London old and new - and a glimpse of a secret nuclear bunker

This amazing view of London is my souvenir of a  helicopter sightseeing trip over London. On a sunny autumn morning, we took off from Essex in EC130 G-SASY (right), and headed along the Thames, in one unforgettable half-hour passing iconic landmarks such as Tower Bridge, the Monument to the 1666 Great Fire of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Post Office Tower, and later the London Eye, Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. Some of these buildings have dominated the capital's skyline for centuries but from the air, alongside new developments such as the Shard skyscraper (seen left, at 309.6m tall, the highest completed building in Europe), they looked like children's models.  

The helicopter tour was a Christmas present which came via a voucher. More details: http://www.adventure001.com/activity.asp?ActTypeId=6&Dn=Helicopter%20Sightseeing

A bonus was the location of the helicopter landing field – just across the road from the site of the  Kelvedon Hatch secret nuclear bunker. This unassuming bungalow, shrouded by  trees (left),  is the portal to an underground world of reinforced tunnels and rooms where up to 600 military and civilian personnel, possibly even the Prime Minister, would have headed survival operations in the advent of a nuclear war. It was decomissioned in 1992, and is now owned and looked after privately. I didn’t have time to go in, but tours are available. There's even a cafeteria.   See http://www.secretnuclearbunker.com/index.html

A Handmade Revolution?

I’ve discovered a great new TV series featuring traditional crafts, currently on BBC2 each afternoon at 1545. Paul Martin’s Handmade Revolution hopes to inspire people to try their hand at some of these skills and so keep them alive. The first episode included some imaginative silver jewellery, cute felted wool trolls, traditional rag rugging, a beautiful glass bowl shaped like an orchid (by graphic designer Laura Hart) and – the judges’ favourite – Tony Evans’ eye-catching horse sculpted from waste copper pipes.

The programme travels round the country, showcasing the work of local craftspeople, while Paul Martin discovers the techniques behind their creations. Over the next two weeks, the three judges, all professionals in the craft world (from left Piyush Suri, Mary Jane Baxter and Glenn Adamson) look at everything from pottery and stone carving to toy-making and even some imaginative knitting. Each day they select one favourite item and these will all go on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London for four weeks from the middle of October.

The BBC has also produced a free booklet to support the series, with more details about crafting in Britain and ideas for projects. http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/tv/handmade/BBC_Handmade_Revolution.pdf

More about Tony Evans and his horse sculptures at: http://www.tonyevanssculptures.com/7.html

Back by popular demand: Crossrail's Bison to Bedlam exhibtion

Good news for anyone interested in London's history: finds from Crossrail’s archaeology programme are going on display again, after a hugely popular one-day showing in July. (see http://greenjottings.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2012-08-12T10:50:00-07:00&max-results=7)

As well as the 100-odd finds featured the first time - including amber, bison bones, a Roman silver coin, medieval ice skates and a skeleton from the Bedlam hospital site - the October exhibition will also include a small section of mammoth jaw bone.

The free event is being held at the Crossrail Visitors Information Centre, Tottenham Court Rd, from 2 October to 27 October on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 7pm and Saturdays from 10am to 5pm. On Wednesday evenings at 6.30 there will also be a series of 25-minute seminars by archaeologists working on the project. Crossrail’s lead archaeologist Jay Carver be hosting the project’s first online Twitter Q&A event (#BisontoBedlam) on Tuesday 9 October between 2pm and 9pm to answer questions on the programme. The Crossrail project is halfway towards completion, so there should be further exciting finds to come.

The Crossrail Visitors Information Centre is at 16-18 St Giles High Street, London, WC2H 8LN
http://www.crossrail.co.uk/

A better way to grow strawberries?

This summer I tried growing strawberries in containers – and ended up with lots of runners, but no fruit. Now I’m looking at different planting methods to try next summer, and have been inspired by the kitchen garden at the National Trust’s Polesden Lacey, near Dorking in Surrey.
Tucked away beside a greenhouse, I found strawberries flourishing in long growing bags resting on planks which in turn were supported by knee-high brick walls (left).  Each bag was connected to a watering system.

Because the plants were elevated, there was no need for straw to keep the slugs away, and the bags would be easy to cover to keep the birds off.  It seemed like a good scheme, with no digging involved, and looked easy to replicate on a smaller scale with ordinary growbags.

