Argentine Ambassador's Residence, Belgravia

At the midway point between Open House 2012 and 2013, it seems timely to feature one of the jewels in the Open House crown.

Embassy buildings come imposing and impenetrable. Even standing outside one can be intimidating.

However, this building had an early name that was nothing if not prosaic. “The Independent North Mansion” was the title of 49 Belgrave Square, one of Thomas Cubitt’s creations in his Belgravia masterpiece.

An imposing building

The photograph explains the title - this is not a terrace . By 1829 most of the houses in the Square had been completed, though who knows what Cubitt would make of the traffic today hammering round one of the most upmarket gyratory systems in London.

49 was completed in 1851, just four years before Cubitt’s death, and sharing the year with the Great Exhibition.

The house was originally built for the British Government’s War Secretary, Sidney Herbert. We were near to the beginning of the Crimean War, and it is said that Florence Nightingale left for the Crimea after hearing a speech of Herbert’s delivered at the house.

By that time the house had been renamed Belgrave Villa. It then passed through the ownership of the 6th Duke of Richmond, 7th Duke of Richmond, and the minerals magnate Sir Otto Beit, before being acquired by the Argentine Embassy in 1936.

As you would expect, the interior contains lavish reception rooms, and there is a spectacular ballroom with gold cornices and full-length mirrors.

Popular with Open House visitors

Despite this large-scale grandeur, the piece de resistance would be seen by most as the Ambassador’s office. In a polygon shape of room with massive stone fireplace, we could see the Ambassador’s desk and imagine the phone calls to Buenos Aires.

Notice the flag just behind desk

By way of the elephant in the room, the corridor leading to the office contains a design on the wall prominently inscribed with the word “Malvinas”.

However, what struck visitors was the helpfulness of the staff and their willingness to answer questions with courtesy and diplomacy – then again this is an Embassy building.

2012 was apparently the seventh consecutive year in which the Embassy opened the doors of the building for Open House. If it re-appears in 2013, I’d recommend a visit.

The author is a City of London and City of Westminster Guide, who runs walking tours in the City and in Westminster. See tabs for more information.

Unusual Views over City Rooftops

One of the consolations of having a City day job is the chance to get from office receptions views that are not available to the public. This might be considered zero consolation by those who deride the wage-slave, but it is something at least.

So here are three views, with slight apologies for the limitations of shots taken through a window and from a mobile phone:

East, across the Smithfield rooftops

This was a few days before the snow

The Smithfield wholesale meat market, built in 1868 under the direction of the City Surveyor, Horace Jones, still goes strong as a central London meat market despite the demise, or rather relocation, of its fish, and fruit and vegetable, cousins.

Overnight, menacingly huge refrigerated lorries park up ready for the early – and I mean early, as in 4am – opening of the market. They will be joined by a throng of club goers, as Smithfield is on the edge of the cool designer quarter of Clerkenwell.

And if you have the stamina for an all-nighter, then some pubs nearby will open early for a pint and breakfast. However, the 4am opening time seems to be a myth, with 7am appearing now to be the general time, just of course in time for Clerkenwell man to nosh up before heading to the office.

As to pubs, I especially like The Bishop’s Finger on the south side of the Market – a Shepherd Neame establishment (shades of my youth in Kent) with pleasant bar staff.

East, over Broadgate

A cold and gloomy day

This is not so spectacular, but it has an interesting structural story attached to it.

The angular building that is the principal subject of the photo, is Broadgate Tower on Primrose Street. Built in 2009 under a design by Skidmore Owings Merrill, it replaced the former Broadwalk House.

To understand the story you would need to look at the adjoining building known as 201 Bishopsgate (not directly seen in the picture, but follow the link), a relatively squat 12 storey building alongside the 33 storey Broadgate Tower, the two buildings being linked by large “A” frames (again see link).

The interesting fact is that both buildings are the same weight. And the reason for this is that the design is to provide structural balance to the raft that supports the buildings and sits above the railway tracks of Liverpool Street Station below...

It’s worth going to have a look.

East, from the edge of Fetter Lane

And another freezing day in London's big chill of winter

The centrepiece is naturally St Paul’s Cathedral. Around London there are various controlling sight lines, for example, a point in Richmond Park, and no building can be constructed that would interfere with the view of the Cathedral along those sight lines, whether in terms of blocking the view or framing it from behind.

However, here you definitely see some framing, from the 37 floor 20 Fenchurch Street, under advanced stages of construction.

We Londoners love our nicknames, and 20 Fenchurch Street has not surprisingly been dubbed “The Walkie Talkie”, due to being 16m wider at its peak than at its base; it also carries the suggestive marketing tag that it is the building “with more up top” (or maybe it is a reference to intellect).

