Great Eastern Street just off Shoreditch High Street

Lots of street art and vintage buildings:

Old Blue Last Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Cos Entire AD 1700 and Rebuilt 1876

“The View London Review”

“On the corner of Great Eastern Street and Curtain Road stands Old Blue Last, whose site dates back to the 16th Century when it was once a theatre, and at another point a brothel. Voted as ‘The coolest pub in the World’ by NME, The Old Blue Last is now owned by cult magazine Vice.

The Venue

      Changing hands and buildings at various points over the last few centuries, the once-theatre was knocked down and replaced with a pub called The Last in the 1700s and in the 1880s it was bought by Truman’s Brewery, knocked down again and renamed the Old Blue Last. It was this final venue that housed an illegal knocking shop and strip joint within its walls.

     The front of the pub looks traditionally old, with the recently refurbished interior keeping its character, but improving on its old shabby decor. A spacious wooden floor as you enter is edged with Chesterfield sofas, low wooden tables and even a row of four old-fashioned wooden cinema seats with leather backs. Antlers are a key statement and can be spotted on various walls. A bookcase behind the bar houses other strange animals, like an armadillo, to take your attention as you wait to be served. A huge mirror also hangs behind the bar etched with the words Truman Hanbury Buxton Ales, and dates from 1886 when Truman’s took over. Upstairs is more intimate with its own bar and a small stage ready for live acts.

The Atmosphere

      An older than average Shoreditch crowd, a mature mob of after work suits and casuals sup ales and sip wine on the ground floor. People look at ease and comfortable – at home even – in the venue. Regulars make up the majority of punters and bar service is adequate for such a busy venue.”

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/pubsandbars/old-blue-last-review-14297.html

Have to go back and look inside next time!

You are here…. On our way to SCP East

Sheridan Coakley  and I’m guessing the P stands for Products.

http://www.ft.com/ is a really interesting article about his support for new American furniture designers

“Our flagship store, SCP East, is truly the beating heart of the whole company. Housed in a former furniture-manufacturing warehouse, it is one of London’s largest design stores and has had its doors open for business since 1985. Spread across two sizable floors, the store is a feast of design, accommodating both those looking to furnish the whole home or those in search of smaller affordable items of classic design.

     “The story of SCP is neatly intertwined with the complete cultural and commercial renaissance witnessed in the East End over the last two decades. From the heady days of the Brit Art scene to the economic revival of Brick Lane and Spitalfields. In the early years, the SCP East store had the feel of a furniture gallery and warehouse space, hosting exhibitions of SCP products by rising stars of the British design scene and of European design difficult to get in London. The slightly run down and decadent location only seemed to increase the rarified appeal of what was on show.”

http://www.scp.co.uk/pages/scp-east

http://www.scp.co.uk/pages/scp-east

     “SCP was founded in 1985 by Sheridan Coakley as a manufacturer and retailer of modern furniture. Inspired by the designs of the Modern Movement, Coakley decided to start selling classic and hard to find pieces and also try his hand a producing new designs in the same spirit. Nearly three decades on, SCP remains true to its founding idea, to make and sell design products that are functional, beautiful and made to last.

In 1986, SCP exhibited for the first time at the Salone del Mobile in Milan. On show were the first ever manufactured designs by Matthew Hilton and Jasper Morrison. The event established SCP as a pioneering force in the UK and international furniture industry.

Since those early heady days of creative entrepreneurialism, SCP has continued to develop new products every year. Employing the rich talents of designers that include Terence Woodgate, Konstantin Grcic, Michael Marriott, Andrew Stafford, Tom Dixon, Russell Pinch, Robin Day, Donna Wilson, Alex Hellum, Kay+Stemmer, Timorous Beasties, PearsonLloyd, Rachel Whiteread and Peter Marigold.

Today, SCP is firmly established as one of the UK’s most innovative and internationally respected manufacturers and suppliers of contemporary design. SCP is also an acclaimed and award winning retailer, regularly voted as one of London’s finest design shops.”  http://www.scp.co.uk/pages/about-us

I like this really stark cabinet which makes me think my taste has become modern industrial or 1950s something.

