Monday 19 January 1662/63
Jan. 19th, 2026 11:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
pepysdiary_feedUp and to White Hall, and while the Duke is dressing himself I went to wait on my Lord Sandwich, whom I found not very well, and Dr. Clerke with him. He is feverish, and hath sent for Mr. Pierce to let him blood, but not being in the way he puts it off till night, but he stirs not abroad to-day. Then to the Duke, and in his closett discoursed as we use to do, and then broke up. That done, I singled out Mr. Coventry into the Matted Gallery, and there I told him the complaints I meet every day about our Treasurer’s or his people’s paying no money, but at the goldsmith’s shops, where they are forced to pay fifteen or twenty sometimes per cent. for their money, which is a most horrid shame, and that which must not be suffered. Nor is it likely that the Treasurer (at least his people) will suffer Maynell the Goldsmith to go away with 10,000l. per annum, as he do now get, by making people pay after this manner for their money.
We were interrupted by the Duke, who called Mr. Coventry aside for half an hour, walking with him in the gallery, and then in the garden, and then going away I ended my discourse with Mr. Coventry. But by the way Mr. Coventry was saying that there remained nothing now in our office to be amended but what would do of itself every day better and better, for as much as he that was slowest, Sir W. Batten, do now begin to look about him and to mind business. At which, God forgive me! I was a little moved with envy, but yet I am glad, and ought to be, though it do lessen a little my care to see that the King’s service is like to be better attended than it was heretofore.
Thence by coach to Mr. Povy’s, being invited thither by [him] came a messenger this morning from him, where really he made a most excellent and large dinner, of their variety, even to admiration, he bidding us, in a frolique, to call for what we had a mind, and he would undertake to give it us: and we did for prawns, swan, venison, after I had thought the dinner was quite done, and he did immediately produce it, which I thought great plenty, and he seems to set off his rest in this plenty and the neatness of his house, which he after dinner showed me, from room to room, so beset with delicate pictures, and above all, a piece of perspective in his closett in the low parler; his stable, where was some most delicate horses, and the very-racks painted, and mangers, with a neat leaden painted cistern, and the walls done with Dutch tiles, like my chimnies. But still, above all things, he bid me go down into his wine-cellar, where upon several shelves there stood bottles of all sorts of wine, new and old, with labells pasted upon each bottle, and in the order and plenty as I never saw books in a bookseller’s shop; and herein, I observe, he puts his highest content, and will accordingly commend all that he hath, but still they deserve to be so. Here dined with me Dr. Whore and Mr. Scawen.
Therewith him and Mr. Bland, whom we met by the way, to my Lord Chancellor’s, where the King was to meet my Lord Treasurer, &c., many great men, to settle the revenue of Tangier. I staid talking awhile there, but the King not coming I walked to my brother’s, where I met my cozen Scotts (Tom not being at home) and sent for a glass of wine for them, and having drunk we parted, and I to the Wardrobe talking with Mr. Moore about my law businesses, which I doubt will go ill for want of time for me to attend them.
So home, where I found Mrs. Lodum speaking with my wife about her kinswoman which is offered my wife to come as a woman to her.
So to the office and put things in order, and then home and to bed, it being my great comfort that every day I understand more and more the pleasure of following of business and the credit that a man gets by it, which I hope at last too will end in profit.
This day, by Dr. Clerke, I was told the occasion of my Lord Chesterfield’s going and taking his lady (my Lord Ormond’s daughter) from Court. It seems he not only hath been long jealous of the Duke of York, but did find them two talking together, though there were others in the room, and the lady by all opinions a most good, virtuous woman. He, the next day (of which the Duke was warned by somebody that saw the passion my Lord Chesterfield was in the night before), went and told the Duke how much he did apprehend himself wronged, in his picking out his lady of the whole Court to be the subject of his dishonour; which the Duke did answer with great calmness, not seeming to understand the reason of complaint, and that was all that passed but my Lord did presently pack his lady into the country in Derbyshire, near the Peake; which is become a proverb at Court, to send a man’s wife to the Devil’s arse a’ Peake, when she vexes him.
This noon I did find out Mr. Dixon at Whitehall, and discoursed with him about Mr. Wheatly’s daughter for a wife for my brother Tom, and have committed it to him to enquire the pleasure of her father and mother concerning it. I demanded 300l..
6 Things I’m Going To Try at the Vegan Market This Weekend
Jan. 19th, 2026 05:19 pmfatgayvegan_feedAs you all know, because I haven’t shut up about it, I’m helping to host a special plant-based food and drink experience this Saturday January 24th, 2026 out at Blackhorse Road, East London. Veganuary Fest is a collaboration between vegan brewery Signature Brew and food experts Feed The Village from midday this Saturday. Take a ... Read more
Dredging the past: Hanwell’s historic canal side ponds being repaired
Jan. 19th, 2026 04:00 pmianvisits_feedA series of 210-year-old reservoirs next to the Grand Junction Canal in west London are currently being dredged and repaired decades after they fell out of use.
Every time a boat passes through a canal lock, thousands of litres of water are released and must be replaced, usually from other sources. To reduce water loss, engineers sometimes build side ponds next to canals with several locks in succession.
These side ponds allowed water to be “put aside” rather than lost. When a lock chamber was emptied to lower a boat to the next level, paddles were opened to divert the water into an adjacent side pond. Stored there, it could then be reused to help refill the lock, reducing the overall demand on the canal’s water supply.
Over the following two centuries, when water scarcity was rarely a pressing concern, the side ponds fell out of use and slowly silted up.
In modern times, with increasing water scarcity and droughts, the Canal & River Trust, which manages the canals, increasingly needs to conserve water from being wasted.
