The Camels of Victoria Embankment

Posted by Colin

London’s most famous fake animals are probably the lions who guard Admiral Nelson in Trafalgar Square. However, further down the northbank of the river, close to Blackfriars Bridge and HMS President, you’ll find some unlikely creatures: camels. Having walked along the river many times, I’ve always managed to overlook these tassled creatures bookending the waterside benches.

Doing a bit of digging I’ve found that they were installed 1878, putting pay to one notion they were installed to match the memorial to the Imperial Camel Corps which sits in nearby Embankment Gardens. The Imperial Camel Corps was a camel-mounted infantry brigade of the First World War and so their memorial wasn’t installed until 1916.

It seems the camels of Victoria Embankment may be there to compliment the Egyptian theme of the area, with Cleopatra’s Needle – an 1819 gift to the UK to commemorate Nelson’s victory at the Battle of the Nile – standing nearby. Due to the cost of transporting it to Britain, the needle wasn’t actually brought to London until surgeon Sir Erasmus Wilson stumped up the £10,000 (!) required to get it here. It was finally raised in 1878 – the same year as the installation of the camels. The ungulates are still standing today, peering over the Thames with a great view of the London Eye upstream.

Cabmen’s Shelter

Where: Russell Square, WC1

New York’s are yellow, ours are black – taxis can often define a city in the minds of the world. With around 20,000 Hackney carriages running the tarmac tributaries of the Capital, cabbies are often in need of somewhere to have a break. However, in the days before central locking, and even before cars, a cab driver couldn’t leave their horse-drawn carriage unattended.

To alleviate the problem, the Earl of Shaftesbury set up the Cabmen’s Shelter Fund and built 61 shelters around London between 1875 and 1914 at a cost of £200 a go.

These little green huts, restricted by law to be no bigger than a horse and cart, are staffed by an attendant supplying hot food and drinks to working cabbies. Of the original 61 shelters, 13 are still to be found dotted around London. And with Grade II listed status, they should remain around for sometime to come.


Keen to check out these Victorian curios for myself I popped down to Russell Square and was pleased to find two cabs parked up outside the shelter, although there were no signs of it being open for business. This particular hut was relocated here from Leicester Square.

Wikipedia lists the other remaining shelters as being at:

Chelsea Embankment SW3 – close to junction with Albert Bridge, London
Embankment Place WC2 – close to the Playhouse Theatre
Grosvenor Gardens SW1 – to the west side of the north gardens
Hanover Square W1 – on the north side of the central gardens
Kensington Park Road W11 – outside numbers 8-10
Kensington Road W8 – close to the junction of Queen’s Gate SW7
Pont Street SW1 – close to the junction of Sloane Street
St. George’s Square, Pimlico SW1 – on the north side
Temple Place WC2 – opposite side of the road from the Swissötel Howard
Thurloe Place SW7 – in the middle of the road opposite the Victoria and Albert Museum
Warwick Avenue, London W9 – centre of the road, by Warwick Avenue tube station
Wellington Place NW8 – near Lord’s Cricket Ground

If you encounter one of these quaint green huts, spare a thought for the Earl of Shaftesbury, whose forethought and generosity has kept London’s army of cab drivers fed and watered for decades.

Constellations

Where: Duke of York’s Theatre, WC2
When: 9th November 2012 (until 5th January 2013)
Website: http://www.royalcourttheatre.com
Price: £25-£49.50
Rating:

Imagine a world where the alternative outcome of every choice you’ve ever made is played out across an infinite number of universes. Where there’s a version of you out there selling more records than the Beatles, and another where you’re the Queen of England, or, more mundanely, a world where you got out of bed 10 minutes later.

That’s the premise of Constellations – a Nick Payne play, directed by Michael Longhurst, which originally opened in January to rave reviews. The play uses the concept of the multiverse – an idea borrowed from quantum physics – where every subatomic event splinters the universe, with each possibility playing out simultaneously across an infinite number of parallel universes. The same idea is used to take the audience on a poignant and witty journey through one couple’s love story. The two actors (Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins) keep the audience enthralled as they play out the consequences of each decision made, and show the enormity of tiny choices on the course we take through life.

