The Torch on the Queen's Gloriana gets to Tower Bridge

Thousands of people flock to the river to see the final journey of the Olympic Torch.

All along the river on both sides people crowded and jostled to see the Gloriana. The sun came out and there was a real buzz in More London.

Office workers flooded out on their lunch breaks and tourists vied for vantage poitns to photograph and see what all the fuss was about.

More than a billion people are expected to be watching the opening ceremony.

Bermondsey Street Diamond Jubilee Party

Jubilee festivities were not dampened by a weekend of drizzle in SE1. On the day planned for Bermondsey's intimate get-together the sun came out and everyone warmed up to a fun afternoon of celebration.

There was something for everyone; singers, jellies, cakes and a good amount of Pimms.

Everyone 'famous' on the street showed up and even some TV celebs too adding some sparkle to the day. If you weren't there, then you should definately put 22 September in your diary for the Bermondsey Street Festival.

More photos here

The Old Vic is 194 on May 11, 2012

Happy Birthday!
The Old Vic building is celebrating 194 years of being here. The first show performed there was a Harlequinade followed by a grand melodrama, (according to the Twitter feed from the place).

Why not treat your self and visit: www.oldvictheatre.com

The Old Vic is one of the best known and best loved theatres in the world, synonymous with the greatest acting talent that Britain has ever produced from Laurence Olivier, Peggy Ashcroft, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson to Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Albert Finney, and Peter O’Toole.

Top goes on the Shard

April 2012
Last week saw the final piece of the jigsaw go into place on the Shard making it the tallest building in Europe.

We are all waiting to see how this monumental building will effect local trade with the opening of this so-called 'village in the sky'. At 1,017ft The Shard will house up over 10,000 workers.

Inside are plans for a 5 star hotel, restaurants with incredible views, shops and lots of business.

Gregg's Table

February 2012
So a bit of Masterchef is coming to town?

'Marvellous' (as Gregg Wallace might say).

I have a lot of time for Gregg and the show which we watch religiously. Love it!

Gregg's earthy style and his weakness for chocolate (in fact anything sweet) keep the show nice and real and stop it from floating off like a hot air balloon with too much focus on innards and pretentious presentation we can't taste. Gregg likes stews and honest food like that. He has a common man touch and yet still has a passion and sensitivity that most of us can admire.

So, he has opened a place in Bermondsey Square! Fantastic ('Marvellous'), etc., etc.,...

The menu is retro British favourites from the 70's so we get prawn cocktails, steak and chips and knickerbockerglories...

The only problem is that apparently the front of house staff are shared with the hotel above and simply fail to deliver. Actually fail to deliver the plates of food...

C'mon Gregg - you've got to get your plates out on time! Sort it out son, or you may be the next one leaving us ;)

I'm going to have to give it a go and because I like him so much will be devasted if I can't write favourable things... Review coming soon

Jerusalem - Apollo Theatre

Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem has come back to us.

Cross the river to the Apollo theatre if you can still get tickets. We were lucky to be close enough to the stage to catch what was behind the eyes of these masters of performance. Mark Rylance's physical and mental strength rocks you. Mackenzie Crook proves anything that he has achieved in his TV career is as easily matched in his stage work. We went a few days ago and are still discussing the emotional fall-out with some intensity even now.

Is this a play about society's intolerance of the alternative free-spirit? Are we where we came from?

We came from the wilderness to the metropolis but deep down we are still connected to the powerful forces of nature. If somebody's spirit and mind is actively open to this connection does that make them 'The Outsider'?

24 Hour Plays

22 October 2011
Ollie Rose was found wandering up Bermondsey Street with a clothes horse on his back last night.

All in the name of theatre.. and art...

He was happy to discuss his directing responsibilities in the Old Vic's 24 Hour Plays and invite us to the sold out shows.. ;) How does that work?

The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices is now in its sixth year is an adrenaline-fuelled event, which provides 50 young actors, writers, directors and producers, aged between 18-25, with the opportunity to prove their theatrical skill in front of 1000 friends, family and industry professionals on The Old Vic’s 193-year old stage.

Coming soon is the Celebrity Gala version...

Past participants and hosts have included Richard Armitage, Kelly Brook, Gael Garcia Bernal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Jim Broadbent, Saffron Burrows, John Cleese, Richard Curtis, Joseph Fiennes, Stephen Fry, Tom Hardy, Josh Hartnett, Tom Hollander, Lesley Manville, Nick Moran, James Nesbitt, Graham Norton, Rosamund Pike, Rufus Sewell, Brooke Shields, Kevin Spacey, Catherine Tate, Dominic West, Richard Wilson, Vince Vaughn and many more.

Burst pipe stops us getting into José's!

22 October 2011
We love Spanish food. But we have very little luck getting in and chowing down in Bermondsey Street. Our 4 strong team (Chris, Angela, Lily and Nancy) headed up to José to dabble in some fine versions of classic tapas only to find that fate was putting it out of our reach again.

A burst pipe had interrupted the fun proceedings and meant the restaurant was suddenly closed for the evening and according to José, probably the rest of the weekend!

I hope we have more luck with his new place that is shortly opening along the road towards Bermondsey Square.

Another ration of Jose is on its way...

12 October 2011
While jostling for a space at the cute sherry bar on the corner of Morocco Street and Bermondsey Street we bumped into the famous Jose. He reassured us that if we couldn't find a space this time that soon we can enjoy a table at his new location just along the way.

Mmmmmm... can't wait!

In the meantime we managed, at last, to get in to sample some of his food.
Read our review of Jose in Bermondsey.

White Cube opens in Bermondsey Street - 'Structure & Absense'

11 October 2011
How exciting! Prior to the arrival of The Shard next year a thoroughly West End art experience has moved into our intimate streets.

Outside we could hear a local guy on a mobile phone wholly disgruntled that after all of the local disruption when the gallery opened to the press, the locals couldn't get in! Hold on my friend... it is open to you tomorrow and every day thereafter!

It was quite an event.
Read our review of the White Cube in Bermondsey.