Prince Shoes

In the poshest part of London you’ll find shoes fit for a Prince Regent. Strolling from the nearby Wallace Collection museum full of opulence of Louis 16th I passed these shoes in The Decadent Burlington Arcade and thought ‘nothing has changed’. You can get said Prince shoes polished for eight quid (£8) by an old […]

Toilet with a sink in the cistern saving space. In a lime green cubical

Ingenious Loo

This innovative loo with a sink in the cistern can be found in the basement of The Guitar Social (26 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9DT) a bar/guitar rehearsal/performance/lesson crossover space. One person in my group said: “Too many different things that shouldn’t be in the same space… drinking your beer, washing your hands and using […]

Sailor Town

Some child excitedly called ‘Mum! It smells like wee in there!’. Enjoy the sights and smells of an old fashioned Sailor Town. Part of the Museum of the Docklands. I come to a nearby health clinic for my yearly health checkup MOT and end up popping in here afterwards. I wonder if life was less […]

Hot Tub Boats

Sail around in a hot tub boat in Canary Wharf. BBQ boats are also available for those who don’t want to get their kit off. [Ad] Book a hot tub boat Nearest station is West India Key, otherwise it’s a confusing maze of tunnels from Canary Wharf. Sailor Town and Crossrail Roof Garden are nearby.

Hidden Tap

The Hidden Tap brewery offers beers and ales to paddleboarders and kayakers. Just ring the bell and they’ll lower them down. And a debit card reader presumably. Stand-up paddle boards (SUP) and kayak canoes can be hired from nearby YMCA Fairthorne Manor. Check the tide times, water craft can be hired from around and hour […]

A meadow with large daisies and tall grass

Meadow

Urban meadow, near the Thames. Pretty nice when it’s not full of druggies.

Deli X

A lovely coffee shop. The sort of place you can buy a cup of tea and stay all day, working on a laptop or reading a book, perhaps from their book exchange shelf. Can be quiet, but also attracts various oddballs who can talk loudly and change the ambience. But what else would you expect […]

Half a luggage trolly is up against a brick wall as if disappearing into it. A woman poses pushing the trolley. Behind her is q queue of bored looking people, queuing behind snaking retractable queue barriers.

Platform 9 3/4

Platform 9 3/4 of King’s Cross Station is somewhat of a tourist trap for Harry Potter fans. Sitting actually to the right of platform 11, you can queue up to get a photo taken with the disappearing luggage trolley. Thankfully, there’s no charge to take your own photo, but I question if the queue is […]

Woman sat in the woods looks up wistfully. She holds a bottle of beer. The remains of a rusted moped can be seen in the background, overgrown with greenery, almost looking like an intentional sculpture

Impossibly Placed Car

God only knows how a rusted car made it into the middle of these woods. Burnt out mopeds can also be found, overgrown with greenery in a beautiful way, almost looking like an intentional sculpture park.

Dens

I’m thinking moving here.

Panorama of a cafe, with glass windows to a lake covered in green algea with trees behind. To the left side is more cafe, with a glass window to a park outside and a small dog. The tables and chairs are wood, bright and clean.

Pavilion Cafe

[Not at the Pavilion Cafe] On Tuesday 23 August 2022 at 08:50 in the morning at a different cafe nearby, I paid £15.25 for a hipster breakfast of smashed avocado with smoked salmon, eggs and toast. At 09:23 I asked where my breakfast was. They said the receipt printer was broken so they hadn’t started […]

Giant water lilies on a pond in a greenhouse. Pink flowers in the foreground. Green plants surround the pond.

Giant Water Lilies

These giant water lilies are so big, you used to be able to sit a child on them. But health and safety regulations say you’re not allowed to do that any more. The giant water lilies can be found at Kew Gardens, which is well worth a visit. The tropical greenhouses like this one are […]

Rock pools man made

Elephant Springs

One sunny day, blisteringly hot day actually, I searched for places to cool off in London and found this, the new Elephant Springs. An artificial stream with rock pools and fountains. A wonderful place to cool off, and a brilliant idea by the property developers redeveloping this area in Elephant and Castle because what with […]

Swimming pool in the sky linking two buildings towerblocks

Sky Pool

The Sky Pool straddles two tower blocks, while families below look up excitedly knowing they could never afford to swim there. The American Embassy is nearby, heavily guarded by armed police. Which I figured was a good idea at the time I visited, because looking up, I couldn’t help imagining how a terrorist with a […]

Sky with criss cross dome beams holding up glass. Trees are inside, skyscrapers outside.

