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Kensington,<br />
<strong>Today</strong><br />
Chelsea &<br />
Westminster<br />
Local news, global views<br />
ISSUE 0047 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015/16 FREE (EXCEPT WHERE SOLD)<br />
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“So hope for a great<br />
sea-change<br />
On the far side of<br />
revenge.<br />
Believe that a further<br />
shore<br />
Is reachable from here.<br />
Believe in miracles<br />
And cures and healing<br />
wells.”<br />
5343 HE KCWT Ear Piece ad_V2.indd 1 19/11/2015 10:16<br />
The Nave Window, Edward III at Westminster Abbey. Photograph © Jim Dyson/Westminster Abbey<br />
Seamus Heaney<br />
The Cure at Troy (1990)<br />
Amazing discoveries on your doorstep.<br />
ICR.ac.uk/discovery<br />
ICR_Kensington & Chelsea <strong>Today</strong>_12x260_Discovery.indd 1 17/04/2015 16:02
2<br />
December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
3<br />
Contents & Letters<br />
News<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Kensington, Chelsea<br />
& Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
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Letters<br />
Dear Editor<br />
An earnest young woman armed with<br />
a clipboard blocked my path on the Kings<br />
Road this morning and asked me if I<br />
thought that 'we' should be bombing Syria<br />
as of tomorrow. My assumption was that<br />
she was a poll person. I replied as follows:<br />
After due reflection, I cannot and<br />
will not condone our mighty air force<br />
of I believe 8 aircraft joining Western<br />
and Russian and French military might<br />
in decimating Syria still further than<br />
Assad has managed to do thus far. Their<br />
reactions are reactionary and complex for<br />
I suppose understandable reasons, but can<br />
hardly be described as grown up. How<br />
anyone with the slightest grasp of history<br />
can think that dropping bombs on an<br />
enemy alone will force it into submission<br />
Editor:<br />
Art Director & Director<br />
Deputy Editor & Head of<br />
Business Development<br />
Architecture:<br />
Art & Culture Editors:<br />
Astronomy:<br />
Ballet/Dance<br />
Bridge:<br />
Chess:<br />
Contributing Editors:<br />
Classical Music<br />
Crossword:<br />
Dining Out:<br />
Kate Hawthorne<br />
Tim Epps<br />
Dr Emma Trehane<br />
Whether you need storage for household, business or student purposes, you’ll find<br />
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Atrium<br />
Don Grant, Marian Maitland<br />
Scott Beadle FRAS<br />
Andrew Ward<br />
Andrew Robson<br />
Barry Martin<br />
Marius Brill, Peter Burden<br />
Emily Eaton, Jonathan Macnabb,<br />
Alan Pink, Derek Wyatt<br />
James Douglas<br />
Wolfe<br />
David Hughes<br />
is beyond me. England was the recipient<br />
of millions of tons of ordinance between<br />
1939 and 1944 and as I understand it from<br />
history books and my parents, was made<br />
more resolute and stronger because it.<br />
If there had been jack boots involved<br />
the story may have been very different.<br />
For the last 15 years we, the West, have<br />
excelled at destroying countries, creating<br />
an existential void, killing civilians<br />
indiscriminately and destroying every<br />
vestige of infrastructure. Unsurprisingly,<br />
this venally motivated destruction has left<br />
in its wake an understandably, from their<br />
perspective, hate-focused generation and a<br />
void which is now being rapidly filled with<br />
the most disgusting, immoral and odorous<br />
group of heathens who make Genghis<br />
Khan look like a scout master. What did<br />
we do to deserve such moronic leadership?<br />
Perhaps the problem is that our dear<br />
leaders are all so called baby boomers who<br />
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Editorial:<br />
Events:<br />
Food & Flowers:<br />
Gentlemen's Fashion<br />
Marketing & Business<br />
Development:<br />
Motoring:<br />
Online, News Editor<br />
& Arts Correspondent:<br />
Poetry Editor:<br />
Sub-Editor:<br />
Young Chelsea:<br />
Editors<br />
Sporting Calendar<br />
have never been tested under fire either<br />
literally or existentially and like hamsters<br />
fresh to the wheel seem to have no idea of<br />
the consequence of their actions militarily.<br />
As I understand it, Libya is now<br />
the new party central for Isis. The first<br />
beheadings and four crucifixions were held<br />
in the market place yesterday in Surt. The<br />
fourth estate have as yet to agree even what<br />
to collectively call these despicable excuses<br />
for humans thus dehumanising them yet<br />
further. Instead of indiscriminate bombing,<br />
go after their money, their arms supply,<br />
conduct covert SAS style operations and<br />
assassinations of their leaders, educate and<br />
protect us. I mean, why don't we buck the<br />
trend and send the three ships or so that<br />
comprise that elite force called the Royal<br />
Navy and shell Surt ? It would be loads of<br />
fun and we could really make a difference<br />
and lots of friends.<br />
By the way, any idea of the cost of one<br />
single 1000lb bomb combined with the<br />
price of its delivery? It would take care<br />
of your heating bill all winter and of the<br />
recipients too. By the way, do you know<br />
how many Arab kids have a copy of that<br />
wonderful picture of piled up prisoners<br />
from Abu Grade on their bedroom wall?<br />
The birth of Isis delivered screaming from<br />
a womb of hate by the kind midwifery of<br />
Bush and Blair. Wet the baby's head with<br />
blood and oil and sleep with Angels. Bless.<br />
There's a lot to look forward to.<br />
Do I make myself understood and may<br />
I go now?<br />
I'll put that down as a NO then.<br />
Mark Hilpern<br />
Dear Editor,<br />
Chernobyl Children’s Project UK was<br />
set up to support children, families and<br />
young people in Belarus, the country worst<br />
affected by the 1986 Nuclear Disaster.<br />
They bring children from Belarus to the<br />
UK for recuperative holidays and provide<br />
holidays at a holiday camp in Belarus for<br />
those children who cannot come to the<br />
UK. They support the Children’s Hospice<br />
Movement and purchase urgently needed<br />
medicines. The charity works to focus<br />
on improving the educational and social<br />
opportunities for children and young<br />
people with disabilities and promoting<br />
the integration of children with physical<br />
disabilities into schools. Please visit www.<br />
chernobyl-children.org.uk to find out<br />
more.<br />
Kind Regards,<br />
Jacqueline<br />
May Bulman, Fergus Coltsmann, Jade Parker,<br />
Rosie Quigley, Fahad Redha<br />
Leila Kooros, Jeanne Griffiths, Fahad Redha<br />
Limpet Barron<br />
John Springs<br />
Caroline Daggett, Antoinette Kovatchka<br />
Johan Thomsen<br />
Don Grant, David Hughes,<br />
Fahad Redha<br />
Max Feldman<br />
Emma Trehane MA Ph.D<br />
Leila Kooros<br />
Max Feldman, Emily Eaton<br />
Compiled by Fahad Redha<br />
Contents<br />
Contents & Letters 2<br />
News 3<br />
Statue & Blue Plaque 10<br />
International 12<br />
Opinion & Comment 14<br />
Business & Finance 16<br />
Education 20<br />
Literature 26<br />
Poetry 27<br />
Young Chelsea 28<br />
Astronomy 30<br />
Horology 31<br />
Gentlemen’s Fashion 32<br />
Lifestyle 33<br />
Dining Out 34<br />
Wining Out 37<br />
Food & Flowers 38<br />
Gardening & Lifestyle 39<br />
Events 40<br />
Arts & Culture 52<br />
Travel 67<br />
Health 70<br />
Motoring 74<br />
Sporting Calendar 77<br />
Crossword & Marketplace 78<br />
Chess & Bridge 79<br />
Parliament Squared<br />
by Derek Wyatt<br />
P 2<br />
It's been an extraordinary<br />
couple of months for those in<br />
the Westminster bubble. Four<br />
important developments now look to<br />
have taken hold.<br />
The first is that the Conservative<br />
Party looks unassailable and may<br />
be in power for a decade or more.<br />
As a consequence it will diminish<br />
Parliament. It will be content with less<br />
people being registered and able to<br />
vote.<br />
They will reduce step by step,<br />
starting with the cuts to Short money<br />
for opposition parties and finishing<br />
with an even weaker House of Lords,<br />
the democratic state. The Tories know<br />
how, like no other party, to remain in<br />
power. It’s in their very being.<br />
The second problem is there is no<br />
effective opposition. The Labour Party<br />
has lost momentum. It has already<br />
ceded after less than seven months<br />
since the General Election the right<br />
to be called Her Majesty’s Loyal<br />
Opposition. The Party has become<br />
a laughing stock. Its shadow cabinet<br />
found it difficult to support its leader<br />
which was clearly evident over the<br />
tactics surrounding the vote on Syria.<br />
Worse, Jeremy Corbyn believes that<br />
party members should have more say in<br />
how their MPs vote. If this continues I<br />
expect over fifty Labour MPs to resign<br />
the Whip and then the party. This flies<br />
in the face of representative democracy.<br />
Mayhem is just around the corner.<br />
Corbyn is on thin ice.<br />
Whilst these two developments<br />
unfold the UKIP cause is stuck because<br />
the electoral system is against it. We<br />
may argue that ‘first past the post’ sees<br />
many MPs elected with less than 50%<br />
of the vote but this favours the Tories<br />
and, at this seasonal time, turkeys do<br />
not vote for Christmas. Save for the<br />
noise around the EU referendum in<br />
2017, UKIP is currently stuffed.<br />
Meanwhile, David Cameron has<br />
had another excellent year as Prime<br />
Minister. Obituaries being written<br />
about him last Christmas were<br />
extraordinarily wide of the mark...<br />
Perhaps, there was too much bubble<br />
in the Bubble. He, above all other<br />
politicians, even ‘Boy’ George Osborne,<br />
deserves the accolade: Politician of the<br />
Year.<br />
Whither Boris Johnson? His year<br />
has been disappointing but do not rule<br />
him out as our next Prime Minister.<br />
But if he is to succeed he must trim his<br />
sails. Aside from his love affair with<br />
cycling, what has he achieved as Mayor<br />
for our great city? Precious little.<br />
We are one of the least resilient<br />
cities of the western world. Our<br />
