Scott Plear in London

Home and Thanks

2008-04-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

15 November 2007

Well I made it home to Catherine (and flower) and Truffle (with a new blanket). It's been several months now since I was in London and thought I should make a final entry. I have many people to thank for this project:

Acknowledgements

On the morning of January 28, 2005, a copy of Caroline Alexander’s extraordinary book Bounty: The True Story of Mutiny on the Bounty arrived at the London residence of Dr. Cuillin Bantock. This was the beginning of the exhibition Bounty: A Case of Preposterous Optimism (www.bountyexhibition.org/) which was to open on October 4, 2007.

An exhibition of this size and complexity does not just fall into place. The keystone to the project has certainly been Cuillin Bantock (www.cuillinpantockpaintings.com), whose focus, energy and determination, especially around fund raising made it happen. I owe him an inordinate amount of thanks not only for his leadership on this project but also for his extraordinary friendship. I wish to extend this thanks to his wife and son, Helen and Tristan Bantock, who also helped me with this project and whose support and friendship greatly helped my completion of it.

A project of this size requires the energy and involvement of many people. I wish to thank Liz May, APT Studio Manager and Charity Administrator, for her help and assistance in managing this project, and the 11 other artists involved in the project. I would like to give special thanks to Mr. Hugh Jenkins, Volunteer, Museum of Garden History (http://www.compulink.co.uk/~museumgh/grave.htm) , Lambeth Palace Road, London, UK, whose passion for and involvement in the Bounty saga contributed to my greater understanding of the story, especially as concerns William Bligh.

I wish to acknowledge the financial support for the exhibition by several British organizations:

The Art in Perpetuity Trust (www.aptstudios.org)

The Arts Council of England

The National Lottery/Awards for All

London Borough of Lewisham and

The Ernest Cook Trust

Trinity College of Music (www.tcm.ac.uk)

Laban Dance Centre (www.laban.org)

I would like to thank the British Library for their help in my research.

My home away from home was the Arran House Hotel, 77-79 Gower Street, Bloomsbury, London (www.arranhotel-london.com/). This would include Mr. John Richards, Managing Director, Carrol- Anne, Tamlyn and Vicky, his administrative staff, and John's very kind Portuguese housekeeping staff.

I would like to give special thanks for my personal support in this project to Langara College (www.langara.bc.ca). The college provided me with both the finances and time to fully engage in this work by awarding me an Education Leave. Without this tremendous support, my involvement would have been a fraction of what was possible. I would like to thank Linda Holmes, President and CEO of Langara College, who approved this leave; Members of the Education Leave Selection Committee; Linda Arnold, Dean of Instruction; Lynn Carter, Vice-President Langara Faculty Association; Wendy Low, Division Chair Representative; and Maureen Maloney, Member-at-Large, Langara Faculty Association.

I would also like to thank and express my deep love for my wife, Catherine Plear, whose immense editing skills kept my painful writing coherent and whose love and support were, as always, constant, especially during my prolonged absence from her while in London.

Chelsea Pensioners - Rememberance Day, 11 Nov 2007

2008-04-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

It only took me five months to figure out how to edit this. Never, never, never give up!

Videos of Rememberance Day March Past

2007-11-18T11:41:00.000-08:00

Rememerance Day - Whitehall, London

2007-11-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

I was able to be part of this years Remembrance Day ceremony in Whitehall. The closest I could get was Parliament Square but found a good spot to see the bands and veterans march past at the end of the ceremony.

These officers are from a Guards Division. Regretablly I do not know whether they were from the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, or even a Household Division.

I do have some video for this posting. Blogger is having some technical problems posting video at the moment, but I will post it as soon as possible.

The Bantock Room - Trinity Music College, Greenwich

2007-11-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

While I was in London I was honoured to be invited to the opening of the Sir Granville Bantock Room at Trinity Music College now located at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich by the Bantock Family.

The Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

The Sir Granville Bantock Room at Trinity Music College is located in the extreme right side of the college in the corner room on the ground level in the photograph above. The buildings were designed by Christopher Wren.

Sir Granville Bantock

To find out about Sir Granville Bantock go to:

http://www.musicweb.uk.net/bantock/buddint.htm

Photos from the opening of the Bantock Room, Greenwich:

Posters from performances of Granville Bantock on display at Trinity Music College, Greenwich.

English Food Part III

2007-11-10T03:03:00.000-08:00

Great English Food Experiences:

Tea is as much an institution in England as beer. One of the several dozen great 'High Tea' experiences is at Fortnum and Mason of Piccadilly. It is an afternoon must.

http://www.fortnumandmason.com/

The Savoy

Another great 'High Tea' experience is at the Savoy. While expensive it is a wonderful London tradition. I recommend the 'Champagne Tea.'

Afternoon Tea has been served at The Savoy throughout its entire history. Served in the famous Thames Foyer and accompanied by the sounds of the resident pianist, Afternoon Tea consists of a mouth-watering array of sandwiches with a variety of fresh fillings, delicate pastries, teacakes and scones with clotted cream and strawberry preserve.