And rising to the left is The Pinnacle at 22-24 Bishopsgate, to have 60 floors (but only 6 car parking spaces). The name is smart enough, but has not stopped the imagination that created The Walkie Talkie, so The Helter Skelter has emerged.

Finally is it a flight of fancy to see two bug eyes on stalks above the roof, creating a vast monster? OK, maybe too many watchings of The War of the Worlds..

The author is a City of London and City of Westminster Guide, who runs walking tours in the City and in Westminster. See tabs for further details.

Boosey & Hawkes & Bayswater

We’re in Frederick Close. This is not the street in the City (Frederick’s Place) described by Pevsner as “an oasis of domesticity with Georgian houses on either side”, containing work by the Adam brothers and a regular stop for a guide with a better than superficial knowledge of the City, but a tucked away street off the Bayswater Road.

A tucked away street with a history, the home for many years – at 6a-10 Frederick Close - of a musical instrument factory, but now refurbished under the ownership of The Church Commissioners to provide superior residential apartments.

An intriguing view

The Close sits in Tyburnia, and if you thought that this name were no more than an estate agent’s tag to inflate local property values, you would be wrong. The name originates  from the early 1800s, when the Surveyor to the Bishop of London, Samuel Pepys Cockerell, began to plan the layout of an area bounded by Bayswater Road, Edgware Road and Sussex Gardens.

What became Connaught Square was formerly Frederick Square, and sits just to the north of the Close. Connaught Square houses the London home of The Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, a location that would be anonymous other than for the 365/24/7 armed police protection at the front of the house and at the entrance to the mews immediately behind.

Tyburnia of course takes its name from the former gallows nearby. The plaque on the ground in a traffic island near the junction of Bayswater and Edgware Roads indicates that this was the site of the gallows, although some historians believe that the site was in the gardens of Connaught Square.

There is perhaps a piquancy in the possible conection between an execution site and the foreign policy record of our former Prime Minister, but that would be straying into dangerous territory for a modest London blogger.

Closer

Despite the title of this blog post, 6a-10’s musical connections start with the Distin family. John Distin founded a musical instrument manufacturing business, and in 1878 the then building on the site housed the Distin Musical Instrument Factory, although earlier the Distin business had been taken over by Boosey & Co, who in turn moved their military instrument making centre to the site from Newport Street (near Leicester Square).

A photograph on the internet shows the staff of Boosey & Co standing outside the manufactory in 1885 – it is understood that the original is in the custody of the Horniman Museum.

And from the opposite angle

The Distin family were brass instrument players, notably on the Saxhorn (little known today). That instrument  took its name from Adolph Sax (1814-1894), better known as the inventor of the Saxophone. And here is a fact that could help any quiz team – he was Belgian.

Boosey & Co became Boosey & Hawkes after a merger with Hawkes & Co in 1930. Since then the company has had occasionally troubled times, and the musical manufacture side was scaled down and finally ended in the early 2000s.

An imposing entrance

However, Boosey & Hawkes remains a force in music publishing, and retains the copyright for such composers as Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten and Aaron Copland.

And a building easy to date

As is evident from the photograph above, the building we see today dates from 1916, but in 2010 the building was refurbished to create “loft-style apartments”.

For further information on the rental opportunity one should consult property websites covering the area. However, you may be assisted by today's name of the building: “The Brassworks”. Who said anything about estate agents’ speak?

The author is a City of London and City of Westminster Guide, who runs walking tours in the City and in Westminster. Please see tabs for further information.

Inside & Outside the Law - Closing Time?

The lawyers at City firm Linklaters will be working late nights, following being appointed to act for the administrator of HMV, which collapsed on Monday after a painful period of decline.

The view down Silk Street to the Barbican Arts Centre.

Linklaters' offices rise on the left-hand side

This is not the place for an insolvency lesson, but in simple terms a company becomes insolvent when it runs out of cash to pay its debts.

Christmas is a critical time for retailers. 25th December is one of the rent days in the year, and if Christmas trading is not strong then a company will come under immediate pressure.

And to add insult to injury, HMV was followed within a day or so by DVD rental business Blockbuster, as another administration casualty. And all this barely no time after the administration of Jessops, the camera retailer.

In a Radio 4 Today Programme piece in the last week, the BBC’s Business Editor, Robert Peston, discussed the theory that failing businesses need to fail before we can see a true economic recovery. Harsh stuff, but maybe true.

Now collapsed does not definitely mean terminal. The purpose of an administration is to give a company a temporary respite from its creditors while the administrator sizes up the strength of the business and decides if all, or at least part of it, can be saved. And sometimes parts of the business are indeed saved.