transport system is cracking up<br />
everywhere, our housing for young<br />
people is non existent, and pollution<br />
is worse. BoJo has been pre-occupied<br />
with his writing, his publicity machine,<br />
and his travels. If he is to land the job<br />
of PM he has to build a stronger base<br />
within his own party at Westminster<br />
and give some sustenance to a coherent<br />
manifesto for the next decade.<br />
But 2016 will not be plain<br />
sailing for Cameron. He has to ring<br />
some changes from a bloated and<br />
undemocratic machine in Brussels.<br />
Continental Europe’s Commissioners<br />
and MEPs live in a world which<br />
culturally we find hard to comprehend.<br />
Even with the toughest economic<br />
outlook stretching back and forward<br />
almost a decade, they only want bigger<br />
and bigger budgets. They are fast<br />
becoming the FIFA of Politics. It’s<br />
time they understood that less is more.<br />
The winner<br />
of the 2015<br />
Turner Prize is<br />
Assemble<br />
By Emily Eaton<br />
The result was announced in the<br />
Tramway in Glasgow on Monday 7th<br />
December, the first time Europe’s most<br />
prestigious contemporary art prize had<br />
visited Scotland. Dr Penelope Curtis,<br />
Director at Tate Britain, said of the<br />
location of the awards ceremony, “Given<br />
how many artists from Glasgow have<br />
made up the Turner Prize shortlists over<br />
recent years, it is great to have the Prize<br />
on show in Tramway, which feels like a<br />
natural home.”<br />
The four artists up for the prize this<br />
year included; Assemble (a London<br />
based collective), Bonnie Camplin,<br />
Janice Kerbel and Nicole Wermers, in<br />
what was a very female heavy short list<br />
this year.<br />
The winning artist was the collective<br />
Assemble. The other nominees put<br />
forward strong competition, with<br />
predictions varying in the popular press.<br />
Assemble are a collective working across<br />
the fields of art, architecture and design<br />
to produce transformative community<br />
projects. They were nominated for the<br />
resident-led projects they have seen<br />
out in the run-down Toxteth estate in<br />
Liverpool.<br />
London artist, Bonnie Camplin, a<br />
lecturer in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, was<br />
nominated for her piece The Military<br />
Industrial Complex, South London<br />
Gallery, which took the form of a study<br />
room exploring what ‘consensus’ reality<br />
is and how it is formed, drawing from<br />
physics to philosophy, psychology,<br />
witchcraft, quantum theory, and warfare.<br />
Janice Kerbel’s nomination was<br />
thanks to her operatic work DOUG,<br />
which was commissioned by The<br />
Common Guild at Mitchell Library,<br />
Glasgow. In a promotional video,<br />
Kerbel said “I don’t feel any loyalty<br />
to a particular medium or material…<br />
The piece for the Turner Prize is a<br />
piece I wrote almost exclusively on the<br />
computer because I don’t have the skills<br />
to write in any other way.” DOUG is a<br />
performative piece which takes the form<br />
of nine songs for six voices.<br />
Nicole Wermers produced a work<br />
entitled Infrastruktur. This is a series of<br />
untitled chairs with fur coats attached to<br />
their backs, reminiscent of the moments<br />
when people claim public space, in<br />
restaurants or cafes as their own by<br />
hanging their coats off their chairs. Her<br />
work hints at the appropriation of art<br />
and design in consumer culture and<br />
Wermers works in a variety of mediums<br />
including sculptures, collages, and<br />
installations<br />
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and advertisers from some of the country’s most venerable<br />
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We are seeking sales and marketing candidates to<br />
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Successful applicants will have prior experience in sales<br />
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4 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
5<br />
News News online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Crossrail<br />
and London<br />
Underground<br />
lauded at the NCE<br />
International Tunnelling<br />
Awards<br />
by Fergus Coltsmann<br />
Transport for London (TfL)<br />
experienced great success at<br />
the 2015 New Civil Engineer<br />
(NCE) International Tunnelling and<br />
Underground Space Awards, held at<br />
Grosvenor House Hotel on the 3rd of<br />
December.<br />
Crossrail won the Judge’s Supreme<br />
Award, on which Crossrail Programme<br />
Director Simon Wright commented:<br />
“This award is fantastic recognition for<br />
everyone who works on Crossrail. Over<br />
the last three years, our highly skilled<br />
team have worked tirelessly to build<br />
these major tunnels under one of the<br />
world’s busiest cities.”<br />
London Underground took home<br />
the Global Tunnelling Project of the<br />
Year (under $500 million) Award for the<br />
Bond Street station upgrade, which will<br />
see capacity increase by 30%.<br />
Nick Brown, Managing Director,<br />
London Underground, said: “Over 200<br />
engineers and staff have been working<br />
on site at Bond Street 24-hours-a-day,<br />
for two years. This complex station<br />
upgrade, beneath an extraordinarily<br />
small footprint on Oxford Street, has<br />
been largely constructed out-of-sight,<br />
all while keeping this essential station<br />
open to the public. When the station<br />
King’s snap up<br />
Balls<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
King’s College London have appointed<br />
Ed Balls, the former Labour Shadow<br />
Chancellor, as a Visiting Professor to<br />
the Policy Institute for this academic<br />
year. Balls will assist in the teaching of<br />
the Institute of Contemporary British<br />
History’s ‘The Treasury and Economic<br />
History since 1945’ postgraduate module<br />
in partnership with HM Treasury.<br />
Upon his appointment in late<br />
October, he commented: “I am<br />
impressed by the drive and vision that<br />
the leadership team at King's have<br />
for the Policy Institute. It is filling an<br />
important gap and I am honoured to<br />
play my part in helping them succeed.”<br />
Dr Jon Davis, Director of<br />
Partnerships and The Strand Group<br />
at the Policy Institute at King's, and<br />
lead academic on ‘The Treasury and<br />
upgrade is complete it will dramatically<br />
increase transport capacity in the heart<br />
of London’s busiest shopping district and<br />
I thank our customers for their patience<br />
while this work continues.”<br />
Both TfL and Crossrail were<br />
successful in multiple other categories<br />
too. London Underground picked up<br />
the Tunnel Operator of the Year award,<br />
and the Rehabilitation Project of the<br />
Year award for the Bond Street to Baker<br />
Street Tunnel Relining Project. Crossrail<br />
picked up the awards for Product/<br />
Equipment Innovation and Technical<br />
Innovation, and was named the Rising<br />
Star of the Year.<br />
Economic History since 1945’ module<br />
added: “Ed Balls is a globally renowned<br />
figure, central for the past quarter of a<br />
century to economic governance in the<br />
UK and beyond. We are delighted that<br />
he has agreed to join us and help build<br />
our burgeoning teaching of government<br />
history”.<br />
Balls was one of the most high<br />
profile politicians to lose their seat in<br />
May’s General Election. The move<br />
into education is seen by some as<br />
confirmation that he will not be rejoining<br />
politics anytime soon.<br />
Ed Balls is also infamous for tweeting<br />
his own name, leading to internet<br />
phenomenon ‘Ed Balls Day’, where<br />
netizens tweet his name.<br />
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VISIT OUR<br />
GALLERY ON<br />
Government<br />
plans to charge<br />
non-Eu patients<br />
for NHS primary care<br />
The government are planning to<br />
extend NHS charges for non-EU<br />
patients to some GP services,<br />
including x-rays, prescriptions and blood<br />
tests.<br />
Earlier in the year, the government<br />
indicated that it intended to charge<br />
visitors, ex-residents and migrants for<br />
A&E and ambulance care, but this has<br />
now been extended to some GP services<br />
too.<br />
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt<br />
has said that the added charges would<br />
save taxpayers £500 million a year, and<br />
ensure that such patients made a fair<br />
contribution.<br />
But the plans have come under fire<br />
from doctors' leaders and unions, who<br />
warn that the government’s proposals<br />
could create unintended drawbacks for<br />
the NHS and patients.<br />
Dr Mark Porter, Chair of the British<br />
Medical Association Council, said:<br />
“Not only will this arrangement cause<br />
Rubber Soul is the most important<br />
album bar none and it’s fifty. Respect<br />
to the others; this is the best. In socioartistic<br />
terms it represents The Beatles’<br />
shift from the Beatlemania of their<br />
two underrated, previous best outings<br />
Help and A Hard Day’s Night. Rubber<br />
Soul is free of aunties’ novelty numbers;<br />
it redefines the term ‘musical purity’<br />
in a way that nothing has since. The<br />
50<br />
chorus French on Michelle is a bit dated<br />
© Warner Music<br />
Rubber Soul<br />
50th Birthday Review<br />
Released 3rd December 1965<br />
By James Douglas<br />
confusion amongst patients, it will also<br />
require GPs and hospital doctors to<br />
regulate these charges, which could end<br />
up costing more to run than it collects in<br />
revenue.<br />
"Most importantly, there is a real<br />
risk that some migrants and short term<br />
visitors who desperately need care could<br />
be discouraged from approaching the<br />
NHS if they cannot pay the charges.<br />
“We cannot have a situation where<br />
any patient with a serious health need is<br />
deterred from seeing a doctor, especially<br />
if their condition raises a potential public<br />
health risk.”<br />
The Department of Health have said<br />
the most vulnerable groups, including<br />
refugees and asylum seekers, would<br />
continue to be exempt from charges.<br />
A consultation was launched on 7<br />
