August 2025 Archives

I visited the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk at the end of June. Sandringham is owned by the royal family and is a private residence for them, and they often spend time here in specific months such as over Christmas. The royal family have lived here since the mid-1800s, and it is comprised of over 20,000 acres. Photographs are not allowed inside the house, but visitors can take photographs of the grounds and other areas.

I explored the gardens first, and the gardens were a recent addition by King Charles. He also planted many more trees around the estate. The gardens were beautiful when I visited.

Inside the house, I explored the rooms open to visitors. The staff told us stories after the family and some of the items on display.

I noticed some small gravestones on the grounds of the property, and I recognised straight away that these were the names of the first three corgi dogs that the late Queen Elizabeth owned. Susan was the first in 1944, and the dog was a gift to her. Sugar joined a few years later. Susan ended up having a line of descendants that the Queen owned.

I had Sunday lunch at Sandringham in the cafe there, and the food was delicious. I also had a couple of cocktails. The Sunday roast meal meat changes weekly, and it was lamb. I had the vegetarian option. I had the Sandringham Celebration cocktail, which included estate gin, apple juice, and honey. I also had a gin and tonic with the Sandringham Estate gin and a glass of Prosecco.

For dessert, I had the Sandringham Sundae, which was chocolate, vanilla, and strawbrry ice cream with butterscotch, a wafer, and chocolate pieces. 

Afterwards, I had a walk to the church and saw where the royals spend their Christmas morning.

Inside are tributes and memorials to various members of the royal family.

I also had a longer walk around the gardens.

There is a statue to the late Queen's race horse.

The stables also have some vehicles on display that are owned by th family.

I had a pleasant walk around the lake.

I recommend a visit to the estate, and I had a pleasant day to enjoy it and enjoyed the Sunday roast too.

The Headstone Village Show is an annual community event that takes place in London's Borough of Harrow at the grounds of Headstone Manor and Museum. This year marks the Diamond Anniversary or 60 years. The show this year, which started in the 1960s, has a special 1960s theme, and there are a couple of games, a small market, and community stalls. There is also a stage with live music, workshops, and more. A horticultural and craft show (or fair) is located in the barn, and the manor and museum is also open to visitors. There was a fee to get into the grounds where the event was taking place.

I explored the grounds and had a browse around the markets.

I also went into the great barn and had a look at the horticultural and baking displays, fruit and vegetables, and art and photography.

There was a lot of honey on display with local beekeepers.

There was a stage with entertainment and music, but they were having a break. The weather was very warm.

Some of the vendors that go to Duck Pond Market were also there.

There were about five food "trucks", but I would have liked more variety as it was not enough. There was one selling chicken, which I had. There was another selling doughnuts and crepes and one selling hot drinks. 

For the 1960s theme, some people were dressed as gnomes and dancing to 1960s music.

I had chicken strips breaded with sweet chili sauce.

With the glorious weather, which is rare on a Bank Holiday Monday, a lot of people were at the event. 

The gallery on Brick Lane is currently hosting a concept shop by street artist Ronzo, an artist responsible for sculpture paste-ups across east London and primarily on Brick Lane. The shop sells his artwork, mainly "bricks" (for Brick Lane) which have smiles and are painted with spray paint. These were pasted up on the streets in east London, and now visitors can purchase their very own Brick Lane brick or paint their own.

Various bricks are for sale, and some of them are framed. Some are pasted up on the wall.

More street art by Ronzo can be seen below.

New Ronzo Street Art 2023
Ronzo's Rainbow Street Art
New Street Art From Ronzo 
Street Art: Ronzo.

The Alpine Garden at Vienna's Botanic Gardens area at the Belvedere palaces is one of the oldest Alpine gardens in Europe at about 150 years old. There is a small fee to get in, and there are over 4,000 plants from the alpine regions in the world that can be explored in 2,500 square meters. Visitors can see the gardens, and one of the missions of the garden is to preserve endangered plants in these worldwide alpine regions. I visited the garden at the end of May.

