London Athenians Summer Party

Another sumptious banquet for London Athenians!

Kew National Archives Update

“Who do You Think You Are? This is the theme of the recently refurbished National Archives and where thousands of family historians and other researchers study. You are welcome to walk up to the first and second floors to join hundreds of people staring at computer screens and pouring over large maps and documents. Their tones are hushed and the lighting slightly dimmed.

On the ground floor, the mood is more boisterous in the café, cybercafé (free internet) and bookshop.

The museum centerpiece is a Domesday Book original, which recorded all of William the Conqueror’s English holdings in 1086. But I enjoyed getting the scoop on British spies using personnel files kept secret until the 2000 Freedom of Information Act forced them into public domain.

As you first enter the museum, you are faced with the story of Pearl Cornioley, who parachuted into Nazi-occupied France and eventully rose to command 3,000 underground fighters. When recommended for a military MBE, she instead was offered the civil version because she was a woman. Pearl declined, citing she had done nothing remotely "civil."

This photo (from the website) of the Archives, shows no exterior changes since the facilities were built in 1977.

Thames Path: Staines to Pangbourne

From May 26th to July 19th, we walked from Staines to Pangbourne. Public transportation will soon be tough but we have less than 100 miles to go. Some sights along the way:

Datchet: Picturesque Bridge and Elegant Hats for Hire

Longboats and Pets

Windsor Castle

Maidenhead: Brunel Brick Bridge and Almshouse

Cookham-on-Thames: Holy Trinity Church

Marlow: Churches

Henley-on-Thames: Site of the Royal Regatta


Lower Shiplake: Miniature Railway & Station

Long History for Kew Short Lots and The National Garden Scheme (NGS)

A giant juicy blackberry beckons me to pluck it and pop it in my mouth. Furtively, I look around and see no one. For a moment, my mood brightens but reluctantly I resist.

Kew “Short Lots” is the first allotment site in London to be opened to the public by NGS and I do not want to be the reason the public is not invited back next year.

One man picking gooseberries (for “jam, pie, and crumble”) tells me a “full plot” should be sufficient to grow enough fruit and vegetables to feed a family. I doubt this until I chat with a woman planting shallots in a half-plot overflowing with asparagus, apples, chilies, victory plums, figs, squash, beans, and berries.

Another man entertains a small crowd by demonstrating how he is re-cultivating his new plot. He claims the previous renter had only enough time to cultivate berry brambles. I notice a small brown neighborhood cat doing a little digging of her own, just out of view of the proud new planter.

According to notes published by the Short Lots Users Group (SLUG), Short Lots covers “one acre, one rood and 28 perches”. Short Lots history parallels the history of many allotments in England. It was common land for over 200 years until it was “enclosed” in 1824 and given as private property to King George IV.

In 1917, Short Lots was divided into just over 50 plots for families to cultivate and feed themselves during WWI. Allotment holders joined forces in 1938 to raise funds to provide a permanent water supply and distribution.

Interest in allotments spiked again during the WWII “Dig for Victory” campaign, and now, because of renewed interest in “good food”.

Over 70 people have Short Lots applications on file and each expects to wait at least seven years for an allotment. Annual rent for a half-plot (5 rods or 2700 square feet) is £34 and full-plot (10 rods) is £68. If you are slow to pay your rent or do not cultivate your land for three months, you get a “letter”. Current allotment holders live in fear of losing their land to waitlisted applicants unless they conform to strict SLUG standards.

NGS organized the afternoon opening of Short Lots and has an interesting history of its own. At a time when visiting gardens was reserved for the privileged, NGS asked individuals to open their private gardens to the public for a small fee and donate the proceeds to the Queen’s Nursing Institute. Since its founding in 1927, NGS raised over £40 million to support training and pensions for nurses as well as cancer and gardening charities. Because of NGS (www.ngs.org.uk), we can now visit over 3600 gardens across England and Wales.

Maisie Brown on Barnes & Mortlake

Maisie Brown wrote “Barnes and Mortlake Past with East Sheen”, one of a series published by Historical Publications Ltd. I attended her talk at Sheen Library because Mortlake includes the part of Kew in which I live. In addition, my Travel Writers Boot Camp assignment was “Historical research on a neighbourhood, tradition, or attraction.” I arrived early to ask Maisie “What attraction would pull an American tourist out of central London to visit Barnes or Mortlake?” Imagine my disappointment when this woman, who has devoted much of her life to researching this area, thought a moment and replied “Hampton Court.”

Maisie did tell us a humorous story from Victorian times. Kew market gardeners grew vegetables destined for Covent Garden. When the Hammersmith Bridge was built in the early 1800s, there were always traffic jams and the trip across the Thames could take hours. Fortunately for the drivers, their horses knew the route. The drivers would load up their carts with vegetables, point their horses toward the bridge, and promptly fall asleep. The horses would navigate their way until they reached Hyde Park Corner where they stopped – hay for the horses, coffee for the drivers.

Kew Gardens Summer Swing

Clutching our waterlogged Summer Swing tickets to “Stars of the Commitments” (1991 BAFTA winner) fronted by “Sounds of the Blues Brothers”, Kris and I trudged through the downpour to Kew Gardens. We were sure the show would be cancelled or we would be the only two in the audience.

We could not have been more mistaken. Attendance estimates ranged from 2500 (entrance guard) to 4000 (Become a Friend of Kew staff), but there were thousands dancing in the rain in front of the stage. One of the singers joked, “If it is any consolation, there is a small leak in the roof over the stage and we are getting a bit soaked, too.”

