October 2019 Archives

Happy Halloween to all of my readers this year. This also means that October will be wrapped up from midnight tonight as we dive further into autumn and into November. The mornings and evenings have already started to become chilly, and I've been ill again. That's twice this month and once last month (for two weeks) that I have been ill. I had only recovered for a few days from a cold when I fall ill with another one this week. This one was even worse, and I actually had to take a day off of work in order to recover as I felt really bad. I had gone to a "Star Trek" convention last weekend, and I am sure that I picked it up from there as I started to get the symptoms on Tuesday morning. I feel much better today, but I have had coughing and nose-blowing marathons off and on today. I love autumn, but I don't love being ill. I have not had a great year for illness this year. I had a lingering cough and mucus following one bad episode in May. Autumn and spring illness is not fun at all. 

Covent Garden decorated for autumn and Halloween

On a happier note, I do love autumn and I enjoyed Halloween when I was a child. I enjoy seeing the autumn colours, pumpkin-flavoured treats, carving pumpkins, apples, dressing up as my favourite character, Halloween television, and everything else that came with it. In the UK, Halloween isn't quite as big, and this time of year blends Diwali, Halloween, and Bonfire Night into two weeks of fun. 

I love the autumn decorations, and London has actually started to decorate more for this time of the year. It hasn't been limited to holidays or florals for the past couple of years. One of the larger displays is in Covent Garden. Last year, they had a pumpkin display. This year, they have displayed a huge pumpkin with autumn-coloured plants on one of the carts. I preferred last year's display, which I did not get to see because I was in the states.

We still have a few weeks before winter and the dreaded C-word is upon us, but I am going to enjoy this time of year as much as I can, as soon as I've recovered fully from the autumn virus. I hope all of my readers are faring better and have had a Happy Halloween.

This black limited edition Fortnum & Mason 'Wicked Wicker' hamper for Halloween comes with a selection of Halloween sweets for an awesome Halloween party or ghoulish guests. The hamper includes chocolate skulls, marzipan skulls and pumpkins, trick or treat truffles, vampire blood bites and ear wax pieces, and witches' finger nails. This is the perfect hamper to get in the Halloween mood.

The trick or treat truffles are chocolate truffles with a caramel filling, but some of them contain chilli, garlic or curry filling depending on what you happen to receive! There are aptly-named 'deadly chocolate skulls' and marzipan skulls and pumpkins. The "witches' finger nails" are roasted pumpkin seeds smoothered in dark or white chocolate, and "vampire blood bites and ear wax pieces" are white and milk chocolate coated jelly beans.

The 'Wicked Wicker' hamper was only on sale for a limited time, but each year, Fortnum and Mason create a different Halloween hamper for sale. The hamper offers a range of sweets. I enjoyed them all except for the jelly beans as I just don't like the sweet.

The first time I visited Yolkin, they sold four flavours of ice cream macarons out of a trolley during the hours of street food market Street Food Union in Soho (Yolkin Macaroon Ice Cream Sandwiches). A lot has changed for them, and since early 2018, they have occupied a shop on Rupert Street around the corner form Chinatown and Piccadilly Circus and offer many more ice cream macaroon sandwiches and much more. I visited Yolkin in their permanent shop for the first time this summer.

Since they now have a permanent shop, Yolkin offer seasonal macaroons and products. My last visit was this week, and in the run-up to Halloween, Yolkin have several Halloween-inspired ice cream macaroon products. I had the S'mores one, which was chocolate macaroon and a marshmallow ghost on top. Pandan was a green-coloured macaroon with a white chocolate bone on top. Pumpkin latte was a pumpkin-flavoured and coffee ice cream product, and the mummy macaroon was red velvet.

A spider web design was a black sesame flavour, and it looked really good as well.

Yolkin also make macaroons, and I picked up a couple Halloween ones. The pumpkin is a pumpkin-spiced macaroon, which was delicious. The black cats are a pandan macaroon.

In the middle of the summer and during the hot days, I picked up a salted caramel ice cream macaroon inspired by a mermaid. It had a white chocolate mermaid tail and whipped cream on it.

On that same day, lemon meringue, peanut butter, and birthday cake were other flavours of macaroon for sale.

Yolkin is located at 24 Rupert Street, W1D 6DQ. They are open from 1:00 to 10:00 during Sundays and the weeks and open until 11:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. 

