Looking north up Basinghall Street from Gresham Street. The buildings on the left are part of the Guildhall complex. PICTURE: Google Maps
This City of London street, which sits on the eastern side of the Guildhall complex, is named for the wealthy Basing (or Bassing) family who had a hall here in the 13th century.
The street, which links Gresham Street in the south to Basinghall Avenue in the north, has been the site of numerous prominent buildings including the medieval hall of the Weaver’s Company (demolished in 1856, having replaced an earlier hall which burnt down in the Great Fire of London in 1666, the hall is now located in Gutter Lane), the Cooper’s Company (demolished in 1867, the hall is now located in Devonshire Square) and the Girdler’s Company (destroyed in the Blitz in 1940; the hall is now located in Basinghall Avenue).
It was also the location of the Sir Christopher Wren-designed Church of St Michael Bassishaw until 1899 after it was seriously damaged when the crypt was being cleared of human remains in line with the orders of City authorities. The parish with united with St Lawrence Jewry.
Famous denizens included the goldsmith, banker and civil engineer Sir Hugh Myddelton, most renowned for his design of the New River scheme to bring clean water to the City, who, according to The London Encyclopaedia, would sit in the doorway of his office and smoke his pipe while chatting with the likes of Sir Walter Raleigh.
The family also gave their name to the City of London’s Bassishaw Ward.
This mid-18th century church in Woolwich was constructed to serve the soldiers of the Royal Artillery but was badly damaged when hit by a bomb during World War II.
View of the church apse with altar and mosaic. PICTURE: Kleon3 (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Designed by Thomas Henry Wyatt with the aid of his younger brother, Matthew Digby Wyatt, in the style of an Early Christian/Italian Romanesque basilica, the church was built between 1862 and 1863 on the orders of Lord Sidney Herbert, the Secretary of State for War.
It was among a number of buildings built to provide for the well-being of soldiers after a public outcry about their living conditions during the Crimean War.
The interior featured lavish decoration including mosaics said to have been based on those found in Roman and Byzantine monuments in Ravenna, Italy. Those that survive at the church’s east end – which include one of St George and the Dragon and others featuring a peacock and phoenix – are believed to have been made in Venice in the workshop of Antonio Salviati.
A mosaic featuring St George and the Dragon. PICTURE: Kleon3 (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)
The mural of St George formed part of a memorial to the Royal Artillery’s Victoria Cross recipients located in the church and paid for through public subscription in 1915. The interior also featured five tall stained glass windows which served as memorials to fallen officers.
Plaques on the perimeter walls record the names of soldiers killed in military conflict or Royal Artillery servicemen who died of natural causes.
The church was visited by King George V and Queen Mary in 1928.
The church, which had survived a bombing in World War I, was largely destroyed on 13th July, 1944, when it was hit by a V1 flying bomb. Most of the interior was gutted in the fire that followed.
While plans to rebuild it after World War II were shelved, in 1970 it became a memorial garden with a roof placed over the church’s east end to protect the mosaics.
Services are still held in the Grade II-listed ruin, located opposite the Woolwich Barracks, and since 2018 it has been under the care of the Woolwich Garrison Church Trust.
WHERE: St George’s Garrison Church, A205 South Circular, Grand Depot Road, Woolwich (nearest DLR station is Woolwich Arsenal); WHEN: 10am to 1pm Sundays (October to March) and 10am to 4pm Sundays (April to September); COST: Free; WEBSITE: https://www.stgeorgeswoolwich.org.
Note that we’ve changed the title of this special series to allow us to explore a bit wider than the medieval period alone!
• A major new exhibition on life as a Roman legionary opens at the British Museum today. Legion: Life in the Roman army shares stories of real legionaries and shows how the army was as much an “engine of social change” as it was a war machine. More than 200 objects, many of which are on display in the UK for the first time, are on show including the world’s only intact legionary shield, on loan from Yale (pictured), and the oldest and most complete classic Roman segmental body armour, found in Kalkriese, Germany, in 2018. There are also the remains of a soldier found at Herculaneum, reunited with his belt and equipment for the first time outside of Italy, as well as the Crosby Garrett mask helmet – found in Cumbria in 2010, and a unique dragon standard found in Germany. The exhibition, which can be seen in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery until 23rd June, also features a specially designed Horrible Histories themed trail of the exhibition with interactive family stations. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org.
