Margate and Walpole Bay

A bank holiday visit to Margate with a mate in the London tradition.

Margate is a pleasant seaside resort on the Kent coast now with the added attraction of an art gaallery. Quite by chance me and my mate met one of the trustees of the gallery but tht's a story for later.

Walking along the beach Mate and I were speculating about the nubers who would actuaally be in the gallery, with 10 being packed solid and 1 being empty. I suggested 4 and mate suggested 3. We were both wrong. First impression of the gallery was the cafe, crowded and with people sitting with their cups of tea on the steps - lots of people on the steps. In fact lots of people in the gallery with a very busy but slightly confusing entranceway. We didn't really know where to go

The Turner Contemporary only has one Turner of it's own but puts on exhibitions of contemporary art and shows off a picture of Margate showing the scene before the gallery was built - a pier. The best exhibit was called Arcadia and was scenes of Margate etched into plastic and coloured black in a similar way to a woodcut. Very expressive images that delighted. The knowledgeable attendent explained how they had been done, I think delighted to be asked for her knowledge rather than just telling people to keep their fingers off. All in all a very worthwhile experience.


After lunch in a beer and cider pub with sawdust on the floor and a bell rung if anyone asked for lager (whose location I an not idiot enough to disclose) and a chance to pick up some post lent books (giving up buying books for lent was hard to do) we had a stroll up to another attraction of Margate, The Walpole Bay Hotel.

This is a hotel with a difference, with the proprietor on the reception desk treating her guests like old friends and very enthused about her hotel. The difference being that the hotel was also a museum with many things related to the hotel and the town of Margate. The gallery of napery in the hotel dining room was a tribute to the artits who had stayed in the hotel and had decorated a napkin in their style of painting or particular branch of the arts. Taking the 1927 gated lift to the second floor we looked round the rooms and cupboards filled with artefacts and photographs. The rooms are furnished in period styles, but the bathrooms are very up to date. I wonder if they have a room furnished in utility style?
The proprietor was a trustee of the Turner contemporary and asked us what we thought of the place - so our experience of Margate turned full circle. We left having had a really pleasant day, and hope to come back.

West Ham to Wapping pleasant Sunday afternoon

Although the weather wasn't very promising. The first picture shows the foundation stone of the first London Docks built in the reign of George III.

This picture shows Robin Hood Gardens, a housing estate by the Smithsons that Tower Hamlets Council want to demolish but Architectural societies think should be refurbished. The reactions of the tenants are unclear but different surveys will bring in different results depending on the way the questions are framed.

The third picture shows the non-conformist church on the Festival of Britain exhibition of architecture, the Lansbury Estate.

Romantic Hendon (and Barnet)

A former teacher I knew once wrote
"Romantic is a word that's seldom used
Of Hendon: grey, dull, dried,
Might be more appropriate prose words alright"

And he's right I don't think that Hendon has much romance in its soul. I began my birthday treat in the Barnet Museum (threatened with closure) with a display of the history of Chipping Barnet. I did not ask about the East Barnet Folk Museum which I have found very few references to. All in all a good little display that has become victim of the cuts. The Barnet Council have decided to charge a market rent for the building. The trouble is that the building is a museum and it is difficult to set a rent for a museum. Let's just see Barnet council have responsibility for an empty, crumbling 18th century farmhouse shall we?



After that I went to look at the Well Head, walking down WellHouse Lane, leading into Well Road then Well approach all through some rather fine homes for heroes. The chalybeate well was locked and barred and the actual well house itself dates only from 1937, presumably to give a pleasant feature on the estate.

I also have to give a big thumbs down to Barnet Libraries. I asked at the enquiry counter if I could see a street map and was told they didn't have one. I thought this was unusual so I asked to use the internet to look up the street information. I would have to join the library for that. OK I'll join - why not? So I filled in the form and somebody else was summoned who asked me if I worked in Barnet - no - so I eplained why I wanted to join. Lo and behold a street map was produced! I was advised that the original person would not have known where it was. 2 out of 10.

After that, off to see the Church Farmhouse Museum in romantic Hendon.

Another museum to be closed by Barnet Council withdrawing funding, it had an exhibition of tube memorabilia and maps designed by Henry Beck and others. Transport for London persist in calling him Harry but if you'd said Harry to him when alive he wouldn't have known who you meant. The museum was a tudor hall house once lived in by the Editor of Punch, built of lovely mellow brick.
Both museums were small and intimate with good collections of kitchenware and local items and really don't deserve to be broken up.

