It is mid April and I’m off to London to meet a new member of my family, my grandson Jude. He’s just coming up to his first birthday and my daughter and her husband surprised me a couple of months ago by telling me that they are going to come to London and I could meet them there. It would be Trace’s first visit to the city although they came to Hebden Bridge at the beginning of their honeymoon in July 2024 before going to Nice and Sorrento.
First was a ride to the station with my neighbour, then the train to Halifax and then the 10.52 train to Kings Cross. Both trains were on time and I was soon settled in my window seat for the three hour journey. It’s not a particularly scenic journey, mostly through the flatlands but I did pass through St Neots in Bedfordshire where I lived for a couple of years in the 1970s Arriving at Kings Cross I negotiated the London Underground, arriving at West Brompton and then a walk to the Residence Inn close to Kensington High Street, dragging my new wheelie case up and down the pavements and crossings. My room had a small kitchen and I had a view of Warren House apartments where the penthouse suites cost a mere £1000 per week! During the five days I was in my hotel I noticed that most of the daytime cars that pulled into the drive there were delivering something or other. I also noticed a Book of Mormon alongside The Bible in my nightstand.
The Massa familty had arrived the previous day after a 10 hour flight from San Francisco and dealing with their own jetlag and Jude’s was inevitably going to be a challenge throughout our time together. I called them as soon as I’d acclimatised to the hotel. The front desk had omitted to tell me that I would need my room card to tell the lift what to do and also to put on the lights in my room. Ha! Half an hour later I went down to the lobby to meet them all – hugs all round and a smiling baby Jude who gave me an inquisitive stare. Just magical. We’d planned to go for a little walk to a local park before I left for an evening concert at Cadogan Hall so we made our way to Holland Park. It’s spread across 54 acres of what used to be the grounds of Cope Castle, a large Jacobean mansion hidden in the woods. Sir Walter Cope built it in the early 17th century. He became Chancellor of the Exchequer under King James I. It was renamed Holland House after the Earl of Holland’s wife Lady Rich inherited the property.Holland House was badly damaged during World War 2.
One wing was saved and is used as a youth hostel which we saw a signpost to. A section of the front terrace was also saved. This is used for the park’s summertime open-air theatre productions and classical concerts. Unfortunately the opera season doesn’t start until next month with La fanciulla del West by Puccini, an opera set in the Wild West. I’ve never heard of it. I got a takeaway cup of tea at the cafe and we walked through the tulip gardens, now at their best, and then looked at the Kyoto Garden which was created to celebrate the Japan Festival in London in 1992. A co-operative project between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce in Japan, the garden was designed and built by an eminent Japanese garden designer and his team. Having my hot tea unfortunately stopped me from taking any photos in the garden but I was overwhelmed by being able to be with my family after only a three hour journey. Throughout the visit I kept forgetting whether I was in England or the USA!
Walking back to the Massa’s Airbnb on Warwick Avenue we passed a blue plaque on the former home of G. K. Chesterton. This area of London – the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea – has many blue plaques and famous people from history and the present call this area home. Trace pointed out many very expensive cars gliding past us as we walked alongside the Georgian terraces, many cars obviously being chauffeur driven. One of our Uber rides was in a Tesla and one in an upmarket Mercedes. In an adjacent street to Warwick Avenue is Freddy Mercury’s House. It’s now a private residence that sold for £30 million in 2024. Anna had found out about it and we went to visit it although it’s impossible to see because of the high protective wall that surrounds it.
Once back in their ‘home’ I got to play with Jude and hold him for the first time which was very special. They had brought lots of his favourite toys and the Airbnb also provided some playthings. Jude crawls around quite quickly and has just started to pull himself into a standing position.
