estate
Beddingham – A Walkers and Cyclists Paradise
If you are a hiker, walker or cyclist there is no better base to explore Lewes and the South Downs way than the YHA at Beddingham. Converted from farm buildings, YHA hostel had a multi-million pound restoration before opened by the Queen. The café is idyllic with views of the rolling South Downs. And it is convivial. In the evening grab a bottle of modestly priced wine from the cafe and go to the farm house lounge where you will make new friends with the most fascinating people.
The YHA at Beddingham
Trains to Lewes
Trains run from London Victoria to Lewes and take approximately an hour.
There is a train from Lewes to Beddingham (for the YHA) and Seaford. Check the timetables.
You can purchase tickets in advance from the Trainline.
Driving to Lewes
If you are driving it will take 1.45 mins to 2.15 mins to drive from London and Seaford, Firle, Berwick Alfriston and Charleston are all within a 15-20 minute drive. There’s free parking in Firle, Charleston and on Seaford seafront with paid parking in Alfriston and Lewes.
On entering the Fitzrovia Chapel, you feel like you are in an encrusted jewelled box.
The gleaming golden, pristine space is quite the opposite of a a dusty, ancient church. This is in part due to its recent restoration. The chapel was restored by conservation architects as part of a £2m renovation as recently as 2013-2015.
Originally, the chapel was part of the Middlesex Hospital and its services were broadcast on the hospital radio to those who were too sick to leave their beds.
The History of the Fitzrovia Chapel
In the 1700’s London only had two hospitals and there was a huge demand for more infirmaries. Middlesex Infirmary opened in 1740 and it was founded as a charity for the “sick and lame of soho”.
It was called the Middlesex Hospital as London at the time was in the county of Middlesex.
In the 1880’s the hospital board of governors were keen to create a chapel. Up unitil that point, all their religious services were being taken in meeting rooms. The governors commissioned the gothic revival architect John Loughborough Pearson to undertake the project.
Construction began on the Fitzrovia Chapel in 1891. When Pearson died his son Frank took over the project. The resulting design is a tribute to both father and son. Its first ever service was on Christmas Day in 1891.
The Chapel’s Design
Ceiling
The awe-inspiring vaulted ceiling was not part of the original Fitzrovia Chapel design. It was first intended to be open oak ceiling. Frank Loughborough Pearson changed this to gilded mosaics. He adopted the mantra “Does it send you to your knees?” for all of his design modifications.
The Baptistery
The baptistery has a European influence and is similar to other baptisteries found in in Palermo and Venice The surrounding four windows show the soldier saints of Joan of Arc, Saint George, Saint Alban and Saint Martin as a memorial to those who died in the First World War.
The baptistery mosaics.The stained glass windows in the baptistery.
The Font
The font is inscribed in Greek with “wash clean my sins, not just my face” which is the same inscription as that used on the font outside the Haghia Sophia in Istanbul.
The font is carved in Verd Antique which is a decorative dark green and mottled white facing stone.
The Organ
The mosaics above the organ show the Latin phrase ‘Gloria in excelsis deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis’ which means ‘Glory to God in the highest, and peace to all men on earth’
The original thirteen stop organ has been removed and replaced with an electric Allen organ. This is occasionally used for weddings and concerts.
The Altar
The chapel altar
Fitzrovia Chapel’s has a marble altar. The piscina, balustrade and eagle lectern are carved in alabaster. Near to this, an incision commemorates the lying-in-state of Rudyard Kipling, the poet and author, who died at the Middlesex Hospital.
The Fitzrovia Chapel Today
Today its purpose is to act as a:
Film location
Exhibition space
Wedding venue
Concert studio
Workshop
Marriage Proposals and Weddings
The small redbrick annexe leads into a surprising romantic cocoon making it popular for marriage proposals.
Petals are scattered, candles are lit, a harpsichord or violinist plays. Any lover would be mad to say No when confronted with such a romantic setting.
A proposal may last just an hour but here it will be remembered for a life time.
The intimate venue also makes it perfect for small weddings, even very small weddings of just a handful of people. I see it as the perfect alternative to an elopement. Do people elope anymore? It is certainly much more intimate than a registry office. When I visited, someone who had recently got married at the Fitzrovia Chapel was there to reminisce about her wedding. The chapel clearly held beautiful memories for her.
Book Launches
More surprisingly book authors, including the leading poverty campaigner Jack Monroe, have held their book launches in this opulent environment.
Filming and Recording
The Fitzrovia Chapel has also featured in films and as a recording backdrop for various music artists. As the chapel has not been over used the venue still creates a backdrop buzz.
