London pub signs – The Warwick Castle, Maida Vale…

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This almost 180-year-old pub, located in the heart of Little Venice, sits in a row of Grade II-listed terraced houses.

The pub in 2014. PICTURE: Edwardx (licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)

Built in 1847, both it and the name of Warwick Place where it is located as well as nearby Warwick Avenue apparently take their name from Jane Warwick, of Warwick Hall near Carlisle.

It’s all a bit convoluted, but in 1778 she had married into the family that had originally leased the land on which they stand from the Bishop of London.

The pub, which still has original features including its exterior lamp and sign brackets, appeared in journalist Maurice Gorham’s books The Local (1939), and Back to the Local (1949), both of which feature illustrations of the pub by the local artist Edward Ardizzone (the pub featured on the cover of the second book).

Regulars have reportedly included Welsh drug smuggler and Mr Nice author Howard Marks, billionaire Richard Branson and musician Rick Wakeman.

For more on the pub at 6 Warwick Place, see https://www.warwickcastlemaidavale.com.

This Week in London – ‘Silk Roads’ at the British Museum; ‘War and the Mind’; and, the art of Sidney H Sime at the Heath Robinson Museum…

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Ivory chess pieces © ACDF of Uzbekistan, Samarkand State Museum Reserve. PICTURE: Andrey Arakelyan

• The popular concept of the ‘Silk Road’ as a simple history of trade between East and West is challenged in a new exhibition which opens at the British Museum today. Silk Roads, which spans the period from about 500 AD to 1,000 AD, explores the overlapping networks which linked communities ranging from the UK to Japan and Scandinavia to Madagascar through a display organised into five geographic zones. The exhibition features more than 300 objects which include the oldest group of chess pieces ever found (pictured), a six metre long wall painting from the ‘Hall of the Ambassadors’ in what is now Samarkand in Uzbekistan, a glass drinking horn from Italy dating from between 550 and 600 AD, and, a map of the world from al-Idrisi’s Nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikh0raq al-afaq (Pleasure of He who Longs to Cross the Horizons) from a 1533 manuscript which drew on a 1154 original. Visitors will also encounter the stories of people whose stories intertwined with the Silk Roads including Willibald, a balsam smuggler from England, and a legendary Chinese princess her shared the secrets of silk farming with her new kingdom. The display in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery can be seen until 23rd February. Admission charge applies. For more, see britishmuseum.org/silkroads.

• The psychological dimensions of war are explored in a major new temporary exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth. War and the Mind features more 150 objects spanning the period from World War I through to the War in Afghanistan. Among them are a letter from Winnie the Pooh author AA Milne which speaks of how dedicated pacifists have changed their mind in the face of direct threat, amphetamine tablets issued to Allied soldiers to help them overcome the psychological effects of fatigue, a newly-acquired mitten belonging to the baby son of an Avro Lancaster bomber rear gunner who carried it for comfort while carrying out operations during the World War II, and a Protect and Survive booklet issued in the UK in 1980 as part of the government’s response to the fear of nuclear weapons during the Cold War. The exhibition, which opens on Friday, is free to visit. For more, see iwm.org.uk/events/war-and-the-mind.

• The artwork of painter, illustrator and caricaturist Sidney Sime is the subject of a new exhibition at the Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner. Sime, who was born in Manchester in 1865, trained at the Liverpool school of art before heading to London where he worked for magazines including Pick-Me-Up, drawing theatrical caricatures and other humorous drawings. He later struck up a friendship with Lord Dunsany and illustrated his first book, The Gods of Pegana, in a collaboration which continued until the 1930s. He also formed friendships with Lord Howard de Walden and composer Joseph Holbrooke, making set and costume designs for their theatrical and operatic productions. After World War I, Sime made a number of large oil paintings, many of which are shown in the display. The Art of Sidney H Sime, Master of Fantasy, which opens on Saturday, can be seen until 5th January. For more, see www.heathrobinsonmuseum.org/whats-on/sidney-sime-artist-and-philosopher/.

