Greenwich | Lara Ruffle

Tag Archive: Greenwich

Snowy Thames Path walk

Filed Under: London by Lara Ruffle — Leave a comment

March 17, 2013

Back in January us Londoners had a bit of proper snow and it was lovely. Also that month, stories appeared on the Interwebs declaring that the Thames Path by the Lovell’s development was to be opened after being shut for years (that is how it felt at least).

These two exciting events coincided with a visit from my aunt and uncle the weekend after the snow, so what better thing to do in freezing January than go for a walk to the O2!

It was also another opportunity to crack out the new shiny camera so here are some photos…

My favourite local, The Pelton Arms

An amazing sight! One can walk beside the river!

I spotted these wooly bollard hats two days earlier and found out they were the work of the Guerilla Knitters, Greenwich branch. Part of this walk turned into ‘spot the knitting’ which was quite enjoyable.

After the first knitting spots we came to Enderby’s Wharf which is supposed to be turning into a cruise liner terminal

Yes, I do cruelly force family members to pose for embarrassing photos

The east side of the Isle of Dogs is in the background

Morden Wharf with its awesome lettering

Spotted this great bit of work, I would imagine the Greenwich Industrial History Society were involved

Thwarted!

After walking the long way round we finally reached the O2 and went to Starbucks for a much needed hot drink!

We then went on the cable car but it was raining by that time and my photos are completely awful. It was fun though! Hooray for Boris’s dangleway!

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Tags: Enderby Wharf, Greenwich, Greenwich Guerilla Knitters, Greenwich Industrial History, Greenwich Industrial History Society, Morden Wharf, Thames Path, The Pelton Arms

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L’Artisan

Filed Under: Food by Lara Ruffle — Leave a comment

November 4, 2012

French deli and cafe L’Artisan is one of my favourite ‘new’ finds. It isn’t particularly new to Trafalgar Road having been open since 2011, but it is new to my heart. .

A friend of mine and her family were staying during the summer, and as Trafalgar Cafe isn’t open on a Sunday, I thought a French breakfast would be an excellent start to the day and a good excuse to finally visit this tiny but inviting deli.

We were in luck that day as there was just enough space for six of us plus a buggy. We took up half the shop but there was still space for another table of four.

Scrambled eggs, with mushrooms or ham and bacon, was the hot breakfast option and we were quickly served and seated with drinks whilst we waited for our breakfasts to be cooked. They all arrived about ten minutes later which was quite a reasonable wait time for five dishes.

My dish was the mushroom version and the mushrooms had been cooked in a creamy sauce which was absolutely divine. Also, the scrambled eggs were cooked perfectly – slightly runny and delicious. Heaven.

The ham and bacon version was enthusiastically eaten by my friend’s son and my my other half. A thumbs up all round and a slight pang of jealously from my other half because he wanted my mushroom and cream dish as well. .

The deli also sells French and Italian biscuits, conserves, cheese, meats and pasta as well as fresh baguettes, boules, croissants, pastries and tarts. Hot food and drinks can also be ordered to take out.

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Since visiting in the summer, the deli’s owner Joris Barbaray has sold L’Artisan to a local couple called Grace and Dustin Lauw. The Lauws are also French, hailing from Paris, but have been living in Greenwich for the past five years.

As regular customers at L’Artisan, they took an interest in running the deli when Barbaray decided to move on earlier this year. Speaking to Grace three weeks ago, she told me that Barbaray is to be a father and might be moving back to France to continue his cookery training. All good stuff. .

Dustin has been working with Barbaray to learn all the dishes served at L’Artisan and to continue the business in the same way it has been run since last year. They do have plans for the deli but want to get everything in order for themselves before changing anything.

If you want to keep up to date with the amazing food at L’Artisan, do follow their Twitter account or like them on that there Facebook malarkey.

Good luck to Grace and Dustin, L’Artisan is a wonderful additional to my local high street. Hooray for the French!