As a result, they are restoring the side ponds next to the Hanwell Flight of Locks in west London.
The work, supported by Historic England’s regional Heritage at Risk repair grant and the Inland Waterways Association, is not currently intended to return the side ponds to full working use as that would require considerably more funding, but the project could inform future schemes.
HS2 completes construction of its longest tunnels beneath the Chilterns
Jan. 19th, 2026 03:00 pmianvisits_feedHS2 says that construction of its longest tunnel, running from the edge of London under the Chilterns, has been completed, nearly 5 years after work began.
Digging the two tunnels was completed in March 2024, but work was also underway above the tunnels, digging down from the surface to create two large ventilation shafts.
HS2 says it has completed work at two of the line’s Chiltern tunnel vent shafts, located at Chesham Road and Little Missenden, bringing to an end a project that began almost five years ago.
Although structural work is complete, they still need to turn the concrete tunnel into a working railway.
Main construction of the twin-bore tunnel began in May 2021 with the staggered launch of two 2,000-tonne tunnel boring machines (TBMs) from a site next to the M25, not far from Rickmansworth.
The machines progressed north at an average speed of 16 metres per day before breaking through near Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, in early 2024. Since then, work has continued to build the porous extensions to its north and south portals, install its internal walkways and fit out 40 cross passages.
The spoil dug up from the tunnels is now being used to rewild a former arable farmland next to the M25 to create a chalk grassland wildlife reserve, which will be open to the public.
It is the second of HS2’s five twin-bore tunnels to be structurally complete after the same achievement was marked for the one-mile Long Itchington Wood tunnel in Warwickshire last year.
Once it opens, trains travelling at 200mph will be able to race along the 10-mile tunnels under the Chilterns in just three minutes.
The Chiltern tunnel’s construction was led by HS2’s main works contractor for this section of the line – Align JV, a joint venture between Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine and Volker Fitzpatrick.
HS2 Ltd head of civil engineering for Chiltern tunnel, Mark Clapp said: “Multi-facetted projects of the Chiltern tunnel’s scale and complexity don’t often come along; as a civil engineer, you’re lucky to be involved in anything like it. The team we assembled at HS2 Ltd, and with Align JV – our main civil works contractor – and all its subcontractors, to deliver this part of the new high-speed railway was exemplary.
“I pay tribute to everyone involved. They can all feel certain that their hard work will stand the test of time.”
Major engineering works halt London–Peterborough trains on weekends
Jan. 19th, 2026 02:00 pmianvisits_feedThere’s going to be a month of weekend train cancellations through north London due to engineering work on the East Coast Mainline affecting Thameslink and Great Northern services between London, Peterborough and Royston.
The works being carried out include platform upgrades at Alexandra Palace station, track renewals along the line, several switch replacements and upgrades to overhead equipment.
They are also carrying out work on the £1.4 billion East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP), which will replace traditional lineside signals with real‑time, continuous information delivered directly to the driver’s cab.
However, it also means a lot of weekend closures through February.
31st January and 1st February & 7th and 8th February
No train services between London and Peterborough/Royston, and no trains to Stevenage via Hertford North.
Passengers travelling between the north and London are being strongly advised to use LNER services and rail replacement services to and from Peterborough and London, and avoid travelling via Sheffield, Derby or Chesterfield due to extremely high passenger numbers on the Midland Main Line.
Hull Trains will run a reduced timetable between Hull and London St Pancras.
Lumo will have no trains between London and Newcastle
There will be no Grand Central services.
Great Northern and Thameslink services will not run between London King’s Cross/London St Pancras/Moorgate and Royston/Peterborough. A shuttle train service will run between Royston and Cambridge/Ely/King’s Lynn, alongside bus replacement services elsewhere.
Sunday 15th February
No train services between Peterborough and London, or between Potters Bar and St Neots/Letchworth Garden City. Also, no trains between Moorgate and Finsbury Park or between Stevenage and Hertford North.
Rail replacement services will operate between Peterborough and Bedford. Thameslink and Great Northern will have various rail replacement bus services in place.
21st and 22nd February
No train services between London and Peterborough/Royston, and no trains to Stevenage via Hertford North, with rail replacement bus services in place between Peterborough and Bedford. Thameslink and Great Northern will have various rail replacement bus services in place.
—
Ricky Barsby, Network Rail’s head of access integration, ECDP, said: “A significant amount of vital work is taking place over these four weekends, including further steps to introduce digital signalling to the East Coast Main Line. This investment will mean a more reliable, greener and even safer railway for the millions of people who travel on this route each year.
“As well as the progress we’re making on digital signalling, we’re also taking the opportunity to complete a wide range of essential maintenance and renewal work. We appreciate that these upgrades will affect journeys, and we’re grateful to passengers for their patience while our teams carry out this essential work.”
‘Blimey, never knew that’: the British Museum’s Hawai’i exhibition surprises
Jan. 19th, 2026 12:00 pmianvisits_feedCandidly, most people visiting the British Museum’s Hawaii exhibition probably walk in with a lot of stereotypical preconceptions about the island nation.
And will walk out with a totally different understanding of it.
Understandably, we probably think of it as not much more than the Pacific island nation that’s part of the USA, home to Pearl Harbour and the long-running TV show Hawaii 5.0.
In fact, it was the British who (probably) were the first Europeans to make first contact when James Cook landed there in 1778, and uncharacteristically didn’t promptly declare the islands to be the property of the Crown back in London, regardless of the views of the local inhabitants.
In fact, Hawai’i (as spelt in the official language) celebrates its Independence Day not to mark its freedom from the British Empire as in so many other countries, but to mark the day the Brits (and the French) formally recognised the sovereignty of the Hawaiian kingdom.
