Brick Lane Street Art

Brick Lane can be thought of as the epicentre of Street Art in London. The streets and alleys that run off from Brick Lane are covered in bright, vibrant art works both large and small. The canvas may well be a wall, window ledge, door or shop front shutters. There really is no limit to the possibilities for expression here. By its very nature the art is constantly changing, take a similar walk around the streets in six months time and there will have been significant, noticeable changes. This ephemeral nature of the work is what makes the Street Art scene so interesting.

Falko 1 – Fashion street

Brick lane is just a short walk from Liverpool Street station which is served by the Central, Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City underground lines. Leave the station via the Bishopsgate exit, turning left onto Bishopsgate. Cross over at the crossing and then turn right onto Brushfield Street. At the end turn right onto Commercial Street. Cross over at the lights  and then turn left into Fashion Street. This is where some significant pieces of art can be found. From here you can walk down the street and turn left at the end onto Brick Lane.

Mr Cenz – Fashion Street

Just before Fashion Street meets Brick Lane there is this piece by Jimmy C.

Jimmy C – Fashion Street

Once on Brick Lane take the first right onto Heneage Street.

Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil by Lewis Campbell Lost Monkey 2017 – Heneage Street

Heading back onto Brick Lane and into Seven Stars Yard. There is so much Street Art here it is difficult to know where to begin. Some is better than others but that of course is a personal view.

Dreph – Seven Stars Yard
Carleen de Souzer – Star Yard
Rip – Seven Stars Yard

 

Exiting back onto Brick Lane again now take the next left onto Fournier Street. There is not much Street Art here but it is a most interesting street with beautifully restored town houses built for merchants in the eighteenth century. At the far end of Fournier Street is the Ten Bells pub which has associations with the Jack the Ripper story.The main piece on Fournier Street is at the Brick Lane end and is by Shok-1, known for his aerosol X-ray art.

Show-1. Fournier Street

Next up is Princelet Street and the Jack the Ripper story is here in an undated context by Otto Schade.

Otto Schade – Princelet Street

Stix uses his stick figures to illustrate community cohesion in the area.

Stix – Princelet Street

Hanbury Street has a long association with Street Art. The piece by Belgian artist RoA, known for his huge paintings of wildlife has been on the side of the building for a long time.

RoA – Hanbury Street
Otto Schade – Hanbury Street

At the bottom of Hanbury Street is a huge work by Majid Adin that was completed only recently.

Majid Adin – Hanbury Street
The Itching by Sr X – Hanbury Street

Continue along Brick Lane. The courtyard of the old Truman Brewery is an interesting area but was unfortunately closed off at the time of my visit. At the corner of Pedley Street and Brick Lane is the Kinkao Thai restaurant, the side of which is a huge canvas for street art. The current work occupying the space is by Dan Kitchener.

My walk ended at Grimsby Street but there is much more to explore in the area if time permits.

This One – Brick Lane
Zabou

The London Calling blog is a good website for Street Art in the capital. More about what else Brick Lane has to offer to visitors can be found here

New World Natural Wines

The monthly tasting at Bunch Natural Wine Bar on Berry Street in Liverpool had as its focus natural wines from the New World. While New World wines have a considerable share of sales in the UK the natural wines are perhaps not very well known and not so often encountered. This may be for a number of reasons but principally production is often small, in relative terms, and many wineries can sell their production within their own country. Couple that with the fact that natural wines are often made with little or no sulphur dioxide at bottling  means that they perhaps do not travel as well, especially over the huge distances from Australia and New Zealand. With these facts in mind it was a tasting that I very much looked forward to.

