Tag: London

Stepney City Farm

Stepney City Farm

by leeandpea ♥ 1 Comment

Stepney Farm

Stepney City Farm is a working farm in East London and is home to a range of animals including chickens, ducks, geese, donkeys, pigs coats and cats. I first visited here several years ago with a friend and was really charmed by it so was keen to return with Pea.

Our visit

The farm is just a few minutes walk from Half Moon Theatre so I decided to combine the two since it was unlikely I’d be in the area again in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the weather was not in our favour on the day so the whole outing was a very soggy an chilly affair.

We visited on a Saturday when there’s a farmers market but by the time we arrived in the late afternoon almost all of the stalls were either already gone or in the process of packing up. This was about an hour and a half before closing time so I’m not sure of the market traders usually pack up at this time or if they’d just all understandably had enough of the rain by that point. With not much happening in the market, we headed to the on-site cafe and I knocked back a much needed and very strong coffee.  I also had a very satisfying tofu sandwich/panini thing which Pea kept pestering me for, even though he had his own food. When I relented and gave him a bit, he pushed it around the table for a while before throwing it on the floor. Naturally.

The rain just wouldn’t let up and Pea started to get twitchy so in the end we left the shelter of the cafe for what felt like a very token walk around the farm to look at the animals. I didn’t have waterproof clothing or wellies for either of us, so had no choice but to stick Pea back in his pram under the protection of the raincover making it impossible to really interact with him or get him interested in the animals. Many of them were taking shelter and those that weren’t looked about as miserable to be outside in the cold and wet as we were. This was a huge shame as the farm has a good variety of animals, including a funny-looking rabbit type critter that reminded me a bit of Fizzgig from The Dark Crystal.

There’s actually lots here for tiny people, including a play/picnic area complete with brightly coloured picnic tables, wooden stacking blocks, a wendy house and a tricycle or two. For older children, there’s the Key Stage 1 Literacy trail. There’s even a classroom on site for events such as Family Friendly yoga and Family Farm club.

The farm overall has a ramshackle, artsy feel about it that I really liked and it’s clearly apparent that there’s a good deal of community engagement happening here too. Although our time here really was a washout, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this city farm for a family outing on a more pleasant day. Even on a pissy day, the cafe is cosy, decent value and equipped with high chairs so is still an option for a bite to eat.

Essential info

Stepney City Farm is at Stepney Way, E1. Entry is free and the farm is open from 10.00am-4.00pm Tuesday to Sunday, closed on Mondays.

Half Moon Theatre

Half Moon Theatre

by leeandpea ♥ 2 Comments

Leaf at Half Moon

Half Moon Theatre is a dedicated children’s theatre in Limehouse, East London. Children’s theatre has been one of my favourite activities with Pea but productions targeted at pre-schoolers are few and far between so I’m always on the alert for age-appropriate performances. Half Moon had been on my radar for quite some time, but as it was quite the trek to get there from our (former) corner of south London we didn’t make it until late January and it turned out to be one of our last London adventures before the Dublin move.

Our visit

Our day didn’t start well. My sense of direction is horrific and I rely heavily on the assistance of Google maps to get anywhere. In my efforts to find a step-free route to the venue that didn’t involve a gazillion changes I had about a fifteen-minute walk in a part of London I don’t know well. And, for reasons I couldn’t fathom at the time, I’d been having issues with mobile data on my phone, so no Google maps to come to my aid. To cut a long story short, I got a bit lost, and very stressed. I hate being late for things and the theatre had sent an email the day before with instructions to arrive 10 minutes early. Oh, and the meticulously planned step-free route turned out to not be step free at all, due to my complete misinterpretation of the Mumderground app (it’s actually a really useful app for getting around London if you aren’t a tit like me and read it properly). Also, it was raining. A lot. And I was very, very tired. And insufficiently caffeinated.

It became apparent I was not only not going to be 10 minutes early, but really quite late if I made it all. In fact, I considered just accepting defeat and going in search of a pint of coffee. But since I knew I’d be unlikely to fit in another show at this theatre before the move, I decided to plough on and maybe just sneak in at the back and catch the last few minutes. It turned out I had taken only a minor wrong turn and once I’d figured that out the walk was straightforward. I arrived at the theatre red-faced, rain-sodden and perspiring, expecting to be turned away. Instead, I was greeted by a breezy front of house person who let me take my time de-pramming Pea and removing copious outer layers of clothing from us both. We were then ushered into the performance and even able to sit fairly close to the stage. When I went to mute my phone I discovered that, despite all the fannying about, we were only 5 minutes late.