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LondonLife – The Fourth Plinth readorned…

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‘Mil Veces un Instante’ by Teresa Margolles. PICTURE: © James O Jenkins
Teresa Margolles with ‘Mil Veces un Instante’ PICTURE: © James O Jenkins

The 15th commission in Mayor of London’s Fourth Plinth programme has been unveiled in Trafalgar Square.

Artist Teresa Margolles’ Mil Veces un Instante (A thousand times an Instant) is made up of plaster casts of the faces of 726 trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people which were made in Mexico City and Juárez, Mexico; and London. 

The casts – which Margolles spent more than 1,000 hours making – were created by applying plaster directly onto the faces of participants, meaning the plaster is infused with their hair and skin cells.

The next artworks to grace the Fourth Plinth will be Tschabalala Self’s Lady in Blue – a bronze work patinated with Lapis Lazuli blue which will be installed in 2026 – and Andra Ursuţa’s Untitled – a shrouded equestrian statue which will be installed from 2028.

Mil Veces un Instante replaced Samson Kambalu’s Antelope which had been on the Fourth Plinth since 2022.

For more on the Fourth Plinth programme, head to https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/arts-and-culture/current-culture-projects/fourth-plinth-trafalgar-square. You can also download the free arts and culture app Bloomberg Connects.

A Moment in London’s History…London Mithraeum refound…

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It was on 18th September, 1954 – 70 years ago this month – that archaeologists working on a site in central London discovered one of the greatest archaeological finds in London of the 20th century – a head of Mithras in the remains of a mid-3rd century Roman temple.

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This Week in London – Theatre and Performance at the V&A; blue plaque for Diana Beck; and, the Royal Academy celebrates Michael Craig-Martin…

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The V&A in South Kensington. PICTURE: graham chandler (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

• The V&A in South Kensington is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Theatre and Performance collections with Enthoven Unboxed: 100 Years of Collecting Performance, which opened last weekend. The exhibition commemorates the 1924 donation of more than 80,000 playbills, programmes, and ephemera from collector, humanitarian, and campaigner Gabrielle Enthoven. Highlights among the objects on display include John Pasch’s artwork featuring the original Rolling Stones tongue and lips, a pair of semi-quaver spectacles worn by Elton John during his 1981-2 British and world tours, a self-portrait bust by 18th century actress Sarah Siddons, a set model designed by Misty Buckley for Stormzy’s headline set at Glastonbury Festival in 2019, and, a prompt script used by Phoebe Waller-Bridge for Fleabag in the West End. The free display can be seen in the Theatre and Performance Galleries (Rooms 103-106) until 4th January. For more., see www.vam.ac.uk,

• Diana Beck, the first female neurosurgeon in Britain, has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque. Unveiled earlier this month, the plaque marks the site of her former home and consulting rooms at 53 Wimpole Street in Marylebone. Beck lived at the property from 1948 to 1954, a period during which she created and ran a neurosurgical department at Middlesex Hospital. It was also during this period that Beck operated on her most famous patient – Winnie the Pooh author AA Milne, who had suffered a stroke in 1952. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/

Michael Craig-Martin, ‘Common History: Conference, 1999’. Acrylic on aluminium, 274.3 x 508 cm. Gagosian, London © Michael Craig-Martin. Image courtesy of Gagosian

• The largest retrospective of the work of artist (and Royal Academician) Michael Craig-Martin has opens at the Royal Academy on Saturday. The exhibition in Royal Academy’s Main Galleries features more than 120 works spanning the period from the 1960s through to today and includes sculpture, installation, painting and drawing, as well as works newly created for the display. Among the highlights are the installations On the Table (1970) and An Oak Tree (1973), the large scale wall drawing in tape, Interlocked (MoMA project 1990) and the large scale painting Eye of the Storm (2003) as well as his depictions of single objects and word paintings. The exhibition runs until 10tH December. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.royalacademy.org.uk.

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10 towers with a history in London – 6. Westminster Cathedral campanile…

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A well-known landmark in Westminster, the distinctive striped brick and stone campanile of Westminster Cathedral stands 284 feet or 64 metres high.

