Holy Trinity Sloane Square is a good place to relax amidst the fancy shops in the area. The church dates from the 1880s in a Gothic style, achieving listed status in 1954. Suffering significant damage during World War II, and the shortage of materials and funds subsequent to the war, the building luckily escaped demolition and was restored.
Sometimes I like to go on random walks to explore the streets and any surprises. From Paddington to Regent's Park, there were historic buildings, geometric buildings, and a lot of contrasting cityscapes. Luckily the sidewalks were not busy and there weren't phone snatchers on bikes along this stretch that day.
London's wealthier areas have a lot of mews lanes that have now been converted into proper residentials and not service areas for your entourage to use. Here are some around Belgravia.
The National Army Museum in Chelsea traces the British Army's history and involvement in a number of global conflicts. It moved to its present site in 1971 with a collection from the 17th century English Civil Wars onwards.
Harry Jenkins joined the Army Service Corps during World War I and kept this sketchbook to record theatricals, trench life and battlefield scenes.
British soldiers serving in Germany carry this card, with this example belonging to Michael Wickens from the Royal Engineers.
This kit has medicines to deal with tropical diseases such as malaria.
This shako cover helps protect from sun stroke. Other tools include face veils to keep insects out.
This palanquin belonged to the Dowager Empress of China. It was taken by Major-General Sir Alfred Gaselee when his contingent occupied and looted Beijing in 1900.
This watercolour shows King Thibaw being captured by British soldiers in 1885. He was accused of interfering with trade and not protecting British subjects and interests in Burma.
This bandolier holds gunpowder, with each bottle having enough for one musket shot.
The Boer or Briton board game from the turn of the 20th century promoted imperialism, patriotism, and the Army.
The panoramic scroll celebrates George VI's coronoation procession featuring regiments from across the empire.
With a history going back to the 17th century, the State Dress is the oldest continuously-worn uniform in the Army. It is used by the Household Cavalry during parades.
Stratford is located north of the Docklands, a low-income area that was amongst the most deprived parts of the country. The 2012 London Olympics were held here with a lasting legacy of regeneration to benefit the community who lived here.
Anchoring the huge regeneration is the Westfield shopping mall, which opened in 2011. The 1.45 billion pound development features over 300 shops in both indoor and outdoor zones.
The 560-acre Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was the main competition venue during the 2012 Olympics. This area used to be industrial and was a dumping ground. Polluted with various contaminants, the park's transformation began in 2007. After 2 million tonnes of soil were cleaned and buildings demolished, major venues such as the stadium and aquatics centre were built.
To the north of Stratford International train station is a large residential community. East Village was the former Athletes' Village during the Olympics and consists of over 2800 homes. Residents started moving into neighbouring Chobham Manor in 2016, which consists of 859 new homes.
With a zoom lens on hand, I went up the free observation deck Horizon 22 for a look at London from a different perspective. This place is relatively easier to book especially as a walk-in, while the other popular free viewpoints nearby need a lot more advance notice and scrambling to book online.
IKEA opened a pop-up shop named Hus of FRAKTA on Oxford Street with a small exhibition about its famous blue bag. Their press release stated nearly half of UK households own one with 31% keeping theirs for over 5 years. You can personalize one with your initials for only 50 pence (medium size), which takes just minutes. You can explore the exhibition and small shop out back while you wait.
Various shops among the fancier brands have gone all out to lure shoppers to their display windows. I was quite impressed and intrigued especially around Knightsbridge and Mayfair, where a lot of these more expensive shops are clustered.
I ventured all the way east to Woolwich to see how their new waterfront community is shaping up as well as a free gingerbread exhibition on display. Hoping to save a bit of money compared to the paid event in the West End but with seemingly star-studded gingerbread creations, I was quickly done with the crumbling items and headed out to the promenade. There are blue sky days during London's grey winter every now and then so I took full advantage of it.
Just a short walk from Greenwich's town centre through a quiet residential area and up a short slope is a neighbourhood park with incredible views of London but without Greenwich Park's immense tourist crowds. Point Hill is well worth a visit.
A Christmas tree with the movie Wicked's theme is on display at St. Pancras International train station. It depicts he Emerald City in the movie and is 11m tall. 20 experts spent over 4000 hours to create the tree, which was hand-painted and has over 200 lights.
I will have to remember Point Hill as a place to see the skyline. In fact, I will have to come back to this thread if I ever make it to London, because you have covered quite a lot of free observation decks!
I will have to remember Point Hill as a place to see the skyline. In fact, I will have to come back to this thread if I ever make it to London, because you have covered quite a lot of free observation decks!
New Bond Street is a good place to splash your money on all sorts of luxury goods. I came to sightsee instead, admiring how the street's windows have turned into a museum of capitalism.
Coal Drop Yards north of Kings Cross has a nice shopping mall and covered Christmas food market with plenty of hot items on offer. The seating area is a bit small so we all needed to sit close together but there was plenty of atmosphere as the festive season approaches.
A large new community is under construction near Imperial Wharf Overground station. It's a fairly quiet community nestled in the upper class Chelsea district with purpose-built water features. You are not far from the action but in a more serene setting.
A huge redevelopment is happening around Elephant and Castle station, a stone's throw from Westminster and the City. It's a really good location that is well-connected by rail and what has appeared so far seems quite good with pedestrianized zones, lots of ground-level retail, and parks.
Elys opened as a tailor, outfitter, and drapery merchant in 1876 at the bottom of Wimbledon Hill, the town's first department store. 10 years later, he moved to a bigger location across the street, where it still stands now, albeit rebuilt into a larger store.
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