We attended on opening night, which is always a risk – the cast are often fresh and keen to perform, however may not be as polished as later in the season. Happily, this was not the case, and the cast delivered exceptional performances. Clever lighting and staging brought the multiverse concept to life and avoided any risk of the premise appearing gimmicky. In fact, our only criticism is a slight touch of repetition in the dialogue, though this is an unavoidable consequence of the plot.

Verdict:
If you’re still able to get a ticket, do so quickly. It is original, clever, funny and thought provoking. The cast and crew deserve all the praise currently being lavished on them. It is impossible to see the play and not reflect on our place in the universe and the impact of each choice we, and those around us, make.

How I attended my own wake and have the mix tape to prove it

Where: Lounge Room, Leicester Square Theatre, WC2H
When: 17/01/12
Website: http://www.stevepretty.com/
Price: £8
Rating:

It is not everyday that you hear someone claim to have attended their own wake, or that their friend had knocked together a mix tape for the event. What is more likely is that if these things had happened to you that you’d want to tell someone, or everyone, about it. So on Tuesday night we went to see Steve Pretty’s account of How I attended my own wake and have the mix tape to prove it. Not really knowing what to expect, we went along mostly because we thought it sounded a bit random (and I still hanker for the good old mix tape days). Due to the scourge of delayed trains, we walked into the tiny room to find the only remaining free seats were on the (empty) front row, only a few inches away from Steve’s performance area. It would be Colin’s undoing.

The show’s premise is that in 2004 the Daily Mail reported Steve dead. Despite the paper’s reputation for grave inaccuracies, his best friend subsequently organised a wake for him and put together a mix tape of meaningful songs to be played to gathered friends and family. Steve turned up to the wake, but then lost the mix tape – he recently found it in an old Ethiopian lunch box (!) and decided to write a show about the songs. To avoid any licensing obligations, Steve played excerpts of the songs with a trumpet, melodica (or keytar) and loop machine. We even witnessed, probably, the world’s only percussion performer of 3.5″ floppy disk against antique motherboard. He simultaneously played a tape with a voiceover commentary, explaining why the songs were important, with plenty of amusing anecdotes.

The show involved lots of audience participation, including singing along, playing the tambourine, and blowing whistles. Being on the front row we were inevitably picked on. Well Colin was. In order to demonstrate the ability of music to lighten up any situation, Colin was asked to stand at one end of the room, while another member of the audience shouted insults at him though a megaphone until he was extremely sad (although it did take a while to break him). Steve then played a circus tune through a teapot (yes a teapot) into his ear to cheer him up. Just like magic it worked!

As well as being great fun, the show also had extremely poignant moments, especially when Steve described the circumstances surrounding his death being reported – the 2004 Boxing day Tsunami. It also was very effective in making me think about the influence of music on mood, and how songs can transport us to particular places and memories.

The night ended with everyone joining in with a kazoo song and letting off party poppers. Despite it being a cold, dark January evening, I don’t think there was a single person who didn’t leave with a smile on their face. My only criticism was our proximity the to the front, as the trumpet was a little loud for my delicate ears. But in a small venue, and with delayed trains, what can you do.

Verdict: Steve Pretty is a talented comic and musician, and if you’re looking for an unusual comedy show this is perfect. Hopefully if you go and see one of his shows, like us, you’ll leave with your spirits raised, having had a great night.

Hummus Bros

Where: Southampton Row, Holborn, WC1B
When: 17/01/12
Website: http://www.hbros.co.uk/
Price: £3.50 – £5.30 for a small main course.
Rating:

When leaving a meeting in Russell Square on Tuesday my colleagues and I set off in search of lunch. The others decided to head to Hummus Bros on Southampton Row down near Holborn Tube station. I can’t say my first impressions of the idea were favourable – hummus has never been particularly high on the list of my favourite foods.

