• A new exhibition in which visitors can experience life during the Second World War through the eyes of a London family opens today at the Imperial War Museum in London. A Family in Wartime explores the lives of William and Alice Allpress and their 10 children at their South London home during the war as the face events such as the Blitz and the evacuation of the city. The display includes firsthand audio accounts from members of the family, photographs and a detailed model of the family home at 69 Priory Grove. Two of the family’s sons served in the military during the war while three of the daughters joined the Women’s Voluntary Service. Artefacts on display include many everyday household items such as cookery books which gave advice on cooking with limited rations and stirrup pumps which people were encouraged to wear in case of incendiary bombs as well as newspaper clippings, propaganda posters and film footage. There will also be artworks depicting wartime living by artists including Henry Moore, Wilfred Haines and Leila Faithful. Admission is free. For more, see www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-london.
• Hogwarts has come to London’s north with the opening of the new Warner Bros Studio Tour in Leavesden. The tour, which was launched this week, features sets, costumes and pros from the Harry Potter series of films and reveals how special effects and animatronics were used in the movies. Highlights include the chance to visit Hogwarts Great Hall, Dumbledore’s office and Diagon Alley as well as see Harry’s Nimbus 2000, the flying Ford Anglia owned by the Weasleys and Hagrid’s motorcycle. For more information, see www.wbstudiotour.co.uk.
• The Kew Bridge Steam Museum in London’s west has been awarded a £1.84 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant for a restoration project that will see new visitor facilities and more modern displays as well as new outdoor water-based actvities. Project Aquarius will also see outstanding repairs to the Grade I and Grade II listed buildings – described as the most important historic site of the water supply industry in the UK – completed. The museum, which opened 37 years ago, features four giant working Cornish steam pumping engines as part of its displays telling the story of London’s water supply and attracts some 15,000 visitors a year. For more, see www.kbsm.org.
• On Now: British Design 1948-2012: Innovation in the Modern Age. The V&A’s major spring exhibition, this is a showcase of British design from the 1948 ‘Austerity Olympics’ to present day and features more than 300 objects – from the 1959 Morris Mini Minor to a model of the recently completed Zaha Hadid-designed London Aquatics Centre. Highlighting significant moments in British design, the exhibition looks not only at 60 years worth of fashion, furniture, fine art, graphic design, photography, ceramics, architecture and industrial design but also investigates how the UK continues to nuture artistic talent and the role British design and manufacturing plays around the world. Admission charge applies. Runs until 12th August. For more see www.vam.ac.uk.
We’re taking a break over Easter – posts will resume next Tuesday. In the meantime have a great Easter!
Around London: Taking to the skies over the Thames; a new plumber in Cannon Street; and, new images of war at IWM…
October 13, 2011
• The proposed cable car crossing of the Thames will be sponsored by airline Emirates in a 10-year, £36 million deal announced last Friday. To be known as the ‘Emirates Air Line’, the cable car will link the DLR station Royal Victoria with the Jubilee Line station North Greenwich and will involve the creation of two new cable car stations bearing the sponsor’s name – Emirates Greenwich Peninsula on the south bank and Emirates Royal Docks on the north. It is the first time a corporate brand will appear on the Tube map. Transport for London has said the new service could be operational by summer 2012 (although whether it will be ready for the Olympics remains uncertain). It will feature 34 cable car gondolas and ferry as many as 2,500 passengers across the river every hour with an expected two million passengers to use the service each year. The journey is expected to take five minutes and will see the gondolas travelling at a height of 160 feet above the river. The sponsorship deal was announced by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, along with Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline, and Mike Brown, managing director of London Underground and Rail.
• The Duke of Gloucester unveiled a new statue, called Plumber’s Apprentice, at Cannon Street Station last week to mark the 400th anniversary of the granting of a Royal Charter to London’s Worshipful Company of Plumbers. Sculpted by Martin Jennings (he also created the statue of British poet Sir John Betjeman that now stands in St Pancras Station), the seven foot tall bronze statue is said to underline the livery company’s ongoing commitment to train young plumbers. The company, which was formed in 1365, received its charter from King James I in 1611. From 1690, following the destruction of the company’s previous hall in the Great Fire of London, it was based in a building on the site of the railway station. In 1863, it was forced to again move when the hall was compulsorily purchased to make way for the railway. Also present at the unveiling were the Lord Mayor of London, Michael Bear, and the Lady Mayoress, herself a sculptress and liverymen of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers. For more, see www.plumberscompany.org.uk.