There is a small fee to explore the Alpine Garden, but the Botanic Gardens at the Belvedere palaces and the formal gardens are free. The entrance to the Alpine Garden is near Upper Belvedere.

The Whitecross Street Party is a large annual community event that takes place in mid-July. This is the 15th year of the event, and it was held on the weekend of July 12th and 13th. I went along on the Sunday afternoon to see the street art, but there are other community events for children and adults, a market, street food, live music, and live street art painting. This was my first visit to the actual event day, although I have been in the weeks after to see any output hung on the streets. Earlier, I posted about the work from EPOD and Perscipere.

Vlad Real Art

Suzi Foxy Art

Ed Hicks

Baked Earth Elephant

RPM, Vents, Hefs, Rainmain

London Paste Up

Driper

Whitecross Street Party Community

Sweet Toof

Beth Suzana

272 Birds on Roscoe Street

Curtis Hylton (previous year)

With nice weather, many people were out to enjoy the party. I was late in the afternoon, so next time that I go, it would be good to go earlier in the day to see the atmosphere.

The annual Whitecross Street Party took place on July 12 and 13 this year for it's 15th anniversary year; it is always held on this weekend in July and brings the community together to appreciate good music, food, street art, and more. It is always a large street art event with several popular artists taking part. The street artist .EPOD (also known as epod3000) has been painting a mural at the Whitecross Street Party for the past few years. This year, he painted "On the Surface", which shows a figure holding a smiley face yellow balloon emoji up to their face.

The street art was painted at the top of Whitecross Street.

Street artist Fanakapan is known for painting murals featuring chrome foil balloons, and one of the walls the artist paints on is located on Brick Lane near Star Yard where there has always been a lot of street art and grafitti. The work was painted at the end of June on the building, which now contains restaurant "What The Pitta". The artwork features a smiling soda drink, onion, and a tomato.

On the side of the building is the artist's trademark name "Fan" in chrome foil balloons, a style coined by the artist as "balloon graff".

More artwork featuring Fanakapan can be discovered on my blog here:

"Oscar the Grouch" Fanakapan in Penge
"Pay Rise for the NHS" and Other Street Art by Fanakapan
Voyder and Fanakapan Street Art in Camden
Fanakapan and Nerone Collaborate on "Neighbourhood Watch" in Penge
Fanakapan "No Words" Mural, Hoxton Square
Fanakapan Street Art Around East London
Fanakapan "Up Yours" Mural on Heneage Street
Fanakapan "BITER" Street Art on Pedley Street
Fanakapan Street Art Smiling Balloons
Fanakapan Paints "Hah" Laughing Gas on Pedley Street
Halloween Street Art by Fanakapan
Fanakapan Street Art on Mornington Crescent and Star Yard
Fanakapan Paints PacMan Pizza on Brick Lane and Other Street Art
Fanakapan Star Yard MagnaDonuts Mural
"Follow the Leader" by Fanakapan
Peace for Manchester
Fanakapan Paints Shoreditch Clowns
Chrome Balloon Dog in Star Yard
Fanakapan Paints "Power Tools" on Village Underground Wall
Fanakapan Paints "Drunk Glass Elephants"
Fanakapan, Horror Crew, & Jerry Rugg
Louis Masai and Fanakapan: "Freedom?"
New Chrome Street Art Mask by Fanakapan
Balloon Animal Street Art
Cranio & Fanakapan
Fanakapan and Horror Crew
Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Halloween Street Art (2018 and 2019)
Cranio Returns to London in 2020 and Paints Brick Lane

Doughnation is a pizza restaurant located at 3 Henrietta Street at Covent Garden. The restaurant aims to bring delicious artisan pizzas to the public as well as to aid global causes. Each pizza sold aims to raise donations to sustainable and inclusive causes, such as supporting people's talent and development of women-run farms in Africa. I ordered a standard cheese or margarita pizza, and the pizza was delicious with enough cheese and tomato toppings to enjoy. (Some pizza chains go light on the tomato and cheese.)

