You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February 2010.
I often wonder how many post pubescent voyeurs crack on to the mother-and-baby scene, because there is a fair amount of free breast viewing to be had! Maybe there is something sacred about a lactating breast that is *ever so slightly* asexual. Like beautiful angels or amoebas. Nevertheless, it is a relief that mothers across London do not generally have to suffer under the prying gaze of perverted boob spotters. I always marvel at the effectiveness of female group mentality in social situations where there is a primordial undercurrent of vulnerability. Women go to the loo together, and apparently they also choose to meet up for group breastfeeding.
I sound disparaging, but I am not. It is only that it’s been two years now since I was in their place, so it’s definitely my turn to be smug! Anyway, I digress. I meant to focus on writing a review of Bertie and Boo, a delightfully colourful cafe on the corner of Ramsden Road and Balham High Street, but I just caught sight of a nipple and it sent me into a reverie…
I meant to say that the beautiful home made cup cakes here are delicious, and they serve a selection of hot and cold sandwiches, as well as a selection of teas, coffees and smoothies. There is a comprehensive children’s menu at a not-too-exorbitant price. It is extremely popular with local mums and also with their children, because they have a reclaimed vintage car from a fairground ride on their deck. Watch out for terrible two-year-olds fussing over whose turn it is to sit in the four different drivers’ seats as you duck for cover from the next table’s infant’s milk reflux.
I like coming here, and so does my son. It’s pretty in a shabby chic kind of way, with its stripy wallpaper and polka dot crockery and worn down reclaimed school desks-for-tables. It has received high accolade from publications such as Time Out, and the owners have a birthday party delivery service. But it can get pretty crammed with pushchairs, it’s not particularly cheap and it’s right on a pretty busy road.
I wish this place was larger and served a more varied menu, but I am grateful for its existence. It cannot be denied that it is a very pleasant little coffeery and cakery, and it imperceptibly twists my social behaviour so that I feel like ‘one of the mums’ whenever I visit. I always feel slightly unnerved when I spot customers without children coming here for a coffee. I find myself frowning at anyone who dares light a cigarette on the open deck. Think of the children!!! It makes me question their motivations. If you don’t have kids, why would you come here? Are you hoping to see boobs?
162 Balham High Street, Sw12
Underground: Balham -Escalators and Stairs
Overground: Balham – Lift
Well, this is another well hidden secret I feel ashamed not to have shared earlier.
Deen City Farm is pretty damn awesome.
I am a mum and a bit of a hippy tree hugger at heart, I know. But this place is free, open pretty much every day, and just a lovely place to have a picnic, especially if you do have a young family… But it’s sweet even if you do not.
Set completely inconspicuously in even more of a weird surrounding than Merton Abbey Mills, the city farm is very endearing. Run mostly by volunteers, they home a wide range of animals. On a day’s visit you will see peacocks, chickens, turkeys, ferrets, rabbits, ponies, horses, alpacas, cows, sheep, goats, ducks, geese, and other wildfowl. There is a basic cafe onsite, but you are welcome to bring your own picnic to the many benches in their picnic garden.
The farm is also home to many community projects, focusing on sustainability and regeneration, and contains a garden created in collaboration with local school children. This garden includes, among other things, a maze and a mud hut with beautiful mosaic flooring, all made with reclaimed materials. It is a delight to see all the little children running through the sprinklers on hot days, as it is to see many take their first pony ride for £1,00 every weekend.
The farm is placed on the edge of a segment of the Wandle river that runs through Merton Abbey Mills through to the beautiful RHS Morden Hall Park, and therefore somewhere vaguely between Colliers Wood and South Wimbledon Stations, but it has its own free car parking, family friendly toilet facilities, and a small town atmosphere that makes you forget you are in London.It also homes a very popular riding school, but another highlight is the opportunity visitors get to help feed the animals at designated intervals during the day.
I really don’t know of any other places in London like this(which is why everyone needs to share here), but it’s just so flexible… And so cheap too. And lovely. AND educational. I can’t think how else my son would have a regular contact with so many different animals as we live in a flat! Parents, I urge you to try.
I am shocked and horrified at my negligence of this very worthwhile little blog! If only I knew 3 years ago what I know now… Which is the entire purpose of letting you know.
One place that is screamingly obvious by its absence is the delightful little gem that is Merton Abbey Mills.
As the name suggests, it is one of the only remaining parts of Merton Abbey, and is in possession of London’s oldest working watermill. You would be forgiven for not knowing it was there at all, because its surrounded by ugly ugly ugly light industrial-y buildings, a huge Sainsbury’s Hypermarket, and under the shadow of one of Britain’s most infamous buildings, the office tower of Colliers Wood, affectionately nicknamed by my friends as ‘Gotham City’. But fear not.
Abbey Mills has been a complete life saver to me on many occasions, particularly during the Summer months. Around the mill is an array of quaint low rise buildings which almost make you forget you are in London. In some of these buildings you will find many independent arts and crafts shops, as well as bookshops, vintage clothes, tattoo and piercing studios and a lovely music shop. In others you will find restaurants and cafes providing a variety of cuisines, including Thai, Italian, Brazilian, Caribbean and Belgian. There is a traditional family pub called The William Morris, and on the weekends an art and crafts gifts fair, as well as a farmer’s market. The variety of pretty eateries makes it a good contender for a nice quiet evening date too! And last but not least, the abbey mills also have a small theatre which puts on a number of productions, including pantomimes.
The atmosphere is very family friendly, but not in exclusion of the single and younger among us; especially in July and August when a free open air music festival is held and the place gets pretty busy, yet never unpleasant. People come to sit on the edge of the river with a beer or two and listen to the dulcet tones of whoever happens to be performing at the time.
Another HUGE advantage of Abbey Mills is its close proximity to a number of family friendly and cheap activities. It is within easy walking distance of Deen City Farm and Riding School, Eddie Catz and Morden Hall Park(which is possibly the nicest thing about Morden).
Underground: Colliers Wood – Escalators