PICTURE: Catholic Church England and Wales © Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Building of a Roman Catholic cathedral in Westminster – what would be the largest in England and Wales – was the vision of Cardinal Herbert Vaughan. Construction started in 1895 and was complete eight years later. The campanile was the final part of the building’s structure to be completed.

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Conscious that the Gothic Westminster Abbey only a short distance away, architect John Francis Bentley instead designed the cathedral in a neo-Byzantine style and the plans originally included two campanili or bell towers which may have been influenced by those in Venice (it was Cardinal Vaughn who famously said one campanile would be enough for him resulting in just one being built).

The 30 foot square dome-topped tower, like the rest of the building, was constructed of stripes of red brick and Portland stone which reflected existing residential buildings nearby.

Formally known as St Edward’s Tower, it contains the 55cwt St Edward’s Bell (named after St Edward the Confessor) which was a gift of Gwendoline, the Duchess of Norfolk, in 1910. It was cast at the Whitechapel Foundry and bears the inscription, “While the sound of this bell travels through the clouds, may the bands of angels pray for those assembled in thy church. St Edward, pray for England.”

Carved stone eagles surround the apex of the tower – a reference to St John the Evangelist (apparently patron saint of the architect) and the cross on top of the cupola is said to contain a fragment of the True Cross discovered by the Empress Helena in 326 AD.

The campanile famously appears at the end of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 thriller, Foreign Correspondent, in a scene in which the bad guy is thrown from the top.

The campanile, which has a lift to the top, is open to the public. Viewing balconies on all four sides of the tower provide 360 degree views of the surrounding city including over the stunning domes of the cathedral itself.

WHERE: The Campanile, Westminster Cathedral (nearest Tube stations are Victoria and St James’s Park); WHEN: 11am to 3:30pm Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; COST; £6 adults; £12 families (two adults and up to four children); £3 concessions (aged 60+); WEBSITE: https://westminstercathedral.org.uk/tower-viewing-gallery-reopens/

LondonLife – Stickered boxes…

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PICTURE: Diego Marín/Unsplash

This Week in London – Open House Festival; Van Gogh at The National Gallery; and, the London Design Festival…

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• The doors of buildings right across London’s 33 boroughs open to the public this weekend for the annual Open House Festival. The festival, which runs from the 14th to 22nd September, features a range of building drop-ins and tours, talks, workshops and family-based activities. Among those on offer – a walking tour of “Lost Aldwych”, family organ building workshops at the Union Chapel, and ‘drop-ins’ at everywhere from the Berwick Street Market to Abney Park Cemetery, the English National Ballet and the former “horse hospital” in Russell Square. For more, see https://programme.openhouse.org.uk

Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers (1888) Oil on canvas, 92.1 × 73 cm © The National Gallery, London (NG3863)

• A major exhibition of the paintings of Vincent van Gogh opens at The National Gallery this Saturday. The gallery’s first ever exhibition of the artist’s work, Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers features more than 50 works and marks not only the 200th anniversary of the gallery but also the centenary of the gallery’s acquisition of Sunflowers (1888) and Van Gogh’s Chair (1888) in 1924. Other works on show include Starry Night (1888), The Poet (1888), The Lover (1888), A Wheatfield with Cypresses (1889) and Long Grass with Butterflies (1890). The display can be seen in Rooms 1 to 8 until 19th January. Admission charge applies. For more, see nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/ng200-programme.

• The London Design Festival, which features more than 300 events held over nine days, also kicks off this Saturday. There are 11 designated ‘Design Districts’ as part of this year’s festival, each of which reflects the local community and will host a range of events include exhibitions, installations, workshops and talks. Highlights include Turkish designer and artist Melek Zeynep Bulut’s installation Duo in the Painted Hall at Greenwich, a Bankside ‘ghost signs’ walk, a Fitzrovia ‘design trail’, an exhibition in which artists imagine the currency of the future, and Sir Antony Gormley’s three storey high installation, ROOM at The Beaumont Mayfair. The festival runs until 22nd September. For more head to https://londondesignfestival.com.