There's not really time to describe all the almshouses I came across but I will give you a representative picture.

The North London Line

Stratford to Richmond might be considered to be not the journey most people would like to make (or the other way round) but there is a railway line that runs between those two places, taking in various others. I wanted to use the line and by a happy chance was able to do so today. Except that it wasn't running and a replacement bus service was in operation, Stratford to Hampstead Heath and Hampstead Heath to Gunnersbury. For the sake of completeness I took the service bus to Richmond from Gunnersbury. All in all the journey took three hours by bus. The only benefit was that it was free, indoors and at least had the potential to be warm.

Begining at a bleak bus stop in Stratford I secured the prime top front seat, not that there was any competition for that prime look out. From West Ham to Bow was as dreary as always with factories nestled close to new flats, seemingly repeating the mistakes of the Victorians in town planning and a deliberate thumbed nose at Patrick Abercrombie. Entering Hackney things became more interesting: I have just bought a book about the twentieth century Buildings of Hackney and saw some examples of these en route, including the Rio Cinema, in Dalston High Street, The Beckers Council Estate and Haggerston Baths. The route meandered on through Canonbury and Gospel Oak to the bit of Hampstead near the Heath Station with its spectacular underground public lavatory where I had to change bus.

From Travels around London

From places of worship

We drove through some more uninteresting suburbs and Park Royal industrial estate and came to Old oak estate, an early LCC development of cottages, very small cottages for London workers. Planned on garden city lines and with interesting house forms the estate is picturesque and seems to have worn well.

Eventually, after another change of busses at Gunnersbury I came to Richmond and a happy ending. I kept warm and dry for 3 hours on an otherwise dull afternoon.

Welwyn Garden City

After Letchworth comes Welwyn. Letchworth was founded in 1902 and so could take advantage of depressed land prices and few building restrictions. By the time Welwyn was begun in 1920 landowners had got wise to the fact that if people wanted to build a new town there had to be something in it for them. Eventually the state took over Welwyn and designated it a new town in the years after the second world war.

You enter Welyn Garden City through the Howard Shopping Centre, with the station built in. You find the usual shop suspects here and leave to go into a wide grassed area terminating in a fountain. This fountain is on Parkway which is a broad grassed boulevard leading up to the library and theatre. The houses are in classic garden city style and the master planning architect was Louis De Soissons.

The Church of St Francis (Church of England) was also designed by Louis De Soissons and has a very wide table - you could have about six clergy standing behind it. The church is quite plain but has a relief of st Francis above the former door.

There are various works of art around the town and a town trail incorporating a cheap cottages exhibition, but I didn't really have a lot of daylight left to do that in.

A really dull day for pictures though so no good ones

Millom.

I've seen Millom described as the "set of a social realist film set in the thirties depression" and that's fairly true. It only needs factory chimneys and goods trains to make things complete, but of course the factories and mines closed years ago. The folk museum explained why - the foundry was still using machinery bought in 1892 in 1968! Failure to invest has always been a hallmark of declining British industry. This sculpture of a miner is all that is left of the industry in Millom.


Millom is very proud of their deceased local poet Norman Nicholson, who looked every bit the part with unkempt sideburns and long hair. His house, formerly a drapers now a cafe, bears a blue plaque, and the library has a selection of his books, although in my opinion his prose is better than his poetry. Nicholson became the first freeman of the Copeland Borough Council. The Church of St George has a commemorative window in the modern style which is exceptional.

Millom Co-operative Society was the victim of some outrageously biased BBC reporting when Nationwide, a predecessor of the One Show and tabloid TV at its worst, reported in 1970that the Co-operative Society had gone bust. They neglected to mention that this was MILLOM Co-operative Society representing a town of 6500 people and so caused a run on co-ops everywhere. Never known for responsible reporting this is the BBC at its lowest. I should point out that the other co-op societies rallied round Millom and repaid the members IN FULL.

The folk museum in the town's railway station has interesting displays about the history of Millom works, its social life and Norman Nicholson.