Doughnation also do a bottomless brunch with bottomless pizzas and spritz cocktail pitchers, and I would love to try this some time too.

In late June, I had a fleeting visit to Flatford Mill, which is maintained by the National Trust and is famous as a setting that artist John Constable used in his paintings, notably "The Haywain" (photographed in the series of pictures in this post). "The Haywain" is one of my favourite paintings and hangs in the National Gallery in London. There are miles of landscape in the picturesque countryside to walk at Flatford. When I visited on the Friday, there was some event going on with local schools, which meant that the place was very crowded, so I did not stay long. The below photograph is of the view that Constable painted in "The Haywain".

There is a little wildlife area here with birds, bugs, and plants to explore in a little trail. I captured a common robin.

There are a few walks around the river and some bridges across, and visitors can also do some tours on boats and hire a boat.

I went inside the little cottage, and the ground floor room is open to view how people used to live (probably in the time of John Constable in the early 1800s).

Below is the picture of "The Haywain" painting.

There is beautiful countryside to explore.

Inside one of the buildings is some information about Constable and the paintings painted at the location. There are a few locations at Flatford that the artist used in his work, such as wooden locks on the river and by the wooden bridge.

John Constable grew up at Flatford, and his family owned the mill. He was inspired by Gainsborough, who also painted the Stour Valley. There were many artists from the area or who were inspired by the Stour Valley. The valley had a rural charm of winding rivers and wetlands, nature, and pictursque buildings and spires. It is an idealist example of rural English countryside.

I enjoyed an ice cream with the view.

I wish that it had not been so busy as I would have liked to have had more of a walk here, and it was a beautiful day and not too warm for it.

Cream Dreams is a Ukranian vegan and gluten-free cafe located near Covent Garden in London. The 23-year old owner came from the Ukraine to make a new start in London and received a following once the cafe was opened. All of the staff are also Ukranian refugees. The cafe opened early in 2023. I went along to try it.

I had the Berry and Violet drink and a small cake and checked out the other sweet treats.

The food is really good, and I found the cake sweet and enjoyable whilst being kind to the animals. 

Castle Acre Castle is located in the villag of Castl Acre in Norfolk, named after the Norman castle built in the late-1000s. The castle hosted King Henry II and King Edward I, but by the 16th century, it was in ruin. Today, the ruins are cared for by English Heritage. A priory is also located at Castle Acre, and it dates from the same period of the castle and is a mile or two away.

I went to explore the castle, which has impressive earthworks to view and some bridges over them. The area seems to be a popular place for the community and local youths.

I climbed on some of the earthworks to get a view.

I also explored the location of the inner keep, and the stonework still stands to mark the foundations. The fortified building (the inner and outer bailey) would have looked very impressive. The castle functioned as a palace and additionally as a fortress.

From the earthworks around the bailey buildings, I could see one of the gate houses into the complex on the outer wall.

After visiting the castle, I had a short drive to the gatehouse, located outside the main castle complex and where a road now goes underneath the old gate.

Castle Acre village is known for its castle and priory.

I found Castle Acre Castle to be impressive and really enjoyed exploring this unique castle ruins and its location.

Earlier today, I saw the matinee performance of "The Great Gatsby" at the London Coliseum near Charing Cross and Trafalgar Square. The 1920s have always had an allure from me, but I have never read the book nor seen the movie of the production, so this was my first introduction into the world of "The Great Gatsby". I purchased a Prosecco and chocolate bar and made my way into the theatre to watch the show. I cannot remember if I have seen a production at the London Coliseum before, but if I had, it was many years ago. 

Overall, the play was very good. The set and costume designs were particularly very good. I am not sure how true the production was to the book as I had not read it, but there was a nice blend of story and song. The singers and actors/actresses were talented here. The show finishes on September 7, so I encourage you to pay a visit in the final couple of weeks to see it before it goes.

