Vicky and I were meeting in London, coming individually from Lisbon and Sevilla. No plan but some things we had wanted to do for a long time......amazingly we managed to cover everything and more in 6 days thanks to Tony and Miya kindly giving us a base in Putney and the efficiency of London transport using the wonderful Oyster card.
DAY I Tuesday
Leaving Montanchez very early on a clear star lit night, I travelled the whole day in 7 stages with varied modes of transport; car, coach, taxi, plane, bus, tube, bus from finca via Merida and Sevilla to arrive at lovely Luton, on to Victoria and through to Putney Bridge, last bit was on the faithful 430 bus which was integral to our trips around London from Putney. I started in the dark and dark again in London, no starlight, chilly and wet. A fitful night of London sounds; traffic, planes and satanic foxes screeching in the garden.
DAY II Wednesday
Still raining but we had planned to go by river bus to Greenwich so off we went on the 430 bus to get to Putney bridge and the pier for getting the Uber river bus.
We loved getting out onto the Thames, chugging down through the heart of London passing under all the bridges, 20, and iconic sights, still a thrill!
- Battersea Power Station
- Battersea Park
- Chelsea Bridge and Albert Bridge
- Houses of Parliament and Big Ben
- London Eye on the South Bank
- Westminster Bridge
- Embankment and Cleopatra's Needle
- Somerset House
- Southbank Centre
- OXO Tower
- St Paul's Cathedral dome rising behind the north bank
- Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
- Tate Modern and Millennium Bridge
- The Shard towering over London Bridge
- Tower Bridge
- Tower of London
- Canary Wharf's skyscraper cluster
- The O2 Arena
- Greenwich itself with the Cutty Sark and Old Royal Naval College
In some ways a perfect day to be on the river in the mist and rain but safe and dry with comfy seats, ever changing view and the well stocked café just metres away, interesting photography through the rain slicked windows.
The Cutty Sark sailed in eight "tea seasons", from London to China and back before the opening of the Suez Canal to steamships made the clipper ships less competitive for the tea trade. Wonderful that it has been preserved.
I had not been to Greenwich since a school trip, a very long time ago! Was impressed with the renovation of the 18th century naval complex and bustling atmosphere in the high street.
Still raining, we visited Queen's house. It forms a central focus of the Old Royal Naval College with grand vistas leading to the River Thames and the extraordinary cluster of new construction, this still amazes me, not surprising as it's almost 50 years since I knew London quite well, all this was happening while I was having adventures in Portugal and Spain; from scruffy no-go docklands to gleaming towers of bizarre forms. The view up to the Royal Observatory is unchanged. Queen's House was built between 1616 and 1635, commissioned by Queen Anne of Denmark wife of James I, designed by architect Inigo Jones. Work on the house stopped in April 1618 when Anne became ill and died in 1619 of dropsy. Work did not resume until 1629 when the house was given to Henrietta Maria of France by her husband King Charles I, the house was completed in 1635. Hence the name Queens House even though the two Queens never met or collaborated. It was a royal retreat and place to display the artworks commissioned by the Queens. One of the most important buildings in British architectural history, the first consciously classical building to have been constructed in the country. It was Jones's first major commission after returning from his 1613–1615 grand tour of Roman, Renaissance and Palladian architecture in Italy.
After its brief use as a home for royalty, Queens House was incorporated into use for the complex of the expanding Royal Hospital for Seamen. It now serves as part of the National Maritime Museum and is used to display parts of its substantial collection of maritime paintings and portraits.
This was my favourite, the Tulip staircase, earliest centrally unsupported spiral staircase in England, inspired by Palladio. The flowers in its iron balustrade are probably not tulips,more likely lilies, the royal flower of France in honour of Henrietta Maria.
Still raining so after visiting Queen's house we were beguiled by the Pie 'n mash place, Goddards, since 1890
The chat behind the bar was like a 1940s comedy with salt of the earth cockney folk, they must employ staff based on their accents, just stopped short of rhyming slang but I did enjoy all the 'darlin's' as in " nah darlin, don't do wine, just lager or cider, sorry luv" The menu was simple but confusing at the same time .....pie'n mash, double pie 'n mash, triple pie 'n mash, pie'n mash with gravy/ peas/ eels etc. etc. We resisted the jellied eels and were presented with huge plates of........pie 'n mash. Quite bland with glutinous brown gravy liberally applied, now we know about this London dish we don't ever have to eat it again. The place was full of multi national tourists but also plenty of locals so accents and traditional food alive and kicking in Greenwich.
