It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Hatton Garden, but had occasion to go there this week. The area is known as the centre of London’s diamond trade, although I’m told that there are problems in the diamond trade (honestly, guys, I’m doing my best. As soon as I make my first million, I’ll be back. They really are a girl’s best friend).

It seems to have changed a lot since I was last there – the streets seem wider somehow, and there are certainly more trendy places to eat and drink. The jewellers seem a lot more glitzy too. So much for problems.

To cut a long story short, the area was once owned by the Bishop of Ely. Elizabeth I gave it to one of her favourites, Sir Christopher Hatton, one-time Lord Chancellor of England, hence the name.

In the 1660s, the Hattons were not doing quite so well financially as they would have liked, so an enterprising member of the family decided that they should build houses on their estate – it made sense, the population of London was growing, so this had the potential to be a nice little earner.

The first houses were build along what is now known at Hatton Garden (it was called Hatton Street back then) and then more were built in the surrounding area. As is the way, the last direct descendent of Sir Christopher died in 1760 so the estate was sold, and more houses were built. Hatton Garden had a reputation as a good area to live over the next hundred years, while the surrounding areas deteriorated into the slums that we recognise from the works of Charles Dickens.

The local authorities were not happy with the slums (and probably not the resulting crimes that went with them. I mean that as no disrespect to the poor, but the reality is, as Dickens wrote in his books, the poor have to live somehow. And they are also targets for people who want to use them too). As a result of this, and a need to ease traffic congestion, the local authorities pulled down some of the houses and built new roads, and thus, in the 1850s, Hatton Garden became a commercial district in the 1850s.

Initially, a variety of businesses moved in, but nearby Clerkenwell had been known for jewellers and clock and watch makers for some time, and these businesses started to move down towards Hatton Garden. It wasn’t long before the area become home to diamond cutting, then gold and platinum came too. The jewellery trade hit its peak in 1885 when there were 67 traders dealing in precious stones.

The area gained the reputation as THE jewellery area in London. Initially, they only dealt with the trade, but that changed after the Second World War, and now private individuals can buy directly from there.

Recently, the number of diamond merchants has dropped, however, there are still a number of workshops there and there are those who think the area will soon undergo a recovery. I’d agree by looking at the area.

© Susan Shirley 2017

My networking meetings take me to a wide variety of different places, and one this week was Leytonstone, E11, seven miles north-east of Charing Cross. It’s in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, on the edge of Epping Forest.

There has been a settlement of some sort here back before Roman times, and the main road was what is now known as Leytonstone High Road. A Roman cemetery has been found in the area, and we know that the Romans were in other areas nearby.

The name Leytonstone comes from a distance marker that was placed by the Roman 10th Legion. Back in the day, it might have been called Leyton-atte-Stone, and we have other places with similar names in other parts of Essex (think Havering-atte-Bower, for example). The stone is situated at the junction of Holly Bush Hill and New Wanstead Road.

The high point of Leytonstone for me is the beautiful St John the Baptist Church in the High Road. Up until the early 18th century, there was no church in Leytonstone, the nearest was St Mary’s in Leyton. A chapel was first built in 1749, but it transpired (after about 80 years!) that the chapel was built on leased ground and could not be consecrated.

Eventually, a new church was built and consecrated on 31 October 1833. It’s been extended a couple of times since then. There is, apparently, a great view of east London from the church tower – they used to do tours, but nothing has been advertised for some time. I’ve been in contact to see what I can find out.

There is positive litany of famous people who have lived in Leytonstone, including:

• Damon Albarn of Blur fame;
• David Bailey, CBE, photographer, born in Leytonstone;
• Ashley Banjo of Diversity, born in Leytonstone;
• David Beckam, OBE, born in Leytonstone;
• Graham Gooch, OBE, former captain of the England cricket team;
• Sir Derek Jacobi, CBE, actor;
• Tony Robinson, one-time actor, now broadcaster and presenter;
• TV Presenters Jonathan and Paul Ross;
• Actress Rita Simons (aka Roxy Mitchell);
• And last but not least, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, film director. Not only are there a number of mosaics depicting scenes from his films in the entrance to Leytonstone Station, there is also a hotel named after him in Whipps Cross Road.

The high street is unremarkable although improvements for the 2012 Olympics new paving along the High Road, so whilst it is not pedestrianised, it has that kind of feel about it. Just don’t make the mistake of walking in the vehicular roadway. It’s probably not a major tourist centre, probably not somewhere most people would go unless they had a need, but remember there are the nearby Wanstead Flats, always good for walking the dog.

© Susan Shirley 2017

A bit of a find in Romford is the Havering Museum.  It opened in 2010, on part of the old Romford Brewery site.