Petrus at the Berkeley Hotel

The Petrus Restaurant in the Berkeley (pronounced Barkeley) Hotel is operated by Marcus Wareing under the umbrella of the the Gordon Ramsey Group.

http://www.gordonramsay.com/petrus/

Marcus Wareing - Petrus Chef

Gordon Ramsey

Catherine and I had the 'tasting menu' at Petrus which I've listed below. Foams are big right now in the world of haute cuisine. For example, the carrot soup is put in a tall shot glass (orange in colour) with the coriander foam floating on top (green in colour). To drink the soup you must pass the carrot soup through the coriander foam giving a perfect combination of flavours to the palette. An extraordinary culinary experience and that was just the beginning.

Petrus Tasting Menu

Amuse bouche *

Carrot soup with a coriander foam

Pan fried foie grad with fig compote,

spiced pears, almond purée

Scottish scallop, carrot a l`orange,

toasted sesame seeds

Roasted partridge, sweetcorn,

fresh cobnuts, tarragon jus

Pan fried halibut with scallop ragout,

parsnip puree

Best end of salt marsh lamb

braised shoulder, carmelised shallot and fennel

pommery mustard

Entrecote veal

green aspragus, courgette flower salad,

veal vinigrette

Cheese from the trolley

(£10.00 supplement)

Pre dessert

Vanilla crème, honey poached plums,

Spiced plum sorbet

* Amuses-bouche, also called amuses-gueule, are tiny bite-sized morsels served before the hors d'œuvre or first course of a meal. These, often accompanied by a proper complementing wine, are served as an excitement of taste buds to both prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef's approach to cooking.

The word is French, literally translated to "mouth amuser" [for bouche = mouth; amuser = to amuse, to please]. The original French word, more frequently employed, is amuse-

Deptford Potteries

2007-11-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

In the late eighteenth century there were three different potteries on the west bank of Deptford Creek, the largest being on land now occupied by APT. The extra large* flowerpots that were taken out on the Bounty for the breadfruit plants were made at Mr. Dalton’s Pottery on Creekside* but we have as yet been unable to determine which of the three this was, even though they persisted into the next century.

The shards were found locally in the Creek itself and are probably Victorian.

* Caroline Alexander: Bounty: The True story of the Mutiny on the Bounty.

The map below gives the details of buildings on Creekside just north of Deptford Bridge in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. APT is on land that was then shared between the pottery and the King’s Slaughterhouse.

Cambridge and King's College Chapel

2007-11-08T04:44:00.000-08:00

The young Henry VI laid the first stone of the King's College of Our Lady and St. Nicholas in Cambridge on Passion Sunday, 1441. From the first, the College's buildings were intended to be a magnificent display of the power of royal patronage and Henry went to great lengths to ensure that King's College Chapel would be without equal in size and beauty.

Henry drew up detailed instructions for the construction of a 'great court' but only the Chapel was ever completed and even that took nearly a century.

A list of the most extraordinary and beautiful buildings in the world must include the Chapel at King's College, Cambridge. It is simply breath-taking. As you enter the Chapel you are immediately shocked by its extraordinary beauty.

http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/index.html

More images of Cambridge

2007-11-08T03:05:00.000-08:00

More fine British Lions - The Fitzwilliam Museum

2007-11-08T02:33:00.000-08:00

The Fitzwilliam Museum was described by the Standing Commission on Museums & Galleries in 1968 as "one of the greatest art collections of the nation and a monument of the first importance". It owes its foundation to Richard, VII Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion who, in 1816, bequeathed to the University of Cambridge his works of art and library, together with funds to house them, to further "the Increase of Learning and other great Objects of that Noble Foundation".

http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/

These fine beasts can be found at the entrance to the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Bligh's Musket Ball

2007-11-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

A 1/25th lb musket ball

The Loyal crew of Bounty who were forced into Bounty’s launch after the mutiny on the morning of April 28, 1789, were able to salvage very few personal belongings, mostly just bundles of clothing, and whatever food they could lay hands on.

In total they amassed 150 pounds of bread, 32 pounds of salt pork, six quarts of rum, six bottles of wine. And 28 gallons of water – enough to last them about five days.

Following the murder of one of the crew by islanders on Tofua. Bligh made the decision to sail to the nearest European settlement at Timor, 3,618 miles away. He asked each person to make a ‘sacred promise’ – to abide by his rationing programme.

Cuillin Bantock, Life in the Balance, 2007 - Installation, 60x35x35 cm

Bligh improvised a pair of scales from half coconut shells and bread was weighted out against a musket ball of 1/25 lb. This was the main source of food, three times a day, for 48 days, plus a scrap of pork and a teaspoon of rum when weather conditioned worsened. When they arrived at Timor they still had enough bread to last them a further eleven days.