December and is expected to run until<br />
March 2016.<br />
but highlights that nothing else is. I’m<br />
writing this late into the evening on<br />
press-night, and (one of Sir George<br />
Martin’s music producers) Editor Kate’s<br />
in tears harmonising with Tim-the-<br />
Inks, and even Edgy Emma’s joining in<br />
on Nowhere Man and Girl, the album’s<br />
pivotal tracks drawing in the various pop,<br />
rock, and psychedelic themes, a prelude<br />
for their greatest track of all In My Life.<br />
The most famous over the years has<br />
become Norwegian Wood and while Ravi<br />
Shankar didn’t actually play the sitar, he<br />
did teach George Harrison. It was the<br />
first time the sitar featured prominently<br />
on a western hit and marks the moment<br />
when the biggest act in the history of<br />
pop shifted up a gear and became the<br />
most important experimental band in the<br />
history of rock.<br />
Operation<br />
Bumblebee<br />
to combat seasonal<br />
burglary spike<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
The Metropolitan police<br />
have launched operation<br />
Bumblebee, running all<br />
of this quarter, to combat<br />
burglary. Despite overall<br />
burglary rates in London<br />
being the lowest in four<br />
decades, historically burglary<br />
rates increase by 25% during<br />
the autumn and winter<br />
months. The Met correlate<br />
the spike to the increased<br />
time homes spend in darkness, and to<br />
the increased reward associated with<br />
Christmas gifts.<br />
The Met is calling on Londoners to<br />
take simple steps which deter burglars.<br />
Their advice includes not leaving keys<br />
within sight of letter boxes, as they can<br />
London Football<br />
Traffic Watch<br />
December 12<br />
Fulham v Brentford, 15:00-16:45<br />
December 15<br />
Fulham v Ipswich, 19:45-21:30<br />
December 19<br />
Chelsea v Sunderland,<br />
15:00-16:45<br />
December 26<br />
Chelsea v Watford, 15:00-16:45<br />
December 29<br />
Fulham v Rotherham, 19:45-21:30<br />
January 2<br />
Fulham v Sheff Wed, 15:00-16:45<br />
January 13<br />
Chelsea v West Brom, 19:45-21:30<br />
January 16<br />
Chelsea v Everton, 15:00-16:45<br />
January 23<br />
Fulham v Hull, 15:00-16:45<br />
January 24<br />
Arsenal v Chelsea, 16:00-17:45<br />
Games may go to extra time and<br />
take longer than 90 minutes.<br />
be reached by long hooks or magnets,<br />
ensuring that a landlord changes the<br />
locks when a new tenancy begins, and<br />
registering valuable or sentimental items<br />
at immobilise.com.<br />
For more information, please visit<br />
metbumblebee.org.<br />
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6 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
7<br />
News<br />
News<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
London's French<br />
community<br />
reacts to surge in France's<br />
extreme right following Paris<br />
attacks<br />
By May Bulman<br />
Following the Front National's<br />
biggest victory ever in the first<br />
round of France's regional<br />
elections, London's French community<br />
have expressed their reactions to the<br />
surge in support for the far-right.<br />
The anti-immigration party won<br />
almost 28% of the national vote last<br />
Sunday, compared to only 11% in the<br />
2010 regional elections.<br />
In popular French café Raison<br />
d'Etre, a group of students from Lycée<br />
Charles de Gaulle were expressing their<br />
disappointment at the results. One girl<br />
said: "It's disappointing for us.<br />
"But we aren't actually there. I know<br />
that people in France are afraid."<br />
Emmanuelle, a home goods<br />
distributor in South Kensington, has<br />
seen this coming for a while. She said:<br />
"It's been heading this way for yearsnot<br />
just since the attacks.<br />
"Unfortunately people are losing<br />
their faith in politicians and seeing the<br />
FN as a realistic alternative."<br />
Marc Genet, President of the French<br />
Society at the LSE, comes from Provence-<br />
Alpes-Cote d'Azur, where the Front<br />
National won its biggest majority with<br />
41.9%. He said: "It is scary, but it wasn't<br />
unexpected.<br />
"FN has benefitted from the attacks<br />
in Paris. People aren't thinking straight.<br />
They are scared, so they are turning to<br />
extremes."<br />
Marc is travelling back to France at the<br />
weekend, where he will vote in the second<br />
round of the elections.<br />
“A lot of people didn’t vote in the first<br />
round; many have lost faith in politics<br />
altogether,” he added.<br />
“But I’m hopeful that the result will act<br />
as a red signal, and that people will wake<br />
up to what is happening, and vote.”<br />
Dive the Great<br />
Barrier Reef<br />
in virtual reality with Sir<br />
David Attenborough<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
The Natural History Museum has<br />
collaborated with Atlantic Productions<br />
for David Attenborough’s Great Barrier<br />
Reef Dive, an incredible 360 degree<br />
virtual experience which takes visitors on<br />
a journey through the world’s greatest<br />
coral reef.<br />
Travelling deep beneath the<br />
waves, esteemed broadcaster David<br />
Attenborough guides viewers through<br />
the natural wonderland using a state of<br />
the art submersible. During the unique<br />
experience viewers can expect to come<br />
face to face with deadly reef sharks and<br />
darting shoals of fish.<br />
The exhibition, which is running<br />
from the 11th of December for six<br />
weeks at the Attenborough studio in<br />
the Natural History Museum, coincides<br />
with BBC ONE’s new series David<br />
Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef which<br />
premieres this winter.<br />
“Virtual reality is a powerful way<br />
of transporting us to some of the<br />
most extraordinary environments on<br />
our planet,” said Sir Michael Dixon,<br />
Director of the Natural History<br />
Museum. “At the Natural History<br />
Museum, we’re always looking for new<br />
was to challenge the way people think<br />
about the natural world- its past, present<br />
and future.”<br />
“This experience provides a rare<br />
insight into the beauty and diversity of<br />
the Great Barrier Reef. It highlights<br />
the knowledge from research that is so<br />
vital for understanding and adapting to<br />
environmental change in one of Earth’s<br />
most important ecosystems.”<br />
The experience which lasts<br />
approximately 15 minutes plays on<br />
Samsung’s latest wearable technology,<br />
the VR Innovator Edition virtual reality<br />
headsets.<br />
Admission costs £6.50 for adults and<br />
£4.50 for members and patrons.<br />
BP Portrait<br />
Award 2016<br />
competition opens for entries<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
The National Portrait Gallery<br />
is inviting entries for its BP<br />
Portrait Award, an international<br />
competition, run to recognise<br />
outstanding and innovative portraiture<br />
work being produced by artists of all<br />
ages.<br />
Now in its 36th year at the National<br />
Portrait Gallery, the Award is the most<br />
prestigious international portrait painting<br />
competition of its kind and has launched<br />
the careers of many<br />
renowned artists.<br />
It has become an<br />
increasingly popular<br />
competition with a huge<br />
international reach, as<br />
shown by the record<br />
breaking 2,748 entries<br />
it received last year.<br />
Of these entries, 55<br />
paintings were chosen to<br />
be exhibited at the gallery<br />
which were seen by<br />
nearly 330,000 people.<br />
First prize is awarded<br />
£30,000, one of the<br />
largest prizes of any<br />
global arts competitions.<br />
The winner also receives a commission<br />
worth £5,000 to paint a portrait for the<br />
National Portrait Gallery’s permanent<br />
collection, to be agreed between the<br />
Gallery and the artist.<br />
Prize winners will be selected by a<br />
judging panel chaired by Dr Nicholas<br />
Cullinan, Director of the National<br />
Portrait Gallery. To enter, artists are<br />
invited to upload a photograph of their<br />
finished painting to the BP Portrait<br />
Award website for consideration in the<br />
first round of the competition.<br />
All exhibitors will also be eligible<br />
to submit a proposal for the BP Travel<br />
Award 2016, which aims to provide the<br />
opportunity for an artist to experience<br />
working on projects related to portraiture<br />
in a different environment. The winner<br />
of this travel award will receive £6,000.<br />
Artists can enter at npg.org.uk/bp up<br />
until Tuesday 2nd of February 2016.<br />
RBKC tops<br />
expensive streets<br />
list<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
The Royal Borough of Kensington and<br />
Chelsea is home to twelve of the twenty<br />
most expensive streets in England and<br />
Wales, research conducted by Lloyds<br />
Bank has revealed. All of the fifty most<br />
expensive are in the south of England.<br />
Kensington’s Victoria Road topped<br />
the list as the most expensive residential<br />
street. The average house price between<br />
2010 and 2015 was £8,006,000, data<br />
from the Land Registry and Royal Mail<br />
shows. By way of contrast, Wales’ most<br />
expensive street is Druidstone Road in<br />
Cardiff, which has an average price of<br />
£793,000.<br />
Other chart topping Kensington<br />
and Chelsea Streets include Egerton<br />
Crescent, in at number two with an<br />
average house price of £7,550,000; the<br />
third most expensive, Manresa Road<br />
(£7,359,000); and De Vere Gardens,<br />
the fifth most expensive with an average<br />
house price of £6,606,000.<br />
Westminster occupied four of the top<br />
twenty spots, with Eaton Square coming<br />
in as the fourth most expensive street in<br />
the country with an average house price<br />
of £6,727,000.<br />
Andrew Mason, Mortgages Director<br />
at Lloyds Bank, commented:<br />
"The largest concentration of<br />
England's most expensive streets is in<br />
Kensington and Chelsea. This part of<br />
London has always had a glamorous<br />
reputation, attracting overseas buyers as<br />
well as those from the worlds of business<br />
and entertainment. The area clearly has<br />
its attractions with excellent schools,<br />