Crossrail Roof Garden

What I hadn’t expected was the birds singing in chorus and flying through this inside outside space. The whole place under the arches of this geodesic dome reminds me of a sci-fi future depicted in films like Silent Running. One day I popped to the Bupa health clinic in Canary Wharf to get a covid-19 […]

A scarecrow like figure hangs on a twenty foot high crusafix on the mast of an old green barge houseboat in a dock surrounded by other houseboats and modern blocks of flats.

Greenland Dock

This photo says it all. For more local ways of South London see the Stone Circle. The Ecology Park is nearby and a lovely walk leads there under the road following the path of an old canal. There’s also a water sports centre here. In my experience it’s rarely windy enough for them to actually […]

Forest Hill

Despite the name it’s more of a grassy hill with one or two trees but not a forest. Ironically, nearby One Tree Hill, has a lot more than one tree, it is a forest hill. Very confusing. 😖 Update/correction: Although Forest Hill is the nearest Station, turns out I wrote this at Blythe Hill Fields. […]

Inkspot Brewery

Occasionally you can have a piss-up at a Brewery here. They sell St. Reatham Lager for £5/pint (2020.) Google them first because they only open once in a blue moon when the beer is brewed. The Mulberry Sour beer is recommended. Sadly I forgot to go back to the Old Mulberry Tree to eat the […]

Plants in pots, but has a metal shack selling lattes etc, there are wooden tables. A grey wall in the background with a train station platform above. is actually a cafe

y-oga

Scouting for lunch in Peckham I came across this oasis garden of calm. I’d tried next door at a tattoo parlour/food shack that promised on its billboard the ‘best sandwiches in Peckham’. They looked good: hipster Avocado, etc. I almost got one until I took my headphones off and instead of 90’s James I was […]

Logs and wood stumps in a circle around a black metal dome, in a woodland clearing, an open wooden shelter is in the background

Wildcat Wilderness

When I visited Wildcat Wilderness I didn’t find any Lions, Tigers or Panthers, but there were a lot of wild bramble blackberry bushes. I visited in Summer of 2020 when I, and the world, had been hooked on the ‘Tiger King’ documentary on Netflix while stuck at home during covid-19. Well Wildcat Wilderness in South […]

A view of leaves and branches of an oak tree from looking up.

Oak of Honor

One Tree Hill, despite the name, has at least two trees. Because it’s a woodland. The Oak of Honor at the top of the hill was given that name by Queen Victoria after she had a nice nap under it. Who knew Victoria of the Industrial Age was a tree hugger? Look out for the […]

Big John’s Biltong Bar

When I first moved to South London a stranger in a park said hello. I assumed I was getting mugged. Instead they were actually saying hello. After 10 years in North London. Things are a bit different down South London. Later that day I was jogging up Deptford High street in some very uncool lycra […]

Ecology Park

From the top of Stave Hill Ecology Park you can see the Canary Wharf skyscrapers peeking out of the undergrowth. I’d far rather be here than there. Stave Hill itself looks like somewhere the Teletubbies would live. There’s an amazing view from the top. You can see the London Eye to the left, the Gherkin […]

Campfireless

A sort of campfire circle picnicking area but without an actual campfire.

Skull and crossbones statue

Marlowe’s Grave

Sir Christopher Marlowe, the playwright, was stabbed through the eyeball into the brain in a drunken row with a spy friend over the drinks bill in an illegal tavern. But stabbing in South London isn’t reserved to playwrights and spies, these days everyone’s at it. Marlowe, who wrote Doctor Faustus amongst other masterpieces, is now […]

Rainbow painting with word NHS in white over it on wall of Blackhorse Bridge by the pavement and road

Blackhorse Bridge

During the 2020 coronavirus covid-19 pandemic they painted a rainbow on Blackhorse bridge to symbolise hope. About the same time the KFC drive through opposite reopened, which also brought hope or despair depending on your viewpoint. There’s a campaign to open a cycle path under the bridge where the old Grand Surrey Canal used to […]

Grey bricks in a line cemented across pavement and road

Greenwich Meridian Line

The Greenwich Meridian Line marks the point where time begins, sort of. The line begins at the Royal Observatory Greenwich which is now a very fine museum. Once I worked at the gate of the museum had to turn away a group of drunk Australians who’d arrived at closing time, around 5pm. “We came half […]

Blackheath

More sky than you’ll find than anywhere else in London. It’s actually on a hill so the ground drops away gradually, creating a feeling of expanse you rarely find in the city. Not a townhouse in sight. The Point is nearby.

The Point

Myth has it that there are secret caverns below The Point dug in olden times to hide from the invading Danes. I heard the tunnels extend all the way down to the Thames and were used for smuggling wine by the Navy officers who lived in the picture postcard like cottages up here on the […]

Statue of Peter The Great standing on a plinth. To the left is a statue of a court dwarf and to the right is a statue of a throne. All in Bronze.