We now had the daunting task of getting to Stratford for the visit to the V&A East Storehouse. Thankfully it went well, negotiating the transport in unknown territory, short walk to the DLR station (Dockland Light Railway) straight through to Stratford, then courage failed and we took a taxi to the storehouse. This is a relatively new concept for exhibiting the tons of overflow items belonging to the original V&A in South Kensington. Formerly they would be locked away in dusty old warehouses never to see the light of day. Precious objects which were either not "special" enough or just too cumbersome. Now they have a splendid purpose build open plan structure in the former Olympic park zone in Stratford. The exhibits are not displayed in a traditional manner but this makes it more like a treasure hunt, discovering fascinating objects of very varied provenance and era, seemingly in random order. There is some method in the madness with colour coding depending on your main focus. I looked out for inspiration for artists and creatives but in fact I found everything fascinating, even the Victorian pine boxes originally used for storing exhibits, layers of pasted labels and enigmatic symbols. Probably the most impressive and largest piece was the Torrijos Ceiling, a large Hispano-Moresque ceiling from the Palacio de Torrijos,Toledo, dating from around 1490. It was acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1905 where it was exhibited until 1993. It has now been fully restored and in an innovative display mode, it can be seen from below in all its glory and one floor up the underside showing the haphazard construction methods used by the mozarabe craftsmen, a patchwork of soft wood, a backing to the meticulously placed decorative work under the dome. Incidentally it is just one of the four ceilings from the palace, each one situated in its own corner tower, the other three are in France, Madrid and San Francisco.
Here is a random selection of objects on display, just things that caught my eye and also general vistas of the space. In fact this is the best way to enjoy the museum, just wander around over the three floors and be surprised and delighted by the proximity of the objects, no barriers or glass.
Architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky revolutionised housework for the modern housewife with this fitted kitchen, 10,000 of which were installed across housing projects in Frankfurt, Germany in 1926/7
Kaufmann Office
Made from cypress plywood, this office is the only complete interior designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright on permanent display outside the USA.
Pittsburgh retail magnate Edgar J Kaufmann Sr commissioned Wright to design this room for a Kaufmann’s department store.
DAY III Thursday
We decided to walk along the river from Putney bridge in direction of Hammersmith bridge through the old Fulham Palace gardens to visit The William Morris Society & Museum, Kelmscott House, 26 Upper Mall, Hammersmith, London W6 9TA where he lived and worked with his family until the last years of his life and set up the Kelmscott Press. 
It was here that many of the former Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood would visit, even Dante Gabriel Rossetti whose former muse and lover, Jane Burden was now the wife of Morris . After the death of Rossetti's wife, another P.R.B muse, Elizabeth Siddal,in 1862, the affair between Rossetti and Jane continued with the knowledge of William. So far so Bohemian.Oh and don't forget Rossetti had Elizabeth Siddal's grave exhumed so he could retrieve his passionate poems to her which he had put in the coffin. How romantic?
The house must have seen some dramatic scenes as she also had a continuing affair with the notorious philanderer, poet and Arab horse breeder, Wilfred Scawen Blunt. 
Somehow she found the time to become skilled at interpreting the designs of Morris into wondrous embroidered pieces, an unlikely pursuit for this demanding lady who had originally hated the idea of moving to out of the way Hammersmith from Kelmscott Manor near Oxford, her price was the provision of a horse and carriage so she could escape to the brighter lights of central London. The carriage house was eventually repurposed for the printing press and also where Morris would hold his Socialist meetings.
Somehow she found the time to become skilled at interpreting the designs of Morris into wondrous embroidered pieces, an unlikely pursuit for this demanding lady who had originally hated the idea of moving to out of the way Hammersmith from Kelmscott Manor near Oxford, her price was the provision of a horse and carriage so she could escape to the brighter lights of central London. The carriage house was eventually repurposed for the printing press and also where Morris would hold his Socialist meetings.
We were a little disappointed that the public view of the house is limited to the carriage house, the lower rooms and servants area. The upstairs living areas are now rented by the society as a private residence. However, what we saw was beautifully presented with examples of wallpaper and textiles on show as well as Arts and Crafts furniture and objects, photographs of Morris and family and examples of his political writings and philosophy printed on the press.
