Usually when in London, we spend quality time with our English friends. This trip we’ve gotten to do that again but also reconnected with a surprisingly number of American friends who are living here, as students or journalists.
Today we had a wonderful long overdue get together with friends from a paper I worked at in Connecticut during the mid-1980s. We probably hadn’t seen each other in 33 years. We spent the afternoon wandering around Hampstead, where they live, especially the Heath and 18th century village, with its narrow winding lanes dotted with cafes, posh shops and pretty homes (including Boy George’s). Lunch was excellent on the patio at Burgh House, off the Heath…toasted sandwiches with mature cheddar and sausage, robust soup, hearty quiche.
Tonight was delicious paella at The Tapestry, which we learned harkens back to Mortlake’s famous 17th century tapestry makers, whose handiwork can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum
The 11th century castle at Ludlow is spectacular, surrounded by stone walls, and almost intact in a few places with a circular tower you can walk up (only 50-some steps, one quarter of the number at the Ludlow church) for some fantastic views of the town and rolling green countryside with sheep dotting pastures.
Armistice day in Ludlow
As part of our sentimental journey/tour of charming country homes, Jemima drove us along narrow curvy roads lined with hedges to Presteigne, on the welsh border, where we dropped by her family’s former ancestral home that is now a public property showcasing artwork by Sidney Nolan. I visited what was known as The Rodd and the nearby Little Rodd about 40 years ago when it was a private home in Mima’s family. Still spectacular.
On the way back to Ludlow, we stopped briefly in the “black and white town” of Pembridge (so called due to its abundance of white stucco with black timber framed buildings) and then onto an enormous old farmhouse mansion in Herefordshire (near Shropshire) where my friend’s sister lives. Dinner was back in Ludlow at CSons, overlooking the river.
The Rodd, little and big
Before leaving town today, we loaded up on sandwiches and florentines at Watsons, the bakery in town (there was a line out the door) and then took one last walk through town, past the market and castle , down to the river and then back to Ludford and the bridge leading into Ludlow.
We drove a scenic hour west of Ludlow to Presteigne and soon after entered Wales, where at first I couldn’t detect much difference between Wales and England except of course for the signs in unfathomable and unpronounceable (for yanks) Welsh. In another half hour we landed in the Elan Valley, outside the town of Rhayader. Elan Valley is famous for its dramatic dams that supply the water to the big English city of Birmingham. The scenery is also spectacular, a bit like Scotland, with mountains towering above the water, clad in vegetation in full autumnal glory, which here means browns, yellows, oranges (not red).
We started at the visitors center with sausage and bacon Baps (sandwiches), apple juice and tea, then browsed through the Wales-made goods in the gift shop, Then we ventured into the drizzle, which fortunately proved off and on, with dramatic bursts of sun that lit up patches of the mountains in the distance. We spotted at least three rainbows. Glorious.
In Rhayader, which bills itself as the outdoors capital of Wales, we stopped for a drink at the pub and then drove for dinner at the cool house of Jemima’s brother Francis, in Presteigne, where the England/Wales border runs though his back garden.
An agronomist who knows his seeds (and sells them), Francis and Dirck had lots to talk about. Francis has an interesting stone and wood cottage that used to be an old mill. The millstone and gears remains in the house, between the between the kitchen and dining room.
How lucky to have a friend from London who moved to Ludlow, a beautiful medieval 11th century town, in the Midlands, just east of Wales in Shropshire. And where else would you find an ancient parish church, St. Laurence’s, with a 201-step circular tower that leads up to the top, with spectacular views of the town’s castle…and that has a cafe inside with vicars trained as baristas? Also a very nice gift shop, as well as stunning stained glass windows. (More on the famous castle to come…)
Lots to see and good shopping, with an outdoor market on Thursday with local cheese (Cheshire!), bread and sausage. Among the lovely shops, a butcher (a favorite of Jemima’s sweet pup Winston), the Index bindery with gorgeous leather and marbled paper found books, and the Silver Pear. Amidst the medieval timbered buildings (some with 18th century Georgian brick and stucco front), are some lovely pubs. I finally found a ploughman’s lunch at The Blue Boar pub, as well as an excellent sausage plate, with three sausages, fried eggs chips and peas. We also enjoyed drinks at another pub, the Wheatsheaf inn.
