The Camden Watch Company and The Stables Market , London

 

The Camden Watch Company,
88B Stables Market
Chalk Farm Road
Camden Town
London NW1 8AH
Phone number 020 7485 7963
Open everyday 11am-6pm

I was wandering around Camden Market last weekend, I was there for the Cheese festival and "discovered" the Stables Market. Despite visiting Camden multiple times and wandering around the area, I never even realised that this beautiful historic section existed behind the rest of the market.

This is such a beautiful historic market with intricately designed gateways and interesting bric-a-brac on offer. I've never ventured this far in Camden and so I was quite surprised and how Alladins Cave like this section of Camden is compared to all the cut price London souvenirs and generic tshirt stores on the outside.

The Stables Markets date back to 1854 and has been loving restored. It's worth walking through, even if you don't buy a thing.

One of the wonderful shops that I discovered here was The Camden Watch Company, and I loved what I saw. Limited edition watches. About 20-30 different types in glass cases. Beautifully displayed with descriptions on the inspiration for each of them - gave it an almost museum like feel.

I learned from their website that The Camden Watch Company is an independent British watch brand, founded by two Camden dwelling watch lovers, Anneke Short (a British watch designer trained in Switzerland) and Jerome Robert (a Swiss native, born and raised in the heart of the watch valley of Neuchatel, before moving to Camden Town in 2010). Together, they founded a thriving watch design studio, AMS Design Studio, before embarking on their next step – creating their own brand. The aim was simple; to create a brand that not only reflected the vibrant and dynamic Camden that we see today, but that also encompassed the rich heritage of the area. And so The Camden Watch Company was born.

In June 2014, The Camden Watch Company flagship store opened its doors to the public to the very first time in the Victorian building locally known as the Horse Hospital.

Camden Market was originally developed in 1839 as the Camden Goods Depot, the London terminus for goods traffic from both the railways and the canals. As the area continued to grow, more warehouses for the goods and more stables for the Victorian working horses moving the goods were needed, leading to the construction of the Stables Yard. In 1883, a two storey building was erected in the North-West corner of the Stables Yard. It accommodated 92 horses over 2 floors, including 12 loose boxes that were provided for resting tired or injured horses and led to this building becoming known as the “Horse Hospital”.

The watch designs are all identified by numbers that are significant to Camden. I ended up buying a watch for myself and the husband and both of us are very happy with the way they look. Plus, they come with a one year warranty.

I didn't take any pictures inside the store, but they have a lovely instagram account and you can see pictures of their shop and products on their website.

I struggle to find quality gifts made in the UK/London to take back home. The Camden Watch Company fits the bill perfectly and I'm sure I will return multiple times. They have an online store too if that works better for you.

Dino Spotting at Jurassic Kingdom in Osterley Park

Jurassic Kingdom has arrived in London!

A temporary exhibition (Pop-Up) of animatronic dinosaurs at Osterley Park, is what is on offer from the 1st to 17th of April in London, before it goes on tour across the country.

Thanks to Joanne at Love Pop-Ups London, I got 2 tickets to visit this show. When I took a look at their website, it seemed mostly geared towards kids and I was wondering if the trip would make sense for 2 adults. Having being there, I have to say a resounding "Yes!"

While this is Easter Break and the park was filled with kids, the path is very well laid out over a much larger space and was more relaxed than our visits to the Magic Lantern Festival in Chiswick or the Christmas lights at Kew which conceptually had a similar set up. However at Jurassic Kingdom we were able to amble at our own pace.

There was plenty of technical information about each dinosaur. So what you take away from each exhibit is up to you. The sound and movement would appeal to younger kids, but the descriptive details would be of more interest to adults and kids with passion for dinosaurs. We met an 8 year old kid who was rattling off facts that weren't printed out there. She definitely knew her stuff.

While the main exhibits are supposed to be hands off, (there were a few rule breakers), there are smaller size dinosaurs that the younger ones can sit on and push around the park for a bit. There was also an educational video playing under a tent around the half way mark.

There's even an excavation pit where you can let them get their hands dirty in the sand while uncovering dino fossils.

There are plenty of food and drink options on site. Osterley Park has its own Stables Cafe and the Jurassic Kingdom had food options at the start and midway through the circuit. We tried the hot dogs and milk shake at the half way point, for about three Pounds each. 

There are washrooms at each of these points too.

While you are here, do take a look at all the other wonders in the area. There is also a seperate Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt trail at the moment.

Osterley Park is a Georgian country estate managed by the National Trust. The House itself is worth a visit (we didn't have the time on this occasion). The grounds are extensive and throw up surprises like this nesting swan. We also spent time marveling at the antics of the fluffy white calves and the gorgeous horses.

We were lucky to be able to visit the Farm shop which sells produce from the Park. The vegetables were so reasonable and absolutely fresh and yummilicious when I cooked them at home. So much tastier than supermarket veg. We even picked up some fresh free range eggs and all at amazing prices.

If you are taking the tube, its a bit of a walk to the location (1 mile from Osterley Park station), but you can take a break at the lovely second hand Bookshop after the bridge.

Definitely wear comfortable shoes as it is a walk to the park and once you get on the trail, the ground is uneven and definitely not conducive to push chairs.

Attending a Debate at the House of Lords

A friend of mine (a scholar) was one of the panel at a debate due to take place at the House of Lords. She invited me to come watch & I obviously jumped at the chance to view how things work behind the scenes. I had to register and "buy" a free pass for the visit, just so I was given a ticket of sorts.

The entry for debates in the House of Lords, is at the far end (almost at the park next door). So its at least a 5-10 minute walk from the station depending on how you catch the traffic signals.

Do budget at least 10 minutes for a security scanning. The staff are all very polite and helpful, but taking off jackets and belts and putting them on again takes time and there is normally a rush of people before a scheduled debate.

The room we were in was beautiful and cosy. Good acoustics, so as long as the speakers enunciated clearly at slightly louder than conversation volume, it was easy to follow the proceedings.

Most of the speakers and the audience seemed to be in agreement in general, it was the particulars that needed working out. But the debate was conducted so politely and articulately. I wish some other governments could take a cue from this style of functioning and debating.

This was an amazing experience and I feel privileged to have been able to witness it.

St Catharines College, Cambridge

St Catharines College
Cambridge
CB2 1RL
01223 338373

We stayed at the guest house / student rooms here on our trip to Cambridge. Since it was over the Easter break, things were very quiet.

We had a double bedroom with an attached bath. Very clean & comfortable rooms, set in the heart of the city. Everything was a couple of minutes walk away.

Really large spacious room & bath. Good hot breakfast, friendly staff, free wifi. What more could you want?

Since these are part of student accommodations, there are no tv's, but our room had a large bookcase and a really large study table, aside from a very comfortable double bed.

Fresh linens and toiletries are also provided.

Breakfast was in the formal dining hall. Think "Harry Potter"esque Great Hall with portraits of past headmasters and a headmistress staring sternly down. Almost expected the pictures to come alive, but I guess it was too early in the morning...

The Continental Breakfast was served outside in the great hall itself and the hot items - eggs, baked beans, sausages, bacon etc were served in the annexe inside.

The pub "Catz" (nickname for St Catharine's College) on the premise is large and has a pool table etc. The modern set-up in the basement feels anachronistic to the Gothic building design on the outside. But it was very quiet when we visited. The Eagle Public House next door is a better option for a drink (but not dinner)

Price was roughly 100GBP / night per double room including breakfast.