Environmental charity group Tusk has brought a charity sculpture trail to London, and this time it features the turtle. The turtle was selected as its numbers are declining due to ocean pollution and other environmental factors. Previously, Tusk brought lions and gorilla sculptures to London in other trails. The turtle sculptures were painted and designed by famous artists and celebrities. They were put in place at the end of July and will be removed on September 12.

Dave White

Chila Burman

Adam Dant

Jacob Vilato

Jen and John Cleese

Rankin

Hannah Shergold

Magda Archer

Andrew Scott

Deborah Meaden Steve Bartlett

Mauro Perruchetti

Ronnie Wood

Jemma Powell

Ralph Steadman

For previous sculpture trails by Tusk, see the below posts on this blog:

• Tusk Gorilla Trail Sculptures at Covent Garden
• Tusk Lion Trail in London

I am a little bit late on going through my photographs and writing my posts this year as I've had a busy time and don't always want to spend my life in front of a laptop, especially when it's been so warm this year. On one of these warm mornings at the end of June, I visited Peckover House and Gardens, which is nestled in Cambridgeshire near the Norfolk border along the river Nene.

Peckover House faces the river and the Georgian townhouse is nestled amongst other large buildings along the riverfront. It is built up along here, being virtually in the centre of the town of Wisbech, but unseen is a beautiful garden with expansive 2-acre ground at the back and a beautiful interior of the house. The house was built in the 1700s but bought by the Peckover family. The family were Quakers, living a simple lifestyle, and they were successful and honest bankers, which is how they acquired their wealth. They had a safe in the home and stored the money, and the house has been in the same family for over 150 years.

I arrived just before the house opened, so I first went to check out the gardens behind the house. The entrance is through a little gate at the side, which goes past some stables and small dwellings. There was an outhouse (outdoor privy I think they are known as) and a small cottage.

The two acres of garden includes an orangery, summer houses, croquet lawn, fruit trees, roses, and other gardens. There is also a barn at the back, which has been converted into a cafe. The garden is very pretty, and I enjoyed a walk around it. I also had some time for a late breakfast in the cafe/barn.

After my visit to the garden, I then went inside the house.

The first room I explored was a pleasant reception room.

The library held many religious books and had a large collection, but the books and furniture were sold later on. The National Trust recreated with the wallpaper and similar furniture. There is also a large dollhouse in the room.

The dining room dates from the 1920s

Inside the room is the cabinet of curiousities. Each drawer was labelled with a word, and pulling it open revealed a set of interesting objects that could be discussed and admired. There were also some Egyptian items, which were very popular in the 1920s.

I then visited the upstairs rooms. 

Before making my way downstairs and into the kitchen and servant rooms.

I enjoyed my visit to the house, and the gardens were very nice to see and enjoy. Despite this being in the middle of the town, it felt like a secluded oasis.

I visited Castle Rising Castle at the end of June when I visited Norfolk. The castle, located near Kings Lynn, is managed by English Heritage, and visitors can explore the 12th century castle and earthworks. The castle is mainly in ruins but with its structure largely intact, and it served as a royal residence and hunting lodge. The castle was the home of Queen Isabella (mother of Edward III) after the murder of her husband Edward II, and it was passed to the Howard family in the late 1500s. The Howard family still own the castle.

The castle is surrounded by a moat, which is now dry today but still contains a bridge over.

The gatehouse is in ruins, but the arches are still intact.

The shell of the castle itself is still standing and very improsing, and I can imagine how it could have intimidated and been a symbol of power to all who visited it.

The castle was built by th brother of William the Conqueror after marriage to the widow of Henry I.

Visitors can enter inside the castle, and I walked up to the top of the stairs to start the exploration of the ruin.

This room at the top was the reception room, and th arched doorway here is in fine detail and would have been painted different colours and meant to impress visitors.

