Open House again today. Ken's Events and its spin-off, London Arts, Comedy & Culture Lovers, were doing their thing in town, charging £3 to view the buildings that are not normally open to the public, but open their doors for free on this September weekend. So I did my thing, stayed local, and strolled up the road to St. Mary's Battersea. Completely for free.
They weren't even open till 1, which meant a relaxed start. Straight up Falcon Road, then Battersea High Street, eventually turning onto Battersea Church Road. Can't miss it. 20 mins in total from my house, walking slowly. I'd never been to Battersea High Street before, which I notice has quite a few eateries, were I so inclined. And a very old school:
It's great to have an excuse to explore your own area, which I don't tend to do. I duly came upon the church, with a cheery "welcome" banner across the gate. More photos here, in the same folder that has yesterday's photos.
It's a very pleasant, Georgian building, with a very pleasant riverside setting, and some lovely staff - or volunteers, I don't know - who were only delighted to welcome all comers, and give us information leaflets. Honestly, I hadn't been expecting much from this visit to a local church, but would you believe, the place was full of surprises!
For a start, although this building dates from the early 1700s, there's probably been a church on the spot from Saxon times. There's an accompanying manor house, long owned by the Spencers. Turner used to sit in the vestry window and paint river views, and William Blake was married here. (There are stained glass windows dedicated to both.)
They have some gorgeous, embroidered kneelers:
And a rather unusual, large stained glass window over the altar depicts, not saints, but Henry VII, his mother, Margaret Beaufort, and his granddaughter, Elizabeth I. Another fascinating snippet from the information sheet described how the dove window to the right was destroyed by a bomb in 1941, but devotedly restored from the fragments in 1946:
Truly, this was a fascinating trip, and more than enough for the day. I love that about Open House - they get you not only to explore new buildings, but also new parts of town - even those just up the road, that you've never before gotten around to.
Handily, Tesco was on my way back, so I bought dinner, and am having a wonderfully quiet evening in. This week is pretty busy - tomorrow, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts, for Father Comes Home from the Wars. A trio of short plays about a black man fighting for the Confederates in the American Civil War, it's a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and showing downstairs at the Royal Court - the very first venue I ever went to with them, as it happens.
On Tuesday, the Man with the Hat is taking Let's Do London - for Less! to Southwark Playhouse for another wartime drama. This one is The Greater Game, based on the true story of a football team, all of whom signed up to fight in the First World War.
Wednesday is Helen's birthday, I've taken the day off, and a few of us are headed for a full day of merriment. The plan as it stands is to start with the Clangers, Bagpuss & Co. Exhibition at the V&A Museum of Childhood, then we've booked a chocolate afternoon tea at Rabot 1745, followed by an evening of Colouring with Cats at Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium.
Thursday is a leaving do at work - taking place at The White House, in Guildford. So I'll take the train to work that day, for once.
Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend, and a well-deserved rest..
Before the following week! Monday sees the long-awaited return of the Crick Crack Storytelling Club, who are at Soho Theatre with The Girl who Married a Dog. Back at last..
Tuesday, I'm back with Kensington Classical Music, for a concert at Asia House - part of the Talent Unlimited Music Futures Festival, for young performers, which runs all week.
Wednesday, the Man with the Hat is taking London for Less Than a Tenner to the Top Secret Comedy Club.
And Thursday sees my second outing of the week, with Kensington Classical Music, to Asia House, for that Talent Unlimited Festival.
For today, Meetup's most interesting suggestion was from Ken's Events (and its spin-off, London Art, Comedy and Culture Lovers), who were doing Open House. This is where buildings not typically open to the public are open to the public for one weekend of the year, for free. So naturally, the above groups charge £3. So I decided to do it on my own. And then Helen got in touch to ask whether I'd be interested - so that was handy!
Well, she sent me a shortlist of buildings, and boy was I glad I didn't go out last night, and had time - among other things - to work out the transport connections between them (handily, as it turned out, because she - and her husband, who came too - hadn't had time to do so). The most interesting to me was the Custom House, firstly because it's in the oldest part of town, and more importantly for the detector dog displays. :-) So we decided to meet in time to make the 1:30 display.
I fully meant to take the bus to Waterloo, and as usual, approached the stop just in time to see the one leave that I should've taken. Now, bus does take longer than train - and although I was too early to take the train, I was now too late to take the bus, and doing anything else while I was waiting would've made me late, overall. I took the train, occupying myself at Waterloo by buying a drink - from the kiosk, rather than the shops - and finding a seat.
Yes, I was in plenty of time, and when they arrived, we confirmed that yes, we were off to the Custom House, and yes, by bus (I'd also prepared the Tube option). Off, then, down the steps to Stop W, and one came nice and early, leading us on an interesting route through the backstreets south of the river (bit bumpy, too). Helen remarked that it was nice, travelling by bus and getting to see something of the city above ground - and we agreed that the display that tells you what stop is coming up just makes the whole thing very easy. I couldn't agree more - I love it. Across London Bridge, past the Monument, and traffic was so terrible on Great Tower Street that the driver let us off where we were - I do believe we'd have been late, otherwise.