Around 6.30 we all got an Uber so that I could go to the John Rutter Concert. The Massas found a place to have dinner close by and then ubered home. Cadogan Hall is a former Christian Science church, opened in 1907 and the Royal Philharmonic are the resident orchestra. When I had booked to go to this concert it was almost sold out, so 1000 people filled the hall. I had hoped to get a bite to eat in the cafe but 1000 people were gathered in one huge foyer waiting to get to their seats so trying to access the cafe was not an option.
I particularly wanted to see John Rutter conduct and hear his piano concerto and new piece for oboe. I remember singing some of his Christmas carols at Bolton School. His carols were unlike traditional carols having catchy rhythms and lush harmonies. Interestingly he mentioned these carols in his introduction to the audience, saying that he wants people to understand that he writes other music for the remaining 11 months of the year! The oboe player, John Roberts, had me in fits of giggles with his puffed out cheeks and the way he lowered himself at the knees throughout his performance of Reflections – a world premier. Stephen Osborne was the soloist in the Piano Concerto.
I spent the interval charging up my phone in the toilets since I’d taken so many photos I had almost run out of charge and I still had to call an Uber to get me home. The evening ended with Copland’s Appalachian Spring and I left the building, summoned an Uber and was back in my hotel room just after 10 p.m. I tried watching a quiz show on television – my usual method of winding down – but I fell asleep within minutes!
DAY 2
The breakfast room in the hotel was very, very busy. I was disappointed in the choice of cereals – only cornflakes and cocoa crispies – no Alpen or granola. So I managed with a strawberry yoghurt, topped with cornflakes and a bacon butty. The Massas came over to the hotel at 11 and we set off for a walk exploring Kensington High Street. There was an amazing choice of cafes and stunning bakeries which were all doing a roaring trade despite this being a weekday morning. Apart from at the concert and a few people on the underground I felt like the oldest person in any building or venue by far. We were back at our hotel and Airbnb by 1 in time for Jude’s nap. I tried unsuccessfully to project my phone screen onto my room’s tv so that I could watch some tennis. I ended up buying an App but still couldn’t make it work, so I followed Jude’s lead and took 40 winks.
We met up again at 3.30 and headed to Earls Court Underground station where we took Jude on his first underground adventure. We travelled to Westminster and coming up from the station we immediately had Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament confronting us.
As was the case last time I came to London for The Proms in 2024 this area is completely packed with tourists. We watched a group of street performers, one of which could put both legs behind his neck! Another was posing as a statue. Just how did he go to the toilet?
The acrobats were doing crazy things with balancing on a bicycle too. Then we caught another train to Charing Cross looking for somewhere to eat. We tried a few different pubs but some had signs saying No Children and others wouldn’t accept the stroller. Eventually we came upon the Fitzroy Tavern.
We had the whole of the upstairs room to ourselves when we arrived. The walls were filled with paintings by members of the Bloomsberry group, especially Augustus John. Later, when I looked up the Fitzroy Tavern I found that it had been frequented by lots and lots of famous people including Dylan Thomas, George Orwell, Richard Attenborough, Albert Pierrepoint, Kenneth Williams and Tommy Cooper. I selected a Caesar salad and Trace sampled the sausage and mash since he wanted to try something particularly English. By the time we left about two hours later the place had filled up with groups of people coming in for after work drinks. Jude had been so good but by now he was getting tired so we all got an Uber back, dropping me off at the hotel before carrying on to their place. I’d walked 5.1 miles during the day, something I haven’t done for quite a while. I was soon in bed myself, watching a quiz show for a short time and then getting a really good night’s sleep.
DAY 3
I walked over to 43 Warwick Avenue for the first time and saw the lovely house that the Massas had rented. It was very spacious. The ceilings must have been 12 feet high.
A big playmat was in the central area of the lounge and Jude’s toys were all over it. Jude was crawling along the floor and from time to time I watched him pull himself into a standing position – a new skill. We went out for brunch on Kensington High Street and then then the Massas took Jude back for his nap. He’d had very little sleep during the previous night which meant, of course, that mum and dad had had very little sleep too.