I’ve always liked mix & match chairs bought when you find what you like rather than a matched set.

I really like these scrapwood pieces too, but only one per room I think as they are a bit overwhelming like madras shorts.

Waste cabinet in Scrapwood  £5,100.00

Designed by Piet Hein Eek   Manufactured by Piet Hein Eek

     “The Waste cabinet is meticulously crafted in Piet Hein Eek’s studio using traditional woodworking technique. It brings his quintessential vocabulary of recycled wood collage to a cabinet design of exceptional grace. Each piece is completed with a characteristic high gloss finish. Due to the nature of the material used in production, each piece is one-of-a-kind.”  http://www.scp.co.uk/collections/bedroom/products/scrapwood-sideboard

£7,860.00 Piet Hein Eek

I wonder if he’s related to Piet Hein the Danish mathematician, designer, philosopher who wrote the wonderful little book called “Grooks.”

I could live in this building!

http://www.scp.co.uk/  £4,096.00

http://www.scp.co.uk/collections/furniture/products/lansdowne-21  similar

The colors aren’t me, but a desk and chair by a big window is and I love the long neck lamps.

Walking back from Shoreditch…

Eye-i   by Bruce McLean 1993  Best from this view rather than across the street.

The blond with one red eye is what I would have called it.

   “A large metal sculpture situated in North Folgate, outside the Bishopsgate Arcade.  Bishopsgate, North Folgate, Shoreditch High Street and Kingsland Road were all originally part of Ermine Street, the main Roman road from London Bridge to Lincoln and York. Could that be the reason for the two blue lines running up the centre of the sculpture? “

http://www.exploringeastlondon.co.uk/eel/Spitalfields/Spitalfields..htm

Eye-i

This abstract female face in bright coloured metal is by Bruce McLean. Glasgow-born McClean – well-known for his performance art – specialises in the irreverent and this 1993’s sculpture’s title refers to the Glasgow ‘Aye-aye!’ greeting and its prominent winking eye as well as the I-beams from which it is made.

199 Bishopsgate EC2

Tube: Liverpool Street http://www.secret-london.co.uk/Modern_Art.html

http://www.broadgate..co.uk/News/Detail/1251  more about McLean

http://www.broadgate.co.uk/Content/PDF/BroadgateArtLeaflet.pdf more about Broadgate art

https://www.google.com/  is a link to his silk screen which I really like.

http://abstractcritical.com/note/bruce-mclean-the-shapes-of-sculpture/ interview with Bruce McLean

Nest stop, 30 St Mary Axe (street) or The Gherkin as it is known.

A great landmark when you have to find your way home as it’s not so far from SKD Marina.

“A fine pickle”   

   “As Norman Foster’s Stirling prize-winner demonstrates, some of the most exciting sculpture of our time is being produced by architects, writes Jonathan Jones

     It has everything that used to be scorned by the British public: radical shape, industrial materials, imposing itself on a City skyline that some argue should be reserved for Wren and Hawksmoor. Laughed at when it was announced, instantly popular when (quickly) built, this is the first great skyscraper to be built in London.” http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/oct/18/architecture.regeneration

“On curved stone benches either side of 30 St Mary Axe are inscribed the 20 lines of Scottish poet Ian Hamilton Finlay’s ‘Arcadian Dream Garden’.”  Time Out London 

http://abunchofbenches.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/arcadian-dream-garden.html  is the whole poem.

http://www.30stmaryaxe.com/home.html is the building’s website explaining how incredibly eco- friendly it is and energy efficient.  Also explains how the windows are cleaned.

Taking photos of St Paul’s or each other or even a Selfie!

Memorial to Oscar Wilde just near St Martins in the Field across from the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square.

I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.

Oscar Wilde  http://www.brainyquote.com/

I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability.

   If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.

          It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is fatal.

http://ownquotes.com/blog/funny-oscar-wilde-quotes-only-few-witty-ones-chosen/

“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.

Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”

― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1858012-the-picture-of-dorian-gray source of the quotes

“ Oscar Wilde was one of the greatest playwrights in the English language and, on the anniversary of his death, London sees its first public monument to his memory unveiled on the edge of theatreland.