The Thames path is really interesting between Putney Bridge and Kelmscott House. Especially walking through the Old Fulham Palace gardens and visiting what is left of Fulham Palace, the residency of the Bishop of London from 704 to 1973, it came into the hands of the Church of England in Tudor times.
It has always been a place of refuge. The Bishops of London used the Palace primarily as a summer retreat away from the crowded dirty city with easy access from the river. t was also a place to entertain important visitors, including royalty. Queen Elizabeth I was guest of honour at a lavish banquet in 1601. Over 150 years later King George III came for breakfast.
After the English Reformation in the 16th century clergy were allowed to marry and Fulham Palace became a family home. In the 19th century the Bishops and their wives began to share the house and garden more with the community, hosting large parties and church pageants.
The walled Tudor garden is particularly charming, it retains a special atmosphere of calm and tranquillity surrounded by high walls of mellow brick, entered through a low Tudor arch. In November it is fallow and colourless but busy volunteers are tending the plants for their revival in the spring when it must be glorious, full of flowers, fruit, herbs and vegetable with busy bees pollinating all the blossom.
One detail I found intriguing were the bee niches, built into the walls for placing straw bee hives, these were unusually high as the Thames would regularly flood during the winter. The garden was protected to some extent by the longest domestic mote in England which surrounded the palace and gardens with a sluice gate on the river.
This is the second oldest Botanic Garden in London, the oldest and first being Chelsea Physic Garden. It encompasses not only the 2 acres of walled garden, but also the rare trees that grace the lawns. One of which, a Holm Oak, Quercus ilex, is particularly interesting to me since I have hundreds of old Holm Oaks growing on the finca. I wonder if the acorns for this one could have been brought back from Spain during the Peninsular Wars as were the examples at Arundel Castle.
Getting dusky as we walked back along the Thames path towards the bridge
DAY IV Friday
After the English Reformation in the 16th century clergy were allowed to marry and Fulham Palace became a family home. In the 19th century the Bishops and their wives began to share the house and garden more with the community, hosting large parties and church pageants.
The walled Tudor garden is particularly charming, it retains a special atmosphere of calm and tranquillity surrounded by high walls of mellow brick, entered through a low Tudor arch. In November it is fallow and colourless but busy volunteers are tending the plants for their revival in the spring when it must be glorious, full of flowers, fruit, herbs and vegetable with busy bees pollinating all the blossom.
One detail I found intriguing were the bee niches, built into the walls for placing straw bee hives, these were unusually high as the Thames would regularly flood during the winter. The garden was protected to some extent by the longest domestic mote in England which surrounded the palace and gardens with a sluice gate on the river.
This is the second oldest Botanic Garden in London, the oldest and first being Chelsea Physic Garden. It encompasses not only the 2 acres of walled garden, but also the rare trees that grace the lawns. One of which, a Holm Oak, Quercus ilex, is particularly interesting to me since I have hundreds of old Holm Oaks growing on the finca. I wonder if the acorns for this one could have been brought back from Spain during the Peninsular Wars as were the examples at Arundel Castle.
Getting dusky as we walked back along the Thames path towards the bridge
Busy day planned culminating in our booked visit to 18 Folgate Street in Spitalfields, the Denis Severs house.
But first we visit the British Museum with a new friend, the No 14 bus, similar route to 430 but it goes beyond South Kensington, to to Knightsbridge, Green Park, Bond Street, Piccadilly Circus, Haymarket and past all things Soho until we alighted right outside the British Museum with no queues.
THE BRITISH MUSEUM
So looking forward to a quick whizz around but my main interest today was Room 25 which contain the African collections with a walk on the way through the great court to see the sad remains of the original reading room. A march through galleries 1 and 2; Enlightenment and Collecting the Modern World, the Victorian galleries that capture the scholarly feeling of the original museum with walls of leather bound books, tall windows, mahogany display cases and huge chunks of ancient Egypt, Italy and Greece.
Down to the basement where Room 25 is hidden away with some other fascinating exhibits from ancient tribes of New Zealand, Polynesia and the lost tribes of North America.The African content is quite minimal, nothing compared to the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris. Seems a pity that African artefacts were not much appreciated by the British who ruled over vast areas of African tribal land.