I recommend a visit to Yolkin if you're in the area and are craving ice cream after a meal in Chinatown or an afternoon shopping.

"Where Light Falls" was a light show projected onto St. Paul's Cathedral in London at the end of October. Unfortunately, I was not in London over the four nights that the light show took place, so I had to see it virtually. The light show features St. Paul's during the Blitz and bombings during World War II, including the people who watched the skies and protected the cathedral the best that they could. Despite the protection, the cathedral was damaged during the war. The light show consists of projected imagery onto the facade of the cathedral with music and sound.

The light show lasted about twenty minutes and was repeated throughout the evening.

Coventry Cathedral will also host its own rendition of "Where Light Falls" as the history of the cathedral instead of the focus on World War II. That takes place in mid-November. 

Visitors to my blog may remember another projection onto St. Paul's Cathedral that I have covered in my blog a few years ago: Martin Firrell St. Paul's Cathedral Flames

Specialist ice cream shop Milk Train opened in Covent Garden in August of 2016, and I visited it in the spring of 2017. They became an instant hit with cotton candy/candy floss ice cream, which were popular on Instagram and popular with the tourists as well: Milk Train - Ice Cream and Candy Floss/Cotton Candy Clouds. Since then, the company have moved locations to a couple of blocks away, just behind the Transport Museum in Covent Garden on Tavistock Street. They have expanded their offerings as well.  

Currently, Milk Train have a London autumn special. This is a Maple tree with orange candy floss, a chocolate stick (as the trunk), in a cup of maple-flavoured ice cream. On top of the ice cream are crumbs of cookies to look like soil and white chocolate flakes to look like autumn leaves on the ground. 

The ice cream was very good. I wasn't that keen on the ice cream during my first visit, but this was as tasty as it was photogenic. The autumn treat is only on offer for a limited time. To get one, head over to their cafe on Tavistock Street.

I recently visited Stowe, an expansive landscaped parkland located in Buckinghamshire, England. Stowe is a National Trust property, and dates from the 1700s. It was created by Viscount Cobham who had the idea to create the gardens in a Grecian style with walks named after paths of life, such as vice, virtue and liberty. The landscaped gardens are filled with sculptures, buildings and surprise views.

Stowe was named after the village that used to exist here and which was gradually absorbed by the landscape gardens.  The house dates from the early 1600s, and the landscaped gardens increased in size over the years and consumed further land. In 1713, the gardens were landscaped further with tree-lined avenues and ponds; the garden designers experimented a lot of styles with the gardens here. The gardens here are also famous as they were the first gardens that designer Lancelot "Capability" Brown worked on and gained experience from before going on to design many other gardens in the country.

Stowe declined in the 1830s. A visit by Queen Victoria put the estate more into debt, and it lost money, which resulted in much of the land being repurposed for pasture. Eventually, the owners died and the house was passed on and unloved and kept empty. Eventually, it became the property of the Stowe School, and they sold the gardens to the National Trust. Many of the statues had previously been removed and sold.

The National Trust has been working for the past thirty years (since 1989) to repair the landscaped gardens and continue to maintain them for generations to come.

On entering Stowe, visitors can see New Inn. New Inn is a throwback to the grounds being a popular visiting place in the 1700s; it is a coaching inn and has been set up for the period.

The walk through from New Inn to the grounds is over five minutes down a tree-lined road. Visitors have a choice of the walks described previously, and many small buildings, temples, and statues are located around the grounds. Each offers a glimpse and gives a picturesque view of the grounds, which have started to change into autumnal colour.

Palladian Bridge

Palladian Bridge and Gothic Temple

Chinese House

Palladian Bridge

One of the statues at Saxon Deities

Queen's Temple

Fane and Muse of Pastoral Poetry

The Grecian theme of the gardens was created by Cobham who wanted an idyllic Arcadian (mimic the idealised Greek countryside with shepherds and farm labourers) area. Each of the statues represents an aspect of life, such as his political life and the virtues and vices. Poetry also plays an important part here with poetry workshops held and the pastoral ideal. The circle of statues is from "Under the Hawthorne Tree" and depicts the farm shepherds and a dancing faun. 

Circle of the Dancing Faun

Temple of Concord and Victory

Grotto

Captain Cook's Monument

Shell Bridge

Temple of Ancient Virtue

Temple of British Worthies

Captain Grenville's Column

Stowe House

Rotunda

Western Lake Pavilion

Palladian Bridge

Rotunda

Gothic Temple

Stowe House

Stowe House can be viewed at an additional cost as it is not a National Trust property and owned by Stowe School.

