loquat1; yes, there was something wrong with the post indeed (some lines overlapping), however it was written in English. Unless you consider my English to be too 'Czech' (unfortunately this is my best English, sorry about that...).
New Eltham is a bit too far away for me, but thank you for your willingness to share the cuttings anyway. Maybe if I go to London next year I will have some of my varieties (LSU Gold, Komen, HC, Campaniere, Bourraou, local varieties, etc.) propagated and then we may exchange some if you would be interested (I would PM you prior to the trip). This time however I am really short on my free time here..

Luke: Thank you for your post. It gives me some hope that the cuttings will eventually bear some nice figs in couple of years:)

There's nothing wrong with your English. It was a joke, & I hope you took it as such. If only my Czech was as good as your English.

Shame you're short of time. Yes, we can wait till your next visit. Give me a couple months' notice, and I'll have some small air-layers ready for you to take back. At least they're already rooted & guaranteed - more or less.

Petrpan,there are fig crazy people in the countries around you and in your country too im sure,also as we are also in the EU,fortunately,for now,you can always trade by post with the UK

Heheh, I was kind of hoping it would be a joke:) Ok, thanks a lot for the offer. I will keep it in mind. But I don't want the figs just like that, so I hope we can then agree on some exchange or I will at least bring some nice Czech beer for you or something. I think I should stop spamming Chelsea fig thread now:)
And once again, if someone can report on the Chelsea fig during the summer I will be very grateful!

I echo what Luke has said,white and common fig is what I have heard,but that's from the nurseries that sell it so who knows.

Petrpan,I have taken cuttings from actively growing wood many times (I have learnt that when you find a fig tree, take cuttings before someone's prunes it) with good results so I'm sure you will be fine.

As I said above, I plan a mid-August trip to both trees to see what the ripe fruit is like, & whether it's worth taking cuttings, etc.

I'll reconsider an exchange if you insist. I'll look up your varieties before I make my choice.

I also have an unknown that I nicknamed TbF (Tasty but Fussy - you can do a search for the thread, or I can post it later) that you might like. It has been provisionally ID'd as a Lampeira Preta, San Pedro cultivar, which I believe is one of Portugal's better exports.

Its flavour is superior to the Italian Purple, but both are excellent figs.

Here's that thread for TbF/Lampeira Preta:

https://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/id-please-tasty-but-fussy-has-arrived-with-a-bang-6498380?pid=1279524359

And here's a search return that shows a very close resemblance to my TbF:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lampeira+preta+san+pedro+cultivar&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGy8vFxc_TAhXkKMAKHSGtDcEQsAQIKA&biw=1491&bih=678#imgrc=KsMkJRaFY1F6MM:

Hey guys, just wanted to give you a nudge :) 
loquat1 are you still planning to visit the Chelsea fig tree? 3 or 4 cutting of this tree have rooted successfully for me and are doing great, so I'm really curious whether the they will ever bear edible figs. Thanks a lot in advance for any information.

Hello again petrpan. Yes, was planning a visit on fri this week, or maybe mon. next week latest. My own trees are now entering 'glut mode', so probably a good time to make that visit to see what's cooking on those trees.

That's right - trees. There is also another tree that I need to visit at the same time & report back to Luke. I will hafta do as much prep. as I can beforehand to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

I'll report back when I'm done, & hopefully it will be good news.

Thanks a lot loquat1. I really appreciate this.

Watch this space mate. And you're welcome.

Judging from Luke's OP, looks like the fruit is heavily predated by the locals, both human and non-human varieties, so I might be hard pushed to find ripe samples. I'll soon find out. Planning a reccy tomorrow.

This is the other tree that Luke asked me to check out:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/sep/21/alys-fowler-fig-trees 

and as far as I'm concerned actually looks the more interesting of the two. Unlike Mr Chelsea, it has a ripening colour at least. Either way, it's also on my itinerary for a visit/reccy today (at last), and it also begs the question: what variety is it?

Any ideas anyone?

OK guys, reccy completed, but only partially successful. Full report with pics to follow later. Today I'll be giving priority to potting around 12-15 cuttings from Euston Church fig tree. It's mainly green shoots, of course, so not ideal rooting material.

If it doesn't take, I'll arrange a further visit to both in the winter, and in any case another visit to Chelsea Fig is planned this year to get some winter cuttings regardless of how Euston Fig performs.

@ Luke: Well, I'm sure glad I did a comparative taste test of Euston Fig before I wasted a load of time & resources on those cuttings. I, the missus, and some friends down the road shared the ripest sample I found (pics to follow later) - so we each had a qtr Euston Fig, which was more than enough to judge it reliably. I pitched it in a 'blind test' (ie only I knew the ID of the figs) against 2 of my best - Zailata (Gk Yellow) and TbF (prov. ID'd as a Lampeira Preta, San Pedro Cultivar).

[My Vasiliko Mavro has put all its energy into throwing sky high shoots, so only small green fruit so far. It will need some drastic pruning this winter to bring it back into line, and hopefully yield some ripe fruit within the next 2 seasons. But I digress, as usual]

Back to topic. We marked each fig out of 10. Except for minor differences in the scoring (as you might expect), we all agreed, so more or less unanimous. Both of my figs showed Euston Fig a clean pair of heels, coming out well ahead on the score board, with the Zailata slightly ahead of the Lampeira. Even my Italian Purple is streets ahead, and that's not even my best fig. I guess the moral of the story is: never judge a fig by its skin. Taste is king, and while Chelsea Fig may look more boring, it may well turn out to be the better of the two. 

