Royal arsenal Summer Lates

Royal arsenal Summer Lates

by | Jun 3, 2021 | Community, Eating Out, Street Food

As stated in a previous post about the farmers market at Woolwich, the farmer market has now become more of a food festival rather than a place to buy organically produced raw fruit and vegetables, and now it would appear the organizers have come to realise this fact.

Starting this Saturday 5th June and repeating each first Saturday of the month throughout the summer period there will be on the same site a Street food festival along with live music, bars and other entertainment.

The weather is predicted to be fantastic this Saturday (but this could change) so the day should be a very, joyous, happy and entertaining event.

(See events calendar for dates and details)

Woolwich farmers market, or is it?

Woolwich farmers market, or is it?

by | Mar 16, 2021 | Community, Street Food

Woolwich farmers market, or is it?

Seeing a tweet from the local online beer merchants Plumsteadshire of what they were having on sale at the Woolwich farmers market I was intrigued. I have used them many times in the last three lockdowns and I was interested to see what they had on their stall at the RARE Woolwich farmers market and to also check out the actual market.

The Beer stall was great and had a small but varied selection of craft ales, stouts and lagers. I was served by a friendly and beer knowledgeable young lady and I will be back to the stall again when it next opens.

What I was a bit disappointed with though, was the actual farmers market. When you think of farmers market, or at least the ones I have been to, you think of organic fruit and vegetables, half-eaten by pests and insects and way overpriced produce, that your local supermarket would throw away as not being good enough to sell to the public. Yes, you’ve guessed it, I have not fully bought into the organic is better ideology yet. The only thing I want chemical-free is my beer.

The only fruit and vegetables being sold at the market was one seller trading from the back of a van rather than off of a stall. All the other stalls seemed to be food stalls selling various cooked cuisines from around the world as well as the obligatory cheese and chilli oil and artisan bakery stalls.

This is now a bi-monthly food festival rather than a farmers’ market. I’m not complaining by any means. I would rather taste homemade produce or foods from around the world produced from within the local minority communities than overpriced and bug-infested cabbages anytime.

A lot of the regular stallholders were not there, possibly due to the Covid restrictions, perhaps they did not think it worth opening their stalls.
I dare say that the market will get bigger and more varied as it used to be, once we get back to normal and hopefully the market will go back inside again.

(See the events calendar in the what’s on section for opening dates and times).

To cull, or not to cull.

To cull, or not to cull.

by | Mar 1, 2021 | Community

To cull, or not to cull.

The sight of parakeets flying around certain areas of London is becoming almost as common as seeing squirrels or foxes. In Greenwich, they are very common especially in the parks and along the railway track treetops.
The government has announced that they are looking to cull the wild parakeets as they are not native to the British isle and as such are decimating the natural ecosystem by dominating the smaller native birds.

I personally love seeing the brightly coloured parakeets flying about outside my window especially in the summer. They brighten up the place. I would like to see maybe a partial culling that would not destroy the whole parakeet population but maybe keep them to a level where they do not impact so much on the native smaller birds. I’m no expert, so this may not be feasible.

In a way, I can understand the governments position as these birds are native to mainly Australia, South America, and parts of South Asia and not the UK. During the last century, grey squirrels were introduced to the British isles from North America and this has had disastrous consequences for the native red squirrels, which were driven to almost extinction by the more aggressive grey squirrels.
Similarly, when the non-native rabbits were introduced to Australia they found that the rabbits bred like….well rabbits. This spelled disaster for the farmers crops which the rabbits feasted on like there was no tomorrow.
The Australian rabbit problem got so bad that the Australian army and prospecting bounty hunters were called in to try and eliminate the devastation they were causing. Although the problem is now contained the rabbits are still in abundance on the subcontinent of Australia, a testimony to the endurance of mother nature over man.

In the case of the British parakeet problem, the birds were not introduced on purpose but were caused by numerous escaped parakeets escaping from the confinement of cages to which parakeets are not meant to endure, so they will attempt to escape at any opportunity. These free wild birds then managed to congregate and breed.
I’m still amazed they manage to breed so fast and managed to adapt to our climate so easily but that is just what they have done.
Whether it is accidentally escaped birds or the intended introduction of a non-native species to a country to solve another problem, the final problem of non-native species destroying the ecosystem or the native species is always the fault of humans who do not think enough of the long term consequences of their actions.

All hail the British entrepreneur.

All hail the British entrepreneur.

by | Mar 1, 2021 | Business, Community

All hail the British entrepreneur.