Bligh later had the musket ball incorporated into a medallion which he wore on a ribbon round his neck for the rest of his life; it is likely to have been on him when he dropped dead in Bond Street on 7 December 1817. It is now in the National Maritime Museum.

Spitfire Beer - The Bottle of Britain

2007-10-31T10:40:00.000-07:00

Shepherd & Neame's Spitfire beer has some very funny ads.

See below:

Mydidee at St. Paul's, Deptford

2007-10-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

St. Paul's, Deptford

St Paul's church was one of fifty new churches proposed for London in 1710 as part of the regeneration programme that followed the Great Fire of 1666. It was designed by Thomas Archer, who also designed St John's in Westminster. Both churches display Archer's passion for the Romanesque Baroque. The fabric of the church and most of the decoration was completed by 1720, but construction work continued right up to the church's consecration in 1730.

from: http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personalisation/object.cfm?uid=005ADD000031331U00034000

The first true Tahitian to reach England was Mydidee, brought here by William Bligh on his second breadfruit voyage with the Providence. Nothing is known about him, beyond Bligh logging his disgust at the sight of the occupied gibbets along the Thames Estuary. Mydidee disembarked at Deptford on 7^th August 1793 and died less than a month later, on 4^th September. He is buried in St.Paul’s Churchyard, off Deptford High Street.

from display panel at APT exhibitions: Bounty: A Preposterous Optimism

MYDIDEE

A native of Tahiti

Sailed to England

With Captain William Bligh

In H.M.S. Providence

Died in Deptford 4^th September 1979

Stranger, with solemn step approach, and know,

A fav’rite son of nature sleeps below.

From that fam’d Queen of Southern Islands came,

Fair Otahytey; fir’d by British fame:

And Providence each deep safe wafted o’er,

Yet only gave to hail the promis’d shore;

For here could life alas! No more supply,

Than just to look around him, and to die.

Edward Harwood

Surgeon of the Providence

British Beer and a Bucket of Blood

2007-10-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

My friend and colleague Steve (whose fill name shall not be revealed to protect the guilty), a British beer aficionado, has kindly suggested some quality beers I should try. One must remember Beer is as much a part of Britain as bangers and mash.

Recommendations include:

Old Speckled Hen

Theakston's Old Peculiar

Hobgoblin

Black Sheep

Fuller's ESB

Shepherd & Neame's Spitfire

London Pride

Of the above I have tried Spitfire, Hobgoblin, Old Speckled Hen and London Pride. They are needless to say "Brilliant!"

The Former Bucket of Blood Pub

To Quote from the following web site:

http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=204

Where Floral Street meets Garrick Lane, Rose Street cuts between the two. There you'll find the Lamb & Flag, a small wooden fronted pub. At over 300 years, it's the oldest in Covent Garden, and possibly one of the oldest in London if claims of a Tudor past are true.

It used to be known as the Bucket of Blood because of the bare-fist fights that were held here. Today the only fight you'll see is the one to get to the busy bar. In 1679, the poet John Dryden is said to have been attacked by hired thugs in the alleyway at the side of the pub and was nearly killed. The upstairs bar is called the Dryden Room, presumably in honour of the man, rather than his beating. It's a good place to escape to when the ground floor bar is heaving.

Downstairs , there's a delightfully simple olde-worlde cosy atmosphere, created by the low beams, wood panelling and bare pine floors. To the rear of the pub is a fireplace surrounded by wooden settles. The Lamb fills up in the evenings with office and shop workers and can get a bit too busy. In the summer, drinkers spill out into the courtyard.

Breadfruit

2007-10-26T03:53:00.000-07:00

It was intended that actual breadfruit plants would be part of the Bounty exhibition at APT. As only one eight foot high plant was available at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and would be very hard to move in its pot, it was decided to find another source of breadfruit.

This task was organised by Cuillin Bantock, an artist in the exhibition and a Director of APT. Cuillin contacted Dr. Diane Ragone, the Director of the Breadfruit Institute at the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kalaheo, Kauai, Hawaii http://ntbg.org/breadfruit/
who agreed to send some plants.

Six breadfruit plants were selected to be shipped by air to London from Hawaii; the longest flight ever taken by breadfruit plants.

To ship plants from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland they had to be bare-rooted and a plant import permit from the authorities in the UK was needed. Inspection and a phytosanitary permit from USDA were also required. Shipping was done by FedEx.

The plants were kindly offered as a gift to the exhibition by the Breadfruit Institute.

When the plants arrived they were re-soiled in pots but the shock of travel caused all the leaves to fall off. This was not unexpected but because of this the plants were not put in the show. They will however live on long after it. Once re-stabled and the leaves return the breadfruit plants will be donated to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew http://www.kew.org/ and to the Eden Project http://www.edenproject.com/.

Leaves returning to the breadfruit plants. Life springs eternal.