The brewery itself was founded in 1708 by Benjamin Wilson.  He built it as an attachment to the Star Inn on the High Street, which was then the main road to London.  In 1799, the brewery was purchased by Edmund Ind, and became part of the Ind Smith company.  In 1845, the company changed its name to Ind Coope.  In 1961, Ind Coope merged with Tetley Walker and Ansells to become Allied Breweries.  In 1993, the brewery was closed and demolished.  It wasn’t until 2001 that the site was redeveloped as the Brewery Shopping Centre, including the Havering Museum.

The museum is all ground floor based, which makes it ideal for wheel chair users.  It has two permanent exhibitions which explore history through the ages, as well as temporary exhibitions and various one-off events taking place: see the website for details.

It’s a lovely little museum, with an array of exhibits, and obviously has quite a leaning towards pubs and brewing, including photographs of the old brewery.

The museum also has space for business meetings or events, generally between 09:00 and 17:00 although I do know that the Chamber of Commerce meets there earlier than that once a month for its breakfast meetings.

The Museum is open from Wednesday to Saturday between 11:00 and 17:00, entrance is £2.50 for adults, £2.00 for senior citizens, and those up to age 16 go free.

http://www.haveringmuseum.org.uk/index.php

© Susan Shirley 2017

I had occasion to go to Holborn today and ended up having a meal in Bhatti – I have an account with Metrobank and my branch is right by Holborn Station.  Easy for me to get to.  I needed to pop in, which is usually a bit of fun anyway.  Seriously, it’s not like other banks.  They have these money machines and I had some bags of coins.  I’m normally very OCD about it, count the coins and put them in the requisite amounts in the bank bags.  On this occasion, these were 1ps, 2ps, 5ps and 10ps, from those occasions where I’d had too much change in my purse so I chucked them in my Metrobank ‘piggy bank.”  I’m on a bit of a mission, so I wanted all the spare cash, hence my visit.

I felt I needed a bit of a treat.  I’d been to see Tammy “devil fingers,” my osteopath – she’s very good, and I should probably write a post all about her, in fact, I might well do that, since this is a blog about London.  She told me that one of her other patients called her devil fingers and it’s stuck.  Bottom line, I was stiff, Tammy stuck acupuncture needles in me and it hurt.  I had planned on doing my business and going straight home, but I was hungry and the thought of something to eat entered my mind.  I digress.

https://www.facebook.com/www.aspireosteopathy.co.uk/

I walked around the corner to Great Queen Street.  I knew that there was a restaurant there – Bhatti.  If I’d read all the reviews on Trip Advisor, I’d probably never have gone in there, but I’ve been there before.  (By the way, I ALWAYS review the places I go on Trip Advisor.  If there is a real problem I tell the restaurant.  My review depends on their response.  I am big into giving people the chance to sort something out straight away.)  I’ve always had good food there.

Today started well.  I was the only customer at the time, and the waiter took my attempts at jokes in good part.  I had poppadums to start, a half bottle of white Rioja, and then a dish called Chicken Morrisa as my main course. It was slices of chicken with peppers and onions, and a few chillies, in a sauce.  A change from my usual favourites and rather good.  I also had Special Fried Rice, which was pillau rice fried with egg and peas.  I can say right now this was the best fried rice I have ever had in an Indian restaurant; it was not at all greasy.  I wanted to quiz the chef about it but you’ll understand why I didn’t soon.  I also had matter paneer, one of my favourites – the waiter asked, so I opted for spicy, although, to be honest, it wasn’t that spicy when it arrived.

So, I was enjoying my meal, reading my book.  I was very happy with the food.  My first waiter popped out.  He’d been the only one there when I’d gone in.  The second one came slightly towards me (I think I must have grown my second head by this time) and asked if everything was alright with my meal.

“It’s more than alright, this is probably the best fried rice I have ever had…”

I didn’t finish the sentence before he was walking back to the bar to do whatever he had to do.  Strange behaviour.  He probably needs me to coach him about customer service.  It didn’t stop me enjoying my meal but it did stop me from giving them the highest rating on Trip Advisor.

Some other people came in whilst I was there – I think it was grandma and grandpa with their little ones.  It all seemed quite good but I left before too much longer.

All in all, I’d recommend this restaurant.  The food was freshly cooked and to a good standard.  It was what I expected for the area.  (My meal cost me just under £40 without a tip.)

© Susan Shirley 2017

I’ve been on a course in Richmond-upon-Thames for the past couple of weeks.  The only time I go to Richmond these days is when I’m on a course (twice this year), which is a huge shame because it is a beautiful part of London.  Ok, as a postal address it’s still Surrey, but trust me, for everything else, it’s Greater London.