This is all a far cry from the Dickensian days of debtors’ prison, and interestingly is an approach learnt by we Brits from our US cousins (there it is called Chapter 11)

So, inspired by the love of the excellent Londonist website for creating lists, here, courtesy of The Lawyer Magazine, is a list of ten high profile insolvencies from 2012.

The retailer element in the list has a strong historic London connection, and one other company is associated with vehicles in London that might justifiably be described as iconic. Please track any of the names further on the internet if you want to see what happened next (there is some good news in there!).

24th January: Petroplus Refining & Marketing
Not a household name, but a major UK oil refinery business.

13th February: Rangers Football Club
Scottish football club forced into administration by HM Revenue & Customs, to whom it owed £14m in tax.

16th March: World Spreads
Spread betting company found to have accounting irregularities.

26 March: Game Group
Video games retailer.

9th May: Clinton Cards:
Greeting cards retailer.

26th June: Town Centre Restaurants
Owners of the Cafe Giardino and Auberge brands.

18th July: Ethel Austin
Clothing retailer.

1st October: JJB Sports
Sports clothing and equipment retailer.

22nd October: Manganese Bronze
Black cab manufacturer. The administration followed the discovery of a steering fault in 400 of its vehicles (steps then taken to rectify fault).

2nd November: Comet
Electronics retailer.


Before Christmas I bought a DVD from Blockbuster (the BBC TV “Pride & Prejudice” – preferable to the film, if you ask me), and during last week I swarmed with the gnats in HMV Moorgate and bought a five film Quentin Tarantino DVD box set for £12. Too little, too late, I hear you cry.


The author is a City of London and City of Westminster Guide, who runs walking tours in the City and in Westminster. See tabs for further details

Hay! in the Haymarket

The march of the eating establishment chains provokes strong feelings, often negative.

Regulation concerning Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas can provide some check on external appearance, but the commercial imperative for landlords drives rents up in locations where occupier demand is strong, and challenges independent businesses to survive.

Central London may be considered fair game by the property investor and developer market. Surely, it could be said, this is a hotch potch world where there must be enough footfall for anyone to survive.

That view is misguided, and if you want a case study look at the story of the campaign to keep the wonderful Gaby’s Deli (near Leicester Square) alive.

So in view of this, it is pleasing to be able to give a cheer to Pizza Express (which despite my love of the independents I am happy to use for its consistency of standards and helpful staff).

The Haymarket branch sits in a street “steeped in history”, as one says. It was a hay and straw market from the mid 1600s until the market was removed to Cumberland Market on the eastern edge of Regent’s Park in 1830, it was a notorious haunt of prostitution in the 1700s (as reported by James Boswell through his scholarly and less scholarly researches), and yet it also contains the Theatre Royal Haymarket, the current theatre being a John Nash design from 1820 with a magnificent Corinthian columned portico  - try the view from the eastern end  of St James’s Square.

So what of Pizza Express, Haymarket? Well, it has troubled to put up an inscription inside the restaurant:

A nice nod to the past, though what draws the eye more is this on the opposite wall.

Reaction will depend on one’s taste, but I think it is fun and has a touch of style about it. What do you think?

Incidentally, I ate somewhere recently where they offered “hay-baked lamb”. Having no culinary expertise, I was quite befuddled by this. It sounds rather Nigella, and perhaps someone might enlighten me on what the hay contributes to the taste of the dish.


The author is a City of London and City of Westminster Guide, who runs walking tours in the City and in Westminster. See tabs for further detials

Hungerford Bridge - New Year's Day 2012

The bridge (1864) is perhaps not as fashionable as some others crossing the Thames. Trains trundle to and fro between Charing Cross and Waterloo East stations, and from a distance it can be difficult to make out the pedestrian bridges on each respective side.

The bridge takes its name from the former Hungerford Market, today forming the site of Charing Cross Railway Station, above which looms Sir Terry Farrell’s One Embankment Place, one of the breed of office developments built above London stations in order to exploit the airspace potential – see also for example Victoria Plaza  and the Exchange Square phase of Broadgate (built over Liverpool Street station).

Dickensian followers will note instantly that a little upstream from the bridge was Warren’s Blacking Factory at Hungerford Stairs, where the great man worked unhappily as a boy.

The pedestrian bridges were built in 2002 in honour of the 50th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth to the throne. They were named the Golden Jubilee Bridges, although the name does not seem to have stuck, in contrast to the Millennium Bridge further downstream.

What appeals about the bridge is the views that you can get from either side, and what better than to take a few late afternoon photos on New Year’s Day, after large numbers had converged on central London for the New Year’s Day Parade and to celebrate possibly the only day over Christmas/New Year 2012 when it didn’t rain.

Towards the City

Downstream is the view immediately to Waterloo Bridge and then on to St Paul’s Cathedral in mid-shot, surrounded by the City office blocks that stand like a bunch of security minders protecting a celebrity. Creeping in at right-hand edge of shot is the Shard.