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Tags: East Greenwich, Greenwich, L'Artisan, Trafalgar Road

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Little Pilates Studio

Filed Under: London by Lara Ruffle — 2 Comments

September 18, 2012

I’ve been attending various dance classes at Little Pilates Studio on Trafalgar Road for the past two months.

My favourite classes are Barre Fit and Zumba and I am really enjoying popping round the corner for a class after getting home from work. I used to do a lot of disco and contemporary dance at school but it has been a long time since I went to an exercise class!

Barre Fit incorporates elements of Ballet and Pilates and is more about stretching and toning than weight loss. Zumba on the other hand is fast, intense and you sweat a lot! However, both classes are great fun and I am enjoying improving my fitness little by little.

The two instructors I have been exercising with are really friendly and lead the classes really well. One of them is a bit of an exercise nutter and works you flat out but that is the point!

The studio offers a large variety of classes at different levels and classes are available all week at different times. Classes operate on a credits system so you only need to purchase credits to book and attend any class with 24 hours notice. Cool!

Discounted packages are also available and I signed up like a proper healthy person a few weeks back! .

So, if you don’t fancy the gym at The Arches or can’t be arsed with swimming either, go and dance and stretch and bend at Little Pilates!

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Tags: Barre Fit, East Greenwich, Greenwich, Little Pilates, Little Pilates Studio, Pilates, Street Jazz, Trafalgar Road, Zumba

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Bianco 43

Filed Under: Food by Lara Ruffle — 1 Comment

July 15, 2012

In January I reviewed Bianco 43 Delivery, a new pizza delivery business in East Greenwich. Two months later one of the owners contacted me to offer me a free dinner for two at their restaurant in the centre of Greenwich to say thank you.

Obviously, I accepted. Free food?! What more could a girl want!

So, on a Tuesday night in March, the other half and I ventured into the tourist trap that is Greenwich town centre. Most of the restaurants around here are chains and the character of this area does suffer from bland and uninspiring food outlets. However, we still have the market (for now) and there are a number of independent restaurants that will hopefully stick around and encourage more locals to eat out.

On entering Bianco 43 I was impressed with the clean, fresh brightly painted interior. The scrubbed white wooden floor and pine tables gave the restaurant a wonderful mediterranean feel and the place felt homely instead of generic like Pizza Express.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the service immediately as we had to wait five minutes for our menus while the waiter chatted with various people. Most restaurants would give the menus to the customers as soon as they are seated, but in this case it did not happen which left me distracted and unable to relax. However, once our orders had been taken, our food and drink arrived quickly.

But, the waiter had got part of the order wrong and my boyfriend was given the pasta special instead of the pizza special he had requested. We decided not to say anything as we were having a free meal, but we had been looking forward to a pizza from the wood-fired oven. :s.

Hopefully he was just having a off night…

Sautéed fresh mussels with garlic and toasted focaccia bread, £7.90

Fried squid and courgettes served with tartare sauce, £8.90

Pappardelle with wild mushrooms and duck, £12.50

Pasta special, £13

Tiramisu, £4.90

Panna Cotta, £5.90

As to the food, it was very good and miles better than the takeaway we had eaten in January. The food was also served on beautiful mis-matched plates full of colour which added to the individual feel of the place. Everything arrived hot and perfectly cooked, and the portion sizes were just right. After three courses each we felt satisfied but not overly stuffed.

If Bianco 43 could shave a £1 or so off the starter and main prices I think they could bring in more passing customers as the Pizza Express across the road is undercutting Bianco 43 by a couple of pounds*. BUT, if you want really good Italian food then you should definitely choose Bianco 43 over Pizza Express’s yawn fest of food.

Thank you to Massimo for the excellent meal!

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*Since eating at Bianco 43 in March, a lunch offer has been introduced. All pizzas are £5.95, Monday to Friday until 4pm.

