Category: Café

Cab Drivers’ Shelter, Thurloe Place SW7

This Cab Drivers’ Shelter is outside the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington, London.

Cab Drivers’ Shelter Thurloe Place, sketched 18th August 2026 in Sketchbook 17

This shelter, one of 13 remaining, was built to the designs of Maximilian Clarke in 18971.

‘The Alexander Estate’, in Survey of London: Volume 41, Brompton, ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1983), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol41/pp58-86 [accessed 8 September 2026].

As I was sketching, members of staff emerged from the V&A onto the pavement to chat and to smoke. One of them came to look at the picture and told me “It used to be in the centre of the road you know. We all went over there.”

This shelter has been moved at least twice. It was originally in the middle of the road outside number 2-7.

Undated photo, probably 1920s or 30s, judging from the cars. This is a view looking East along Thurloe Place. The domed structure is on the corner of Thurloe Place and Brompton Road. It is still there. There is a long line of cabs in the road, leading to the shelter in the bottom left (arrowed). Image from Margaret Purnell on Facebook.
Google Street view (September 2025), showing approximately the same view. The shelter is now on the pavement, arrowed, partly hidden by a bus stop. The trees have grown!

In the 1970s the shelter was moved southwest to be in the middle of the road outside number 112, the Rembrandt Hotel. A picture in the London Picture archive3 shows that it was still there in the middle of the road in 1977. Then some time later (after 1983 4 ) the shelter was moved to the pavement next to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is where it is now (see Google Street view above).

This cab drivers’ shelter is closed and no longer serves refreshments. However in a mysterious way it still exerts an attraction. While I sketched, people congregated there on their work breaks. Even though closed it offers some spirit of “shelter” it would seem.

A sheltering place – detail from the sketch
Page spread sketchbook 17
  1. A history of Cab Drivers’ shelters is on the Historic England site: https://heritagecalling.com/2024/04/09/a-brief-introduction-to-cabmens-shelters/ ↩︎
  2. Evidence that the shelter was moved southwest in the 1970s: Here’s an extract from footnote n15 in British History Online. This article was written in 1983 when the shelter was still in the middle of the road, opposite number 11.: “Opposite the Rembrandt Hotel, in the centre of the roadway of Thurloe Place, is a cabmen’s shelter (fig. 22) which was originally erected a little further to the east in 1897 and moved here in the 1970’s. Paid for by the Vicar of St. Jude’s Church, Courtfield Gardens, and the residents of Earl’s Court, it was evidently a replacement for an earlier shelter. The purpose of these shelters, for which a fund had been established in 1875 under the president of Lord Shaftesbury, was to supply cabmen ‘when on the rants, with a place of Shelter where they can obtain good and wholesome refreshments at very moderate prices ’. The shelters took various forms, but the best-known type, of which that in Thurloe Place is a good example, was designed by Maximilian Clarke, who was appointed joint honorary architect to the Cabmen’s Shelter Fund in I884.” This article in British History Online was edited in 1983. (Citation: ‘The Alexander Estate’, in Survey of London: Volume 41, Brompton, ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1983), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol41/pp58-86 [accessed 8 September 2026].) ↩︎
  3. London Picture Archive:https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/view-item?i=232612&WINID=1788868476245 ↩︎
  4. An article on the Historic England site says “The shelter once sat in the middle of the road on Thurloe Place but was moved to the side of the road due to local road widening for a nearby hotel”. But it doesn’t say when this happened. Historic England history of Cab drivers’ shelters: https://heritagecalling.com/2024/04/09/a-brief-introduction-to-cabmens-shelters/ ↩︎

Molesey Boat Club, KT8

A short walk from Hampton Court Bridge is Molesey Boat Club.

Molesey Boat Club, Barge Walk, East Molesey KT8 9AJ, sketched 7th August 2026 in Sketchbook 16
Sketch map showing the location of Molesey Boat Club, a few minutes walk from Hampton Court Bridge and railway station.