Grotto

Stowe

I enjoyed seeing the autumn colour at Stowe and enjoyed the walk around the grounds to see the views and statues and buildings. Have you ever been to Stowe?

Located outside of Blackfriar's Station on the north side of the river Thames is a pub called "The Black Friar". I first visited this pub a year ago with colleagues who sometimes worked across the road from it. I thought it was a treat, and you'll see why in a couple of my photographs (although they do not do it justice). I know several nice pubs in London, so I am planning to document the ones that I have not documented so far, so keep checking back. The Black Friar is a Grade II listed pub built in 1875 on the site of a former medieval Dominican friary. In 1905, it was remodelled, and the interior sculptures and decoration were completed at this time.

This pub was nearly destroyed in the 1960s because of building work in the area, but it was fortunately saved so that we can enjoy it today and admire the beautiful decoration inside. 

Inside are several depictions of the friars that used to live here in the middle ages, and these are carved and made of bronze and also stained glass. There are interesting bits of decoration everywhere you look, and it's just an interesting building to have a drink in. 

If you are interested in taking a peek at other historical London pubs, look at the following articles on this blog:

Haunted Hampstead to Highgate Pub Crawl (London)
The Viaduct Tavern, Haunted London Pub

I have previously covered the artwork of Ben Wilson, also known as the "bubblegum man" because his artwork is painted in miniature onto squished bubblegum on the pavement. I first encountered him several years ago at Dulwich Arts Festival (Open Day at the Street Art House, Dulwich Arts Festival: Part 1) and also on Millennium Bridge previously (Gum Artwork on Millennium Bridge by 'Chewing Gum Man' Ben Wilson). Millennium Bridge has become a favourite place of his to paint, and I've admired his work each time I have walked on the bridge. The discarded gum takes on different shapes here, moulding itself around the steel walkway.

In addition to the work on the bridge itself, Ben Wilson has also painted on discarded gum on the walkway up to the bridge on the southern side of the river. He typically paints information about the people he comes across, but he also paints what he sees. The below miniature painting is of the Notre Dame in Paris, dedicated to "Sophie".

The above includes several dedications, including a miniature of a person and their dog (Mark and Gizmo), an image of South Bank and buildings along the river, the Tate with the Millennium Bridge in the foreground, St. Paul's Cathedral with the Millennium Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral at dark, and a dog (dedicated to "Rolo on the Millennium Bridge"). There's also one "for Cathy", and I am not sure what it is, but it could be a mudlarker as the white item looks like an old pipe, a common item found when looking on the Thames foreshore.

Some of the painted gum on the Millennium Bridge is above.

Above appears to be dedicated to the artwork that would be discovered in Tate Modern behind Millennium Bridge on the South Bank.

The above is dedicated to Maya and appears to be a giraffe.

The above appears to be possibly a conservation of energy movement.

Abstract geometric designs make up the above "gumpic".

Lastly, the above is inspired by travel.

London's bridges will be completely illuminated by the next three years, and the first four bridges were illuminated in mid-July this summer. The next few will be illuminated by autumn next year with the third and final phase to follow subject to the schedule. The first four bridges illuminated this year were Millennium Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Cannon Street rail bridge, and London Bridge. Each bridge has been illuminated to a separate artistic style, keeping in mind its location and sensitivity to its environment. 

The winners of the bid to illuminate the bridges were American artist Leo Villareal and British architects Lifschultz Sandilands (LDS). The project is thought to be the longest-running art project in the world. It will cover 4.5 nautical miles of river when completed.

Above is Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian footbridge that was created for the millennium year 2000 but launched two years later due to problems with the bridge's design and wobbling. The LED lighting on the bridge has been installed to mimic the flow of people moving across the bridge, and the movement was inspired by superhero Flash Gordon. The white light travels quickly from one side of the bridge to the other. The motion mimics movement at great speed, and the river below remains in darkness during the light motion. The bridge is covered in miniature artworks by street artist Ben Wilson, noted for painting discarded bubblegum on the bridge.

