Christmas arrives in London

This week for the first time London turned on 3 sets of Christmas Lights at the same time... Jim Carey turned on the lights in Oxford Street, Colin Firth turned in Regent Street and Bob Hoskins at St Pauls. They are all starring in the forthcoming Disney movie "A Christmas Carol" which premiered after the lights ceremony.

Oxford Street, complete with presents and umbrellas!

St Pauls complete with laser lights.... it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Spooks...

This is one of the fantastic homes of our Secret Service.... and often featured in the programme Spooks.... life on the grid must be fantastic here!.... Not the most discreet building for the Secret Service, but hey... where else would you house Bond & Adam Carter!

Autumnal Flowers....

I snapped this picture whilst running through Liverpool Street one night this week.... the autumnal / halloween flowers looked gorgeous.....

There was a wide variety and range for a small stall....

autumnal foliage

It's time to say goodbye to autumn, and hello to winter!..... this week London has been blessed with some beautiful sunny autumnal days.... here are a couple of pics that I have snapped on my way through the stunning Hyde Park ... a little piece of 'New England' on Old England!

Tower 42

This is the 'Natwest' Tower in London Bishopgate. It is one of the iconic landmarks in London which frequently gets overlooked. It is now Tower 24 but was originally built as the Natwest tower (it is shaped as the natwest logo)

At the top of the tower is Rhodes 24 restaurant, owned by the chef Gary Rhodes. It is a lovely restaurant with amazing views over London, especially the tower of london and the gherkin building. I have been very luck to dine here with a few of my special friends and a great evening was had by all.... an indulgent treat.

If you are budgeting, check out the bar at the top too.... (best to book)... another great evening

Off with his head!...........

Recipes of London Life has had a little hiatus for the summer but now I'm back. Autumn is my favorite time of the year, so I'm looking forward to taking some pictures around London. I have taken some pictures of London through the summer which I will share with you over the next few weeks.

Here is the magnificent Tower of London. This photo was taken from the river so you can see Traitors Gate!.

Traitors Gate was originally known as Water Gate, but was later changed when it was used as the landing for the Crown's enemies. All important prisoners entered the Tower through this gate.

I love this building and never get tired of seeing it, my gramps & I had a great day out here last year. This building has always been a hit with tourists but has seen a resurgence since The Tudors was aired.... where else can you see where the Queen of England was be-headed!

Liberty Clock

Last week I got the chance to nip back to Liberty's for an evening of cupcakes & cocktails! Walking down Marlborough Street I spied this clock which is over the bridge that links the two buildings.
What a lovely quote.....

Boys in Blue on the River!...

This is the Metropolitan Police Unit which is based at Wapping Police station. It is responsible for all waterborne policing of the River Thames in London. It has 22 vessels and provides support to both the Met and City of London Police. It has a specialist underwater & confined spaces search team and a Rope Access Team, who are trained to carry out rescues at height. This was one of my pictures taken on my recent boat trip up the Thames.

Liberty's....

A brief history:

"Since 1875, Liberty has been synonymous with luxury and great design. Arthur Lasenby Liberty was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire in 1843. He was employed at Messrs Farmer and Rogers in Regent Street in 1862, the year of the International Exhibition at Kensington in London. By 1874, inspired by his 10 years of service, Arthur then decided to start a business of his own, believing that he could change the look of home wares and fashion.
With a £2000 loan from his future father-in-law, Arthur Liberty took on the lease of half a shop at 218a Regent Street with only three staff.
The shop opened in 1875 selling ornaments, fabric and objets d'art from Japan and the East. Within eighteen months Arthur Liberty had repaid the loan and acquired the second half of 218 Regent Street. The store became the most fashionable place to shop in London and iconic Liberty fabrics were used for both clothing and furnishings. Its clientele was exotic and included famous members of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.
The magnificent Tudor building was built so that trading could continue while renovations were being completed on the other premises and in 1924 this incredible icon was contructed from the timbers of two ships: HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan. The frontage at Great Marlborough Street is the same length as the Hindustan.
The wonderful emporium was designed by Edwin T. Hall and his son Edwin S. Hall. They designed the Tudor building at the height of the 1920's fashion for Tudor revival. The shop was engineered around three light wells that formed the main focus of the building. Arthur Liberty wanted to create the feeling that you were walking around your own home when you came to his store, so each of these wells was surrounded by smaller rooms to create a homely feel. Many of the rooms had fireplaces and some still exist today. The wells created a wonderful environment in which to drape exotic rugs and quilts, whilst the smaller rooms allowed the display of smaller items.
Sadly, Arthur Lasenby Liberty, died in 1917, seven years before the completion of his magnificent shops."

