Tate Britain - The Camden Town Group and Peter Doig

My Tate membership was expiring soon, so Cindy and I went for a double feature at the Tate Britain: Modern Painters - The Camden Town Group and Peter Doig. I downloaded some pictures from the Tate website.



The Camden Town Group formed in 1911 and was comprised of the artists Walter Sickert, Charles Ginner, Harold Gilman, Robert Bevan, and Spencer Gore. These painters departed from Edwardian protocol and selected subjects from working-class life. We had never heard of this group but loved their paintings - we spent hours at this exhibit.

The Peter Doig exhibit was a bit disappointing. The paintings on paper (as in the museum guide or books) were actually more appealing than in real life. I did not hate this exhibit but I wanted to be back with the Camden Town Group.

Gatton Park with the Women's Institute and National Garden Scheme

Glenyce (between Cindy on left and another WI member to right) invited us on an outing to Gatton Park. This gave me first hand exposure to two veritable British Institutions - the Women's Institute and The National Gardens Scheme.

The Women's Institute (WI) has 205,000 members in England, Wales and the Islands. This makes it the largest voluntary women's organisation in the UK. Although originally based in rural areas, the WI is starting to gain popularity among urban and younger women. Glenyce and her friends in the WI enjoy outdoor activities from rambles through the countryside to garden strolls. The gardens in Gatton Park are not often open to the public (usually 1st Sunday of the month) but today they were open as part of the National Garden Scheme (NGS).

Since 1927, the NGS has raised about £30 million per year largely through admission fees charged to visit one of their 3500 (many private) gardens opened on special days. We paid a nominal fee of £3.50 to view the gardens in Gatton Park, knowing these fees would support the gardens in Gatton Park, other gardens and a number of cancer / hospice charities.

We carpooled from Esher to Reigate to visit these gardens designed by "Capability Brown" for the Colman family during the early 20th century. On 250 acres, I thought they looked lovely with snowdrops, heather, daffodils and other spring flowers I could not name. But the Gatton Park supporters say they need significant funding to restore these gardens to their former glory.

We ate lunch in the former manor home, although much of Gatton Hall was destroyed in a fire in 1934. Postcards showed how impressive the main hall was before the fire. I enjoyed the postcard of ice skaters, the women dressed in knee or mid length skirts with no apparent leg coverings. Gatton Park is now home to the Royal Alexandra and Albert School as well as the lovely St Andrew's Church.

......

When we returned to Esher, Glenyce entertained us with scones and tea in her conservatory overlooking her beautiful garden and a golf course. Country living is a bit more peaceful than frenetic London.

Henry Moore at Kew

Ardis wanted to see the Henry Moore exhibit and spring flowers at Kew Gardens. The Henry Moore foundation has loaned Kew Gardens 28 of its large-scale sculptures until end of March. The Foundation has been generous in that Kew only had to pay transportation and installation costs. As much as I enjoyed the Chihuly exhibit, I find the Henry Moore sculputures a much better fit. I wish the foundation would loan at least 5 of the sculptures (NOT the white one) on a more permanent basis. The building below houses an exhibit that provides information about Henry Moore's life and art. He drew inspiration from bones dug up from his farm in Perry Green, just outside London. Highly recommended!

Democrats Abroad

Democrats could vote in the 2008 primary in many countries around the world by joining the organisation "Democrats Abroad". We are sending 22 Delegates each with 1/2 vote = 11 delegates to the Denver convention. I signed up many new Democrats Abroad members so they could vote in the primary held in Porchester Hall in London. Unfortunately, Barack picked up 3 pledged delegates to Hillary's 1. My friend Cindy got me an interview on NBC but it was not shown. I did get filmed by CNN and I heard myself on TV saying "We are running out of name tags". After a dinner of a couple of Hillary cookies, I went home at least satisfied that I had done my civic duty by voting and signing up many democrats who will hopefully vote democrat in November.