Today (26 Oct 2007) while walking by a Jamaican green grocer on Broadway in Hackney, what did I see but these breadfruits. They probably come from Jamaica and are direct descendants of the breadfruit, Bligh eventually did get to the West Indies aboard HMS Providence.

St. Crispin's Day - not holding our manhoods cheap

2007-10-25T02:34:00.000-07:00

Olivier as Henry V

Today is St. Chripin's day in England

Saint Crispin's Day is the feast day of the Christian Saints Crispin and Crispinian.

It is a day most famous for battles that occurred on it: the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific theater in 1944, the Battle of Balaklava (Charge of the Light Brigade) during the Crimean War, and the bestremembered with the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, dramatised by William Shakespeare in Henry V.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Crispin%27s_Day

Branagh as Henry V

King Henry V

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!

KING. What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day. (IV, iii)

More on Lieutenant William Bligh, RN

2007-10-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

Lieutenant William Bligh was himself probably not much different from most naval captains of the time. Having sailed with the legendary Captain Cook and having been to the South Pacific made Bligh ideal for the job of taking Bounty to Tahiti.

Contrary to the idea of him being a brutal disciplinarian, Bligh was a pretty standard issue captain who in fact had difficulty maintaining order particularly with his officers – a class clash between gentlemen and a self-made man.

If anything he was more lenient than most. One crew member who died of infection during the voyage to Tahiti caused Bligh great concern. He had an aversion to flogging and took no pleasure from it.

Charles Laughton, as a cruel Captain Bligh in the 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty, was perhaps one of his most famous roles. Laughton certainly seared the myth of Bligh’s brutality into the public mind. If there was a lightening rod for the stories of brutality in the Royal Navy of 1780s, Laughton fulfilled it by playing Bligh as a sadistic captain, a Laughton fabrication.

Rugby World Cup

2007-10-21T08:21:00.001-07:00

Last night a great party was held at the hotel for the Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa. The whole country was transfixed by this game as the English team came back from near oblivion to get to this final game. However, South Africa won. As all the reception staff are from South Africa, they were extraordinarily pleased with the result.

The heads of the gentlemen above have now been put on spikes on London Bridge.
It's an English thing.

William Bligh's London Home

2007-10-15T04:07:00.000-07:00

William Bligh's London home is located on Lambeth Road across from the Imperial War Museum.

British Library

2007-10-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been to London in some time and you think the British Library is at the British Museum, you will be surprised to know that the old British Library has been taken over by the Chinese Army (terracotta) of the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC).

http://www.britishmuseum.org/default.aspx

The British Library has moved to King's Cross, St. Pancras to a brand new facility.

If you are spending any significant time in London especially to do some research you will want to get a British Library card.

You will need at least two items of identification:

a passport
a driver's License (photo ID with an address)

If you want a card for up to three years, get a corporate standing which only means you need a business card, or Langara College card and voila.

Lager Louts

2007-10-08T01:33:00.000-07:00

lager lout: (British)

A young man who drinks too much alcohol and is then noisy, rude, or violent. They'd ended up in some cheap holiday resort that was full of British lager louts. (often plural)

It has been suggested that the increased consumption and interest inf cider in Britain is in part due to people not being seen drinking lager and the danger of been thought of as a Lager Lout.

We saw a pack of them on the Tube Friday night. Best practice - avoidance.

Opening of Bounty Exhibition

2007-10-06T01:42:00.000-07:00

The exhibition Bounty: a case of Preposterous Optimism opened Thursday, October 4th at the Apt Gallery in Deptford.

There were about 200 people at the opening.

Chartwell: Churchill's Home

2007-10-06T01:35:00.000-07:00

Churchill's home to the south east of London is the Kent. To get there you take the train from Charing Cross, London, to Sevenoaks where you take a 15 minute cab ride into the countryside.

The front entrance to Chartwell.

Outside view of Chartwell.

One of the many garden's at Chartwell.

Unfortunately photos of the interior of the home are not allowed.

Chartwell is much larger than I imagined and is located on large grounds with gardens and lakes. His painting studio is also located here in a separate building.

English Food Part II

2007-10-04T02:48:00.000-07:00

One thing about being in Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia is that it is in a very good area for more upscale restaurants. These would fall into the Significantly More Expensive (SME) catagory. They are mostly Italian. One of my favourites is Paradiso Olivelli on Store Street. It is at the lower end of SME. It is my London version of Chianti's on fourth.

http://www.pizzaparadiso.co.uk/workingarea/index2.htm

Also any of the Chez Gerard French restaurant, Bertorelli Italian restaurant, Livebait fish restaurant & Café Fish restaurants:

http://www.bestlondonrestaurants.co.uk/london/restaurants/chezgerard.asp

Another very good Italian restaurant is Da Paolo at Charlotte Place:

http://www.dapaolo.co.uk/

If you want the best haggis I have ever had you must visit Boisdale of Belgravia which offers among other more contemporary food a traditional 1780 Scottish meal:
http://www.boisdale.co.uk/belgravia/

My best fish and chip experience has been at the North Sea Fish Restaurant on Leigh Street.