The invaders stripped Benin City of thousands of antiquities. They gave some to Queen Victoria and kept others for themselves or sold them for profit in West Africa, England and elsewhere. Many ended up in the halls and storerooms of museums around the world, including the British Museum and the Horniman Museum who have now returned the vast majority of its collection saying “The evidence is very clear that these objects were acquired through force, and external consultation supported our view that it’s both moral and appropriate to return their ownership to Nigeria. Repatriation can be a powerful cultural, spiritual and symbolic act, which recognizes the wrongs of the past and restores some sense of justice.”
It remains to be seen if the British Museum will follow suit, in that case where will it end considering the manner in which most of the contents were acquired? However, there seems to be a very questionable law protecting the British museum collections. Controversially, the British Museum, which cares for more than 900 bronzes, is legally prevented from returning them under the British Museum (1963) and Heritage (1983) acts. It seems that as a sop to protests the British Museum is actively involved and financially invested in EMOWAA via its African Histories and Heritage Programme. “This includes a five-year archaeological partnership that’s currently investigating historic Benin City, enabling us to invest in local communities, exchange knowledge and build capacity by sharing skills and expertise,” Some curators felt that antiquities such as the Benin Bronzes should be considered part of a shared, global heritage rather than the property of a single nation. They believed the job of protecting, displaying and loaning them should go to those best placed to handle this responsibility. But
the world has since reassessed the ethics and effects of colonialism. Meanwhile, Egypt and Senegal have built new cultural museums and others, including Nigeria, are following suit Come 2026, repatriated treasures will have a lasting home in Benin City’s new Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) Plus a marvellous new site has been created with a complete catalogue of artefacts from Benin with photos and detailed information including the current situation of the object, very interesting indeed https://digitalbenin.org/
One by one, the arguments against repatriating items acquired by colonialists have worn thin. We will see how this evolves.
Time to meet Vicky at the Sutton Hoe exhibits, we are both big fans of "The Dig".
We are pressed for time so we leave all the other familiar collections much visited before on school trips: the mummies, Rosetta stone, Elgin marbles etc. etc.
SIR JOHN SOANE'S HOUSE, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS
A slightly meandering walk to reach Lincoln's Inn Fields where the Sir John Soane house is situated. It sticks out like a sore thumb among the rather sober terraces, the inside collection escaping on to the limestone facade with various architectural conceits.
The original house became much larger by buying up the neigbouring houses in Soane's lifetime such were the needs of his ever increasing collections. An early and enthusiastic believer in maximism and more is more he was able to add huge amounts of artifacts financed by his enormously sucessful and prolific career.
He was born to a humble family in 1753, his father, a bricklayer, could never have imagined the heights that his son would reach.
Starting his architectural training at 15 he became dedicated to the neo-classic style. His career was secure and his reputation grew. He set off for his own Grand Tour in 1779 visiting Rome, Siena, Florence, Naples and extensively Sicily where he was enchanted by the Greek temples. Returning after 2 years he had to fight hard to establish his architectural practice.he eventually became professor of architecture at the Royal Academy and an official architect to the Office of works and took on dozens of private commissions including the Bank of England and Dulwich Picture Gallery. He received a knighthood in 1831.
George the younger one became an actor in theatrical melodramas, he lived with his wife and her sister, having children with both of them, there were scenes of drunkenness and cruelty. After paying off debts to save him from the debtors prison Sir John left George nothing in his will but provided for his grandchildren.
His main legacy is his private house and office, now the Sir John Soane's Museum, designed to display the art works, huge library and architectural artefacts that he collected during his lifetime for his own pleasure but also as valuable teaching aids, especially during the years of Napoleonic wars when it was impossible to travel outside England, no more grand tours for young students of architecture. He used his home primarily as a laboratory for his architectural ideas, but also used his intriguing collections for teaching purposes. Students were left to wander through rooms to study and draw the accumulation of objects on shelves, walls, floors, and wherever else he managed to cram another treasure. On his death in 1837, Soane’s house was left to the nation, bequeathed as a museum for the public on the condition that it remain “as nearly as possible in the state in which he would leave it.” Thus we can enjoy this extraordinary glimpse into the life of an emminent antiquarian and architect at his home during the height of the regency era.
Probably the most spectacular exhibit is the sarcophagus which was discovered in October 1817 in the monumental tomb of Seti I, one of the most elaborate in the Valley of the Kings, by an extraordinary character, Giovanni Belzoni.