And it was the College of Arms in London that issued the coat of arms to the sovereign nation, and the state flag uniquely still includes the Union Flag in its design – so there’s always a bit of Blighty in the USA.
The exhibition is full of nuggets like this, and while it opens with what we might call tribal art, it’s so very much more than that.
A mix of history, its European connections, and famously – if also tragically – the visit to London by the Hawaiian King Liholiho (Kamehameha II).
While most of the London press was modestly polite and curious about the foreigners, some satirists were pretty ghastly – and two rather disgusting cartoons are on show, just around the corner from the more widespread images used in the newspapers of the time.
Sadly, while in London, the Hawaiian court had caught measles, to which they had no immunity. Both the King and Queen died from the disease while in London, and were later returned to Hawaiʻi, in a Royal Navy ship, to be buried in their homeland.
It was European diseases that also decimated the population, shrinking it to a fraction of its original size. The associated loss of knowledge about their past is still being uncovered, with examples in the exhibition showing how museum collections are now reopening avenues of exploration into the lost cultures.
Later in its history, the country was annexed by the USA in 1893 and became a US state only as recently as 1959.
As an exhibition, it weaves between these often eye-popping facts of history that I bet many of us will be unfamiliar with without first reading up, and a range of what you might expect from an exhibition about Hawai’i – namely lots of costumes, artefacts and artworks.
It’s one of those exhibitions that you are very likely to come away from muttering “blimely, never knew that”.
The exhibition Hawaiʻi: A kingdom crossing oceans is at the British Museum until 25th May 2026.
- Adult: £16
- Concessions: £14
- National Art Pass: £8
- Under 16s (with ticketed adult): Free
- British Museum members: Free
Details here.
Hydration
Jan. 19th, 2026 08:00 amdiamondgeezer_feedThree blokes sat opposite me on the train yesterday, 40-ish, off to the other side of London. And just after they sat down they each opened a bottle of water. One had a bottle of San Pellegrino and the other two each had a bottle of Smart Water whose caps they released with their teeth. I wouldn't normally mention this except that every few minutes throughout the journey they drank a small sip, then another, then another, and I wondered "why are some people so fixated on regular hydration?"
At a later station I looked around the platform and at least half the waiting passengers were carrying a bottle of water. Several were carrying nothing apart from a bottle of water, as if it's the sole essential when they travel. Some had their bottle tucked into the pocket of a bag or rucksack so it was always available. The well-planned ones had refillable bottles, often fairly expensive-looking, but the majority were carrying a plastic bottle they'd either brought with them or bought along the way. I checked the vending machine on the platform and it contained far more bottles of water than any other drink, so plainly this stuff sells.
And as yet another teenager lifted yet another container of clear liquid to their lips I thought "can these people really not go very long without a sip of water?"
You don't need to drink water frequently, I checked. What you do need to do is drink enough.
It might be from companies that make bottled water in an attempt to sell you more of it. It might be that some people are overly keen to keep thirst at bay. It might be a commonplace misreading of "regularly" for "frequently". It might come from marketing campaigns with a full-on 'hydration' focus in an attempt to make their product feel more essential. It might be that people find comfort in swigging water in much the same way that a cigarette or vaping settles them. It might just be because everyone else is doing it.
Obviously you can not drink for several hours and suffer no ill effects. An hour's abstinence is perfectly fine, even four or five hours without a drop touching your lips because you're getting on with your life. Overnight we drink nothing for ages while we're asleep and nobody recommends setting the alarm for 4am for a quick glug.
And yet sippy people are everywhere, clutching their bottles and entirely beholden to the contents. But why?
At a later station I looked around the platform and at least half the waiting passengers were carrying a bottle of water. Several were carrying nothing apart from a bottle of water, as if it's the sole essential when they travel. Some had their bottle tucked into the pocket of a bag or rucksack so it was always available. The well-planned ones had refillable bottles, often fairly expensive-looking, but the majority were carrying a plastic bottle they'd either brought with them or bought along the way. I checked the vending machine on the platform and it contained far more bottles of water than any other drink, so plainly this stuff sells.
And as yet another teenager lifted yet another container of clear liquid to their lips I thought "can these people really not go very long without a sip of water?"
You don't need to drink water frequently, I checked. What you do need to do is drink enough.
» The government recommends that people should aim to drink 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day.You also need to drink regularly enough to avoid dehydration, thirst and darker urine.
» National guidance is that you should drink around 6-8 glasses a day (roughly 1-5-2 litres).
» As a guide, the government recommends 6 to 8 cups or glasses a day.
» Adults need to drink around 1.5–2 litres of fluid a day.
» The key is to start drinking in the morning and continue to do so regularly throughout the day.These aren't rigid rules, and some people with health issues may need to drink more.
» Make sure you have enough things available to drink throughout the day.
» Remember to drink regularly to keep thirst at bay.
» The more exercise you do, the more you’ll need to drink.But although I can find plenty of advice that carrying water with you is a good idea, I can't find anything that suggests you need to sip from it frequently. Where did this idea come from that taking little swigs every few minutes is the healthy thing to do?
» You may need to drink more fluids if you're pregnant or breastfeeding.
» Older people often don’t drink enough.
It might be from companies that make bottled water in an attempt to sell you more of it. It might be that some people are overly keen to keep thirst at bay. It might be a commonplace misreading of "regularly" for "frequently". It might come from marketing campaigns with a full-on 'hydration' focus in an attempt to make their product feel more essential. It might be that people find comfort in swigging water in much the same way that a cigarette or vaping settles them. It might just be because everyone else is doing it.
Obviously you can not drink for several hours and suffer no ill effects. An hour's abstinence is perfectly fine, even four or five hours without a drop touching your lips because you're getting on with your life. Overnight we drink nothing for ages while we're asleep and nobody recommends setting the alarm for 4am for a quick glug.