The Cube

Atop the Royal Festival Hall as sits next to the bridge, is The Cube, latterly promoted as a special dining concept whereby (presumably well-heeled) guests have their food prepared for them by top chefs under the eyes of the diners.

Family fun

On the South Bank towards the London Eye, families congregated on NYD to enjoy entertainment including a traditional merry-go-round.

View upstream, the London Eye in the foreground

And perhaps the most striking view is upstream at sunset, the Palace of Westminster framed in the receding light. And centre stage is the tower that was properly known as the Great Clock Tower, was commonly known as Big Ben (although strictly that is only the name of the bell), but as of September 2012 was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in honour of HM Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Will the new name stick, or will it go the way of the Golden Jubilee Bridges with the tower retaining its popular Big Ben tag? Only time, if you will forgive the pun, will  tell.

The author is a City of London and City of Westminster Guide, who runs walking tours in the City and in Westminster. See tabs for further details.

Pantomime in London - It's Behind You!

The big question, for those lucky enough to be able to over-indulge at this time of year, is what is the antidote to holiday heartburn eating. After a selfless submission to the festive ordeal, something needs to be done.

And the salvation is there, in the form of a trip to the pantomime, a trip most needed this year after the underwhelming experience of Downton on Christmas Day. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one who disappeared near the end of the show, only to return at credits time to hear the proclamation “Matthew is dead”, to which the riposte could only be “Well, they had to do something to liven it up”.

I digress. Pantomime in London is not a centre of town thing, my only recollection of a recent exception being Sir Ian McKellen playing Widow Twankey at the Old Vic in the mid 2000s. For Christmas theatrical inspiration we usually look inwards to the West End, for example perhaps to take in The Lion King before it ends its 85 year run.

For professional panto proper, we have to turn around and get on the radar the productions running orbitally around London, this year at, say, Greenwich (Robin Hood), Wimbledon (Snow White), Watford (Mother Goose).....and Hackney.

I recall panto, as a pubescent lad living on the Isle of Thanet, where a trip to the Granville Theatre Ramsgate provoked delirious and unrealistic thoughts surrounding the female lead that would best not be aired in public.

Latterly panto became an essential family ritual for Christmas, beloved of my children, and fondly enjoyed by a delightful elderly relative who would snooze through the action and wake up to applaud vigorously at the appropriate moment.

Pantomime in Hackney, or more specifically at the Hackney Empire, is a delight.

The Empire rules

Even before we get to the show, there is the theatre. And on what was my first visit, it must have provoked alarmed looks from nearby as I exclaimed in the most geeky London guide tones: “Yes of course, this is another Frank Matcham!”

Indeed it is. The great theatre architect, designer of amongst other houses the London Coliseum and the London Palladium (see The London Coliseum - Bonkers but Brilliant for a report on a visit to the former in the summer) was responsible for the construction of this venue in 1901 and in what was claimed was a 38 week building period.

There is a wow factor just sitting down in the seats and admiring the ornate interior, even where attention from some adults is primarily focussed on preventing offspring from spilling their ice cream down the neck of the woman in front.

Definitely ornate

And although this is venturing into PC territory, there was a wonderful culturally inclusive feeling – kids old and young just having a damn good time.

So, in an auditorium that has been graced by Charlie Chaplin, Marie Lloyd and, it is claimed, Louis Armstrong, we were treated to Dick Whittington and his Cat, performed by a "celebrity"-free cast with gusto and affection.

This is not a full review of the production, so no running through the cast list. But Kat B was an inspirational King Rat, switching accents seamlessly from bad man street lord through Lennie Henry nice guy (think Lord of the Rings Gollum and Smeagol), and then into a frighteningly accurate Boris Johnson.

Physical features of the theatre pointed out by the programme notes include a marble bench in the foyer that was a gift from the Shah of Persia to Queen Victoria....

The Bench

...and an ocular in the roof, described as an air conditioning system in that it can open to let out hot air.

The Ocular

Historians can of course quibble on a description of Richard Whittington as Lord Mayor of London (the “Lord” tag not having evolved by custom when the real man first took office), but if that fact had been pointed out on stage then the know-all would justifiably have been rewarded with a custard pie in the face.

The theatre claims over 100,000 people attending shows there over the year. But the loud cheers after the suggestion that Dick could give some of his fortune to the Hackney Empire indicate that all continued support for the venue would be welcome.

Dick Whittington and his Cat runs until 6 January. If the theatre is within striking distance of you and you fancy a good time away from thoughts of yet deeper spending cuts in 2013, then give it a go.

The author is a City of London and City of Westminster Guide, who runs walking tours in the City and in Westminster. See tabs for further details.