Southport Merseyside, G*ds waiting room

I've been to Southport before but that was in pre-blog days at a conference in the Floral Hall. I think though that because of a high proportion of people the wrong side of seventy has led to a certain complacency amongst the traders of the town. One of the tea rooms was charging more than twelve pounds for afternoon tea - which is half the price of the Savoy. Second hand bookshops are also too wedded to their stock to want to part with it, refusing discount. That said, places of this nature usually have very good gardens as that is what the population are bothered about. On the inner outskirts of Southport is Hesketh Park, a pleasant spot that is being restored to its former victorian glory. There is a fountain and a lake currently being dredged and cleaned, a glasshouse and an observatory. All rather pleasant.

The sea front on the Irish sea is also rather far away from the town and the claim of the longest pier on the West Coast is probably true - especially as it seldom reaches the sea. Instead there are promenades and lakes inland for people to walk along and here is a misty shot of the lake and a bridge.

Southport is quite good for shopping although the charity shops are practically useless- everybody moves to Southport, (as did my host) and has already got rid of most of their stuff before they arrive, making for very slim pickings.

The Art Gallery was closed for refurbishment but I seem to recall it was quite good when I went last time. However I hope to see it again at some stage.

Gosport and HM Submarine museum

My best mate used to work building submarines and I'm pretty curious about these ultimate stealth weapons. So a visit to HM Submarine Museum at Gosport was called for during a recent visit to Hampshire. Gosport is a bit chavvy being just across Portsmouth Harbour from Portsmouth but has an art nouveau/arts and crafts former grammar school and a reasonable bus service to Southampton.
However the submarine museum took up most of my day there so only got a glimpse of the discovery centre (which I think was really the town library) and the tiny art gallery. The high point of the submarine museum was HMS Alliance, which had been built for the war in the pacific and is the only submarine from that era still existing.

The guide was an ex submariner who had worked loading torpedos and knew his stuff.
The cramped quarters were something to behold but there were thankfully, four 'heads'.
The museum also had the first ever navy submarine - the Holland 1. This had been dredged up from the bottom of the sea off Devon and was displayed in its existing condition. Much smaller than the ALliance it was kept in a special atmosphere controlled environment, although as it survived at the bottom of the sea for eighty years one might assume it can survive in a shed for quite a long time. All in all not bad for a tenner.

Woodcote - homes for heroes?

A suburb of Purley hides some very exclusive developement- the Webb Estate. Said to be a garden village before the time of the Garden cities it hardly carries the radical message of the real garden cities and suburbs - Freedom and Co-operation are not represented here. It is an exclusive development for city men and the unfriendly notices forbidding all kinds of activity including driving tuition and frequent gates deter all those who might even walk here. I am undeterred by such notices and claim the right to walk. I came here to see the Promenade de Verdun, a memorial To the French soldiers who died in glory during the Great War. The road is planted with poplars and they are planted in soil from the battlefield of Armentieres.

This soil (ten tons of it) had to be sifted in order to remove bullets and shrapnel to prevent damage to the trees by souvenir hunters. The sifters found 2 sacks full.

The memorial is a simple granite obelisk from Cornwall with lettering in French.

A short walk brings one to the heart of the Estate, the Village Green complete with stocks (installed in 1937 presumably). I shouldn't think they've seen any prisoners.

It's unlikely anyone would be in the stocks after an evening at the Lord Roberts Temperance Inn either.

I wonder what Bobs would have made of that?
The village green was intended to be inhabited by the men working on the estate but they proved too expensive for the working men.

All in all the Webb Estate did what it set out to do - an exclusive home for city men, and now no doubt houses similar people, TV and film stars and perhaps government ministers all in leafy exclusivity.

The Camber Well

Strange things lurk behind suburban houses, and the lady who lives in this house has a historic monument in her back garden.

A rare opportunity arose to see this today, so I set off in the gloom of an autumnal day to see the Camber Well. After a trek round the whole of Grove Park off Camberwell Grove I managed to find the right house with a small printed notice on the gate. I joined a small group and Noreen introduced the well and John, who has been digging it out. All they have recovered so far is Victorian back fill when the well was filled in got building land. The great slab of York Stone you can see in the picture is an attempt by a Victorian builder at a cap. You can also see the round brick work of what must have been a substantial well at least four feet in diameter.

John, who is digging it out supported by donations from coffee supplied to visitors, I had a cup as it was rather too cold for a beer or a wine, thought that the well might be pre Roman although all he has found so far is Victorian backfill. The well has been there for a very long time and is marked on some old maps. Other speculation is that "Camberwell Grove" might be something from prehistoric religion 'druid', or of course it might be eighteenth century romanticism. Never the less the dig is of great interest for the insight into the lives of the early inhabitants of London. John's website is here and you can read more about the well there, as well as some other aspects of London'd history.