English Food Part I

2007-10-04T02:30:00.000-07:00

I would break down English food in to three parts:

1. expensive (E)

2. significantly more expensive (SME) and

3. national debt expensive (NDE)

Expensive:

This generally falls under the category of pub, take out or cafeteria food.

Usually there is something on your plate that is indigestible probably as a reminder of what it hasn't cost you.

How to eat a Hereford and Rumple Pie:
(at a pub on Great Portman Road)

Eat the peas, all of them. they are good for you and the only veg. you will get today.
Take the crust off the pie. It is under cooked, thick and inedible.
Eat the contents in this case Hereford beef. A little tough and stringy but alright.
Eat the mash potatoes with the Rumble gravy but only 1/3 of the portion which is vast.
Wash it all down with a Carling's.

PS I did try and talk a gentleman into sending his daughter to Langara College while eating my pie.

Other indigestible features have included:

1 mustard dumpling
1 issue of peas

Almost everything at this level (E) of dining comes with chips and peas or chips and beans.

Bounty Exhibition Website Launched

2007-10-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

The website for the exhibition, Bounty: a Case of Preposterous Optimism can be found at

http://www.bountyexhibition.org/

Harrison's Clocks - A World Treasure

2007-09-30T01:52:00.000-07:00

The story of Harrison's Clocks is the incredible story of Longitude.

It is the story of John Harrison's quest to solve the problem of developing a seagoing time piece in order to determine longitude on a rolling ship. He did it through four amazing clocks: H1, H2, H3, and H4.

I highly recommend reading the book Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel.

H1 at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

H4 at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.355/viewPage/2

A ship's clock became vital to safe navigation. This was to be a problem for William Bligh on the Bounty.

"The list of his officers' transgressions while in Tahiti, quite apart from incidents in the earlier part of the voyage, is impressive: . . . Bligh had discovered that the ship's timekeeper, critical to accurate navigation, had been allowed to run down . . . ."

Alexander, Caroline, The Bounty, Harper Perennial, London, 2003, p. 121.

Astride the Prime Meridian

2007-09-29T02:18:00.001-07:00

I guess it's not quite the same.

http://wwp.greenwichmeridian.com/

Ships and Boats of the Thames

2007-09-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

The Thames is so much a part of London they would be impossible to separate.
One of the best experiences of being in London is to take a trip from Parliament Pier to Greenwich. I've done it three times in my life and enjoyed it each time. Here are some photos of boats and ships one might see on the trip.

The boat to Greenwich

A reconstruction of Drake's Golden Hind (the ship not his butt)

The cruiser HMS Belfast which served in WWII and the Korea War playing a leading part in the destruction of the battle cruiser Scharnhorst, and also the Normandy Landings.

An English canal boat

An old work horse of the Thames.

Gherkins and Oysters - a fine meal!

2007-09-28T01:06:00.001-07:00

The Gherkin officially the Swiss Re Tower is one of the most distinctive buildings on the London landscape. Designed by Sir Norman Foster and Ken Shuttleworth is one of the most radical buildings in London.

“Gherkin: slang for a small penis, similar to the size and shape of gherkin sweet pickles.”

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gherkin

The Oyster Card

This is the best thing that has happened to London transport in twenty years. This card loaded with a months travel will get me as far east as Greenwich (anywhere in zone 1 & 2) by tube, bus, or rail. I can even get a discount on transport down the Thames.

You just touch it to an Oyster plate and you are off.

The Lion of Westminster Bridge

2007-09-25T09:04:00.001-07:00

The Coade Stone Lion

Westminster Bridge- South Side

This lion, not an unusual thing to see in London, must be one of the great lions of London. It is made from Coade Stone, an artificial stone whose formula has been lost.

Read more about this fine beast and an indignity suffered over a manhood-reducing operation at:

http://www.moodmapper.com/idx_result.asp?mood=199&place=113

William Bligh's Grave

2007-09-25T08:58:00.001-07:00

The former St. Mary-at-Lambeth
now The Museum of Garden History

William Bligh was born in 1754 in Devon. As an officer serving under Captain Cook, Bligh learned the powers of navigation which were to prove him a great seaman. Given command of Bounty in 1787 to bring breadfruit to Jamaica, he suffered one of the most famous mutinies in naval history, which put him and 18 of his crew in a 23’ launch. Travelling 3600 miles to Timor in 48 days he survived one of the greatest navigational events in history. He would become a Vice-Admiral of the Blue under Viscount Lord Nelson and serve at the battle of Copenhagen. His son would serve at the battle of Trafalgar.

The Tradescant tomb:

This is the tombstone of the Tradescant Family that I came upon in St Mary-at-Lambeth's churchyard. Clearly a family with such an astonishing tomb as this must have an amazing history. One of the earliest members, John the elder, was an English naturalist, gardener, collector and traveller, perhaps an early Joseph Banks. I need to do more research on this.