• More than 20 mechanical clocks collected by Chinese emperors are being displayed together for the first time in the UK in a new exhibition opening today at the Science Museum. Among those on display inZimingzhong 凝时聚珍: Clockwork Treasures from China’s Forbidden City is the ‘Pagoda Zimingzhong’ which, was made in London in the 1700s during the Qing Dynasty in China, ‘Zimingzhong with Turbaned Figure’ which mixes imagery associated with China, Japan and India to present a generalised European view of an imagined East, and the ‘Zimingzhong with mechanical lotus flowers’, which, when wound, reveals a flock of miniature birds swimming on a glistening pond as potted lotus flowers open. Runs until 2nd June. Visitors are invited to pay what they can to visit the exhibition, with a minimum ticket cost of £1 per person. For more, see www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/zimingzhong.
• Kew Gardens’ Orchid Festival returns from this Saturday, this year drawing inspiration from the unique flora and fauna of Madagascar. The display features a specially commissioned film showcasing the beauty of Madagascar – the world’s fourth largest island – as well as themed floral displays and living installations in the Princess of Wales Conservatory. The latter include ‘Lovers Baobab’ on the waterlily pond, floral sculptures recreating some of Madagascar’s most iconic wildlife, including ring-tailed lemurs, chameleons and the aye-aye, the world’s largest nocturnal primate, and a small selection of Madagascan orchids including Angraecum sesquipedale (also known as Darwin’s orchid). Visitors will also hear Malagasy music composed by the Boriza Borothers and be able to purchase food made according to a range of authentic Malagasy recipes, thanks to a menu curated by Malagasy chef Lilia Andrianovy of Lilia’s Kitchen. Orchids After Hours will also return for this year’s festival. Runs until 3rd March. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.kew.org.
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Ruins of St Alphege London Wall. PICTURE: The wub (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)
The ruins of this church – which now sit in a public garden – are actually the remains of the second church in the vicinity.
Dedicated to the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury (there’s a similarly named church in Greenwich), the first St Alphege (also known as St Alphege London Wall and St Alphege Cripplegate) dated from at least the 11th century but was closed and demolished during the Dissolution (the other part of its name comes from its location abutting London Wall).
The second church started life as the priory church of the nunnery of St Mary-within-Cripplegate which later became a hospital before it too was closed in the Dissolution.
The church, however, became the parish church and, subsequently repaired, it survived the Great Fire of 1666. Further repairs followed and a more comprehensive rebuilding in the 18th century (with the medieval tower retained).
But by 1900, parts of the church were in a poor state and after the church was damaged during an air raid in World War I, the parish was amalgamated with St Mary Aldermanbury (the combined parish was later united with St Giles Cripplegate) and it was eventually mostly demolished in the early 1920s.
The medieval tower remained but was gutted by fire in 1940. Its ruins were subsequently surrounded by a small public garden. Further restoration work was done as part of works to install a raised walkway in 2018-19.
The remains of the church – which include the tower and arches on three sides – are Grade II-listed and while it’s surrounded these days by modern office buildings, it remains a small piece of a bygone era.
A Christmas tree with a difference, this year’s festive display at St Pancras International features a 12 metre high ‘book tree’ with a winding staircase and 270 shelves adorned with over 3,800 hand-painted books, including classics like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and CS Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. There’s also a series of nooks where passerby can ensconce themselves and listen to a five minute excerpt from an audio book. The display is the result of a collaboration with bookseller Hatchards.
Oxford Street department store Selfridges is known for many firsts and among them is that it was the first department store in the UK to have window displays for Christmas.
It was in 1909, having opened the store in March that year, that American Harry Gordon Selfridge, drawing on his experience in the states where Macy’s in New York had featured Christmas window displays since the 1870s, decided to illuminate the display windows at his store in a bid to allow passersby to see the goods on display.
The windows were just one of the many innovations aimed at celebrating Christmas Selfridge – who is credited with having been the first to use the line “only (x) number of shopping days till Christmas” while working at Marshall Field’s in Chicago – embraced in the store.
Christmas displays were said to almost cover an entire floor and there were mince pies for customers, a chance to visit with Santa Claus, and a gift advice service as well as men-only tours of the store to help them with buying gifts for the females in their lives.
