Reflect on a year for TOLTOL

It's been a good year here at Tired of London HQ. Your author has managed to think of a thing to do in London every day since the 3rd of January, and has managed to build up a respectable number of visitors through his vague ramblings about our capital.


Tired of London, Tired of Life has even had a baby, inspiring an unknown student in Brighton to begin Bored of Brighton, which follows the same formula as this site. Your author wishes her good luck with that, on the proviso that it does not become more successful than this site!

The New Year will hopefully bring fresh flashes of inspiration for your author, who is moving to a new home back within the boundaries of Hackney, London's greatest borough. This will undoubtedly continue to insire Hackney-centric posts, but your author will continue in his attempts to cover the whole of the area inside the M25.

Your author would like to thank all the great London new media giants he has met this year, who have helped with their work to inspire this site. Particularly everyone at Londonist, Daniel from Twitter.com/LDN, Jane from Jane's London, as well as Ianvisits, 'John Bull' from London Reconnections, Annie Mole, Brian the Pigeon, Caroline's Miscellany and many, many more whose names escape him.

See you all in 2010!

Watch a film on Britain's biggest screen

There are a lot of big budget films around at the moment which suggest you watch them on a big screen, in 3D, and there is no better place in London to do this than the BFI Imax in Waterloo.


Completed in 1999, the cinema has the largest screen in the UK at 20m by 26m, and a seating capacity of around 500. Avatar is probably the big draw at the moment but it is pretty much booked up for a while. Never mind, however as there are other films on offer and the trailers look a bit rubbish.

Tickets are £13.50 or £15 for the best seats, which isn't too bad really. For more, see http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_imax

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Wave to Brian Haw

It's been pretty cold recently, and it's been Christmas, so spare a thought for poor old Brian Haw, who has been sitting out in his tent on Parliament Square since 2001.


Annoying as many of your author's Westminster friends understandably find his incoherent megaphone shouting, you have to admire his staying power, especially at this time of year.

A former boat-builder, Merchant Seaman, removal man and carpenter, he set up his camp as a one-man political protest against war and foreign policy, and has adapted it to take in almost all of foreign and some domestic policy since.

Still, he's survived many attempts to move him and as long as he's enjoying it, you might as well give him a wave. For more on Brian, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Haw.


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A brisk stroll by the Thames - Hammersmith to Barnes

Your author is a big fan of the Thames path, especially by bike, and whilst researching some things to do for a reader the other day he stumbled across a great-sounding short walk available on the internet courtesy of the AA. Beginning and ending at the Barnes Wetland Centre, it takes in Hammersmith Bridge and Barnes Bridge and takes in a beautiful part of the river and some nice pubs along the way.


The walk is only 3.7 miles, is rated as easy and should only take about an hour and a half. If this sounds like your sort of thing, pull on your walking shoes on your next day off and head on down.

For more information, and a pretty map, visit http://www.theaa.com/walks/with-the-wetland-birds-of-barnes-420758


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See the Pelicans in St James' Park

Nowadays most famous for eating pigeons, pelicans were first introduced to St James' Park in 1664 as a gift from the Russian Ambassador to Charles II, when they were described by John Evelyn, a contemporary of Samuel Peyps as "a fowle between a stork and a swan".


Five pelicans still live there today at the Easterly end of the lake near Duck Island, and are so much a part of the Westminster Village that they have even been the subject of debate in the House of Lords.

The pelicans are fed daily at 2.30pm. For more, see http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/st_james_park/flora_fauna/pelicans.cfm

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Go ice skating in Somerset House

Christmas Day may be over but most of us have the day off work, so let's make the most of it. Somerset House ice rink is a seasonal treat that can help us carry on that festive spirit during the


This year the ice rink celebrates its 10th birthday, and if you don't fancy it today, it's open all the way until 24 January 2010.

Opening hours are rather erratic, but the rink is open most evenings and there are even DJ Nights, student events and early morning Breakfast with Tiffany specials.

Daytime sessions cost £10.50, and in the evening it costs £12.50. For more, see http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/ice_rink/default.asp

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Take the Christmas Day London Walks

Whilst the rest of us are slacking off and eating our turkey dinners, there are some people whose dedication to London knows no bounds. The good folk at London Walks are prime examples.They have two walks which their dedicated guides are leading even today.


One walk goes in the morning and one in the afternoon, and both meet at the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square. At 11am, you can take a walk titled Christmas Morning, 1660 - Samuel Pepys's London, and then later at 2pm a Christmas Day Charles Dickens's London Walk will undoubtedly evoke that Christmas Carol spirit which is usually reserved only for Hollywood.

Your author takes his hat off to them. He is flying out on holiday this evening but this site will to be updated, hopefully every day. For more on the walks, see here.

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Celebrate Christmas Eve with St Martins in the Fields

Your author isn't a religious sort, but if you're going to attend church at any time of the year, Christmas is undoubtedly one of the best. So today, why not attend a church service, to remind yourself of the real meaning of Christmas. A little chap who was born about 2010 years ago in a stable at the North Pole and was brought gold, frankincense and myrrh by Father Christmas.


Seriously though, if you're looking for something to fulfil your religious Christmas Eve cravings, or stave off your feelings of guilt over non-attendance over the past year, then St Martins in the Fields is an excellent choice. This evening they have a Parish Carol Service at 6.30pm and Midnight Mass at 11.30pm, and you can make sure you give generously to collections for Connection at St Martins, which does sterling work for homeless people at this time of year.