For more information please go to: http://www.cix.co.uk/~museumgh/grave.htm

Foxton Locks

2007-09-23T03:29:00.000-07:00

Foxton locks is located three miles north-west of Market Harborough, in rural south Leicestershire.

View of the top of Foxton locks.

Barge entering next lock.

Lock open and Barge descending.

The barge has completed decent and vanished.

Barge moves to next lock.
There are ten locks which move the barges either up or down.

See more at http://www.foxtonlocks.com/

Douglas Bentham at APT

2007-09-23T03:23:00.000-07:00

I have known Doug Bentham for thirty years. I first met him at the Emma Lake Artists' Workshop in 1977 attended by Anthony Caro. Doug attended a similar workshop here in England several years ago at Hardingham. Before returning the work to Canada he decided to shop the work at APT in Deptford. Here are photos from this brilliant show:

Southampton: Bounty overhaul a disaster!

2007-09-23T03:10:00.000-07:00

The arrival of the Lunenberg reconstruction of Bounty made for the 1962 Brando/Howard Mutiny on the Bounty in England took me to Southampton on Tuesday, 18 September.

Upon taking first view of the ship I knew there was something wrong. The ship has been used in the Pirate of the Caribbean films and has been disaterously changed to the point the the only way you would know it was Bounty would be by the stern and the figurehead. All else has been changed.

What guns exist are in the wrong place. There no longer any swivel guns. The deck housings are altered. The ship is painted green, a colour never used by the Royal Navy in the 18th Century. The bow has lost all it's glorious lines. The side cabin windows now have tin on their roofs instread of wood, The gunwales are wrong. The traditional 'fisherman's' Anchors have been replaced by modern 'Naval' Anchors The yards are a black wash. In short Bounty has been converted to a Disney production of a pirate ship and has lost any historical fidelity and beauty of the original 18th century ship of the Royal Navy.

It would be like changing the guns on HMS Victory and painting it red, in short a travesty.

The Bounty is gone.

Views of Deptford around APT

2007-09-17T03:30:00.001-07:00

Views of Deptford Creek from APT. BTW just around the creek to the left is where Bounty was converted and refurbished. I will try and get a closer show of the area in the coming days.

The APT Crane

APT Outdoor Lounge for the Weekend Open Studio Event

APT - Artists in Perpetuity Trust - Deptford

2007-09-17T03:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday I made my first visit to APT in Deptford. APT has a gallery and complex of artist studios. I will showcase various artists at APT in future postings.

Here are two interior views of the gallery space.
It is a very good exhibition space with the current exhibition is called Paintings Unlimited.
It will continue to Sunday 16 September.

The Bounty Catalogue

2007-09-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

I've just received my first copy of the Bounty exhibition catalogue. It looks great, as does the invitation. The show will begin on October 4th at APT (see www.aptstudios.org). I need to tie up with Cuillin Bantock to get my paintings stretched tomorrow. The work will go to Deptford next week.

The Eagle has Landed

2007-09-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

I arrived in London Yesterday afternoon and I'm getting settled into my hotel room, and I mean room. It would be slightly larger than a berth on the Bounty, but like Bounty it has a garden on board, just out the back door. The back door is about eight feet from the front door. It's tiny but it's home.

Bounty arrives in Maryport, England

2007-08-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/4557207.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/6945406.stm

2007-08-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Second Painting:

Tabloid Newspaper 1789 – Bounty Survivors Found, 2007

Acrylic and Oil on Canvas

122 cm x 91.5 cm

First Stage:

Second Stage:

Final Stage:

My Paintings for Bounty: A preposterous Optimism

2007-07-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

The bounty story has long been a fascination to me. My paintings in the show are based on fictional ironic conceits of how the media, had they existed in the 1780s, may have reported events. These paintings will depict two events from the Bounty saga as might be viewed through a newspaper tabloid cover page and through a live television news broadcast. The respective events portrayed will be the survivors of the Bounty launch reaching Coupang, Timor, 1789 and the acquittal of William Bligh for loss of His Majesty’s Ship Bounty by the Admiralty in 1790.

First Painting:

Cable News 1790 – Bligh Acquitted, 2007

Acrylic and Oil on Canvas

36 inches x 48 inches 91.5 cm x 122 cm

Breadfruit Bligh: the first of two paintings for the exhibition, Bounty: a Case of Preposterous Optimism

2007-07-19T09:26:00.001-07:00

This was my first photo of the nearly completed painting of William Bligh. It is in a contemporary cable news layout.

This was a second photo after I felt Bligh needed to looks older. He was 35 at the time and had been at sea with Cook, master and commander of Bounty and sailed in an open boat with 18 others by the time his trial was completed.

In this last photo I felt I had given him a more appropriate skin texture and eyes than in the previous version. This was the painting I have sent to London for the exhibition.