The sarcophagus of the pharaoh Seti I, is carved from a single vast block of translucent alabaster. Across its surface, both inside and outside, are carved in hieroglyphs an Egyptian text known today as the Book of the Gates, a series of spells and rituals that the dead pharaoh would need to safely pass through the underworld and reach the afterlife. Inside, across the bottom of the sarcophagus, is the elegantly-drawn figure of Nut, goddess of the sky, whose role was to guide and protect the dead. This gorgeous treasure cost Soane £2,000 after the British Museum turned it down as too expensive. Unfortunately Belzoni did not receive any money as Henry Salt the British consul in Cairo insisted that he had employed Belzoni for finding archaeological treasures on behalf of the new British Museum.Altogether a nefarious business.
Installing the 3,000-year-old relic, the size of a small boat and weighing several tonnes, involved knocking down a sizeable chunk of his back wall, and demolishing his housekeeper’s sitting room.
When Sir John Soane finally managed to install his greatest treasure in the cellar of his home, he threw a three-day party to celebrate. All the most celebrated writers and artists attended together with the leading society of the day. J.M.W. Turner and Sir John Soane were close friends. Turner was a regular guest at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, including attending the famed parties that welcomed the sarcophagus of Seti I into Soane’s collection in 1825. The pair studiously developed their lectures and resources for teaching at the Royal Academy in consultation, with Turner making use of his friend’s extensive library. Both men were influenced by the classical world and their youthful travels to Rome, remaining in regular correspondence throughout their lives.
When Sir John Soane finally managed to install his greatest treasure in the cellar of his home, he threw a three-day party to celebrate. All the most celebrated writers and artists attended together with the leading society of the day. J.M.W. Turner and Sir John Soane were close friends. Turner was a regular guest at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, including attending the famed parties that welcomed the sarcophagus of Seti I into Soane’s collection in 1825. The pair studiously developed their lectures and resources for teaching at the Royal Academy in consultation, with Turner making use of his friend’s extensive library. Both men were influenced by the classical world and their youthful travels to Rome, remaining in regular correspondence throughout their lives.
Belzoni now has a dodgy reputation, seen as little better than a tomb robber, but he genuinely had a great interest in Egypt and he thought he was saving and preserving those treasures by taking them out of the country. And when others were excavating with explosives, he was going in with pick and shovel. There is a good docu drama about Belzoni, his life and particularly the discovery of the tomb of Seti I and clarifying dealings with the perfidious British. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z24X0KFIFcQ
I really enjoyed this visit, very relaxed, take as long as you like to wander around. Probably one of best time capsule house visits, it really looks like the house is exactly as it was when Soane left it .
We were now going on to a very different time capsule house, very much one mans fantasy created on a shoe string in the 1970s.
DENIS SEVERS HOUSE 18 FOLGATE STREET, SPITLEFIELDS
The house is the product of Denis Sever's theatrical imagination, more like a stage set for an 18th century costume drama then the supposedly simulacrum of everyday life in an early 18th century silk weavers household. Denis Severs, an American Anglophile, lived in the house, without electricity or modern conveniences, until his death in 1999. He had bought it from the Spitalfields historical trust who were formed in the 1970s to save 17th and 18th century houses from the wrecking ball. So much had already been lost in the name of progress. They were just about in time, but walk through Spitalfields today and see the shining city skyscrapers looming over the modest silk weavers homes.
For his own enjoyment he created the house as a sensory experience which would transport visitors away from the 20th century – the house’s motto is "You either see it or you don’t"
Mr Jervis, a prosperous silk-weaver and his wife Mrs Jervis are the characters invented to inhabit the house. We catch a glimpse of their daily domesticity, their treasured possessions, disgarded orange peel, not to mention the contents of their elegant chamber pots.
In every corner is a small tableaux of objects, artfully arranged to hint at their lifestyle and character. Don't look too closely, these were the gleanings of junk markets, chipped and soiled, lovingly collected and restored by Denis on a shoestring, later came some donated pieces of 18th furniture and objects which Denis displayed to great effect.
The grandest rooms are on the first floors to represent the family at their most prosperous, as we climb further, the upper floors are representative of later generations of the Jervis family, descending into poverty as silk weaving declined. The attic area is a very mean and grimy space, possibly the house has become a common lodging house for several families.