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Tags: Bianco 43, Bianco 43 Delivery, East Greenwich, Greenwich, Greenwich Church Street, Lassell Street, Pizza

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Greenwich in 1986

Filed Under: History by Lara Ruffle — 6 Comments

April 29, 2012

Back in the dark days of the 1980s home videos were a bit of a rarity. Thankfully for us Ruffles we have some footage from 1986 showing my Mum and Dad, my brother and I and some of the extended family.

I asked my Dad to tell me how he came to film us and this is what he said:

“Do you remember Keith and Dawn Morley? They lived in Sandhurst Road, which is parallel to Glenfarg Road where we lived. In 1986 they fostered a young lad called Mark (aged about 16 or 17) whose mother had died unexpectedly.

Well, Mark rashly bought a video camera from Dixons on credit, which he could not really afford. So I took the opportunity to ‘rent’ it from him for a few weeks, which resulted in me recording various family activities as can be seen on the video.

Unfortunately, I did not keep the mini-VHS master tape, but just copied it to a Phillips V2000 tape.

This was the type of video recorder we had at the time, but there was VHS, Betamax and V2000 systems for domestic video recorders, although subsequently VHS won the market against Betamax and V2000, even though it was technically an inferior technology.”

Domestic video recorders aside, one of the best things about the two hour video is that some of it features a trip to Greenwich Park. I live in spitting distance of the park now and it is pretty amazing to see what has and hasn’t changed in the last 24 years.

Park Vista in the background

The toilets are still there!

The gap in the buildings is the Maze Hill and Park Vista junction

My brother splashing in the empty boating lake puddles

Pretty sure that exit hasn’t changed a bit either!

We then walked down to the Cutty Sark, and you can see the tea clipper in its dry dock. You can also see the horrible concrete surrounds of Cutty Sark Gardens. Some cynical grumpy folks might say it doesn’t look very different now…

You can read more about the Cutty Sark here and here.

Looking towards Deptford, I think that industrial building in the left background isn’t there anymore. I wonder if Greenwich Industrial History might know more?

The foot tunnel entrance is obscured by a lovely band of concrete.

And here is the video, I am the one with the pigtails, my mum is wearing the cream coat, my Dad is unseen as in all our family photos, and I have no idea who the other people are!

I love this slice of 1986 and feel quite lucky to have footage of my brother and I as children. Also, bearing in mind my parent’s eventual separation and my Mum’s death five years later, I feel really blessed to have this wonderful footage of us together as a family.

So thanks Mark! .

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Tags: 1986, Cutty Sark, Cutty Sark Gardens, Greenwich, Greenwich Park

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Vikings, Martyrdom and a Tea Clipper

Filed Under: History by Lara Ruffle — 1 Comment

April 22, 2012

Yesterday was a pretty awesome day to be a Greenwich tax payer as the council and the folks behind the Cutty Sark had decided we would get a free trip on the refurbished tea clipper. It isn’t even open yet, and we even beat Her Majesty The Queen!

I booked tickets for 4pm, and with some time to kill before then we decided to go to the church of St Alfege as they are celebrating the murder of Ælfheah of Canterbury who was captured and martyred by marauding Vikings in 1012.

Being agnostic I wasn’t so bothered about how wonderful it was that St Alfege died because he wouldn’t let his mates pay a ransom to the Vikings to secure his release, but we did get an awesome church built on the spot where he died instead.

Thanks to the church and Regia Anglorum we also got an 11th century Anglo Saxon village for the week and I took some photos of this fantastic re-enactment .

Also, if you are in Greenwich on Christmas Eve, the church choir perform on their own shortly before the midnight mass. They are amazing. Stunning singers.

Men being manly with axes.

Loom weaving.

Women chatting. Nothing ever changes.

Thread making? Or the earliest form of a friendship bracelet?

Embroidery.

Oh no! The Vikings are back! Quick! Hide the babies!

Beautiful ship #1.

Making flour? Looks a lot like the process still used in Morocco to make Argan oil

Harp playing too!