I returned to the hotel and hopped on the first bus that came to the bus stoip – the 328 to Golders Green. I had no idea whether that would be a 5 minute ride or an hour. It turned out to be an hour mainly passing through crescents of white Georgian and Edwardian terraces, beautifully maintained, around central parks. My eyes were drawn to a blue plaque on one of them and it turned out to be the house where Clementi had lived. I also passed a tin church that looked totally incongruous in its surroundings – more the sort of thing I’d find in a deserted ghost town in Nevada – very strange!
On later research I found that it’s called the Tin Tabernacle and is a Grade ll listed building. It was built in 1863 when most of Kilburn was farmland. It was constructed as a church and was later used as a training quarters and social club for the sea cadets and in 1956-1960 the interior was fitted out to represent a naval ship, HMS Bicester. I got off the bus at the bus station in Golders Green and found a place to have a good ham and cheese croissant at Gail’s. A couple of days after getting home I happened to chance upon a TV program about the famous Gail’s bakery which currently has 173 stores, mostly in the London area though there’s now one in Prestwich, Manchester. Apparently the presence of a Gail’s in a neighbourhood can increase the price of houses quite considerably – just like the presence of a Waitrose can. Anna called me with an idea of going for a walk in Kensington Gardens and so I got off the bus close to the gardens. While I waited for them I explored Japan House, a gallery and shop beautifully laid out with an exhibition of Hyakko, Japanese ceramics, Banko Ware etc. It was the perfect spot to wait for them.
We strolled through Kensington Gardens which was quite busy with people. Trace spotted a slackline tied between two trees and in less then a minute he’d taken off his new shoes that he’d bought earlier that day on a quick shopping excursion and was demonstrating his balancing abilities – which are amazing.
Then it was time to find a place to have dinner. We chose The Eagle in Shepherd’s Bush. It bills itself as a favourite local and indeed, when Trace went up to the bar to order drinks while Anna, Jude and I got ourselves settled overlooking a garden area complete with a Burger Shack, he got talking to the bar tender. Trace definitely feels a different atmosphere in the English pubs with people much more willing to chat than in the US. Pubs are still seen in England as community hubs but I’ve never seen that in the US. I ordered a pork chop and thoroughly enjoyed it but Jude was very restless, causing lots of anxiety for Anna who stood up the entire evening rocking him gently in the baby carrier.
I was home by 9:30 as the Uber dropped me off before taking them back so that Jude could sleep. 5 minutes later he was fast asleep. I watched the end of the 1% Club, one of my favourite quiz tv shows and was asleep myself by 10 p.m. – unheard of at home but then I don’t usually walk 5.9 miles ( over 5 miles for the 3rd day in a row).
DAY 4
Again, I slept really well, had breakfast downstairs and then went over the the Massas. Jude had had a very sleepless night and so had his parents. Anna said she was thinking of changing their flight to go home one day early. They’d been working on developing a sleep schedule for Jude and had some luck recently but the jet lag had upturned all their hard work. We found another excellent spacious cafe with delicious pastries for brunch and then Trace took Jude home and Anna and I went to look around the charity stores and she bought some candies as gifts for her friends and family in the US. We passed Holland Park Gate, a large building that immediately spoke to me as Art Deco cinema but is now apartments. On looking it up I was correct. It had also been Lady Di’s favourite cinema – she had lived close by. Other famous people who lived around here were Jimmy Page, Freddy Mercury, Rowan Atkinson and Elton John. No wonder we were seeing lots of chauffeur driven cars. As Anna came to pay at one of the shops she realised that she must have dropped her credit card somewhere. She rushed back to Holland Park but no luck. Ouch. She called the airline and we continued to walk along the busy streets as she was put on hold for ages but eventually she got confirmation that they would fly back one day early. We called in at the Wes Anderson museum to get a gift for Rachel and then a quick visit to an absolutely enormous Waitrose.