We were there to see Tam Tam Theatre’s Leaf, a story inspired by the changing of the seasons. As is often the case with theatre aimed at very young audiences, it was very much a sensory experience with the narrative advanced mostly through movement and gestures rather than dialogue (in fact I think it was entirely wordless, but, look I’m writing this in April and we went in January so no certainties). Pea has a decent attention span for this sort of thing, and was quite into it, if anything a bit too into it as I spent most of the time gripping his legs to hold off an unsolicited stage invasion. At the end, the children were invited up onto the stage for free play amongst the leaves. Pea, of course, suddenly became shy and had to be coaxed onto the stage and was then the target of a hostile pacifier takeover attempt by another child.

I was really glad I didn’t give up on this as in the end as the performance was very sweet, gentle and calming and Pea did eventually enjoy lolloping about amongst the artificial leaves. After the show, we spent a bit of time exploring the art materials in the lobby. We would have stayed longer, but we were both starving, so packed up and went in search of grub. I would have loved to have come back here for another production as the whole place had such a relaxed vibe, but it was just not feasible to squeeze in before we left London.

When I got home, I discovered that there was nothing wrong with my phone at all – it had fallen victim to Pea’s tinkering, and he’d somehow managed to switch off mobile data. I think it was deliberate sabotage personally.

Essential info

Half Moon Young People’s Theatre is at 43 Whitehorse Road, London E1. There’s step-free access, baby change facilities and a free play space in the lobby with art materials and a small selection of children’s books. There’s no cafe on site, but check out the theatre’s website for recommendations nearby. Upcoming shows for under 5’s include Kaleidoscope and The Owl and the Pussycat.

The Charles Dickens Museum

The Charles Dickens Museum

by leeandpea ♥ 4 Comments

I’ve passed by the Charles Dickens Museum on route to other activities on many an occasion but I had assumed it wouldn’t be terribly baby friendly. According to Londonist the museum’s cafe and garden is one of the nicest in the city . I do love a garden cafe so really wanted to check it out. Then I discovered that with my National Art Pass I’d get free entry to the museum so decided to give it a go when next in the area. It turns out that my concerns about the baby friendliness of this museum were actually…. somewhat justified.

What’s it all about?

The Museum is actually one of Dickens’s former homes where he produced some of his most famous works. It has been restored to give an insight into the private world of the Dickens family (Dickens and his wife Catherine raised three of their ten children in this home). You can walk around the house to get a look at Dickens’s writing table and dressing room and see his wife’s engagement ring. There’s also a temporary exhibition space currently occupied by Ghost of an Idea: Unwrapping ‘A Christmas Carol’ which explores the inspiration behind the novel and its continued legacy.

Our visit

I really wanted to take Pea here in December to see the museum decorated in Victorian Christmas style. Transport disruptions and a double dose of the lurgy prevented that from happening so we made do with an early January visit instead. When we arrived, I was pleased to see the festive wreath still on the door and looked forward to having a look inside.

It was around midday when we got there and Pea was tired from our morning activity but I hoped I could have a casual walk around inside with him in his pram and he’d soon crash out. However, when I ordered my ticket I was informed that I couldn’t take the pram inside the main part of the museum. Time to initiate Plan B – go to cafe, push him back and forth for a few minutes till he dozes off and then consume coffee in the beautiful surroundings.

The key word that failed to register with me from the Londonist description of the cafe was ‘çosy’. That should have been a red flag right there. It is indeed quite small and also very quiet. Cosy, quiet spots don’t have quite the same allure when you’ve got to blunder in with a pram and a tantrum ready toddler. There were no free tables and the garden appeared out of bounds as it the entrance was blocked by a table and chairs. There were some free seats though so I thought I could chance asking to sit next to someone else and hoping Pea remained docile.

With impeccable timing, Pea waited until I had ordered and, crucially, paid for my coffee before launching into a full on ear shattering scream fest. I knew he was just tired and he’d be fine soon enough but in a confined space full of strangers unfamiliar with the range of his keening it was just awkward. People were looking. I got the coffee to go and we left.

A short walk outside eased Pea into an inconveniently long nap. I had lunch elsewhere and we returned for another crack at Charlie’s house just the two hours after getting our ticket. By this time there was really only about an hour to spare before heading home to avoid rush hour.

Carrying Pea around the house was tricky as he’s both heavy and strong-willed. If something catches his eye that he wants to get to it takes strength I just don’t have in abundance to hold him back. It was quiet when we visited so I did release him onto the floor for a few brief bursts to give my back a break and prevent a tantrum but even then he was only ever seconds from head butting a glass cabinet, eating some fake holly or yanking on the extravagant curtains with his drool sodden little paws. The no prams inside the house rule makes perfect sense by the way as it would have been a tight squeeze on an even moderately busy day. It all would have been fine if only we had our baby carrier but we lost it on a trip to Sydney last year and haven’t gotten around to replacing it.

For me, then, this was mildly stressful and tiring. It was difficult to take in very much in between toddler wrangling and I was sad not to get to at least have a walk around the garden. I peeked out the windows to get a glimpse from the house and it looks ever so pretty. Indeed, I may well make another attempt to check out the cafe and garden if I’m in the area in future. I did appreciate fitting in a visit while the house was still all tarted up for Christmas. The kitchen, scullery and washhouse invited a bit more interaction and I actually preferred these over the more formal rooms. Maybe because I wasn’t quite so tense about Pea breadking something expensive. A very brief nod to The Muppet Christmas Carol made me very nostalgic and want to immediately watch it with Pea even though he won’t have a clue what’s going on.

Overall this was not our most successful museum visit but that’s not really down to any issue with the museum itself. Museums with a crawling critter are a hit and miss affair. So it’s not quite baby friendly but it is certainly child friendly.  There’s lots on offer to engage slightly older children including dressing up opportunities, a family trail for ages 4-12 and a Victorian toy theatre. It’s well worth a visit during the Christmas period to see the house festooned with holly and red ribbons. If the museum curators ever decide to dedicate a special exhibition to the Muppet Christmas Carol I’ll be back in a heartbeat.

Where/When/How Much?

48 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LX. Admissions is 9 for adults, under 6’s go free. Donations are encouraged and there’s a discreet donation box just inside the entrance. Open all year round. Closed on Mondays from January through to November. The gift shop, garden and cafe are free to enter.

Facilities

Small cafe serving hot drinks, simple hot meals and some very tasty looking cakes. High chairs were available. Cloakroom with space to park pushchairs and prams. Accessible toilet and baby change. There is lift access to four out of the five floors but you need to ask a member of staff to operate the lift. On our visit, I couldn’t identify any member of staff inside the main house so it’s probably best to ask about this when purchasing a ticket. The small gift shop sells a decent range of books, cards and toys. We purchased the Cosy Classics edition of Great Expectations which has already been enthusiastically chewed by Pea.

 

 

 

Bus King Theatre Christmas Show

Bus King Theatre Christmas Show

by leeandpea ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Sometimes when I suggest a family outing to my husband, I’m expecting to have to sell it. Not so with Bus King Theatre’s Christmas 2017 show, The Present Predicament. Puppets! On a restored Routemaster bus! Nothing more needed, he was on board (yes, I like the puns okay).

What’s it all about?

The Present Predicament tells the story of a put-upon man who doesn’t know what to get his wife for Christmas. His wife is pretty narky, so he’s a bit stressed about the whole thing. She doesn’t like much, but she does like hamsters. Unfortunately, the man (didn’t take note of his name, whoops) can’t afford to buy a hamster from a pet shop. In desperation, he turns to the next best thing – a London sewer rat. Yep. Naturally, he doesn’t just present his wife with a rat out of a sewer because that would be silly. He gives the rodent a makeover involving bleach and perfume and a blow dry and transforms the rat into Humphrey the Hamster. The hamster is a hit with the Missus and you’d think that would be the end of the dudes problems but you’d be wrong. I’ll leave it at that but what follows is a weird kind of love/hate dynamic between the man and Humphrey. There are some images from this show that will remain with me for a long, long time. One of which was a giant rat poo which had the older children in the audience shrieking with laughter. No pictures of the performance were allowed because the puppets were shy, apparently, but there are images up on the Bus King website now if you want to get a look at Humphrey. You won’t regret it.