Bounty in Halifax

2007-07-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

His Majesty's Armed Transport Bounty built for the 1962 Mutiny on the Bounty staring Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard and Richard Harris has been part of the Halifax Tall Ships celebration. It is now headed to Maryport, England for August 15-17 Tall ship celebrations. To find out more go to http://www.tallshipbounty.org/

The London Underground - 1930s

2007-07-06T11:26:00.001-07:00

One of the delights of this blog has been some small discoveries I made, like finding a 1930s colour underground map. In looking for maps of London though a copy of A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide to London, Ward, Lock and Co., Ltd., 1930 I found this map stuffed between the pages.

Why Deptford?

2007-06-14T09:54:00.002-07:00

Map from: Phillips, Hugh,I, Collins, 1951, p.23.

The name Deptford comes from the original meaning of 'deep ford.' Many historically important voyages began at Deptford. It was the location of the Royal Dockyard established by Henry VIII in 1513 and remained in operation until 1869.

Peter the Great and his court studied shipbuilding for three months at Deptford in1698 at Sayes Court, the manor house of Deptford. The Tsar's visited was infamous for the damage he and his court caused during their stay. Sayes Court was completely demolished in 1728-9, without further help by the Tsar. The Admiralty Victualling Yard, renamed in 1858 the Royal Victoria Yard was built on part of the original estate in 1742 comprising massive facilities for warehouses, a bakery, a cattleyard/abattoir and sugar stores and used for supplying ships of the Royal Navy. It was closed 1960.

Francis Drake sailed and was knighted off Deptford.

The Bethia built in Hull and purchased by the Royal Navy and renamed by Sir Joseph Banks, Bounty, was to depart from Deptford on its ill-fated voyage to Tahiti in 1787. Many of the crew of Bounty were from local seafaring communities in Deptford.

The Artists Perpetuity Trust (APT) is located on Deptford Creek, near the Royal Dockland and is located on two of the original Potteries at Creekside where the extra-large pots were made for the Bounty voyage.

The second Polynesian brought to England, Mydiddee, arrived at Deptford and died shortly after in 1793 to be buried in St. Paul's Churchyard, off Deptford High Street.

-Research for this information thanks to Cuillin Bantock.

Where is Deptford, Greater London?

2007-06-14T09:08:00.001-07:00

Deptford is located East of London and
west of Greenwich on the south side of
the Thames, just below the Isle of Dogs.

Map from: A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide to London, Ward, Lock and Co., Ltd, 1930.

13 Artists in the Bounty Exhibition, Deptford, UK

2007-04-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

Cuillin Bantock trained originally as a scientist (University of Oxford, Zoology) and subsequently as artist (Camberwell College of Art, Painting). Has exhibited in solo and group shows in London, elsewhere in the UK and in Canada. Attended invitational workshops in New York (Triangle) and Canada (Emma Lake).

Tim Cousins (Painter) trained at Exeter College of Design, Ravensbourne College of Art and Design, and the Roehampton Institute. Has exhibited in London, Bristol and Wales. Organised a ten-year programme Sharing a View involving the making and exhibiting of site-specific paintings in eight different parts of the UK with a core group of painters. Member of APT Educational Sub-Committee.

Nicolas Godbold (Painter) trained at Reading University and Chelsea School of Art. Has exhibited in London and Cambridge and in Turin, Trieste and Belluno (Italy).

Oona Grimes (Printer) trained at Norwich School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art. She has exhibited widely in Europe, India, Canada and USA. Her inclusion in the Bounty Group is on account of her long-standing interest in the Bounty story and has already exhibited work in this context. She is producing new work for the present project.

Liz Harrison trained at Manchester College of Art and Design and the Slade School of Fine Art. She is currently Senior Lecturer in Painting at Camberwell College of Arts. Exhibits widely in the UK and abroad, recently Amsterdam (2006) and Brussels (2007). Interests center round the articulation of ideas concerning space, currently focussing on landscape. Her practice incorporates interdisciplinarity, site-specific installation, and lens-based projection, illusion and image. APT Artist Adviser.

Margaret Higginson (Sculptor) trained at Queen’s University, Canada. She has exhibited in London, Toronto, Ottawa and carried out commissioned work for Docklands Corporation and the Conrad Birch Development Company. She is a member of APT’s Educational Sub-Committee.

Chris Marshall (Sculptor) trained at Manchester College of Art and Design. Exhibits nationally and internationally. Makes temporary site-specific installations and public work in response to the identity and history of sites and spaces. Large-scale permanent public sculptures include CircumSphere, sited in the River Thames and ‘Blue Well’ (2007), an external commission for the new development at Lewisham Hospital.

Richard Lawrence (Sculptor) trained at Hertfordshire College of Art and Design and Wimbledon School of Art. Has exhibited widely in London and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. He has carried out Residences in Bath, Ipswich and Margam and has participated in sculpture symposia in Scotland, Italy and China and undertaken commissioned work for organisations in London and Brazil. Artist Adviser to APT.