Above is Southwark Bridge, which opened in 1921 and was privately financed. It replaced an earlier bridge called Queen Street Bridge and contains stairs down to the river. Underneath the south part of the bridge is a pedestrian tunnel with a mural relating to old London and the frost fairs held on the river when it used to freeze over. Southwark Bridge is illuminated with saturated pink, red, and purple colours that gently fade into one another. The lighting represents an impressionist painting.

The Cannon Street rail bridge (above) was built in 1866 for trains to cross from Cannon Street Station. The name is a shortened deriviation of the former use of the area known for its candle-making; the area is known as Candlewick. The two towers on the northern bank contain water tanks for hydraulic lifts. The building above the station is offices today, and I worked in the top of the offices for a year and a half. The lighting for the bridge is inspired by its use as a railway bridge, and the colours gently fade and move together and appear to mimic moving trains.

London Bridge, pictured above, is the oldest bridge in London and built when London was large enough to require a bridge to get across the river. The old bridge was actually a couple hundred yards from the current position, and it contained multi-storey buildings on the bridge. It was also used to show what happens to traitors as spikes across the bridge contained the severed heads of criminals or people considered to be a problem to the British Empire/royal family. The modern bridge dates from the 1830s with the previous one bought by an American and placed up in Arizona. The lighting uses colours that fade into each other and glow, and they complement the design of the bridge.

Southwark bridge from Millennium Bridge

The illuminated bridges have transformed London and make it an inspiring and beautiful place to live. I think the colours make everyone a little more happier. I can't wait to see how the other bridges are transformed next autumn.

The year 2016 was Shakespeare's 400th year, and Australian street artist JimmyC (James Cochran) painted a mural dedicated to the famous writer and poet to commemorate 400 years of Shakespeare. In August this year, the popular Shakespeare portrait was refreshed and updated to include a skull and pen. The mural is located on South Bank on Clink Street and next to The Anchor pub. 

In addition to the updated Shakespeare portrait, JimmyC also painted a mural in Shoreditch off Sclater Street (on Whitby Street). The mural is located near one of his oldest murals on the same street.

More artwork by JimmyC that I have posted about in this blog are:

JimmyC Paints Wall of Hearts to Honour Victims of Borough Market Attack
JimmyC Paints "Royal Wedding" Mural for St. Christopher's Place
Mick's Hands
'Open the Mind'
JimmyC Redchurch Street Heart
JimmyC Paints Shakespeare on South Bank
Street Artist JimmyC Paints Caledonian Road
RIP David Bowie & An Afternoon in Brixton
New Mural in Ever-Changing Shoreditch by JimmyC
New 'Spring Offering' Mural by Bailon and Sliks (JimmyC, Zadok Sonar Uno)
New JimmyC Mural on Joe's Kid (Cafe), Fashion Street
JimmyC Street Art - New Inn Yard, Brick Lane, Hackney Road
New Street Art by JimmyC
Street Art: JimmyC

Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens is a National Trust property located in Kent, England. The earliest buildings dated from the early 1500s and then were changed significantly through the ages due to other uses of the buildings. In the 1930s, the property was in disrepair and bought by poet/writer Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson. Vita was the only child from her wealthy family, who owned Knowle, but she was unable to inherit when her father died. She loved Knowle, so when she came across Sissinghurst for sale, she saw the potential and purchased it. She contributed to the repairs and gardens, and she used the tower for writing. Sissinghurst has some of the most famous gardens in England and is a Grade I listed park and garden.

The original ancestors of the owners of Sissinghurst fell into money problems and could not pay their taxes, so they offered the government to lease the property in the 1700s. The government then used the property to house 3,000 prisoners in the Seven Years' War. The prisoners caused damage, particularly as two winters in a row were very cold and the furniture and buildings were used for firewood. After this, the house was in ruins and then put up for sale in the late 1920s, when it was bought by Vita and Harold.

At the time when Vita and Harold purchased Sissinghurst, it was in advanced ruin and contained a barn, oast house, cottage, and tower dating from the 1540s, which was part of the remaining original structure.

After Sackville-West died in 1962, her family gave the estate to the National Trust. It is one of the most properties and receives 200,000 visitors a year.

Elizabeth I visited Sissinghurst Castle in the late 1500s when the original family who owned it has aspirations to enhance their title. Unfortunately, this failed, and the family lived beyond their means and got into debts.

The French prisoners of war were imprisoned in the tower and buildings that have since been demolished. The tower still contains grafitti on the walls from this time. The tower is one of the surviving buildings, and one of the rooms was turned into a library and writing room.