This year’s Christmas display at Selfridges was created around the theme of ‘showtime’ and reportedly took 100 hours to put together. It features characters including Santa Claus and the elves in a workshop.
Ice skating at Somerset House in 2014. PICTURE: Alison Day (licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0)
It’s ice-skating time in London – here’s some of the most spectacular rinks:
• Skate at Somerset House transforms the palace’s spectacular courtyard with a backdrop provided by Switzerland Tourism. There’s a 40 foot tall Christmas tree and a host of experiences to take part in, including the Skate School, featuring coaching sessions with National Ice Skate Association (NISA) instructors, a Kid’s Club and Chilled Out sessions as well as Skate Lates. Runs until 14th January. For more, see somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/skate-somerset-house.
• The Queen’s House Ice Rink is set outside the historic Queen’s House in Greenwich with views of the Old Royal Naval College. There’s special sessions for young ones and relaxed sessions for those after a calmer environment. The Benugo café is located next to the rink. Open until 7th January. For more, see www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house/attractions/queens-house-ice-rink.
• The UK’s largest open air ice rink, the Ice Rink at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, is set under a canopy of lights and centred around a Victorian bandstand. There’s live entertainment on selected dates. Runs until 1st January. For more, see https://hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/things-to-do/ice-skating/.
• Set in Canada Park Square, the Ice Rink Canary Wharf spans 1275 square metres. Wednesday nights feature DJs and on the 20th December, there’s an ‘Ultimate Christmas Party on Ice’. The rink stays open until 24th February. For more, see https://icerinkcanarywharf.co.uk.
• See how Londoners lived during winters past at the Museum of the Home in Hoxton.Rooms Through Time: Winter Past centres on the museum’s ‘Rooms Through Time’ and reveals how winter has changed London homes through the last 400 years. The display – which includes rooms set out as they would have been on Millennium Eve, Christmas Eve in 1915, Twelfth Night in 1830, and during a Frost Fair in 1683 – takes a multi-sensory storytelling approach, offering new sounds, smells, sights and stories across the room sets. The display is accompanied by a series of ‘Winter Festival’ events. Runs until February next year. Entry is free. For more, see www.museumofthehome.org.uk.
• A series of artworks commemorating people of African, Caribbean, and Asian heritage from London’s past opens at the London Metropolitan Archives in Clerkenwell on Monday.Art at the Archive: Reimagining Unforgotten Lives sees three artists creating works after taking as their inspiration a range of people featured in LMA’s Unforgotten Lives exhibition. The works include Annie-Marie Akussah’s three-dimensional artwork depicting landscapes Black abolitionist Quobna Ottobah Cugoano would have seen in Ghana as well as London’s West and East India Docks, Elyssa Rider’s oil portraits of Ann Duck, a young woman living in London from 1717 to 1744 whose criminal past is preserved in the court records of the Old Bailey and Tara Jerome-Bernabé’s woven painting which reimagines the lives and images of young Black servants who were enslaved and forced to work in aristocratic households. Runs until 27th March. Admission is free. For more, see head here.
• The final tickets to see London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks celebrations on the banks of the River Thames go on sale on Friday. Just over 20,000 tickets will go on sale at noon, taking to 100,000 the total number of tickets sold. Tickets, which cost £20 each, must be bought in advance from the only authorised outlet, AXS. Only ticket holders will be able to watch the fireworks in person. Those without a ticket are encouraged to watch the display live on BBC One or via BBC iPlayer alongside millions of viewers or to celebrate the new year at the capital’s fantastic range of bars, restaurants, pubs and clubs. Tickets can be bought online at AXS.com. For more, see www.london.gov.uk/nye.