     The story behind this historic monument began in the 1980s and early 90s when some his fans remarked that there was no public memorial to him in the very city where he lived and his plays were most performed. One of those fans, the film-maker, painter and author Derek Jarman therefore suggested a statue.

     After Derek died in 1994, a group of us from public life got together to form A Statue for Oscar Wilde committee to bring that about, and the unveiling of the memorial sees the successful end to our efforts.

     Sir Jeremy Isaacs: "This is a great day for London, theatreland, for Ireland and for Wilde’s family"

Working with me on the committee were celebrated actors Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellan and poet Seamus Heaney.

     We invited 12 artists to submit sketches and from those submissions, we chose the six we liked most. They went away and made models of their ideas and the one which impressed us the most was the portraitist Maggi Hambling.  http://www.maggihambling.com/

     Maggi has had a life-long fascination with Wilde and had often painted him before. For the memorial, she has created a witty and amusing sculpture and called it A Conversation with Oscar Wilde.

     On a green granite sarcophagus, which serves as a bench on which the public sit, Oscar’s head in bronze is seen rising from the tomb chatting away. He is smoking a cigarette. On the granite is inscribed this quotation from his play Lady Windermere’s Fan: "We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars".

     The funds for the statue were raised by public subscription. In fact, hundreds of people contributed small amounts and various foundations generously put up five figure sums.

     I believe that the unveiling of this statue sees a great day for the theatre, for London, for Ireland, for Oscar Wilde’s family and for all those people who admire both the man and his work.

By Sir Jeremy Isaacs, the Oscar Wilde statue project leader “

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/224663.stm

After leaving Shoreditch we had a snack and then walked along Fleet St. and the Strand to Trafalgar Square but wanted to be at Covent Garden : You Are Here maps are great.

After we wandered about Covent Gardens a bit we went off to look for “the fish and chips place in Covent Gardens.”   I had read somewhere that “the best” and “very busy” fish and chips place was in Covent Gardens; best to arrive after 2 pm to avoid lines.  I, however, had failed to write down the name or address.  Luckily one “shop girl” knew exactly where I meant and we were just down the street.  “Walk to the huge ice cream cones, turn left and follow your nose.”  We did just that and found The Rock and Sole Plaice.  She had also told us to order takeaway and find someplace nice to sit.  I assumed that was because often it was too crowded to find a seat.

     As it was almost 2 pm we were able to find a seat; Andrew opted for indoors.

http://www.rockandsoleplaice.com/

“The Ziyaeddin family bought the business and are still running it 35 years later. It was in the heady days of Covent Garden in the 1980s that the first tourists began to visit the area. They would ask local people ‘What is good British food and where can we get some?’ and they would usually be sent in our direction.”

Andrew had fish and chips and I had fried calamari, the “starter” portion. 

I was amazed at how quickly it came.  My calamari were quite good and tender and hot, just like I like it. 

Andrew liked his fish and chips though I wasn’t as enamored with the fish as he: we traded bits so we could each taste both.  As I’ve eaten calamari many places around the world, I am qualified to judge and think this quite good.    I also ordered a dish of mushy peas.  Always good but too much food…even after all that walking!

The friendly helpful cheerful owners/staff. 

Some reviews complained about the service, price and taste.  We had great service, enjoyed the food, didn’t feel rushed as we were there late and seats were available.  We did realize that food was about 1/3^rd cheaper as takeaway rather than eat in; perhaps that’s why the “shop girl” had suggested takeaway and not for the crowds.    A reminder for next time.

I thought the restaurant’s  WW 2 history interesting

A testimonial to the Fenner sisters who  lived upstairs and taught the current owners how to “fry fish.”

You might need a magnifying glass but it’s worth it to read how the present owners were taught to cook fish by the daughters of the previous owner.  The Fenner sisters, Anna and Rachel, taught the new owners how it was done.  You can see the lines on the building that was used as a guide for whoever did the lettering. 

Andrew and Randal relaxing on the boat.