designer shops, close proximity to the<br />
capital's business district and properties<br />
with the highest specifications. Other<br />
areas in the capital have similar qualities<br />
but property prices in Kensington and<br />
Chelsea tend to outperform the rest of<br />
London”.<br />
Westminster<br />
schools invited<br />
to apply for cultural school<br />
trips fund<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
Westminster schools are being urged<br />
to benefit from a £100,000 fund that<br />
will assist school trips to the City of<br />
London’s many iconic cultural venues.<br />
The fund has been launched by the<br />
local authority for the historic Square<br />
Mile, the City of London Corporation<br />
and will include trips to Museum of<br />
London, Tower Bridge, Guildhall<br />
School of Music and Drama, and the<br />
Barbican Centre.<br />
The fund is for primary, secondary<br />
schools and special schools across<br />
the capital where at least 30% of<br />
pupils receive the Pupil Premium.<br />
Schools can apply for grants to cover<br />
essential school trip costs including<br />
admission/session fees, transport hire<br />
and supply teachers. The aim of the<br />
fund is to make the City’s cultural<br />
destinations more accessible to schools<br />
in disadvantaged areas, who often find<br />
it challenging to raise funds.<br />
The fund, which will be available<br />
for three years, will be managed by the<br />
Museum of London, and schools can<br />
apply directly via a website. The City of<br />
London Corporation is the fourth largest<br />
funder of the arts in the UK, and every<br />
year, 200,000 pupils benefit from the<br />
City’s cultural offering, either through<br />
school trips or education outreach.<br />
Catherine McGuinness, Chair of the<br />
Education Board at the City of London<br />
Corporation, said: “School trips are an<br />
essential part of pupils’ development;<br />
exposing them to new learning<br />
experiences which can strengthen what<br />
they are taught in the classroom. Many<br />
young people living in London have never<br />
been outside their borough, so visits to<br />
museums, art galleries, open spaces and<br />
arts centres can really help expand their<br />
horizons, boost educational attainment,<br />
as well as a number of soft skills such as<br />
confidence and team building. We hope<br />
the fund will relieve some of the financial<br />
pressures and encourage more schools to<br />
participate in cultural trips.”<br />
To apply for a grant from the City of<br />
London School Visits Fund visit: http://<br />
cityschoolvisitsfund.org.uk/<br />
Save our Sutton<br />
By May Bulman<br />
Andrew Barshall, Ian Henderson and MP Victoria Borwick outside the Sutton Estate<br />
Plans to redevelop the Sutton Estate in<br />
Chelsea have come under fire as multiple<br />
campaign groups rally against the<br />
proposals.<br />
The plans, put forward by Affinity<br />
Sutton, have been hotly contested by<br />
campaign group Save our Sutton and the<br />
Victorian Society, which have garnered<br />
support from celebrities including<br />
comedian Eddie Izzard (as covered by<br />
this paper in October 2014).<br />
Andrew Barshall, who is leading the<br />
Save our Sutton campaign, said: “Affinity<br />
Sutton’s plans would mean a loss of social<br />
housing amounting to 146 homes that<br />
won’t be replaced. This is in clear breach<br />
of the 2012 RBKC Core Strategy.”<br />
A petition titled Stop the demolition of<br />
Sutton Estate, launched by Chair of the<br />
Sutton Estate Residents’ Association Ian<br />
Henderson, has gained almost 11,000<br />
signatures, and an independent survey<br />
“With its<br />
handsome<br />
proportions it is<br />
unsurprising that<br />
many residents<br />
are unhappy at<br />
leaving”<br />
has revealed that over 80% of residents<br />
are against the plans.<br />
Mr Henderson said: “If the plans go<br />
ahead we’ll be living in a building site<br />
for eight years, and we’ll have a large<br />
road running through our community.<br />
“It’ll see the destruction of a socially<br />
mixed community that is over 100 years<br />
old. It feels as though the legacy left by<br />
William Sutton is being stolen from us.”<br />
The Victorian Society, also against<br />
the proposals, have argued that the estate<br />
has too much architectural importance<br />
to be demolished.<br />
James Hughes, Victorian Society<br />
Conservative Advisor, said: “With its<br />
handsome proportions it is unsurprising<br />
that many residents are unhappy at<br />
leaving.”<br />
Public consultation on the<br />
redevelopment plans ends on 11th<br />
December.<br />
Mega-basement<br />
plans still going<br />
ahead in RBKC<br />
despite ban being put in place<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
A series of mega-basements planning<br />
applications are still being put forward<br />
to the Royal Borough of Kensington<br />
and Chelsea (RBKC) despite the council<br />
winning a historic battle last year to<br />
limit the scale of basement development.<br />
The ban was put in place throughout<br />
the Royal Borough after the builds were<br />
considered to be unacceptably disruptive<br />
to residents.<br />
Planning applications which have<br />
recently been submitted to the council<br />
include a proposed mega-basement build<br />
on Queens Gate Mews, near Gloucester<br />
Road, that will include the construction<br />
of a single storey basement and a<br />
proposed mega build from a former<br />
catwalk model, Lady Sophia Hamilton,<br />
and her banker fiancée in a build that<br />
could last up to 16 months. The couple<br />
wish to expand their basement within<br />
their £12 million Kensington townhouse<br />
in order to accommodate a spa,<br />
swimming pool, sauna and gym.<br />
The possibility of yet more mega-<br />
basements has angered tenants<br />
considerably. Ms Kerry Foster, a local<br />
resident who would be severely disrupted<br />
by the proposed mega basement build<br />
on Gloucester Road, wrote in a public<br />
comment: “We have lived through<br />
the horror of basement-building on<br />
either side of us over the last couple of<br />
years that includes the noise of trucks<br />
coming and going, noise of workers,<br />
noise of working, additional litter,<br />
cigarette smoke drifting into the house,<br />
hoardings and general disease. It was<br />
very disruptive and intrusive.” She<br />
went further to say: “I sympathise with<br />
those living close by this proposed<br />
development and also dread the impacts<br />
on our home life for an extended period<br />
of time should it proceed.”<br />
Mega-basements have become a<br />
controversial topic throughout the capital<br />
as builds have become bigger and more<br />
ambitious. Some of the underground<br />
constructions have become so cavernous<br />
that they have been dubbed “iceberg<br />
homes” as only a minuscule fraction of<br />
the house is visible above ground.<br />
Despite the various councils limiting<br />
the size of basement developments and<br />
banning their construction outright in<br />
listed buildings, planning applications<br />
have still been able to slip through the<br />
net. In November, Jon Hunt, founder<br />
of Foxton’s estate agency, defeated court<br />
bids from the French Government to<br />
block the expansion of his basement. The<br />
build in his Grade II listed building in<br />
Kensington Gardens, next to the French<br />
Embassy, will allow him to transform<br />
his basement into a museum for his<br />
collection of vintage cars. The French<br />
government will now have to pay the<br />
majority of council’s costs, estimated to<br />
be roughly £100,000.<br />
Many other boroughs are joining the<br />
Royal Borough by implementing bans<br />
on the size of the builds that can go<br />
ahead, with Westminster and Camden<br />
introducing strict restrictions on the<br />
construction of mega-basements earlier<br />
this year.<br />
Big Ben to stop<br />
Big Ben will be switched off for<br />
four months for repairs. The<br />
clock’s hands, mechanism and<br />
pendulum as well as the tower are<br />
in need of refurbishment to prevent<br />
‘reputational damage’, the BBC<br />
reported.<br />
A report from the Commons<br />
Finance Committee said problems<br />
that had been identified with the<br />
tower include cracks and damage<br />
to the masonry. Upgrades will also<br />
bring the building in line with health<br />
and safety regulations. “No decisions<br />
on works, timescales or costs have<br />
been agreed,” a parliamentary<br />
spokesperson said.<br />
Officials have said that “to<br />
prevent the clock from failing, would<br />
cost £4.9m and full refurbishment,<br />
£29m”. With the addition of a visitor<br />
centre at the bottom, as well as a lift<br />
to the top, this could rise to £40m.<br />
This is the first time in 31 years that<br />
Big Ben has been stopped for repairs.<br />
Last time, the clock was out of action<br />
for 26 days during a 9 month repair<br />
process. If the plans in this new<br />
parliamentary report go into action,<br />
it will be the longest time the clock<br />
has been silent for its 159-year life.<br />
Sunday Times experts have said<br />
that “the clock has chronic problems<br />
with the bearing of the hands and the<br />
pendulum. Either could become acute<br />
at any time, causing the clock to<br />
stop”, so action is necessary. FR
8 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
9<br />
News<br />
News<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Photograph © Fergus Coltsmann<br />
#GrantsNotDebt<br />
demonstration<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
Gentlemen,<br />
Stop Your<br />
Engines!<br />
By Max Feldman<br />
Photograph © Rod McClancy<br />
Protests and demonstrations are<br />
a big part of Westminster life.<br />
They were particularly notable<br />
in November this year, with NCAFC<br />
demonstration, the Million Mask march<br />
on Bonfire night, multiple Stop the War<br />
demos regarding Syria, and even Junior<br />
Doctors all taking place in the space<br />
of a month. KCW <strong>Today</strong> attended the<br />
#GrantsNotDebt Demo.<br />
On the 4th of November, the<br />
National Campaign Against Fees and<br />
Cuts (NCAFC), a mainly student<br />
organisation with eponymous goals,<br />
