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.

The Tailors Shop, London

The Tailors Shop,
30 Craven Terrace
Bayswater
London W2 3EL
Phone number 07961 172171

We have only used their cleaning & ironing facilities for the husbands shirts & trousers and double bed-sheets. We have been very happy with the service, they manage to get out most of our long haired white cats fur out of the fabric, which he does appreciate. Especially when it comes to his dark coloured trousers.

They have an offer of 5 shirts for 6£, but they now give us the price of 1.2£ a shirt no matter whether we give them in multiples of 5 or not. One of the benefits of being a regular.

Service is quick and they pack clothes well on hangers and in plastic. Thy recycle both, so we just return them with the next bag of clothes.

They have tailoring, alteration and darning facilities on the premises, but we haven't used them so far.

Rating : 4 / 5

Stanfords - THE Shop for Travel Related Books

Stanfords
12-14 Long Acre
Covent Garden
London WC2E 9LP
020 7836 1321

Stanfords ranks among my top 2 specialist bookstores in London at the moment. (the other is the one at the Wellcome Collection premises)

3 floors of travel and London related books. Lonely Planet, Bradt Guides and DK EyeWitness are obviously all available, but they are just the tip of the iceberg among the selection available here. Other than the guides and maps, they have fiction and non-fiction from specific regions too and a sprinkling of cookbooks.

Travel guides and travel accessories (toothbrush covers, walking sticks, waist pouches, games for kids to play when traveling - the range is vast) make up the bulk of the collections.

Half the top floor is the frame-able maps and globes section. Very reasonable and loads to choose from. I also love their travel themed furniture - if only I could fit them into my pokey London apartment.... Maybe, I can pick up something just before I leave the country. Those trunk style bars look wonderful as did the Ritz Lobby Cabinet. Maybe I can finally get my messy desk in order.

The staff is extremely helpful and not in the least bit pushy, so its always a pleasure to shop here. They often have a couple of discounts running and a few author signed copies.

There are quite a few London themed souvenirs on offer that are much higher quality than the 2pound stuff available elsewhere. The store has been around since 1853. They are obviously still doing something right to be going strong in these days of Online Book Bargain Shopping.

Its a great place to pop in for a respite or hunt for your next holiday trip. And there is a coffee shop - Sacred Cafe - on the premises if you want to give your feet a rest.

London Silver Vaults

A couple of months ago, I had read about the London Silver Vaults in The Londonist and it seemed like a very interesting place to visit. However, there are so many interesting places that I read about everyday and want to do, that some places slide down the list and the Vaults happened to be one of them.

I had work at Chancery Lane the other day, and I was walking back to the station, when I saw the banner for the London Silver Vaults. I just HAD TO walk in.

I love Silver Jewelry and each State in India has some beautiful traditional patterns and there are also a lot of modern designs coming out. I thought I would take a look at what the patterns in the UK were like.

When I walked into the building, I saw a security guard at the desk and nothing else - no shops. He very politely checked my bag and then I had to descend 2 floors below to get to the shops. It was an underground shopping center with each individual door to a shop - at least 10" thick and reinforced. Never seen anything like it. Not even when gold shopping in India.

The second surprise was that there was hardly any jewelry in the vaults. It was more of cutlery and serving bowls, candle sticks and decorative pieces.

A lot of the silver was antique, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. Pepper pots, condiment sets. Some practical, some decorative. The amazing thing was that all the people I met at the stores, could speak very knowledgably and authoritatively on the history and purpose behind each of the objects in their store.

There were a few pieces of jewelry, but nothing that induced me to open my wallet immediately. Because design wise I have seen much better and at much lower prices back home. But there were a few unusual items that I would have liked to pick up.

But there is a VAT rebate if you buy it before leaving the country, so I will just wait for this posting to come to a close, before I head here with my chequebook

Photography is not permitted inside the vaults. 
Conversations are free.


London Silver Vaults is on the corner of Chancery Lane and Southampton Buildings, open Mon-Fri, 9am to 5.30pm, and Saturday 9am to 1pm. Entrance is free, and you can just walk in.

Forensics Exhibition - Wellcome Collection

The ads for the Forensics Exhibition (26 Feb 2015 - 21 June, 2015) at all the Tube stations induced us to visit the Wellcome Collection. Yes, I'm a CSI aficionado.

The reviews that we read before visiting said that an hour would be enough to view the exhibition. We spent 2.5 hours, because we found the subject matter so interesting and would have spent much longer, if it wasn't closing up. (On the First Friday of the Month, exhibitions are open until 22:00)

'Forensics: the anatomy of crime’ explores the history, science and art of forensic medicine. It travels from crime scene to courtroom, across centuries and continents, exploring the specialisms of those involved in the delicate processes of collecting, analysing and presenting medical evidence. It draws out the stories of victims, suspects and investigators of violent crimes, and our enduring cultural fascination with death and detection.

The exhibition contains original evidence, archival material, photographic documentation, film footage, forensic instruments and specimens, and is rich with artworks offering both unsettling and intimate responses to traumatic events. Challenging familiar views of forensic medicine shaped by fictions that came out of the sensational reporting of late Victorian murder cases and popular crime dramas, ‘Forensics’ highlights the complex entwining of law and medicine, and the scientific methods it calls upon and create

My favourite parts of the Exhibition were Frances Glessner Lee's "Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death" and the Video Montage of Forensic Evidence given in Courtrooms as seen in TV & Film.

Sejla Kameric's - Ab Uno Disce Omnes - focusing on the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, with its 85 hours of footage and over 30,000 files viewed individually within a working mortuary fridge is haunting, inducing goosebumps and even nightmares. This experience was so haunting, it overshadowed the equally horrifying search in Chile's Atacama Desert for "disappeared" victims of the Pinochet Regime of the 1970's and 1980's.

