A while ago, buoyed by the success of our trip to see 'Skylight', I talked Nigel into going to see 'Made in Dagenham' with me. It was a hard sell in that it's a musical but a very easy one in as much as it stars Gemma Arterton. As Adam had agreed to look after dog and hens we went into London a bit early as I wanted to go sofa shopping. As we sat on the tube at 3.40pm, heading out on the 20 min journey to Notting Hill, I was giving Nigel directions to 'Loaf's' show room and explaining that it was a 10 min or so walk from the station. He casually asked what time it closed and I casually looked at the sheet I'd printed off only to see that it said 4.30pm - casual no longer!!! We contemplated going back in to town but figured possession is 9/10 of the law and once we were in the shop etc... Anyway we headed off at a pace down Ladbroke Grove into a fascinating area of London - past the Carmelite monastery (huge) and convent and two big catholic schools and the hospital of St Charles which I've never heard of but is a really interesting building. Now I had looked on the map and checked the address several times because it seemed to be an odd place for a furniture shop but I did begin to panic when we got there and it just looked like offices with no way in (and it was 4.15 by this stage). Luckily somebody came out and we went through the sort of industrial gate they had emerged from and up three flights of stairs to emerge in to a showroom actually teeming with Boden clad families. There were toddlers crawling over the backs of sofas and teenagers lounging on chaise longues and actually it was great. Nigel and I immediately fell for about 6 of the sofas and it obviously brought the best out of Londoners as people were happy to chat about the merits of the different styles and sympathise with each other about the difficulty in choosing. Anyway - the staff clearly didn't expect to empty the shop for about an hour after closing and we ended up buying a small 'Jonesey' sofa in navy blue. I did get a bit of a shock when first ordering as I had managed to select a really expensive fabric but the very helpful young woman found us a less expensive and far more robust alternative.
So back into theatre land for the musical which was really a lot of fun although I ate a ridiculous number of Maltesers. Late train from King's Cross with its usual selection of sleepers, shoppers and drunks.
Your post is like your diary so writing it all down is so good - it will be there forever and you could transfer it to a real diary - digital that is! You seem to know your way around London very well. What is this big edifice?
I love Loaf sofas & their buttony feet...we get the catalogue & I akways look with envy at the neat appearance & then at my bulky squashy thing you can hard,y get out of.......I will advertise it in Booths!
Terrific gate plus poppy....can't think where this comes from...theatre land somewhere. Great position of that poppy in the centre.
@happypat King's Cross! I saw your make of sofa advertised in a posh Country Living magazine - looked lovely!! I have been getting Loaf brochures - just goes to show that random marketing works - actually I've mostly been browsing the beds not sofas - we are going to wait till the January sales and buy one of those!
Gosh I'm exhausted just reading that. Great story Made in Dagenham - at least I enjoyed the film. On the contrary I've just come back from seeing the Enemy Within. I always wonder how different the country might have been had Barbara Castle ever made PM instead of bloody Thatcher. Someone who could negotiate in a fair minded way...
Anyway, the Enemy Within was great and a real minor from the film came to the cinema. Great pic too btw
@judithg oh yes it would be in a mag like that & I do like it ...very rich co,ours but it seems to take up too much room.......it's a winter sofa! Yours will be much more useful. I hadn't realised Made in Dagenham was a theatre production......20 minutes to town, how fab I would be there every month!
@happypat 20 min from King's Cross to Notting Hill - 50 min Cambridge to King's Cross. Not bad time wise and not a bad price at the weekend but a lottery with engineering works on a Sunday!
@judithg still good...it took me 2.15hours last Monday but when we go to the poppies on Thursday my friend inadvertently booked the train that stops at every stop......8.58am from Preston getting into Euston at12.35 next time I am booking the tickets, it's cheap though!
But great shot!
Terrific gate plus poppy....can't think where this comes from...theatre land somewhere. Great position of that poppy in the centre.
Anyway, the Enemy Within was great and a real minor from the film came to the cinema. Great pic too btw