Ludlow shopping and pubs
Beautiful narrow lanes with cobble stone and brick pavement are lined with pretty cottages and the occasional shop. We walked across an old stone bridge to the neighboring village of Ludford, with its smaller, beautiful church, graveyard and several timbered homes, then along the river which was rushing with water (no otters sighted yet but they’re in there!) Jemima tells me Lud means water and ford means crossing and lowe” means “sound” in old English.
parish church at St. Laurence’sVicar/barista behind counter of the church’s Icon Coffee cafe
Today, met old friends in London at Camden Town contemporary apartment with fantastic views of Primrose Hill and Hampstead, in one direction, and downtown London in another, including St. Paul’s Cathedral and the BT Tower (which looks like something out of the Jetsons).
We stopped before lunch briefly in Camden market which was hopping on Sunday midday, full of people browsing in stalls filled with t-shirts, jewelry, jean jackets, junk…not as nice stuff as at Spitalfields but a much livelier, edgier scene. We picked up some delicious treats, fondly remembered from our trip to Lisbon years ago: Pastel de nata, a Portuguese egg custard tart pastry, dusted with cinnamon.
After an incredible lunch (how lucky to have friends who are such good cooks and generous hosts..last night another friend treated us to an elaborate dinner at her house in Mortlake) we took a walk through Regents Park as the sun was going down (early…at 4:30) and then took the 27 bus to Hammersmith, so I could do one thing always on my London list: ride in the front seat of a double decker bus. It never gets old! Thanks to our London pals for being such good sports in coming with and indulging me.
With old friends in Regents ParkCamden marketOn the top of the bus!
There are certain touchstones for me in London and Covent Garden is one, even though it has changed a lot since I first roamed around it over 4 decades ago. Neal’s Yard used to have a hippie bakery that served whole-wheat pastries and tea on the top floor overlooking the yard. That’s long gone and there’s a more posh feel but Neal’s Yard Cheese is still there so I got a wedge of Cheshire and a blue from Shropshire.
View from Waterloo BridgeOld favorite on Greek street in soho
We stopped for coffee at Ole & Steen, a Danish chain of cafes, and a lovely mezze platter and spinach and cheese pie at The Lost Goddess, a Greek restaurant inBloomsbury. It was still drizzly so we went inside to The National Gallery to see a retrospective of Lucian Freud’s work, which had not only obese nudes but early work that seemed also folk art style portraits, flat faces on blank backgrounds.
It was a rainy day in London so we stayed close to home, or our temporary home, in Mortlake. Fortunately it was a light rain so we could walk, which we did along the Thames past scullers toiling in the drizzle, to Barnes, another suburb that feels more like a country village with a pretty green and old pubs and a good outdoor market with everything from cherry tomatoes, cakes and cheese to kimchee, beef jerky and sushi.
We took refuge in The Sun Inn, a pub that is kid and dog friendly so there were several of both. It proved a good place to come in from the damp, drink some cider, beer or coffee and nibble on halloumi fries, chips and avocado salad.
From Barnes, Dirck and I took the 419 bus to Richmond where we half heartedly joined the shoppers on George Street but more enthusiastically walked down the narrow shop-lined lanes leading to pretty Richmond Green and the grand orange brick Richmond theater. As befits the area that has become a film location for one of the most popular US TV shows, we soon chanced upon a “Ted Lasso Walking Tour,” a young woman holding a sign on a pole, guiding two tourists to see the sights.
We chanced upon Spitalfields Market during a visit to the nearby Great Diary Project, a remarkable effort to “rescue” ordinary peoples diaries, housed inside The Bishopsgate Institute. The market has lots of stalls with fun clothes, jewelry, crafts and woolens and the street leading to it also has alluring shops.
At Gordon’s with Evan!
A short tube ride from Liverpool Street Station got us to Embankment (a short bit also via the new Elizabeth Line) where we met Evan, a graduate student from Des Moines who we’ve know since he was born. Great to see him and his enthusiasm for London.
After an excellent lunch down in the dark cellar of the venerable Gordon’s Wine Bar (excellent cheese and charcuterie boards, the closest I’ve gotten to a Ploughman’s lunch) we met up with Francine and headed to Peckham, a southeast London neighborhood that is starting to gentrify here and there (Bellenden Road) but still feels like the African and African-Caribbean neighborhood it is.