A little building at the end of the garden is a writing room.

The priest's cottage, pictured below, is also on the grounds, and visitors can stay in the cottage overnight. It is usually not open otherwise.

The view from the top of the tower was also beautiful with views over the gardens and the weald.

After having a look around the gardens, I visited the barn and the oast house. The oast house has information about the building and what it would have been used for. The shop is located in the building opposite, which would have once been a hog barn. The cafe is located near the oast house too, and I had an ice cream while I waited for my tour of the south cottage.

The south cottage is still owned by Vita/Harold's children, and it can be toured. The garden behind the cottage was probably my favourite, and it was created by Vita for Harold and called the "sunset garden" because it has bright orange, red and yellow flowers.

Photographs could not be taken inside the cottage, but the cottage itself is not very large. On the ground floor is a kitchen and then the lounge/library, which has views of the garden. Upstairs is Harold's room, Vita's room, and a bathroom. Harold and Vita were both bi-sexual and had relationships with other people, which makes up a portion of their story. At a time, they had a rocky relationship, but when they moved to Sissinghurst, they both contributed to their love of gardening to build and create the gardens and repair the buildings.

Sissinghurst Castle is probably best-visited in the height of summer when the gardens are in full bloom. I visited it in the middle of September, which was probably a week or two past its prime.

The British Motor Museum at Gaydon in Warwickshire is the largest collection of historic British cars in the world. There are currently 300 classic cars on display from the british Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust. The museum displays Land Rover cars as well and has a selection of MINIs. There are also a small selection of cars used in films. I visited the museum in early September when an MX-5 event was hosted.

The collection of cars at the Gaydon British Motor Museum contains the first Land Rover, Land Rovers used by the royal family, a Jaguar owned by Princess Diana, Land Rover prototypes, a 'Shaun the Sheep' Land Rover, Metro 6R4 rally car, the first MINI produced, MG speed record cars, the last MINI produced in 2000, MINIs that won the Monte Carlo Rally in the 1960s, MINI prototypes, FAB1 from 'Thunderbirds' film, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, Jaguar R1Forumula One racecar from 2000, a MINI made of Lego bricks, and much more. Photographs of a few of the cars in the collection can be seen below.

Gaydon British Motor Museum hosts several events throughout the year for visitors throughout the year, and it makes an interesting visit. The only thing that I felt could be better was to have more space. There are quite a lot of cars on display, but many of these are packed in close together, so it is difficult to see all of the cars. Some of the more interesting cars do have more space around them, but overall, it is a little bit busy in the museum.

Street artist Ben Eine is one of the most high-profile street artists in the world. He is from London but now lived in the USA, and he does come back to London to update his murals or add new ones. Famous work of his was located at the Olympic park in London, Ebor Street near Shoreditch High Street, and Middlesex Street where he painted the alphabet on shutters. Of course, there's quite a few other places where his artwork appears. His artwork features typography. The newest pieces appear on a refreshed wall on Ebor Street. The word "Love" is written three different times in three different type styles.

I also noticed a new letter near Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch. This isn't far from Pure Evil's artwork, and some of Pure Evil's creatues appear on the door next to the shutter. (For more information about Pure Evil, see this post: Pure Evil Street Art Murals on Bateman's Row).

Ben Eine "Peace is Possible" Street Art
Street Art: Ben Eine
Ben Eine Paints 'Like Nothing Else' on Ebor Street
Ben Eine Tribute to Grenfell Tower Victims
Ben Eine 'Last Days of Shoreditch'
Ben Eine New Street Art Summer 2016
Ben Eine 'Extortonists' Refresh

I was feeling pretty down at the start of last month after receiving some news, so I had a little retail-therapy in the form of a beauty haul with make-up and skin-care products from BeautyBay. I received the items a few days later, so check out the photograph below of what I bought. I bought some pretty interesting products, so let's take a look at what I purchased.

"YES TO" Grapefruit Vitamin C Glow Boosting Unicorn Peel-off Mask: This is a facial mask with brightening cream. Last year and this year has been all about unicorns. It is a pink product that enhances brightening of the skin as well as moisturises it. It's a peel-off product and vegan-friendly too.

"THE GYPSY SHRINE" Peel-Off Glitter Mix in "Iridescent": This is an off-white sparkling glitter gel that easily peels away. It is vegan-friendly and cruelty-free, and it's a perfect product for summer festivals and parties. 

