Marylebone And Little Venice

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..Today I scanned another batch of my Streets of London colour slide collection, this time from June 2004.

Warwick Crescent W2 6.04

Warwick Crescent, W2 lies in the heart of Little Venice, as evidenced by the Regents Canal basin in the foreground. Much of this street was bombed during WW2. The building to which the street name is fixed is a survivor. One other, to the far left, out of the picture, is the 19th century Beauchamp Lodge, where I rented my counselling room. The rest consists of 1960s council building. We were bemused when, in the 1980s these boringly banal boxes began to be tarted up. The answers were probably revealed when the Council Leader’s gerrymandering exercise was exposed. The Waterside Café provided good snacks, cakes, and beverages; the Waterbus offered trips along the canal to Camden Lock and back. During my running years I sometimes exchanged waves with passengers as I jogged alongside them.

Porteus Road W2 6.04

These steps taking pedestrians up from Porteus Street, lead to a bus stop at the large Harrow Road roundabout. To the left of the wall is the entrance to an underpass beneath the main thoroughfare. I knew people who would not use it for a not unreasonable fear of mugging. The trees at the top of the shot screen the canal.

Cabbell Street NW1 6.04 1Cabbell Street NW1 6.04 2

Here is another shot of our friend the bemused window cleaner of Cabbell Street, NW1, which contained some rather beautiful mansion flats;

Old Marylebone Road NW1 6.04

as does Old Marylebone Road;

Homer Row W1 6.04

a turning off which is Homer Row, W1. Traditional London taxi cabs are black. This driver chose red, and likes pink. The mansions shown above are reflected in his passenger window.

Crawford Street W2 6.04

Regular readers will know that my self-imposed constraint on this series is that a street name sign must be included. I cheated a bit in this one, because it is Crawford Place, W2 that is featured, but St Mary’s Church, Marylebone, is actually in Wyndham Place, NW1. I was intrigued by the various examples of geometry on display in this scene.

Bryanston Mews East W1 6.04

Since this area is one of Westminster’s most prestigious, road sweeper, like this gentleman in Bryanston Mews East, W1, are rather more in evidence than in the poorer London Boroughs.

Clay Street W1 6.04

The embassy of the Republic of Angola is situated in Dorset Street W1 alongside the corner of Clay Street;

Kenrick Place/Dorset Street 6.04

whilst on the corner of Dorset Street and Kenrick Place stands The Barley Mow, claiming to be the oldest pub in Marylebone. Time Out had this to say on 17th May 2013:  “This corner pub in Marylebone started life in 1791 as a meeting place for farmers to pawn their goods. Legend has it that the wooden snugs (now listed) either side of the bar gave them a bit of privacy in which to make their transactions. These days, there’s a good range of lagers and bottled beers along with the ales, plus food (mainly Pieminster pies), with music in the evening mix.”

Broadstone Place W1 6.04

I wasn’t the only one with a camera on the go in Broadstone Place, W1.

Blandford Street/Manchester Street W1 6.04

The Tudor Rose pub on the corner of Blandford and Manchester Streets, W1 is featured in the London Pub Review website, thus: “Our dire predictions haven’t come true – this one’s still not changed in years. Good. It’s not a bad place at all, with decent beer on the hand pumps and proper pub grub served downstairs (upstairs there’s a restaurant) including such delights as Spam fritters. Being in a Marylebone backwater, this place hardly ever gets crowded, although there’s a weekday lunchtime trade, so if you need place for a quiet pint in the area, this place will do nicely. The service is prompt and friendly and the prices are on par for the area. Whilst you wouldn’t necessarily make a special effort to seek this place out, if you’re in the locale, do drop in. Oh, except on a Sunday – it’s closed.”

making-cauliflower-bahjicauliflower-bahji-half-way

While I was working on this post, aromas of cumin and coriander led me to investigate the kitchen, where Jackie was occupied inventing her own cauliflower bahji,

Lamb jalfrezi, Cauliflower bahji, basmati rice

which we were to enjoy for dinner with her classic lamb jalfrezi and basmati rice with onions and peppers.

60 comments

  1. “Colour (color) blindness (colour vision deficiency, or CVD) affects approximately 1 in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women in the world. In Britain this means that there are approximately 2.7 million colour blind people (about 4.5% of the entire population), most of whom are male.”
    When you learn something new, your brain gets bigger. 🙂

  2. I really liked the sculpture of the man with the ladder, like a house painter. I enjoyed seeing Jackie busy creating her own version of cauliflower “bahji,” I can sense the aroma and it makes my stomach growl! 🙂
    The pretty Tudor Rose pub looks divine, Derrick, along with the Little Venice, the mansion flats and stone design were extra details to study. Thanks!