» When I was at school all we had to drink each day was a small beaker of water with our lunch, and we all turned out fine.Were it summer the risk of dehydration might be tangible but it's mid-January for heaven's sake, suggesting bottle-carrying is a reflex action rather than a necessity. It ought to be possible to go without for a few hours, say while travelling from one building with a tap to another building with a tap, rather than effectively being addicted to swallowing on the way.
» I went out for seven hours yesterday and drank nothing, and sure the first thing I did when I got home was get a drink but where's the harm?
» People who keep popping into shops for water are no healthier than those who don't, just poorer.
» The human race didn't die out before the concept of hydration was invented, do get a grip.
And yet sippy people are everywhere, clutching their bottles and entirely beholden to the contents. But why?
Route 472 RIP
Jan. 19th, 2026 07:00 amdiamondgeezer_feedIt's time to kill off another London bus route.
London's next dead bus
472: North Greenwich to Abbey Wood
Location: southeast London, outer
Length of journey: 9 miles, 40 minutes
The 472 is one of London's 100 busiest bus routes and carries 6 million passengers a year. It dies this weekend. It's run from North Greenwich to Thamesmead since the Jubilee line extension opened in 1999, and was extended to serve Crossrail at Abbey Wood in 2022. It has five days left.
It's being replaced in its entirety by a new Superloop route, the SL11. Previous Superloop launches have included renumberings of existing routes and reductions in frequency for parallel routes, but this is the first time an entire route's been killed off. It is true that the SL11 will follow the same route as the 472, one twiddle round Woolwich town centre excepted. But because it's an express service it won't be stopping everywhere, skipping 25 of the 472's existing stops, and if one of those is your local you're about to see a worse bus service than before.
I listed 20 downsides to the new arrangements last March when the SL11/472 consultation first launched so won't plough through them again. But I have been out for a last ride with a list of the about-to-be-extinguished stops, so can bring you a list of the places that are due to suffer most when the 472 is deleted.
Also hello to the muppets who put up route change posters at affected bus stops. They've put up two, one with details of new route SL11 and the other warning "Route 472 will not run". But nowhere on either of the posters have they mentioned the key fact that the SL11 is essentially identical to the 472, just with several stops missed out.
The 472 poster includes the advice "During the daytimes please use alternative bus routes including routes 177, 180, 229, 244 and 401." Alternative routes might also include the SL11 but they haven't mentioned that, nor shown it on the map, just a lot of tangled coloured lines for the aforementioned five routes. There is some smallprint on the map which says "New Superloop express route SL11 serves some stops previously served by route 472" but that's not as explicitly helpful as it could be.
Ideally they could have made different posters for different stops en route with targeted advice rather than broad waffle. At the very least they should have made two different posters - one to display at stops the SL11 will still call at and another for everywhere it won't. But TfL's Map Generation Department only bothers to make one variant these days and slaps it up everywhere, either because they're cash-strapped or because they can't be bothered to inform the public properly.
London's next dead bus
472: North Greenwich to Abbey Wood
Location: southeast London, outer
Length of journey: 9 miles, 40 minutes
The 472 is one of London's 100 busiest bus routes and carries 6 million passengers a year. It dies this weekend. It's run from North Greenwich to Thamesmead since the Jubilee line extension opened in 1999, and was extended to serve Crossrail at Abbey Wood in 2022. It has five days left.
It's being replaced in its entirety by a new Superloop route, the SL11. Previous Superloop launches have included renumberings of existing routes and reductions in frequency for parallel routes, but this is the first time an entire route's been killed off. It is true that the SL11 will follow the same route as the 472, one twiddle round Woolwich town centre excepted. But because it's an express service it won't be stopping everywhere, skipping 25 of the 472's existing stops, and if one of those is your local you're about to see a worse bus service than before.
I listed 20 downsides to the new arrangements last March when the SL11/472 consultation first launched so won't plough through them again. But I have been out for a last ride with a list of the about-to-be-extinguished stops, so can bring you a list of the places that are due to suffer most when the 472 is deleted.
(between North Greenwich and Charlton station it's all good, the SL11 never skips more than one stop)The SL11 will be a strange limited stop bus, sometimes stopping almost everywhere and sometimes stopping barely at all. For many it should mean faster journeys but my commiserations if you live along one of the skipped bits because you won't be cheering next weekend. Expect some very pissed off Charltonites and Thamesmeaders next week, and excited smiles from everyone else whizzing straight past.
Charlton to Woolwich: Inexplicably the SL11 will skip eleven stops between Charlton station and Woolwich station, a distance of two miles. It's great if you want an express journey but less good inbetween where the number of buses per hour drops from 21 to 15. It's much worse if you're travelling to/from North Greenwich because only the 180 does that, hence a cut from 11 buses an hour to just 5. Also there are cycleway-related roadworks along this entire stretch until spring 2027 so good luck trying to run an express service through that.
(between Plumstead and West Thamesmead it's all good, the stops are already a long way apart and the SL11 stops everywhere)
Thamesmead Town Centre: Impractically the SL11 will skip the stop closest to where all the shops are. It'll still stop before and after, but from next week the stop closest to Aldi and Iceland won't be served by any buses heading round the outer Thamesmead loop.
East Thamesmead: The 472 currently stops five times around the loop in the eastern half of Thamesmead. But the SL11 will only stop once, at the very far end, which is great if you live there and a right pain if you don't. Those not fortunate enough to live near Eastgate are about to lose their sole quick connection to Woolwich and North Greenwich, and will also see a 40% cut in direct buses to Abbey Wood station (from 17 buses an hour to 10).
