Centre Point Building London, Tottenham Court Road

Centre Point skyscraper opened in 1966

I’ve always wanted to see the views from the top of Centre Point in London’s West End on the corner of New Oxford Street, WC1, especially now, during the building of Crossrail. There’s a big Crossrail building site directly below which is a point of entry for all the work going on. As well as upgrading the original station at Tottenham Court Road (which has been there 100 years or more) they are in the process of building a new station the size of three football pitches underground.

Erbie and I were up and out plus the sun was shining so I thought we’d give it a go. Because of all the Crossrail works the entrance to the Paramount, the roof top restaurant at Centre Point keeps moving. We got in by stairs next to the tube entrance. At busy times you need to book but if like us you happen to be there in the morning you might get lucky and be allowed up, (after signing in at reception).

The lift goes directly to the 32nd floor where the views didn’t let us down and it was time for elevenses anyway. The staff were very friendly and directed us to the viewing gallery on the 33rd floor (only accessible by stairs) with stunning 360 degree views.

Crossrail site at Tottenham Court Road

We sat in the corner of Paramount bar on the 32nd floor of Centrepoint and enjoyed the August views. The Crossrail site was directly below.

The trees are Soho Square 

Soho Square was clearly beyond the site, where laser monitors have been set up on the corner of buildings to check regularly for any movement or sinking from the huge tunnel being bored out beneath. 

Apple juice

 Elevenses at Paramount you can make a reservation here, what a great venue for breakfast or afternoon tea. We just had drinks and some rather nice french fries with salt and pepper octopus.

Martini

Keep ’em clean

We like a nice bathroom!

The view down Oxford Street from the 32nd floor bar. On leaving we popped up to the viewing gallery, which was empty.

Paramount viewing gallery 33rd floor Centrepoint, W1

Views from the 360 degree viewing gallery.

BT Tower

Soho Square

Crossrail site

Viewing gallery

St Giles in the Fields Church with the green roof.

St Giles in the Fields Church which is next to the lovely Phoenix Community Gardens always worth a look in and a haven in the middle of the bustling West End and in front of a tiny playground where I used to spend hours swinging Erbie as a baby.

Enjoying the scenery

Denmark Street.

You can see Denmark Street here, or Tin Pan Alley as it is called locally, famous for it’s guitar shops in the middle here. And looking further afield you can see the London Eye on the Thames.

The London Eye on the Thames in the distance.

The eco friendly, award winning office buildings of Central St. Giles completed in May 2010 at the cost of 450 million you can see the living roof on the main section and roof garden behind.

Central St. Giles

Central St. Giles

If you look past Central St. Giles you are able to see the City and the Shard to the right.

City and Shard.

Tottenham Court Road.

And my favourite place - Bedford Square, in Bloomsbury behind Tottenham Court Road, with the 1930’s Senate Building (part of the University of London).

Bedford Square

1930’s Senate building

Looking North towards Camden up Tottenham Court Road you can see the BT tower to the left and the light green University College Hospital (UCH) on Euston Road, to the right, which incidentally also has good views, (from the oncology floor although I hope you’re never in a position to see them.)

BT Tower, UCH, BFI building on Gresse Street in the foreground.

Centrepoint WC1

Centrepoint was also famous for it’s sterling work in helping homeless young people off the street. You can get involved, find out what they’re about or even donate here.  £12 will sponsor a room for a night.

Food for thought

All photos taken on rather shabby  Blackberry and © WEM - Sara Hodgkinson.

Pick Your Own in London

Parkside Pick Your Own strawberries

A Pick Your Own Farm - in London!? Yes, you really can Pick Your Own in the city (fruit and veg that is), so if like me you hanker after that childhood memory of strawberry stained fingers and a basketful of spoils or fancy making some new ones you don't have to be in the country to do it.

Doh!