After that wonderful experience, I walked round the corner of my local area to see stunning ship #2!

So, the Cutty Sark. A major landmark in Greenwich, engulfed by fire in 2007, fastest tea clipper in the west, cost £50 million to refurbish yadda yadda yadda. But what did it feel like to go into the new building?

AMAZING. FRIGGING AMAZING*.

It is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I felt quite emotional as I slowly walked along the gangway that takes you into the ship itself. I stared up at the gorgeous plating on the hull and was in awe. Amazing.

Stern and rudder

“Composite construction, a wooden hull on an iron frame”

Replica tea chests hung from the ceiling and tea chest patterns were marked on the floor of the lower hold.

Video screens depicting the tea trade were lined up on both sides of the lower hold.

A large wall covered in material and rows of seating made up the Michael Edwards Studio Theatre. A video showing the Cutty Sark’s routes round the world was projected onto the wall.

The inside of the hull bathed in green.

Upstairs is the ‘tween deck which focused on the crew of the Cutty Sark, and the wool and whisky trades. There was also a interactive video display where people could steer the Cutty Sark home from Australia. I sadly ran the ship aground in Antarctica!

Video projected onto the side of a bale, I thought this was a really great way of displaying content.

Above the ‘tween deck is the main deck where you get to see the top half of the ship in its full glory. There aren’t any exhibitions to see here but exploring the deck, seeing the views, the masts and the 11 miles of rigging is more than enough to keep you enthralled.

Best weather ever.

I doubt this beautiful view would have been possible without the 3 metre raising of the ship.

Gorgeous.

View towards St Alfege showing the blue sea the ship floats on.

After the main deck you take the stairs or lift down to the Sammy Ofer Gallery where you can see the rest of the hull. Unlike the SS Great Britain in Bristol, the sealed off hull area isn’t humid or uncomfortable and is instead light, spacious and airy.

Stern and rudder from below

The gleaming belly.

Wonderfully, the concrete sides from the previous dry dock haven’t been covered up and you can see the differences between the 1950s refurbishment and now.

This practice has been maintained throughout as the new metalwork added to the ship, to make it structurally sound, has been painted grey and the original metalwork has been painted white.

At the stern of the ship is a wonderful 19th Century figurehead collection, children will love it. The white figurehead is Nannie Dee, an figurehead that used to be on the front of the ship… I think.

I do like the sea of glass, the reflections are lovely.

Lots of space and the cafe feels quite unobtrusive from this end of the gallery.

We had to have a cup of ship’s tea, or Twinings tea to be accurate.

I didn’t get the shot quite right but I tried!

I absolutely love history and having a slice of shipping history fifteen minutes walk from my home is just wonderful. I haven’t been to the ship before and I can only imagine how awful it was for locals when it was burning back in 2007.

I have been to a number of modern museums and comparing it to the Museum of London at Docklands I can only say it is just as good. Both make me want to go back again and again. And once all the exhibits and activities are finished the museum will be even better.

It is a shame entry is £12 when The Queen’s House and the National Maritime Museum are free but the Observatory is not free, so hey ho, some things are worth paying for.

A day later I still feel really happy and excited to have gone and a second trip is a must. Greenwich is such a lovely place to live.

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More photos from the day can be found here.

*These happened to be the words I used to describe how I felt when I briefly chatted to Richard Doughty. Poor man. I made a bee line for him as soon as I recognised him off the telly!

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Tags: Anglo Saxon, Anglo Saxons, Cutty Sark, Cutty Sark Trust, Greenwich, National Maritime Museum, Regia Anglorum, Royal Museums Greenwich, St Alfege, St Alfege Greenwich, St Alfeges Church, Tea Clipper, Vikings, Ælfheah of Canterbury

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Lara Ruffle

Tag Archive: Greenwich

Snowy Thames Path walk

L’Artisan

Little Pilates Studio

Bianco 43

Greenwich in 1986

Vikings, Martyrdom and a Tea Clipper

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