Also hello to the muppets who put up route change posters at affected bus stops. They've put up two, one with details of new route SL11 and the other warning "Route 472 will not run". But nowhere on either of the posters have they mentioned the key fact that the SL11 is essentially identical to the 472, just with several stops missed out.
The 472 poster includes the advice "During the daytimes please use alternative bus routes including routes 177, 180, 229, 244 and 401." Alternative routes might also include the SL11 but they haven't mentioned that, nor shown it on the map, just a lot of tangled coloured lines for the aforementioned five routes. There is some smallprint on the map which says "New Superloop express route SL11 serves some stops previously served by route 472" but that's not as explicitly helpful as it could be.
Ideally they could have made different posters for different stops en route with targeted advice rather than broad waffle. At the very least they should have made two different posters - one to display at stops the SL11 will still call at and another for everywhere it won't. But TfL's Map Generation Department only bothers to make one variant these days and slaps it up everywhere, either because they're cash-strapped or because they can't be bothered to inform the public properly.
London’s Alleys: Ann’s Place, Whitechapel, E1
Jan. 19th, 2026 07:00 amianvisits_feedThis tiny runt of an alley is so small that it doesn’t even appear on most maps*, but is passed by thousands, as it’s next to Petticoat Market.
This part of London sits just outside the historic City walls, so it attracted traders who wanted to avoid the strict rules binding City merchants.
The land was later acquired by Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Cleveland, who developed it, hence the main road being named Wentworth Street. If you’re wondering about Ann’s Place, that was probably after his wife, Anne Hopton.
By the start of the 18th century, the area had developed as an important centre in the garment industry, or ‘rag trade’ as it was locally known. The area has long been a hotbed of migration, from early Huguenots to the 19th century, when a large Jewish community moved in, many arriving from Eastern Europe and Russia. More recently, it has become home to people moving in from Asia.
Back to the alley, the entrance is flanked by two tall buildings. The western side is unremarkable, with flats above a shop. However, the eastern side building, superficially similar, is more interesting.
It’s actually a former pub that was turned into a Ragged School for the poor between 1859 and 1890. Above the shop is a first floor with some impressive windows, and above that, smaller staff accommodation. It was turned back into a drinking establishment in 2003, but closed following a seemingly rather bizarre campaign against it from someone who lived near the venue.
The block was extended at some point, which accounts for the slightly different appearance above the ground floor, but by the 1890s, those flats were being rented out as slums.
In 1893, a newspaper article described the living conditions of a single mother and her sister, both with two children, all in one room. Their brother lived there occasionally as well, and the stepfather had only just moved out. As you are gathering from the above, this was a very poor area, appearing on Charles Booth’s poverty maps at the turn of the 20th century as severely deprived.
Finally, in 1927-36, the area was cleared and redeveloped as part of the London County Council’s Holland estate.
Apart from rebuilding the housing, they also chopped around the roads a bit, giving the area its current street layout. That likely saw Ann’s Place cut back a bit as it used to end in a large courtyard, but today it’s much shorter and blocked off, if seemingly, maybe a bit informally?
Down the far end are some doors for the flats above the shops, but candidly, not much else to report about Ann’s Place alley.
*I expect OpenStreetMaps to have been updated within 10 minutes of publishing this article.
Sunday 18 January 1662/63
Jan. 18th, 2026 11:00 pmpepysdiary_feed(Lord’s day). Up, and after the barber had done, and I had spoke with Mr. Smith (whom I sent for on purpose to speak of Field’s business, who stands upon 250l. before he will release us, which do trouble me highly), and also Major Allen of the Victualling Office about his ship to be hired for Tangier, I went to church, and thence home to dinner alone with my wife, very pleasant, and after dinner to church again, and heard a dull, drowsy sermon, and so home and to my office, perfecting my vows again for the next year, which I have now done, and sworn to in the presence of Almighty God to observe upon the respective penalties thereto annexed, and then to Sir W. Pen’s (though much against my will, for I cannot bear him, but only to keep him from complaint to others that I do not see him) to see how he do, and find him pretty well, and ready to go abroad again.
Vegan Afternoon Tea in East London
Jan. 18th, 2026 07:54 pmfatgayvegan_feedLondon has a new fully vegan eatery and to celebrate Veganuary, they are hosting a fabulous afternoon high tea with scrumptious food and drink. Read more below. Soul Bowl Bistro in Leyton recently opened with a menu specialising in nutrient-dense bowls. You can choose from bowls packed with rainbow salads, protein-rich tofu, and Mexican flavours. ... Read more
Mudlarking 82
Jan. 18th, 2026 07:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
squirmeliaIt was dark and raining and low tide had already passed. I crossed Blackfriars bridge and hesitated about going down to the foreshore. I found just a piece of Staffordshire style combed Slipware before giving up.
(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)
(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)
Mudlarking 81 - Half a leafy marble and a rounded bottle
Jan. 18th, 2026 07:31 pmsquirmeliaA lunchtime lark. “Have you found anything?” the tourists asked and I told them I hadn't.
I headed underneath the wharf, further from tourists.
I walked back up the steps and a man asked me what I was looking for and I told him anything, and that I'd found bits of pottery and glass. He sounded disappointed when I said I hadn't found any coins.
Finds including:
A piece of a bottle that is rounded on the end and is quite thick glass. Different design to the usual torpedo bottles, but presumably also designed to be stored on its side. Possibly 1880s? Seems like these ones: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/85594594/1800s-round-bottom-bottle-collection-set?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details
A few pieces of Westerwald salt glazed stoneware.
A sherd that says “FPC” on it, which stands for Fine Pottery Company. This could be from the 1980s. Perhaps it has this kind of print: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4351064965/vintage-fpc-england-stoneware-mugs?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details
A stone with a face.