• On now: Shaped by War: Photographs by Don McCullin. The Imperial War Museum is hosting the largest ever exhibition of the life and works of acclaimed photographer Don McCullin. The display features some 250 photographs including rarely seen before portraits of anonymous victims of war, contact sheets, objects, magazine and personal memorabilia. Conflicts covered include those of the Cold War, in places like Vietnam and Cambodia, Bangladesh and the Middle East – the latter include images from the Gulf War and the 20o3 invasion of Iraq. There is also a newly commissioned video in which McCullin talks about the exhibition. Runs until 15th April, 2012. An admission charge applies. For more, see www.iwm.org.uk.
10 small (and fascinating) museums in London…9. HMS Belfast
September 7, 2011
OK, so it’s not exactly small but HMS Belfast – an offshoot of the Imperial War Museum moored permanently on the Thames near Tower Bridge – does make a fascinating museum in which to spend a few hours.
Commissioned into the Royal Navy on 5th August, 1939 (just in time for the start of World War II), the HMS Belfast is a large light cruiser built, along with the HMS Edinburgh, as an improvement on the then existing ‘Southampton’ class vessels. It is now the only surviving example of the many big gun armoured warships which were built for the Royal Navy in first half of the twentieth century.
Assigned to the Home Fleet on the outbreak of war, the ship operated out of Scapa Flow in the Orkney Isles in far north Scotland and was charged with patrolling the northern waters as part of efforts to impose a maritime blockade on Germany. Striking a mine in November of that year, however, it was put of out action until two years later when it rejoined the Home Fleet and then began escorting Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union – a mission which saw it take part in the Battle of North Cape off the Norwegian coast in late 1943 (this battle saw the sinking of the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst).
The HMS Belfast later saw action on D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy in 6th June, 1944, when it was employed to bombard German positions onshore before, heading to Japan where, after the end of the war, it was used to evacuate survivors of prisoners-of-war and internment camps in China.
The HMS Belfast saw action in the Korean War and then spent further time in the Far East before – under threat of being disposed of and broken up – it was acquired as a museum and moored in London. The first visitors were admitted on Trafalgar Day, 1971, and, as of last year, nearly 10 million people have taken up the chance to look at the ship.
These days there’s a well-defined route through the vessel, complete with audio guide (it’s included in the admission price), which takes visitors on an informative journey describing what life was like for those who served onboard the Belfast – including everything from the Arctic messdecks where ratings slept in hammocks to the NAAFI store where they could buy supplies, sick bay, the ‘modern’ laundry room, and chapel as well as the engine room, shell rooms and magazines, and , of course, the bridge.
Many of the rooms have been set up – some using life-sized manniquins – to show how they would have looked during a typical day. Particularly worth a look is the new Gun Turret Experience: A Sailor’s Story 1943, an immersive film, light and sound show which gives a glimpse into what life was like working inside one of the six inch gun turrets.
It can take a while to get around the whole ship (and parents are asked not to take small children into the boiler room) but it’s well worth taking the time to explore properly. In addition to the features of the ship itself, there are two exhibitions – one looking at the role of the ship in peace and war, and the other, an interactive experience in what life was like on board.
WHERE: HMS Belfast is moored on the Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. Entry is from the south bank of the Thames near Morgans Lane (nearest Tube stations are London Bridge, Tower Hill or Monument); WHEN: 10am-6pm (last admission 5pm) daily until 31st October, then 10am to 5pm (last admission 4pm); COST: £13.50 adults/£10.80 seniors and students/children under 16 free (price includes a voluntary donation); WEBSITE: http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk.
• Tens of thousands of people are expected to join London Mayor Boris Johnson for the annual Sky Ride this Sunday. The event, organised by the Mayor of London, Sky and British Cycling in partnership with Transport for London, allows people to cycle a 11.6 kilometre route through the city centre minus the usual car traffic. The circular route, which takes in Westminster Bridge, the Mall and Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, will be vehicle-free between 9.30am and 4.30pm. Last year more than 85,000 took part. For more information, seewww.goskyride.com/london.
