A winter visit to Kew and other London, United Kingdom Things to Do Tips

Visiting Kew gardens in the winter by car (rather than public transport) was a new experience for me - We were able to park (for free) on the road and the gardens were quieter, and more serene than in summer - but as the day went on it got busier and we had to take a table outside to have our coffee but it was still quite mild and sunny with blue skies and there was no wind so it was all good :)

This time we found the Japanese Garden, the Evolution House and the restaurant (which only has a carvery on Sundays so book first - otherwise you need to find one of the other three eating places for snacks/cakes/coffee etc).

In the greenhouses it can get really really humid and after a short while we had to go outside into the fresh English December air for some relief! (It was good to see the bananas growing so well in tropical conditions though!)

Kew is almost entirely accessible to wheelchair visitors - apart from the TreeTop Walkways in the greenhouses.

Please see my other tip on Kew for more information.

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Address: Kew, Surrey
Directions: Please check the website for how to get there by tube/bus etc.
Website: http://www.kew.org/

Brockwell Park is situated in Camberwell - with lovely views over SE London and distant views of the Docklands area - London Eye, The Gherkin, etc.

There is a large old Georgian house - Brockwell Hall - in the middle of the park which has been converted into a cafe - great to find it open on a chilly December morning and very popular with families, dog walkers, pigeons etc.

The park is obviously very important to the local community with allotments, a lido (swimming pool) and tennis courts and BMX track.

It's great finding places like this - sometimes it takes a visitor from overseas to notice these things! Thanks Win :))

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Address: Brockwell park, Camberwell
Directions: Please check the website
Website: http://www.brockwellpark.com/BHall/BHall.htm

I was staying nearby to this "Museum" and thought it would be fun just to have a look and see what it was all about - well - obviously it's about Sherlock Holmes - but he's not a real person so how could there be a museum dedicated to his life and work?? Curiouser and curiouser I decided to investigate further.....

Well.... it transpired that 221b Baker street had always been a lodging house in the late 19th and early 20th Century - and Conan Doyle chose it as the home of his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (who never really existed).

The building is a typical London Georgian town house - the ground floor being the obligatory shop selling every possible Holmes-related nick-nack and the rest is the "Museum". I use quotes here because of course Holmes and Watson and Mrs Hudson (the housekeeper) never owned ANYTHING in here. The visitor is directed into the house from the shop by a Victorian policeman.

There are 4 floors filled with Holmes type artefacts of the period and the tourists LAP IT UP! I asked the guide if visitors were aware that Holmes was a fictional character and he said that NINETY PER CENT of them thought he had been a real person!!

When I was there the most interesting thing was a German tourist who actually looked like Sherlock Holmes with his handlebar moustache and deerstalker hat! Strange but true.

Entry to the "Museum" is £6 for adults.

I have just noticed this is my 100th "Things to Do Tip" (for London) - Yay! Go me! Here's to the next 100!

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Address: 221b Baker Street
Directions: Baker Street Tube
Website: http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/home.htm

Fabulous collections of 18th century French paintings (including Rembrandt and Velazquez), porcelain and furniture are on display here within 25 galleries in the beautiful and historic Hertford House. Entry is free and is open 7 days a week.

There is also a lovely light bright waitress service restaurant where you can relax before moving on to feast your eyes on more!

For more information, please check the website.

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Address: Manchester Square
Directions: Marylebone Tube.
Website: http://www.wallacecollection.org/thecollection

The new Saatchi Gallery is now open in Duke of York Square - and this magnificent building is home to exhibitions of contemporary art from around the world. Currently the work on display is by Chinese artists but I shall be back soon to see the "Germania" exhibition too!

More information about this "free to enter" (isn't London fab??) gallery can be found on their website.

(The "old" Saatchi gallery was previously located in the former GLA building on the South Bank).

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Address: Kings Road
Directions: Sloane Square tube
Website: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/visitor/visitor.htm

I visited this NT property, the home of the Hungarian born architect Erno Goldfinger in Hampstead on a fine Saturday afternoon with friends. The house was built in the 1930's in "modernist" style (which means that a lot of unpainted concrete and steel was used in the design). Goldfinger was the architect of many of the highly unpopular 1960's tower blocks around London which also incorporated the use of steel and concrete. There is a lot of information about Goldfinger and his work on the web so I won't go into anymore detail about that there.

Goldfinger and his wife Ursula lived here for 40 years with their three children, his mother and the nanny so it is very much a family home but the visitor can also see his studio, where he worked with architectural students. The house is quite different from many NT properties and well worth visiting although the garden isn't open to the public as it is quite small and situated between two neighbouring Goldfinger properties.

Guided tours are every hour until 3pm when the visitor can wander at will. Each tour starts with a 10 minute video presentation which helps give a good background to Goldfinger and his work. Tickets are £5.10 unless you have an NT membership card in which case it's free.

After visiting this property there is also the delightful Fenton House, also NT, a short walk away - it's worth combining the two if you are in the area.

Full details of opening times and ticket prices etc are on the National Trust website.

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Address: 2 Willow Road
Directions: As you come out of Hampstead tube turn left. Follow the brown NT signs for 2 Willow road.
Website: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-2willowroad/

A beautiful 17th century merchant's house situated right in the centre of Hampstead. There is an amazing collection of harpischords, porcelain and needlework. The walled garden, abundant with fruit and flowers in July, is sublime on a warm summer's afternoon with its 300 year old apple orchard!