Half a stone marble? It has a little green leaf pattern on the side and a zig-zag pattern on top.
A glass thing that looks like it has something metal inside it. Not sure what this has broken off of.
(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)
I headed underneath the wharf, further from tourists.
I walked back up the steps and a man asked me what I was looking for and I told him anything, and that I'd found bits of pottery and glass. He sounded disappointed when I said I hadn't found any coins.
Finds including:
A piece of a bottle that is rounded on the end and is quite thick glass. Different design to the usual torpedo bottles, but presumably also designed to be stored on its side. Possibly 1880s? Seems like these ones: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/85594594/1800s-round-bottom-bottle-collection-set?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details
A few pieces of Westerwald salt glazed stoneware.
A sherd that says “FPC” on it, which stands for Fine Pottery Company. This could be from the 1980s. Perhaps it has this kind of print: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4351064965/vintage-fpc-england-stoneware-mugs?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details
A stone with a face.
Half a stone marble? It has a little green leaf pattern on the side and a zig-zag pattern on top.
A glass thing that looks like it has something metal inside it. Not sure what this has broken off of.
(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)
Still smiling sometimes
Jan. 18th, 2026 04:11 pmvampwillowTwo weeks into the new year and I'm still doing the heavy breathing thing, especially when doing anything that isn't lying down (and sometimes then too). Decided to buy a laundry dryer as the historic method here has always been to put things on an airing rack and just wait. This works in summer or when the heating is left on 24/7 (like my mum did) but I (a) don't like it so warm, and (b) can't afford that (she could). This will enable me to do laundry more often too, so a win-win. Downside is needing to clear the former boiler/airing cupboard and the route from the front door.
Some days I feel like a lost little kid, not understanding what is happening. Other days I'm like ancient. It's one of those "ends in z zero" birthday years 😕
Some days I feel like a lost little kid, not understanding what is happening. Other days I'm like ancient. It's one of those "ends in z zero" birthday years 😕
Dustborn
Jan. 18th, 2026 02:31 pmswaldmanThanks to being ill, and perhaps thanks to buying a Steam Deck and being able to play from the couch, I just finished this game.
It's 2030, and some years ago a sci-fi-esque disaster affected the former contiguous USA. It left behind a few individuals with superpowers, some perhaps more useful than others. And it left at least two rival authoritarian regimes.
In this game a group of nobodies sets off to cross the continent under the authorities' radar. Their cover: being a band on tour. They meet people along the way, and of course things don't go entirely to plan.
It's 2030, and some years ago a sci-fi-esque disaster affected the former contiguous USA. It left behind a few individuals with superpowers, some perhaps more useful than others. And it left at least two rival authoritarian regimes.
In this game a group of nobodies sets off to cross the continent under the authorities' radar. Their cover: being a band on tour. They meet people along the way, and of course things don't go entirely to plan.
It's interactive fiction, but more interactive than some. It's a road-trip story, of course. The summary is that it's a really nice character-driven story, where the things you say and the choices you make mould the character development along the way. The people feel largely realistic/plausible, which is no mean feat in writing. Like most such games the big picture of the plot is fixed, although I think there are different ways to reach the milestones, but the evolution of the people is not.
It's a game about people, families, and relationships; also a game about resistance, and different forms that it can take.
The protagonist starts off as quite a flawed character, and I had a number of "I don't want to say any of these things!" moments near the start. But that gets better, if you have her develop that way. The pacing is perhaps a little slow in the middle, but it picks up again and makes that a very minor complaint. The art is lovely, and it has a good soundtrack.
Alongside this there's some combat which... eh, I found it fun, but it's not the strongest part of the game. And there's a note-bashing minigame, which... again, I enjoyed it, and how good you are does affect what happens, but I don't think in any major ways. Both of these break things up nicely and give changes in pace.
Good on accessibilty: combat difficulty is adjustable, and fights can be skipped altogether. There's an "easy QTE" mode. It does require a games controller, I think. It took me about 20 hours to complete in non-rushed way. It rewards you for remembering what characters say and like, so it's worth trying to play in a relatively concentrated period rather than spread out over months.
Bonus points for unremarked queer and non-wihite representation throughout, people struggling with mental health, and for a female protagonist. Actually, a majority-female cast. It got review-bombed on steam for being woke, so maybe extra bonus points for that? ;-) Recommended, either way.
Hanger Hill
Jan. 18th, 2026 07:00 amdiamondgeezer_feedStumbling into... Hanger Hill
An occasional series in which I miss a bus, decide to walk to the next stop but then spot something interesting in a place I've not been to before.
Hanger Hill is an actual hill in north Ealing with a crest 70m above sea level. Ealing Broadway's more like 35m, for comparison. The name comes from the Old English word hangra meaning a wooded slope. There used to be a big mansion at the summit called Hanger Hill House, built in 1790 and home to local landowners the Wood family. When they moved away a gelatine entrepreneur's son moved in - Sir Edward Montague Nelson - who in 1901 became Ealing's first Mayor. The house then became the clubhouse for the local golf course but was demolished in the 1930s as part of a swish estate repurposing the fairways for housing. Nothing to see here.
The country lane crossing Hanger Hill was called Hanger Lane, indeed still is, although it's no longer a sylvan rural backwater but a seething stretch of the North Circular. Such are the differences a century makes. At the foot of the northern slope is the concrete maelstrom of the Hanger Lane roundabout, also the subway-infested Hanger Lane station, but today's post is more interested in what's up top. I understand the view's quite good but to see over the trees and rooftops it helps to be on the top deck of a bus and as I said I missed mine, so saw nothing.
