Pete, a maidenhair fern who lives at ZSL London Zoo, is preparing to take the world’s first plant selfie. Under the pioneering project taking place in the zoo’s Rainforest Life exhibit, microbial fuel cells – which harness the energy of naturally occurring bacteria in soil to generate electricity – will be used to power the plant to take its own picture. The fuel cells were designed by green energy specialists Plant E in the Netherlands and were created after ZSL’s Conservation Tech Unit, in partnership with Open Plant, Cambridge University and the Arribada Initiative, last year launched a competition to design a fuel cell that could be powered by plants. The new technology, which works around the clock, has the potential to allow researchers to monitor inhospitable and remote rainforest locations and record key data such as temperature, humidity, plant growth – all of which are crucial to the understanding of threats such as climate change and habitat loss. Zoo staff are asking people and come and cheer Pete on as he prepares to take his selfie with the actual event not expected for a few weeks. For more, see zsl.org. PICTURES: © ZSL London Zoo.
LondonLife – Dulwich unveils ‘The Colour Palace’…
June 18, 2019
The “second edition” pavilion at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, ‘The Colour Palace’ was unveiled earlier this month at the south London institution. Created in a partnership between the gallery and the London Festival of Architecture, the ‘palace’ – designed by Pricegore architects and Yinka Ilori – is a 10 metre high cube featuring a bold geometric pattern which was inspired by the “buzz of fabric markets in Lagos” and the “symmetry, curves and right angles” of Sir John Soane’s now Grade II*-listed gallery building. The temporary palace, which unites the themes of ‘boundaries’ and ‘innovation’, is being used as a public space for a range of creative activities – everything from neon life drawing, supper clubs, storytelling and yoga. For the programme of events, see www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk. PICTURES: Adam Scott/Dulwich Picture Gallery.
The Queen’s birthday was marked on Saturday with the annual Trooping the Colour in central London. More than 400 soldiers, close to 300 horses and 400 musicians took part in the event, believed to have first been performed during the reign of King Charles II. As well as Queen Elizabeth II, other members of the Royal Family in attendance included Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (see image below). ALL PICTURES: US Department of Defence photo by US Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A Pineiro (Via Flickr account of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff/licensed under CC BY 2.0).
Against a backdrop of testy exchanges with London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, denials that he called the Duchess of Sussex “nasty”, comments in praise of Boris Johnson and criticism of the UK’s handling of Brexit, US President Donald Trump arrived in London on Monday for a controversial three day State Visit. The visit, during which he has attended a State Banquet with Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace and is meeting with various political leaders, has already sparked protests and seen the reappearance of the famous ‘Trump Baby Blimp’ which first appeared over London’s Parliament Square during his non-State Visit last year. Now, the Museum of London has announced that it’s hoping to acquire the giant balloon along with one of Sadiq Khan which was created in protest at some of the mayor’s policies. In a statement released on Monday, the museum said it hoped to acquire both balloons and will be reaching out to their creators shortly. “London has played host to many historic protests,” the museum said in a statement. “From the Suffragettes of the early twentieth century to the anti-austerity marches, free speech and climate change rallies – the capital has always been the place to have your say.” It said that if acquired, the balloons will join the museum’s “protest collection” which comprises objects relating to the Suffrage movement 100 years ago, banners, flags, and tents that belonged to Brian Haw who used to actively protest outside the Houses of Parliament, as well as recent placards used by protestors against public spending cuts. For more on the museum, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk.
PICTURE: The Trump Baby Blimp seen over Parliament Square during last year’s presidential visit (Michael Reeve/licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)
LondonLife – Queen Victoria turns 200…
May 28, 2019
Queen Victoria was born on 24th May, 1819, at Kensington Palace and to celebrate the bicentenary, the palace, as well as holding two new exhibitions inside – Victoria: A Royal Childhood and Victoria: Woman and Crown, also features a new floral display in the surrounding gardens. A new display in the Sunken Garden which features plant species connected to the Victorian period – including heliotrope, canna, pelargonium and begonia – was planted this month for visitors to enjoy over the summer months. In addition, the palace’s gardens and estates team are showcasing a selection of new plant species discovered during the Queen’s reign around the formal gardens – everything from the Chilean lantern tree identified in 1848 to the Chinese fringe tree identified in 1845 – while the decorative pond which surrounds the statue of the Queen outside the East Front of the palace is being planted with aquatic plants and marginals that highlight and complement the iconic sculpture. There is also a special floral illustration using Victorian-style carpet bedding formed of Sempervivum ‘Mahogany’ to spell out ‘200 years’ in front of the statue (see picture). For more, see www.hrp.org.uk/Victoria2019. PICTURE: © Historic Royal Palaces/Richard Lea-Hair.