Fox Mange - Horrible!!!

Banjo picked up a bad case of fox mange mites (sarcoptes scabiei) which attacked his nose and ears. We apply Advantix monthly which is good for ticks but not for mange. We had to wait 3 days to apply Advocate which is good for fox mange mites but not for ticks because we had just applied Advantix. Both Advocate and Advantix are manufactured by Bayer. Bayer confirmed there will be an adverse reaction between Advantix and Advocate, so there has to be at least a 3 day period between applications. Meanwhile, Banjo scratched himself bloody.


Once we applied the Advocate, the mites seem to perish immediately. My neighbor Dace put on the Buster / Elizabethan collar which Banjo wore for weeks. I hid his antibiotics and steroids in sardines and wet Marks and Spencer dog food. The vet eventually pulled off the quarter-inch high scabs off Banjo's nose. His groomer is gradually removing the ear scabs which feel like pebbles. Banjo is back to his perky and perfect self now, except we are not sure if the fur on his nose will ever grow back.

LEG Soho with Andy Duncan

One of the first stops was St Anne's Churchyard. The original Soho parish church was built 1677-1685 and has been rebuilt several times. There are over 100,000 people buried in the small area around the church. In 1853, the Burials Acts forbade further internments but the ashes of author Dorothy L Sayers (she was the 1952-57 churchwarden) are buried beneath SP Cockerell's 1803 tower, the only part of the church to survive the Blitz.

Andy explained that the Soho leases were for 49 years (vs the more typical 99 years) and so much of Soho was rebuilt by the 1720-1730s.

The House of St. Barnabas, a women's shelter charity, is a Grade I listed building with fabulous interiors. Soho has many, many blue plaques. Karl Marx and his family lived in 2 rooms in what is now a Grade I listed building with a "Quo Vadis" sign out front.

In 1854, the physician John Snow proved that cholera came from water (not the air as most thought). He plotted the location of cholera cases he was treating and thought that a great many of his patients drank water from a pump on Broad(wick) Street. He broke off the handle of that pump and the number of cholera cases diminished. A replica of that pump, without handle, commemorates this discovery.

By the mid-1800s, all of the respectable familes had moved out and the French Huguenots, artisans, and other groups that make up the character of Soho moved in. When the clock strikes 1, Karl Marx takes a swig of cola on this colorful Carnaby Street mural.

Chris Rock at the Apollo Hamersmith

As an ardent fan of "Everbody Hates Chris", I just had to see Chris Rock (photo courtesy of The Guardian) when he performed at the Apollo Hammersmith in London. Although Chris's stand-up routine was much more "adult" than his sit-com, we still enjoyed most of it. We liked his warm-up comic too but did not catch his name.

This was our first visit to the Apollo Hammersmith. It was very accessible to Kew e.g., the show ended at 11 pm and we were home by 11:30. Drinks are priced reasonably and you can buy a hot dog for dinner if you are really hungry. Theatre Monkey implied my seats would be horrible but we could see and hear well enough (although we were WAY too far back to see any detailed expressions). The theatre was too warm and quite cramped.

We were sandwiched between 2 couples - all of us naively made sure we were seated 10 minutes before the reported show time of 8pm. The warm up act did not start until 8:15 pm and ended about 8:45 pm. Chris Rock came on about 9:10 pm and talked without stopping until about 11:00 pm.

The couple on the left was black, and Kris said the woman chuckled but did not find anything overly hilarious. The couple to my right was white and had flown in from Glasgow to see the show. The man laughed uproariously at just about everything Chris said - the effort of getting from Glasgow to Hammersmith was obviously worthwhile for him. Kris and I were in the middle (literally and figuratively).

LEG North Kensington with Andy Duncan

Most London Explorer Group (LEG) walks are led by Dr. Andy Duncan, author of Walking London, Secret London and other London walking guides. There are similarities to London Original Walks except Andy's audiences and locales are more local / less touristy - think Brits vs. tourists and North Kensington vs. Jack The Ripper. Andy also e-mails you directions to the first stopping point in case you are late.

