Tuesday, 30 July 2019

Penmans Green

Near the end of the underground on the North-west side of London is the little village of Penman's Green. My final stop in England was to stay with our friends Pedro and Tina. Pedro is a colorectal surgeon, and Tina was once married to my brother Pete. They visit Australia frequently and we usually catch up.


Best man and groom at Pete and Tina's wedding in 1982


Pedro and Tina's house


Tina and Pedro in front of Waddesdon Manor, a stately home which had belonged to one of the Rothschilds. 

Waddesdon Manor was built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild between 1874 and 1885 to display his collection of art and to entertain the fashionable world.






Archie, playing a gig in a pub garden


Windsor Castle

Close to Windsor is the town of Slough, where I was born in my maternal grandparents house. We went on an expedition to try and find it. It was sold at one point and became a care home for developmentally delayed people. There was a scandal and enquiry into poor management, and the house changed its name to try to wash off negative associations, which made the hunt more difficult. We were eventually successful.


Stoke Green House (renamed Sistine Manor).


Sistine Manor (photo from the internet)


An original photo of Stoke Green House. The very same!

Slough had some bad press too. It was generally regarded as an eye-sore. Poet Laureate John Betjeman wrote a poem about it.

Slough

Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough 
It isn't fit for humans now, 
There isn't grass to graze a cow 
Swarm over, Death! 

Come, bombs, and blow to smithereens 
Those air-conditioned, bright canteens, 
Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans 
Tinned minds, tinned breath. 

Mess up the mess they call a town - 
A house for ninety-seven down 
And once a week for half-a-crown 
For twenty years, 

And get that man with double chin 
Who'll always cheat and always win, 
Who washes his repulsive skin 
In women's tears, 

And smash his desk of polished oak 
And smash his hands so used to stroke 
And stop his boring dirty joke 
And make him yell. 

But spare the bald young clerks who add 
The profits of the stinking cad; 
It's not their fault that they are mad, 
They've tasted Hell. 

It's not their fault they do not know 
The birdsong from the radio, 
It's not their fault they often go 
To Maidenhead 

And talk of sports and makes of cars 
In various bogus Tudor bars 
And daren't look up and see the stars 
But belch instead. 

In labour-saving homes, with care 
Their wives frizz out peroxide hair 
And dry it in synthetic air 
And paint their nails. 

Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough 
To get it ready for the plough. 
The cabbages are coming now; 
The earth exhales. 

Saturday, 27 July 2019

London

Lots to see in London. I have been hosted by my old friend Ian from Fordingbridge, and his wife Georgie. Ian and I were close mates in our teens.


Ian


Georgie

I have been royally entertained by them, being exposed to culture such as the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, art at the Tate Modern, and a play 'The End of History'.


The Albert Memorial


The Royal Albert Hall 


The Proms


The Royal Naval College in Greenwich


Chapel of St. Peter & St. Paul, Old Royal Naval College


National Maritime Museum


Looking down the Thames from the National Maritime Museum


A Fijian sailing canoe in the National Maritime Museum. Similar to one we sailed on in the Louisiade Archipelago, of Papua New Guinea. See video here.


Ropes and blocks on the Cutty Sark


Looking down the river Thames from the footbridge by the Tate Modern


Footbridge; St Paul's Cathedral beyond



The Shard




Kids creating in the Tate Modern




Georgie is Lady Captain of the club, which led to an interesting experience; walking the course with some of the members to learn about the management of a golf course. It is a 'heathland' course, which features lovely displays of heather. Myxomatosis killed rabbits that used to graze the pine seedlings, as a result of which the number of shady trees around the greens has increased, with secondary effects on grass and green quality. Cutting down trees can be politically contentious, so the course walk with the experts was designed to help members understand the reasons for the proposed lopping.


Walking the course

Tuesday, 23 July 2019

The luthier and the sculptor

I have been staying in London with my old friend Nick, who shared a flat with me when we were at Bristol University back in 1969-70. He has reinvented himself several times, from studying philosophy, to being a guitarist, a gardener, and now a luthier, building guitars.

He lives with his wife Almuth in a large converted church hall near Wimbledon. Almuth is a well respected sculptor.

It has been interesting to hang out with them both, and vicariously taste the life of a couple of London creatives.


Nick


Almuth







Almuth's studio


Almuth's club - The Chelsea Arts Club


Charles, another member of the Bristol Uni group of friends

Monday, 22 July 2019

Kew Gardens

There were some bad things that came out of the British Empire. There were some good things, too. One was the assembly of botanical information that can be found in Kew Gardens.

I always enjoy going there, but this time was even better with an exhibition of glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly.