Well I had to erase about 100 pages of an answer because I wrote the story of my life and it was a bit much. I've lived in Greenwich Village, no. I'm starting again. I'll just say spent 35 years on the Upper West Side before moving to Woodstock. 112 and Riverside. Everywhere I walked it felt like home. Rosita's. Liberty House, small grocers, the Cathedral of St John the Divine, the good small restaurants, and on and on. When I went back recently, it was a different city, it's always a different city every ten years, more often than that sometimes. I didn't recognise it. I particularly hated these very very high tubular apartment buildings sticking up everywhere, that look like they are giving the finger to the sky.
What I find most difficult about the Vauxhall ‘luxury’ high rises is that I cannot imagine who is actually living in them! They appear to be giant monuments to money. If people were actually living in these vertical towns, then it would surely be a lot more bustling around Vauxhall? It’d feel more like Covent Garden if they were all populated… but it truly doesn’t feel much busier despite the increase in accommodation. I see the towers there like a bar chart they are so tall. So are these just expensive columns of air? All this said I still admire some of the Indy businesses & aspects of the architecture around there, but for other reasons.
Honourable mention here for the ludicrously overpriced apartments by Battersea Power Station, most of which now seem to be exclusively used for drying washing if all the drying frames you see in the swanky windows from the train are anything to go by!
Very true, Alex. Are they lived in or "expensive columns of air"? Bar chart, yes! Have to say that the Vauxhall waterfront was buzzing that Saturday afternoon I walked there, but perhaps the weekend sunshine had brought everyone out. Be interesting to see what it's like on a weekday.
I am so pleased you included the Museum of Brands in your post. My company rescued Robert’s collection when his original location was lost to developers. We helped set the Museum up in our old office building in Colville Mews, its first London home. We then moved the museum to its latest incarnation. Great to learn how much you enjoyed it.
Hi Wendy. Yes the site was originally a hospice for AIDs sufferers. The Terrance Higgins trust set it up and the garden is a memorial for Terrence who inspired the formation of the trust. At the time there was no cure for AIDs so all people could do was give sufferers security and support. When the cures were discovered the building lost its original purpose and we acquired it and set up the Museum of Brands in its new home. It is a wonderful museum and this September it will be hosting a special exhibition showcasing the Gerry Anderson Thunderbirds show. that takes me back to my childhood
The Terrance Higgins Trust is the only charity whose fundraisers I have ever enjoyed dealing with. I used to donate a tiny amount monthly because I knew people who had died of AIDs, one of whom I suspected had never told his elderly mother he was gay, let alone what the illness was that killed him. Then when my husband retired and I had to pay more of our bills I could no longer afford to commit myself to regular donations so rang up to cancel them. The person in the office was so lovely and appreciative of my situation and my past commitment to what wouldn’t seem an obvious charity for a middle-aged straight woman to support. He told me how much my donations had totalled over four of five years and said that it might seem not much to me but it was actually significant. If only other charities could learn from that approach instead of guilt-tripping people who can’t afford to donate to any or are committed to other good causes.
They were very decent people to deal with. At the time there was great confusion over what AIDs was and therefore great fear and prejudice. I think that has mostly gone now.
Oh, wonderful to know you were involved in saving it, Steve. Such treasure. I read that wasn’t its original home, but what a great place for the collection to have landed. And with that gorgeous garden, too. I overheard one of the staff saying that the building was originally an AIDs hospice and the garden was a memorial garden. Is that right? I couldn’t see that detail on the website.
I like the way the charity is involved with dementia research and such. Reminiscence through objects is so powerful.
I lived in Paris in 1985-86, 91-92, and in 1998. It will always call me back.
You might enjoy the stack "The Ambient City" which is a diary of rambling walks in London. Caroline Howard is a gifted writer and observer of city life.
Just come back from London. I haven't been back in a hot minute but my takeaways were (like you) A) SO MANY new buildings, London has erupted. B) Lime bikes, everywhere, coming from all angles. C) people walking towards me looking at their phone, it was like the zombie apocalypse sometimes. D) The museums in London are amazing. Went to Royal College of Surgeons and the RA. Both incredible. E) You can eat like a god in London. D) The Tube has grown.
I feel like a tourist when I go to London. Like you, I grew up and lived there for many years, but since 2018, I have only been twice for short visits. Had no idea Battersea Power Station was a shopping mall now. The Musuem of Brands looks fun, so I'll definitely check that out next time I'm there. Thanks for showing me what's new in my old hometown!
