Redhill town centre in pictures

Oh well...so much for the little summer we have been enjoying, freezing temperatures today, snow overnight (enough to settle on cars and rooftops at least) and seeing as I singularly failed to get out to St Johns Road over the weekend I thought I would (as on the bus today, Flyingpops has another meeting) take a few shots around Redhill (which might interest Andy, as it's changed so much even in the short time I have been living in the area) -

- so (standing on the spot and turning clockwise) starting at Redhill railway station -

- the "Liquid and Envy" nightclub (formerly "Millionaires" nightclub, and prior to that I am guessing it was a cinema or a theatre (judging by the shape of the building), comparison shot would have been taken towards the station standing next to that silver car on the roundabout, looks like they had a bit of a flood in 1951 then! -

- the entrance to Station Road (with the McDonalds and the new Abbott pub, which looks convincingly old but was scratch built on a sliver of grass by the new market car park a couple of years ago (hence the odd shape) -

- then right back on myself looking towards the new bus station (all the buses used to stop down the high street (right next to Argos)) -

- now looking up Station road towards the crossroads in the centre of town (which has been pedestrianised), sorry about the shadow ;) -

- stopping to note the new council initiative to get people to stop dropping chewing gum on the pavement (most of which have already been smashed to smithereens by the local chavs) -

- reaching the crossroads in the centre of town, looking up station road towards St Matthews church (in the very distance), comparison pic is from 1923, then peering right at what used to be the start of London Road -

- which is now the site of the new library, Redhill theatre/cinema and giant Sainsbury's supermarket (where I worked stacking bananas as a teen) -

- and then looking left down the old high street (noting the new shopping centre, the Belfry, on the right), as I said, all the buses used to drive right down here, stopping on the left, heading eventually on into the Brighton road...lovely first thing in the morning in Redhill, but stand right here after the hours of darkness and you fear for your life due to the rampaging gangs of drunken teenagers, and ne'er an officer of the law in sight...

Update - Just spotted that BigBlue was in St Johns Road on the weekend and found the house (with pic)! I'll try and get up there (when the red van isn't there) and shoot some more... ;) I don't feel quite so guilty now... ;)

Update update - Have added in a couple of historic shots from roughly the same locations for comparisons sake... ;)

Guanabara, Holborn - review

So, last night was the NPG Christmas party, held at Guanabara in Holborn -

- which is a Brazillian themed bar/restuarant/club (I took a quick video scanning around the venue which you can find here)...as I mentioned yesterday we got a load of tokens for drinks, so I decided to start the evening off by using my cocktail voucher to try the classic Brazillian tipple a Caipirinhas (which is Fresh limes and sugar mixed with crushed ice & Sagatiba cachaça), they have all the glasses for the various cocktails standing by -

- so the bar has an amazing aroma of lime and mint... ;)

- ...it actually turned out to be more ice than anything else, but was quite refreshing, not sure I would have been happy to have paid six quid for one though...(video of one being made here, if you are interested)...

While we waited for the appointed hour for dinner (6pm), good use was made of the table football facilities (a pound a shot) -

- and when the moment finally came the food turned out to be completely *not* Brazillian, and not brilliant either -

- merely serviceable, a bit over salty and rather overcooked Turkey, with (and I never thought I would hear myself say this) very undercooked veg (almost raw in fact), so this definitely isn't a venue to *plan* to come for a meal - absolutely perfect for the atmosphere, drinks -

- and the chilled out vibe of the band that came on during the second sitting for food was perfect, so, a great place to come and hang out *after* dinner... ;)

Also, never really got comfortable with the idea of visiting the gents and doing your business with an enormous Christ staring down at you...bit odd...

Anyway, a good night was had by all, getting home was pretty straightforward too, "B" and I got a direct train from Victoria and then cabbed it back together, which made it nice and easy, and no mishaps had either (thank goodness) apart from me falling asleep with my KFC on the sofa and being woken up by Flyingpops at three in the morning (who had thought I had got lost in London) whoops! Sorry!! Still, not as bad as last year... ;)

See the rest of the pics on the flickr stream here (and a little gickr for you too, see, said I would use it ;) -

NPG Underground Christmas Party at Guanabara

...is tonight...Got my "welcome" pack...with a reminder of what food I had ordered ("Peru Assado", which is "baked turkey" (served the traditional South American way), and "Bolo de Chocolate" which is chocolate cake)...We get a glass of wine with dinner, plus vouchers good for 1 cocktail, 1 soft drink and either 5 more glasses of wine or beer...should be sufficient... ;)

Oh, and above, our little bit of the office, all properly decorated now... ;) Got Flyingpops' Z1 for pics tonight, so more tomorrow, assuming it goes a little better than last year (groan)!!

Update - Someone is selling their vouchers on eBay! :0

Update update - Cocktail menu here...

Update update update - Been now, pics and vids here...

Liquid and Envy in Redhill - Abstract

Liquid and Envy in Redhill - Abstract
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

(yep, that's kind of how it looked when we finally gave up dancing and drinking and headed home ;)

Saturday night/Sunday AM went really well, but boy am I suffering for it this morning...Zzzzz...Still, out of the office today with "Whittleman" to go and see some clients, should be a good day... ;)