We sought refuge under the neck-and-shoulder massage tent, the South African wine tasting tent, the Kew Beer sampling tent and we even bought an annual Kew Gardens membership for Kris’ mom under the “Become a Friend of Kew” tent. After gorging myself with free samples of carrot cake and listening to most of the songs, we departed. I missed “Mustang Sally” and the fireworks, still admiring the many whose spirits would not be dampened by a bit of rain.

Vibha in London

Our niece Vibha visited us in London. As soon as she arrived in London from Paris by Eurostar, she left her luggage at the station and saw the Ramayana exhibit at the British Library.

Vibha then dropped off her luggage at home and we went to Kew Gardens. We started at the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway, where we got an unusually high (60 foot) perspective of the gardens. Vibha also climbed up the spiral staircase in Temperate House (glass conservatory). We took a quick tour through the Marianne North (soon to be refurbished) and Shirley Sherwood Botanical (newly opened) galleries. We did not have time to go inside Kew Palace.


The next day we went to the Museum of Immigration in Spitalfields. We took a brief detour down Petticoat Lane and Spitalfields Market, where we were persuaded by some Benefit Cosmetics auditioners to try some products. After a tour through the Museum of Immigration, which is only open to the general public a few weeks each year, we grabbed lunch at Spitalfields Market.

We spent the afternoon admiring the 3500 or so jewels at the William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Above is an orchid hairpin ornament (from the V&A website).

The next morning, Vibha flew home from Heathrow.

London Museum of Immigration

The simple gold letters on a worn brown suitcase ask “Why did they leave Ireland?” The suitcase itself is lined with potatoes with words scrawled on them. One says “No Food No Money.” Another says “Sad, Sick Soil.”

Primary school children created this suitcase as they imagined being one of the millions of starving Irish who had to leave their homes during the potato famine. They collaborated with artists to create displays to similarly honour the Huguenots, members of Commonwealth countries, and Somalis who had also sought asylum in London. These children themselves were mostly Bangladeshi, the latest group of immigrants to come to London and settle first in Spitalfields. In their unique way, they created the “Suitcases and Sanctuary” exhibit displayed in the London Museum of Immigration and Diversity.

As I wandered around the exhibit reading the museum curator explanations typed on plain sheets of paper, I was struck by the never-ending cycle of the immigration experience. First, an immigrant group settles on the outskirts of London to live in the worst conditions and do the work no one else will do. They are vilified by current residents for “driving down wages and stealing our jobs”. Gradually the lives of these immigrants improve, they move into better neighbourhoods, and are absorbed into the mainstream. When a new set of immigrants moves into the outskirts of London, the earlier immigrants join the local residents in condemning these immigrants for “driving down wages and stealing our jobs”.

The museum is housed in a Grade II listed building so fragile that it is only opened to the general public a few weeks each year. The story of this building starts with the master silk weaver Peter Abraham Ogier who came to London to escape religious persecution in France. He settled in Spitalfields to escape control by the London guilds that would not allow Huguenots as members. In 1719, Ogier moved his family and work into a five storey building built by Samuel Worrell. In 1869, the back garden was covered and a basement dug out below. This space served as a synagogue where the men worshipped in the main sanctuary while the women worshipped above from the ladies gallery. The coloured glass roof through which light filtered created a beautiful experience for all. The synagogue was abandoned in the late 1960s.

Suitcase photos by 24HourMuseum

Women Ready to Make a Difference

I spent a week on the Rutgers University Douglass Campus with a group of women "ready to effect social change." Nella Barkley and Sandy Parker led us through a process of analyzing life stories, developing skill cards, conducting surveys, and writing proposals (not resumes).

To ensure we continue making progress on designing the next phase of our lives and getting the results we want, we each will schedule five more coaching sessions with Nella. Unlike other programs where I could put my materials away and forget about them, I am encouraged by Nella and my classmates to continue to work the process.

We have a website where we post updates and I am in e-mail conversations with many of my classmates. Their progress, especially the little life changes that are leading to large positive life changes, keeps me hopeful and motivated.

Great Falls Historical Distric Cultural Center in Paterson New Jersey

Those of us who grew up in NJ don't normally associate natural beauty with Paterson - but here is the proof!

Thames Barrier and Thames Path

We have set ourselves a goal of walking the Thames from source past the Thames Barrier (184 miles) and on to the River Darent (9 more miles). Most walkers stop at the Thames Barrier because the "Working River" is quite industrial as we now know! We even caught the bus from the Belvedere Industrial Centre back to the train.

The Thames Barrier is the 2nd largest movable flood control barrier (523 metres) in the world. It is closed in the event of a storm tidal surge combined with a high tide to protect the Thames upstream. This is why we can live happily on the Thames in Kew and not be concerned with flooding ("touch wood" as the Brits say).

As of 24th May 2008, we have walked from Staines to River Darent. The walk gets prettier and prettier as we walk upstream. Part of the adventure is finding our way to each starting point, a place to lunch, and our way home. And we get some exercise as a bonus!

British Library Ramayana

Kris especially loved this comprehensive Ramayana exhibit which included over 100 17th-century Indian manuscript paintings. We were both impressed with how many countries depicted this great epic in some form or another. Since we could not take pictures, I included the British Library website picture and explanation on how to interpret this painting.

"The Ramayana manuscripts commissioned by Rana Jagat Singh of Mewar (1628-1652) were illustrated on the grandest scale so that no episode or detail of importance was omitted. This necessitated the revival of the ancient narrative method of simultaneous narration used in both sculpture and painting. In European or Islamic illustration, each picture usually concentrates on depicting a single episode of the story - but in the Indian method, each picture might capture several episodes in the story so that the characters appear more than once in the same picture. In the example shown above, reading anti-clockwise, we can follow Rama, Bharata and Satrughna from the top of the hill, down to the river (in the lower right corner) and back up again to where they sit outside the hut."