Ahead, around the corner, and cross the road - you couldn't miss it. We weren't sure where to go in, until we saw the crowd.. beckoned in by a lady with an excitable dog. Yes, this was the place, and we were advised to go straight down and nab a good spot to see the display, which would be starting shortly. So we zipped through the old corridors of the building, passing several enthusiastic volunteers, some of whom were slightly dismayed that we were passing them by. We promised them we'd be back.
And so out to the car park, where we got a good vantage point overlooking the arrangement of luggage laid out in a large ring. We had one of the senior handlers explain to us how the star of the show - Teddy:
.. (the enthusiastic dog at the gate) would demonstrate how he could detect drug traces in one of these suitcases. (More photos here.) Or hopefully he would, since he'd only been in training for a week! Naturally, he played a blinder:
It was also interesting to hear how the dogs could be used to sniff out animal products, or even money. And the meet n greet with the dogs afterwards was very popular!
Several more interesting displays awaited us - a display on diesel smuggling, a table with examples of bomb components, a demo of how to disarm someone, a room full of examples of illegal animal products from endangered species. In one room, a hugely enthusiastic presenter made the talk about money laundering that much more interesting. I have to say, the friendly and welcoming atmosphere here made it a must-see destination for Open House, and there has to be something for everyone. Highly recommended.
Next on the list was the Senate House, so back to Great Tower Street, and a two-bus combination to Tottenham Court Road - the 15 and the 25. (It wasn't going to take much longer than the Tube.) Actually, I'd forgotten that the 15 is one of the great regular bus routes for sightseeing, and we got some great views of St. Paul's as we passed right by - I've been here a lot this week!
Now, I can't seem to reproduce the directions that Google Maps gave me yesterday, but I swear it said to change at Fetter Lane, direct from one bus to the other. The first piece of fun was when our driver passed that stop entirely, and we had to walk back. The second was when the 25 turned out not to stop there at all - we walked up Fetter Lane, turning onto High Holborn, and found a stop there to catch the 25, which, handily enough, was just coming.
All's well that ends well, and we made it to the Senate House soon after. I did remark on the difference between the neighbourhood we'd left and where we now were - so much more genteel. Anyway, the Senate House is the administrative building for the University of London, and an imposing, art deco building, apparently used as the backdrop for sundry films:
We didn't see much by way of definite guidance in there, although the advertising for the Shakespeare exhibition is prominent:
We did find a film, showing on a loop, made of archive footage of the laying of the foundations of the Senate House - which was interesting, and the architecture is gorgeous, the rooms stately, with more upstairs. As we felt we'd seen enough, and were making for the exit, someone working there advised us to go up to the exhibition - we took the lift up, only to be greeted immediately with the announcement that "Open House is closed - you can't go into the exhibition, and they shouldn't have told you that". Ah well.
The other locations were within walking distance, but it was getting to closing time by now, and we didn't feel like the walk, and were hungry. Helen, who used to work nearby, remembered a good Italian - and so we came to Olivelli's, a short walk down Store Street. Apparently run for a long time now by a Sicilian family, service is friendly, and the food is somewhat spectacular. For my part, excellent garlic bread - and a generous portion of it - was followed by a great saltimbocca, but the absolute highlight for me was the "torta paradiso", a house specialty, including a layer of hazelnut praline that I just couldn't resist. Not cheap, but this was the best meal I've had in an age. Memorable, and recommended. And the snipe of limoncello offered at the end was much appreciated!
I'd been too tired to research the bus route back from here to Waterloo, so we just took the Tube, Helen remarking that she was glad we hadn't been doing that all day, it was so hot underground! It was a good day though, good to catch up, and good to see these new places. And I now know of another excellent restaurant - for special occasions.
Tomorrow, those Meetup groups (and some others) are doing Open House again, and I'm going local with it - keeping it nice and simple. Locally, only one location is open tomorrow - St. Mary's Church, Battersea - so that's where I'm going. And it's close enough to walk. Could do with simplifying my life.
Next week is pretty busy - Monday, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts, for Father Comes Home from the Wars. A trio of short plays about a black man fighting for the Confederates in the American Civil War, it's a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and showing downstairs at the Royal Court - the very first venue I ever went to with them, as it happens.
On Tuesday, the Man with the Hat is taking Let's Do London - for Less! to Southwark Playhouse for another wartime drama. This one is The Greater Game, based on the true story of a football team, all of whom signed up to fight in the First World War.
Wednesday is actually Helen's birthday, I've taken the day off, and a few of us are headed for a full day of merriment. The plan as it stands is to start with the Clangers, Bagpuss & Co. Exhibition at the V&A Museum of Childhood, then we've booked a chocolate afternoon tea at Rabot 1745, followed by an evening of Colouring with Cats at Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium.
