One New Change
I said in this post yesterday, that I would go to One New Change to check out the views.
I did this morning and although the weather wasn’t good, the views from the top were stunning. I also had a pot of tea in Madison’s cafe on the roof, which did cost me £3.91. This was worth it, as I got two full cups, sat in very comfortable leather arm chairs and had magnificent views of St. Paul’s.
The charge to go to the roof is a big fat zero and for that you got a lift with views of the cathedral. Surely, if you want to have good views of London from above, this is even better value than walking to the top of Primrose Hill.
I think One New Change could be the prototype in London and other places for this type of development Only six floors high, but with a double basement, it mixes high-quality offices, shops, bars and restaurants, to create a working, shopping and visiting community. Read their ecological statement here. The building is so much better than that monstrous erection by London Bridge station; the Shard.
I know we won’t see it, as the plans are probably fully in place and approved, but wouldn’t a building with this ethos, fit well into the railway lands, between Kings Cross and St. Pancras, which will probablt be filled by more anonymous high-rise buildings.
Leadenhall Market
Despite the awful weather, today was a good day to walk through a virtually empty Leadenhall Market.
Note the date of 1990. Was that when the art students repainted the inside, as I reported here?
Wet Sundays aren’t generally that nice, but in London, they do mean that you can often walk the streets of the City more or less totally by yourself.
Marks And Spencer Go Back To The Future
This story from the BBC web site is another interesting marketing and publicity idea.
More than a century after one of the UK’s most recognisable high street brands started trading the firm is going back to its roots with a stall in a city centre market.
It has returned to the very market building, in Leeds, where it was founded, in a move councillors hope will bring additional shoppers in.
The opening comes 129 years after Michael Marks, a Russian-born Polish refugee opened a stall at Kirkgate Market in 1884 – the small beginning from which Marks and Spencer evolved.
It’s an idea that might work or it could be a terrible failure.
But why shouldn’t a big company, try something a little out of the ordinary?
Although, I don’t think the traders in the markets round here, would like to see Marks and Spencer open a nearby stall. Although for many years, there has been a small Marks and Spencer at the side of Chapel Market at The Angel. Perhaps they should move their coffee bar, which is just inside, into the street outside?
Buying A Suitable Wash Bag
I’m going on holiday on Monday and I needed a new wash-bag. I searched the shops in Canary Wharf and Islington and found nothing suitable. eventually I bought this pencil case in Paperchase.
A Pencil Case From Paperchase
It is ideal for what I need.
A Wash Bag From Paperchase
I suppose the market isn’t that big, but I need one that is large enough to take an electric toothbrush, my hairbrush and a few other bits.
I would also think there might be a case for making them like old-fashioned gym bags with a draw string.
I think the trouble too, is that most are bought by women and they need to carry a lot more.
I should say that paperchase do sell wash bags, but these were too small for the electric toothbrush.
A Useless Shopping Trip
This afternoon, I decided to go shopping to get some clothes from my holiday next week. I took the Overground to Stratford and walked into Eastfield.
It was not the most fulfilling of trips.
For a start, when I walked in, I thought I might like a tea or a cappuccino. Before the Olympics, I used to get this in the Starbucks by the station entrance, but since the Games, I’ve avoided it, as it only sells drinks in cardboard cups. These are for takeaways, not sitting in.
I then walked through to John Lewis and thought I’d see if there was a suitable coat. I need one with a large internal pocket on my left breast, that is big enough for my newspaper or my small Samsung Tab 2. Despite the attention of a very personable and professional sales assistant in an hijab, they couldn’t find anything, which fitted my requirements.
So it was on to Marks and Spencer, where I tried to get a second pair of cord trousers like those I was wearing. Despite having bought them only last week, I was again unlucky, as that style wasn’t stocked at Eastfield.
So I then retreated back to the Overground and came home.
That was a very unproductive shopping trip. I’ll try again in Oxford Street tomorrow. I should find the trousers, as they had quite a few pairs last week, there are a couple of Carluccio’s for some tea or coffee, but I doubt I’ll find the coat, as big pockets are so two years ago.
Mincepiration
What a lovely name for a cookery book featured in The Times yesterday. The recipes they showed were all gluten-free or could be made so by using gluten-free flour.
I may not buy the book, but I think I’ll try and find a copy and have a browse.
A year ago, I’d have just bought it on Amazon. But their tax antics and the offensive tee-shirts, they have sold recently, have put me off buying from them.
Should We Ditch The Penny?
There is an article on the BBC web site discussing small coins and whether we need them.
It makes a very valid point, and although I’m a large cash user, I can’t think of the last time, I purposely used a coin smaller than a five pence. I don’t even chuck them in as tips.
I just looked and I found that I’ve only one two pence, amongst a load of ones bigger than ten pence, in my coin pocket and I can’t think how it got there! So it probably shows how rare it is for you to get them in change these days.
If I go back a few years, some purchases like newspapers, were definitely ones that needed pennies, but now I buy my daily paper on subscription to get vouchers and the Standard is a free sheet. Buses too, would have needed a few coins, but now I use a card to get them free. Even if you’re under sixty, I suspect buses don’t need pennies.
So just what do we need pennies for?
I suppose there is the pub game of shove two pence or whatever it is these days.
I certainly wouldn’t miss them, if they ceased to be legal tender.
The Guy From Iceland Has A Point
In this article on the BBC web site, the boss of the Iceland chain, blames councils for forcing down meat quality and prices.
Local councils are to blame for driving down food quality with cheap food contracts for schools and hospitals, the boss of Iceland has said.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Malcolm Walker said the “problem really lies” with councils buying food from the poorly supplied catering industry.
He may not be totally right, but I do think he has a point.
I must admit, that I have met several individuals, who through their farm or company have supplied the big supermarkets for a number of years and from their comments, dealing with the supermarkets isn’t always as difficult, as the press would have us believe. But then saying the supermarkets are honest and good, doesn’t sell newspapers.
A Difficult Man
Yesterday the zip in the front of my North Face padded jacket went. It was ideal for me, as it was warm and had a large pocket, where I could put all the stuff that I carry, like gloves and my Samsung tablet.
So I went to the shop where I bought it to get another one. But they have now deleted the inside pocket.
What Grade A Tosser decided that?
But the shop said, that everybody seems to have removed the inside pockets.
To me they are one of the most important areas, when I chose a new jacket.
Why do I always seem to be out of step with what designers want to give us?
Am I right or just plain difficult?
Marks And Spencer, Enfield
For many years Enfield didn’t have a Marks and Spencer.
Marks And Spencer, Enfield
They do now! It was always said in the 1950s and 1960s, that the other shops wouldn’t allow them into the town centre. So we always went to the one in Wood Green, which in those days was one of its better and bigger stores. Although last time I went past it, it appeared to have seen better days.
The Anonymous Widower 