"JEFFREE STAR COSMETICS" Blue Collection Velour lip scrub in "blueberry pie": This is a gentle lip scrub in a blueberry scent. This is a perfect product for the autumn and winter because of the dry weather, so I will be starting to use this one soon.

TONYMOLY Mini lip balm in "peach": I love this cute little peach that contains a beautifully-scented peach lip balm. This reminds me of summer, so I will probably keep it for next summer. I have many other lip balms to use up anyway. This product smells delicious.

"JEFFREE STAR COSMETICS" The Gloss in "Her Glossiness": This is a bronze or copper-coloured lip gloss. The product promises to be long-wearing and adds intense shine. It's also vegan and cruelty-free. I love the product design, which looks like a pen with a crown on top.

MAKEUP REVOLUTION Skull nail polish in "poltergeist": This is a perfect Halloween make-up product featuring a nail polish in a skull-shaped container. The product comes in three colours: red, gold, and silver. I purchased the silver.

TONYMOLY BBO BBO Lip Balm Honey: This honey lip balm comes in a small travel-size red lip case, which is absolutely fantastic and perfect for the autumn and winter season as it helps conquer chapped lips. 

PAUL & JOE lipstick SPF25 clear UV: This lipstick doubles up as a sun protection cream. It's always important to take care of your lips when you're in the sun. This is a summer product, so I will save it for next year or whenever I next get summer sun.

MELT COSMETICS Smoke Sessions palette: I love green, so I could not resist this product, which has been inspired by shades of cannabis. It is a mix of shimmering and matte shades to create a variety of looks.

I am looking forward to trying these products.

The bright yellow lemons in the Alto rooftop restaurant on top of Selfridges have been a hit over the summer in London. I finally got the chance to see them a few weeks ago when I had brunch there one Saturday. I'd previously been to Alto a couple of times before with the latest time earlier this year when it was decorated for fall/winter: Lunch at Alto by San Carlo (Selfridges Rooftop Restaurant). I visited it last summer when it was decorated with white wisteria hanging down: Alto by San Carlo at Selfridges.

Prior to it becoming a chain of Alto restaurants, it was owned by Vintage Salt, which no longer exists, and they did a seasonal theme. Forest on the Roof @ Selfridges was their winter forest theme, Dinner at Vintage Salt on Selfridges' Rooftop and 'War Horse' was their summer beach theme, and Dinner at Le Chalet on the Roof of Selfridges was their ski lodge winter theme.

I ordered the signature Alto cocktail, and this came with a nice design on top. 

I ordered the pancakes, which came in a stack with fresh raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries and syrup. The pancakes hit the spot. The food and drink was delicious.

Alto at Selfridges is the place to be if you want to take a break from shopping (or before shopping) and want to be immersed in sunny yellow lemons. This has certainly become one of London's most Instagrammed places this year.

Famous street artist Banksy is thought to have created a mural at Marble Arch this spring after the environmental group movement Extinction Rebellion occupied the location for a couple of weeks. The mural appeared during the end of the occupation at Marble Arch. It depicts a child on a beach with the words "from this moment, despair ends and tactics begins". The Extinction Rebellion symbol is a part of the artwork. Next to this mural is a stencil of a jump-roping girl with the jump-rope made into a heart. Banksy has not officially taken credit for the piece, but it is widely-accepted to be his work.

Recently, the artwork has had protective sheeting placed over it to protect it from vandals. Banksy still has not taken credit, but the artist often does create work in conjunction with various causes in the past.

Fenton House dates from the 1600s and was built in Hampstead as a merchant's house. The house contains an orchard, kitchen garden, and a sunken garden. The garden has been transformed in the past 30 years and is designed in the Edwardian style of garden. The original owners had created the kitchen garden and orchard for the house, and this weekend is the annual "Apple Days at Fenton House" weekend. The weekend includes several activities for children, apple-tasting, apple juice tasting, food, crafts, and musical artists playing some of the house's instruments.

At the time Fenton House was built, it was the only house in the area, and the area was famous for "highway men" (robbers), so the owners had a wall built around the house. The house came under National Trust ownership when the last owner, Lady Binning, passed away. 