• The Imperial War Museum is marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US with a new photographic exhibition showing artefacts recovered after the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York. Memory Remains, which opened on 26th August and runs until 26th February, is a photographic exploration of Hangar 17 – a previously empty hanger at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York where debris and material retrieved from the 16 acre World Trade Center site were stored. It features images taken by Spanish-American artist Francesc Torres, who was commissioned by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum to capture what was happening inside the hangar and granted special access to do so. The exhibition is being accompanied by another at Imperial War Museum North in Manchester. In the Spotlight: Remembering 9/11, which runs from 10th September until September next year, features artefacts from the World Trade Center including a British flag which was laid on the altar in St Paul’s Cathedral on the first anniversary of the attacks. Admission to both exhibitions is free. For more information, see www.iwm.org.uk.
• South Bank hosts the Liberty festival, an annual showcase by deaf and disabled artists, this Saturday. The festival, which will take place at two sites – the Southbank Centre and the National Theatre, will feature a mix of music, dance, street theatre, comedy, circus performances and aerial displays. Highlights include Mark Smith’s Deaf Men Dancing, performance artist Bobby Baker, Jean-Marie Akkerman’s Cirque Nova featuring four disabled aerial artists, and Kazzum, who produce theatrical work for children up to 16-years-old. The event is free. For more information, see www.london.gov.uk/liberty.
• The British Library and BiblioLabs have launched a new 19th century historical collection app for iPad users. The app (which costs £1.99 a month or $US2.99 for those outside the UK and is available through Apple’s App Store) allows users to explore historical and antiquarian books including classic novels, original accounts by Victorian travellers, books on science and poetry, memoirs and military histories. Around 45,000 titles are initially available with a further 15,000 to be added by the end of the year.
• On Now: Freedom from: modern slavery in the capital. A new exhibition looking at the reality of trafficking and forced labour has opened at the Museum of London and the Museum of London Docklands – the museum first cross-site exhibition. Created in partnership with Anti-Slavery International and coinciding with the launch of its Slavery-Free London campaign, the exhibition looks at the personal impact of human trafficking and slavery in 21st century London and includes personal testimonies such as that of ‘Gheeta’ who was trafficked from India and forced into work. It also features a series of large scale photographs by Chris Steele-Perkins of Magnum Photos. Runs until 20th November. Admission is free. For more information, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk.
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• Sixteen London Underground stations were this week listed as Grade II heritage buildings. The Tube stations – several of which were designed by Leslie Green, known for his pioneering use of ‘ox-blood’ red tiles on the exterior of stations to create a consistent brand for the stations – include the now-closed Aldwych (pictured) along with Oxford Circus (originally two stations), Covent Garden and Russell Square as well as Belsize Park, Brent Cross, Caledonian Road, Chalk Farm, Chesham, Perivale, Redbridge, St John’s Wood, West Acton and Wood Green. Three other stations – Arnos Grove, Oakwood and Sudbury Town – have had their status upgraded from Grade II to Grade II*. These three were all designed by modernist architect Charles Holden for the extension of the Piccadilly Line in the 1930s. The new listings were made by Tourism and Heritage Minister John Penrose on the advice of English Heritage.
• A new permanent exhibition showing would-be sailors what it is like to fight at sea opens at the HMS Belfast this weekend. Gun Turret Experience: A Sailor’s Story, 1943, is an immersive experience using lights, imagery, sound, smoke effects, movement and smell to recreate the atmosphere and conditions of a gun turret tower when a crew was at battle stations. Visitors are encouraged to follow the story of a young sailor on Boxing Day, 1943 when the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst is sighted leading to the Battle of the North Cape. The Gun Turret Experience, housed within the original triple gun turrets overlooking the quarterdeck, was developed with the help of Royal Navy veterans and eye-witness accounts from the Imperial War Museum (of which the HMS Belfast is part). Entry is included in normal admission price. For more information, see www.hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk.