And it’s the posh end of town, covering East Molesey, Kew, Twickenham, Barnes, Hampton, East Sheen and Mortlake, and the house prices reflect this.  I’ve yet to find the shabby part, although I have been looking.  Mick Jagger and Pete Townsend live here, as well as a number of other celebs.

There’s a lot to do in Richmond, what with Kew Gardens, Richmond Park, Hampton Court Palace and the London Wetlands Centre, to name a few.  It’s also home to the National Physical Laboratory, the UK’s national measurement institute.  (Who knew there was such a thing?).  It’s got a good shopping centre – lots of exclusive, boutique type shops, House of Fraser, as well as the usual M & S, etc.  I absolutely recommend Kew Gardens and Hampton Court Palace.

History

Up until about five centuries ago, Richmond was part of Sheen, which features in the Domesday book, albeit under its Saxon name of Sceon.  Both Edward I and Henry I lived in Sheen for a while, so it became an official Royal Residence.  Edward II founded a Carmelite Monastery here.

In 1497, Henry VII had a new palace built (the earlier one was almost completely destroyed by Richard II after the death of his wife, Anne of Bohemia).  This was named Richmond Palace after the ancestral home of Richmond in Yorkshire, and so Richmond in Surrey was born.

In Tudor times, Cardinal Wolsey built Hampton Court Palace.  A salutary lesson is to be learned here, I think.  The palace he built was grander than anything the kind, Henry VIII, owned.  Bad move.  Henry was not a man who liked to be outdone.  Of course, Henry eventually acquired Hampton Court Palace, and Wolsey was charged with treason, although he actually died of natural causes before being tried.

One of the things that I love about Hampton Court is the maze.  Who first designed a maze (that will no doubt become the subject of a blog post on my other site)?  I love it.  There is a trick to getting out of a maze, but you must go in with complete abandon, and allow yourself to get lost.  It’s much more fun that way.  If you are going from Central London, and you have time, travelling down by boat along the Thames is a lovely way to travel.

Things you didn’t know about Richmond and were too afraid to ask

Richmond is the only London borough to straddle the river.

Richmond Park is three times the size of New York’s Central Park, and the largest of London’s Royal Parks.

One of the oldest remaining buildings in Richmond is the Richmond Theatre, which first opened in 1899.

Richmond College, which is now known as Richmond: The American International University, at the top of Richmond Hill, has been an educational establishment since the 1840’s.

Eel Pie Island is a privately owned island in the Thames at Twickenham.

Maids of Honour Row is a terrace of four three-storey houses which were built in 1724 for the maids of honour of the wife of George II.  (The maids of honour were the wardrobe servants.)

© Susan Shirley 2016

I often go to Canary Wharf for meetings and tonight was one of those evenings.  I was there early, so had a bit of time on my hands and took some photographs outside the tube station.  As you can see, these are all variations on a theme of poppies, as it’s that time of year.

I’m always a bit conflicted when I go to places like Canary Wharf at night.  On the one hand, I think it looks lovely with all the lights; on the other, I think about the amount of energy being used…. Still, no matter how conflicted I feel, it’s not going to change it.

All this is a far cry from the nineteenth century area, when what was known as the West India Dock was one of the busiest in the world.  Canary Wharf was so named at the request of the company that used the area for the import of fruit from the Canary Islands.  And Wharf is just Warehouse at River Front.

The docks closed in 1980 (Why?  We still have rivers and canals in this country and although maybe slower than road transport, it would be a great way to move goods around the country without all the congestion.) and the government of the day set up the London Docklands Development Corporation, with the intention of redeveloping the area.  Pretty soon, Canary Wharf became one of the two major financial districts in London (the other being the City).

The tallest building in Canary Wharf is One Canada Square, at 771 feet high.  (Having been to the top of it, I can tell you that, in true tall building style,  it sways in the wind.  Yes, I know this is meant to happen, but it’s quite disconcerting when you travel up in the lift on a windy day.). When it was completed in 1991, it was the tallest building in Europe.

On Friday, 9 February 1996, at about 7pm, the Provisional IRA detonated a bomb in the back of a lorry in Canary Wharf.  I remember it well; I was at work, in Old Street, so not far away.  It had been so long since I had heard a bomb go off that I thought a lorry had hit the nearby railway bridge.  I soon found out how wrong I was.  Never mind the £150m worth of damage, two people were killed and 39 people were injured.  The explosion left a crater 32 feet wide and 10 feet deep.  It was a long time before the damage was all cleared.

Fortunately, Canary Wharf has recovered from all of this now, and it’s a bustling hub of commuters, bars and restaurants.  Maybe a bit confusing if you don’t know your way around though.

As it is coming up to Remembrance Sunday, the following display was outside the main exit to the station:

© Susan Shirley 2016