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10 towers with a history in London – 5. St Augustine’s Tower, Hackney…

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This tower – said to be the oldest building in Hackney – is all that remains of a 16th century church and, as a local symbol, appears on the London Borough of Hackney’s coat-of-arms.

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LondonLife – Docklands colour…

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The DLR moving past the ‘City Island’ residential development covering 12 acres in the Docklands. PICTURE: Sue Winston/Unsplash

This Week in London – Black On The Square; poetry celebrated at Westminster Abbey; and, Ellen Terry’s costumes at Smallhythe Place…

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• A celebration of Black communities and culture returns to Trafalgar Square this weekend. Taking place on Saturday, the Mayor of London’s Black On The Square festival features live music and dance as well as art, fashion, food from Ghana, Guyana, Jamaica, Mauritius and Nigeria, and a range of family-friendly activities. Multi award-winning actor and rapper Bashy is headlining with other acts including Cultur FM, Kofi Stone, Krar Collective, Shingai, Phoebs and Karen Nyame. The free festival runs from noon to 6pm. For more, see www.london.gov.uk/events/black-square-2024.

Westminster Abbey. PICTURE: Ian Branch/Unsplash

• Westminster Abbey, home of the famed Poet’s Corner, has unveiled a new season of events celebrating poets and poetry this autumn. Voice and Verse, which launches on 3rd October, features poetry readings, talks, tours, musical performances and workshops. Highlights include a lunchtime concert to be held in St Margaret’s Church with music inspired by the poetry of writers memorialised in Poet’s Corner, a talk on the lives and legacy of World War I poets and an eventing of poetry held in Poet’s Corner itself. For more information, including event dates and booking information, head to www.westminster-abbey.org/events/autumn-season.

• Further afield: Two of Victorian actor Ellen Terry’s costumes – worn while performing Lady Macbeth in an 1888 production of Macbeth at London’s Lyceum Theatre – have gone on display at her former home of Smallhythe Place in Kent. The costumes, designed by Alice Comyns Carr, include the iridescent green ‘Beetlewing dress’, decorated in over 1,000 beetle wings, and immortalised in a John Singer Sargent painting of Terry. There’s also a gown worn by Terry in the play’s banqueting scene in which Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo. Made of muslin and shot through with gold thread, it is on display for the first time after extensive conservation work to address the damage caused by its repeated use on stage and the alterations and repairs which have occurred since. The Dressing Lady Macbeth: An Exhibition can be seen until 3rd November. Admission fees apply. For more, see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/kent/smallhythe-place.

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10 towers with a history in London – 4. Caledonian Park Clock Tower…

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Located in Islington, the Caledonian Park Clock Tower is a local landmark and among all that now remains of the 19th century Metropolitan Cattle Market.

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LondonLife – Colour palette, Shoreditch…

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PICTURE: Ambitious Studio* | Rick Barrett/Unsplash

What’s in a name?….Poland Street

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This Soho thoroughfare, which runs from Broadwick Street north to Oxford Street, isn’t directly named after Poland.

PICTURE: Courtesy of Google Maps

Instead its name comes from a tavern which once stood at the Oxford end of the street – the King of Poland, said to have been named in honour of King John III Sobieski who led a coalition of forces which defeated the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vienna in 1683.

Polish Protestants settled around the area in the 18th century, fleeing the Polish Counter-Reformation.

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Famous residents have included Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (number 15; it’s marked with an English Heritage Blue Plaque) and William Blake (number 28).

The pub, incidentally, is said to have changed its name a couple of times – most latterly to the Dickens Wine House – before it was destroyed by a bomb in 1940.

Another pub in the street – the Kings Arms – stands on the site of an earlier tavern where the “Ancient Order of Druids” was revived in 1781.

The Poland Street Garage, meanwhile, opened here in 1934 and is said to have been the first multi-storey car park in London.

