A Night in the Clink

I spent the night in the Clink last night. Clink78 is smart new hostel slap bang in the centre of the much smartened up Kings Cross. It is housed in a 200-year-old magistrates court where Dickens penned Oliver Twist and the Clash were later found guilty of a rather messy pigeon-shooting incident. Some of the rooms are in the old prison cell and the interior design in the public spaces masterfully reclaims the building's history with style. Flashed up on the wall in the old court room (now an internet and TV room) is the word 'GUILTY' in blue neon lights and 'The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again', a quote from Dickens, is scrawled on the reception room wall.

It had been a big night: at a party in the Clash bar downstairs the vodka flowed freely, after which I fell into a triple bunk bed (double bed on the bottom for me and my husband; single on the top for my fellow travel writer John Oates). The unusual threesome arrangement worked perfectly and we all slept well. The room was spotless and although there was no mini bar, there was a complimentary packet of crisps and some maltesas on the bedside, which I thought a lovely touch. A self-service breakfast of juice, tea, coffee, cereals and toast is included in the very reasonable room rate (from as little as £26). The spacious hostel (I am not sure how many it sleeps, but it must be at least 100) has very generously sized public spaces and wears its primary colours (lots of Easyjet orange) well. Both the enormous reception area and sprawling breakfast room were full of residents - most of them young (unlike me) and delighted with their stay in the Clink (like me).

Letter from London

Hackney’s heart

In the wake of this summer’s riots, the centre of Hackney may not seem an obvious choice for a day trip; and if you read Wikitravel’s hackneyed entry on the borough you certainly wouldn’t go there after dark. Yet most locals are adamant they wouldn’t want to live anywhere else and Hackney is at the heart of the 2012 Olympics, when millions of visitors from around the world will pass through Hackney Central to get to the Olympic park.

The London Borough of Hackney has long been recognised as London’s creative quarter. Shoreditch, Hoxton and Dalston are home to all sorts of cutting-edge media types and a good proportion of the capital’s coolest nightlife venues. Even lowly Hackney Wick, once an industrial wasteland, is now home to more artists (one in seven people apparently) than anywhere else in the world. But poor old Hackney Central has been rather left off the tour guide’s map of London – until now, that is.

Travel writer Jane Egginton has long counted Hackney as her favourite place in the world. Jane’s tailor-made Saturday walking tour takes in green spaces, fine foods and centres of history right in the heart of Hackney, visiting ancient and modern markets, a brand new brewery and the oldest house in East London.

Begin your Saturday with a cappuccino at Broadway Market (www.broadwaymarket.co.uk), perhaps the most obvious example of the Hackney’s gentrification. One of London’s finest food markets, barrow boys have been trading here since the 1890s. This market gets really crowded around lunch-time, when the fashionistas rouse themselves from their Friday night excesses and parade along what is known as ‘the catwalk’. No-one really comes here for their weekly shop; meat, bread, fruit and vegetables are all overpriced. Instead people come to graze on street food, strut their stuff and sup a pint at the achingly cool Cat & Mutton pub.

Originally called The Cattle & Shoulder, across the road is a clue to the pub’s name; London Fields was used by drovers to pasture their livestock on the way to market. Today this hemmed-in triangle of grass is still well-used. On hot weekends, it fills up with groups of sun-seeking trendy young things and families with picnics. There are playgrounds, a cricket pitch, tennis courts, football games and even an outdoor ping pong table to amuse the crowds.

Skirt the western edge of London Fields, perhaps taking a dip in the lovely 1930s lido with its Olympic sized pool then cross to the eastern side. Tucked away beneath the railway arches is the newly-opened London Brewery at 374 Helmsley Place (www.londonfieldsbrewery.co.uk), open by appointment only for tastings and purchases of their tasty hand-crafted beers.

This exciting enterprise is the perfect example of new Hackney and part of an increasingly powerful movement of local producers. On offer from the first commercial brewery to open in central Hackney since the 19th century are five ales whose names ring out with love for the vicinity: Hackney Hopstar, London Fields Bitter, London Fields Session Ale, London Fields Gold and Love Not War (the last apparently named during the recent disturbances).

Continue your Hackney pilgrimage to another newbie on the scene. Walk north up Mare Street (the area’s main artery, known for its Vietnamese and Turkish restaurants) and you’ll soon reach the grand old Hackney Empire (www.hackneyempire.co.uk). This Georgian jewel opened in 1901 and was one of the world’s greatest music halls, playing host to the likes of Charlie Chaplin and WC Fields perform. Recently refurbished, the highlight of its calendar is without doubt the pantomime – generally agreed to be London’s best.