Parkside Farm in Enfield is the place to go, that's Enfield, North London. We went by car, I imagine it would be a bit tricky to get to by public transport but do like us and go en masse. Parkside are also proud winners of the 2011 Pick Your Own Farm award, I imagine they are in the running this year too.

The bounty at this time of year is abundant and of course the weather has been amazing.
On entry you collect your containers for free, blue and green baskets for fruit and plastic bags for veg. We noticed some more experienced pick your owners with their own containers (weighed on entry) and trollies!

The choice of produce is amazing, you can find a crop calendar and farm maps on the website.  I'll definitely be going back for squashes in the early Autumn. It's open from 9am-5pm everyday except Monday and the shop also sells honey, meringues, cream and jam sugar.

Available to pick presently: raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, sweetcorn, plums, redcurrants, cherry toms, beetroot, courgettes, marrow, spinach, swiss chard and green onions.

Signpost to bounty

We followed the signposts to the bounty ahead with our baskets and bags. First up, table top strawberries, which mean they are waist height rather than on the ground, easy for little fingers and big ones.

Strawberry fields forever

It's a family affair

Parkside Pick Your Own strawberries

After strawberries we went in search of plums, my heart was set on Victoria but we found this variety called Opal instead slightly bigger than a grape, and great for small children.

Opal plums

Next cherry tomatoes also at table top height for easy pickings.

Cherry tomatoes

Combine Harvester doing it

Raspberries too, gorgeous later I froze some and have just had a handful on my granola!

Parkside Pick Your Own raspberries, London

 And a field of sweet, sweet sweetcorn, look for plump bodies and dark beards (on the corn silly) for ready to pluck husks.

Get them to work early I say.

 I couldn't resist getting a bohemoth of a marrow (79p) which I intend to stuff at some point.

Marrows

Spoils of the day

Entry is £3 per person, payable on leaving when all your fruit and veg are weighed, (price per kilo on the website). Ours came to the grand total of £11.49, a bargain for a day out with food thrown in! I celebrated later with a blackberry martini, well all that fruit needs using up.

This has to be good for you!

Wonderful Whitstable - UK Beach Holidays

With the increase in flight prices during school holidays and the stringent laws on taking kids out of school during term times more of us are choosing to holiday in the UK. 

Although not a true holiday of sorts a change was certainly as good as a rest for Erbie and I while the sun shone in Whitstable. As I am lucky enough to be able to work from home, when a friend (who lives in Whitstable) asked if I would like to house sit whilst they were out of the country I jumped at the chance. 

Whitstable on a Summer's eve in July, tide out.

Whitstable beach during the day.

Whitstable sits on the Kent coastline between Herne Bay and Seasalter a pretty seaside town more Cath Kidston the Kiss Me Quick, rafts of unspoilt pebble beaches where you can find lucky stones with holes right through the middle or perhaps even a heart shaped one for the keen eyed. The town itself consists of the main High Street running into Harbour Street with plenty of lovely independent shops and quaint alleys to explore.

Whitstable Alley sign

Alley in Whitstable

Whitstable town

Getting There

Trains are every half hour from London Victoria, the train divides at Faversham so make sure you are in the front 4 coaches destined for Ramsgate to hop off at the small station in Whitstable. The journey takes an hour and a half from London and gets full at peak times. Almost everywhere is within walking distance in Whitstable itself so there really is no need for a car.

Places to Stay

From converted black clapperboard Fishing Huts a stone's throw from the sea (from £75 per night) to quaint cottages further back, a caravan park and hotels Whitstable is your oyster. There are also plenty of lovely homes to rent on airnb from this lovely 1 bed apartment The Salt Cellar on Albert Street to whole houses.

Seafront houses

A typical seafront property in Whitstable

Beach huts near the harbour

Caravan Park towards Seasalter

Beach huts towards Seasalter

Oyster Festival

Whitstable is famous for oysters and holds an oyster festival strangely out of oyster season although there are plenty of rock oysters consumed during the time. The oyster festival is held in the last week of July until 2 or 3rd of August and culminated with a firework display on the beck at sunset and the lovely tradition of building grotters on the beach.