Cheam, Dorking and Leatherhead

A visit to Cheam as a convenient stopping off point to buy a fare to Dorking led to an interesting hour or two in the Sutton Museum and the Lumley Chapel. There are a few interesting old weatherboarded buildings in Cheam and one of these is called 'White Hall' and was home to one family from the 17th Century until the 1950s.
The display there was quite interesting and encompassed the history of the house and Cheam in general.

After Cheam it was time to take the train to Dorking and Leatherhead. Leatherhead did not have much of interest about it but Dorking had a massive cock.

Barrow in Furness and the Lakes - Semper Sursum

Barrow is an industrial town with some reasonably good bus services into the Lake District. I went there for my holidays this year, which was quite fun in spite of the diurnal rain. The main photographic highlight was a tour of the Barrow Town Hall with its ballroom, council chamber, retiring room and Mayors Parlour. There were lots of things with Bees and arrows on them (B-arrow) and some furniture which had come from Mr Ramsden's house, the first mayor, which had R on them. The first mayor was the promoter of the Furness Railway and he and other industrialists, including the Duke of Devonshire, got together to promote the first town council. The history of the town is writ large in the town hall in stained glass and oil paintings.


A day in Kendal was wet so no pictures there alas. We did not stay for the torchlight carnival as that would have meant taking a bus back at eleven at night. Some fine cafes in Kendal though, and a very fine Quaker tapestry exhibition. This showed aspects of the Friends history and works, and I was impressed to see a panel depicting the Scott-Bader Commonwealth. This was a fine insight into the beliefs and practices of the Friends. You can read about, and see it here.

A day at Ambleside and Windermere was fun with a cruise on the lake. Ambleside has the quaint bridge house and also the Armitt Library and Museum where we hid during the downpour and looked at Beatrix Potter's paintings of fungi.

Another day saw us go into Ulverston and look from afar at the Sir John Barrow monument.


I also saw Swarthmoor Hall which I had met at the Quaker Tapestry exhibition.

All in all a good holiday even if the weather was unkind.

Tilbury

I've blogged about East Tilbury before, but this time I found the library with its Bata Museum. This was very interesting. The factory stands all alone in its bleakness.


The main reason for going was to see Tilbury Fort, a fort built by Henry VIII originally but altered during Charles II day. Visitors enter by the watergate, an impressive gate to show the might and majesty of the Kingdom to visitors.

The underground passages were closed due to a power failure (so they said) but the rest of the fort including the powder magazine complete with replica barrels was open.
The Officers quarters had some curious chimneys.

It's interesting to see these places...

Hustler 2

An account of the voyage of the HUSTLER TWO, which set sail with a skipper and crew of one, from LUDHAM, in the County of NORFOLK on the SECOND day of AUGUST of this year of grace two thousand and TEN during which we were BECALMED, attacked by PYRATES, suffered a mop OVERBOARD, experienced TERROR and CONTENTMENT and returned to LUDHAM in the space of FIVE days.


Arriving at Ludhaam where we were to pick up our craft, Skip and I were helped by a kind gentleman who gave us a lift to the boatyard and saved our weary legs. We had slept in beds for the final time the night before. We looked around the boatyard and only the Hustler 2 was in. Unpacking our thihgs for the voyage was but the work of a moment then it was time to be taken to Womack water to raise sails. We had an uneventful and steady voyage down to Acle where we were due to take on board provisions. Duly stocking up at East of England Co-operative Society we then sought out the church. Acle church had an exhibition about church weddings and provided lunches, of which we ate heartily.
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After returning to our vessel, skip and I tacked up the river to Thurne Mouth where we moored for the night. Our first night inside the mahogany and oak vessel which reminded me of being inside my wardrobe.

A night under a bit of canvas involved a good sleep in preparation for the following day...