• The largest exhibition of the work of Tudor-era artist Hans Holbein the Younger has opened at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace.Holbein at the Tudor Court features more than 50 works by Holbein including intimate portrait drawings of the royal family and the Tudor nobility including one of few surviving drawings of Anne Boleyn made during her lifetime, drawings of Jane Seymour and Sir Thomas More, and an unfinished portrait of King Henry VIII’s son Prince Edward. Other portraits include that of Derich Born, a 23-year-old Steelyard merchant, and one of Richard Southwell, a convicted murderer who was one of King Henry VIII’s closest advisors. The exhibition also features objects including a Brussels tapestry, jewel-like miniatures and Henry VIII’s magnificent armour, usually on show at Windsor and in London for the first time in a decade. Runs until 14th April. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.rct.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/holbein-at-the-tudor-court/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace
• The magnificence of coronations and the Crown Jewels will be on show at the Tower of London from tomorrow night in a new light and sound show. Crown and Coronation – which has been created by Historic Royal Palaces in partnership with Luxmuralis as part of an artistic collaboration between artist Peter Walker and composer David Harper – brings the “spectacle, significance and shared experience” of coronations to life and demonstrates the pivotal role of the Crown Jewels in the ceremony as it takes visitors on a journey through the past 1,000 years. Images of the jewels will be projected on the White Tower in the show with visitors then able to view the actual jewels themselves in a special after hours opening. But you’ll have to be quick – the show can only be seen for nine days, ending on 25th November before it embarks on a two year UK-wide tour. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/.
• Christmas returned to Kew this week with the launch of it’s new festive light trail featuring seven new installations. Highlights of this year’s trail include three metre tall illuminated flowers, cascading lights suspended from the tree canopy, one of the longest light tunnels to ever feature in Kew’s Christmas celebrations and the Hive – which recreates life inside a beehive – as well as the iconic Palm House light show, the twinkling tunnel of light inspired by arched church windows known as the ‘Christmas Cathedral’, and a ‘Fire Garden’ at the Temperate House. There’s also festive treats to sample and visitors can experience a traditional Christmas dinner at The Botanical Brasserie. Admission charges applies. Runs until 7th January (advance bookings only). For more, see www.kew.org/christmas.
• Charles Dickens’ friendship and collaboration with writer Wilkie Collins is explored in a new exhibition at The Charles Dickens Museum in Bloomsbury. Dickens met Collins, who would become one of his most significant friends, in 1851 as they performed together in a play at the house of John Forster and their personal and professional relationship lasted more than 15 years. The display features works produced as a result of the friendship – everything from articles in Dickens’s Household Words through to novellas and plays such as The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices and The Frozen Deep – and features original letters, historic objects, and interactive displays focusing on everything from the pair’s moustache-growing contests and cruising international entertainment districts to co-writing side by side, discussing writer’s block and plot devices. Admission is included with general admission. Runs until 25th February. For more, see https://dickensmuseum.com.
• The 695th Lord Mayor’s Show – the oldest and longest civic procession in the world – will be held in the City of London this weekend. The three mile-long parade, which dates back to the 13th century, will feature Lord Mayor of London, Michael Mainelli (who will take office during the Silent Ceremony on Friday), who will process through the City streets to swear allegiance to the Crown in Westminster. Accompanying him will be a procession featuring some 7,000 people, 200 horses and around 150 floats and will include representatives of the City’s livery companies as well as military groups, bands and community organisations. The procession leaves from Mansion House at 11am and rolls down Poultry and Cheapside to St Paul’s Cathedral and then via Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street to the Royal Courts of Justice before returning, from 1:10pm, via Queen Victoria Street to Mansion House. For more, see https://lordmayorsshow.london.
• The first permanent display of Peruvian and Andean culture at the British Museum has opened in the Wellcome Trust Gallery. Part of the Living and Dying exhibition is divided into two sections – the first exploring the culture’s relationship with the sea and the second with the land. The displays includes digital elements as well as objects ranging from pottery and textiles to metalwork and conch shells. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org.
• A “compelling, complex and beautiful” large-scale virtual model of a human heart has gone on display in the Science Museum in South Kensington. The model was created by bioengineer Dr Jazmín Aguado Sierra using scans of her own heart and functions just as her real heart does. The ‘Virtual Heart’ display, which is introduced by Dr Aguado Sierra, can be seen in the Engineers gallery, in a section which explores collaborations between clinicians, medical engineers and patients and showcases real-world health solutions. The display is free to see. For more, see sciencemuseum.org.uk/engineers.
Think of Sir ChristopherWren and chances are it’s St Paul’s Cathedral – perhaps the most famous building he designed – which comes to mind. Certainly not Westminster Abbey, which he did not.
Yet, aside from his time at the Westminster School as a child, Wren did have a long relationship with the royal church at Westminster. In March, 1698, he was appointed the Surveyor of the Fabric at Westminster Abbey, a post he held until his death (when he was succeeded by Sir Nicholas Hawksmoor).