Off of this room is a hallway off to other rooms that would have been in the apartments over the keep / great hall.

The great hall is now open to the elements.

There was one room still intact with som floor tiles as well. I also visited the chapel area, but some areas were blocked off due to safety concerns.

I went to walk to th top of the castle tower to see the view, but this was also closed off. There were also a couple of roosting pigeons.

On the lower ground floor, I explored more rooms of the shell.

After exploring the remains of the castle, I walked around the earthworks around the moat to see some glimpses of the castle.

The castle is open all year around, but there are reduced hours and closure on some days throughout the autumn, winter, and spring months.

The first incarnation of the "Gromit Unleashed" Bristol sculpture trails featuring the beloved Aardman characters from the "Wallace and Gromit" films took place in 2013. Bristol is the hadquarters of the production company, and the trails became an instant hit. I did the trail that year and then learned how to create my own Gromit figure with employees of Aardman using the same clay used to create the claymation figures. In 2015, there was a 'Shaun in the City' Charity Sculpture Trail in Bristol which also visited London 'Shaun the Sheep' Art Charity Sculptures in the City (London). In 2016, some sculptures from the Hong Kong sculpture trail visited Bristol, and I saw them: Hong Kong "Gromit Unleashed" Gromits Visit Bristol. After a hiatus of nearly ten years, the city of Bristol and Aardman are hosting "Gromit Unleashed 3" sculpture trail.

I enjoyed locating as many sculptures as I could, although I did not get to see all of them as some of them are spread far and outside of Bristol. The trail covered the sculptures of Wallace, Gromit, Feathers McGraw,  Sean the Sheep, and the newest character Norbert the garden gnome, who appared in the latest film that was launched at the end of last year.

The sculptures were placed from the start of July and will be available to see until the end of August, so there is still some time to see them.

As in the previous years, the sculptures aim to raise money for charity - the children's hospital. 

Each sculpture is unique and painted by different artists. They will be auctioned later in the year to raise the charity.

I always enjoy visiting the sculpture trails, and photographs of the last ones can be seen below:

• 'Gromit Unleashed' in Bristol, Part 1
• Gromit Unleashed in Bristol, Part 2.
• Gromit Unleashed 2.0
• 'Shaun in the City' Charity Sculpture Trail in Bristol
• 'Shaun the Sheep' Art Charity Sculptures in the City (London)

Early last month, I visited The Cheese Barge at Paddington with my friends. This has been on my London "to do" list for a few years now. The Cheese Barge is situated near Paddington station in a converted canal boat on the canal. The restaurant serves cheese as samples or small plates that mainly feature cheese, and the idea is that visitors can sample different types of cheese and pair with wines.

We decided to head out for our visit, which was booked in the evening. It was one of the hot (but not sweltering) days that we had, and we decided to come with summer hats.

We were seated by the walkway and not the canal side sadly; it would have been better to have sat on the canal side.

We started off with some white wine and Coombeshead Sourdough with whipped creamy butter.

We then shared the Whitelake Goat Curd, which was paired with sweet potato fritters.

Blue Sky Dairy Halloumi was next up, and this was served with a relish/pesto sauce, and it was beautifully-cooked and full of flavour. It was my favourite.

Baked Graceburn was next, and this cheese was mixed with a tomato salsa with capers and summer squash, and it was also very tasty.

Cropwell Bishop Stilton and Steak Salad was the next item we had, but this one I was not keen on trying. I did try a little bit, but Stilton is a bit too strong for me, and I also dislike salad dressing. Normally, steak would be served with the salad, but a couple of us (including me) are either vegetarian or will not touch beef/cow meat.

I wanted to try the English Pecorino and butternut squash, and this was my second favourite item.

I also shared a grilled cheese and onion sandwich, which was always a go-to item for me, although it can be a little bit greasy.

Lastly, we had the large sharing plate of Baked Baron Bigood Brie, which came with more of the sourdough with chutney and garlic roasted new potatoes.