This is a lively place. I watched a group of school-age boys and girls competently lift a boat out of the water, and place it carefully on its stand. They then washed it with sponges. Boats were coming and going all the time, fours, twos and single skulls, people of all ages. It all looked fun and made me want to have a go. A group of fit-looking young people set off, their instructor following in a motor boat. In a few moments they were rowing back the other way. Then they turned the boat and went back up the river at fantastic speed. Within half an hour then were back at the boat house, clambering out of the boat, and handing over to another group.

I did not follow the activities of the boat crews in great detail, however, as I was concentrating on those very complicated eaves and the carved woodwork of the boathouse.

Molesey Boat Club, detail.

The club was founded in 1866. This boathouse dates from 1901. It has been renovated and extended since, most recently in 2016, when a new rowing centre with a rowing tank was added.1

work in progress on the sketch

There is a café on the first floor, overlooking the river. It is called “Eight on the River“. The thing to watch is that it closes at 3pm on weekdays, so don’t hang around perfecting your drawing, but get up there.

Here is my shady sketching location seen from the balcony of the café. In the foreground are the seat-like stands where the crews place their boats after use.

My sketching location (arrowed) seen from “Eight on the River”

It’s a lovely place to sketch, and to watch the river.

Molesey Boat Club, page spread, sketchbook 16
  1. History of the boat club from https://moleseyboatclub.co.uk/history
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“The Chapel” Cab Drivers’ Shelter, Wellington Place, St John’s Wood, NW8 7PE

According to the cab driver sitting at one of the tables, this is “the oldest, and the last to be listed”. It was built in 1875, and listed in 2024 (listing ref 1488223).

“The Chapel” Cab Drivers’ shelter, Wellington Place, St John’s Wood, NW8 7PE Sketched 27 March 2026, in Sketchbook 16

As I was sketching, the manager of the shelter came out and kindly brought me a cup of tea. She was very welcoming, and interested in the drawing. She told me that the rail running round the shelter, shown in my drawing, was for drivers to tether their horses.

Cup of tea courtesy of the manager of the shelter.

A former cab driver came by in his mobility scooter. He evidently still had dining rights, as he was seated at the tables by the hut. Only cab drivers can sit there, I understood. Cab drivers also went inside the shelter, through the door which you see on the right of the hut, with a circular plate on it. The ex-Cab Driver told me he was a photographer now. “Street Photography”, he said. But he told me he was going to take up birdwatching. This was something it was convenient to do from a mobility scooter. He had no teeth, and it was hard to understand what he said. But nonetheless we enjoyed an extended conversation and listened to the birds we could hear in the park. He went off, waving from his vehicle, steering a confident route along the uneven pavement.

This shelter is called “the Chapel” because it is right next to St John’s Wood Chapel Gardens.

The St John’s Wood Cab Driver’s shelter is next to the Church

It started to rain and I stopped sketching. I bought a bacon sandwich from the woman in the shelter and went to eat it in the garden.

The gardens are the Chapel graveyard. The watercolour artist John Sell Cotman is buried there. I have seen a large exhibition of his work at the British Museum.

Back at my desk, trying to channel my inner John Sell Cotman, I struggled to match the green colour of the shelter. It is called “Dulux Buckingham Paradise Green I”. 1 It exists in the Dulux Trade Paint range2, but not as a watercolour.

I tried to mix it myself, with partial success. Any colour varies depending on the light conditions, and the surroundings, so I forgive myself for not making an exact technical match. My green is made from Serpentine Genuine (Daniel Smith watercolour ) with touches of Mars Yellow and Ultramarine Blue.

Equipment for this picture. The sponge is for making the tree. Serpentine Genuine is the colour in the palette at the bottom left. It looks quite similar to Dulux Paradise Green I.

When the picture was finished I ordered a digital print of it, and returned to the shelter to gift the print to the manager who had been so kind and welcoming. It will hang inside her shelter.