held a demonstration in London<br />
against the Government’s plans to scrap<br />
maintenance grants and replace them<br />
with loans. NCAFC argues the plans<br />
will block off access to higher education<br />
for the poorest, with students from more<br />
disadvantaged backgrounds graduating<br />
with the highest debts.<br />
The march was largely peaceful, until<br />
a small part of the crowd, dressed in<br />
black bloc (all black clothing covering<br />
the face, often boiler suits and balaclavas<br />
which can easily be discarded once the<br />
Catching<br />
a break<br />
My initial attempt at skiing was back<br />
when I was 16 and, as such, knew<br />
everything there was to know about the<br />
world. At the time I was operating with<br />
the kind of hubris that tends to end up<br />
with military commanders deciding that<br />
a winter invasion of Russia should be a<br />
doddle. So, when faced by a double black<br />
diamond run on my third day on the<br />
slopes I decided that there could be no<br />
possible way I wouldn’t be able to handle<br />
it. Applauding my own daring I went<br />
haring down the run (which had a nice<br />
non-threatening name like Widowmaker<br />
if I recall correctly). Predictably I was<br />
soon laid up in hospital with a broken<br />
ankle with plenty of time to reflect that<br />
perhaps my knowledge of the world was<br />
not quite what I had estimated it to be.<br />
A great deal of pain and an even greater<br />
amount of hopping later, and I decided<br />
that my first time skiing would also be<br />
my last.<br />
However after being nagged by<br />
my kids for a skiing holiday seemingly<br />
non-stop for the last three years, even<br />
the prospect of another broken ankle<br />
seems a worthwhile sacrifice for a few<br />
minutes of blessed silence. Unfortunately<br />
several decades of sedentary living and<br />
martinis have left me unlikely to fit into<br />
the ski-gear I owned when I was 16 and<br />
police decide to crack down) attempted<br />
to force their way into the Department<br />
for Business, Innovation, and Skills.<br />
Eggs, paint, and at least one lit flare<br />
were thrown at police officers and they<br />
responded by attempting to kettle the<br />
crowd, who quickly broke out and<br />
splintered. Multiple groups of a hundred<br />
or so ran and continued marching<br />
around Victoria, often with minimal to<br />
no police escort.<br />
The Met denied that any<br />
containment took place, and that only<br />
one direction of travel was blocked off,<br />
but one officer on the ground told a<br />
Guardian journalist, which this reporter<br />
overheard, “I don't think it's going<br />
anywhere for a while” when the corral<br />
was first attempted.<br />
NCAFC’s post event statement<br />
claimed over 10,000 people attended.<br />
The Met put the number at 1000, and<br />
the BBC at between 3-4000. NCAFC<br />
also commented on the trouble:<br />
“The march was met with some of<br />
the most heavy handed policing we have<br />
seen in years. Once protesters reached<br />
the Department for Business… riot<br />
police violently stormed the crowd.<br />
The police forced a large section of the<br />
protest into a kettle, resulting in panic<br />
and confusion… We condemn this<br />
unnecessary and aggressive response…<br />
NCAFC has always advocated nonviolent<br />
direct action”.<br />
The sentiment on the ground<br />
was that ‘heavy-handed policing’ had<br />
provoked the crowd. A sabbatical union<br />
officer from a London uni, who was at<br />
the demo, claimed that no violence had<br />
taken place on the part of the protestors.<br />
When challenged that a lit flare was<br />
thrown at an officer, she responded “I<br />
wouldn’t say a flare is violent”, though<br />
she distanced herself from the earlier<br />
claim.<br />
so I set out on the prowl to get myself customizations that ended up leaving<br />
kitted out with new ski-gear to fend off the boots fitting better than any of my<br />
exposure, indecent or otherwise! I ended regular shoes! Whilst toying with the<br />
up at Altimus: a combination footwear, idea of whether strolling around High<br />
clothing and specialist foot care store, on Street Kensington in ski-boots would<br />
our very own High Street Kensington. be socially acceptable, I watched the<br />
They informed me that there should be Altimus artisans sculpt my chosen boots<br />
a lot more to choosing<br />
your ski equipment than<br />
whether it has flames<br />
up the side (which was<br />
my central concern at<br />
age 16). The handson<br />
staff offered me<br />
a free biomechanical<br />
assessment to help<br />
find the ideal pair of<br />
ski boots for me and,<br />
despite having little idea<br />
of what ‘biomechanical’<br />
meant (but being quite<br />
conversant on the<br />
meaning of ‘free’). Soon<br />
the sales assistant had<br />
decided to ‘blow the<br />
boots’, creating a 3D<br />
model of my foot which<br />
they could compare<br />
to the chosen boots<br />
to help find the ideal<br />
pair. On seeing the<br />
slightly unusual arch<br />
of my feet, they went<br />
on to work out what 138 High Street Kensington,<br />
alterations could be<br />
made to the basic boot<br />
London W8 7RL<br />
model with inserts and Tel: 020 7937 7177<br />
Residents of Knightsbridge’s suffering<br />
at the hands of noisy supercars racing<br />
through the area can finally fight<br />
back with boy racers found guilty of<br />
disturbing the peace being liable for fines<br />
of up to £1000 thanks to a new order.<br />
RBKC council introduced the Public<br />
Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) after<br />
a successful consultation in the summer.<br />
Motorists are now prohibited from<br />
revving their engine, rapidly accelerating,<br />
racing, performing stunts, sounding<br />
horns or causing obstruction and are<br />
also banned from leaving the engine of a<br />
stationary car running.<br />
"I am sure local residents will<br />
welcome the introduction of the PSPO”<br />
Cllr Tim Ahern, cabinet member for<br />
Environment claimed "We know they<br />
have suffered for some time with people<br />
racing around the streets, accelerating<br />
and breaking and congregating on<br />
certain streets to show off their cars.<br />
with a verve that you’d expect to see in an<br />
artist’s workshop rather than a local shoe<br />
shop! As I left the store I was surprised<br />
to find my new purchases had left me<br />
eagerly anticipating my second attempt<br />
at ruling the slopes, I might be sticking<br />
to the green runs this time though!<br />
BRING ADVERT<br />
IN AND GET £40<br />
OFF ANY SKI<br />
PURCHASE<br />
Dragons over Chelsea. An alien has settled on the front of the Chelsea Arts Club, courtesy of artist Tony Common.<br />
It is to announce the theme of the Chelsea Arts Club New Year’s Eve Ball “The Great Ball of China”.<br />
Not the New<br />
Scotland Yard<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
The new Scotland Yard, soon<br />
to be home of the Met as they<br />
move out of New Scotland<br />
Yard, has been ‘topped out’. The new<br />
Scotland Yard, not New Scotland Yard,<br />
is adjacent to the original Scotland<br />
Yard. New Scotland Yard, that is the old<br />
New Scotland Yard but not the original<br />
Scotland Yard, will be known as 10<br />
Broadway. The new Scotland Yard was<br />
previously the Curtis Green building.<br />
The ‘topping out’ ceremony, where<br />
the final beam is placed at the top of<br />
the building, was conducted by the<br />
Commissioner of the Metropolitan<br />
police Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe and<br />
the Deputy Mayor for Policing and<br />
Crime Stephen Greenhalgh. The Curtis<br />
Green building is located on the Victoria<br />
Embankment and was already owned<br />
by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and<br />
Crime.<br />
The move is a part of the Mayor’s<br />
attempts to “put bobbies before<br />
buildings”, as moving the headquarters<br />
saves an estimated £6 million in running<br />
costs per year. The Met bought the<br />
freehold for New Scotland Yard in<br />
2008 for £123.5 million, and sold it<br />
last December for £370 million to the<br />
Abu Dhabi Financial Group, who plan<br />
on knocking down the building and<br />
constructing luxury flats.<br />
Of the topping out ceremony,<br />
Commissioner Sir Bernard said:<br />
"Selling 10 Broadway and moving our<br />
headquarters to Curtis Green is allowing<br />
us to reinvest in our remaining estate and<br />
in the technology we need to support<br />
our officers as they fight crime and<br />
support victims. It is only with this kind<br />
of intelligent investment that we will be<br />
able to do more with less. The MPS is<br />
focused on providing a more modern,<br />
efficient, secure and cost-effective estate,<br />
ensuring we remain at the forefront of<br />
21st century policing and getting more<br />
officers out on the streets, cutting crime,<br />
cutting costs and providing total care for<br />
Londoners."<br />
Artistic campaign<br />
to tackle a sticky<br />
situation<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
Chewing gum that has been discarded<br />
on the streets of Kensington and<br />
Chelsea is being transformed into mini<br />
works of art, in a campaign to highlight<br />
how many people do not dispose of it<br />
properly.<br />
Ben Wilson AKA the Chewing Gum<br />
Man is known for turning unsightly<br />
gobs of chewing gum into pieces of art<br />
throughout London. His paintings of<br />
chewing gum can take anywhere from<br />
3 hours to a few days to complete, and<br />
his work has made him somewhat of a<br />
mini celebrity in South Korea following<br />
a television appearance there.<br />
In a launch campaign, Ben Wilson<br />
joined forces with recycling companies<br />
Gumdrop and Suez to highlight just<br />
how much chewing gum is disposed<br />
of incorrectly and encourage people to<br />
recycle their sticky treat. David Palmer-<br />
Jones, Chief Executive Officer of SUEZ<br />
Recycling and Recovery UK said: “This<br />
campaign to encourage behavioural<br />
change will help to ensure that discarded<br />
gum doesn't simply stick to the streets<br />
of London but instead becomes a useful<br />
resource and can be used to make new<br />
products.”<br />