However, always open to trying new things, I relented and decided to join them. I am glad I did. Hummus Bros was a delight and, with outlets in Soho and St.Paul’s to boot, I urge you to get down there to sample their wares, even if like me you aren’t immediately drawn to chickpea cuisine.

Dishes are served in two sizes – regular and small – and consist of your own individual plate of hummus acting a base with a variety of toppings. Regular meals come with two pieces of delicious warm pitta; small meals are joined by a single slice. I plumped for the chunky beef combination – slow cooked chunks of tender beef to accompany the fresh, homemade hummus dusted with paprika. It was scrumptious, as was my drink of warm, spiced apple juice.

After our meal the really friendly staff brought us two small portions of malabi – a milk based desert with date honey – on the house. We also got a small glass of mint tea each for free. That was a great touch and a great marketing technique. Why spend money on expensive advertising when looking after your customers ensures favourable word-of-mouth? I would certainly recommend a trip.

Verdict: Delicious. Despite being highly sceptical at first, I was happy to be wrong as it was a great lunch and I will definitely be going back and taking Ruth. They also do takeaway and have several delivery options as well. I look forward to trying the other toppings, such as mushrooms, chicken or guacamole. Yum!

Fire and Stone Pizza Restaurant

Where: Covent Garden, WC2
When: 12/01/12
Website: http://www.fireandstone.com/pizza/coventgarden/index.asp
Price: £7 – £11 for a pizza.
Rating:

It is often a fruitless exercise to reinvent the wheel. Unless that wheel is made of dough and covered in curry that is. Fire & Stone in Covent Garden is a pizza place with a twist: conventional toppings are replaced with a wealth of different worldly ingredients to create a range of truly different pizzas.

The menu is divided between five of the seven world continents – South America has been combined with its northernly neighbour into simply “the Americas”; Antarctica was probably omitted as not even Londoners could stomach a penguin and walrus steak pizza with ice cube shavings.

What remains is a potential trip around the globe in 23 different pizzas, ranging from Jamaica and Jakarta to Melbourne and Marrakech. The cheapest destination on your culinary travels is Naples – the bog standard mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil at £6.95. The stop that will leave the biggest total on your bill (£10.55) is, unsurprisingly perhaps, Texas – BBQ sauce, mozzarella, BBQ rump steak, roasted red onions, roasted field mushrooms and sun-dried tomato salsa.

For starters we split a dish of grilled bruschetta with Parma ham, melted brie, caramelised onion jam and pesto. It was delicious and washed down with some of the tasty wine we shared at a not too pricey £14.85.

When it came to the pizzas, Ruth went East and I stayed a little closer to home….

Ruth: Jakarta – satay sauce, mozzarella, satay chicken, spinach, aubergine and red chilli, topped with slow-roasted tomato chutney, roasted peanuts and coriander.

If I had to pick a last meal it would probably be satay chicken. So while I’m not normally a fan of mixing cuisines I couldn’t resist the Jakarta pizza. The base was lovely and crispy, but unfortunately the topping didn’t quite meet my expectations. Without a tomato based sauce, the pizza was a little dry and the chutney was an odd addition. Overall it was good to try something different, and the satay sauce was perfect, but I think I’d stay closer to home next time.

Colin: San Sebastian – mozzarella, tomato sauce, spicy chorizo sausage, garlic and rosemary roast potatoes, roasted red peppers, topped with aioli and chives.

The pizza was nice but be warned the potatoes are deceptively filling – halfway through I was already getting full. The chorizo was gorgeous, and, instead of by diced up really small, was fanned out in half sausages across the pizza. A nice touch. My only complaint was the aioli, of which there was far too much and at times it came to rule the roost over the other subtler flavours.

Verdict:

The pizzas were good although a little overloaded with ingredients that didn’t always compliment each other as well as you might hope. At the same time, though, that is also the reason to go to Fire & Stone: to try a different sort of pizza. Roast dinners, curries, English breakfasts can all be found on top of pizza bases and the prices don’t break the bank. If it weren’t for the round-the-globe gimmick, it would clock up 3 stars. It gets an extra half for daring to be different.