04 Aug 11 Lazy Sunday Afternoon
Last Sunday was such a pleasant afternoon. A shame to sit around indoors on a day off.
Statue at Twickenham Rugby Stadium
The buses are frequent around here, even on Sunday, and then there’s no problem with parking or having a glass or two of beer or wine either. So we took a bus to Hounslow, and then the 281 bus to Twickenham.
Eel Pie Island
Twickenham is world famous for Rugby Football of course, but there’s a lot of hidden gems there too.
Alighting from the bus at the King Street stop, it is a very short walk to Water Lane, and then down to the riverside. At the bottom and to the right is the bridge to Eel Pie Island.
The island was a major Blues venue during the 1960′s. Pete Townsend had studios here, and many renowned artists played at the Eel Pie Island Hotel, including Pink Floyd, The Who, Long John Baldry, John Mayall, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds and many more. The hotel closed in the 1967, and for a while became a hippie commune, until burning down in the early 1970′s.
River Thames, at Twickenham, looking downstream.
Today there are about 50 houses and around 120 inhabitants on the island, including Trevor Bayliss who invented the clockwork radio.
Music started up from the direction of The Barmy Arms, so we took a walk along to see what was going on, and found a part of the 60′s London Week going on.
Some cracking r’n'b was happening. We stood listening for some time, but our stomachs were protesting. The pub was very busy, so we decided to head somewhere less busy to eat.
Bread & Olives
Church Street is a great place to check out if you’re hungry in Twickenham. A good variety of restaurants offering all types of cuisine from French to Italian, Indian to pub grub.
After checking out a number of places, and dithering somewhat, we ended up in Masaniello, an Italian restaurant on Church Street. It was a great choice.
Ice Cream
We started with some bread and olives which we shared. I had Lasagna, and Kathy had Pappardelle Alle Vongole (clams and mushrooms with pasta). Ice cream to follow, and finished off with a double espresso.
After that leisurely late lunch, we took a slow walk back to the bus stop, and then dropped into The Goat in Fulwell.
That’s for another article though….
Tags: clockwork radio, early 1970, eel pie island, hidden gems, hippie commune, island hotel, john baldry, last sunday, pete townsend, pink floyd, radio music, renowned artists, river thames, rugby stadium, trevor bayliss, twickenham, water lane
01 Jul 08 Tastes Change
Mrs Thomas called me from the living room to the kitchen to tell me that dinner was ready.
She served up liver bacon and onion casserole. I sat there cutting this darn liver into smaller and smaller tiny pieces, along with the cabbage too, and hoping it would somehow melt and vanish.
Eventually Mr Thomas, who struck me at the time, as a very stern man, if one was to upset him, asked me in his thick Rhondda Valley accent, what was wrong with Mrs Thomas’ dinner.
I mumbled something about having a stomach ache, and he mumbled something about food going to waste. At that time I didn’t much care that it was going to waste; I was more concerned that I didn’t have to eat it.
Anyway, 35 or so years later, and this evening I was sitting down tucking into my dinner, and thinking how tastes change.
For dinner this evening, I made liver,bacon and onion casserole, with mash potatoes, and cabbage.
Suddenly my mind transported me back to sometime in the early 1970′s, and Mr & Mrs Thomas’ flat in Acton…
Tags: accent, bacon, early 1970, liver, living room, mash potatoes, mr thomas, mrs thomas, onion casserole, potatoes and cabbage, rhondda valley, stern man, stomach ache, tastes, tiny pieces
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