• Now On: See the dress the Duchess of Cambridge wore when she was married to Prince William in April at this year’s summer opening at Buckingham Palace. The gown, which features a nine foot long train, will be displayed along with the Halo Tiara until 3rd October in the palace ballroom (the same room used for the newly married couple’s reception). The exhibition features video footage of designer Sarah Burton, explaining how the dress was made. This year’s summer opening also features a display of the work of Carl Faberge – including his magnificent jewel-encrusted Imperial Easter Eggs as well as bejewelled boxes and miniature carvings of favorite pets of the royal family. More than half a million people are expected to visit the exhibition. For more information, see www.royalcollection.org.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=30
• A new website has been launched to showcase the UK’s vast national collection of oil paintings. While the website, which is a partnership between the BBC, the Public Catalogue Foundation, and participating collections and museums, currently hosts around 60,000 works, it is envisaged that by the end of 2012 it will carry digitised images of all 200,000 oil paintings in the UK (in an indicator of how many there are, the National Gallery currently has around 2,300 oil paintings, about one hundredth of all those in the nation). The works on the site will eventually include almost 40,000 by British artists. The 850 galleries and organisations participating so far include 11 in London – among them the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Bank of England, the Imperial War Museum and Dr Johnson’s House. For more, see www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/
• Arctic explorer John Rae has had a Blue Plaque unveiled in his honor at his former home in Holland Park. Although his feats were relatively unsung in his lifetime, the explorer’s expeditions in the Canadian Arctic saw him travel 13,000 miles by boat and foot and survey more than 1,700 miles of coastline. He is also credited with having “signposted” the only north-west passage around America that is navigable without icebreakers. Rae, who died in 1893, lived at the property at 4 Lower Addison Gardens in Holland Park for the last 24 years of his life.
• Transport For London is calling on Londoners to share experiences of “kindness” that they have witnessed or participated in while travelling on the Underground. Artist Michael Landy has created a series of posters which are calling on people to submit their stories. Some of the stories will then be shown at Central Line stations (the first four posters go up on 23rd July at stations including Hollard Park, Holborn and Liverpool Street). For more, go to www.tfl.gov.uk/art.
• On the Olympic front, the City of London Corporation has announced Tower Bridge will be bedecked with a set of giant Olympic Rings and the Paralympic Agitos during the 45 days of next year’s Games. Meanwhile, the Corporation has also unveiled it will host next week the launch of a London-wide campaign to get people involved in sport and activity in the lead-up to the Games. More to come on that.
• On Now: Toulouse-Lautrec and Jane Avril Beyond the Moulin Rouge. The Courtauld Gallery, based at Somerset House, is running an exhibition celebrating the “remarkable creative partnership” between Jane Avril, a star of the Moulin Rouge in Paris during the 1890s, and artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Lautrec created a series of posters featuring Avril which ensured she became a symbol of Lautrec’s world of “dancers, cabaret singers, musicians and prostitutes”. Runs until 18th September. See www.courtauld.ac.uk for more.
Around London – Brixton Windmill reopens; offload your Royal Wedding bunting; and, Women War Artists…
May 5, 2011
• The Brixton Windmill, the only surviving windmill in inner London, was reopened to the public amid much celebration on 1st May. The windmill, located at Windmill Gardens, was built in 1816 and leased the following year by John Ashby. The Ashby family – including the sons and grandsons of John – operated the mill until the 1860s when the Ashby’s milling business was transferred to what was then a more rural location at Mitcham. Two years later the sails were removed and the mill was subsequently used for storage. A steam and later a gas engine were fitted to the mill in the early 20th century but it was finally closed down in 1934. In the 1970s, the mill passed into the ownership of Lambeth Council. A £400,000 Heritage Lottery grant obtained by Friends of Windmill Gardens and Lambeth Council has enabled a complete restoration of the Grade II* listed building. For more details on the mill, including opening hours and events, see www.brixtonwindmill.org.
• Wanting to offload some Royal Wedding tat? The Museum of London is looking for objects which help tell the story of how London celebrated the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton. They are particularly interested in acquiring materials people used in street parties or private celebrations – everything from paper plates and napkins to bunting and “funny hats”. Donations are unable to be returned even if not used. For details on where to send items, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Corporate/Press-media/Remembering+the+Royal+Wedding.htm
• Now On: Women War Artists at the Imperial War Museum. Covering the period from World War I to the Kosovo conflict of the 1990s, the exhibition features the work of artists including Anna Airy, one of the first women officially commissioned during the First World War, Dame Laura Knight, Linda Kitson and Frauke Eigen. Admission is free. Runs until 8th January, 2012. For more information, see www.iwm.org.uk.