Pea remained oddly focused for the majority of the performance, only getting mildly twitchy towards the end. If I’m honest, I’m glad that Pea is too young to really understand what was going on as I wouldn’t have fancied trying to explain to him that its best not to befriend a wild rat. His Dad and I however couldn’t help but be completely charmed and entertained by the deliciously macabre story (it didn’t end well for Humphrey). There was an additional workshop after the show but we didn’t book that as it seemed a little too advanced for Pea. The interior of the bus was has a lovely vintage feel and and was very cosy. Seating was carefully managed to ensure everyone got a decent view of all the action (“Children in front of children and grown ups in front of grown ups).

This was certainly one of our more memorable activities and I’d definitely consider booking another performance if it weren’t for the whole leaving London thing.

Where/When is it?

Spitalfields Market.  The Present Predicament has been and gone now but shows appear to be seasonally based so if you dig this kind of thing keep an eye on the website for future performances. We attended the performance on 23rd December.

Facilities

The lovely lady in charge will store your buggy on the top deck of the bus or chain it up outside for you (remember the rain cover). As it’s at Spitalfields market there are numerous options for a pre-show coffee or refreshment after. I don’t know if there’s baby change facilities at the market as, owing to Pea evacuating his bowels in spectacular fashion moments before we needed to leave the house that morning, we were not seeking them out on that particular day. Liverpool Street station is just a few minutes away and has a bum changing facilities.

Introducing

Introducing

by leeandpea ♥ 2 Comments

I’m Lee, a working parent to one year old Pea. We are currently South London residents but a relocation to Dublin is in the planning. Adjusting to motherhood has not been a natural or easy process for me. A traumatic birth swiftly followed by a severe but (mercifully) swift episode of postnatal illness left me struggling to reconcile my old self with my new role as someone’s Mum.

For me, the road to recovery has very much about getting us both out of the house and engaged in interesting activities. In the early days I tried a bunch of the usual Mum and Baby offerings but mostly felt awkward and out of place at these. If like me you cannot recall the words to a single nursery rhyme, cannot sing to save your life and are so desperately uncoordinated that you can’t deal with simple baby signing many parent and baby activities will be a stressful and uncomfortable experience. Venturing beyond our local area and to the many museums, galleries, cinemas, theatres, concerts halls and other cultural institutions that London has to offer opened up a whole other world of activities Pea and I could do together that were stimulating for both of us.

I took him to places I’ve never been to in more than a decade of being a Londoner, like Wigmore Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, and the Old Vic. I took him to old favourites like Kew Gardens, Brockwell Park, the Barbican and Dulwich Picture Gallery, experiencing them differently with a baby in tow.  I got full benefit from both my National Art Pass and my Oyster card to visit areas of London I’ve never had a reason to go to before such as North Finchley, Deptford and Kingston. I’ve caught more films at the cinema than any previous year on account of parent and baby screenings. We’ve experienced some pretty surreal moments thanks to a baby opera (yeah, that’s a thing) and the questionable use of Tubular Bells during a space-themed baby class.

There were wonderful days were everything came together perfectly – smooth transport connections, conveniently located baby change facilities and the absolute serenity of a classically trained musician’s performance of Clair de Lune while Pea napped. We’ve had frustrating days of rail delays, dickheads on buses, explosive nappies and inadequate changing facilities and missing a performance I’d already paid for due to my poor sense of direction and a Google maps fail. Despite the sometimes shitty days, the upshot of all this was a renewed appreciation of my adopted city tinged with a sense of loss at the impending move.

Now that I’m back at work, our cultural adventures are limited to my one non-working day and weekends. The move is absolutely the right thing for us but departing hunting for similar opportunities in Dublin has offset some of the sadness at leaving. I’m pleased to have found some very promising options. So, all of this is a very long-winded way of introducing the focus of this blog. It’s a place to review and reflect on some of our last London activities before the move as well as documenting our Dublin discoveries. While this is first and foremost a record for my own benefit if it is at all helpful to anyone out there with a baby or toddler to entertain in London or Dublin then that is a bonus and questions on any of our activities are welcomed.