The house contains many musical instruments from Benton Fletcher collection and paintings from the Peter Barkworth collection. Chinese porcelain and 17th-century needlepoint is also popular at the house as one of the residents was a collector. There was so much porcelian that many of it is housed at the Victoria and Albert museum or on loan to other museums. 

Currently, the house has installations commissioned and in place by Gitta Gschwendtner (known as "Please Sit") to allow the visitor to sit and admire the rooms. Each designer has created a chair or furniture to encourage visitors to sit and enjoy the rooms. Each seat was inspired by something in the room that it occupies.

This room (above) contains a doorway that leads to another doorway behind the fireplace, which is a small private room where the occupier could undress or use facilities. This was before the time of toilets. In the room is a single chair "Jacob's Chair", which is inspired by a needlework of "Jacob's Ladder" biblical story, which can be used as a seat of reflection or "head in clouds". It was created by Gitta Gschwendtner.

The bedroom seat is "Good Taste is Waste or Everyone Loves Poodles", created by Frith Kerr.The bed, pillows, and shoes with green pom-poms are inspired by a collection of porcelain poodles in the room.

The drawing room (above) contains a chair designed by Maisie Broadhead, named "Part of the Furniture". It was inspired by the last resident, who became a recluse after the death of her husband. She would often sit in this room in mourning clothes and do little else.

Upstairs includes more porcelain and musical instruments. There is also a view at the top onto a small balcony with amazing views over the city of London. Hampstead is on a hill, so the views are amazing from here. One view looks over the garden and also of the houses across the road, one of which is owned by director Ridley Scott and another by the writer of the book "Rebecca", Daphne du Maurier.

After looking around the house, I explored the garden. I was happy to see several flowers still in bloom despite the rain and cooler days this month. The garden is very beautiful. There is also the kitchen garden with vegetables. I saw some white strawberries that have started to grow again with strawberry blooms, rhubarb, and apples.

Aster

Asters

Sedum (foreground, I have some in my garden)

Dahlia, seedum, asters

Dahlia

After looking at the flowers, I wandered to the orchard. The orchard is 300 years old and contains thirty types of apple trees, many of which are rare and old varieties of apple. Apple varieties could be tasted by visitors, and apples could be purchased for 30p each. 

Anyone who knows me knows I am very picky when it comes to apples, and they have got to be crisp. (I got a little bit spoiled as I had access to fresh apples growing up on a farm with an orchard.) I tried one of each of the varieties on offer on Apple Day at Fenton House, and the apples were fresh. I found one that was perfect and reminded me of the apples who grew on the old apple orchard (which contains apple trees that probably date from the 1920s or 1930s, but they could date prior to that too). Anyway, here's a photograph of the apples and description.

Sparta: This is a crisp apple with a sweet and slightly tart taste. I really enjoyed this variety, and it has an attractive deep red colour. The apple dates to 1936. It was meant to be a cross between McIntosh and Newton Pippin, but they were incorrect on the Newton Pippin and don't really know what it was crossed with. It is very similar to the flavour of McIntosh but is crisper, which is perfect because McIntosh is a little too soft for my taste.

Lord Lambourne: This variety dates from 1907 and is a soft and very sweet apple used for desserts. The apple is a soft apple and not one of my favourites. 

Egremont Russet: I enjoyed this apple as it was the old that reminded me of the fruit produced from the old apple trees. It is a crisp and heavy-bodied apple with a sweet (but not too sweet) flavour. It was apparently creatd in 1872 and was popular in Victorian times and is a popular garden apple tree.

Blenheim Orange: This apple dates from 1740 in Woodstock, ENgland and is used more as a cooking apple. I found the flesh too soft.

Howgate Wonder: This apple dates from 1916 and is related to the Blenheim Orange variety. It is a cooking apple but can also be used for eating and has a slight tast taste.

Bramley Seedling: This is a tart cooking apple dating from the early 1800s and has become a popular variety of apple.

Fiesta: An apple also known as the Red Pippin, it was created from combining the Idared and the Cox's Orange Pippin. It is a sweet and soft apple, and it reminded me of a pear taste. It is the most recent variety and dates from the 1970s.

In addition to apples, apple juice and cider was for sale by bottles or by the glass. The apple juice could be bought cold or heated.

After the apples and a walk around the garden and orchard, I took another last look at Fenton House. I loved how the trees were shaped, and there seems to be a lot of holly in this part of Hampstead with red berries growing on the bushes.

Apple Day at Fenton House proved to be popular with families. Have you ever visited?

