Posts Tagged ‘London’

Northstar Summer Party 2011

Published on Oct 4th, 2011 by James

Whilst this year’s summer party followed the normal pattern of activity, dinner and celebration – “normal” and “pattern” don’t quite do it justice.
The activity presented a far from mundane experience and following the tradition of previous Northstar parties, the afters can best be described as a mixture of the usual and the unusual.

Leaving work at 1.00pm we gathered outside our famous building and headed to the “soon to be more famous than it currently is” Bromley by Bow station. Situated, as far East as I’ve ever been, this would be the start of our tour of the Olympic “Zone” as I like to call it.

The rationale was we had embarked on an all encompassing tour of the local area, regenerated and otherwise, visiting the mills, studios etc before seeing the sights we had REALLY come to see.

After losing a colleague on the train (don’t ask!) and finding them again, we wandered around for about an hour and a half, in surprisingly humid conditions, and saw it all. The Olympic stadium is, for want of a better word, epic. 80,000 black and white seats, intended to create “a wave of energy”. Being a still strictly hard hat area, we couldn’t get too close, but from our vantage point the views were spectacular.

After the guide pointed out the basketball and handball areas, the amazing velodrome and the ingenious “winged” Olympic pool, the question on everyone’s lips was “what’s that”? The “that” in question was in front of us – the gigantic, red, twisting, virtually snarling; Archelor Mittal Orbit – a gob smacking sight, even in part-construction. Funded by the world’s largest steel producer, it creates a stunning visual focal point – something architects and general public alike will marvel over I’m sure for quite some time.

Returning to Bromley by Bow, Brick Lane seemed the obvious place to move on to and let off some steam. Watching all those sporting venues had created a considerable appetite, so it was a sprint to the curry house. A fantastic meal at Preem and Prithi and a pot of Phall sauce later – yes it was quite hot – we decided to wash it down at 93 Feet East’s “Nintendisco” . That proved to be an experience in itself.

The evening took an interesting turn when we discover that the reason for the venue’s moniker was that was a fully fledged Mario Kart championship happening on the dance floor with a projector! I promise it’s true, I can recall it in detail – despite being reasonably well “refreshed”. Yes, the music was good but nothing like the game, a pretty tense affair, taking place on the other side of the room. Interesting is an understatement. In fact so much so that being a slight fan, I decided to approach the champion and ask for some hints on cornering techniques – as you do. Half an hour later, I almost understood the calculations, betting odds and in-depth programming of a game from 1992!

Brilliant fun, a fantastic time was had by all and a positive end to the British Summer. Christmas here we come!

Chris Runs the London Marathon

Published on May 13th, 2010 by Chris

Chris recently became the third member of Northstar staff to complete a marathon (after Matthew and Jack), running the London Marathon on April 25th this year.

The predicated 20 degree weather failed to materialise (thankfully!) though it was still one of the hotter races in the London Marathon’s 30 year history.

The crowd were amazing, with half a million spectator’s lining the course doling out plenty of support, sweets and oranges.

Chris finished in 4 hours 29 minutes and raised over £1,250 for The 999 Club, a homeless charity based in Deptford, less than a mile from the start of the race.