Wren did some work on the building. Prior to being appointed surveyor he had undertaken some work on schoolmaster Dr Richard Busby’s house (Wren had been one of his students) in the Little Cloister in 1683 (the house was destroyed during the Blitz in World War II).
Following his appointment, Wren did undertake a major restoration of the decayed stonework and roof of the church. He also approved designs by his deputy, William Dickinson, for the north front and an altarpiece which Wren had originally designed for the royal chapel at the Palace of Whitehall was given to the minster by Queen Anne (it was removed in the 19th century).
In 1713, Wren had also created designs for a series of works at the abbey which included the addition of a central tower and spire at the abbey and the completion of the west front which were never realised and which were shelved after his death (the wooden model for the tower and spire is located in Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, along with a pair of wooden obelisks he designed for the entrance to the Quire).
While there’s no memorial to him in the Abbey, Wren’s image can be seen in the lower right section of a memorial window in the north choir aisle dedicated to 19th century engineer Robert Stephenson while his coat of arms is shown along with numerous others in some post-war glass windows in the Chapter House.
WHERE: Westminster Abbey (nearest Tube stations are Westminster and St James’s Park); WHEN: Times vary – see the website for details; COST: £29 adults/£26 concession/£13 children (family rates available); WEBSITE: www.westminster-abbey.org.
• A free exhibition exploring the “tricks, tools and elaborate plots that make up the secret world of spying and deception” has opened at IWM London. Spies, Lies and Deception features more than 150 objects including gadgets, official documents, art and newly digitised film and photography. Highlights include Operation Mincemeat mastermind Ewen Montagu’s private papers relating to the World War II plot – which fooled German High Command about the location of the next major Allied assault by planting a dead body with fake military documents off the Spanish coast – along with an oar from the submarine’s dinghy which deposited the body. There is also a box of matches with a match specially adapted for writing secret messages (pictured), footprint overshoes made by SOE (Special Operations Executive) in South-East Asia during World War II to disguise the wearer’s real footprints, and papier-mâché heads used to deceive snipers in World War I trenches. The exhibits also detail the work of the World War I Postal Censorships department – which examined letters sent to foreign locations including testing letters for invisible ink and tell the story of SOE operative Noor Inayat Khan – the first female wireless operator sent by SOE into Occupied France, she successfully transmitted messages to London for four months before being betrayed, captured and executed. There’s also a newly commissioned interview with Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat, an international collective of researchers who used open source data to uncover the real identities of those responsible for the Salisbury Novichok poisonings in 2018, along with a photo album of double agent Kim Philby in Siberia after he escaped to the Soviet Union following his discovery in 1963. The free display can be seen until 14th April next year. For more, see iwm.org.uk/events/spies-lies-and-deception.
• A exhibition looking at the history of printing William Shakespeare’s plays has opened at the Guildhall Library. Folio 400: Shakespeare in Print covers everything from the printing of the small ‘Quartos’ of the late 16th century to the reworking of the text in the 18th century and the rediscovery of original texts in the 19th century. Running in parallel is a display at the City of London Heritage Gallery at Guildhall Art Gallery which features the library’s copy of the First Folio, widely regarded as one of the finest and most complete. Entry is free. Runs until 30th January. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/guildhall-library.
• An exhibition centring on the spectacular light illuminations of the Georgian period has opened at Sir John Soane’s Museum. Georgian Illuminations celebrates the light shows of the period and the impressive and the elaborate temporary architectural structures created for them, often designed by leading architects and artists, including Sir John Soane. It featuresnewly discovered linen transparencies, which were back-lit in Georgian windows as patriotic decoration during the Napoleonic Wars, as well as a contemporary work by light artist Nayan Kulkarni light artist which sees the facade of the museum at Lincoln’s Inn Fields illuminated each night from dusk until about 11pm. A series of events accompanies the exhibition. Runs until 7th January, 2024. Entry is free. For more, see www.soane.org/exhibitions/georgian-illuminations,
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Looking northward up Pudding Lane (to the right of the picture is a somewhat controversial plaque marking the site of the bakery). PICTURE: Google Maps
While it has been claimed in the past that the name did come from desserts or puddings being sold here, it’s now generally believed that the name relates to the medieval word ‘pudding’ which meant offal – the guts or entrails of animals.