LondonLife – RHS Chelsea Flower Show in bloom…
May 21, 2019
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show opens today and once again features a series of cutting edge ‘show gardens’ boasting the best of international garden design as well as a series of smaller ‘artisan gardens’ offering thought-provoking designs that tell a story, ‘space to grow’ gardens which pack a lot into a small space and dazzling displays in the Great Pavilion. This year’s offerings also include a special ‘RHS Back to Nature Garden’ designed by the Duchess of Cambridge with the help of Andrée Davies and Adam White of Davies White Landscape Architects, and a D-Day 75 Garden which, positioned in front of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, shows soldiers landing on a beach overlooked by a stone statue of veteran Bill Pendell. The show runs until Saturday with public entry from Thursday. For more, see rhs.org.uk/shows. PICTURES: Above – Florella’s Future, Discovery Zone, in the Great Pavilion; Below – Queen Elizabeth II smiles as views flower displays in the Great Pavilion (RHS/Luke MacGregor); The National Chrysanthemum Society’s exhibit, which is based on popular children’s television programmes of the 60’s and 70’s during prebuild (RHS/ Luke MacGregor); Paddleboarder Jo Mosely poses in ‘The Welcome to Yorkshire’ show garden (RHS/Suzanne Plunkett); The Queen and Prince William are given a tour by the Duchess of Cambridge of her ‘RHS Back to Nature Garden’ (RHS/Luke MacGregor); and, Normandy veterans pause in the ‘D-Day Revisited Garden’ designed by John Everiss Design (RHS/Suzanne Plunkett).
LondonLife – Liverpool Street Station…
May 14, 2019
PICTURE: Ugur Akdemir/Unsplash
LondonLife – Stand on the right…
May 7, 2019
Inside the London Underground. PICTURE: Tom Parsons/Unsplash.
LondonLife – River crossing…
April 30, 2019
Millennium Bridge crossing the Thames between the City of London and South Bank. PICTURE: Toa Heftiba/Unsplash (image cropped).
LondonLife – Night lights…
April 23, 2019
London illuminated. PICTURE: Christopher Burns/Unsplash
LondonLife – Shakespeare at home?
April 16, 2019
A theatre historian believes he has discovered where William Shakespeare lived while he was writing some of his most famous works including Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While it has long been known the playwright lived close to the site of Liverpool Street station in the late 1590s, Geoffrey Marsh says an examination of official records has pinpointed the location as being on the site of what is now an office block at 35 Great St Helen’s, only a stone’s throw from The Gherkin. The BBC reports that Marsh, who is also the director of the V&A’s department of theatre and performance, found Shakespeare was a tenant of the Company of Leatherworkers and most likely lived among dwellings overlooking the churchyard of St Helen’s Bishopsgate, pictured above. PICTURE: Via Google maps
LondonLife – South Bank book fair…
April 9, 2019
Book fair on South Bank. PICTURE: Charlie Read/Unsplash
LondonLife – Ham House gets flowery…
April 2, 2019
Part of the garden at the historic Thames-side mansion Ham House has been redesigned with the aim of bringing some new life to the manicured lawns. Rosie Fyles, head gardener at the 17th century property in Richmond – now in the care of the National Trust, has overseen the planting of a series of “plats” – each the size of a tennis court – with some 500,000 bulbs and wildflowers to create a “pageant of colour” from early spring and throughout summer. The plats have also been created with wildlife and diversity in mind, using naturalising bulbs to attract bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. Fyles hopes the project will prove inspirational for home gardeners. “You can easily use pots, planters or a small area of border to create a pollinator-friendly bulb display over a few early spring months; in fact you can curate your own sequence of flowering from February to May at least,” she said. “We have used Crocus ‘Ruby Giant’, four types of species tulips (including bright red Tulipa linifolia) and Muscari latifolium to create a bright, deep blue carpet of colour.” For more, head to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ham-house-and-garden. ALL PICTURES: National Trust/Chris Davies.