At the corner of Greenwich High Road and Stockwell Street, just outside the Mitre pub sit three old red telephone boxes. To anyone idly passing by that is just what they are but upon closer inspection, you will realise that they are not telephone boxes at all.

These three red telephone boxes are part of a growing phenomenon that is spreading across the land whereby the telecoms equipment is removed, and the units are turned into small businesses. In the case of these three boxes, one is a locksmith key cutting service, one is a mobile phone repair business, and one is a coffee selling kiosk.
At the moment we are still under lockdown trading restrictions so the only business working there at the moment is the coffee selling kiosk.

I can only assume the rental on such a small plot of land must be minuscule and with just basic utilities such as electricity as overheads, this is what you call a win, win business scenario if you want to stay small and is the ideal start-up for the budding entrepreneur.

The advent of the ubiquitous mobile phone meant the demise of the old telephone boxes since almost everyone has a phone with them all the time so the need for the old telephone boxes is not needed anymore. A working telephone box actually being used as a telephone box is a rare sight to behold these days.

St Valentines day in Greenwich

St Valentines day in Greenwich

by | Feb 10, 2021 | Community

I have tried and tried to find some solution to the quandary of what to do special on St Valentine’s day during the lockdown in Greenwich and the only thing that I have come up with is an online romantic concert streamed by the Blackheath Halls.
If you stick to the rules (as we all should) then unless you are happily married or living with your special someone, then a nice evening in with a lovely meal and a few glasses of wine is going to be an easy option during the lockdown. Unfortunately, if you are single and living on your own and have that someone special in your life then getting the person you love to pop around for an intimate meal and other intimacies is against the rules. Although if your young and in love I don’t think the rules are going to stop you.
If you are interested in an evening of intimate loving, food, wine, and entertainment, and you have a passion for classical music and culture then you can watch on Sunday 14th February at 19:30, the online stream of LOVE: Brahms Liebeslieder-Waltzer, Op. 52 & 65 for £10 per household by booking online from the link: https://www.blackheathhalls.com/whats-on/love-brahms-liebeslieder-waltzer-op-52-65-2/
Hopefully this Covid mess will be sorted out by next year and we can all get back to the restaurants to celebrate St Valentines as usual with the special one we love and care about.
See the events page on the 14th February for more details of the St Valentines day concert by the Blackheath Halls.

Sex, Nudity, Bad Language and Dragons

Sex, Nudity, Bad Language and Dragons

by | Feb 3, 2021 | Community

 

 

RAUNCHY SEX, Nudity, BAD LANGUAGE and DRAGONS (Bet that got your attention). No, it is not another episode of Game of Thrones but just another month of lockdown entertainment in Greenwich.
Calm down it’s not what you think. Since all the theatres are shut, some entrepreneurial theatres are putting on plays and performances online and streaming the performances on a ticket per device purchase basis. One of the plays being put on from the Greenwich theatre is Manimals a raunchy about a niche dating genre.
Does it have dragons in it I hear you ask. No that is my second item, because from Friday 12th February for 16 days the Chinese community will be celebrating Chinese New Year 2021 and although it is the year of the Ox and NOT the year of the dragon, every year is celebrated with the famous dragon dance.
Check out my website link below to get more details and ways to partake in the events and performances.

Manimals by Michelle Hudson

A sexually charged, raunchy play about a female games designers dating experience with Manimals – men who pose with exotic animals in their dating profiles.
The paly warning state sexually explicit content, nudity and bad language so not one to watch with granny or the kids.
This is an audience participation play that they recommend is best partaken on a one-to-one experience rather than in groups.
See events calendar for more details.
A raunchy audience interaction play by Michelle Hudson about the dating experiences of a female singleton dating Manimals – men Who pose with exotic animals in their dating profiles.
Warning
Sexually explicit content/nudity warning, strong language, use of balloons, audience interaction. Above 18s only.

See events calendar for details.

 

Chinese New Year Celebrations 2021.

Yes, it is that time of the year again on February 12th it will be Chinese New Year 2021 and the start of the year of the Ox, where the Chinese community start 16 days of celebrations.
Of course, this year unlike previous years, you will not be seeing dragon dancers performing down by the Cutty Sark. Instead, Royal Museums Greenwich will be having free online celebrations and performances on Saturday, February 13th from 4 pm on their Facebook page.
Royal Museum Greenwich Facebook page: (2) Royal Museums Greenwich | Facebook

See events calendar for more details.