It was apparently down this lane that the butchers of the Eastcheap market (London’s primary meat market in medieval times, located at the northern end of the lane), having slaughtered an animal for consumption, would have the ‘puddings’ carried down the lane so they could be disposed of on waste barges (earlier on, the butchers were apparently permitted to toss the offal into the Thames when tide conditions were right).
The lane, which 16th century historian John Stow said was also known as Rother Lane (due to a Thames wharf called Rothersgate at its southern end) and Red Rose Lane (after a shop sign in the lane), also has the honour of being one of the world’s first designated one-way streets.
Josepha Jane Battlehooke’s ‘The Great Fire of London’ depicts the scene as though from a boat in the. vicinity of Tower Wharf. PICTURE: Public domain via Wikipedia.
Thomas Dagger, a 17th century journeyman baker, only became famous rather recently when new research identified him as the first witness to one of the seminal events in London’s history – the Great Fire of 1666.
The research was undertaken by Professor Kate Loveman at the University of Leicester for the Museum of London and will be used to inform its gallery displays when it opens its new site at Smithfield in 2026.
Drawing on letters, pamphlets, legal and guild records, Professor Loveman put Dagger, who worked in Thomas Farriner’s bakery on Pudding Lane, at the centre of the the fire’s origin story.
It’s well-known that the fire began in Farriner’s bakery in the early hours of 2nd September, 1666, and went on to consume some 13,200 homes in the city, leaving some 65,000 people homeless. But reports differ as to who was in the bakery when the fire started.
Among accounts pointing to Dagger being present is a letter from MP Sir Edward Harley who wrote in a letter to his wife that Thomas Farriner’s “man” – a term referring to his servant or journeyman – was woken after in the early hours on 2nd September choking from smoke. He reported that Farriner, his daughter and “his man” then escaped out of an upper window, but his maid died.
Dagger’s name is also found grouped with other Farriner household members among witnesses on a subsequent indictment targeting Frenchman Robert Hubert who was convicted and hanged for starting the fire after making a somewhat dubious confession.
Professor Loveman concludes that, based on her research, Thomas Dagger was the first witness to the Great Fire of London, woken by choking smoke shortly before 2am on 2nd September. Aware of the fire, he then alerted other members of the household before, along with his boss Thomas Farriner, Farriner’s son Thomas Farriner, Jr, and Farriner’s daughter Hanna, escaping by climbing out of an window. An unnamed maid who was in the house did not escape with them and was killed.
Professor Loveman’s research further showed that Dagger arrived in London from Wiltshire in 1655 and was apprenticed to one Richard Sapp for nine years but ended up serving part of that time with Farriner. Soon after the fire, in 1667, he took his freedom and by January the following year had married and had a baby. He went on to establish his own bakery at Billingsgate.
Says Professor Loveman: “It was fascinating to find out more about what happened on that famous night. Although most of the evidence about the Farriners is well known to historians, Thomas Dagger’s role has gone unrecognised. Unlike the Farriners, his name didn’t become associated with the fire at the time. Soon after the disaster, he merges back into the usual records of Restoration life, having children and setting up his own bakery. His is a story about the fire, but also about how Londoners recovered.”
A scene from the Notting Hill Carnival in 2019. PICTURE: Glodi Miessi/Unsplash
• It’s the Notting Hill Carnival weekend, three days of festivities celebrating Caribbean culture culminating in the main parade on Monday. Europe’s biggest street festival, which has been taking place since 1966 with a couple of exceptions, features music, street food and spectacular costumes. Saturday is Steel Band Competition Day, a ticketed event featuring the UK National Panorama Steel Band Competition, while Sunday is Families and Children’s Day featuring a children’s parade and carnival. On Monday, the main parade and carnival is held. For more information, see https://nhcarnival.org.
Aerial view of Hampton Court Palace. PICTURE: Ollie Craig/Pexels
• Hampton Court Palace has launched a new ‘film and TV locations’ audio tour, taking visitors behind the scenes of everything from Pirates of the Caribbean to The Favourite and the recent Netflix series Bridgerton. The palace first appeared in a 1926 movie bearing its name which detailed the marriage of King Henry VIII and Catherine Howard and has since gone on to appear in numerous productions ranging from The Theory of Everything and A Little Chaos to Sherlock Holmes: A Games of Shadows and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!. The tour includes exclusive interviews with the director and executive producer of Bridgerton and also details the involvement of Historic Royal Palace staff who ensure the site remains protected during photo shoots. The ‘Film and TV Locations Tour’ is included in general admission. For more, head here.