We met at Ladbroke grove and walked to Powis Square Gardens, at one time one of the Peter (born Perec) Rachman slums. Peter Rachman was a slumlord who, by a variety of nefarious means, evicted existing tenants and replaced them with Afro-Caribe immigrants who were forced to live in smaller spaces at much higher rents. The living conditions were deplorable but other landlords in London refused to rent to "people of colour".


On the same square is the Tabernacle, owned by the city and site of a series of unsuccessful council enterprises. Also located here is a church whose builders ran out of money before they could finish the tower. The area is now gentrified, expensive and near to Portobello Market and the famous Notting Hill Carnival.

This photo includes Trellick Tower, the Muslim Cultural Centre and Westway Association Greenspace. The Westbourne Studios, skateboard park, and low-rise housing are just out of view. Andy spent much of the tour explaining the fascinating history of the Grade II listed Trellick tower and the Westway Association - a story of the mistakes and successes of trying to provide suitable housing and green-space for the economically disadvantaged.

The Emslie Horniman Pleasance is an acre of land containing a listed garden and a Voysey cottage. Unfortunately, the garden was vandalised so many times that it had to be put behind bars for its protection.

We walked along the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal to admire Elvis. Longboats are tied up along the Kensal Green Cemetary where dignitaries such as the Brunels, Fanny Kemble and Trollope are buried.

We were also shown the Paddington Train Crash memorial and site of the Rillington murders.

Raji and Cross-Stitch Swan

Finally, the "Swan" has been completed and placed safely in Raji's hands. She plans to bring it to India for framing and swears she loves it (she knows how challenging crafts projects are for me). This has been my biggest project by far - my next project will be a Kew Pagoda bookmark.

LOW with Simon - Canterbury

The afternoon stop on the London Original Walks tour with Simon was to Canterbury on the River Stour.

We admired the city gate and other sites of interest along the way. Simon pointed out a dunking stool, a famous hospital (really an inn), a "Queen Elizabeth slept here" building that now houses a Nero coffee bar, and old A2 hiway signs to Dover / Chatham above a pedestrian street.

Simon told us we could view the gate (refurbished fairly recently) to the Canterbury Cathedral but the only way we could see the interior was to attend the Evensong service. Simon led the others to see more sights of the city while I attended my first (and possibly last) Church of England service in this very special cathedral.

LOW with Simon - Leeds Castle

Leeds Castle was the morning stop on the London Original Walks day trip led by Simon. Leeds Castle is sometimes called the "loveliest castle in the world" and it was very pretty. Leeds Castle traces its roots to a 9th century manor house and King Edward I made it into a royal palace in 1278. King Henry V accused his stepmother, Queen Joan, of witchcraft and imprisoned her there. King Henry VIII upgraded the castle for Catherine of Aragon. The American heiress, Lady Baillie decorated the home beautifully which is why Simon said the castle has more of a "stately home" feel than a castle. She loved her dogs and buried 3 near the lake.

After touring the castle, I visited the aviary with a great selection of birds, although I marvelled that they did not seem to mind the very cold day as much as I did.

Time was running out and I had to choose between getting lost in the maze or visiting the quirky and world's only "Dog Collar" museum - of course, I chose the museum. The collars looked too wide to be comfortable but I learned that they were to protect the necks of the dogs from bears, wolves, wild boar and other predators.

.

Shell Wildlife Photography Exhibit 2007

My favorite annual exhibition is the Shell sponsored Wildlife Photography Competition in the Natural History Museum in London. The photos are amazing and always energise us! Here are a few of my favorites (I loved them all) from the website: Stoat with Toast, Water Vole, Penguins (porpoising and climbing), Breaching Great White Shark, Kilauea Dawn.