The brie just melted into a fondue...

I also took a photograph of someone's cheese samplers waiting to be served. I would have liked to have tried some of the samples, but we were all stuffed with the sharing plates.

Afterwards, we had a quick walk around Little Venice and the canal before heading back to the station.

We then stopped at the canal boat Darcie and May Green, next to the Cheese Barge. This is a chain of Australian restaurants, and I had brunch at their restaurant near Marble Arch earlier in the year, but we were not impressed with the cocktails sadly.

They looked nice. They gave me the wrong order too. 

Afterwards, we wandered back home. It was a good afternoon/evening. I'd love to return to The Cheese Barge again.

At the end of June, I had a visit to National Trust property Oxburgh Hall and Estate. The estate was owned by the Bedingfield family for over 500 years, and they were Catholic and helped restore Charles II to the throne. The hall can be visited to see what it would have looked like and also to see some embroideries that were created by Mary Queen of Scots. The hall was saved from becoming a ruin when the last owner gifted it to the National Trust in 1951.

I visited on a very pleasant hot and sunny day. The moat around the house was very low, and some work was being done to repair it. Apparently, the moat makes reflections inside the house that increase the light levels.

After admiring the outside of the building, I headed inside and over the moat.

I checked out many of the open rooms.

Upstairs, some of Mary Queen of Scots' embroidery was on display.

The house also has its own priesthole, which is in a secluded and covered area just large enough for a person.

I also admired the gardens.

I did not do any wider walk on the estate, but I enjoyed visiting the hall and gardens.

Recently (in the summer of 2025), street artists Phelgm and Sweet Toof have collaborated on a few murals across London, including one at Hanbury Street off of Brick Lane. Phelgm is from Sheffield in northern England, and his work features characters illustrated in black and white with fantasy themes. Sweet Toof is London-based, and his work is painted in many areas, especially in more recent years.

There have been a few collaboration murals across London from these artists, so I hope to locate them soon once I have some time.

For more street art by Phlegm on this blog, see:

Phlegm Artwork in Hackney
Phlegm 2019 Street Art in Brussels
Phlegm Street Art on Art Mountain in Brussels Celebrates Painter
Cranio and Phlegm Collaboration in Dalston - War
Plegm Paints "Hydra Towers" on Ion Square
Newcastle Street Art
New Mural by Phlegm on Old Street
Phlegm's Mural on Hanbury Street
Phlegm and ROA Street Art at South Bank
Baroque the Streets: Dulwich Street Art
Street Art: Phlegm

For more information about Sweet Toof and to see more of his work, see the following posts:

Street Art by Sweet Toof on Brick Lane
Street Art By Sweet Toof, Mo, and Gold Peg
Street Art: Gee, Paul Insect, Sweet Toof, Bortusk Leer

The annual Whitecross Street Party took place in mid-July, and I went to see it for the first time this year. This year, street artist Perspicere spent both days creating his newest and largest piece to date using the layers of threads to create the work. According to the artist, there are 150,000 lines of thread, over 50km in length. The work itself measures 8 x 3.4 meters. 

The artwork features an eye, which is one of the common subjects that the artist creates. I went around on the Sunday afternoon when the work was nearly completed.

More street art from Perspicere on this blog can be seen below:

Street Art: Perspicere
Street Art Portraits Made of String from Perspicere
Street Art Round-up in East London
Recent Street Art by Perspicere

Over the past several years, I have noted and photographed some street art by stencil artists Cartoonneros and Pablo Fiasco. Cartoonneros is a stencil street artist from Argentina, and he has visited London several times and left various work across the walls. The work is created with spray paint and stencils and uses bright colours. Often, the work covers familiar subjects in the world of art and celebrates them in new colours or some other adjustment.

Pablo Fiasco also creates stencil-based street art, and he has been painting in London for several years his stencil pieces with an element of humor.

More street art by Pablo Fiasco can be seen here.