A piece of chewing gum can cost<br />
as little as 3p. However just one piece<br />
costs £1.50 to clean up, money which<br />
the council argues could be redirected<br />
towards front-line services.<br />
RBKC Councillor Timothy Ahern<br />
told KCW <strong>Today</strong>: “Very few people would<br />
dispute the fact that spitting chewing<br />
gum onto the streets is a disgusting habit.<br />
It’s a nuisance for people, who have<br />
to watch where they walk and it looks<br />
unsightly. Not only that, it is expensive<br />
and time consuming for councils to clean<br />
up. Hopefully this campaign will free the<br />
sole and make people think twice about<br />
dropping their chewing gum on our<br />
streets.”<br />
Anyone caught dropping litter or<br />
chewing gum in the Royal Borough<br />
currently risks paying an eighty pound<br />
fine. Cllr Ahern told KCW <strong>Today</strong> that he<br />
wants chewing gum companies to also<br />
pay up: “We would like manufacturers to<br />
pay a tax on the sale of each gum packet<br />
which would be passed to the Council to<br />
pay for gum removal.”<br />
The campaign which started in late<br />
October will run until early May 2016,<br />
focusing its attention on area hotspots<br />
within the borough where chewing gum<br />
is particularly rife.<br />
Boris reveals new<br />
transport fare<br />
prices<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
The Mayor of London has announced<br />
that there will be real term fare freezes<br />
and that children’s free travel will be<br />
extended to include National Rail<br />
services, in the latest report on public<br />
transport fares for 2016.<br />
Although fares will rise by one<br />
percent in accordance with inflation<br />
rates, the Mayor has assured Londoners<br />
that all single bus fares will remain at<br />
£1.50 and that only two tube fares will<br />
rise in price; the fares which will be<br />
increased will include a 10p increase to<br />
two tube fares and a 20p rise on an allzone<br />
travelcard.<br />
The Mayor’s plans also include the<br />
extension of free travel for children less<br />
than 11 years of age, so it now includes<br />
National Rail services within London.<br />
Other plans include the re-zoning of<br />
several East London stations, including<br />
Stratford, to be changed from zone 3<br />
stations to zone 2/3. The Mayor’s office<br />
says this will help fit in with the ‘shifting<br />
economic map’ which has seen increased<br />
business in East London following the<br />
construction of the Olympic Stadium<br />
and Westfield shopping centre.<br />
The Mayor of London, Boris<br />
Johnson, said: “I’m delighted that we’re<br />
able to yet again freeze overall fares<br />
in real terms for our passengers. It’s<br />
the third year in a row that we’ve been<br />
able to offer this great deal, allowing us<br />
to keep the cost of travel down while<br />
continuing our vital programme to<br />
modernise the network.”<br />
“Hundreds of thousands of families<br />
will also benefit now that we’ve struck<br />
a deal to extend free travel for under<br />
11s across all rail services in London.<br />
By securing this deal on National Rail<br />
services, we are taking away the fares<br />
confusion for so many and opening up<br />
wider travel in the capital for families to<br />
enjoy.”<br />
The updated fare prices, which are<br />
expected to bring in £43 million for<br />
Transport for London, will take effect<br />
from the 2nd of January.
10 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
11<br />
Statue & Blue Plaque<br />
Advertisement<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Photograph © Rod Allway<br />
STATUES<br />
Sir Joshua<br />
Reynolds<br />
By Alfred Drury<br />
Burlington House<br />
Garlanded with flowers<br />
during the Royal<br />
Academy Summer<br />
Show, the statue of Reynolds<br />
stands on a plinth in an almost<br />
balletic pose, brush in one hand,<br />
palette and more brushes in<br />
the other, daubing at an unseen<br />
canvas. He was the founder of<br />
the Royal Academy of Arts, in<br />
front of which he stands, when<br />
it moved from Somerset House<br />
in 1868, a hundred years after<br />
it was founded. In front of the<br />
statue are theme-park style<br />
spouting fountains, installed in<br />
2000, arranged in the planetary<br />
configuration at the time of<br />
Reynolds’ birth. The statue<br />
was made in 1929 by an Royal<br />
Academician Alfred Drury,<br />
who was in a competition with<br />
Derwent Wood held in 1917, but<br />
it took him a further twelve years<br />
to complete the commission. He<br />
attended art school in Oxford,<br />
where he had been a choirboy,<br />
then attended the National<br />
Art Training Schoo in South<br />
Kensington, where he came under<br />
the influence of Jules Dalou,<br />
with whom he trained in Paris<br />
for four years. He then worked<br />
under Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm,<br />
Sculptor in Ordinary<br />
to Queen Victoria, and<br />
who sculpted the statue<br />
of Thomas Carlyle on<br />
Chelsea Embankment.<br />
He was highly regarded<br />
at the time, and four<br />
of his finest, and<br />
largest bronze statues<br />
in London, are hardly<br />
seen, unless one is on<br />
a boat, as there are on<br />
the downstream side of<br />
Vauxhall Bridge; they<br />
represent Education,<br />
Fine Art, Science, and<br />
Local Government,<br />
the others on the<br />
upstream side being<br />
Pottery, Engineering,<br />
Architecture and<br />
Agriculture by F W<br />
Pomeroy. He was part<br />
of the New Sculpture<br />
movement, along with<br />
George Frampton, Alfred Gilbert,<br />
Albert Toft and Pomeroy, and worked<br />
in bronze, marble, terracotta and<br />
plaster, as well as contributing oil<br />
paintings to the RA.<br />
Reynolds was not only the first<br />
President of the RA, a post he held<br />
until his death in 1792, and he was<br />
knighted by George III in 1769,<br />
thereafter holding the office of<br />
Principal Painter in Ordinary to the<br />
king. In the late 1750s, at the height<br />
of the social season, he received five<br />
or six sitters a day, each for exactly<br />
an hour, and he soon became a<br />
fashionable portrait painter, many<br />
of his works being full-length in<br />
theGrand Style, for which he could<br />
command a fee of 80 guineas. He<br />
painted a number of self-portraits, one<br />
of the finest done when he was just<br />
24, Self-portrait with Artist Shading<br />
his Eyes, which has more than a hint<br />
of Rembrandt van Rijn’s astonishing<br />
Self-Portrait as a Young Man, painted<br />
in1628. He was a fiercely intellectual<br />
man, whose circle of friends included<br />
Dr Samuel Johnson, James Boswell,<br />
Oliver Goldsmith, Edmund Burke,<br />
Henry Thrale, David Garrick and his<br />
fellow painters J M W Turner and<br />
John Constable. When he died, Burke<br />
wrote of him “Sir Joshua Reynolds<br />
was on very many accounts one of the<br />
most memorable men of his Time. He<br />
was the first Englishman who added<br />
the praise of the eligant Arts to the<br />
other Glories of his Country. He had<br />
too much merit not to excite some<br />
Jealously; too much innocence to<br />
provoke any Enmity”. He was buried<br />
in St Paul’s Cathedral.<br />
Don Grant<br />
Blue Plaque:<br />
Elizabeth Garrett<br />
Anderson<br />
A Blue Plaque was erected by London<br />
County Council at 20 Upper Berkeley<br />
Street. Westminster. London. W.1<br />
honouring Elizabeth Garrett Anderson,<br />
a Physician and Feminist.<br />
She transformed the lives of many<br />
women in Victorian times and was the<br />
first woman to hold many important<br />
posts. She was co-founder of the first<br />
hospital to be staffed by women and was<br />
the first woman to qualify as a Physician<br />
and Surgeon in Britain. Elizabeth<br />
Garrett Anderson was, also, the first<br />
woman Dean of a British Medical<br />
School and she was the first woman<br />
Doctor of Medicine in France. In<br />
addition to this list of ‘firsts’ she was the<br />
first woman to be elected onto a School<br />
Board and as Mayor of Aldeburgh<br />
she was the first woman Mayor. This<br />
is a remarkable lists of 'firsts'. This<br />
was a remarkable lady who overcame<br />
huge obstacles with perseverance and<br />
diplomacy.<br />
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was<br />
born in Whitechapel, the second child of<br />
twelve siblings. Her father was Newson<br />
Garrett from Suffolk and her mother<br />
was Louisa (nee Dunnell ), a Londoner.<br />
Newson Garrett was entreprenurial and<br />
worked as Manager in a pawn brokers in<br />
London. He prospered and moved his<br />
family to Suffolk. There he constructed<br />
Snape Maltings, an impressive range of<br />
buildings for malting barley. He built a<br />
mansion, Alde House, and went into<br />
shipping and railways.<br />
After home tutoring, Elizabeth<br />
Garrett Anderson, aged thirteen years,<br />
attended a private boarding school in<br />
Blackheath. She was disappointed at the<br />
lack of teaching in Maths and Science<br />
and on leaving school she continued to<br />
study Latin and Maths and remained a<br />
voracious reader.<br />
Emily Davis, feminist and co-founder<br />
of Girton College, became a life long<br />
friend and mentor who gave Elizabeth<br />
Garrett Anderson advice about a career.<br />
In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became<br />
the first woman Doctor in America and<br />
her lectures on medicine as a career were<br />
enthusiastically attended by Elizabeth<br />
Garrett Anderson. She knew then<br />
Medicine was her vocation.<br />
The first step was becoming a<br />
Surgery Nurse at Middlesex Hospital<br />
in 1860 and enrolling at the Hospital<br />
Medical School was forbidden. She<br />
studied with the Apothecary, took<br />
the Society's Examinations and was<br />
granted a licence to practise Medicine<br />
by the London Society of Apothecaries<br />
- the first woman to do so. Holding<br />
a Hospital post was not allowed, so<br />
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson opened her<br />
own practice in Upper Berkeley Street<br />
which flourished. The London Society<br />
of Apothecaries refused further women<br />