Continue north towards Hackney Overground station, where you’ll find the always-busy ‘narrow way’, the centre of Mare Street shopping. Turn right, passing the 13th-century St Augustine’s Tower (Hackney’s oldest building) and into the churchyard of St John at Hackney. Right in the heart of Hackney, these bucolic church gardens are visited by three quarters of a million people every year. In the north gardens of this impressive Grade II listed church, you’ll find the Hackney Homemade market (www.hackneyhomemade.com).

A newcomer on the market scene, this is a good example of Hackney’s gentrification sitting side by side with real community effort. Each week fledgling traders offering vintage clothes, bric-a-brac and world food, side by side with charity awareness stalls and the likes of shiatsu, aromatherapy and foot massage. Hackney Homemade hosts an exciting calendar of events, including a popular summer fete, a lively food festival and a spectacular Christmas market during the first three weekends in December, so look out for the latest information on the website.

Make Sutton House (2–4 Homerton High Street) your final stop. This splendid Tudor building, where merchants, silk weavers and squatters have all made their home, lays claim to being the oldest house in east London. It’s a National Trust property, a little gem that many locals miss. And its fully licensed tea room is a real bonus after all that walking.

This article appeared in CDTraveller for which I contribute a letter from London each month.

My Travel Cash

My father is an economist and while none of his mathematical genes rubbed off on me, I do like a bargain. And it really annoys me that I get charged by my bank each time I take money out when withdrawing cash from the ATM with my debit card when abroad – sometimes as much as four or five pounds.

I found myself withdrawing larger amounts of money as a way of avoiding lots of transactions and therefore more charges. This obviously doesn't make good financial sense. Apart from the temptation to spend more (research shows that half of travellers worry about overspending on holiday, with one in ten so concerned that it ruins their trip), there is also the chance that you could lose it or even have the cash stolen.

So when I found out about my Travel Cash – a card that not only doesn't charge any ATM withdrawal fees and no commission but also gives you 1% cashback on all purchases – I decided to give it a go. This card is not suitable for travel everywhere, but it offers currency in euros, US dollars and sterling. Just load the multi-currency card with sterling (£30 minimum) and you can use it to get multiple currencies when abroad. The same foreign currency charge as most debit and credit cards is applied – around 2.99% at the time of writing, but with my Travel Cash you get 1% cashback on all purchases and of course no charges.

Some people get worried that these pay-as-you-go currency cards require a credit check, but it is simply a case of completing a short online application to verify your identity. You do need to apply online and wait for approval. The application form is fairly straightforward and only took a few minutes. When approved (a refusal is very rare), you get a personalised card with your name, which looks and functions in the same way as a credit or debit card. My card arrived the next day and I am told all cards should arrive within just two days from receipt of application.

The first ATM I went to in Italy accepted my card (I am told they can be used at over 32 million outlets and at any of the 1.5 million ATMs worldwide displaying the MasterCard Acceptance Mark). When I had spent all my money (it didn't take long), I topped up my card online using www.myTravelCash.com. I am not known to track my spending carefully but it is easy to do this with online statements available on the site or by using SMS on my mobile. If you lose your card, there’s a Chip and PIN protection system in place and a 24-hour lost and stolen number you can call. But of course the big advantage with cash cards is that they are not linked to your bank account.

Cash cards look set to take over from debit cards in the same way as bank and credit cards took over from travellers cheques. And if you don’t know which one to choose, I suggest my Travel Cash, which is not only recommended by me but by independent consumer watchdog Which?

Four Wheels Good: Two Wheels Bad

There are a few non-negotiables for me when it comes to luggage. It has to have four wheels (for anyone who puts their laptop in their bag, four wheels are not really an optional extra as with only two wheels your luggage is prone to fall over), be cabin compliant and be very light. It’s also got to look good and it’s got to be expandable.

Samsonite are my favourite luggage manufacturer so I toyed with the idea of the Samsonite Cubelite case which rings in at £259. With four wheels, at 54cms and champagne coloured, it ticks three of my boxes. It is also, it seems, made of a revolutionary ultra tough, ultra light polypropylene material known as Curv. Samonsite proudly tell me they have the patent for this unique material usually reserved for anti-ballistic body armour. Oh and its ‘silent wheels’ are supposedly inspired by airplane propellers. Really. In the end though I was so pleased I plumped for the X’Pression 55cm Expandable Upright Cabin Case, also in a stylish champagne colour and two thirds of the price. I tested the X’Pression to the limits at the airport when I had to squeeze my handbag tightly into my one allowed piece of hand luggage on my budget flight. Grrr. The zip didn’t break though, and the multidirectional wheels were successfully put to the test on a sheer rocky mountainside in Lake Garda. The lockable and removable garment bag is an agreeable added extra, as is the three height push-button locking handle which can be adjusted to any size of traveller. And I loved the outside pocket to stash my water bottle.