The house belongs to the National Trust and some of the guides also speak German. Check out the views from the attic windows too.. from here you can see the O2 Arena! (Millenium Dome). Unfortunately no photography is permitted.

Check the website for ticket prices and opening times. A short walk away is the Erno Goldfinger modernist house - a total contrast to this one but well worth visiting if you are interested in architecture!

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Address: Hampstead Grove
Directions: When you come out of the tube, cross the road where you see the old red brick fire station with the clock tower and walk up Holly Hill.
Website: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-fentonhouse/

Walks along the Grand Union and Regent's canals offer the visitor some of the more unusual views of the city. Starting at Little Venice (Warwick Avenue Tube), it is possible to walk as far as Camden and beyond to Kings Cross and the East End.

On the way you will see dozens of pretty canal boats, wrought iron bridges, and London Zoo where some of the animals are visible to passers by - hyenas, giraffes and the Snowdon aviary. Camden Town is, as always, absolutely heaving with visitors, kids, punks, tourists, shoppers, fashionistas, drunks and pushers. . It's funky and alive and ... more than a little grubby. That's how it has always been and that's just how it is.

The walk beyond Camden Town is less interesting and not as picturesque imo than the first couple of miles from Little Venice but there are a huge amount of vastly differing architectural styles to be seen amongst the residential buildings.

The contrasts in landscape and environments along the walk are quite dramatic and change rapidly from the sumptuous zillion pound houses with Grecian columns and landscaped gardens sweeping down to the canal banks near the zoo to rundown grafittied social housing developments and unkempt wildflower banks and verges and more industial areas. At some points, particularly around Camden Town, floating debris, plastic bottles, takeaway food containers are everywhere in the water and on the canal banks.

The tow paths are entirely accessible to (fit) wheelchair users with ramps at almost every bridge. The trickiest part came at Camden Town where one has to go over the bridge - which is steep and cobbly and full of people - to access the tow path below.

Please check the British Waterways website for more information.

A new London Travelogue will be here soon! :)

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Address: Central London
Directions: Little Venice to Kings Cross
Website: http://www.waterscape.com/canals-and-rivers/regents-canal

This beautiful Tudor house built by a courtier of Henry VIII , Sir Ralph Sadleir in 1535 is situated in Homerton High Street, Hackney. After centuries of occupation by merchants, silkweavers, and Victorian schoolmistresses, amongst others, and much later, in the 1980's, squatters, the house was completely renovated in the early 1990's and since then has been run by the National Trust and is open to the public.

The visitor can see rooms in Tudor, Georgian and Victorian styles that have been painstakingly restored, and, as far as possible, maintaining the architectural and decorative styles, features and details that the house would have had over the centuries.

Having been to several NT properties, which are all lovely, I especially enjoyed my visit here, partly because Hackney is the place I was born and there was the feeling of "this house is part of my heritage" (in a community sense) - I also enjoyed it because the whole property is almost entirely accessible to visitors with only a couple of rooms closed to the public. There is a really warm, friendly and welcoming atmosphere by the staff, (who are VERY knowledgeable and only too glad to offer help and assistance).

Everything here has very much a "hands- on" approach about it - there are no signs telling you not to touch - (unlike many properties where that is not permitted for understandable reasons) And, the house really seems to be an integral part of the local community, encouraging school groups, and holding monthly family days - (there is a lot to keep children interested here!) and they also host concerts in the Wenlock Barn.

Each room has fact sheets giving historical details and pointing things out that the visitor may miss (look out for the tiny etching of a Tudor man holding a grid-iron above the fireplace in the Georgian room!) - it's worth having a read, you'll be fascinated!

The Curator of the house is Naomi, who was so interesting to talk to and who has so much knowledge about the house I shall have to return for one of the tours which takes place on the 1st Sunday of each month (according to the NT guide book) - again it might be worth ringing the house first for further information.

There is the delightful, licenced, Brick Place Cafe serving drinks, snacks and light meals where we had freshly made sandwiches and a great cup of tea!

Check the National Trust's website listed below, for details of how to get there and ticket prices etc (it's free if you become a member and it is cheaper for family/school groups.)

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Phone: 020 8986 2264
Address: 2-4 Homerton High Street, Hackney E8
Directions: On the corner of Isabella Road and Homerton High Street. About a quarter of a mile from Hackney Central Station.
Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Hackney, in the heart of the east end of London is where I was born, and so on a hot June day thought it would be a good idea to go back and have a little look around.

My idea was to find the Hackney Museum which I had read about previously and was easy enough to find. Take a number 48 or 242 bus from Liverpool Street directly to Mare Street (get off at Hackney Central station).

Using hands on and audio visual displays, the museum explores and celebrates the massive cultural diversity within Hackney over the past 1000 years, from early German settlers through to the Asian, West Indian, Jewish, Turkish, and a whole host of other minorities who sought refuge and work here.

The museum is situated within a recently opened "Learning Complex" and is easily accessible to disabled visitors is free to enter. It was totally absorbing exhibition, with friendly and helpful staff. If you are in the area it would be worth visiting.

Further details, including opening times are listed in the website

Update
I revisted here on the 10th Nov 07 with RhineRoll - Win is always reluctant to try the traditional Londoners food of pie and mash and jellied eels when he comes to London - and so this is the next best thing.. in the fourth photo he is in the Pie and Mash shop in the museum!!

The museum is fully accessible to wheelchair visitors.

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Address: Mare Street
Directions: Next to the Town Hall
Website: http://www.hackney.gov.uk/index.htm/cm-museum.htm