applicants! She, also opened St Mary's<br />
Dispensary for Women and Children in<br />
Seymour Place.<br />
Meanwhile she learned French,<br />
attended the Sorbonne in Paris and<br />
qualified. Women were accepted there.<br />
In 1872, the Dispensary became the<br />
New Hospital for Women and Children<br />
and Elizabeth Blackwell was appointed<br />
Professor of Gynaecology. It moved<br />
to Marylebone Street in 1874 and was<br />
renamed Elizabeth Garrett Anderson<br />
Hospital and Obstetrics, eventually<br />
becoming University College Hospital,<br />
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing.<br />
Sophia Jex-Blake and Elizabeth<br />
Garrett Anderson together founded the<br />
London School of Medicine for Women.<br />
It was the only teaching Hospital to offer<br />
courses for women. There Elizabeth<br />
Garrett Anderson spent her career,<br />
becoming the first woman to be a Dean<br />
of a medical College. The name was<br />
changed to the Royal Free Hospital of<br />
Medicine and eventually became the<br />
Medical School of University College,<br />
London.<br />
For nineteen years Elizabeth Garrett<br />
Anderson was the only woman member<br />
of the British Medical Association<br />
because the Board voted against further<br />
female applicants!<br />
As late as 1876 an Act was passed<br />
allowing women to enter the Medical<br />
profession.<br />
This brilliant lady pioneer was<br />
happily married to George Skelton<br />
Anderson, a successful business man who<br />
supported her projects. They had two<br />
daughters and a son. She continued to<br />
practise.<br />
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson<br />
supported suffrage, but left the<br />
movement when it became too militant<br />
for her liking. She was a member of the<br />
Langham Place Circle which supported<br />
employment and votes for women.<br />
Together with Elizabeth Blackwell, she<br />
founded an influential Discussion Group<br />
called the Kensington Society. She even<br />
found time to write on medical subjects.<br />
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson<br />
deserves admiration for her hard won<br />
achievements.<br />
She died in 1917 and is buried in the<br />
Churchyard of St Peter and St Paul's<br />
Church at Aldeburgh.<br />
Marian Maitland.<br />
Help and Advice for<br />
independent living and health<br />
Whether you want help or advice to sort out an issue in your<br />
life, or want to find new things to do, there are plenty of<br />
options available locally. But it’s not always obvious how to<br />
find out what they are. However, there is now a great way to get the<br />
information you need, when you need it.<br />
Nick Marchant, Website Manager at People First said “We aim<br />
to give you the information you need. If that means finding out about<br />
support in your home, tips on weight loss, help with financial advice,<br />
or where to learn French, it’s all on People First. And with January<br />
coming, and perhaps thoughts of a new year’s resolution, we have<br />
plenty of ideas”<br />
The website is colourful and easy-to-use and aimed at adults in<br />
Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham,<br />
as well as their families, friends and carers. The People First website<br />
has three main sections, all of which are jargon-free, and provide easy<br />
to read information about a range of issues and subjects (including<br />
lots of tips on good health), a list of agencies and organisations that<br />
can help, and a comprehensive list of local events and activities for<br />
everybody, whatever their interests.<br />
There’s over 100 things happening every day for adults of all ages,<br />
and all kinds of activities from art groups, through gardening, to<br />
zumba classes. There are also activities for people who are housebound.<br />
A superb feature of the website is that as you look at one subject, other<br />
related topics will be suggested to you – or you can just search for<br />
things that interest you!<br />
Marchant explained “We treat people as experts on their own<br />
lives and what they want to achieve – no-one likes being told what<br />
to do!”.The website is funded by the local councils’ adult social care<br />
department, and you can find out more by visiting<br />
www.peoplefirstinfo.org.uk or contact Nick.Marchant@rbkc.gov.uk<br />
ICR.ac.uk/challenge<br />
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Half Marathon<br />
13 March 2016<br />
Cycle London to Paris<br />
20 April 2016<br />
8 June 2016<br />
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Join our team today and help us to defeat cancer.<br />
Contact us to find out more.<br />
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A Charity. Not for Profit.<br />
Company Limited by Guarantee.<br />
Registered in England. No. 534147<br />
icr-kensington-&-chelsea-today.indd 1 30/11/2015 16:11
12 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
13<br />
International<br />
International<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Boris goes abroad<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
Boris Johnson’s recent high profile<br />
trip to Israel and the Occupied<br />
Palestinian territories aimed to<br />
strengthen trade ties with the capital.<br />
However, the Mayor of London’s time in<br />
Palestine was cut short after he angered<br />
Palestinian groups by making comments<br />
deemed to be pro-Israeli.<br />
The Mayor’s bumbling way with<br />
words once again landed him in an<br />
awkward situation, after saying that<br />
a trade boycott of Israel would be<br />
“completely crazy” at an event in Tel<br />
Aviv, just days before he was due to visit<br />
the Occupied Palestinian territories.<br />
Describing supporters of the trade<br />
boycott as “snaggle-toothed, corduroywearing<br />
lefty academics” and Israel<br />
as the only democracy in the region,<br />
Boris’s comments were well received in<br />
Israel, but resulted in the cancellation of<br />
several of his scheduled engagements in<br />
Palestine.<br />
The Sharek Youth Forum, who<br />
were due to meet Mr. Johnson,<br />
said in a statement: “Following<br />
Johnson’s inaccurate, misinformed<br />
and disrespectful statement, it is our<br />
conclusion that he consciously denies the<br />
reality of the occupation that continues<br />
to oppress them and all Palestinians.”<br />
They went further to say: "As<br />
Palestinians and supporters of boycott,<br />
divestment and sanctions (BDS),<br />
we cannot in good conscience host<br />
Johnson, as a person who denounces<br />
the international BDS movement<br />
and prioritises the feelings of wearers<br />
of 'corduroy jackets' over an entire<br />
nation under occupation. In Johnson’s<br />
own words, the “only democracy<br />
in the region” is one that oppresses<br />
citizens, confiscates land, demolished<br />
homes, detains children and violates<br />
international humanitarian and human<br />
rights on a daily basis.”<br />
Speaking to local reporters in<br />
Ramallah, Boris said it was a shame that<br />
he could not go ahead with the majority<br />
of scheduled meetings and acknowledged<br />
that his comments had caused offence<br />
to some people but said they had been<br />
“whipped up on social media”.<br />
One of the few meetings that did go<br />
ahead was with the prime minister of<br />
the Palestinian Authority. Speaking to<br />
reporters after the meeting, Boris refused<br />
to retract his comments saying that what<br />
he had said was a: “simple repetition of<br />
what is not only British government<br />
policy but is a policy supported by<br />
the prime minister of the Palestinian<br />
Authority.” He also said: “It is very clear<br />
from the conversation I have just had<br />
with the prime minister that he does not<br />
support a boycott and does think that is<br />
the way forward.”<br />
The Mayor’s official spokesperson<br />
said that the comments had been taken<br />
out of context and citied by organisers<br />
of events as a reason for cancellation. In<br />
recent years, several councils throughout<br />
the UK have boycotted goods from<br />
Israeli settlements. Supporters of the<br />
boycott claim that a boycott exerts<br />
pressure on the Israeli government which<br />
may in turn help hinder the construction<br />
of settlements in occupied Palestinian<br />
territories, which have been condemned<br />
by the UN.<br />
Brazil dam bursts<br />
leading to toxic mud slide<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
On the 5th of November, a wave of<br />
toxic mud released from a burst dam in<br />
southern Brazil resulted in the death<br />
of 17 people and has been dubbed as<br />
Brazil’s worst ever natural disaster.<br />
The collapse of the dam, belonging to<br />
mining companies Vale and BHP Biliton<br />
(Samarco Mining S.A), involved the<br />
leakage of 50 million tons of iron ore<br />
waste into the Atlantic Ocean.<br />
Owners of the mining companies<br />
claim that the sludge is simply a mix<br />
of mud and water. However United<br />
Nations (UN) Human Rights experts on<br />
the environment and toxic waste, John<br />
Knox and Baskut Tuncak, have found<br />
new evidence that shows that the waste<br />
does contain high levels of toxic heavy<br />
metals and other toxic chemicals.<br />
In a statement released by the UN<br />
Human Rights Office of the High<br />
Commissioner, Special Rapporteur<br />
Knox, said: “The scale of the<br />
environmental damage is the equivalent<br />
of 20,000 Olympic swimming pools<br />
of toxic mud waste contaminating the<br />
soil, rivers, and water system of an area<br />
covering over 850 kilometres.”<br />
Mr. Knox went further to warn that<br />
the Doce River, one of Brazil’s greatest<br />
water sheds is “now considered by<br />
scientists to be dead and the toxic sludge<br />
is slowly working its way downstream<br />
towards the Abrolhos National Marine<br />
Park, where it threatens protected forest<br />
and habitat. Sadly the mud has already<br />
entered the sea at Regencia beach, a<br />
sanctuary for endangered turtles and a<br />
rich source of nutrients that the local<br />
fishing community relies upon”.<br />
Experts have said that the saturation<br />
of waterways with the dense orange<br />
sediment will not only wreck the<br />
ecosystem for years but has already<br />