The experience was fun and atmospheric with crackling open fires and flickering candle light BUT it was simply not convincing for this house at that time. The house was built in 1724 within a street of terraced houses built cheaply and specifically for the immigrant Huguenot silk weavers, the most distinctive feature were the wide windows on the upper floors to let in as much daylight as possible for the intricate weaving process. The Huguenots came to London to ply their trade, just outside the gates of London, to avoid interference from the powerful London guilds. They did not live in grand houses, they built for sober living and industry in accordance with Huguenot Calvinist values. The house's modest proportions don't support the grandeur Severs imposed on it. A successful master weaver might have had comfort, but the theatrical staging feels like it's dressing up a weaver's house in merchant-class pretensions.
Silk weaving wasn't something that happened elsewhere ; the domestic space was the workplace. The rhythm of the loom would have been the heartbeat of the house, with family life flowing around the work. What a shame that Severs fundamentally misrepresents how these households actually functioned. The weaving wasn't separate from domestic life, it was domestic life .....so where are the looms? That would have been so interesting, a working loom and rolls of finished silk weaving ready to send to market.
Severs essentially created a romanticized fantasy that prioritizes his own artistic vision over the actual lives, values, and work of the people he attempts to represent. The absence of the looms isn't just a missed opportunity - it's a fundamental misunderstanding,or deliberate rejection, of what made these households distinctive.
Having made these observations it is still a fun experience, enjoy the creaky original floorboards, the reflections of candles behind their scallop shell shades, the recorded sounds of carriages passing outside, the bells of Christ Church just down the street, the still life arrangements from a 17th century Dutch painting, the worn Persian rugs, elaborate tea and punch making paraphernalia. Perfect pastime on a wet and misty London evening.
Silk weaving wasn't something that happened elsewhere ; the domestic space was the workplace. The rhythm of the loom would have been the heartbeat of the house, with family life flowing around the work. What a shame that Severs fundamentally misrepresents how these households actually functioned. The weaving wasn't separate from domestic life, it was domestic life .....so where are the looms? That would have been so interesting, a working loom and rolls of finished silk weaving ready to send to market.
Severs essentially created a romanticized fantasy that prioritizes his own artistic vision over the actual lives, values, and work of the people he attempts to represent. The absence of the looms isn't just a missed opportunity - it's a fundamental misunderstanding,or deliberate rejection, of what made these households distinctive.
Having made these observations it is still a fun experience, enjoy the creaky original floorboards, the reflections of candles behind their scallop shell shades, the recorded sounds of carriages passing outside, the bells of Christ Church just down the street, the still life arrangements from a 17th century Dutch painting, the worn Persian rugs, elaborate tea and punch making paraphernalia. Perfect pastime on a wet and misty London evening.
The cosy Victorian parlour, the more affluent days of the house are over
The attic rooms represent a further fall from grace, the house has become a boarding house, quite sordid and on the edge of destitution.
The attic rooms represent a further fall from grace, the house has become a boarding house, quite sordid and on the edge of destitution.
We left the house on to the lamp lit street, into the drizzle looking for a friendly pub to sit and digest the experience. Our trip home was easy from Liverpool Street to Putney bridge, a variety of witches, skeletons, ghosts and ghouls joined us for some of the journey but the most bizarre experience was yet to come.
On this night of Halloween we had a little frisson of the supernatural on our way home . In fact, in the most prosaic place, a bus stop on Putney bridge. But you know the thin membrane between the supernatural and our world is at its most vulnerable on this night of all nights even in the most ordinary circumstances. It was a long wait standing on the bridge with the drizzle and mist rising from the river. As we stood we observed the people going out for an evening of spooky fun, in fact I had already sat next to Dracula on the tube so nothing was surprising, sad to see very young girls totally legless in skimpy gothic gear, God help them! Still no 430 bus so we waited, slowly as people went their way on other buses we were the only ones left. It was then I became aware of a looming presence just behind the bus stop. He stood in shadow but in the light from headlights I could see he was a very tall man wearing a wide brimmed hat and long flowing coat, carrying a small flat leather briefcase and voluminous scarf, so far so normal for a cold wet evening but then I looked down to his feet, they were encased in peculiar split toed shoes, shiny misshapen and strange. Two buses arrived at once, he became agitated and shuffled up and down checking the destinations, people alighted and disappeared into the night, he was still there. We were not alarmed on the busy bridge but just curious, 2 more buses arrived, again the agitation but this time one of them was his bus, destination Mortlake.....Lake of the dead and the number of the bus was 666. He stepped on and the bus disappeared carrying him over the bridge and far away. The next bus was our 430 which took us safely home, no walking the streets for us that night! That was no Halloween costume, too mundane until you got a glimpse of the cloven feet. Yes, yes, I know about the latest hip footwear called Tabi shoes originally from Japan but........ .........