Traffic stopping......

Today this poster was unveiled by the man himself across the front of Selfridges to launch a new range of armani pants!.....this will be traffic stopping. It brightened up a number of people battling with the tube strike!

D Day....we must never forget..

Today is the 65th anniversary of D Day. It probably feels more poignant to me this year without my beloved gramps. He was in the Royal Artillery and was part of Dunkirk and DDay in France.

Whilst walking through London Thursday I came upon this monument outside the Royal Exchange at Bank.... and although it's there to commemorate the men & boys lost in the 1st world war I think it's a fitting tribute on a special day, to remind us all to be thankful.

Carnaby Street...

Today I took some time out and bimbled around Carnaby Street...... it's hey day was the 60's but it's still a fab place to go as it still has a great feel and lots of homages to the 60's... where else can you find the Lambretta shop alongside the Mac store!.. there are lots of lanes and courtyards off Carnaby street which are great to stroll along on a sunny afternoon!

Recipe:

YTube to Oxford Street Station exit Argyle Street walk down Argyle street towards Liberty, carnaby street alongside Liberty (by perfumery)

More carnaby street ingredients here....

thankful...

we have had some heavy rain after the glorious sunshine of the weekend, Whilst on my boat trip at the weekend we passed through the Thames Barrier. These structures are impressive and after torrential rain I am thankful that we have them, i am not aware that they have been raised other than for testing.... they have been featured in many films & tv series.... spooks addicts featured at the end of series 5...

toy train....

this is the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) which is an overhead train which zips in and out of the Docklands area and delivering thousands of people into the Canary Wharf development daily. I love this train as you do feel like your on a toy train! It also links east london with south london. Main station at Stratford and if your ever in london a great trip into the docklands development is recommended.

chelsea hospital...

this is the glorious Chelsea hospital which houses the Chelsea pensioners. this is a fantastic place and receives no government funding other than the soldiers that live here have surrendered their military pension to the government to pay their living expenses. Please check out the website, ... here

which way to chelsea?....

yesterday I embarked on a trip down the river thames to the chelse flower show. this is the sign post that I faced once on dry land after departing from the boat!

tulips in springtime.....

this pic was snapped in regents park .... i loved the colour of the tulips. Tulips fascinate me ...they are the only flower that keeps growing once cut and they only like being in about an inch of water. Thought I would post flowers today as i'm off down the river tomorrow on a boat to the chelsea flower show.

messing about on the river......

Whilst walking across westminster bridge recently I captured the armed response police unit whizzing about on their 'Rib' (inflatable dinghy!).... i love london, especially along the river so you may get a little tired of my river photo's!

Obviously in the background is the impressive millennium wheel. I have 'flown' on this wheel several times now and I need to say that I never tire of how impressive the view is from it.

If you ever get the opportunity it's a london must.

Recipe:

Y accessible from waterloo main line station or jubilee line.

Y district / circle line to westminster then short walk across westminster bridge.

two icons of london

i quickly snapped this a couple of sunday's ago...two iconic images of london! .... the 'gherkin' building and a london taxi. This photo was taken by aldgate station.the gherkin is one of the newest icons of london and has rapidly become one of the most iconic and recognised. Its official address is 30 St Mary Axe and the site previously held the Baltic exchange. The building has a whizzy environmental heating/lighting system.The shafts pull warm air out of the building during the summer and warm the building in the winter using passive solar power.. The shafts also allow sunlight to pass through the building, making the work environment more pleasing, and keeping the lighting costs down.

camden lock

one of the busiest places in London on a Sunday is Camden Lock. I went a couple of Sunday's ago and is was mad!.... it is also featured lots in the press due to the antics of some of its residents; ie Amy Whine house (prior to decamp to st lucia.) it also neighbours Primrose Hill.

Alongside the lock, are many bar & eateries as well as a market. A great place to see and a trip on the canal is a must!...