• The Imperial War Museum has unveiled plans for a major rebuilding project at its Lambeth headquarters to culminate with the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I in 2014. Under a £71 million proposal, the size of the existing World War I galleries will be doubled and a new atrium will be created with further works – including a new sunken entrance – to be completed by 2019. The museum moved to its Lambeth location, formerly the Bethlem Royal Hospital, in 1936. Prince William is fronting the first £29 million appeal for funds. Meanwhile plans have reportedly been mooted to have the decommissioned aircraft carrier, the HMS Ark Royal, brought to London where it would be permanently moored in the Thames as a tourist attraction akin to the HMS Belfast.
• St Paul’s Cathedral has announced it will provide live outdoor broadcasts of its three most popular Christmas services for the first time to allow those who can fit in the cathedral to participate. A 25 metre screen will be set up in Paternoster Square, next to the cathedral, where ‘A Celebration of Christmas’ will be screen on 16th December at 6.30pm along with Christmas Carol services on the 23rd and 24th December at 4pm. See www.stpauls.co.uk.
• An historic 18th century mill in East London will undergo restoration after the granting of a £248,000 lottery grant. House Mill, which dates from 1776, is believed to be the largest tidal mill still in existence anywhere in the world. Built across the River Lea, the mill was used for flour-making and for a distillery located next door on Three Mills Island in Bow. The project, which is being managed by the River Lea Tidal Mill Trust, involves the restoration of the mill as well as the adjoining Miller’s House and the creation of a visitor’s centre. The trust says it has also been given the “green light” for a further £2.65 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant. See http://housemill.org.uk.
• A three year project has made documents drawn up for King Henry III in the 13th century available on the internet for the first time. Project partners Canterbury Christ Church University, King’s College London, and the National Archives in Kew have translated and digitised the king’s ‘fine rolls’, written to record money and favours owed to the king. The rolls consist of 56 parchments – one for each year of his reign which started in 1216 and ended in 1272 – and contain as many as 40,000 entries amounting to some two million words. Some of the parchments, the originals of which are held at the National Archives, measure up to three metres in length. See www.finerollshenry3.org.uk.
• On now: Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. Christmas festivity on a vast scale, Winter Wonderland includes the city’s largest open air ice rink, circus acts, a giant observation wheel, rides and eating places including the igloo-style E:Cube and the Spiegel Saloon. For more information see www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com.
Around London – New VC gallery at Imperial War Museum; Roman remains unearthed at Syon Park; and, High Society at the Wellcome Collection…
November 18, 2010
• An exhibition containing the world’s largest collection of Victoria Crosses has opened at the Imperial War Museum, housed in what is the museum’s first new major permanent gallery for 10 years. The Extraordinary Heroes exhibition – housed in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery – contains his Lordship’s collection of 162 Victoria Crosses, awarded for parts played in wars stretching from the Crimean to the Falklands, displayed alongside the 48 Victoria Crosses and 31 George Crosses already held by the museum. As well as the awards, the new gallery will display many objects for the first time, including a badly damaged backpack worn by Lance Corporal Matt Croucher when he leapt on a grenade during action in Afghanistan in 2008 to save the lives of his fellow soldiers (he survived as well), and the diving suit worn by Acting Leading Seaman James Magennis who won a VC for his role in placing limpet mines in the Johore Straits in World War II. The gallery was paid for with a £5 million donation from Lord Ashcroft. Admission is free. For more information, see www.iwm.org.uk.
• The remains of a Roman settlement have been unearthed at historic home, Syon Park, in London’s west. Archaeological experts from the Museum of London have already removed around 11,500 pieces of pottery, jewellery and about 100 coins from the site on the Syon Park estate. Syon Park, the home of the Duke of Northumberland, sits on the northern bank of the Thames, opposite Kew Gardens. The site was excavated in 2008 in preparing for the construction of a new luxury hotel there. Some of the artefacts will go on display at the new hotel, the London Syon Park, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, which will open early next year. The settlement, which includes a Roman road and burials, was discovered only half a metre below ground level. For more information on the property, see www.syonpark.co.uk.
• Now on: From an early morning coffee in European cities to chewing betel nut in Asia, the Wellcome Collection’s major winter exhibition, High Society, traces the role mind-altering drugs have played in history and culture. The display includes more than 200 exhibits, from an 11th century manuscript written by monks in Suffolk detailing poppy remedies, to a 17th century account by Captain Thomas Bowrey describing his crew’s experiments with the cannabis drink bhang, and an account of NASA’s experiments with intoxicated spiders. Admission is free. The exhibition runs until 27th February. For more information, see www.wellcomecollection.org.
