FREEDOM PASS WETHERSPOONS PART 3

  FREEDOM PASS WETHERSPOONS PART 3

     Spotted on Tripadvisor, the perfect Wetherspoons review .....

 "Full of old people. No music".

The George - Wanstead (part 3)
       The metal dragon reminds us that the pub that stood here until 1903 was named The George and Dragon.
       How many can you identify from the "Gallery of Georges"?


            .... the 'old people' might do better here. Answers below. 

The Metropolitan Bar - Marylebone

 
     Wow! The Metropolitan Bar, next door to Baker Street Station, is a gem I was completely unaware of. It's huge, elegant, and cheap for central London.
     On January 10, 1863 the world's first underground train passed under here. It had gas-lit wooden carriages and was pulled by a steam locomotive. This was the new Metropolitan Line and ran between Paddington and Farringdon. So no excuse, as if it were needed, to hang some historic photos and posters in The Metropolitan Bar; click here for more. Madame Tussauds famous wax museum is nearby. See also my Marylebone Part 1 and Marylebone Part 2.

The Surrey Docks - Rotherhithe
    Sandwiched between Bermondsey and Deptford, you would hardly expect Rotherhithe to be an AONB (Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty). Prepare to be surprised.
     I take the Jubilee Line to Bermondsey (1) then walk through Southwark Park for  brunch in The Surrey Docks. Afterwards I visit Greenland Dock, Stave Hill Ecological Park and the Brunel Museum, a total distance of around five miles.
     Southwark Park opened in 1869 and covers 250,000 square metres. It has a lake, café and (free) art gallery (4).

    The iron bandstand (2) has been here since 1999. It is a replica of the 1889 Victorian original. The drinking fountain (3) is believed to be the first memorial in London dedicated to a working man - Jabel West, a member of the local temperance society.
 
     The Surrey Docks (5) sits on a road junction which is very busy apart from London Marathon Day when the roads are closed and you can enjoy a pint as over 48,000  competitors run past, having covered around a third of the 26.2 mile distance.
      Inside, it sounds like a convention of Michael Caine (or Max Bygraves) impersonators. Both were born in Rotherhithe and never lost their London accents. 
     Caine never said "not many people know that", which came from an impersonation by his friend Peter Sellers. Likewise Bygraves' catchphrase of "I  wanna tell you a story" was first coined by impressionist Mike Yarwood, but later adopted by Max.
    Click here for Michael Caine impressions on YouTube.
   
     Greenland Dock (6) used to be part of Surrey Docks, 90% of which were filled in when  containerization meant cargo ships were too big for London's Dockland. From the 1720s whalers used the dock. It had large blubber boiling houses on the south side. Later, it was the UK's main port for timber. It is now a luxury residential area and water sports centre -  including sailing, rowing and dragon boat racing.
     The 'portrait bench' sculpture (7) is of Michael Caine and London A-Z map founder Phyllis Pearsall.
      Stave Hill Ecological Park (8)  is a haven for wildlife ....
...... topped (9) with fine views of Central London and Canary Wharf ....
 
      From the left: The London Eye, Shard, Tower Bridge (between the trees), Rotherhithe Gas Holder, St Paul's Cathedral, Fenchurch Building (Walkie Talkie/Sky Garden), Horizon 22, 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin/Towering Innuendo).
     The Brunel Museum (10) celebrates an engineering dynasty and the first tunnel in the world to be built underneath a navigable river.
                                                                                                          © National Portrait Gallery
        The Thames Tunnel, connecting Rotherhithe to Wapping was built between 1825 and 1843 by Marc Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel (above) using a shield invented by the elder Brunel and Thomas Cochrane. 
      There had previously been failed attempts at a tunnel beneath the Thames, with engineers concluding that it was impractical.
      The tunnel was originally designed for horse-drawn carriages, but by the time it was finished there was no money left to built approach roads. So it was initially used by pedestrians and became a tourist attraction; then later a magnet for petty thieves and prostitutes.
      In 1869 it was converted into a railway tunnel which is now part of London Transport's Overground network. For more watch this nice five minute video.
      Incidentally, in Portsmouth, where he was born, there is a Wetherspoons named The Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
     Next door to the museum is The Mayflower (11). Its distinctly Dickensian interior gives it a very olde worlde atmosphere. But, like much of the docks area, it was rebuilt after WWII, having been flattened by German bombs. There are claims the Pilgrim Fathers, aboard the Mayflower, set sail from here for the New World. But, whilst being somewhere in the area, the precise embarkation point is unknown. Note that The Mayflower has a deck, covered in winter, on the river bank. It is not a Wetherspoons pub and doesn't open until noon.
     At the end of a very enjoyable day I catch a train from Rotherhithe (12) and head north - under the river, through Brunel's Thames Tunnel (13), still in use. This section of the Overground is soon to become The Windrush Line. I know these days assigning new names to anything can be a sensitive issue; but I wonder if The Brunel Line was ever considered.

The Brockley Barge - Brockley

     I'd never heard of Brockley before, let alone visited there, so was pleasantly surprised to discover a nice bohemian vibe with a café culture and some fine street art.
          ..... this Bob Marley mural on the wall of the Brockley Barge wall is a copy  commissioned by Wetherspoons and created by Dale Grimshaw. The original had graced a wall opposite for 49 years before the building it was on was demolished.
    Kristina and Sadé Alleyne (above, right) run a local dance studio.
    The name of the pub refers to the barges which plied their trade on the Croydon Canal. Opened in 1809, the canal was replaced in 1836 by a railway line, laid largely along the same course. 
     The Rivoli Ballroom is the only 1950s ballroom still operating in London. It first opened in 1913 as a cinema, being transformed into a dance hall in 1951. The lush interior décor has been maintained and it continues to host many dance and music events.
     Tina Turner's Private Dancer video and Elton John's I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" were both shot at the Rivoli Ballroom.