Thursday is a leaving do at work - taking place at The White House, in Guildford. So I'll take the train to work that day, for once.
Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend, and a well-deserved rest..
Before the following week! Monday sees the long-awaited return of the Crick Crack Storytelling Club, who are at Soho Theatre with The Girl who Married a Dog.
Tuesday, I'm back with Kensington Classical Music, for a concert at Asia House - part of the Talent Unlimited Music Futures Festival, for young performers, which runs all week.
Wednesday, the Man with the Hat is taking London for Less Than a Tenner to the Top Secret Comedy Club.
And Thursday sees my second outing of the week, with Kensington Classical Music, to Asia House, for that Talent Unlimited Festival.
Yes, I did get to Open House London yesterday! Oh, I was so diligent. I spent so long researching the hundreds of properties available to view. I narrowed it down by area, figuring I'd start with those in walking distance and move into town. It took ages.
:-)
How many did I get to see? One. Brompton Cemetery, five minutes walk from home.
Well, y'see, there was a guided tour at 2 - which I was keen to go on. I knew there were stories associated with this graveyard, and really needed a guide to tell me them. The tour started outside the chapel - which was interesting in itself, I've never been in there before. As I waited in the chapel, and checked my emails, they were handing out questionnaires about a new development they're planning in the cemetery. A cafe, children's play area and the like.
A Royal Parks representative actually accompanied us on the walk, arms full of questionnaires and information leaflets. The tour guide, however - an official London guide - was a little late. He announced himself, then took off at a gallop down a side path.
When we caught up with him, he explained that, if we were to cover everything, we'd need to move fast - there are 40 acres. What followed was the most fascinating and engaging tour I've ever been on, led by the most enthusiastic guide. With an obvious love, and encyclopaedic knowledge, of his subject, he regaled us with facts, figures, and anecdotes. We learned how the cemetery contains 35,000 monuments, how 215,000 people are buried there, how it's still a working cemetery, wih an average of one burial per week. This compares with the average in Victorian times of 17 per day - on one fateful day, there were 32! We also learned how the number of listed monuments in the cemetery has recently increased from 1 to 28. They keep pushing for more to be included.. (Listing means that English Heritage has to cover the cost of repairs to damage incurred after the listing. Not that they're quick to get around to it..)
We duly tore around to various parts of the cemetery, stopping at various monuments that the guide had stories about. Not only was he a treasure trove of information, but he was egged on by enthusiastic tour participants, who kept asking interesting questions and probing into areas that, as he said, he could go into, but we'd be there all night.. We stopped at the graves of people with interesting stories, we stopped at graves that were architecturally interesting. We went down overgrown side paths, and down the main avenue. Interesting sights there included the family walking their cocker spaniel. We had to make room for them to pass on the main avenue. Next time we saaw them, we were on a side path - and the little girl had climbed onto her skateboard, and was being towed by the cocker spaniel. At speed. Five minutes later, they passed in the other direction, the dog still towing. At speed. A 1-dog-power skateboard..
We climbed onto the terrace - specifically for dog walkers, it offers an elevated view of the cemetery. There, the guide kicked at some undergrowth to show us the edge of a grave that belonged to the founder of the Victoria and Albert museum - the most unassuming grave in the whole place - completely overgrown and invisible! Some more tales attached to photos, posted here.
At 10 past 4, he asked us how we were doing. Some people dropped away, but most were still going strong, so he said he's keep going for another hour (the Open House ended at the cemetery at 5). When he asked for the time again (he doesn't wear a watch), it was 5.15! He peered up the avenue towards the chapel - the doors were locked. Oh dear, he'd left his coat in there. He checked his pocket - no, he had his keys, that was all right then. He could keep going. And so he did!
Most people had fallen away at this point - including the Royal Parks representative. He didn't mind, he was having a ball! So were we, although it was exhausting. When he finally finished, at 6.30, we'd been going for 4.5 hours. And were shattered. I checked my list - yep, everything else was closed by then that I might have gone to. Hey-ho.. that's the second year in a row I haven't got to St. Cuthbert's! And it within walking distance, tsk. Well, one of these years..!
Tonight, I might have gone to a play called My Night with Reg, but it was completely sold out. So a film it is - after eliminating a football documentary, I'm left with Dark Will Fall - a film of documentary footage, shot by war correspondants, of concentration camps liberated at the end of the Second World War. Among those who worked on it was Alfred Hitchcock. Thought too controversial for release at the time, it was shelved and rediscovered in the 90s. Restored by the BFI, the closest to me (and earliest) showing is at the Vue Piccadilly.
Tomorrow, I am off to a play - a different one though, called Chicken Shop. Showing at the Park Theatre (oh Lord, up there again!), best price is available on the venue website - code CHICKEN gets you a discount on full price tickets (found this code on a website I haven't heard of before - A Younger Theatre).