London Recipe

Y accessible via Northern Line - Camden

pretty penny

i pass these toilets every day and i think that they are probably the prettiest in London!....they are in St Christopher's Place which is opposite Bond Street station ( narrow alley way which would not look out of place in Diagon Alley. Harry Potter fans will know what i mean!) Christopher's Place features a number of small boutiques and lots of eating & drinking places which have seating predominately outside. As you can imagine its a huge draw when the sun is shining!.

London Recipe:

Y Bond street station accessible on the Central or Jubilee Line

100 years old...

As i've mentioned Selfridges is celebrating it's 100th birthday this year. There are a number of things going on and around the store during May to celebrate this. There is also daily updates over on facebook. This is the front of the store, the logo will also appear on the Selfridges bags for a limited time. as you can see it is all clean and shiny. the building has been under scaffolding for the past year but is now looking lovely for its birthday!

black tuesday....

This telephone box is just along from Embankment station, heading up towards Charring Cross. Telephone boxes are slowly fading from our streets, with the advancements in mobile technology. Telephone boxes make me quite nostalgic, even if they can be a little dirty and smelly!...however I have yet to find the reason why some are painted black instead of the customary red. The nearest explanation that i have found is that some queen/princess many years ago whilst in mourning declared that everything that she passed and touched had to be painted black!.....if anyone else knows why some telephone boxes are black please let me know!

A walk in the park..

Last Sunday saw me take an epic tour around London. My last part of the day was spent walking through Regents Park. There are several Royal Parks in London, regents park is one of them. It covers 166 hectares (410 acres) and as well as being a lovely park it houses London Zoo. I walked down the Broadwalk from Primrose Hill to Marylebone Road...on my way i walked through avenue gardens where the tulips were in full bloom. This picture features the regents park and Telecom tower in the background.

London recipe:

Y accessible from Regents Park and Baker street underground.

HMS Illustrious

For this weekend only, one of our Navy aircraft carriers is 'moored' at Greenwich, to celebrate 100 years of Naval aviation. Greenwich is the home time for all things 'mariner' with the Naval college being there amongst other things. It is an area of London that I've only driven through and never really explored. So this morning as the sun was shining I made my way over there specifically to see this fantastic 'boat'!....needless to say i wasn't disappointed, this boat is huge how it is afloat in the River Thames even surpasses my knowledge of physics. "Lusty" as she is affectionately known as houses a fleet of approx 700, Merlin & Puma helicopters as well as Harrier jump jets... a truly awesome sight.

A quarter of......

This shop is approx 5 minutes walk from liverpool street station opposite Spitalfields market. This area has seen huge regeneration over the last few years but i'm pleased to see that they have left the old alone!......

The London Commute!

Liverpool Street station features in my daily commute to & from work! ..... it has recently become famous due to the fantastic T-Mobile advert .. unfortunately life in liverpool street station isn't always like that, but more often like this!

the grand old dame....

Some of the buildings along Oxford street are very old, the building that I work in is 100 years old this year. There has been substantial cleaning and maintenance work happening over the last couple of years to get it ready for it's birthday. I walk past this sign everyday and have only noticed it recently.... i was given some advice many years on my 1st trip to New York. "always remember to look up as NY is built vertically" ...maybe I need to start adopting this advice for London....

may day

Today is a bank holiday in the UK for May Day - ( a pagan religious festival) whilst on my travels I saw these men taking some little refreshment between dancing!
I've never got the 'morris dancing' thing but i'm sure that it brings them lots of joy!

Columbia Road

Last year I unsuccessfully started a "life in London" blog. What with one thing and another it didn't really get off the ground. So I've started again!!
With the loss of my gramps I now have too much time on my hands, I have been jotting down places to go and things to do to get me out and about in and around London. Today I was up and about by 6 so I decided to cross a few things off my list!....I started off in Columbia Road. For those that don't know this is a garden & flower market tucked away in a narrow backstreet in East London, it was manic...but the flowers were beautiful. The small shops in the street are also fabulous, lots of vintage garden shops...along with a fab little cupcake shop!....
TREACLE....very cute.
Check out the Lemons hanging on the lemon tree!...how fab.
London Recipe:
Y 10 - 15 minute walking distance from Liverpool street station ( or hop on the 48 bus!)
Y open from 8am - 2pm...very busy