We went back to their place and Trace left to go and explore a couple of nearby pubs – the Warwick Arms (no children allowed) and the Scarsdale Tavern where he chatted to lots of people. He was very surprised by this saying he’d never chatted to strangers in a pub in the US.
By the time Jude had had his afternoon nap and eaten his meal it was after 5 pm and it was too late to go on the planned trip on a Hop On Hop Off bus so we decided to get a Thai takeaway to eat at Anna’s. As we waited for Trace to come back with it Anna and I gave Jude a bath in a little plastic baby tub that had been provided by the airbnb. Dinner was good and then around 10 pm Anna came over to my place to stay the night in my room to help her to get some much needed sleep. It was her first ever night away from Jude so it seemed very appropriate that she would spent it with me – her own mum.
DAY 5
While I went down for breakfast Anna could take her time and have a relaxing shower. Then we picked up Trace, who had managed 4 hours of sleep, and Jude and headed out for our Hop On Hop Off bus tour.
We got an Uber to Marble Arch. Jude’s stroller is amazing in that the wheels fold upwards and it turns into a car seat without lengthy fumbling about for ages. We waited about 20 minutes for the bus but were fortunate to get good seats upstairs on the covered front section – very lucky since we had a heavy rain shower for a few minutes on our ride.
We drove over Tower Bridge, and got great views of Big Ben where one of the clock faces was stuck at 12 o’clock, and the Houses of Parliament. We got off at Tower Bridge and found a pub called the Raven, after the famous ravens of the tower of London. the perfect spot for some refreshment. We rode on the bus for over an hour but eventually Jude became restless so we got off and got an Uber back home.
We had an Indian takeaway. Anna and Trace didn’t rate it very highly but I enjoyed mine. Trace walked me back to my hotel around 10 and they started packing for their long day and journey ahead.
DAY 6
After packing and having breakfast I went over to their place where they were finalising their packing. I was really impressed with how organised they were, especially with all the pea protein formula requiring dry ice to keep it fresh for the long flight. It was hugs and kisses all round as the Uber came to take them to the airport at 10.30. Very hard, but I so thrilled to have seen them all again.
My train wasn’t for another 6 hours. I toyed with the idea of getting another route on the Hop On Hop Off bus but a friend had mentioned that Camden Town was a fun place to visit and Trace and Anna had both sampled Camden Town beer one evening so I braved to complexities of the Underground again and ended up in Camden Town. It was as packed with people as Westminster Bridge. Lots of shopping courts, over 1000 stalls packed with vintage clothing and crafts and food courts along the Regent’s Canal. There was lots of street art, this being the birthplace of punk in the UK. I bought a lovely brie and cranberry sandwich and apricot pastry and sat outside in one of the pub gardens and watched the world go by.
I was feeling low with the departure of the Massa’s – a meeting that I’d been anticipating for weeks and now it was over. I got back to my hotel with plenty of time to pick up my suitcase from the storage area and at last got to read some of the book I’d brought on the trip – Where the Truth Lies by M J Lee. I hadn’t read any of it while in London. I got an Uber to take me to King’s Cross but we got stuck in awful pre-rush hour traffic. My driver explained about a new bridge construction that was causing the delays. So we filled the time by talking about where I lived since he’d been to Leeds Uni but had never taken the train through Hebden Bridge to Manchester. By the time we got to Kings Cross my train had already left and because I’d got a ticket that was only valid on one train I couldn’t take a later train without buying a completely new ticket – ah well, live and learn. I travelled back, changing at Leeds, on LNER rather than Grand Central. LNER is a much more cramped train but I was fortunate enough to be able to get a window seat since the person it was reserved for didn’t show up. As I got off the train in Hebden Bridge it was raining, and I realised how fortunate we had been with the weather in London apart from a couple of fairly brief showers. A taxi had me back at home by 10 pm. The next morning I realised that I needed to write up my trip quickly since so much was going on the entire time that it would quickly become a blur.
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