LondonLife – Brexit turmoil…
March 26, 2019
Scenes from the ‘Put It To The People March’ attracted thousands to central London on Saturday. More than a million people hit the streets calling for a second Brexit vote. Here’s some images from the mass gathering. PICTURES: Top and first below – John Briody (licensed under CC BY 2.0); second, third and fourth below (Garry Knight (public domain).
A cache of papers and items found in Vincent Van Gogh’s former south London home – and dating from 1873-74, the period he lodged there – have shed new light on his time in the city. The papers, which include insurance documents, a small pamphlet of prayers and hymns, and scraps of paper painted with watercolour flowers (probably not the work of Van Gogh), were found under the floorboards and between the attic timbers of the house at 87 Hackford Road in Stockwell. They were discovered during a renovation of the early Victorian terraced house in which Van Gogh lived in while working as an assistant for an art dealer in Covent Garden. During the period he stayed at the house, it has been suggested that the Dutch artist fell in love with Eugénie Loyer, the 19-year-old daughter of his landlord (although his love was apparently not reciprocated). He also apparently became devoutly Christian during his time there (perhaps explaining the prayer pamphlet). The home’s current owners Jian Wang, a former professional violinist who originally hails from China, and his wife Alice Childs have reportedly been renovating the property in order to use it as a base for visiting Chinese artists in collaboration with the nearby San Mei Gallery. For more on the house, see www.vangoghhouse.co.uk. A near life-size photograph of the facade of the Hackford Road house forms part of Tate Britain’s upcoming display The EY Exhibition: Van Gogh in Britain which opens later this month (more on that shortly). PICTURE: An English Heritage Blue Plaque adorning the house (Spudgun67 – licensed under CC BY 2.0).
Queen Elizabeth II posted her first Instagram photo while visiting the Science Museum in South Kensington last Thursday in a promotion for its exhibition on computers. Under the account @theroyalfamily, the Queen posted two images of a letter at the museum which comes from the Royal Archives. It was written to Prince Albert and Queen Victoria by Charles Babbage and in it, the 19th century inventor and mathematician spoke of his invention of an “Analytical Machine” upon which the first computer programs were written by Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron. Having explained the origins of the letter, the Queen added: “Today, I had the pleasure of learning about children’s computer coding initiatives and it seems fitting to me that I publish this Instagram post, at the Science Museum which has long championed technology, innovation and inspired the next generation of inventors. Elizabeth R.” The Royal Family’s Instagram account has some 4.9 million followers. For more on the Science Museum, see www.sciencemuseum.org.uk.
LondonLife – Building blocks…
February 26, 2019
Looking across central London with the colourful facades of the Renzo Piano-designed Central Saint Giles mixed-use development – located east Charing Cross Road and south of New Oxford Street in the found in the district of St Giles, prominent. The £450 million project was completed in mid-2010. PICTURE: John Jackson/Unsplash.
LondonLife – Orchids at Kew…
February 19, 2019
The 24th annual Kew Orchid Festival is underway in west London with displays inspired by the flora and fauna of Colombia. For more, see www.kew.org. PICTURES: Above – Orchid stems (Ines Stuart Davidson); Below – A jaguar prowls among the orchids (photo by Jeff Eden); The Legend of El Dorado in a yellow orchid display (Jeff Eden); A sloth in a “carnival of animals” (Jeff Eden); and, Vanda orchids in a display representing the rainbow river, Cano Cristales (Jeff Eden). All pictures courtesy of Kew Gardens.
LondonLife – Chinese New Year celebrations…
February 12, 2019
Chinese or Lunar New Year celebrations in London – the largest outside Asia – were held at various West End sites including Chinatown, on Sunday to welcome in the Year of the Pig.
PICTURES: Garry Knight (licensed under CC BY 2.0)
LondonLife – Snow day at ZSL London Zoo…
February 5, 2019
ZSL London Zoo recently experienced its first “snow day” for 2019. Pictured are Kiri the Kune Kune pig (above) and (below), Humboldt penguins and Asian short-clawed otters. Fun, apparently, was had by all! For more, see www.zsl.org. ALL PICTURES: © ZSL London Zoo.