I sure hope so, coz if Euston Fig is typical of public fayre, I'm not sure I can cope with another disappointment on that scale. EF was just plain bland, nondescript, and severely lacking in any discernible levels of sweetness. One of our friends even wondered if it was a fully ripe sample, and as soon as the missus tasted it, she couldn't help letting slip some audible contempt for what she had just put in her mouth - it was that bad. All of which is quite surprising considering the glowing description in the link you originally sent me.

So no, I won't be wasting any time or space on this one. Sorry it wasn't better news mate. Maybe Chelsea Fig will restore the honour of ficus publicus.

 

EUSTON FIG - Pics as promised

Aspect in context:

   

Slightly closer in:

 

Street view:

 

Son of Euston Fig:

 

Close ups of a couple of leaves:

     

And finally, the fruit:

   

 

   

If I can gain access to the grounds by arrangement with the vicar, I'll arrange a further visit (maybe next year) to give it a second chance, but I'm not overly optimistic that my opinion will change by much. The fruit I picked was slightly split, very soft, and came off very easily, so I have to assume it was a fully ripe sample. A nearby drinks vendor who frequently helps himself to figs from the tree confirmed to me that its appearance was an exact match for samples that he picks and eats. He was very enthusiastic about their taste, but again, I have to assume that he's easily impressed.

If I visit again, I'll take a couple of my best for him to try on the off-chance that he'll still be there. I'll then invite him to compare my figs with those he regularly picks from the tree, just to make sure that our assessment was based on a typical sample.

Hi,
I put my 500 bucks on BT. You should recognize a BT.
The fruit you pictured may have ripened inside the tree in a shady spot.
It should be more brownish on the outside.
BT can range from a vinegar / bad vine taste to caramel depending on the weather.
I gave a BT to someone in Zone6 , I believe, and he and family are really happy with the fruits.
I'm currently eating the breba-crop and they are really good this year ( more heat, and dry conditions) .
If you give better conditions to the tree, the fruit will taste better especially if the weather cooperates. Rainy weather as with any fig is bad for the taste of the fruit.

@ Luke, petrpan, et al.

So, we come to Chelsea Fig at last, and here I must prepare you all for a slight disappointment. I realize this may come as a bit of shock to you all, but I'm no longer as young, fit, and agile as I once was. On arrival at the site, this is the sign that greeted me:

 

Not exactly welcoming or encouraging, is it? And what does that hand graphic mean exactly? That alone would not have stopped my progress, but that wall and spiked rail were just a tad intimidating:

 

.....and just a bit too high for me to scale without putting the crown jewels at risk. How on earth did you manage it p/pan? Are you an Olympic pole vaulter or something?

But even that would not necessarily have stopped me in my tracks, but for one final blow - the apparent lack of any visible fruit, as illustrated by these details of the tree:

     

Hmm.......what do you make of that then? That was the deal-breaker for me, and made any further effort on my part seem a bit pointless. However, I'm not so easily deterred, so I plan another visit in December (or January) to take some cuttings, and this time I will take 2 portable ladders with me to make light work of that railing. I will also visit next summer for one more attempt at finding ripe fruit. I just hope it's worth the effort.

This is the overall view from the pedestrian walkway on the bridge:

 

And here's one for the 'tourists':

 

So, by way of conclusion petrpan, I cannot yet definitively answer your question about the worthiness of this variety. All I can say, based on its www fans, is that it holds out great promise. This description from one source is both typical and quite interesting:

Hey loquat1,

first off all, thanks for all you inputs here.

Chelsea fig:
I just jumped over the wall next to the rail :)
When I was there at the end of april the tree looked like this:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-SzwN4DimbLQWxRZVlaNkFmYUE
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-SzwN4DimbLRXdoOG5JZEJWUUE ( I suggest to zoom in as much as possible, to see all those figs)
(figs everywhere). It seems I will have to go on another business trip there in early September. If so I will definitely check on the tree again and will report back as well.

Byng church:
I already tasted somewhat sweet fig of this tree in late April. I was surprised that the breba was already edible. It was of course far from great, also somewhat dry, but this could be in the end interesting tree. Unfortunately none of the cuttings I took from this tree rooted for me. I will probably try to propagate it once more next time I'm there.

Hello petrpan,

CHELSEA FIG

Hmm........I saw a lot more foliage than that, & I wonder if all the fruit was hidden behind it then? I was surprised that none was visible, even with all that green growth, but another summer visit with my ladders is now very tempting. My only doubt is that I may have to visit again in dead of winter to get some viable cuttings.

EUSTON FIG

If you tried & failed, I'm now tempted to give mine a try to see if I have any better luck. But being mainly green shoots, I don't hold out too much hope for them. I have some wood lower down near the base of the cutting, so I might try removing the green shoots from a few of them as an experiment, and hope that I'll see new shoots growing from the nodes. Who knows, but since you had better rooting results with Chelsea Fig, it goes to show how fickle rooting can be when you don't have ideal cuttings. 

@ petrpan - Hang on just a minute mate. I think the penny just dropped about the reason for the apparent lack of fruit on Chelsea Fig. You visited in April, right? We had some of the worst late frosts on record in late April/early May after a very warm spell, and several of my friends have since reported losing their entire crop after those frosts. I lost around 75-80% of my own crop this year to those frosts.

Now Chelsea Fig looked quite exposed to me on that river bank, so I'd say there's a good chance that all those figs you saw in April subsequently died and fell off long before my visit. My guess is that if I visit again in the next few days, I will find only small unripe figs. Which might explain why I couldn't see any when I zoomed in.

If you're visiting again in September, I'd be very interested to know if you find any ripe figs. If you find any, I'll revise my plans to include a Sept. visit. Otherwise, it will just be a winter visit for those cuttings, and a late summer visit next year.

@ Luke - If you're still following this thread, were you affected by those late frosts?