The St Johns Wood Cab Drivers’ Shelter, digital print
(c) JaneSketching
  1. Historic England has an article about this shelter here: https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/13th-cabmens-shelter-in-london-listed/
    It names the colour of the shelter as “Dulux Buckingham Paradise Green I” ↩︎
  2. Dulux paint Paradise Green I listed here: https://www.duluxtradepaintexpert.co.uk/en/colours/paradise-green-1-645605 ↩︎

Russell Square Cab Drivers’ Shelter, WC1

Continuing my series on Cab Drivers’ Shelters, here is the shelter on Russell Square. It was built in 1897, restored in 1987, and listed in 1988.

Russell Square Cab Drivers’ shelter, WC1, sketched 9th March 2026, in Sketchbook 16

This little building is on the North side of Russell Square, not far from the British Museum.

Location of the Russell Square Cab Drivers’ Shelter

I sketched from a convenient bench, fortified by a sandwich and cake from the marvellous Fortitude Bakery, just to the east – marked on the map above (and recommended).

On the other side of the road is a school for young children. Adults stood about, ready to collect the school children. Between them flowed a current of workers, students and people of all nations. “SOAS”, the School of Oriental and African Studies, is nearby, as is the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and many other academic institutions of the University of London.

A cheerful woman swathed in scarves bustled up to me and examined the picture. She glanced up to to the shelter and looked back down again at my picture, comparing. She then delivered what I took to be a speech of encouragement and admiration. But it may equally have been closely argued constructive criticism. Her words sounded garbled, she had no teeth, and I think she was speaking a language unknown to me. However we smiled at each other, I held up the picture so she could better compare it to the building. She nodded curtly, as though putting a confirmatory flourish at the end of her expressed opinion. We smiled again, she waved, and off she went.

A woman with a large handbag came and sat down right next to me on the bench. She placed the handbag on her lap, and took no interest in my picture whatsoever. After a few minutes she took off again. Perhaps she had spotted the pupil she had come to collect.

I photographed various details of the shelter. Note the bird on top of the bell. I had tried very hard to show it in my drawing, but at that distance it was very small.

The shelters were built by The Cabmen’s Shelter Fund. Its monogram “CSF” is in the fretwork. This charity set up the shelters in the 19th century, and still exists.

Russell Square Cab Drivers’ Shelter – fretwork showing “CSF” for “Cabmens’ Shelter Fund”

I finished the drawing back at my desk. Here is the sketchbook spread.

Russell Square Cab Drivers’ shelter in Sketchbook 16

Temple Place Cabdrivers’ shelter, WC2

Here is the Cab Drivers Shelter near Temple Station.

Cab drivers’ shelter, Temple Place. Sketched 5th March 2026 2pm in Sketchbook 16

There are 13 of these shelters surviving. All are now listed. This one was built in around 1900 and listed in 19871. Here’s a map from the Historic England site showing the location of all the shelters in London. interestingly they are all to the North of the river.

Map of the 13 listed cab drivers’ shelters. Temple place circled. Map from Google, on https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/13th-cabmens-shelter-in-london-listed/
Eager diners queue at the shelter before it closes.

I sketched this one on the first sunny day in spring. I’d arrived there at around 1:30pm. There was a long line of people outside and several tables. While I was doing the sketch, the manager closed the window and the queue dissipated. Then she came out and packed up all the tables. I just managed to sketch one table before they all disappeared. This shelter closes at 2pm.

Two men walked past me, engrossed in a conversation about a colleague. “He has a strong survival component” observed one of them, somewhat ruefully.

Then there was a man pushing a bicycle. “Ah!” he said, noticing me, “ink. Real ink!” I was indeed using real ink. I held up the fountain pen to show him. “I love the sound of ink on paper!” he said. I hadn’t thought about the sound of ink on paper. I noticed it, from that moment on.

