Secret London Part Four (Blog Post 100)

A few places to visit had accumulated on my Secret London list and I chose a couple more from my book plus a couple from my own knowledge that I thought it would be good to have a look at. To start off mum and I met at Waterloo and after a trip on the Jubilee line arrived at St. John's Wood.

  

After a walk down 'the made famous by the Beatles' Abbey Road we came to The Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate

I've been wanting to visit this impressive housing estate for a few years. It's used a lot in films, as it is so unusual and eye-catching. Mum and I walked all the way through it admiring the symmetrical concrete forms and intricate well-designed shapes; taking photos of the striking angular houses and apartments.

We then took two short train rides from Swiss Cottage to Hoxton for The Geffrye Museum.

The museum is a bit like a real life version of the BBC 'Back in Time' series of programmes. It starts with displays of drawing rooms from the 1600s, moves on to rooms in the 18th and 19th centuries and then in the modern extension you can see displays of 20th century lounges. I definitely recognise some of this furniture from the decades I have lived through in my own life. I have visited this museum a number of times and it is definitely one of my favourites.

 

The main purpose of our trip was to try out the Geffrye Museum Cafe. It was very pleasant with elegant surroundings. I had a substantial ploughman's lunch and mum had a very tasty looking vegetarian hash.

From the Geffrye Museum we then took a bus down to the river to visit The Twinings Tea Museum.

I am a big tea fan and Twinings make fine tea, so I think I was expecting more from this experience than I actually received. There is not much to the museum, it is mostly a shop and is very narrow. The tea and what there is of its history were interesting but it was all a bit brief, so we quickly moved on.

The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting more popular sights in London, the Thames, Hungerford Bridge and the Royal Festival Hall. Over a coffee mum and I compiled a Secret London Top Ten list and I am now mulling over a follow up to our four Secret London day trips.