Bognor Regis, Arundel and Amberley

Bognor isn't that nice, but I didn't stay there for very long. Bognor and Littlehampton (another dreary place) do have an art trail though. I upped sticks and went to Arundel, home of the recusant Duke of Norfolk (in West Sussex?) with their fairy tale castle. The Duke of Norfolk is the hereditary Earl Marshal responsible for the ceremonial relating to the Crown. If you're organising a coronation he's your man!
I went into the church to have a look around. The church is separated from the castle chapel by a wrought iron gate with a perspex screen, this is because the castle chapel is RC whereas the church is protestant. The attendant stared at me for having the affrontery to look into the castle chapel without paying for it. I simply stared back and lingered a bit longer than I would have! Pshaw - what a cheek. The protestant part of the church was a bit ordinary though, the chapel a bit more well appointed as befits some of the wealthiest nobs.
The tiny container vn museum in Arundel took me about 5 minutes to get around, including a pleasant conversation with the Lady in charge. Some of the Tower Hamlets Libraries are called IdeaStores so I wonder where they got the idea for the name from?

Just up the road from Arundel is Amberley Industrial Museum, mainly a road transport collection of Southdown busses with some craftworkers and an Electricity and a telecoms hall. Jam packed full of stuff it took me slightly more than the half day recommended, although I would advise going on a weekday in term time for maximum freedom from screaming kids.

THese pictures give a good impression of what's there that isn't (Tillings) Southdown.


The village of Amberley has its old castle (well really a fortified manor house although I'm not sure what the distinction is - Arundel is a castle but that's also a fortified manor house too. Amberley castle was first built by the Bishop of Chichester and, as is fitting, the castle abuts the church. The castle is as jealously guarded as ever with unfriendly notices saying 'inspection by appointment only' and prohibiting access to the lane where it stands. It was late so I did not trespass as I would have done had it been earlier.

The village has some lovely thatched cottages but is about a mile from the station for the morning commute.

The church has a romanesque chancel arch and some meadieval wall paintings. It is an impressive structure with long low sloping roofs.

I had a great day out in glorious weather!

Aylesbury and Wendover

I've blogged about Aylesbury before but even in the short time since then the restaurant I enjoyed has changed hands. I think the proprietor was quite old then so he may have retired. I was able this time to visit the County Museum, converted from the old grammar school and what looked like an 18th century house, but the house was really Tudor with a facing of brick. A gallery in the museum showed the old structure and how it had once been painted.
Another old building, is the Kings Head inn, mentioned by Arthur mee, it is one of the few ties he mentions an inn, coming as he did from a temperance background. Most of the inn was closed when I called, although the Tourist Information Centre and the courtyard were open. I went into the farmers bar to see what was on the menu but there was nothing I fancied. By this time I'd had enough of Aylesbury so decided to move on to Wendover.

Wendover Tourist Information Centre is housed in this curious clock tower, and the custodian was helpful. I don't know why the clocktower was built but built it was.

The land hereabouts belonged to John Hampden, Cromwell's cousin, who, by refusing to pay ship money can be regarded as the father of the English civil war, and thus the Commonwealth of England. Hampden is commemorated on the wall of the library.

John Hampden's descendent gave some thatched cottages in the high street to the Wendover Society for preservation.

When I called the church was undergoing restoration so was really a building site. No access and covered in scaffolding. I suppose that's a good reason to make a return visit...

Marlow, Maidenhead and Slough

Marlow features in Three Men in a Boat with it's bridge. Unfortunately the bridge is not too accessible for photography so I can only note that the chained swan of Buckinghamshire appears on the medalions underneath. Built by the man who linked Pest and Buda in Hungary, it is a beautiful suspension bridge.
The church by the bridge is a 19th century replacement, and was covered in scaffolding so again no possibility of a photograph. However it is quite pleasant inside, very light, and with a portrait of a child with piebaldism, who was buried in the churchyard. The Town Hall has been converted to a kitchenware shop but was previously a pub.

Shelley once taught at the grammar school here, that still exists in its original building and a stone plaque was placed on his house. Mary also lived there and wrote Frankenstein.

A house called 'Remnantz' (funny spelling is not a 20th century trait) was originally part of the Royal Military Academy, before this moved to Sandhurst. Almost all the houses in Marlow, including Remnants and the Old Parsonage with its meadieval window are surrounded by high walls and impenetrable hedges that make photography difficult. The station is rather bleak with its single track line that runs to Maidenhead.
Maidenhead is rather chavvy with very little beauty to the casual observer. The church of St Mary is a civic church, and a lady kindly allowed me to look around even though she was rushing off. Built in the 1960s I would guess there is some fine modern stained glass, and the whole thing was very well done.

Slough has even less going for it than Maidenhead. Betjeman was right. This stuffed dog is on the station as a revard for his services collecting for Raailway orphans and widows.