Very Nostalgic Wendy - Fry’s 5 Centre - how did I miss that? These days, I prefer to visit London but am also relieved to leave and get on the train home at the end of the day.
I've only just returned to London, back in September, after being 5 years away in a small village in Brazil, caring for my mom. It's definitely called me back! And changed a lot since the first time I moved here, in 2001.
But a city that will always hold a special place in my heart is Montreal, where I was a uni student from 1995 to 2000. It calls and calls but I haven't been able to visit in the past 11 years due to finances... but hopefully one day soon I'll be back.
I love London and looking forward to coming back. I loved the Jaffa cakes. Luckily I can get them at World Market. I went to a wild wedding in Surrey and then went to Glasgow.
Thank you for this window into a previous life! I left London a decade ago and often feel very nostalgic about my time there and wonder how much has changed. When I left, Battersea Power station was still derelict and umpteen plans had been submitted for its redevelopment but nothing ever stuck. That’s interesting it’s a shopping mall now - I guess that capitalism for you 🤣. The brands museum is so cool!
Thanks, Sara – yes, the debates about the future of Battersea Power Station dragged on for years. It's now a mixture of shopping mall, cinema and flats. It's a really impressive building and the interior mall is well done. Same architect as Tate Modern (also a converted power station) and Cambridge University Library, Giles Gilbert Scott.
You'd love the Museum of Brands! Does Australia have anything similar?
Great piece, loved the nostalgia, haven't been into London since 2019, it keeps changing. I was reminded of my time on top of Centrepoint 25th floor back in 79 when it probably was one of the tallest buildings. Standing on the roof with a drink (before health/safety) looking out across the City. Here's a vid of the story of why it was there and Harry Hyams who built it from Ramsbury Wilts, close to where I live now. https://youtu.be/j85H0_cTnd8?si=YHM-6GWgW9Y_eTjV
Hi Wendy, I always love reading your post. I have happy memories of visiting London. I lived in Boston for five years while I went to graduate school and worked in a prison, etc. in the early 80s. It was a very exciting time. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get back there to see how much it may have changed.
The photos of your triplets in you made my heart melt. Thank you.
Thanks, Prajna. That photo of me with triplet babies fascinates my grandchildren. As they get older they begin to understand why their mums look so like their aunties!
I’ve never visited Boston, but I imagine it will have changed a LOT since you studied and worked there. Hope you go back there some day.
I've never been to London, but it's on my bucket list! We live in a suburb about 45 minutes outside of Montreal, which we love. Montreal is a vibrant city with great restaurants, shopping, museums, and historic Old Montreal. For us, it's a nice place to visit, but we wouldn't want to live there.
And I’ve never visited Canada Linda, but Montreal sounds wonderful from what friends have told me. But like you, I’m happy to be a visitor to cities these days. I no longer want to live in one.
I spent most of my life in London. When I go back now I spend the first hour feeling vaguely overwhelmed at how busy and bustling it is but after a couple of hours I'm back to elbowing grannies out of the way to get on the Tube and weaving my way through crowds of confused looking tourists like I'd never left.
I was in London on Monday. Though I don't live far outside the capital, I don't venture there often. I too am amazed at the change in the skyline. Have you returned to Greenwich Park? The view from the Observatory across the river is unrecognisable from when I lived in the borough in the late 70s and 80s
I want to go back to Greenwich and have a proper look around, Maria. I haven't had chance to revisit all my old haunts for years. I was based in SE London, so it's full of memories.
Well I had to erase about 100 pages of an answer because I wrote the story of my life and it was a bit much. I've lived in Greenwich Village, no. I'm starting again. I'll just say spent 35 years on the Upper West Side before moving to Woodstock. 112 and Riverside. Everywhere I walked it felt like home. Rosita's. Liberty House, small grocers, the Cathedral of St John the Divine, the good small restaurants, and on and on. When I went back recently, it was a different city, it's always a different city every ten years, more often than that sometimes. I didn't recognise it. I particularly hated these very very high tubular apartment buildings sticking up everywhere, that look like they are giving the finger to the sky.
I’d have read a 100 page answer! Thanks for sharing your memories, Abigail. ‘Giving the finger to the sky.’ Yes! Perfect description!