Here’s a map showing the location of the shelter. As you see, it is near Temple Station, which accounts for the flux of people passing.

Here is the sketchbook spread. My aim is to sketch more of these shelters – maybe even to sketch all of them.

Sketchbook 16
  1. Historic England listing: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1357301?section=official-list-entry ↩︎

The Leather Market Workspace, Bermondsey, SE1 3ER

Here is The Leather Market Workspace. The Victorian building on the left is the back of the Grade II listed former “London Leather, Hide & Wool Exchange”, 1878, designed by George Elkington and Sons.

The Leather Market, Bermondsey, sketched 7th November 2025 in Sketchbook 16

My idea had been to sketch the front of the Victorian building from Weston Street. But the front was obscured by delivery vans.

We were on the point of abandoning the project, when Toby appeared.

Lynn’s sketch of the same view
(c) Lynn Adams, used with permission.

Toby, it turns out, is in charge of a café. He was standing on the pavement next to a huge arch by the Victorian frontage. Come in! he suggested. Lynn and I followed him through the arch. The space opened out into a large yard, with seats. Toby went into his café and we walked around the yard, sizing up the artistic possibilities. Lynn uttered a shriek of delight. She had discovered a point at the edge of the courtyard with an unexpected view of The Shard. And trees. This was her quest. She settled down to sketch while I went to procure coffee from Toby and his team. Then I started sketching too.

“The Leather Market” is one of a collection of co-working spaces managed by Workspace Group plc. We sketched and drank our coffee in the calm yard. Workers passed by and made encouraging comments.

Working on a sketch of The Leather Market. Pen: Lamy Safari fountain pen

We returned our coffee cups to the friendly café, and set off to explore more of Bermondsey. By the time we emerged out through the arch, the delivery vans had gone from the front of the building.

Thank you to Toby and his team from Skinners Café for making us so welcome!

Here’s a map:

Map showing the viewpoint in the sketch
The Leather Market workspaces – page spread, Sketchbook 16

Colours, all Daniel Smith watercolours:

  • Fired Gold Ochre for the bricks
  • Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue for the grey and blacks
  • Serpentine Genuine for the greens
  • Some Transparent Pyrrol Orange and Mars Yellow for the light indoors
  • all the whites are the paper, fine lines achieved using masking tape and rubber resist.

My pen is a Lamy Safari with EF nib, and De Atramentis Document Black waterproof ink. Paper is Arches Aquarelle 300gsm CP, in a book made by Wyvern Bindery of Hoxton

Work in progress

I have sketched in Bermondsey before:

St James Bermondsey SE1

Walking back from the Little Bread Pedlar with my bag of goodies, I came to a standstill in front of St James’ Church, Bermondsey. This is a…

keep reading

The Market Café, Broadway Market, E8

Here is the Market Café, which is at the South end of Broadway Market, near the canal.

Market Café, Broadway Market, Hackney E8, sketched 12 November 2024, 12″ x 9″ [sold]

I’ve sketched the Market Café before, and written about it on this post. This latest sketch was a commission to celebrate a happy event which took place there.

Here are some details from the sketch:

It was a bright and cold day. I did the pen and ink on location.

preliminary sketch
Packing up.
Working on location

The photographer Nick Hillier came by and took some photographs of me working, which he kindly sent me later.

Sketching on location, image credit: Nick Hillier. Pen is a Lamy Safari.

I added the colours at my desk. The colours are:

  • for the brickwork: Fired Gold Ochre
  • all the greys and blacks are: Ultramarine Blue plus Burnt Umber
  • the sky is Phthalo Blue Turquoise
  • the green tiles are Serpentine Genuine
  • there’s a bit of Permanent Yellow Deep on some of the highlights and some dots of Transparent Pyrrol Orange
  • the fine white lines are made by using a rubber resist gum. I use Pebeo drawing gum.