Brew pubs aren’t as big a thing here as in the US but we did go to a funky one, Brick Brewing, that has outdoor seating and cheap prices. After attending a popup art show with work by a friend of Francine and Russ’s, (made by filling hollowed pumpkins with black tar and dropping them from a rooftop onto a white canvas, creating a black splatter paint pattern with pumpkin pulp…no surprise this was work created during the covid lockdown) we had an excellent bits and bobs (Padron peppers, jamon croquettes, picos blue cheese) at The Tapas Room (which has several other outposts including in Battersea.)
Peckham’s phallic bollards (road barriers) by British artist Anthony Gormley on Bellenden Roadpandemic lockdown-induced Tar and pumpkin pulp splatter art Peckham
Today was our long-awaited day with Marion, my dear friend of 43 years who graciously took the train from her lovely country home in an 18th Century tower in Hertford, to King’s Cross, where we talked and walked and talked, wandering around the commercial and residential developments. Construction cranes above buildings, rising every which way.
Coal drops Yard/granary square
As we drank coffee on a balcony in the mall-like station, a military band played below us. Not the oom-pah-pah kind of military band. These were energetic young women and men in military fatigues playing electric guitars. Unexpected.
We had a good light lunch at Gail’s, a bakery and cafe that apparently is a chain. A branch is opening in East sheen, near where we are staying with our pals in mortlake.
St. Pancras renaissance Hotel Bagpipers at Charring Cross.
Last visit I was impressed by the old brick hotel at St. Pancras station so we wandered around more inside. Very cool interior with a restaurant featuring a former train tix counter converted into a bar counter.
We ended up wandering down one narrow alluring street after another, through Russell Square, past the British Museum all the way to my former haunts in Covent Garden, where we stopped for a drink at the atmospheric pub, The Lamb and Flag (circa 1623) for cider, beer and chips.
As seen near Russell Square in Bloomsbury
At Charring Cross station, before hopping on the tube, we joined a crowd watching bagpipers (a favorite of mine.) Oh happy day.
Lovely to be back in London, especially on a warm sunny November day, no joke. We stopped at the National Covid Memorial Wall, a long stretch of wall along the Thames across from Parliament, with thousands of red painted hearts, many with handwritten notes remembering people who died during the pandemic (about 200,000 in the UK). Sobering.
Where our great friendship began.National Covid Memorial
We walked along the river on the south bank past the Tate Modern (where the blockbuster Cezanne show is the same show we saw earlier this year in Chicago), walking over the wobbly bridge into the City of London past St. Paul’s to the third pub we happened upon, the Golden Fleece, which had something approximating traditional pub grub, although not my favorite (ploughman’s) and a good house beer of the same name. The scotch egg that Francine ordered was surprisingly delicious, with a very fresh egg with a soft orange yolk inside a savory mound of sausage and bread.
Onto the Guildhall, the seat of government for the City of London which has an interesting free art gallery and amazingly, ruins of a Romanamphitheater (65 AD) in the basement. Who knew? Francine, of course. Nearby, we popped into a little pocket park near St. Botolph church that has a remarkable Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, a wall with tiles honoring people who died trying to “save another,” including 19-year-old railway clerk William Donald of Bayswater who “drowned in the Lea from a dangerous entanglement of weed” on July 16, 1876 and 31-year-old inspector Frederick Alfred Croft “who saved a lunatic woman from suicide at Woolwich Arsenal station but was himself run over by the train” on January 11, 1878. Another Francine find!
St. Bartholomew’s
We dropped in at my favorite London church St. Bartholomew’s, a 12th century Romanesque beauty that still offers Christmas concerts that I remember fondly. (Also featured in movies including Four Weddings and a Funeral and Shakespeare in Love.)
After wandering past the large colorful wrought iron gates of a Smithfield market, we landed at a trendy coffee bar, Prufrocks, in Leather Lane, where I recall my pal Marion used to shop when the NYTimes bureau was nearby on Shoe Lane.
Dinner tonight was superb Indian food at Chook, Chook, an “Indian Railway Kitchen” in Putney.
TakeBetsywithyou 