What I find most difficult about the Vauxhall ‘luxury’ high rises is that I cannot imagine who is actually living in them! They appear to be giant monuments to money. If people were actually living in these vertical towns, then it would surely be a lot more bustling around Vauxhall? It’d feel more like Covent Garden if they were all populated… but it truly doesn’t feel much busier despite the increase in accommodation. I see the towers there like a bar chart they are so tall. So are these just expensive columns of air? All this said I still admire some of the Indy businesses & aspects of the architecture around there, but for other reasons.
Honourable mention here for the ludicrously overpriced apartments by Battersea Power Station, most of which now seem to be exclusively used for drying washing if all the drying frames you see in the swanky windows from the train are anything to go by!
It is a puzzle to know quite who is occupying all those new apartments. I'd love to see what the census says about it in a few years' time!
Very true, Alex. Are they lived in or "expensive columns of air"? Bar chart, yes! Have to say that the Vauxhall waterfront was buzzing that Saturday afternoon I walked there, but perhaps the weekend sunshine had brought everyone out. Be interesting to see what it's like on a weekday.
I am so pleased you included the Museum of Brands in your post. My company rescued Robert’s collection when his original location was lost to developers. We helped set the Museum up in our old office building in Colville Mews, its first London home. We then moved the museum to its latest incarnation. Great to learn how much you enjoyed it.
Hi Wendy. Yes the site was originally a hospice for AIDs sufferers. The Terrance Higgins trust set it up and the garden is a memorial for Terrence who inspired the formation of the trust. At the time there was no cure for AIDs so all people could do was give sufferers security and support. When the cures were discovered the building lost its original purpose and we acquired it and set up the Museum of Brands in its new home. It is a wonderful museum and this September it will be hosting a special exhibition showcasing the Gerry Anderson Thunderbirds show. that takes me back to my childhood
Thanks for the info Steve. That’s wonderful. We’d already spotted the upcoming Thunderbirds exhibition. Absolutely up my street, too! I’ll be back!
The Terrance Higgins Trust is the only charity whose fundraisers I have ever enjoyed dealing with. I used to donate a tiny amount monthly because I knew people who had died of AIDs, one of whom I suspected had never told his elderly mother he was gay, let alone what the illness was that killed him. Then when my husband retired and I had to pay more of our bills I could no longer afford to commit myself to regular donations so rang up to cancel them. The person in the office was so lovely and appreciative of my situation and my past commitment to what wouldn’t seem an obvious charity for a middle-aged straight woman to support. He told me how much my donations had totalled over four of five years and said that it might seem not much to me but it was actually significant. If only other charities could learn from that approach instead of guilt-tripping people who can’t afford to donate to any or are committed to other good causes.
They were very decent people to deal with. At the time there was great confusion over what AIDs was and therefore great fear and prejudice. I think that has mostly gone now.
Oh, wonderful to know you were involved in saving it, Steve. Such treasure. I read that wasn’t its original home, but what a great place for the collection to have landed. And with that gorgeous garden, too. I overheard one of the staff saying that the building was originally an AIDs hospice and the garden was a memorial garden. Is that right? I couldn’t see that detail on the website.
I like the way the charity is involved with dementia research and such. Reminiscence through objects is so powerful.
Wendy, thank you for sharing your stroll through time. Very Proustian indeed!! xo
Thanks for reading, Andrea! x
I lived in Paris in 1985-86, 91-92, and in 1998. It will always call me back.
You might enjoy the stack "The Ambient City" which is a diary of rambling walks in London. Caroline Howard is a gifted writer and observer of city life.
Oh, thank you for the tip, Lisa. I will look Caroline Howard’s Substack up.
Paris is a wonderful city – you’re lucky to have lived there!
Thank you for the mention, Lisa!
Just come back from London. I haven't been back in a hot minute but my takeaways were (like you) A) SO MANY new buildings, London has erupted. B) Lime bikes, everywhere, coming from all angles. C) people walking towards me looking at their phone, it was like the zombie apocalypse sometimes. D) The museums in London are amazing. Went to Royal College of Surgeons and the RA. Both incredible. E) You can eat like a god in London. D) The Tube has grown.
Yes, yes and yes! Though I haven’t been to the Royal College of Surgeons museum. That sounds interesting! Will check it out for next time.
ive got to go to the museum of brands omg!
Yes! What a treasure trove. I stood In front of some of those displays for ages. So full of oooohs.
