Around London – Happy St Patrick’s Day; 18th century workhouse saved; David Gestetner honored; and, Watteau’s drawings…

• First-up, we’d like to wish you all a happy St Patrick’s Day! And if you missed the St Patrick’s Day Parade and free festival in London last Sunday, don’t worry, there’s still plenty of Irish cheer on the city streets with the London Eye and Battersea Power Station both turning green to mark the occasion while the green beer is flowing at the city’s many Irish pubs.

• The building some believe served as a model for the workhouse in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist has been saved from demolition with a Grade II listing. Completed in 1778, the Covent Garden Workhouse in Cleveland Street became the workhouse of The Strand Poor Law Union in 1836 and was later used as an infirmary before more recently serving as the outpatients department of the Middlesex Hospital. The workhouse is believed to the most well preserved of the three surviving 18th century workhouses in London. Announcing the listing this week, John Penrose, Minister for Heritage and Tourism, said that while it is unknown whether or not the building was the inspiration for the workhouse featured in Oliver Twist, “we know that it is the sole survivor of the workhouses  that were operating in the capital when Dickens wrote his famous novel and that as a young man he lived just nine doors along from it”. Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, said the listing also recognised the association between the workhouse and Dr Joseph Rogers, whose direct experience of the workhouse when working as Chief Medical Officer led him to launch important reforms of the system of healthcare provision for the poor.

• David Gestetner, a key player in the development of office copying technology, has been commemorated with a blue plaque outside his former residence at 124 Highbury New Park in Islington. The Hungarian-born Gestetner lived at the property for 41 years until his death in 1939. The plaque was unveiled on Tuesday by two of his great grand-children.

• On Now: Watteau: The Drawings. The first retrospective exhibition of the drawings of French artist Jean-Antoine Watteau opened last Saturday at the Royal Academy of Arts. Watteau is known for inventing the genre of fetes galantes (small pictures of social gatherings of elegant people in parkland settings) and for his mastery of the ‘three chalks’ or trois crayons technique using red, black and white. The exhibition features more than 80 works on paper. There is an admission charge. Runs until 5th June. See www.royalacademy.org.uk for more information.

Around London – A clowning Sunday, and Sir William Ramsay honored…

• Clowns turned out en masse for the annual clown service held in honour of the ‘father of modern clowning’, Joseph Grimaldi, at Holy Trinity Church in Dalston last weekend. The London-born clown, who lived from 1778 to 1837, is became widely known for his pantomine performances and is believed to have been the first ‘white face’ clown. He has been honored at a “clown service”, held on the first Sunday in February, since the mid-1940s. It was originally held at St James’ Church, Islington – where Grimaldi was buried – but was moved after the church was demolished. His grave is preserved in a memorial garden on the site.

• Sir William Ramsay, the Nobel Prize-winning chemist credited with discovering the noble gases, has been commemorated with a blue plaque at his former home in Notting Hill. The Glasgow-born Ramsay moved to London in 1887 when appointed chair of chemistry at University College London and it was while living at 12 Arundel Gardens, Notting Hill, that he discovered the five noble gases. Ramsay lived at the property until 1902. He died in 1916. English Heritage unveiled  the plaque on Wednesday.

Around London – Skating at a palace or a tower?; British Military Tournament; and, new blue plaques

• Christmas is looming and snow and ice have been besieging London. But there’s plenty you can do to keep warm, including visiting one of the many ice skating venues about the city. Among those with a particularly historic location are rinks at Hampton Court (located against the backdrop of the palace’s west front, it’s open until 9th January – see website for ticket prices and times), in the moat of the Tower of London (also open until 9th January, see website for ticket prices and times), and at Somerset House (open until 23rd January, see website for ticket prices and times).

• The British Military Tournament 2010 will be held at Earl’s Court this weekend. The programme features 500 troops, 145 horses, military bands, the field gun run and will include a re-enactment of a combat incident in Afghanistan involving recently returned troops. Presented by ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, with performances on both Saturday and Sunday. For more information – including booking information, see www.britishmilitarytournament.com.

• New blue plaques have been unveiled in London marking the former homes of speed daredevils Sir Malcolm Campbell and his son Donald, and ground-breaking photographer Bill Brandt. The plaque for the Campbells, who between them set 10 land speed records and 11 water speed records, is located at Canbury School in Kingston-upon-Thames – Sir Malcolm moved here in 1919, married to Dorothy Whittall the following year, and, Donald was born here in 1921. The family moved in 1922 to Surrey. The plaque for German-born Brandt, meanwhile, was unveiled at 4 Airlie Gardens in Campden Hill. He lived here with his second wife Marjorie Beckett from 1958 and family members still live in the home. Some of his nudes were taken inside. For more information, visit www.english-heritage.org.uk.

The Weekly Roundup

Each week, we’ll be bringing you a round-up of some of the news affecting historic and interesting places in London. So, to kick it off…

• The gardens surrounding the neo-Palladian masterpiece Chiswick House have been reopened following a £12 million restoration. The 65 acres of gardens, known as the birthplace of the English Landscape Movement, were designed by Lord Burlington and William Kent in the 1720s and 1730s. They were created as a backdrop for the magnificent house Lord Burlington designed and had built on the west London property following a grand tour of Italy. The garden’s original vistas have been restored and statutory and garden buildings repaired – including a 19th century conservatory housing rare camellias. More than 1,600 trees have been planted – some of which were propagated from the original 18th century Lebanon cedars planted in the garden – and the Walled Gardens have also been restored (these will only be open to the public on special occasions). There’s also a new cafe designed by award-winning architects Caruso St John. ~ www.english-heritage.org.uk/chiswickhouse

• Four new Blue Plaques have been unveiled in London. They include one for Sir William Nicholson (1872-1949), painter and printmaker (1 Pilgrim’s Lane, Hampstead); another for Charles Rolls (1877-1910), motoring and aviation pioneer (14/15 Conduit Street, Mayfair); Baron Carlo Marochetti (1805-1867), sculptor (34 Onslow Square, South Kensington); and, Wing Commander FFE Yeo-Thomas GC (1902-1964), secret agent (24-28 Queen Square, Holborn). ~ www.english-heritage.org.uk/blueplaques

• On Now – Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art. At the British Library (open daily, admission free, www.bl.uk/magnificentmaps/). The exhibition contains some 80 spectacular, mainly European, maps, dating from as far back as the Roman era, and explores how they have been employed for various purposes – as propaganda, works of art, teaching aids and indoctrination. Included in the exhibition are the world’s biggest and smallest atlases – the latter created for a doll’s house. Exhibition closes 19th September.