What first drew my attention was Hanger Hill Park, mainly because it had a lot of contours and some impressively varied old trees. Normally when you find diverse conifers in a scenic setting it means this was once a rich man's garden, but in this case it's just because Ealing Borough Council took their landscaping duties seriously when they opened the park in 1905. The hilltop ridge has acidic sandy soil so was deemed ideal for leylandii and giant redwoods, whereas oaks were better suited to the clay at the foot of the slope. The newest addition to the park is Hanger Hill Tiny Forest, a brief arc of assorted saplings now just over one year old. There are about 40 such mini-woods across London designed to encourage wildlife, community engagement and children's curiosity, hence the benches here can double up as an outdoor classroom.
A substantial portion of the park is occupied by the Hanger Hill outpost of the London Footgolf Centre. This used to be a pitch and putt course but the 18 undulating holes are now used for sequentially kicking a football around (1755 yards, par 65) because that's a sport these days. They say it's ideal for birthday parties, stag dos, corporate team building and school trips, but by the looks of it the target audience is sporty 20-somethings who'd otherwise be playing football and/or golf. The 'clubhouse' is an ugly retro hut with no indication whatsoever of opening times, just a lot of boards advertising the ice creams they'd sell should the building ever be unlocked. Checking the website you can't book online you can only ring up, and it seems if you simply turn up with your own football for a guerilla round in midwinter nobody will notice and you can save £12.
Hillcrest Road is well named and dominated by what looks like a lofty watchtower. It's not, although there was once a lookout here called Mount Castle Tower (supposedly Elizabethan) which in the 1780s was used by the Anglo-French Survey as the northernmost vertex of a trigonometric chain linking London to Paris. It survived as a tearoom until 1881 when it was demolished to make way for Fox's Reservoir, a storage facility named after the Chairman of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company (Edwin G Fox) who officiated at the opening ceremony. A considerably larger reservoir was built across the road in 1889, boosting the burgeoning suburbs of Ealing by delivering a clean water supply, hence the water tower that dominates the skyline. Still there, still doing its job.
Fox's Reservoir was drained in 1943 to prevent German bombers using it as a highly reflective nocturnal navigation aid. The council duly bought the space (and the surrounding ancient woodland) and it's been a nature reserve since 1991, providing a contrasting adjunct to Hanger Hill Park. Being flat it's ideal for sports pitches so if you turn up on a Saturday morning it'll be swarming with footballers from Acton Ealing Whistlers, the local youth football club. An ancient track called Fox Lane runs alongside, while a former field-edge footpath called West Walk runs quarter of a mile downhill towards the throbbing metropolis around Ealing Broadway station. Look, the first crocuses are already emerging, winter must have turned a corner.
I thought I'd seen it all at this point so planned to escape on a 226 bus. It's Hail and Ride around here, but when I stuck my arm out the driver totally ignored me leaving me adrift at the top of Mount Avenue. And that's when I stumbled upon this extraordinary house name. Wow, I thought, here are two neighbours who really don't get on.
Let's call the disputing parties X and Y. Mr X moved into Mount Avenue in 2014, buying up a plot behind the main row of houses to build a modern home. In 2016 he wanted to add a new garage so Mr and Mrs Y let him knock down part of their back fence on the understanding he'd put it back later. He didn't, so 10 months later they went ahead and rebuilt the fence themselves. Mr X was livid, convinced the new fence was six inches closer than it should have been. He accused the Ys of erecting the fence on top of his drainage pipe, they accused him of laying his pipe on their land in the first place, and both sides embarked on a legal slanging match accusing each other of trespass.
By the time the case reached court in February 2020 Mr and Mrs Y had spent £10,000 in related costs and Mr X had spent £60,000 on legal fees. If you find your neighbour aggravating it clearly helps to be a millionaire property developer with bottomless pockets. I haven't been able to determine the outcome of the case because it seems the media only reported on the trial, not the verdict, but I can tell you that the sign saying 'Boundary Dispute House' appears in the front garden of Mr and Mrs Y. The neighbours on the right of the photo weren't part of the dispute, although one of their upper windows is emblazoned with weird distrustful signs so goodness knows what's going on there. Also if you try to check on Google Street View it turns out this entire section of Mount Avenue is missing, so perhaps give thanks that you don't live anywhere as furiously litigious as this.
You really never know what you'll stumble upon if you miss your bus.
An occasional series in which I miss a bus, decide to walk to the next stop but then spot something interesting in a place I've not been to before.
Hanger Hill is an actual hill in north Ealing with a crest 70m above sea level. Ealing Broadway's more like 35m, for comparison. The name comes from the Old English word hangra meaning a wooded slope. There used to be a big mansion at the summit called Hanger Hill House, built in 1790 and home to local landowners the Wood family. When they moved away a gelatine entrepreneur's son moved in - Sir Edward Montague Nelson - who in 1901 became Ealing's first Mayor. The house then became the clubhouse for the local golf course but was demolished in the 1930s as part of a swish estate repurposing the fairways for housing. Nothing to see here.
The country lane crossing Hanger Hill was called Hanger Lane, indeed still is, although it's no longer a sylvan rural backwater but a seething stretch of the North Circular. Such are the differences a century makes. At the foot of the northern slope is the concrete maelstrom of the Hanger Lane roundabout, also the subway-infested Hanger Lane station, but today's post is more interested in what's up top. I understand the view's quite good but to see over the trees and rooftops it helps to be on the top deck of a bus and as I said I missed mine, so saw nothing.