  3. My ma-in law from the first time round in wedded bliss lives in Little Venice. Next door to Michael Flatley. I can never resist a quick RiverDance when I go to visit – we remain good friends

  4. Some many wonderful shots, Derrick! I also like the geometry in the photo of St. Mary’s Church. From the photos, I would have guessed the Tudor Rose was older than “the oldest” pub.
    The cauliflower bhaji looks sooo good! I love Indian food. 🙂

  5. I would definitely try the Spam Fritters 🙂 Tinned food always reminds me of childhood days whenever there was a #9 or #10 typhoon in Hong Kong. The markets would be closed and we resort to tinned food for a few days: Spam (or a version of it) and sardines. From then on that salty metallic taste always reminded me of happy times (no school!) cocooned indoors with the wind and rain slashing at our taped up windows.

    1. I have been in pubs so much older than this one, you have to go out of London usually to find them. The Three Chimney’s in Kent has been offering beverages since the 1100’s and is still an inn, offering good food too!

      1. That’s very impressive! (Of course, I hope it hasn’t been offering the same food. By this point, I’m sure it’ll be dangerously near it’s sell-by date.) 🙂

    2. I believe Twinings tea-importers shop has occupied the same premises since 1709, thus may be the oldest such geographically- and business-static entity in the world.

  6. It was good to see your photos, brought memories of our London visit 🙂 Please can you give me the recipe of Jackie’s cauliflower bahji ? Thanks

    1. Jackie was afraid someone would ask. She doesn’t do recipes but is happy to describe methods: Spices: cumin, powdered ginger, coriander, three cloves of garlic; an onion; a chopped green pepper; fresh chillis to taste all fried in oil in a deep frying pan. When nice and sludgy par boiled cauliflower florets added to pan. All stirred quite a bit to get all flavours into cauliflower, then add tin of chopped tomato. Turn heat right down, put a lid on it, and simmer while you do the rice. Thanks for comments and for asking, Lakishmi

      1. There may be no formal way to spell imported words, but I’m sure I more sually see “bahji” spelt “bhaji”. Not certain if Waitrose / Sainsbury’s / Budgen’s are etymological sources acceptable to the OED, but they all agree.

  7. Ah, you were a jogger! You seem to walk everywhere, and walking is good exercise, as well.
    Jackie’s a food magician. Wow! Has she had any formal training in cooking? It sure looks like it!

    1. For 10 years (40-50) I ran a total of 25,000 miles on the roads, including 18 marathons; I had a new hip in 2009 and soon was walking 2/3 hours a day. 18 months ago my knees indicated I had to stop. I don’t do much more now. I suppose it had to come. Jackie drives me out and I go for a bit of a wander

      1. Thank you for this running info – so you ran from the age of 40 – 50? I do nothing like the kinds of miles you did, but still have a lot of people telling me I’d better stop before I am sorry. At age 53, I am (finally) wondering if I should begin to listen. I’m not listening, mind you, I am wondering if I should think about it. : )

      2. That’s amazing, Derrick! I started running recently (well, it’s more like speed walking!), but there’s no way I’d even reach the number of miles you had! I’m sorry about your knees. Yes, best to take it easy. Knowing all the effort you put into getting around, your photos seem even more precious. 🙂

  8. Interesting to see some London streets from different angles and another person’s viewpoint, Derrick. I was born and brought up in London and to me, the place has changed so much that I can’t bear to live there anymore. So many of the great old buildings have gone, as has the atmosphere that I knew from decades back. Living in the past, I may be, but it’s a past I preferred. That said, that sculpture is fun! I wonder when it was made and who the sculptor was? Oh, and I do like that Oriel window.

          1. Yes. I was born in Leicester. We moved to Raynes Park, where I spent my childhood, in 1944. By 1987 we were in Tooting which we left for Newark, Notts, because that was getting a bit menacing too. I continued to work in London, came back to live in 2007, and moved to The New Forest four years ago

  9. There’s a whole Dali world in the reflection behind the man with the video camera. Is the car on the road or on the pavement? If on the pavement, is it an illusion, or is it without wheels (Toxteth car showroom-style*)? If it’s on the road, that looks like a motorbike rally happening on the pavement!
    * too esoteric to translate for non-UK-ers!

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