Cross Bones Graveyard - Shrine to the Outcast Dead

Last year sometime I recall catching a snippet of something on TV about a place called Cross Bones Graveyard. I wanted to find out more, so today after a quick look on Google Maps and realising that I work just a few streets away, I paid a visit to the site during my lunch break...

Cross Bones Graveyard was in medieval times an unconsecrated graveyard for 'single women' or 'Winchester Geese', the prostitutes licensed by the Bishop of Winchester to ply their trade in Southwark. By the 18th century it had become a pauper's burial ground for the people living in the slums around Bankside. It was closed in 1853, described as being 'completely overcharged with dead'. In the 1990s, London Underground dug up part of the site during the Jubilee Line Extension, removing 148 skeletons. The Museum of London estimates the site contains an estimated 15,000 bodies, making it one of the largest graveyards in London.

For more than a decade, Friends of Cross Bones have worked to influence the site owners, Transport for London (TfL), to rededicate part of the site as a Garden of Remembrance.

You can read further information here;
www.crossbones.org.uk

The more I read and research into the Cross Bones Graveyard, the more I'm discovering what this part of London; Bankside and Borough was like during that time; a dark and seedy place one of brothels and theaters, slums and prisons, completely different from the Bankside of today. If you have an hour to spare, THIS BBC documentary provides a fascinating albeit grim insight to what the life of someone who was buried here in the mid 1800s may have been like.

Every night and every morn,

Some to misery are born,

Every morn and every night,

Some are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to sweet delight,

Some are born to endless night.

Battersea Beer Festival 2011

This week it's the Battersea Beer Festival, which is being held at the Battersea Arts Centre. It runs from Wednesday 9th - Friday 11th.

Ale, cider and perry menus below, click for larger image...(obviously we'll never get through ALL of these, that would just be silly, but it's nice to know one has options!)

High Society

This weekend we went to see the High Society exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in Euston. The show takes an interesting and often humorous look into the history of drugs and their uses, from the 19th Century British Opium trade to Native American peyote ceremonies to psychological warfare. The exhibition explores the subject through a wide range of media, featuring excerpts of film such as Jonathan Miller's 1966 version of Alice in Wonderland, liquid lightshows of 1960s gigs, propaganda such as Reefer Madness, paraphernalia, literature, sculpture, photography and paintings. The exhibition runs to the end of February 2011.


Also on at The Wellcome Collection is Medicine Man, a permanent exhibition about the history of medicine and health with many interesting (and some disturbing) artifacts on display!

Secret London

I've been asked to arrange our Christmas work party this year and whilst researching, I remembered a very good book my friend Caitlin showed me a couple of years ago - Secret London.

They have a website HERE and it lists all interesting, quirky and hidden attractions in London and is a very good source of ideas for things to do! There's a lot of places I didn't know existed and houses that I didn't even know I could go into!!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon...

On Sunday, fancying a bit of a lazy afternoon, we headed out to the Red Lion pub in Ealing. We first discovered this Fullers' gem sometime back at the beginning of the year whilst strolling around off the main road of Ealing Broadway looking for a nice quiet little boozer just like this. This lovely, homely pub has to be one of my London favourites. It has also been one of CAMRAs favourites for the last 5 years!!


The Red Lion serves a wide range of fine ales and good food, and the reason we decided to come, is because Sunday at the Red Lion is PIE DAY!! Pieminister pies are served from 5pm - although we arrived a little earlier than that to enjoy some tasty ales in the beer garden. My choice of tipple was Fuller's Discovery - a light, golden ale with a fruity taste. Simon was on the Golden Delicious from the Burton Bridge Brewery, a slightly more bitter tasting ale than mine but really moorish!

Then the pies came!! Mine was a Wildshroom and Asparagus and Simon's a Heidi pie - with goat's cheese and herby roasted sweet potato - Just the ticket for a lazy Sunday afternoon! Ahh.

Ale Jaunt

On Sunday, my friend Kate and I were in the mood for some very fine real ales, so we made our way to Parson's Green to the very fine real ale pub, The White Horse. This pub is AMAZING!! They have over 135 bottled beers from all over the world, from America to Belgium, and also a wide choice Cask Ales and Draught beers. They frequently hold beer festivals too! The next one is the American Beer Festival which is being held over the first weekend in July. It will have a huge variety of American beers on offer, and also some beers from English Brewery's, such as Dark Star and others inspired by the American style.

We took it easy on our first drink, fancying a light one, so my first tipple of choice was a half of Adnam's Broadside 'a heart-warming English beer', one of my 'chipping away' favourites, and Kate's, half of a light golden ale, which was delicious but for the life of me, can't remember the name of (I'll have to ask her and let you know).

Kate and I are both big fans of Belgium beer, and seeming as we took it easy on the first we decided to go for some Lambic next! I decided on the Oud Beersel Oude Gueuze;


This beer is delicious!! It was actually the first time I've tried Lambic (Kate is a old time connoisseur in this department) and I was very surprised at how it tasted! It's really quite vinous, like cider and it finishes off with a almost sour, fruity kick. I shall definitely be having it again! I'm converted!




Kate decided on the Cantillon Gueuze which went down dangerously easier than mine!

For our last half we both decided to try the Black Cat, from Moorhouse. This one just caught my eye, mainly for the logo and I thought I'd give it a try... a mild, almost black in colour with a lovely coffee, chocolate flavour.




Well, this is all we had time for on this particular afternoon, but we shall be back very soon for more tasting!!