The London & Rye - Catford (closed permanently)
 
     The fact Catford town centre is 'a priority area for regeneration' says it all. The most striking landmark here is the Catford Cat, a huge sculpture at the entrance to Catford Centre, a small,  soulless shopping mall. The moggie is made of fibreglass, so unlikely to be a Henry Moore.

The Watch House - Lewisham
     Lewisham town centre is a vibrant multi-racial melting pot, as is the bustling Watch House. It is difficult to image there was once a village here with the Watch House green at its centre.
     The rather nice memorial to Asquith Gibbes is alongside the police station where he worked closely with the local constabulary fighting inequality. Gibbes also led the group that founded the 'Kick Racism out of Football' campaign. He died in 2013 after a long illness.

Spouter's Corner - Wood Green
  
     Barratt (confectionery) was founded in London by George Osbourne Barratt in 1848. By 1906 it was the largest confectionery company in the world, producing 350 tonnes of sweets a week at their five acre Wood Green factory. In the 1950s, when I was a kid, the Barratt brand still flourished, with over 200 different sweets including Refreshers, Sherbet Fountains, Sweet Cigarettes, Liquorice, Jelly Babies and Black Jacks. Since 1966 the company has had a succession of takeovers. The Wood Green site closed in 1980. But the main factory façade and some offices remain. And you can still buy Black Jacks and Jelly Babies.
  
       ..... the wrapping might have changed to something less offensive; but the taste is the same. And you still end up with a black tongue.

The New Crown - Southgate
     Until it was demolished in the 1960s, the old Crown Inn was for a long time one of the many pubs in the village of Southgate, one days travel by coach from central London. The arrival of the North Circular Road and Piccadilly line around 1933 sparked a building boom and Southgate was a village no more.
      Enfield Southgate was considered a safe Tory seat. So when Michael Portillo, touted as a future prime minister, lost to Stephen Twigg in the 1997 general election it was seen by many as the defining moment of Labour's landslide victory.
      Osidge House, 4 Lipton Close, Southgate, was once the main residence on the estate of Sir Thomas Lipton, founder of the famous tea brand. 
      Sir Thomas lived in this house, with various male 'companions', from 1892 until his death in 1931, aged 83. Of the Lipton estate, just the house remains, recently converted into flats. At the time of writing some are still available, should you have a spare million quid.

George Quiz answers:
George I, George Bernard Shaw; George Burns
George Montgomery; George Orwell; George H W Bush
George II, George C Scott; George Brent

TO COME IN PART 4 ...
The Goodman's Field - Tower Hamlets E1 8AN
The Plough and Harrow - Hammersmith W6 0QU
The William Morris - Hammersmith W6 0QA
The Rocket - Putney SW15 2JQ
The Hart & Spool - Borehamwood WD6 1EQ
J.J. Moon's - Ruislip Manor HA4 0AA
The Moon on the Square - Feltham TW13 4AU
The Red Lion & Pineapple - Acton W3 9PB
The Sovereign of the Seas - Petts Wood BR5 1DG
The Great Harry - Woolwich
STILL TO VISIT ...
The Willow Walk, Victoria SW1V 1LW
The Fox on the Hill - Camberwell SE5 8EH
The Holland Tringham - Steatham SW16 1HJ
The Kentish Drovers - Peckham SE15 5RS
The Beaten Docket - Cricklewood NW2 3ET
The Coronation Hall - Surbiton KT6 4LQ
The Furze Wren - Bexleyheath DA6 7DY
The Wrong 'Un - Bexleyheath DA6 8AS
The George - Croydon CR0 1LA
The Good Yarn - Uxbridge UB8 1JX
The Greenwood Hotel - Northolt UB5 4LA
The Greyhound - Bromley BR1 INY
The Richmal Crompton -  Bromley BR1 1DS
J.J. Moon's - Kingsbury NW9 9EL
J.J. Moon's - Wembley HA9 6AA
The Barking Dog - Barking IG11 8TU currently closed for refurbishment
The King's Tun - Kingston 8KT1 1QT
The Moon & Stars - Penge SE20 7QS
The Moon Under Water - Norbury SW16 4AU
The Moon Under Water - Hounslow TW3 3LF
The Moon Under Water - Watford WD17 2BS
The Moon and Sixpence - Hatch End HA5 4HS
The Moon on the Hill - Sutton SM1 1DZ
The New Cross Turnpike - Welling DA16 3PB
The Nonsuch Inn - North Cheam SM3 9AA
The Sir Julian Huxley - Selsdon CR2 8LB
The Tailor's Chalk - Sidcup DA14 6ED
The Tichenham Inn - Ickenham UB10 8DF
The Village Inn - Rayners Lane HA5 5DY
The Whispering Moon - Wallington SM6 8QF
The Wibbas Down Inn - Wimbledon SW19 1QT
The William Webb Ellis - Twickenham TW1 3RR
The Willow Walk, Victoria SW1V 1LW
The Star Light - Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 (airside, opens 0530am!) 

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