Fitzrovia Chapel Opening Hours
It is open to to public for reflection or to see the interior every Wednesday from 11am and 4pm.
Entrance is free. There is no need to book an online ticket.
Book in advance for groups larger than 15. Guided tours can be arranged on request and there may be a small fee.
Fitzrovia Chapel Friends Membership
You can become a member for £25 a year and this will entitle you to a programme of members only events.
Details of their exhibitions and cultural programme can be found on their website.
Finding the Fitzrovia Chapel
The address is: Fitzrovia Chapel, Fitzroy Place, 2 Pearson Square, London W1T 3BF
It is just off Goodge Street in Central London. The nearest tube stations are Tottenham Court Road and Goodge Street.
Accessibility
The chapel is accessible to wheel chairs as it is all on one floor. There is a step outside but there is a wheel chair ramp.
This is our no compromise list of cheap and free things to do in London
Free Things to Do in London
London is the city of free. We have free museums, galleries, parks and interesting streets and alleyways. Combine this with some exotic, tasty and cheap street food and you are all set to go.
1. Check out the Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum.
You won’t need to look far to find your favourite dinosaur as there is a massive beast towering above you in the Victorian foyer. In fact, the Natural History Museum is a bit obsessed with these animals as relics, exhibitions, talks and colouring books are everywhere. And best of all it is one of our top free things to do in London.
2. Find the Mummies at the British Museum
Mummies, coffins, funeral masks and all manner of useful objects that the dead took with them into the after-life are displayed in the Egyptian room of the British Museum. Look out for the beautifully engraved inner coffin of the priest Hornedjitef from Thebes 240BC and the mummy of a cat from Abydos AD 1-100.
Egyptian hieroglyphics at the British Museum
3. Explore Modern Art at the Tate Modern
There’s no need to splash a lot of cash when you visit the Tate Modern. This contemporary art museum is housed in the Bankside Power Station. There is an impressive selection of free art in its public galleries which includes works by Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso. You can find out more about its top exhibits here.
If you head to the Kitchen & Bar on the 6th Floor, you can sit on a bar stool and enjoy the majestic view of the River Thames, Millennium Bridge and St Pauls – all for the price of a coffee.
Forget the touristy and expensive Hop-on Hop-off bus we have a cheaper alternative. Take one of red buses on the 9, 11 or 73 bus routes and see famous London sights for a fraction of the price. The stops and attractions on these routes are explained here. The cost of a day bus pass is currently £6 and you can check out the latest prices and child ticket prices here.
Photo by Tim
5. Discover Your Inner Foodie at Borough Market
This famous foodie market in London Bridge has all manner of delicacies sold from their more permanent stalls to their food pop-ups towards the rear of the market. You won’t be dining in a lot of elegance…there are a few tables and loos. Bring your wet wipes and paper tissues. Sauce on your chin is never a good look
Our blog post on popular London Snacks may provide you with less foodie inspired ideas that can be purchased at the local supermarket.
6. Feed the Ducks at the Serpentine
This was a favourite pastime for a generation of children growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. Parents would give kids a bag of stale chopped up bread and they headed to the serpentine to feed the ducks while their parents had coffee in the Serpentine Lido café. Why not revive this tradition on a nice Spring day.
The British Film Institute (BFI) on the South Bank has Mediatheque. This is a media viewing lab with an archive of 95,000 films and television programmes. Just go in, wait for a booth and they will give you a set of headphones. A happy way to spend a rainy afternoon when you don’t want to walk much. There are plenty of nearby interesting places and cafes all with a view of the Thames.
Harrods is one of our most outrageously expensive stores but this makes it window shopping heaven. The designer boutiques on the first floor showcase the cutting edge in fashion from Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Versace and Valentino (to name a few).
Their lingerie department is a paradise of totally unwearable intimate apparel and expensive silk kimonos. Just don’t reach for your credit card.
Exotic lingerie in Harrods
9. Walk with a Londoner
There are many free walking tours in London. Of course these guides make a living from the tips that they receive so we recommend that you tip generously.
One of the best tour guides is Barry Greene from Back in the Day Walks. His tours are reasonably priced and he knows his stuff. Barry is a born and bred Londoner who conducts the most fascinating and well researched walks all over London. I have been everywhere with him from Brick Lane to Kensington. His latest tour of Southall is truly eye opening.
10. Eat Weird Stuff in China Town
If you fancy a tasty morsel that can be held between a paper napkin and licked off your fingers go to China Town. Check out the Pleasant Lady for tasty wraps. The Evening Standard has many more great suggestions in Cheap Eats in China Town for under £10.
