While her friends were all getting proper jobs, Emma was travelling the world and writing about her three true loves: travel, culture and food. After trying west, north and east London she finally settled in Clapham and started blogging for The Edible Woman. Her work has been featured on Stylist.co.uk and AOL and MSN Travel.
I used to think Chelsea was just for footballers, trust fund teenagers and the cast of reality TV programme Made in Chelsea, which follows the tempestuous lives of some twenty-something Chelsea-ites. And it is, but there’s also much more heart and soul to this gleaming borough than designer shops, posh restaurants and fashionable Sloaney Ponies.
Novelist George Eliot, who lived on Cheyne Walk, admired the river views here and, like she was, it’s easy to be seduced by this well-kept borough’s gated squares, waterside walkways and smattering of museums and galleries.
One of my favourite places to visit is a stone’s throw from the red and white striped Chelsea Bridge. The beautiful, Sir Christopher Wren-designed Royal Hospital Chelsea was founded by King George II for old soldiers unfit for service and it’s where you can meet The Chelsea Pensioners. You’ll recognise them immediately in their poppy-red jackets and can join them on a guided tour for a small fee, or just drop in by yourself and wander around the grounds.
The last time I was there I was shown the World War II bomb-damaged walls by a veteran called Ken. The veterans are genuinely delighted to share their stories and really bring the history and tragedy of warfare alive for old and young visitors alike. I’ve never been wished good morning so many times before as I was here and it’s impossible to leave without an insanely huge smile on your face. The National Army Museum (which is more interesting than it sounds) is just down the road from here. I always struggle not to start bawling like a loon at the POW photographs in the permanent World Wars exhibition.
Walk up Chelsea Bridge Road towards Sloane Square and you’ll encounter the most ridiculously beautiful houses in the borough. I like to pretend I live in the townhouses along Sloane Gardens and not in my actual flat, which hasn’t had a facelift since the 80s – although this fantasy only lasts as long as it takes the real owner to notice I’m getting a bit close to their front door and start eyeing me suspiciously.
Sloane Square - where even the bollards bear the swirling crest of the Royal Borough – isn’t as pretentious as you’d first think and business men mix with builders by the fountain here on their lunch breaks. The Square marks the start of The King’s Road - one of the main arteries of the borough, which supplies Chelsea’s inhabitants with their lifeblood of boutiques, delis and restaurants
Despite their eye-watering price tags, there are a few shops I can never resist. The Shop at Bluebird, attached to the Bluebird restaurant, is a Chelsea institution set in a cavernous former garage - although you’re more likely to see people in fur wraps and stilettoes than overalls and grease stains nowadays. They sell pretty (and achingly expensive) clothes and knick-knacks. Vivienne Westwood’s Worlds End might be a toned-down version of the punky purveyor of “rubberwear for the office” that it was in the 70s, but it’s still fun to sift through the chunky-soled shoes and printed jackets inside.
When it comes to eating, all the cool kids head to Tom’s Kitchen for its cracking lunch menu and relaxed atmosphere, but I prefer the family-friendly, sweet and savoury pancake selection at My Old Dutch. If the weather is nice, I’ll grab a Mediterranean salad or a wedge of carrot cake from L’Eto and head to Dovehouse Green - one of the few green spaces that isn’t fenced off exclusively for Chelsea residents.
Nothing clears my head after battling through the red trouser- wearing clans of The King’s Road like a walk along the Chelsea Embankment. After taking in the sweeping views down the river of gilded Battersea Bridge or the spindly Albert Bridge from one of the benches, I’d visit The Chelsea Physic Garden - a splodge of green that’s the perfect antidote for a busy day in the borough. This walled garden is bursting with medicinal plants and pulsates with heady smells in the summer. Although, I can never seem to leave Chelsea without re-joining the crowds again for a sneaky gin and tonic in the book-lined snug at The Henry Root off Fulham Road.
Nothing beats a rummage through the food stalls in the Saturday Duke’s of York Square farmers market. I’ll usually buy some foodie goodies and devour them by the fountain outside The Saatchi Gallery, before popping inside to check out the modern art exhibitions.
If I’m not in the mood to work out what the giant ant or abstract graffiti I’m staring at really means, I’ll hunt for gems in the nearby Zara. It might seem odd to recommend a chain shop, but this branch looks like a designer boutique and stocks clothes that you won’t find in any of the other London branches.