Discarded oyster shells are put back in the sea after the festival

A mountain of oyster shells besides the harbour

Grotters

Grotters are little round piles of oyster shells built around a tea light on the beach at sunset, a twinkling pretty heart for your group to watch the fireworks around.

A window display Grotter 

Shops

Whitstable has a plethora of independent shops selling a myriad of tasteful beachy fair for the home from wooden strings of fish and placards signs to the beach. There are 3 little galleries with some surprisingly pleasing artworks, I particularly liked the limited edition portraits of ungentlemenly characters including Hunter S Thompson and Johnny Cash. For staples there 2 supermarkets of sorts on the high street, the Co Op at one end and Budgens in the middle. Herbaceous stocks all the small but necessary ingredients you don’t know you need until you decide to make a paella for example, saffron, preserved lemons, rose water and the lady who runs it is lovely and chatty. Some superb cheeses and lovely artisan breads can also be found for a picnic on the beach with a chill Sauvignon Blanc from The Offy on the high Street.

Everyone who loves cheese should try Tunworth at least once

Seaside shopping with a difference

Quaint and quirky shops on Harbour Street

A lovely placard outside a shop in the town

Postcards

From tasteful to tacky to Moomintroll all are on offer for around 50pence, several of the shops that sell them sell stamps too.

Typical postcard

Food

If it's oysters or fish and chips you are after, from the Whitstable Brewery on the harbour to Wheelers on the High Street there is plenty of seafood on offer and a surprisingly good Indian in the Star of Bengal. If you are after a hearty breakfast you can't go wrong with Windy Corner Stores at the sea end of Nelson Road rightly garnering rave reviews from far and wide.

Wheelers for excellent oysters

Whitstable Fish Bar for fish and chips

Just a few oyster shells at the Whitstable Bar on the harbour

Mmmm doughnuts

Windy Corner Stores

Windy Corner Stores at the seaside end of Nelson Road

Whitstable oyster company

Pubs

There are more than enough pubs for a crawl in Whitstable from the quaint flower covered fronts on the High Street to The Old Neptune in prime location on the beach.

The Old Neptune nestled on the beach

Peter Cushing was a famous resident of Whitstable

Ship Centurion a Free House on the High Street

Swimming

The beach is pebble although there are bits of sand along the shoreline, it is quite easy to find aqua shoes in the shops which have a rubberised sole and can be worn into the sea. The water towards Tankerton Slopes is clearer and there is an indoor swimming pool next to the harbour.

Stylish picnic on the beach

Tankerton Slopes

20 minutes walk from Whitstable Harbour you will find Tankerton Slopes, good for kite flying and beach hut spotting. If you face the sea and walk along the sea front path to your right you get to Tankerton with it’s grass slopes dotted with beach huts and an old cannon looking out to sea. There’s a rather nice toy shop just back from the front too.

Tankerton Slopes

Tankerton beach huts

Cannon looking out to sea on Tankerton slopes

Beach hut in Tankerton

Crabbing

Have a go! The shoreline divided by groynes is a haven for crabs, mostly babies but a must for inquisitive kids. You can pick up a clear crabbing bucket from the toy shops or mini market and all you need is a piece of string tied to a stick with your preferred bait secured at the other end (raw bacon is a popular one). All caught crabs should be returned for whence they came at the end of the day.

Always put your catch back

Seaweed covered groyne

Further afield

Canterbury for larger shops and a beautiful cathedral is a short hop on the train or a bus ride away and there is also a bus to the nearby Aspinall Zoo - Howletts Wild Animal Park. http://www.aspinallfoundation.org/howletts. Herne Bay is along the coast to the right  and Seasalter in the other direction.

Along the coast towards Seasalter

Unloved beach huts towards Seasalter

Towards Seasalter

Sleeping boats towards Seasalter