She Loves London

Author: She Loves London

  • The Many and Varied Things I’ll Miss About Working on the Strand

    I’m relocating for work.

    Not actually relocating, obviously. Just going ten minutes up the road for a different job, but in London terms that’s basically like moving to Africa.

    This is slightly daunting because I’ll now have to negotiate the minefield that is deciding where to eat lunch in an entirely new area of the city, which, as everyone knows, is the most crucial part of every office worker’s day.

    Hold me. 

    Alas, after two years working just off the Strand – land of the pre-theatre meal deal, posh hotels, lost tourists, Gordon’s Wine Bar, and the excellent sort of colleagues who adopt you an actual monkey as a leaving present – it’s time to move on to a new stomping ground between the hours of 9:30 and 6pm.

    But in the meantime, here’s what I’ll miss about working in WC2N.

    1. Fake Number 10

    It’s Downing Street! It’s not Downing Street. It’s David Cameron’s gaff! It’s not David Cameron’s gaff. It’s Number 10! Ok, it is Number 10, but instead of politicians you just get the occasional news reporter pretending they’re at the real one. I KNOW, CRAZY.

    downing street adam street

     

    2. The 3,456,936 branches of Pret within lunch-walking radius.

    They say you’re never more than one meter away from your nearest Pret A Manger in London. Actually that might be mice. Or rats. Given the proximity of your friendly neighbourhood branch of Mutant Rodent Tesco, it could be either of those things. But look how many. LOOK:

    pret radius

    3. Inconspicuous tourists

    Lunchtimes just won’t be the same without a daily game of Dodge the Daytripper, coupled with a round of Stupid Things I Heard a Tourist Say in Covent Garden. Where is all the grass around here, anyway?

    tourists in covent garden

     

    4. The wide assortment of local wildlife.

    Ponies, ferrets, Olympic athletes, dogs, WC2N has them all. Although my new area of work does have men being walked like dogs, to be fair – so onwards and upwards ‘n’ all that.

    wildlife

    5. Crossing the Impossible Road

    With no less than four lanes of traffic, a weird cobbled path thing down the middle, and a pavement scattered with beady eyed, clipboard wielding charity workers, crossing this street is nothing less than a minefield. Think Krypton Factor, but with more Potsu noodles.

    strand

     

    So see ya later, Covent Garden.

    Aurevoir, excellent colleagues.

    Gordon’s, Embankment Gardens and Bag Bike Man…you will remain in my thoughts.

    Goodbye, Strand. It’s been emotional. 

     

  • April’s Music Thing: Koreless + Jacques Greene at St John’s Church, Hackney

    There are 567,087 music events happening every night in London.

    That’s complete bollocks, obviously, but the fact remains: after Staying a Bit Late at Work Because You’re So Busy (isn’t everyone so busy these days?) and negotiating the Tube Strike Which Is Going to Really Bugger Up Commuting for the Next Two Weeks, most of us are too knackered to attend any of them.

    Are we busy though? Are we? Really? Because personally, busy for me could mean working through lunch, or it could also be time allocated for watching True Detective in bed on a Sunday – so, swings and roundabouts you might say.

    Anyway, in an attempt to win the War Against Being Busy, I’ve decided to go to one music-y / gig thing (am I cool enough to say “gig”?) per month. Aim low, and all that.

    So far this year I’ve done alright.

    Nothing in January. Nothing in February. March was the Broken Bells at Shepherds Bush Empire, so that was good, and now here we are in April when – SUCCESS! – another gig was got.

    Last night me and Harriet went to one of a series of “music + technology” nights called Convergence. This one was at St. John’s Church in Hackney which, as the name might suggest, is a church. In Hackney.

    st johns hackney

    This isn’t just any church though. No, no.

    It looks like a normal church, doesn’t it? All religious and clock-wielding, all those concrete pillars and crosses and stuff – there are even normal church-like pews inside and everything.

    But if you think this is just your bog standard church, I’m afraid you’re very, very wrong.

    You missed the clue, guys – it’s in Hackney.

    Hackney’s in East London.

    Therefore in Time Out’s eyes, this can never just be a church.

    No. It must be a Hipster Church.

    hipster church1

    So off we went to East London’s Premiere 221-year-old Hipster Church™ for a Hackney Hipster Gig™ full of Hackney Hipster People™ who are really just people with age on their side who like music, but hey, don’t let that stop you painting an entire swathe of society with a lazy moniker.

    Tell you what though, that Hackney Hipster Church™ was pretty good.

    They’d cleared the pews away and shoved all the Hipster Hymn™ books into a cupboard – apart from the one that Hipster Harriet™ realised she’d been standing on the whole way through at the end – and we watched Vaghe Stelle, Koreless and Jacques Greene do their thing while the speakers, screen, lights and lasers did theirs.

    hipster rave

    It was most enjoyable.

    I know it’s difficult for you to tell how good it was because I failed to capture every moment on camera, and that’s how you can usually see whether someone had a good time or not.

    Unfortunately I didn’t take any videos either so you won’t know how it sounded; you’ll just have to make do with me saying that if you like loud music and lasers and basslines and beats and stuff, you’d probably have liked this.

    I’m assured that everyone else in the Hackney Hipster Church™ was having a good time too.

    How do I know? Because of the attendee to iPhone Screen Glow ratio: look! Not a Facebook update in sight. Anyone would think it was 1992 down there or something:

    ratio

    So there we go.

    April’s music-y thing all wrapped up in a brilliantly different kind of venue. Thanks Koreless and Jacques Greene for the right little ear-treat, and Hackney’s St John Church for being Hipster enough to venture away from hymns and into electronic music. If this sort of thing is your bag, then there’s still more Convergence stuff you can catch this weekend.

    I’m currently missing a Music Thing for May, so currently my next stop is Field Day in June.

    If you know of anything happening in May that I can shuffle along to, then give me a shout. (Hipster credentials optional).

    Image: Fin Fahey via Flickr

  • Meanwhile, in Peckham…

    What’s the Dog Breed Du Jour where you live?

    For a while in Dalston it was sausage dogs. They were everywhere, scurrying up the Kingsland Road like little miniature, land dwelling, stumpy legged submarines.

    After that came the French Bulldog Revolution, although lately I’ve heard reports* that you’ll now find that particular breed being covertly exchanged for beagles and basset hounds at Ridley Road Market, as they nip their way to the top of the Dalston Dog Chart.

    *there have been no reports 

    Pugs, on the other hand, have remained a constant. And in my experience, can usually be spotted poking out of the back of cyclists’ rucksacks on Shacklewell Lane as they make their way home in the evening.

    But it’s a different story down in Peckham – better known as The New Dalston or The Latest Area to be Way Out of Your House Hunting Budget Even Though You Would Only Joke About Going There When You Were 14 – where the residents have shunned dogs for a more wet weather friendly pet.

    meanwhile in peckham

     

    Or of course, if you’re looking to branch out in your area, there’s always horses and ferrets. Alternatively, you can always rely on the staple of all London households – a good old fashioned mouse.

    Edit: Or, alternatively – if you live in Knightsbridge – follow the locals and opt for a parrot.

    What you got?

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