DAY V Saturday
After all the wonders and shivers of yesterday we had a very relaxed morning, slowly getting ready for rendezvous with our 2nd cousin Michele and her partner Kenny who we had not met yet. Rain again but off on our trusty 430 to Putney Exchange and train to Richmond.
A very long time since I was there but delightful to see the High Street and find the way to the green which was busy with the many pubs around the edge, we were meeting at the Britannia which was a great surprise, not really a pub anymore but some lovely food and attentive staff, good choice! We were having such a lovely time we all forgot to take photos, never mind we will make up for it when they come to visit us next year.
DAY VI Sunday
The gardens were busy but it didn't interfere with the delightful experience of strolling through a London park in autumn. Not just any old park but The Royal Botanical Gardens Kew.
The Pagoda was completed in 1762 as a gift for Princess Augusta. It was one of several Chinese buildings designed for Kew by Sir William Chambers, who had spent time travelling and studying the architecture of East Asia. A popular ‘folly’ of the age, it offered one of the earliest and finest bird’s eye views of London.
Kew Gardens played a starring role in one of history's most ambitious—and ultimately misguided—horticultural schemes: shipping breadfruit from Tahiti to the Caribbean to feed enslaved people cheaply.
The idea came from Sir Joseph Banks, Kew's influential director, who'd encountered breadfruit in Tahiti with Captain Cook. He was convinced this starchy, productive tree would be the perfect solution to feeding plantation workers in the West Indies.
Enter Captain Bligh and HMS Bounty in 1787. The crew famously mutinied, allegedly because they resented the precious space and fresh water devoted to 1,000 breadfruit saplings while they suffered in cramped quarters. The plants ended up floating in the Pacific.
Undeterred, Bligh tried again in 1791, successfully delivering over 2,000 breadfruit plants from Tahiti to Jamaica via Kew, where they were carefully studied and propagated first.
Unfortunately the enslaved workers refused to eat it. They found breadfruit bland and unappetizing compared to plantains they were already growing. Banks's grand scheme flopped spectacularly.
Still, breadfruit stuck around and is now recognized as a nutritious, climate-resilient crop. Kew's botanic imperialism accidentally did something useful.Kew is very much related to George III and Queen Charlotte.
From at least 1756, George was given his own household at Kew Palace. Early tutors dismissed him as ‘sullen’ and ‘uninterested in business’, but this changed with the appointment of John Stuart 3rd Earl of Bute, his mother Augusta’s closest advisor. Bute became a father figure to the Prince, who grew in confidence. Under Bute’s influence, George became interested in architecture and received tuition at Kew from the architect William Chambers who became the driving force behind the Kew follies, heavily influenced by his travels in Asia. The most spectacular was the Pagoda built in 1763, it was the tallest building in Europe at the time and created a sensation. Constructed of grey brick, the pagoda comprises 10 storeys, totalling 50 m in height,with 253 steps to the viewing gallery. Renovated in 2018 it is now adorned again with the original dragons which had been removed due to serious deterioration.
George was particularly interested and adept at farming. He felt strongly that he should use his lands to better feed the nation, and used Windsor and Kew to develop improvements in agriculture. George enlisted Sir Joseph Banks to smuggle merino sheep from Spain to breed them with British sheep. This flock of experimental sheep grazed under the Great Pagoda.
Under George’s leadership, Kew Gardens became a centre of discovery and attracted visits from leading scientists. The explorer and naturalist Joseph Banks ensured that any new discoveries were sent to the King's Garden first.
Under George’s leadership, Kew Gardens became a centre of discovery and attracted visits from leading scientists. The explorer and naturalist Joseph Banks ensured that any new discoveries were sent to the King's Garden first.
Kew palace was also a favourite summer retreat for George and Charlotte and their numerous offspring, they lived a relatively simple life away from the formality of the court. Apparently George took his baths in the kitchen wing so the servants would not have to carry cans of hot water all the way to the royal apartments, we don't know how Charlotte managed. By the way the bath is still there in the abandoned kitchen wing.