For my current palette see this link. I have 12 colours in my palette. For most pictures I fewer colours. This picture used about 7 colours.

Thank you to my client H for the commission and for allowing me to post this image here.

I’ve sketched around the Broadway Market area before. See this link for a sketch of Climpson Coffee, and here is a sketch done at E5 bakery on the other side of London Fields.

Sketch location

Climpson & Sons – Broadway Market E8

Here is a sketch of the coffee merchant Climpson & Sons, on Broadway Market in Hackney.

Climpson & Sons, 67 Broadway Market, London E8, sketched 22 October 2024 in Sketchbook 15

I was sitting at a table in the café opposite, which is called “Route”.

Climpsons are a coffee merchant and roastery based in East London. They roast their coffee in Walthamstow, and their HQ is just the other side of London Fields from Broadway Market.

They were doing a brisk trade as I sketched, and people drank their coffees on the benches outside.

I did most of the sketch on location and finished it at my desk.

Sketchbook 15

Vauxhall Tea House Theatre, SE11

The Vauxhall Tea House Theatre is one on my favourite places. It is a “tea house by day, theatre by night”. Here is a sketch of the outside:

Vauxhall Tea House Theatre, 12″ x 9″ pen and wash original. [sold]

Here is a sketch of the interior by day:

Vauxhall Tea House Theatre, interior with cat. 12″ x 9″ pen and wash original. [Sold]

There are winged chairs you can sink into, wooden tables you can work at, magazines and newspapers you can read. There is tea. There is cake. There is at least one cat.

It’s a short walk from Vauxhall station. Definitely worth a visit.

Above is from their Summer 2024 programme.

From the Tea House Theatre website:

“We are trying to be different. We will not hurry you. If you visit us on your lunch break, then have one, you will be more productive in the afternoon. If you want to have a meeting, we will not disturb you. If you are ‘working from home’, we have wifi. If you have children, we have highchairs, a chest of toys, and milkshakes. We always have the daily papers, so please, relax, and share in what we are trying to create, take a load off, and have a cuppa.”

Magnificent!

E5 Bakehouse, London E8

Sometimes I go out and find a view for my sketch. Sometimes the view is determined simply by where I find myself. Here is one of those occasions.

I had breakfast in the seating area at the back of E5 Bakehouse. At 09:15 I was the only person out there. I looked at the view. The various roofs made interesting angles. The cyclist who delivers their bread arrived and loaded up his formidable cargo bike. Customers arrived, and came outdoors. The tables filled up, each new arrival nodding a greeting to those of us already there. People made room for each other. It was quiet, no background music, perfect. I went back to the counter and bought another Gilchester bun. Time to do a sketch.

Sketching at E5 Bakehouse
The view from my table

E5 Bakehouse is not in E5 but in E8, right next to London Fields Overground Station, on the line out of Liverpool Street. Their website says

“The name E5 is a nod to our former local postcode and our intention to remain rooted in our community.”

They produce wonderful bread and pastries. My fellow customers were enjoying substantial breakfasts of eggs and all sorts of greens, or a kind of piled up yogurt and fruit dish. My favourite is the Gilchester bun: the archetypal currant bun – “Made using Gilchester’s organic flour , these are so simple and so tasty you can eat them on their own, or toasted even just with butter is all you need!”

A colleague of mine once told me that the way he judged a hotel was to ask for a glass of orange juice. The orange juice told him all he needed to know, he asserted. Was it fresh pressed, or out of a bottle? Was it served in a glass or a paper cup? Did they provide a spoon to stir up the bits?

For me, a currant bun is the test of a bakery. Those at E5 set the standard for currant buns the world over. The currants are numerous, the bread is soft and all the sweetness is from the currants. They are just superb. So that’s why I needed another one.

Here’s the finished picture. I added the collage at my desk at home.

Breakfast at E5 Bakehouse, watercolour and collage, 10″ x 7″ in sketchbook 14.
Page spread: sketchbook 14