Polesden Lacey was once the home of Edwardian society hostess Margaret Greville, and the grounds provided food for her lavish weekend parties (often attended by royalty) as well as the household and garden staff. Mindful of the estate’s productive past, the National Trust is currently creating a community kitchen garden there for people who’d like to grow produce but haven’t the time for an allotment. Work is scheduled to start this autumn, with the ground ready for new planting in the spring. More details at http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/things-to-see-and-do/page-2/view-page/item939025/268355/

Polesden Lacey’s gardens are beautiful all year round.  In the autumn, the herbaceous borders (above) are a blaze of colour. I also loved the wildflower meadow bordering the entrance path (below).

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/polesden-lacey/

Paralympic torch lights up London

Thousands of people lined the streets of London today as the Paralympic torch relay made its 92-mile journey from Stoke Mandeville Hospital, the birthplace of the games, to the opening ceremony in Stratford. The relay travelled through the night and was scheduled to reach our neighbourhood in Brent about 0730. In the end, so many people turned out to watch it ended up running two hours late. But the waiting crowds were undeterred and there were big cheers as the "community heroes" chosen to carry the torch passed by. Then the race was on to get it to the Olympic park in time.

Fun at Southbank's Festival of the World

The Bank Holiday may be over, but there's still plenty of fun and inspiration to be had at the Festival of the World at London’s Southbank Centre. The grey concrete areas around the Royal Festival Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall have been transformed into an outdoor gallery by a series of exuberant art works. Look out for the beautiful baobab tree, 15 metres high and covered in fabric rings (left), the giant map made with Lego bricks, the row of little adobe houses and sculptures (great for children to play in), and trees lovingly decorated with balloons.

A real crowd-stopper is this sculpture of two giant robots which seem to be climbing the side of a building. Appropriately, it's called Everything is Beautiful When You Don’t Look Down.




The terraces overlooking the Thames have become home to a series of colourful pop-up restaurants with food from all corners of the globe, complementing the treats on sale in the Real Food Market on the courtyard behind the buildings.

And when you’ve exhausted the complex’s lower levels, climb the yellow spiral staircase to the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall to discover a wonderful place to relax – a garden, complete with scarecrow, created with the help of the Eden Project.

Here, much of the planting is done in raised beds, which hold flowers and vegetables from around the globe. But there are also unlikely containers which have gained a new lease of life.  I especially loved the Victorian toilet bowl and these old watering cans.

Blackboards list the plants and vegetables currently flourishing, bees and butterflies flit around, and best of all, visiting youngsters are actively encouraged to get involved. Go there while you can.



The festival runs until September 9.

http://world.southbankcentre.co.uk

More Gold at London's Olympic Park

Well done Oympians! So much hard work and effort, so many medals.
But could I award one more gold - for the gardeners at the Olympic Park, who’ve battled against the elements to turn Sarah Price’s garden design into a stunning reality, enjoyed by tens of thousands? I first saw the park in mid-June, when Stratford was still a building site. (See http://greenjottings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/going-for-gold-at-londons-olympic-park.html )  The plants were mostly foliage, any tall shoots buffeted by a stiff breeze.

But eight weeks on, as the crowd streamed in to cheer Usain Bolt,  the difference was unbelieveable. The gardening team had achieved their goal of getting everything to flower in time and the banks of the River Lea were ablaze with colour. The design reflects the arrival in Britain of plants from all over the world. Above, the Orbit towers over the area with plants from North America.

Kniphopfia bring a golden glow to the Southern Hemisphere garden.

The planting is designed to encourage wildlife. Here, bees enjoy some of the purple angelica in the Asia garden.

The pond in the Royal Horticultural Society Great British Garden. There's even a plum tree, the fruit almost ready for picking.

And just around a bend in the river, a reminder of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee river pageant - the Gloriana. This now has a new role - to promote better use of the Thames and the UK's inland waterways, with the emphasis on charity events involving young people.

The Olympic Park is the largest new urban park since Victorian times. Once the sporting excitement has died down and the temporary venues are removed, the current 50 hectares of planting will be doubled. Renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, it will open again in stages from the first anniversary of the start of the Games - 27 July 2013.