It was here at Kew Palace that George would retreat during his bouts of "madness" which became more prolific after the initial attack in 1788. He returned to Kew for treatment twice more, in 1801 and 1804, his final and permanent bout of illness occurred in November 1810. After this relapse, he lived in seclusion at Windsor Castle for the remainder of his life . Finally On 29 January 1811, while the King was strapped into his straight jacket almost daily he signed the Regency Bill. His powers were handed over to his son, in effect ending his reign and starting the notoriously profligate period, the Regency. The prince regent ran up astronomic debts pursuing his flights of fantasy and architectural projects such as the Brighton Pavilion and Regents Street. King George died at Windsor in 1820.
Queen Victoria donated Queen Charlotte’s Cottage and its surrounding land to Kew in 1898. But the gift came with one special request – the landscape must be left in an uncultivated state.This land now forms the natural area with wild woodland and a sea of bluebells in spring.
A tea pavilion was finally provided at Kew after years of strict instructions laid down by Kew’s second director (and Darwin’s great friend) Joseph Hooker:
no smoking, no bath chairs or perambulators, no games, gymnastics or ‘military evolutions’ – and no picnics or luncheon parties. The Refreshment Pavilion offered a ‘Shilling Tea’ was built in the 1880s but burnt to the ground in 1913 by very efficient suffragettes Their actions were part of a wave of suffragette activism that swept the country following the government’s decision to withdraw from the Franchise Bill, a bill that many hoped would finally lead to full female enfranchisement. In fact this would have to wait until 1928!
America, woman sitting on bison
The Leighton House Museum is in Holland Park just off Kensington High Street, formerly the home and studio of 19th century painter and enthusiastic orientalist Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-96), still the only painter to have been ennobled and unfortunately dying the next day. It's A treasure trove of antique ceramic tiles and melodramatic Victorian painting.
The museum is notable for its elaborate middle eastern inspired interiors. The ‘Arab Hall’ specifically designed in collaboration with architect George Aitchison to show off Lord Leighton’s huge collection of ceramic tiles.
Aitchison is said to have taken his inspiration for the Arab Hall from the Zisa Palace in Palermo 
The house is also a showcase for the work of arts and craft mosaic master Walter Crane. It is his frieze that runs around at cornice level in the Arab Hall
IN THE STUDIO
Vicky needed time for some shopping therapy so we split up and would meet later at home. Time to walk a bit in Kensington High Street, truly memory lane for me. Trying to identify the buildings, where back in the 70s , this used to be the scene of many adventures and trysts; exploring the ever changing warren of Kensington Market, the original Biba in Church Street, later the Big Biba at the old Derry and Toms Art Decó department store, dinner at Parsons or Hungry Horse in the Fulham Road and racing back home at the weekends in someones battered mini with the stereo blasting out, Hendrix probably, the old route- Kensington, Fulham, Hammersmith and over Putney bridge back to our sweet little village, Thorpe. Lots of loot, old fur coats and 20s frocks from the market, Biba low platform suede knee boots and those lovely clingy jersey dresses in moody muted colours, mauve, aubergine, ivory with peculiar extended arms and loops to go over the fingers, patchouli and other herbal scents wafting around. Now the amazing old Biba store is a Marks and Spencer's and the street has lost all its old raffish character long ago. Back to Putney , just time to pop into Hurlingham Books near the bridge, love this shop for its chaotic atmosphere of towering miscellaneous books, bought a token book because of weigh restrictions, something I didn't have in my collection of 20s lit. 
Last meal with Miya and Vicky, the most delicious Sushi delivered to the door, can't do that in Montanchez!
Last meal with Miya and Vicky, the most delicious Sushi delivered to the door, can't do that in Montanchez!
We watched the last episode of Taboo which has been the perfect accompanying drama for our London trip and I need no excuse to watch Tom Hardy in anything. The dastardly East India Company portrayed in all their iniquity has hardly left a physical trace in London, their head quarters demolished long ago, I suppose the riches made over their years of operation live on in many a respectable family fortune, long washed clean of all taint of corruption. https://www.filmin.es/serie/taboo
DAY VIII Tuesday Don't remind me! Get up at 04.00 for Uber pick up at 05.00 in order to get to Victoria for 06.00 bus to Luton and 08.50 flight to Sevilla. All went well and after waiting in Sevilla for lunch, 16.00 bus to Merida, into my car and arrived home to the first fire of the season and nice supper prepared by Manfred. Back to finca life and the joys of autumn walks in the peace of the mountain................had a real blast of urban pleasures though, enough to last for a while.