Naturalist Pet Nat. Cambridge Road. 2016. Martinborough. New Zealand. A blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris from Martinborough at the southern end of the North Island. The varieties are vinified separately using wild yeasts then blended together prior to bottling. There are aromas of lemon, pear and stone fruit which make this a very inviting drink. Dry but with a slight creamy texture thanks to the gentle mousse. Well balanced and with a lingering finish of lemon and a touch of bread yeast. Visit their website here

Since I Fell For You. Gewürztraminer. Ovum Wines 2016. Oregon. USA. Taking its name from a Nina Simone song this is a well made wine. Bags of floral, rose petal, lychee notes give way to tropical fruits. Medium bodied but rich in texture it is creamy with a hint of sweetness. The finish is long and floral. There is a purity of fruit here and a lovely freshness. This really is very nice. Visit their website here

Riviera Del Notro. Roberto Henriques 2017. Bio-Bio Valley/Itata. Chile A blend of Muscat, Semillon and Corinto. All have been vinified separately with skin contact; the Muscat for 5 months, Corinto for 7 months and the Semillon for 3 weeks. The wine is yellow/green with the slightest haze. There are intense aromas of grapes, roses and honeyed tropical fruits and this is reflected on the palate but with a slightly medicinal flavour. There is some volatile acidity. The wine improves a little in glass developing a smokey character. Very dry and a finish that lasts almost forever! A marmite of a wine, I became more of a fan as it opened out. Visit their website here

B’Rose. Yetti & the Kokonut. 2017. Barossa Valley. Australia.  David Geyer and Koen Janssens began their label as recently as 2015 and now make a range of low intervention wines from grapes sourced from the Barossa and Eden valleys in South Australia. This rosé is an unusual blend of Gewürztraminer (vinified on skins), Cabernet Franc and Grenache. It is a glorious salmon pink colour with aromas of strawberry fruit with a few floral notes thrown in. The palate is light, juicy red fruit, slightly off dry in style. My sample had warmed a little in glass and would have benefited from being a little more chilled but this is not an unattractive wine that would certainly go down well in the garden on a hot sunny afternoon. Their range is well worthy of further investigation.

Rockwell Red Blend. Minimus Wines. 2016. Oregon/Washington. USA. Winemaker Chad Stock started the Minimus label in 2011 with an underlying philosophy to embrace experimentation in winemaking and to continually strive to explore all the possibilities available in this region of North Western USA. This is the second vintage of Rockwell, a blend of 40% Tempranillo, 26% Sauvignon Blanc, 14% Viognier, 16% Syrah and 4% Chenin Blanc. This is a very unusual blend with lots of red fruits, floral, smokey, candy floss. There is a slight sweetness on the front palate but it is dry on the finish with some grippy tannins. There is an awful lot going on here – a crazy blend that actually works very well. Smooth, very drinkable and a lot of fun. Try it and you may be surprised just how much you like it. Visit their website here

Terracura Syrah. Silwervis Wines. 2015. Swartland. South Africa. Winemaker Ryan Mostert has made a New World wine which is very much Old World in style, reminiscent of the great syrahs of the France’s Rhone Valley. The nose is a little closed but there are hints of berry fruits and smokey spice. The palate is dry with dark berry fruit, leather and peppery spice. The finish has some lovely brambly fruit. This wine needs a little time to soften a little at the edges. Very nice now but put a bottle or so away for a few years and it will be well worth the wait. Visit their website here

The Royal Cheshire Show

The Royal Cheshire show is held over two days in June each year and is organised by the Cheshire Agricultural Society which was first formed in 1838 although the first Cheshire Show was not held until 1893.

It has had a number of different venues over the years but is currently held in Tabley, just outside the Cheshire town of Knutsford, with good motorway links via the M6 and M56.

It has everything you would expect from a country show, plenty of animals, agricultural machinery, vintage vehicles, local produce, floral displays,country pursuits and numerous shopping opportunities to name but a few. Having never been to an agricultural show before I was pleasantly surprised at how much was going on and how easy it is to spend a whole day here.

There really is something for everyone and if the sun shines, as it did this year, it is a great day out.

The Food Live Theatre was popular with many visitors with numerous cookery demonstrations from chefs including Jean Christophe Novelli, Brian Mellor and former Great British Bake Off finalist Luis Troyano who decorated the most amazing cake. Sadly no tasting samples!

There were plenty of opportunites to get up close to some very fine animals including this European Eagle Owl which at 4 years old is still a youngster!

Some however were not quite so alert.

Dates for next year are the 18th and 19th June 2019.. Might have to put it in the diary.