I feel like a tourist when I go to London. Like you, I grew up and lived there for many years, but since 2018, I have only been twice for short visits. Had no idea Battersea Power Station was a shopping mall now. The Musuem of Brands looks fun, so I'll definitely check that out next time I'm there. Thanks for showing me what's new in my old hometown!
So many building sites, Petra! I’d be interested to see what you notice next time you visit.
Very Nostalgic Wendy - Fry’s 5 Centre - how did I miss that? These days, I prefer to visit London but am also relieved to leave and get on the train home at the end of the day.
Yes, I’d forgotten all about the Fry’s 5 Centre, Caroline!
I’m in London again helping out - always a buzz, but I’m also happy to get home to rural sights and sounds!
I've only just returned to London, back in September, after being 5 years away in a small village in Brazil, caring for my mom. It's definitely called me back! And changed a lot since the first time I moved here, in 2001.
But a city that will always hold a special place in my heart is Montreal, where I was a uni student from 1995 to 2000. It calls and calls but I haven't been able to visit in the past 11 years due to finances... but hopefully one day soon I'll be back.
I’ve never been to Montreal, but it’s somewhere I’d love to go.
Yes, London has definitely changed since 2001. In a constant state of flux. I was walking about again today, counting the cranes!
I love London and looking forward to coming back. I loved the Jaffa cakes. Luckily I can get them at World Market. I went to a wild wedding in Surrey and then went to Glasgow.
Thank goodness Jaffa Cakes are still around, Lori! Thanks for reading.
Thank you for this window into a previous life! I left London a decade ago and often feel very nostalgic about my time there and wonder how much has changed. When I left, Battersea Power station was still derelict and umpteen plans had been submitted for its redevelopment but nothing ever stuck. That’s interesting it’s a shopping mall now - I guess that capitalism for you 🤣. The brands museum is so cool!
Thanks, Sara – yes, the debates about the future of Battersea Power Station dragged on for years. It's now a mixture of shopping mall, cinema and flats. It's a really impressive building and the interior mall is well done. Same architect as Tate Modern (also a converted power station) and Cambridge University Library, Giles Gilbert Scott.
You'd love the Museum of Brands! Does Australia have anything similar?
Great piece, loved the nostalgia, haven't been into London since 2019, it keeps changing. I was reminded of my time on top of Centrepoint 25th floor back in 79 when it probably was one of the tallest buildings. Standing on the roof with a drink (before health/safety) looking out across the City. Here's a vid of the story of why it was there and Harry Hyams who built it from Ramsbury Wilts, close to where I live now. https://youtu.be/j85H0_cTnd8?si=YHM-6GWgW9Y_eTjV
Thanks, Damon. And for the link to the video about Centrepoint. Gah, yes! One of the original ‘columns of air’. What a waste!
Hi Wendy, I always love reading your post. I have happy memories of visiting London. I lived in Boston for five years while I went to graduate school and worked in a prison, etc. in the early 80s. It was a very exciting time. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get back there to see how much it may have changed.
The photos of your triplets in you made my heart melt. Thank you.
Thanks, Prajna. That photo of me with triplet babies fascinates my grandchildren. As they get older they begin to understand why their mums look so like their aunties!
I’ve never visited Boston, but I imagine it will have changed a LOT since you studied and worked there. Hope you go back there some day.
I've never been to London, but it's on my bucket list! We live in a suburb about 45 minutes outside of Montreal, which we love. Montreal is a vibrant city with great restaurants, shopping, museums, and historic Old Montreal. For us, it's a nice place to visit, but we wouldn't want to live there.
And I’ve never visited Canada Linda, but Montreal sounds wonderful from what friends have told me. But like you, I’m happy to be a visitor to cities these days. I no longer want to live in one.
I spent most of my life in London. When I go back now I spend the first hour feeling vaguely overwhelmed at how busy and bustling it is but after a couple of hours I'm back to elbowing grannies out of the way to get on the Tube and weaving my way through crowds of confused looking tourists like I'd never left.
Exactly, that muscle memory of how to navigate London never quite leaves you!
I was in London on Monday. Though I don't live far outside the capital, I don't venture there often. I too am amazed at the change in the skyline. Have you returned to Greenwich Park? The view from the Observatory across the river is unrecognisable from when I lived in the borough in the late 70s and 80s
I want to go back to Greenwich and have a proper look around, Maria. I haven't had chance to revisit all my old haunts for years. I was based in SE London, so it's full of memories.