What first drew my attention was Hanger Hill Park, mainly because it had a lot of contours and some impressively varied old trees. Normally when you find diverse conifers in a scenic setting it means this was once a rich man's garden, but in this case it's just because Ealing Borough Council took their landscaping duties seriously when they opened the park in 1905. The hilltop ridge has acidic sandy soil so was deemed ideal for leylandii and giant redwoods, whereas oaks were better suited to the clay at the foot of the slope. The newest addition to the park is Hanger Hill Tiny Forest, a brief arc of assorted saplings now just over one year old. There are about 40 such mini-woods across London designed to encourage wildlife, community engagement and children's curiosity, hence the benches here can double up as an outdoor classroom.
A substantial portion of the park is occupied by the Hanger Hill outpost of the London Footgolf Centre. This used to be a pitch and putt course but the 18 undulating holes are now used for sequentially kicking a football around (1755 yards, par 65) because that's a sport these days. They say it's ideal for birthday parties, stag dos, corporate team building and school trips, but by the looks of it the target audience is sporty 20-somethings who'd otherwise be playing football and/or golf. The 'clubhouse' is an ugly retro hut with no indication whatsoever of opening times, just a lot of boards advertising the ice creams they'd sell should the building ever be unlocked. Checking the website you can't book online you can only ring up, and it seems if you simply turn up with your own football for a guerilla round in midwinter nobody will notice and you can save £12.
Hillcrest Road is well named and dominated by what looks like a lofty watchtower. It's not, although there was once a lookout here called Mount Castle Tower (supposedly Elizabethan) which in the 1780s was used by the Anglo-French Survey as the northernmost vertex of a trigonometric chain linking London to Paris. It survived as a tearoom until 1881 when it was demolished to make way for Fox's Reservoir, a storage facility named after the Chairman of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company (Edwin G Fox) who officiated at the opening ceremony. A considerably larger reservoir was built across the road in 1889, boosting the burgeoning suburbs of Ealing by delivering a clean water supply, hence the water tower that dominates the skyline. Still there, still doing its job.
Fox's Reservoir was drained in 1943 to prevent German bombers using it as a highly reflective nocturnal navigation aid. The council duly bought the space (and the surrounding ancient woodland) and it's been a nature reserve since 1991, providing a contrasting adjunct to Hanger Hill Park. Being flat it's ideal for sports pitches so if you turn up on a Saturday morning it'll be swarming with footballers from Acton Ealing Whistlers, the local youth football club. An ancient track called Fox Lane runs alongside, while a former field-edge footpath called West Walk runs quarter of a mile downhill towards the throbbing metropolis around Ealing Broadway station. Look, the first crocuses are already emerging, winter must have turned a corner.
I thought I'd seen it all at this point so planned to escape on a 226 bus. It's Hail and Ride around here, but when I stuck my arm out the driver totally ignored me leaving me adrift at the top of Mount Avenue. And that's when I stumbled upon this extraordinary house name. Wow, I thought, here are two neighbours who really don't get on.
Let's call the disputing parties X and Y. Mr X moved into Mount Avenue in 2014, buying up a plot behind the main row of houses to build a modern home. In 2016 he wanted to add a new garage so Mr and Mrs Y let him knock down part of their back fence on the understanding he'd put it back later. He didn't, so 10 months later they went ahead and rebuilt the fence themselves. Mr X was livid, convinced the new fence was six inches closer than it should have been. He accused the Ys of erecting the fence on top of his drainage pipe, they accused him of laying his pipe on their land in the first place, and both sides embarked on a legal slanging match accusing each other of trespass.
By the time the case reached court in February 2020 Mr and Mrs Y had spent £10,000 in related costs and Mr X had spent £60,000 on legal fees. If you find your neighbour aggravating it clearly helps to be a millionaire property developer with bottomless pockets. I haven't been able to determine the outcome of the case because it seems the media only reported on the trial, not the verdict, but I can tell you that the sign saying 'Boundary Dispute House' appears in the front garden of Mr and Mrs Y. The neighbours on the right of the photo weren't part of the dispute, although one of their upper windows is emblazoned with weird distrustful signs so goodness knows what's going on there. Also if you try to check on Google Street View it turns out this entire section of Mount Avenue is missing, so perhaps give thanks that you don't live anywhere as furiously litigious as this.
You really never know what you'll stumble upon if you miss your bus.
Saturday 17 January 1662/63
Jan. 17th, 2026 11:00 pmpepysdiary_feedWaked early with my mind troubled about our law matters, but it came into my mind that [sayings] of Epictetus, which did put me to a great deal of ease, it being a saying of great reason.1
Up to the office, and there sat Mr. Coventry, Mr. Pett, new come to town, and I. I was sorry for signing a bill and guiding Mr. Coventry to sign a bill to Mr. Creed for his pay as Deputy Treasurer to this day, though the service ended 5 or 6 months ago, which he perceiving did blot out his name afterwards, but I will clear myself to him from design in it. Sat till two o’clock and then home to dinner, and Creed with me, and after dinner, to put off my mind’s trouble, I took Creed by coach and to the Duke’s playhouse, where we did see “The Five Hours” entertainment again, which indeed is a very fine play, though, through my being out of order, it did not seem so good as at first; but I could discern it was not any fault in the play. Thence with him to the China alehouse, and there drank a bottle or two, and so home, where I found my wife and her brother discoursing about Mr. Ashwell’s daughter, whom we are like to have for my wife’s woman, and I hope it may do very well, seeing there is a necessity of having one. So to the office to write letters, and then home to supper and to bed.
Footnotes
Why We Should Support Vegan Market Traders
Jan. 17th, 2026 10:31 pmfatgayvegan_feedI spend a lot of my life around vegan markets. Sometimes it is for work, sometimes it is for pleasure, and often it is a bit of both. Over the years I have come to believe that independent vegan traders are doing some of the most important work in our movement, often without the recognition ... Read more