• The Museum of London is calling for suggestions for signs to feature in ‘Hanging Out’, a permanent installation planned for the new London Museum, set to open in Smithfield’s General Market building in 2006. It’s intended the space will represent a broad range of London’s communities with the focus on the last 80 years. Signs could relate to everything from sports venues and cafes and pubs to nightclubs, music venues and theatres. People with suggestions for signs are asked to email ourtime@museumoflondon.org.uk.
The MV Havengore. PICTURE: Robin Webster (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)
Still plying the waters of the Thames, the MV Havengore is perhaps most famous for having carried the coffin of Sir Winston Churchill on the River Thames as part of his state funeral in 1965.
The MV Havengore – named for a low-lying island off the coast of Essex – was originally constructed as a hydrographic survey launch for the Port of London Authority in 1956. As the PLA’s principal survey vessel and flagship, she was moored at Gravesend and tasked with recording changes to Thames bed and estuary. She became the first survey vessel in the UK to have a computer to record survey data.
The highpoint of her during her almost 40 years of service with the PLA came on 30th January, 1965, when she transported the body of Churchill from Tower Pier to Festival Pier. On the journey, she was saluted by flight of 16 fighter jets while dock cranes were made to bow as she passed (there’s a plaque on board commemorating her role in the funeral).
But the almost 26 metre long vessel also participated in other historic events including the river pageant to celebrate the Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and, more recently, the flotilla formed to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 as well as the Thames tribute to the Queen’s long reign in 2015 and the Queen’s 90th birthday parade in 2016.
The MV Havengore was withdrawn from service in 1995 and sold after which she underwent restoration and refitting at the Chatham Historic Dockyard. The vessel was then used to provide excursions for underprivileged children on the Medway.
Ordered by the Portland & Weymouth Coaling Co Ltd, Portwey (the name comes from the company’s) was built by Harland & Wolff at Govan yard in Glasgow and launched on 10th August, 1927.
The 80 foot long vessel was based in Weymouth, Dorset, performed a range of tasks including carrying coal to steamers and being on call for any ship in distress requiring assistance or salvage. This included extinguishing a fire aboard the Danish timber-carrier Bodil in 1928, assisting ships like the cargo steamer Winslow (which had developed a list in heavy seas in 1932), and the Winchester Castle which had run aground in 1936, and even being involved in the search for a sunken submarine in 1932.
The Portwey was seconded by the Admiralty and moved to Dartmouth in Devon during World War II. Narrowly avoiding German bombs while in the harbour, during this time the tug was went to the assistance of ships attacked by the enemy. In 1944, she was assigned to US forces as they prepared for D-Day and her duties including clearing obstructions from the channel and supplying fresh water to naval vessels as well as, when a rehearsal for the landings went wrong at Slapton Sands, rescuing personnel and landing craft.
After the war, the Portwey resumed duties as a harbour tug including ferrying pilots and customs officers out into the Channel. In 1947, she helped put out a fire at the Queen’s Hotel in Dartmouth.
The Portwey was sold to the Falmouth Dock and Engineering Company in Cornwall in 1952. As well as rescuing the captain and first officer of the cargo ship Flying Enterprise, during this period she was involved in the construction of the Lizard Lifeboat Station in Cornwall, and a car ferry slipway at Holyhead in north Wales.
In 1967, with coal-fired steam tugs being replaced by diesel-engined ships, she was laid up to be scrapped. But it wasn’t the end for the Portwey, which was bought by Richard Dobson, the assistant harbour master at Dartmouth. Along with a group of friends, he returned her to working condition and during the 1960s and 1970s, she took part in many events on the River Dart and around Torbay.
In 1982, the Portwey joined the Maritime Trust’s Historic Ship Collection at St Katharine’s Dock where the newly formed Friends of Portwey continued with restoration and operation of the tug.
The Friends of Portwey became the Steam Tug Portwey Trust in 2000 and purchased the tug from the Maritime Trust, moving the vessel to West India Dock.
WHERE: Steam Tug Portwey, West India Dock (South Quay) (nearest DLR station is South Quay); WHEN: 2pm to 9pm Wednesdays; WEBSITE: www.stportwey.co.uk.
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