Walking on Sunshine - Part one of a series of short posts on the East End in popular culture.
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Polenta
After my volcanic rant about labelling of polenta, I thought it only fair to acknowledge it as a valid side dish.Read more »
Silly Signage; Ludicrous Labels (updated)
Every morning on my way into work I walk past a Patisserie Valerie, which has a board outside.
Last night, making some polenta for dinner, I read the bag (Merchant Gourmet brand) which warned of volcanic explosions. I find such descriptions slightly over the top. Whilst I acknowledge that the polenta can splatter a bit, I didn't instantly fear that I would be trapped in a pyroclastic flow over the induction hob, only for my wife to unearth me only minutes later entombed in a golden crispy crumb.
However, both of these incidents pale in comparison to a trip to my local pub yesterday, when I read their drinks menu. Now, as a warning I am a member of CAMRA and enjoy drinking beer, generally of the top-fermenting varieties, though I do drink lager if something sufficiently interesting is on offer. Needless to say, reading the slightly overblown descriptions of the Eurofizz on offer left my spluttering over my real ale.
The offenders in order are Stella Artois, Budweiser and Corona, three of the blandest beers out there. Interestingly (or ironically), Budweiser, is beechwood 'aged', but only after the beechwood has been boiled with sodium bicarbonate to remove any flavour being imparted into the beer.
*Some people consider this to be overreacting, I consider it to be maintaining standards.
Early Riser - Coffee and croissant £3 if ordered before 11 am.In what bizarre world is ordering a coffee and a croissant before 11am an indication of being an early riser? By 9.30 I've been at work for an hour and at 10.30 I'm thinking about lunch, and I only get out of bed at 7am, so hardly think of myself as an early rise. Maybe there are a lot of people travelling down from Aberdeen who appreciate the recognition of their early start, but the naming of this offer just makes me lose respect for whoever came up with the idea.*
Last night, making some polenta for dinner, I read the bag (Merchant Gourmet brand) which warned of volcanic explosions. I find such descriptions slightly over the top. Whilst I acknowledge that the polenta can splatter a bit, I didn't instantly fear that I would be trapped in a pyroclastic flow over the induction hob, only for my wife to unearth me only minutes later entombed in a golden crispy crumb.
However, both of these incidents pale in comparison to a trip to my local pub yesterday, when I read their drinks menu. Now, as a warning I am a member of CAMRA and enjoy drinking beer, generally of the top-fermenting varieties, though I do drink lager if something sufficiently interesting is on offer. Needless to say, reading the slightly overblown descriptions of the Eurofizz on offer left my spluttering over my real ale.
Exhibit 1: A dense white, honey blond beer. It has a slightly spicy, citric aromatic taste with malty hoppy tones. The main component to the beer is a fruity zesty flavour with a hint of honey and a soft lingering, dry finish.
Exhibit 2: A medium bodied, flavourful and crisp beer with blended layers of premium American and European hop aromas, brewed for the perfect balance of flavour and refreshment and Beechwood aged for balance and character.
Exhibit 3: The unmistakeable colour, the one-of-a-kind taste, the unparalled flavour of relaxation.
The offenders in order are Stella Artois, Budweiser and Corona, three of the blandest beers out there. Interestingly (or ironically), Budweiser, is beechwood 'aged', but only after the beechwood has been boiled with sodium bicarbonate to remove any flavour being imparted into the beer.
*Some people consider this to be overreacting, I consider it to be maintaining standards.
English muffins
This morning in a fit of enthusiasm, I decided to bake some English muffins to have with our breakfast of scrambled eggs and Sainsbury's basics smoked salmon trimmings. There is quite a bit of time for proving the dough but as long as you don't have a lie in, there's plenty of time to make them for a brunch.I sped the proving process up by leaving the dough in the top oven, above above the main oven which was heating up and as a result ended up eating these at 9.30am after starting them just after 8 am (whilst also making a loaf using a different recipe) but are definitely worth trying. This recipe makes 9 muffins (and uses one sachet of yeast). I halved the quantities as there were just the two of us. I ran out of bread flour and used about 25% plain flour and it worked fine.
