London

Met my sister at Waterloo Station, then we wandered around the embankment until we found Waterloo Bridge. As we hadn't decided what to do or where to go, we paused at this point and looked around. I saw St Paul's Cathedral in the distance and thought it would be nice to go there as I hadn't been since I was a small child. We crossed the bridge and turned left, heading along The Strand towards Fleet Street. We saw the Royal Courts of Justice, then got over-excited by the fanciest bank lobby I've ever seen; this was Lloyd's Bank, opposite the courts. The lobby had beautiful tiling on the floor and walls as well as stunning columns.

 

Further along we found the original Twining's tea shop, so we had to go in and sniff all their samples. It was quite, quite delicious and lovely, but we resisted buying a teapot for £49 as well as their more exotic, but quite scrumptious, teas. Self control! We peeked into an alley and were confronted with St Bride's church. Stunning spire! I should imagine many girls want to get married there.

 

We needed lunch so we headed for the International Salvation Army HQ on Queen Victoria Street, and into the basement where Café 101 is located. This café serves delicious food at very reasonable prices. We each had a toasted brie and tomato baguette and a cup of tea. We then gave in to temptation and shared a slice of the most sinful chocolate cake I have eaten in ages!

 

After lunch we went to the Millennium Bridge as it was right next to the cafe. I was somewhat disappointed that it no longer wobbled. I took some photos for an American tourist, then we headed for the cathedral, passing through Knightrider Terrace and Sermon Lane; we discovered there was an entry fee if you weren't attending service of £16.50 for adults. Once we'd got over the shock we decided we didn't need to see the inside particularly. We popped into the main entrance and peeped at Earl Kitchener's tomb then left before we had to pay. I understand that the cathedral has massive maintenance costs, but that entrance charge is steep!

 

We pottered on, passing through Paternoster Square which has the most ornate ventilation shaft I've seen. It was an ornate column with water trickling down its lower sides, and was topped with a gilded pineapple. There was no information about it anywhere to be seen. Opposite this was a sculpture of a shepherd and sheep by Dame Elizabeth Frink. Good, but I'm not that keen on her work. I'm not entirely sure where our route went after this, but we did get to Threadneedle Street and saw the Bank of England, and wandered up random alleyways which either looked interesting or had peculiar names.  We ended up in Brick Lane. This was full of curry houses, sari shops and Asian sweet shops. We stopped for a cuppa in a lovely little cafe which had shelving made of copper pipes and scaffolding planks. And a rocking chair which I sat on.

 

At some stage we went to Old Spitalfields Market, which is now full of clothing stalls and shops full of trendy knickknacks. We found some vintage clothes shops too and got excited about retro Docs Martins and silly hats. We also went to Hope Square by Liverpool Street Station to see the Kindertransport memorial as we had both seen the corresponding one on Friedrichstrasse in Berlin.

  

We finished the outing by catching the no. 40 bus back to my sister's house, sitting right at the front on the top deck. We spent the evening watching the DVD of 'As Good as it Gets', which was a very pleasant way to end the day.

 

I can highly recommend just wandering around and going wherever your whims take you!

Chocolate cake at Café 101

Twining's tea shop

Kindertransport Memorial

Quarr Abbey and Ryde

I decided to go for a stroll, alone, and sort my head out a bit. I parked at Quarr Abbey, walked past the piggery (gorgeous pigs!), and into the Art Exhibition. This was a show of pottery and paintings from local artists. All rather pleasant but nothing that made me go 'Wow!'. I continued on, past the tea gardens, and followed the path to the ruins of the mediaeval abbey. I paused for a few minutes then continued along the path towards Binstead; the lane passed through a wooded area with lovely houses on one side and every so often there were tiles embedded in the road surface with poems engraved on them. Unusual, but lovely.

 

I followed the coastal path, and after a little while there was a side path leading down to the shore. I followed it, getting quite muddy in the process, and eventually came down some wooden steps to the shingled Binstead Hard. The tide was high so there wasn't much beach, but I was able to sit on a patch by a fallen, but still living, birch tree and eat my sausage sandwiches. Bliss. There was nobody else about. I returned to the main coastal path, followed it a bit further, along Ladies Walk, and turned left at a bridge. This semi-paved footpath came out at another beach, sandy this time, with a boatyard and the remains of a pier or jetty.

 

Back to Ladies Walk and I  followed the path past Ryde Golf Course until it came out near the main road. The coastal path turned left here and went down into Ryde along the back streets. I wandered along and was amazed at some of the architecture; there was a large stone archway with a stag on top and lions to either side, clearly the remains of an entrance to a large house, but now surrounded by bungalows. I walked on until I reached the esplanade then turned round and walked back to Quarr.

 

A lovely walk, and one to do again!

 

Distance: c. 5.5 miles

Footpaths: R45, R46, R48, R94

 

Quarr Abbey pig

View of the Abbey ruins

Derelict jetty near Binstead.

 

Wolverton Folk and Blues Fair

We decided to go to this at the last minute, as it was a lovely sunny day and we had nothing better to do. Good choice! The fair was set in a sloping sheep paddock overlooking the Jacobean Wolverton Manor on the outskirts of Shorwell, and overlooked by chalk downs on two sides. At the bottom of the slope was the main stage, with a dancing area in front. To the left was a tea tent and on the right hand slope were food vans and Plaza Ices. There was also a beer tent with additional music.

 

We set out our picnic blanket, and proceeded to scoff our picnic while listening to some fantastic local folk and blues bands. The only one I recall the name of is Brighstone Barnacles, who were a group of chaps singing local sea shanties. Very good. Kiddo found some friends and went off to play while I sat and soaked up the sun listening to the music and people-watching.

 

A lovely afternoon and evening was had in the sunshine, in a beautiful setting, and we shall definitely go again next year. 

 

 

IW Cantata Choir

The Cantata Choir were performing Mendohlssohn's Elijah at Medina Theatre last night, and I decided to go, with child, at the last (ish) minute. Good decision.  The choir put in a good performance, ably supported by members of the IW Symphony Orchestra. There were four soloists who also put in a good performance. I particularly liked the alto and the baritone. Definitely worth going to another of their concerts!