Seven Dials has recently become home to its first food market, aptly named Seven Dials Food Market (introduced by KERB, who set up these venues). This part of London, just south of Tottenham Court Road and just north of Covent Garden, was a little lacking in the street food market scene. Neal's Yard, which is opposite the Seven Dials Food Market, does have a couple of restaurants and is a popular place for socialising and grabbing a bite. I suppose that the newly-refurbished warehouse on Earlham Street was the perfect place for additional food and a market. This warehouse used to contain a few odd stores selling mainly clothing and trinkets, but it was a bit seclued and empty whenever I had been.

Before it was a shop, the warehouse started its life for storing bananas, which were a luxury item from the Americas, and which were starting to be imported along with other exotic fruits. Other warehouses nearby stored pineapples and other exotice fruits. The alleyway into the market is called "cucumber alley", which is a throwback to its use for storing cucumbers.

The banana is featured in the logo as a throw-back to the warehouse's former use.

First up, Cucumber Alley contained a florist, baked goods, alchol, fruit and vegetables, ice cream, jams, and other items for sale. I tried a small sample of homemade scone with jam and cream, and they also sold homemade crumpets. Also, Wheelcake Island is there, selling their delicious wheelcakes (read about my visit to their original Brick Lane spot here).

Inside, there are two levels with street food vendors and a couple of bars along the sides and plenty of seating. Downstairs is also a book shop with books about London and food. 

Square Root is a soda bar, and they sell soda and popcorn. I had their lemonade, which they can also make fresh.

Pick and Cheese sell sushi-conveyor-belt-style cheeses and meats to accompany the cheeses, which go around on a conveyor belt. Other food included steamed buns, seafood, burgers, chicken wings, pasta, Asian, coffee and doughnuts, Mexican, and deli. There is a large selection of vegan food, such as vegan tacos.

I wanted the chicken, but I was not too keen on messy wings and chicken legs, so I opted for the pasta (pictured below). I actually didn't like the past at all and didn't eat a third of it. 

Big Shot sell coffee and doughnuts, and I had the S'mores doughbut (pictured below), which was good.

If you have not been to Seven Dials Market yet, I suggest you head over to Seven Dials to see it for yourself. The venue is open seven days a week.

Totally Thames is the last major London event that is always a signal of the end of the summer season. The event has been re-branded and grown smaller in recent years, but it is still a month packed with various events and artworks related to the Thames. Normally, an artwork in the river is featured for a month during the festival. This year, the "Ship of Tolerance", made by artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, made an appearance.

The artwork on the ship's sails was created by schools, hospitals, refugees, and other groups while learning about diversity. For its showing in the Thames, the sail art was created by school children, children in Great Ormond Street hospital, and refugee centres. The project was created in 2005 and has travelled the world. It was awarded the Cartier Prize for the Best Art Project of the Year in 2010.

Unfortunately, the sail was not up. The sail can be down if there is wind, but there was only a faint breeze, so be aware that the sail may not be up if there is any faint breeze (or maybe it's just not always up). The art installation can be seen until October 6.

Some previous art installation and events from Totally Thames or Thames Festival are below:

Artwork 'Future Dust' by Maria Areco Highlights Water Pollution
TotallyThames Floating Dreams by Ik-Joong Kang
Hippo in the Thames
Battersea Fire Garden by Carabosse
Thames Festival: Rivers of the World 2012
Enjoying London: Thames Festival 2011
"Rivers of the World" Art at Thames Festival in London

The Rolling People are a collective of street artists who create a blend of street art with grafitti style mixed with illustrations/comic style, and their inspiration is 1980s comics and Stan Lee. I've not seen their work in the area for awhile, but when I was walking around Brick Lane in late April, I discovered their new mural off Brick Lane. They had previously painted on this wall before, so it was nice to see them reclaim and refresh the wall with a new mural featuring a couple of comic illustrations, their iconic "Rolling People" type, and some tags.

The below are some close-ups of the work.

The above mural was replaced with work by DBL TRBL and Dscreet and other artists. 

One wall on Sclater Street...

Keb Seb Real House

Silkey

The Rolling People

Silkey

Additionally, I captured one of their murals in Dalston area little while ago.

For more posts on this blog about the Rolling People, see the below links:

Recent Street Art by the Rolling People
Faith, Cernesto and the Rolling People
RUN and the Rolling People