We arrived

Thurs 27 February 2020

So the rest of the journey to London was uneventful - which is how you want your journeys to be. I watched a couple more movies, dozed a little bit and then hey presto, we arrived. 

Heathrow was surprisingly efficient, we got through passport and luggage collection pretty quickly, picked a couple of Oyster cards and hopped on the Piccadilly line to Barons Court. 

On the Piccadily line to Barons Court, we don't look too shocking after 20 hours travel....

Our Airbnb apartment was a fifteen minute walk from Barons Court underground station and we finally arrived at our apartment at about 2 pm. Richie did an excellent job, choosing the apartment. 

West Kensington Apartment, cosy and comfortable and so well located, well done Richie.

On entering, the bathroom and laundry was downstairs and upstairs was one large room with bed, TV and kitchen. The heating was excellent and it was really well stocked and had a dishwasher - perfect for a lazy holiday. We spent an hour or so messing around with the heating, fridge etc and then decided to go out before the jet lag got hold of us. We really enjoyed the apartment, the facilities and location were excellent. It was pretty quiet, except for the clanging of the gate, which was right under our window, but we soon go used to it.

Our front door

The view to our street, North End Road

The apartment was located in a small cul-de-sac.

We set out immediately on Richies' tour of London. We visited his old house on Seagrave Rd and his old primary school, Beaufort House, (where Richie became the touchable hero) and which is sadly now a black of flats but you could still see the original and very ancient school wall. 

Many, many memories

Richies old family home, still exactly the same on the outside

The biscuit factory, Marsh Brothers (where Richie had his first job and the lads used to torture their poor supervisor) and Robbies, the local corner shop, are now all long gone, but Patricks' toy shop, is still standing proud (where Richie used to spend all of his paper round money on Subbuteo figures).


We had a great trip down memory lane, which included a re-enactment of the infamous Tommy Tunnel fathers’ 1969 rat squashing incident and saw the exact spot where many a goal was scored, in long ago street football matches (jumpers for goal posts). 

The Brunswick Boys Club, where Richie first learnt to play table tennis, has now been renamed the Brunswick Young Persons Club and boys and now girls are still playing football in the yard, although now it is now all fenced off from the street.

Man and Boy at Brunswick Boys club

After all that walking, we needed a drink and popped into The Atlas, which is also in Seagrave Rd. It is a cute and cosy little pub. We had a stupendously expensive round of drinks and then staggered home. On the way, we purchased, what turned out to be the most delicious fish and chips. 

First pint, at The Atlas.

Finally we staggered home to our toasty apartment, stuffed ourselves (we shared a piece of haddock and piece of cod), had our first shower in 30 hours and promptly fell asleep.

We had promised ourselves we would try to get out and about early and so we did, on our first full day in London. We'd planned to visit Agnes’ grave but it was raining in the morning so we went to the V&A instead. 

Such a beautiful building. Richie and I are really good at visiting museums and galleries together, we are both interested in more or less the same things and we both have the same attention span. The fashion display was really worthwhile, as was the photography and jewellery sections. However, I think the building itself is the star. 

Artwork at the V&A.

We stopped off for coffee and cakes after the V&A, then the sun came out so we decided to take a leisurely stroll though Holland Park, where Richie spent many of his youthful hours knocking a ball about. 

Views of Holland Park

cheeky chappy

Holland Park is as beautiful as ever. The flowers were beginning to bloom and the squirrels were jumping about. The park itself hasn't really changed over the years but the Commonwealth Institute is long gone, although they saved the outer shell of the building and it is now the Design Museum.

Richie in another old stomping ground, Holland Park

Next we jumped on the 28 bus to Notting Hill Gate to see our old basement flat and have a drink at the Sun in Splendour. None of the buildings have changed at all, (on the exterior at least) which is kind of fun and definitely helps the old memory.

Talking of which, Richies' memory of both the bus and underground routes was excellent. We ended up catching lots of buses, which is a much better way of seeing London. 

No caption needed

Notting Hill is some ways is exactly the same as it was thirty years ago but at the same time, totally different. It’s much more touristy, the local shops have given way to tourist tat, and the pubs on the main strip are fully aimed at tourists, and worst of all there are union jacks everywhere........ but even so, it still has a certain charm. I think that bloody movie of the same name, has a lot to answer for. 

Our old basement Flat, Colville Gdns, Notting Hill

Colville gardens, strangely there seems to be parking space available now?

From Notting Hill, we jumped back on the number 28 bus to Kensington High Street, my old stomping ground. We checked out the staff quarters for the Royal Garden Hotel. 

They were exactly the same on the outside but one would hope they’ve been refurbished inside over the last 30 years. We didn't go into the Royal Garden but that to, looks the same on the outside. I had a memory of young Bron and I, racing out of the evening shift, with all our tips to stuff ourselves at Strikes (the legendary burger place across the road). Still the best relish tray ever. 

Chambermaids extraordinaire, where it all began for Bron and I.

Finally we had a stroll through Kensington Gardens but the cold was starting to get to us, so we jumped back on the 28 bus and headed home to West Kensington.  We didn’t venture very far on our second evening, we walked around the corner to the Famous Lilly Indian restaurant, also part of Richie Tour of London, as this was the first restaurant he remembers going to with George and Pat Saxty. 

I like to imagine a 10 year old Richie all big eyed and no moustache, enjoying his first, of a life time of many, many curries. The food was delicious and for once we didn’t over order.

The mini Waitrose, right under our aparment, we usually popped in most nights on the way home.