Famous Murders from British History which were solved using Forensic Evidence like the Ruxton case and the Crippen case also feature heavily at the exhibition.

At the end of it all, we had to stop and sip on a coffee at Wellcome Cafe (managed by Benugo) to absorb all that we had seen, heard and read.

We loved the attached bookshop which has a wonderful collection of books - more than 50% are related to the ongoing exhibitions (Currently Sex & Forensics) - and some very interesting and quirky bric-a-brats.


We'll definitely be back to view the library collection, the Reading Room and the Sex Exhibition. The people behind the Wellcome Collection do a great job of curating very interesting pieces. The number of pieces on display are minimal, but they weave an engrossing story.

Wellcome Collection 
183 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE
020 7611 2222
Entry : Free
Photography : Not Allowed
Monday Holiday
Tue / Wed / Fri / Sat : 10:00 - 18:00
Thursday & First Friday of the Month : 10:00 - 22:00
Sunday : 11:00 - 18:00

Purplebone - A Pet Shop

Purplebone
Southern Terrace Ariel Way (Westfield- Shepherds Bush)
London W12 7GA

Founded by people who bought accessories for their own dogs that were admired and inquired about. They set up this shop to help people find accessories for their own pets.

95% of the shop is dedicated to dogs and there is a huge range of toys, food, beds, collars etc. You can expect beautiful colours, well thought of choices etc.

The cat section is miniscule in comparison. A few organic style food items (wet & dry) and a few toys is what you can expect. The only scratching post they had, was made from recycled cardboard. While it may be great for the planet, my kitty will decimate it in under a week.

So yes, if you have a dog - this place is a must visit. For cats - find another place unless you have a food emergency (I don't even recall seeing litter)

Food Ingredient Heaven (Ingredients from across the Globe in London)

Went for a 4km walk to explore the new neighbourhood. Aside from the Arabic Supermarket that I found on Day 1, next to Waitrose, Today I found a Russian supermarket, French Supermarket, Oriental Supermarket (food products from Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Thailand & Malaysia). All within a 15 minute walk from home.

No Indian Supermarket, but I did find 2 Indians running "Spar"

Then of course there are the M&S Food, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons etc.

I am in Food Ingredient heaven!

For those looking for Indian Food Ingredients in London, my friends recommend the following areas :
1. Heathrow / Hounslow
2. South Harrow - South Indian food items - Idli rice, rice powder, red rice - & well cleaned fish - Then eat in Saravana Bhavan or at La Masala ( Spicy Sri Lankan food)
3. Wimbledon area
4. Southall - for North India ingredients
5. Eastham - has some good shops
6.  Drummond St in Euston - the most centrally located Indian grocery store. Even stock paneer, dosa batter etc etc.  And Gupta sweets across the road does better samosa, jalebi etc than Ambala Sweets
7. www.itadka.com for online orders.

Thanks to Deba, Urvi, Prasad, Praj & Sharky for sharing this gyaan (knowledge)
 

Grocery Shopping in London

In all our jaunts across town, I rarely hear English being spoken between people, unless it is a business transaction. The guys from whom we bought our phone connections were from India and Sri Lanka. Our Coffee Shop guys all speak fluent Italian (I still follow bits of conversation) and I had a broken Arabic conversation with an Algerian managing a French Pattiserrie. We had a brilliant meal last week at Daquise - a Polish restaurant. Our neighbours in the building are from Japan and Australia. Yes, we seem to have landed in the middle of a much larger melting pot.

For groceries, we have tried Waitrose, Sainsbury, Selfridges (we were in the store browsing) and Marks & Spencer

So far, I think I love the raw ingredients and cold meats from Marks & Spencer the best. Much superior in taste and flavour to Waitrose.

Sainsbury is good for last minute buys and general groceries and cakes, but we didn't like their sandwiches.

Selfridges has a lot of premium products and organic produce, but the readymade food costs as much as eating in at an average restaurant.

Waitrose has very high quality Organic products and their spices are fantastic. (turmeric, jeera, corriander), but I did not like their cold meats at all, especially when compared to Marks & Spencer.

My local grocer is from Egypt and has a meat section which sells things like gizzards. I've asked him to keep an eye out for tongue for me.

Borough Market was brilliant and I can't wait to go back. However, I'm still getting used to the cold and don't like shopping in the open air in the current weather.

My fridge in this house is miniscule compared to my 600Litre fridge, which I had to leave behind in India - no way I would have been able to fit it inside a kitchen in Central London. So I'm learning to buy in smaller quantities (Brajesh who helps in carrying the groceries here, would not agree to this statement :) )

But the range of food and quality of meat is excellent and I'm loving cooking with all these ingredients. Such a massive change after our last posting in Ahmedabad, where I had just 2 places to choose from to buy meat and there was hardly anything new in the vegetable markets to try except the winter specialties. - fresh turmeric, amba haldi etc

Fingers Crossed, that I will be blogging more. Lets see.

Verve Pet Boutique & Cafe

Verve Pet Boutique & Cafe
179 Westbourne Grove
Notting Hill
London W11 2SB
020 7229 1348

An unusual pet shop run by interesting people. There's even a cafe to sip on coffee and enjoy a light snack while you shop.

Verve was a Godsend for us as the only pet shop in the area, open at 7pm, when we arrived after an international flight with our cat and needed to buy her a litter box before she was released and brought home by JCS.

They carry a huge range of products for both dogs and cats and you will often find miniature dogs of the owner and his friends, at the store.

They have a dog sitting facility on the premises and If I'm not mistaken, they offer shampooing services too.

They are slightly on the more expensive side, but they make up for it with the service levels and extended hours etc.