Stephen Lewis (Sculptor) was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, in 1959. He studied sculpture at Manchester Polytechnic in 1980 and completed post-graduation training at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht in 1982. He is an abstract sculptor and has exhibited widely during the last 25 years. His most recent exhibition being in Luxembourg in 2006. He has work in many private and public collections in the UK, elsewhere in Europe and USA. Chair of APT’s Building Sub-Committee,

Scott Plear RCA (Painter) trained at the Universities of Saskatchewan and British Columbia. He has exhibited widely throughout Canada and also in USA, UK and Africa. His work is in many Corporate and Public Collections in Canada. He has a 40-year interest in the Bounty story, chiefly through its portrayal in film. In addition to contributing work to the exhibition he will also be giving a talk on the five Bounty films.

Jessica Poole (Painter) trained at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and Cyprus College of Art. She was brought up near Lunenburg in Nova Scotia which is where the first replica of the Bounty was built and whence repatriation of freed African slaves to Sierra Leone originated. This background will form the basis of her contribution to the exhibition.

Sheila Vollmer (Sculptor) trained at the University of Guelph, Ontario and at St. Martin’s School of Art, London. She is currently Head of Sculpture, Drawing and Painting at Morley College, London. Has exhibited widely nationally and internationally. She part-organised and successfully fundraised (A4E Express Lottery Grant) for the inaugural group exhibition Influx in 1997. She is also part-organiser of the touring exhibition Fe2O5 (of five women sculptors) for which she helped to secure funding from Corus and Art for Business. Is a member of APT’s Education Sub-Committee.

David Webb (Painter) trained at Hastings College of Art, the University of Wales (Aberystwyth), and Canterbury. He has exhibited in London, Aberystwyth, the Museum of Modern Art in Wales, Btighton and in Canada, Armenia and Holland. He has participated in Residences in Canterbury, London and Cyprus and has recently attended a Triangle Workshop in New York. Is a member of APT’s Building Sub-Committee.

How I got involved in an exhibition on the Bounty at Deptford, Greater London.

2007-04-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

My involvement with the project began in 2004. By forwarding several books – The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty, by Caroline Alexander (ISBN 0-670-03133-X), Joseph Banks – A Life by Patrick O’Brian (ISBN 0-229-61628-2) – and several books on the Atlantic Slave Trade to Dr. Cuillin Bantock, the Company Secretary of The Art in Perpetuity Trust APTand an artist in his own right (see www.cuillinbantockpaintings.com), an exhibition was born.

APT (www.aptstudio.org) was established in 1995 as an artists’ centre with 37 studios, an educational space, and a large exhibition gallery. It is located in Deptford, off Deptford Creek on the south side of the Thames near Greenwich.

Early in 2006, it was realized that APT is located just three-quarters of a mile from the site of the old Royal Dockyards at Deptford. It was also discovered that part of the APT complex sits on the site of the pottery factory that made the original pots taken on the Bounty from Deptford to Tahiti in 1787 to transport breadfruit.

A proposal was put to the Management of the Trust to involve APT’s tenant-artists in the making of an exhibition related to the breadfruit-Bounty story. This proposal was accepted. The Management and tenant-artists of APT also unanimously passed a decision in mid-2006 to invite me to participate in this project due to my long-standing interest in the Bounty story and my original contact with the Company Secretary.

This project will involve about a third of the artists at APT, all professional Fine Artists, some with international reputations. The Bounty Project also appears to be the first time that this historical theme has been attempted in modern times.

2007-04-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

Bounty: a Case of Preposterous Optimism. An exhibition in Deptford at APT.

2007-04-09T10:43:00.002-07:00

In October 1787, HMS Bounty left Deptford Docks on a voyage halfway around the world. The purpose of the journey was to transport breadfruit from Tahiti to the West Indies, where, it was intended,it would become an inexpensive source of starch to feed the slaves working on the sugar plantations. Instead, the voyage ended off the island of Tofua in mutiny, with Bligh and some of the non-mutineers traveling more than 3,618 miles in an overloaded 23-foot open launch with the Bounty itself vanishing, its fate unknown for nearly 20 years.

This site is a record of my voyage to London as part of the exhibition Bounty: a Case of Preposterous Optimism at the APT Gallery (Artists in Perpetuity Trust - www.aptstudios.org) at Deptford to commemorate the 220 anniversary of the sailing on the Bounty and the 200 anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the United Kingdom. The exhibition is from 4 - 28 October 2007

This exhibition will involve thirteen artists plus the involvement music and dance by Trinity College of Music (TCM) (www.tcm.ac.uk) and the Laban Dance Centre (LDC) (www.laban.org). It will include participation by Andrew Lambert, Laughton Professor of War History at King’s College, London, Guy Lambert, Senior Archivist and Conservation Manager of London’s Theatre Museum, and The Right Hon. Joan Ruddock, MP for Deptford and Lewisham.