Drink in the "smallest public bar room"

Your author found himself drinking in the room at the front of the Dove public house in Hammersmith on Saturday, an atmospheric and friendly space which a certificate on the wall confirms was designated in January 1989 by the Guinness Book of World Records as the "smallest public bar room".


Though your author is unsure whether any space has subsequently claimed the title, in the world of pub folklore an old certificate is usually more than enough to seize the imagination, and in this interesting little pub, which has been owned by Fullers since 1796, it's just one of many reasons to visit.

For more, see http://dovehammersmith.co.uk/about

Play pitch and putt in Queens Park

Billing itself as a 30 acre oasis in one of London's most densely populated ares Queen’s Park is a fairly compact and popular park in North West London, owned and operated by the City of London Corporation.


One unusual highlight in the park is the well-kept pitch-and-putt golf course which sits at its heart, and is open to all-comers for a small fee. When your author visited a little while ago, it seemed to be doing a roaring trade, with plenty of young families taking part.

For more, see http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Environment_and_planning/Parks_and_open_spaces/queens_park.htm

See the Brune Street Panels

Funded by the City Fringe Partnership and designed by artists Meena Thakor and Kinsi Abdulleh, the Brune Street Panels were added to the walls in Brune Street opposite the Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor in 1998.


The panels reflect the vibrant history of the local area, with a particular focus on the Jewish cultural influences in the street and surrounding neighbourhood. The former soup kitchen opposite was established to feed the Jewish poor in nearby Leman Street in 1854, and and relocated to the street, Butler Street in 1902. We are told that even in the 1950s it was still regularly feeding 1500 clients, and continued until 1992, when it merged with Jewish Care in Beaumont Grove. Today it is, as readers might expect, a block of flats.

For more, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiredoflondon/sets/72157629884778427/

See Peter Burke's 'Assembly'

Regular readers will have noticed that your author has a passing interest in public art, and whilst passing Woolwich Arsenal yesterday, he was reminded of a piece by Peter Burke which seemed worthy of sharing.


Without descending into pointless artspeak, it seems that there are a number of figures, and Burke made them out of cast iron, as he wanted to achieve an industrial look. However, they are incomplete, as each figure is made out of only three out of a possible four bits, making it possible to see inside.

There are sixteen figures, and they were created with the support of the Cass Foundation. For more, click here.

View Lorenzo Quinn's Give & Take III

Installed in November 2009, Lorenzo Quinn’s Give & Take III is a four metre tall bronze sculpture which was placed in West London's Berkeley Square to coincide with the opening of Quinn’s solo exhibition, Equilibrium, at Mayfair’s Halcyon Gallery.


Originally intended to spend only six months in the Square, and be removed in May, it was still there two weeks ago when your author popped by, and is presumably still there now.

The sculpture took more than a year to create, and is cast from bronze and brass, weighing in at around 1,300kg. For more information, click here.

Walk beside Fairlop Waters

Failop Waters, in the London Borough of Redbridge, is a former gravel pit which is now operated as a Country Park and Leisure facility, with a 40 acres sailing lake, with two islands, surrounded by 300 acres of open countryside.


Accessible by the Central Line at Fairlop or Barkingside station, the park offers a number of outdoor pursuits, with the sailing lake, with a neighbouring angling lake and another smaller lake for nature, and also ‘wilderness’ walks, two golf courses and plenty of bird watching opportunities.

For more information, see http://cms.redbridge.gov.uk/leisure__culture/parks_and_open_spaces/fairlop_waters.aspx

_{^Picture by John Davies under a Creative Commons Licence^}

Get lost in Trafalgar Square

In a brilliant marketing stunt, the West End Partnership yesterday erected a maze in Trafalgar Square, as part of campaign to encourage us to enjoy getting a little lost in the West End.


It's lasting for five days, and encourages visitors to explore the maze, which is broken down into themed 'streets' which mirror famous West End ones. Each ‘street’, we are told, will highlight some facts about the cultural history of the West End.

The maze, which has been produced by the fantastically-named RentaHedge, runs until this Friday, and is open 11am until 8pm, so this is not just one for the tourists - you can do it after work. Your author, for one, loves getting lost anywhere in London, but especially in the West End, and will certainly be popping by.

For more, see http://www.westendlondon.com/maze/

_{^Picture courtesy of the organisers^}

Use the outdoor gym in Mile End Park

At the Northern end of Mile End Park is a free outdoor gym, opened in autumn 2008 by Olympic Gold Medallist Christine Ohuruogu, and supported by Adidas who are one of the sponsors of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.


The zone has a traversing wall, kickwall, basketball goal, tennis wall and freestyle area for gymnastics, judo, aerobics, dance and taekwondo, and it is hoped that the zones will break down the barriers that prevent people from getting active making sport participation accessible, and it is one of five such zones.

Equipment includes a fitness bike, a chest press, a cross trainer, an abdominal bench, a ski machine and a treadmill, and it's free.

For more information, see http://www.tgogc.com/find-a-gym/mile-end/

See the Democracy Village

The 'Democracy Village', on Parliament Square, beside the Houses of Parliament inspires mixed feelings. Whilst your author values the right of people to protest, there is a certain arrogance to monopolising the space which has traditionally been one on which everyone can protest, and filling it with unelected people shouting across the road at their democratically elected representatives.


Still, what does your author know. It's quite an interesting sight anyway, filled with a ragtag bunch of organisations since the beginning of May, 'campaigning' on a number of issues including peace, the war in Afghanistan, climate change, civil liberties, land reform, electoral reform and 'much more'. We are told that they started their protest following a carnival to mark International Workers Day, at which an unelected 'People’s Assembly' decreed that the War in Afghanistan is at an end. They say they are now occupying Parliament Square to ensure implementation of this 'legislation'.

Unlike the people across the road, who were elected in a poll of everyone in the country, in which 30 million people chose to take part, only weeks ago, your author certainly didn't vote for the residents of the village and he doesn't know anyone else that did. It is without even a shred of irony, however, that these people claim they are here for democracy.

If you want to hear it from their side, the village has an information desk, or even a website at http://democracyvillage.org/

_{^Picture by Ben Sutherland^}

Peer at the Deal Porters Sculpture

The deal porters were the labourers in the London's docks who handled imports of softwood timber from North America, also known as "deal".


The wood was placed in piles up to 60 feet high in quayside warehouses for storage. As you might imagine, therefore, the handlers needed tremendous physical strength, total cooperation and a head for heights. The trade was very dangerous, and the porters even wore a special leather headgear and "apron" over their shoulders in order to protect their heads and necks from wooden splinters.

The deal porters are commemorated with a statue beside Canada Water, as a nod to the deal industry which characterised Canada Dock until the 1970s, and the sculpture itself was originally made in softwood before being cast in bronze.

They sculpture was created by sculptors Philip Bews and Diane Gorvin. For more background on the deal porters, see here

Play netball in the shadow of the Gherkin

It may not feel like the sort of weather you want to be outside in playing netball, but your author has it on good authority that the London charities netball league is in full swing, so if you're looking for somewhere to play with a bit of history, you could contact the good folks at St Botolph without Bishopsgate, a living church in the heart of the City of London.


Their courts are in the gardens behind the church, which as the name suggests is just off Bishopsgate. The courts operate for netball only in the winter and for tennis and netball in the summer. Bookings are possible between 8 am and 9 pm, Monday to Friday in 1 hour sessions, between 12 noon and 2 pm as half hour sessions, starting on the hour and at half past the hour.

Your author thinks a full court is around £40 an hour and floodlights might be available if you have enough £1 coins to feed the meter, but this isn't clear. Best ask when you contact them.

For more, and to contact the Verger and Court Manager, see http://www.botolph.org.uk/hall-court-hire/

Discover the First Plinth, the Second and the Third

We know an awful lot about the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. Gone are the days when it housed thought-provoking art. Now it's just a bunch of attention-seeking members of the public doing something wacky for Sky. And eventually, so rumour has it, it will house a statue of Queen Elizabeth II. But what about the other three plinths in the Square?


Well, the first houses a statue of King George IV on horseback. George, for those like your author who are a little patchy on royal history, was the son of the mad King George III, and was king from 1820 until his death in 1830. He also served as Prince Regent for a further nine years before 1820 during his father's madness.

The second plinth carries a statue of Sir Henry Havelock, a 19th Century General who served in India and the Afghan War, and died of dysentery in India in 1857, a few days after the end of the siege of Lucknow, where he had been trapped with his troops for over a month.

The other plinth commemorates Sir Charles Napier another 19th century British imperial general and former Commander-in-Chief in India, and a descendant of King Charles II.

In 2000, Ken Livingstone caused controversy by suggesting that the statues of Sir Henry Havelock and General Charles Napier could be replaced by "more relevant" figures, stating "I imagine that not one person in 10,000 going through Trafalgar Square knows any details about the lives of those two generals". For now, however, they remain as a testament to the imperial age and the longevity of statues.

For a more thorough look at the Square, try Londondrum or Wikipedia.

_{^Havelock Statue picture from Flickr courtesy of Soham Pablo^}