Unfortunately we wolfed down most of them and I couldn't be bothered taking a pretty photo, so you'll have to do with possibly one of the worst photos I've ever taken.
Ingredients
450g bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
350ml warm milk
1 tsp caster sugar
15g fresh yeast or 1 sachet dried fast acting yeast
1 tbsp of melted butter or oil
Flour or semolina for dusting
Directions
- If using fast acting yeast, sift all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, otherwise mix the yeast with half the milk first. Add the remaining ingredients.
- Beat the mixture for 4-5 minutes (I used an electric hand whisk with sturdy beaters - a wooden spoon will do fine). You'll end up with a smooth elastic dough.
- Cover and leave to rise until doubled in size (upto an hour - I waited 30 mins)
- Once the dough has doubled in size, put on a floured board and knock back.
- Roll the dough out so it's 1cm thick. Using a round pastry cutter, cut out your muffins, dust with flour and leave them to rise for 20-30 mins
- Heat a heavy frying pan on a medium heat and pop the muffins in the frying pan - no oil needed, and cook for 7 mins on each side. You can judge if they're done by touching the top - they should be firm with a little give and should keep their shape.
Developments in Wapping
What's in Wapping have an interesting post from the Turks Head Company Charity summarising a discussion held in May (hopefully my latest FOI request to LBTH on section 106 will arrive more promptly!).
The meeting the Turks Head held looks to have come up with some sensible suggestions, some general, and some very specific, and only one strikes me as objectionable (the smooth cycle lane - I am a big fan of the setts in the road and I think any attacks on them should be fought off to maintain the character of the area). I'd be interested to know why they have decided not to proceed with forming a Neighbourhood Planning Forum (presumably they knew at the outset it would be resource intensive) and whether it is because Network Wapping has started their own application.
The coexistence of the two groups shouldn't be a problem, but does suggest that there is always going to be tension and rivallry between different people - when I studied A-Level politics back in the day (not quite the age of Plato, but it increasingly feels like it), we were always told that politics is the art of conflict resolution - I'm not sure if this ironically amusing or ironically heartbreaking.
The meeting the Turks Head held looks to have come up with some sensible suggestions, some general, and some very specific, and only one strikes me as objectionable (the smooth cycle lane - I am a big fan of the setts in the road and I think any attacks on them should be fought off to maintain the character of the area). I'd be interested to know why they have decided not to proceed with forming a Neighbourhood Planning Forum (presumably they knew at the outset it would be resource intensive) and whether it is because Network Wapping has started their own application.
The coexistence of the two groups shouldn't be a problem, but does suggest that there is always going to be tension and rivallry between different people - when I studied A-Level politics back in the day (not quite the age of Plato, but it increasingly feels like it), we were always told that politics is the art of conflict resolution - I'm not sure if this ironically amusing or ironically heartbreaking.
Also going on in Wapping, is the launch of Tobacco Dock as a conference/exhibition centre (new website) which is coicidentally what John Bell of Network Wapping was proposing. Of note is that in the planning application for the hotel north of the site, there was a proposal for a bridge linking the hotel to Tobacco Dock - reminds me of the Hyatt hotel in Birmingham connected to the International Conference Centre and Symphony Hall (recent host of the Conservative Party Conference - I make it clear that my knowledge is from 4 years of audit visits!).
Hopefully this new venture, which offers a variety of rooms of different sizes - some very large, will be a kickstart to the area and add some vim to getting the hotel built. Using it as a conference venue seems sensible - I don't know quite how it's being operated (I think WiW will have some more info online today) but it's a canny use of space, as I imagine costs can be flexed based on demand, unlike a shopping centre (you can't send home all the staff if no one comes in).