For more on all upcoming services at St Martin's in the Fields, see here. For more on Connection click the link above.

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Admire the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree

As anyone whose parents sat them down in front of Blue Peter as a child will know, Norway have given the people of London a Christmas Tree every year since 1947, in thanks for Britain's support the Second World War.


This year's tree is as good as ever, standing over 20 metres high and hand-picked from the forests around Oslo. It will remain in the Square until just before the Twelfth Night.

For more, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafalgar_Square_Christmas_tree.

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Climb the Mabley Green Boulder

The Mabley Green Boulder, in Mabley Green, Hackney Wick, is one of two large boulders placed in East London parks by Artist John Frankland. The sculpture, which is a big bit of Cornish granite, was added as part of the Hackney Wick Festival in September 2008, by Core Arts.


Nowadays, some climbing-fans see it as a challenge, and like to climb it. There have even been professional climbing classes held there in the past. Unless you're experienced, your author feels duty-bound to suggest you don't climb it, and just have a nice look at it. You climb very much at your own risk.

For more, see http://leabanksquare.blogspot.com/2008/06/mabley-green-boulder-by-john-frankland.html

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Play Bar Billiards at the Owl and Pussycat

In the Cotswold Inns of your author's youth, Bar Billiards tables were plentiful, but in many areas of London, they have long since been replaced by quiz machines and big-screen TVs. That's why your author is a fan of the Owl and Pussycat, on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch. Despite a recent minor refurbishment, it has retained the table and most of its character, and in a land of haircuts and posing your author is thankful.


Bar Billiards is a particularly British game, though it is derived from a Russian game and there are various European versions. It began here the 1930s, and tables were made by the Jelkes company of Holloway Road in London and sold to pubs around the country. It became very popular in pubs without room for a proper billiards, snooker or pool table as an alternative to the local snooker club.

The rules take a bit of learning, but there is a rules guide, and once you learn them it is great fun. If any readers have spotted any others in London pubs, your author would be very grateful if they could mention them in the comments.

For more on Bar Billiards, see http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Bar-Billiards.htm or for details of the pub click the link above.

Admire the view from The Angel, Rotherhithe

A correspondent recently reminded your author of a lovely pub on the Thames, so when out for a walk in the sunshine yesterday, it seemed like the perfect spot for a light lunch. The Angel in Rotherhithe is one of the oldest public houses in Southwark, and has been recorded on its current site, with the same name, since at least the 15th century, built by the monks of Bermondsey Priory.


Nowadays, it's a Samuel Smith's pub, so whilst it isn't particularly gastronomic the drinks and food are pleasantly cheap, and it is worth a visit if only to sit out on the small balcony. From here you could literally touch the Thames, and it's a great place to watch the boats and admire the unrivalled view back down towards Tower Bridge, City Hall and the centre of London.

One thing that puts both the view and the pub's history in context is that it was here that Turner allegedly painted The Fighting Temeraire, the painting which was voted the greatest painting in a British art gallery and which your author mentioned last Saturday.

For more, see the always excellent Shady Old Lady's article at http://www.shadyoldlady.com/location.php?loc=803

Find the Alaska Factory in Bermondsey

One final trip to Bermondsey for a Saturday post, and a look at the Alaska Factory, on Grange Road. An imposing structure with an interesting history.


In an area where, as your author mentioned on Tuesday, the leather industry had a presence, the factory was the premises of Martin fur merchants, and it was here that they made sealskin jackets. Whilst the entrance gate pictured dates from 1869. It was rebuilt in the 1930s to the designs of Wallis Gilbert, who also designed the Hoover Building in Perivale.

Much of the area was bombed in the Second World War, but the factory escaped when a bomb failed to explode. Damage to the factory from an electrical fault was subsequently repaired and it continued operation until at least the 1950s. It has since been converted into - you guessed it - apartments, and is not open to the public.

For more information, see http://www.visitmap2.co.uk/sites/clients/bermondsey/detailpage.php?pid=19

See the Christmas Lights in Oxford Street

Your author is aware that he has barely mentioned that it is almost Christmas so feels like he should pop it in somewhere. Best to avoid Oxford Street and Regents Street like the plague this time of year, but if you do feel the need to pop by there are some lights.


This year they are apparently themed around a re-hash of Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol', and your author is unsure if he loves that because it remembers a great literary Londoner, or hates it for the Disneyfication.

Never mind, they're there anyway. For more, see http://www.visitlondon.com/londonschristmascarol/

_{^Picture by} Gorfor^^

Admire Bush House

Bush House, on The Strand, is the home of The BBC World Service. Commissioned in 1919, the buildings various elements were completed between 1923 and 1935, with the central part being built first. It was designed as a trade centre for an American company and opened, having been and dubbed the 'most expensive building in the world' at a cost of around £2 million, by Lord Balfour on 4 July 1925 - American Independence Day.


It was not until a landmine damaged Broadcasting House during the Second World War that the BBC began its residence here, with the European Service moving in. The rest of the Overseas Service followed in 1958.

The building has previously been owned by the Church of Wales and the Post Office and the BBC now leases it from a Japanese company, Kato Kagaku. This lease expires next year, so Bush House's days as the home of the World Service are limited. The BBC has set out plans to move the World Service to Broadcasting House, but they change their minds about these plans so often, who can be sure. Wikipedia reports rumour that the LSE may move in when the BBC has gone. Alongside the BBC, the building is home to a very small arcade of shops including a specialist pen shop.

For more information, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/collections/buildings/bush_house.shtml

_{^Picture by James Cridland^}