This Week in London – Restored Roman kiln to be unveiled; and, design for new Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery revealed…

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• The most complete Roman pottery kiln found in Greater London is going on public display in Highgate Wood in what is the first public showing since its discovery in 1968. The kiln has been restored thanks to a £243,550 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant and will be unveiled at 11am on Sunday as part of the annual Highgate Wood Community Heritage Day. The day, which runs until 4pm, will see the firing of a replica kiln and there will also be guided walks, a children’s Roman-themed woodland adventure workshop, arts, crafts, and other activities. The kiln will be on show in the Information Hut. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/highgate-wood-community-heritage-day.

Concept image of Khaled Brooks’ ‘The Wake’. Courtesy of Mayor of London

• Khaleb Brooks’ sculpture The Wake has been selected as the new Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery to be located at West India Quay. The design, which features a seven metre tall cowrie shell in recognition of the shell’s role as symbol of slavery. A number of smaller shells will also be installed at other locations in London that have connections to the trade of enslaved people. Khaleb’s work was selected from a shortlist of six proposals by an artistic advisory panel of experts following a public consultation period. The memorial will be unveiled in 2026.

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LondonLife – Greenwich colonnade…

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PICTURE: Sue Winston/Unsplash

The Queen’s House Colonnade.

London Explained – The M25…

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The M25 is an 117 mile-long orbital roadway which encircles most of the Greater London area.

Part of the M25 seen from a plane looking north as it took off from Heathrow. PICTURE: RFBailey (licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)

Originally mostly built as a dual three lane motorway, widening has since taken place in more than half of it – to as much as six lanes in parts.

The idea was first proposed in the early 20th century and then re-mooted several times in subsequent decades before construction began in 1973.

The final section of the M23 was opened by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1986 (it was Europe’s longest ring road when it opened and has since been bypassed by the Berliner Ring).

The M25, which has 31 junctions, is these days one of the busiest motorways in Europe. It connects to 10 other motorways.

Connect Plus – a joint venture between Balfour Beatty, Atkins and Egis – works on behalf of National Highways to manage and operate the M25 network. 

This Week in London – ‘Lucky Jim’ reunited with historic plane; Banksy work related to Guildhall Yard; and, a new Kew audio tour…

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• ‘Lucky Jim’, a toy cat mascot belong to Jim Alcock – pilot of the first trans-Atlantic flight, has been reunited with the Vickers Vimy biplane aircraft that made the flight for the first time since 1919. The cat accompanied the famous aviator and his navigator Arthur Whitten Brown on their historic 17 hour, 1,880 mile journey. Following preservation efforts is now displayed alongside the aircraft in the Flight gallery at the Science Museum in South Kensington. Lucky Jim was previously displayed at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester until 2019. A cartoon version of the cat is also the star of a new family trail around the gallery. For more, see https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/flight.

The Palm House at Kew Gardens. PICTURE: Annie Spratt/Unsplash

• Explore the plants of Kew Gardens’ historic Palm House with a new audio tour. Created by Kew’s Community Horticulture Programme in collaboration with outreach participants, Pollinators of the Palm House puts a spotlight on some of the remarkable stories and pollination tricks of incredible plants inside the 175-year-old structure. These include the giant cycad (Encephalartos altensteinii) – officially the oldest pot plant in the world, and the traveller’s palm (Ravenala madagascariensis), which is pollinated by lemurs in the wild on Madagascar. For more, see www.kew.org.

• An artwork by Banksy has been relocated to Guildhall Yard for its protection. The work, which depicts swimming piranhas, appeared on a sentry box near Ludgate Hill earlier this month. A City of London Corporation spokesperson saying a permanent home would be found “in due course”.

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10 towers with a history in London – 3. Victoria Tower…

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Located at the south-western end of the Houses of Parliament, the rather grand Victoria Tower was built as part of Sir Charles Barry’s 19th century redevelopment of the site in the Gothic Perpendicular style.

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LondonLife – Cathedral crossing…

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Looking up in Westminster Cathedral. PICTURE: Matthias Götzke/Unsplash