a couple of weeks ago I was on the Robert Elms show on BBC London, doing the Listed Londoner slot – actually it was with Dotun Adebayo, as RE was away (which meant we got to be cheerier about south London anyway, and to discuss Charlton* in the music bits off air, so that was nice) …
Anyway, I love this slot on RE’s programme and I really enjoyed doing it, especially as TaniwhaThames is so very London-full and every day in the rehearsal room we’re reminding ourselves more and more what we love (and occasionally loathe!) about this delicious city.
so, here’s my answers to the questions. I’d be really interested to see your answers – and for your other home cities too.
1. What’s your favourite neighbourhood? Loughborough Junction (of course! readers of The Room of Lost Things know that!), Brixton, our stretch down Coldharbour Lane including Brixton Village, or a slight detour over to the Ebony Riding Club.
2. What’s your favourite building – Tate Modern. For the views, the members’ room views, the art. (er yes, possibly in that order!) And the views. And the river. And the Rothkos. And the astonishing things that appear in the Turbine Hall.
3. What’s your most hated building? The Barbican. For being so impossible to find your way around – and for the plague pit ghosts that lurk in the loos.
4. What’s the best view in London? The four-sides balcony from the top of New Zealand House.
5. What’s your favourite open space? Brockwell Lido/Brockwell Park.
6. What’s the most interesting shop? (I don’t shop much, am not very fussed about buying things, but for variety and foodstuffs and eating out) : Brixton Village.
7. What’s your favourite bar, pub or restaurant? The Lido Cafe at Brockwell Lido (though The Cambria – my local – comes pretty close, just doesn’t have a water view!)
8. Most memorable night out in London? The night before our wedding, just Shelley and I, a drink with two good friends, a snack to eat, a quiet night in the pleasures of The Zetter (we had no honeymoon as Shelley had a play opening 3 days later, so we had night before and night of our wedding at the Zetter – the luxury of a hotel room in your own town!!)
9. How would you spend ideal day off in London? Swim (Brockwell Lido), walk (Brockwell Park), maybe Tate Modern, maybe swim some more, maybe walk some more.
10. Where would you take someone visiting from out of town? London Eye, coffee at RFH, walk to Tate Modern, a drink there, maybe pop over the bridge to St Paul’s, a boat down to Greenwich, walk up the hill to the Observatory for another spectacular view, down the hill to the Painted Hall, boat back when the buildings are all lit up. Lovely.
11. What’s the worst journey you’ve had to make in London? Walking under the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, going to my mother’s, having had the phone call to say she had died, instead of – as had been planned – doing that walk so I could take her out for lunch in Greenwich, up the road from where she was living. But I was ‘in’ her river, the river she loved, and heartbreaking through it was, it was also kind of right.
12. What’s your personal London landmark? Waterloo Bridge. The view, the fact that it’s the “Ladies’ Bridge”, the fact I cross it several times most weeks (such a gift of south London living – to cross the river so often), the loveliness of the National lit up, the gorgeous 1950s lines of the RFH, Somerset House (and fountains) … all good.
13. Who’s your favourite fictional Londoner? Becky Sharp.
14. What’s your favourite London film, book, or documentary? Lost Rivers of London by Nicolas Barton (1962)
15. If you could travel to any time period in London, past or future, where would you go? To one of the Frost Fairs when the Thames froze over.
and yours?
* Dotun is a Charlton supporter – when I was 3 watched the World Cup final (that World Cup final) – and have a memory of my brother jumping up and down on the settee so hard I was bounced off. I also remember thinking that, because we lived in Woolwich (next to Charlton) and because Bobby Charlton was playing he was kind of ‘ours’ – because he must play for Charlton, right? with that name? Perfect logic for a three-year-old I reckon.
I can’t agree about the Barbican. I would say New Zealand House is pretty hateful (mainly because of where it is, to be fair). But which two people could agree on a list of likes and dislikes!
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the outside of NZ House isn’t lovely, agreed, but the inside is a great example of the architecture of its time – and anyway, it;s about the view, the reason the view is so spectacular is because of where it is – and it is amazing.
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…So many things I’ve never heard of/been to!
Here’s mine
1. What’s your favourite neighbourhood? Battersea – the park and its open air cinema. The Pumphouse gallery. the BAC. The Barge . Even the Power station (maybe not the cat pee smell though…)
2. What’s your favourite building – Notre Dame de France for Cocteau’s murals.
3. What’s your most hated building? The Gherkin
4. What’s the best view in London? Parliament Hill
5. What’s your favourite open space? Nunhead Cemetery, Abney Park
7. What’s your favourite bar, pub or restaurant? Bob Bob Ricard where you just need to press a button to order champagne (the food is delicious too)
8. Most memorable night out in London? The night I moved from Paris to London. Spent it visiting London on night buses. Met quite a few characters. Didn’t understand a word though.
9. How would you spend ideal day off in London? Late breakfast at La Brasserie. A walk along the Thames. Lunch at Le Comptoir Libanais, More walking, a gig at the Roundhouse, diner in somewhere in Chalk Farm, and a late night drink at Le Quecumbar
10. Where would you take someone visiting from out of town? The parks, along the Thames, all your free museums, Borough Market, a bit of Camden, a bit of Soho, on a duck tour, everywhere really! I’m still such a tourist cliche …
11. What’s the worst journey you’ve had to make in London? I haven’t had one.. yet. Bad journeys are in France.
12. What’s your personal London landmark? Borough Market. I like food. A lot.
13. Who’s your favourite fictional Londoner? Sugar from The Crimson Petal and The White
14. What’s your favourite London film, book, or documentary? Lhomme de Londres – Henri Decoin (1943)
15. If you could travel to any time period in London, past or future, where would you go? The Bloomsbury Group
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i totally agree i hate the Barbican it is ugly and i always get lost. My favourite place is the Queen’s house in Greenwich. When i was a child
there used to be an ornate bed behind red museum rope. Once when
there was no-one looking i poked my hand behind the barrier and touched
the bed! ( very naughty i was 11). also the house is a fantastic backdrop to to the Greenwich and dockland international festivals.
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Yay, thank you so much!
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I love all the times we all must have reached behind one barrier or another!
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i also gave the great Elizabethan oak in Greenwich park a sneaky hug!
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