Peter The Great

In this statue of Peter The Great, for a tall man, he has an unusually small head. Peter The Great was a Russian Tsar who came to Deptford to study ship building. Like most students, he spent most of the time getting pissed. He brought his mates along for the good times, including a court […]

Haggard old branch on foreground, weathered old tree in the background.

Old Mulberry Tree

The Old Mulberry Tree is said to have been planted in 1698 by ‘Peter The Great‘, a Russian Tsar who rumoredly came to Britain 300 years ago undercover and worked as a Royal Dockyard worker in Deptford to learn how to build a Navy. Apparently his disguise wasn’t very good, what with him dressing like […]

A large boxy granate hall, people work on laptops and drink coffee in the hall and on a mezzanine balcony above. Stylish furniture of different types. From long communal tables to arty armchairs to coffee counters stools.

Barbican

The Barbican Centre and surrounds are a cross between some dystopian future and the fun house from the 1980s kids program. Your first challenge is finding your way in. The place is very 3D, it’s a bit of a labyrinth where the lines are blurred between where the theatre arts centre begins and council estate […]

Straw man scarecrow lying under a tree looking dead. Stone circle in the background.

Hilly Fields Stone Circle

I found a straw man. Truly terrifying. Country bumpkin ways are alive and well in South London. I found it after doing an Uber Eats bicycle delivery nearby of a breakfast sausage bap. [Ad] £15 off your first Uber sausage bap use code eats-5m789 [Ad end] Earlier in the year I cycled up Hilly Fields […]

Two cans of Red Stripe in the foreground, a yard in the background decorated with fairy lights and a mop.

DIY Space [closed]

Update – 2022: It’s now closed. DIY Space for London, despite the name has nothing to do with DIY, or popping down to B&Q to nail some planks of 6 by 4. It is however quite DIY, thrown together, and haphazard. It’s actually a co-op community centre run by volunteers. We went to an open […]

A healthly looking salad and slice of vegetable pie on a plate half eaten

The Albany

This arts centre is my new favourite mid-week lunch spot. There’s normally some community event going on in the cafe: old people knitting, unemployed people working on their CVs, yummy mummies feeding babies. That sort of wholesome thing that gets you out of your worrisome head for a while, and gives you a warm feeling […]

A busy train station, huge arched ceiling, shops and travellers below.

Eurostar International Arrivals

‘Could this be the most emotional place in London?’ I thought, as piano played while long lost couples embraced each other. Someone had the bright idea of putting a piano at Eurostar International train arrivals in St Pancras Station. Anyone can plonk themselves down and play. The quality is surprisingly good, and the best musicians […]

Vegan Rasta

Imagine a Rastafarian. In a tall turban serving vegan mutton curry. Standing in a shopping centre that feels like one you’d find on a year-off travelling the world… and you are not far off. The Zionly Vegan Restaurant in Peckham is run by the ‘Vegan Rasta’ who wears a variety of colourful turban head wraps. […]

The Queen’s House

The Queen’s House is an historic museum. In Netflix filming it sometimes doubles-up as a Queen’s House. Please note – this is not the actual queen Elizabeth the 2nd’s house. It’s not queen Elizabeth the 1st’s house either, despite it having a massive portrait of her above the mantelpiece (which cost a mere £8 million […]

Fish bowl on table with candles

Dzintara Cela

Wandering the old town of Riga, Latvia, you feel like there is a quirky restaurant round every corner, and Dzintara Cela taverna fish restaurant is no exception. It was the pinnacle of quirkiness on our Latvian excursion. From the fishbowls on the tables with real fish, to the traditional Latvian music versions of British rock […]

Rest Up Hostel

A huge backpacker hostel that looks like Harry Potter’s castle. Which I imagine would be a cheap and pleasant place to stay if you were a French exchange student and a Harry Potter fan. It’s nearish Elephant and Castle Station, if you need somewhere to sleep, before getting woken up early by one of your […]

Canary Wharf

Nice for a visit, but for God’s sake don’t work there.

Two people fishing by a lake

Burgess Park

There are a few Burgess Parks around the place. So it took a little while to find this, the right one. Presumably the Burgess family were rich aristocrats and owned much of London back in the day, thus parks named after them. Burgess Park off the Old Kent Road is a beautiful spot. Lakes, fountains, […]

City sunset 🌆over a lake with an hexagonalo/angular/polygon shaped building next to it that looks like the Star Wars sand crawler vehicle for the Houdinis

Canada Water Library Cafe

Once upon a time libraries were quiet places. Sadly those days are over. God knows how anyone can get any studying, or working done here, least of all read. Over my lunch at Canada Water Library Cafe (1300-1500 15/10/2019) I had three things to contend with: Luckily I had brought my noise cancelling headphones that […]