Red lanterns in London’s China Town
11. Listen to Live Jazz at Café Boheme
Get on your toe tapping shoes. Café Boheme is probably on one of the busiest corners in Soho and between the hours of 3-5pm they have a live jazz band playing…these are usually the hippest and most talented jazz musicians on the London scene. You can hear them for the price of a couple of drinks. See their live music schedule here
12. Take a Boat Down the River Thames
There’s no need to pay for a luxury Thames cruise just head to Embankment (near Westminster tube station) and embark on an Uber boat by Thames Clippers and set sail down the river. You’ll down the river past the South Bank, the Globe, the Tower of London and all the way to Greenwich.
After you’ve fortified yourself, strolled in the park or visited to the free National Maritime Museum you can do the journey back. Have a drink on deck and wave at the other vessels. You will pay in the region of £10-20 for a return journey depending on whether you qualify for one of their many concessions.
If you are looking for tips on how to plan a day out in London read our guide.
13. Admire the Deer at Richmond Park
When feel like a break from the great metropolis take a safari to Richmond Park. I prefer to go by car (avoid sunny days at the weekend when the car parks are busy). You can take the tube to Richmond and the 65 or 371 bus.
You will see ancient trees, lakes and a herd of red deer. It’s all on a scale that is breath taking. You almost feel that you are on an African safari. The park is free with several very good value cafés and ice cream vans. Our blog post on Richmond Park will give you more information.
A herd of deer at Richmond Park
14. Become a Groundling at the Globe
In Shakespeare’s Day, the poor who couldn’t afford the more expensive, covered seats would elect to stand for a performance. The same is true today. Ditch the pricy seats in favour of a £5 ticket and experience the play like the Elizabethan peasants. The groundlings are closely monitored, so you’ve got no chance of sneaking into the seated area, sitting on the floor or leaning against a balcony. Standing means standing. Not many people can last the whole performance and you’ll be at the mercy of the elements but you can leave anytime you like.
Groundlings at The Globe Theatre
15. Ogle the Street Performers at Covent Garden
Covent Garden, our famous fruit and vegetable market of days gone by, now has a new speciality…street performers. You’ll find jugglers, musicians, human statues, theatre troupes. Take your camera and small change for tips.
Our original inspiration for this blog post came when we experimented with going out in London on an extreme budget of just £5 a day. Find out more about it in our post on London on the Cheap.
16. Watch the World go by on Piccadilly
This is great activity on a sunny day when you don’t feel like walking much. Head to Pret or any of the other outdoor cafes on Piccadilly. Get yourself neatly sandwiched between Fortnum and Masons, the Royal Academy and the Ritz. Then sip iced coffee and people watch. You’ll see celebrities, tourists, business men, tramps and people from out of town dressed in their best. When you feel like a break you can visit the free galleries at the Royal Academy. Or take a stroll down St James’s and find the shops with Royal Warrants who supply the King and the Royal Household.
The Royal Academy on Piccadilly
17. Eat a Salt Beef Beigel in Brick Lane
Eating a salt beef beigel at Beigel Bake is like going on a religious pilgrimage. It must be done at least once in your lifetime. And you’ll join the queue with actors, royalty, office workers, police men. They all know a bargain when they see it. You’ll get a massive bun stuffed with salt beef, gherkins and a tingly mustard which you can eat while walking down Brick Lane looking at the menus of the Indian Restaurants,
Salt beef Beigel from Beigel Bake in Brick Lane
18. Check out Graffiti Art in the Leake Street Tunnel
Banksy popularised the Leake Street Tunnel under Waterloo station. It is the only legal graffiti wall in London. Local artists are encouraged to bring their spray cans and paint here. You’ll now find an ever-changing display of street art as new artists paint over existing exhibits. If this is your thing, be sure to check out our blog post on the Leake Street Tunnel.
Graffiti street art in Leake Street
19. Walk Across Tower Bridge
Before braving this iconic London landmark, I recommend going for a leisurely stroll to St Katherine’s Wharf. Have lunch of a drink overlooking the harbour. This is particularly idyllic on a warm Summer’s day. Then put your tourist hat on and walk over Tower Bridge. It’s a marvel of Victorian architecture. If you are lucky, you’ll see the bridge rise to let a tall ship pass.