The operating company Tobacco Dock Venues Ltd was incorporated in 2012 by three of the founders/Directors of Interact Branding, a marketing/PR company, so it looks like a new direction for them, though whether actual management is being undertaken by someone else I don't know.
Lift failures in Wapping
- After reopening the reliability of the lifts improved.
- In 2012 the reliability of the lifts fell below the level of performance in 2010.
- The number of people getting stuck inthe lift has fallen and remained steady into 2012, but someone still gets trapped in the lift every month.
Wapping Station - Entry and Exit
My FOI request to TfL on Wapping Station has provided a good variety of information that I find quite interesting and informative. I'll be writing a short series of posts on some of the data received.
The chart below was provided to me by TfL in response to a question on entry and exit to and from Wapping Station. Apparently information on paper tickets isn't captured (or at least not as accurately).
My observations on the data:
On the information provided on annual entries and exits (note the big gap due to closure of the station and a change in methodology in 2010), I observe:
This last observation I find particularly interesting and I'd be curious if a similar pattern is evident across the network and whether the same trend is evident. It's impossible to guess what the driver is. The reasons I can think of that would lead to such a trend are either, people having a walk along the river, getting bored and going home, or, that people leave Wapping for work, or going out and then return via bus or taxi in the evening. Perhaps even more interesting would be to know why the gap has shrunk - are the people of Wapping cutting back on black cabs, or is the prospect of a 'Dine in for £10' getting people rushing back home?
The chart below was provided to me by TfL in response to a question on entry and exit to and from Wapping Station. Apparently information on paper tickets isn't captured (or at least not as accurately).
My observations on the data:
- During weekdays, 0830-0900 is the busiest time with about 300 people an hour using the station (assuming the data is in 15 minute blocks) and assuming a train every 4 minutes in each direction, this would equal approximately 10 people getting on or off each train
- At the weekends, the load on the station peaks between 1300 and 2000, with a relatively constant flow of around 160 people per hour
- Weekend use of the station outside of weekday peak times, is actually higher than during the week, suggesting that Wapping in the week isn't seeing much movement.
- People stay out later on Fridays and Saturdays but get home on Sundays to catch Downton Abbey
 |
| Average volume of Oyster card entry and exit at Wapping Station |
On the information provided on annual entries and exits (note the big gap due to closure of the station and a change in methodology in 2010), I observe:
- Overall use of Wapping Station has increased by 97 per cent from 2003 to 2011.
- There was a 30 per cent leap between 2007 and 2011
- The greatest year-on-year increase was from 2004 to 2005 when there was a 33% increase in usage of the station.
- There has been a trend for more people to leave Wapping (an entry to the station) than for people to return to Wapping and exit the station. The relative difference has fallen by 14.9 percentage points, from 15.4 per cent to 0.5 per cent.
| Annual Entries | Annual Exits | Combined | Variance (entries over exits) | |
| 2003 | 551,886 | 478,033 | 1,029,919 | 15.4% |
| 2004 | 552,975 | 506,672 | 1,059,647 | 9.1% |
| 2005 | 742,751 | 669,032 | 1,411,783 | 11.0% |
| 2006 | 798,348 | 758,330 | 1,556,678 | 5.3% |
| 2007 | 799,315 | 761,536 | 1,560,851 | 5.0% |
| 2011 | 1,019,835 | 1,014,513 | 2,034,348 | 0.5% |
This last observation I find particularly interesting and I'd be curious if a similar pattern is evident across the network and whether the same trend is evident. It's impossible to guess what the driver is. The reasons I can think of that would lead to such a trend are either, people having a walk along the river, getting bored and going home, or, that people leave Wapping for work, or going out and then return via bus or taxi in the evening. Perhaps even more interesting would be to know why the gap has shrunk - are the people of Wapping cutting back on black cabs, or is the prospect of a 'Dine in for £10' getting people rushing back home?
Coming soon...
- Ticket sales
- Lift reliability
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