Tower Bridge, a London landmark
20. Visit Temples and Sample Dhosas, Bhagis, Pakoras and Samosas in Southall
Southall is an Asian area in West London. In fact, it used to be so Asian that it was rare to see any other ethnicity. However, it’s recently become a stop on the new Elizabethan line. This will mean almost instant gentrification…new homes and a fast journey time to the City will attract many young professionals. Why not make use of this interim period and stroll around the Indian wedding dress shops?
If you bring a head scarf you can also enter the local temples.
When you want to rest, find Spice Village . This award winning Pakistani curry house. Or do what the locals do when shopping…sample the huge variety of samosas, pakoras, bhagis and other, mostly deep-fried, Indian snacks which are sold outside shops and from food stalls. These are in the range of £1-2 per portion. You can top this indulgence off with an Indian sweet from Royal which is arguably the king of Indian sweet treats.
Additional Resources for Free Things to Do in London
The Londonist produces a weekly newsletter of cheap and free things to do in London. Sign up here.
There is something particularly invigorating about Kew Gardens in the Winter. Everyone enjoys trudging through green and mud, buffeted by cold gusts of air and spotting adventurous crumb seeking ducks.
Kew Gardens in Winter is a Green Leafy, Pine Scented Oasis.
Is it worth Visiting Kew Gardens in Winter? Absolutely! Winter is the optimum time to visit Kew. Any wuss can visit on a balmy summer’s day with a picnic in hand. Or sit on an outside table sipping chilled white wine under a vine covered pergola. But it requires an explorer’s sense of adventure and spirit to go in the Winter when you are going to trudge through puddles, mud and duck poo.
Kew Gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage site in West London. It’s a 9 acre site with many different themes and walks. Originally, the home and private gardens of King George III and opened to the public in 1840. Now a famed scientific institute for plant and fungal research.
Kew Gardens Winter Scenes
Green Spaces Are Good for the Soul
Kew Gardens Winter has something for every mood. If today is a day when you want palaces, the breathtaking Victorian palm house, and the Great Walk arrive at Victoria Gate and turn right.
You’ll also find views reminiscent of Constable paintings and a magnificent Orangery which is ideal for coffee with friends.
Kew Gardens in Winter benefits from all round greenery.
But if your instincts are for a woodland walk through a densely forested area with, bark underfoot and the scent of pine turn left at Victoria Gate. The arboretum is home to 14,000 trees and more than 2000 species.
What to Expect at Kew in Winter
January is perfect for visiting Kew. I am no fan of their hugely popular Christmas Lights extravaganza and by January they have removed the twisted tangle of illuminations hidden in plastic flowers, the fake reindeer, the arches of fairy lights.
In the winter months you can survey the vast acreage and with hardly anyone in sight.
Usually there will be a few media types who live locally, in mismatched athletic wear and bobble hats yelling production instructions into their phones while walking at pace, young mothers with their babies strapped close to their bodies using their phones to photograph the still waters with their mirror images of golden foliage and skeleton branches, women of a certain age in ancient ski wear “getting in their steps” and catching up with their walking companions.
But for all the mud and cold, and there is sometimes sun light, green lawns, bulbs peeking through brown earth, alert, inquisitive geese, oblivious ducks and tall trees that made you feel dizzy as you look up. a day at Kew feels like an adventure that is otherwise hard to come by at this time of the year.
Opening Hours
The Kew opening hours vary according to the month and January has the shortest opening hours with the gardens closing at 4pm and the last entry is at 3pm. You can check the opening hours here.
Toilet Facilities
Toilet facilities are dotted around the gardens and are also to be found in each of the cafes. These are heated and well maintained.
Cafes and Restaurants
Victoria Gate is the busiest of the cafes and serves sandwiches, coffees and cakes. It is the ideal location to meet someone as it is right next to the entrance.
The new Pavilion restaurant is more upmarket and has a grill. Their hamburgers and grilled chicken with side dishes are very popular.
The Orangery is a popular meeting spot for locals and has a range of hot cooked food and cakes and drinks. Theres a nice outdoor seating area and picnic tables on the grass.
A newer restaurant is the privately owned The Botanist which has more pricy and mesmerising offerings including an Afternoon Tea on tiered stands with exotic tea choices. There are also comfortable sofas in the conservatory area which are ideal for lounging on while drinking hot chocolate and there is a nice view of the pond and palm house.
Kew Gardens Membership
Many local people purchase an annual Kew membership which costs costs £77 for a single adult for the year. One of the main advantages is that you can take in a family member free of charge. This makes Kew a perfect budget day out if the membership card is used frequently.
Day entry for an adult is currently £10. Check their website for more information. www.kew.org
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