killed thousands of fish and has cut off<br />
drinking water supplies to a quarter of a<br />
million people.<br />
The Brazilian government is fining<br />
the two mining companies with a<br />
preliminary £43.6 million, as Brazilian<br />
President Dilma Rousseff put the blame<br />
for the rupture of the dam on them.<br />
John Knox and Baskut Tuncak spoke<br />
about the lack of action taken in the<br />
midst of the disaster: “The steps taken<br />
by the Brazilian government, Vale, and<br />
BHP Billiton to prevent harm were<br />
clearly insufficient. It is not acceptable<br />
that it has taken three weeks for<br />
information about the toxic risks of the<br />
mining disaster to surface”.<br />
They went further to say: “There<br />
may never be an effective remedy for<br />
victims whose loved ones and livelihoods<br />
may now lie beneath the remains of a<br />
tidal wave of toxic tailing waste, nor<br />
for the environment which has suffered<br />
irreparable harm”.<br />
Indonesia’s<br />
forest fires:<br />
Damaging the planet and the<br />
lungs of its people<br />
By May Bulman<br />
Forest fires in Indonesia have reached<br />
unprecedented levels, causing the country's<br />
CO2 emissions to soar and affecting the<br />
livelihoods of millions of people.<br />
The fires, created annually to clear the<br />
land for palm oil production, have been<br />
exacerbated this year due to the unusually<br />
warm temperatures brought on by the El<br />
Nino effect, causing the country's largest<br />
blazes in nearly 20 years.<br />
This has resulted in a thick blanket<br />
of haze covering many towns and cities,<br />
which has caused respiratory infections<br />
affecting over 500,000 people and led to<br />
nineteen recorded deaths.<br />
Rahmi Carolina, a university student<br />
from Riau, has suffered from the annual<br />
haze since she was a child, and is now<br />
taking action. She said: "Each year I am<br />
affected by the fires - they give me a tight<br />
chest and dizziness. I've had to be rushed<br />
to hospital before.<br />
"A year ago the president promised<br />
us that the smoke would be drastically<br />
reduced in 2015, but it's even worse this<br />
year. We're really angry.<br />
"I've started campaigning for more<br />
action. I'm writing a personal blog and<br />
using social media to spread the word.”<br />
As well as affecting Indonesia's people,<br />
this year’s forest fires pose a severe threat to<br />
global warming, with the country emitting<br />
10 times more CO2 than normal, and the<br />
daily emission rate exceeding that of the<br />
entire U.S economy.<br />
Annisa Rahmawati, forest campaigner<br />
for Greenpeace, said: "As a globe, we<br />
cannot tackle climate change if we don't<br />
tackle deforestation in Indonesia.<br />
“The problem must be solved from the<br />
root. It is happening due to deforestation<br />
and peatland damage.”<br />
With the Climate Change Conference,<br />
which took place in December 2015,<br />
in Paris, Annisa explained that the<br />
Indonesian government and more<br />
developed countries must act together to<br />
solve the issue.<br />
“There needs to be law enforcement<br />
put in place by our government; the<br />
companies illegally burning the forest must<br />
be stopped.<br />
"But developed countries also have a<br />
power- they are consumers of palm oil.<br />
Unless there is a global, industry-wide<br />
rejection of the brands using palm oil, this<br />
problem will be very difficult to solve."<br />
Photograph © UN Photograph © Ardiles Rante. Greenpeace<br />
World’s biggest<br />
animal cloning<br />
centre in China<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
Whilst the rest of the world<br />
makes up its mind on the<br />
ethics of cloning, China<br />
is steaming ahead with its plans to<br />
construct the largest animal cloning<br />
factory. Set to open in 2016, the £20.5<br />
million centre will commercially recreate<br />
dogs, horses, and cattle.<br />
The centre is a joint venture between<br />
Chinese biotechnology firm Boyalife and<br />
Sooam Biotech, a South Korean research<br />
company, and is being constructed in a<br />
bid to meet the country's ever increasing<br />
demand for meat.<br />
Xu Xiaochun, board chairman of<br />
Boyalife, explained: “Chinese farmers are<br />
struggling to produce enough beef cattle<br />
to meet market demand. We will produce<br />
100,000 cattle embryos a year initially,<br />
eventually increasing to 1 million.” By<br />
churning out cloned embryos on such an<br />
epic scale the factory plans to provide 5<br />
percent of the meat eaten in China.<br />
In addition to the thousands of<br />
animals which will be recreated for<br />
consumption, the plant plans to clone<br />
champion racehorses, police sniffer dogs,<br />
and critically endangered species. The<br />
centre, which will be located in the same<br />
area where at least 165 people were killed<br />
in a chemical explosion last year, will also<br />
contain a museum and a gene bank.<br />
The companies backing the factory<br />
are attempting to ease worries about the<br />
safety and quality of meat. However, the<br />
reputation of the Sooam Biotech founder<br />
Hwang Woo-suk precedes him. In 2009<br />
he was convicted of illegally buying<br />
human embryos for his research, which<br />
many considered to be a gross ethical<br />
lapse.<br />
China’s sketchy food safety record<br />
has included fake rice made of plastic<br />
pellets and on a more serious level infant<br />
formula tarnished with melamine, an<br />
industrial chemical which killed six<br />
infants and hospitalised 300,000 others.<br />
If plans go ahead, the plant will be<br />
fully operational by next year.<br />
In the UK, cloned meats and milk<br />
products are classified as ‘novel foods’<br />
and therefore vendors have to obtain a<br />
special permission to be sell them.<br />
#SueMeSaudi<br />
takes off<br />
as SA Justice Ministry says it<br />
will sue Twitter user for ‘ISISlike’<br />
death sentence<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
The Saudi Arabian (SA) Justice Ministry<br />
will sue an unidentified Twitter user for<br />
comparing the sentencing of a poet to<br />
death as ‘ISIS-like’, the SA government<br />
aligned Al-Riyadh newspaper has<br />
reported.<br />
Palestinian poet and refugee Ashraf<br />
Fayadh, whom The Guardian reported<br />
was born in SA, was sentenced to death<br />
for blasphemy and apostasy on the 17th<br />
November.<br />
This prompted an outcry from senior<br />
cultural figures, including the director<br />
of Tate Modern Chris Dercon, British<br />
poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, historian<br />
Simon Schama, playwright David Hare,<br />
and Egyptian novelist and commentator<br />
Ahdaf Soueif. The Justice Ministry’s<br />
latest action has seen the twitter hostage<br />
‘Sue Me Saudi’ trend on the social media<br />
platform, as users criticise the Kingdom.<br />
Fayadh denied the charges in court,<br />
and stated that the poetry book in which<br />
some of the alleged comments were<br />
made, Instruction Within, was published<br />
a decade ago and consists of love poems,<br />
as opposed to any political or religious<br />
content. He was originally sentenced<br />
on 26th May 2014 to four years in<br />
prison and 800 lashes. This sentence<br />
was reversed following an appeal by the<br />
prosecutor.<br />
SA’s justice system is based upon<br />
the Wahhabi ultra-conservative<br />
interpretation of Islamic Sharia Law,<br />
which allows for corporal and capital<br />
punishments for certain crimes,<br />
including religious crimes. Many of the<br />
punishments and executions are carried<br />
out in public by the religious police,<br />
known as the Mutaween.<br />
Commenting on the suit, Al-<br />
Riyadh’s justice ministry source said:<br />
“Questioning the fairness of the courts<br />
is to question the justice of the Kingdom<br />
and its judicial system based on Islamic<br />
law, which guarantees rights and ensures<br />
human dignity”, and went on to add that<br />
the ministry would not hesitate to put<br />
on trial “any media that slandered the<br />
religious judiciary of the Kingdom”.<br />
Erdogan gets<br />
Precious<br />
over Gollum comparison<br />
By Max Feldman<br />
Fantasy fiction has turned into a nightmare<br />
for Turkish doctor, Bilgin Ciftci, who lost<br />
his job with the Public Health Institute<br />
of Turkey and might be sent to prison for<br />
allegedly posting pictures illustrating the<br />
uncanny resemblance of Turkish president<br />
Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Gollum, the<br />
emaciated, ring obsessed ghoul who plays<br />
a major part in both The Hobbit and The<br />
Lord Of The Rings. Considering that we<br />
live in a society where jokes about our<br />
illustrious leader’s rumoured dalliances<br />
with pork products are fair game, it’s hard<br />
to see what the fuss is about, but Turkish<br />
law makes it illegal to insult their president,<br />
with sentences of up to four years possible<br />
for those convicted.<br />
Cifci legal team has taken the<br />
unusual tactic of trying to prove in court<br />
that Gollum, played by a computer<br />
generated Andy Serkis in the films, isn’t<br />
an evil character, thus meaning that the<br />
comparison is not necessarily insulting.<br />
In what amounts to the most high stakes<br />
nerdy debate in legal history, the courts<br />
have assembled a “panel of psychologists<br />
and film experts” to once and for all<br />
conclude if one of literature’s most<br />
famous cases of split personality is truly<br />
a bad guy or not. Even Peter Jackson,<br />
director of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy,<br />
has weighed in on the case. In a joint<br />
statement with his co-writers Fran Walsh<br />
and Philippa Boyens, Jackson claimed that<br />
the Turkish Courts have made an error<br />
as the character in Ciftci’s pictures isn’t<br />
Gollum at all, via one of the few positive<br />
cases of obsessive pedantry in history:<br />
“If the images shown are in fact the ones<br />
forming the basis of this Turkish lawsuit,<br />
we can state categorically: None of them<br />
feature the character known as Gollum.<br />
All of them are images of the character<br />
called Smeagol.” Smeagol is the child-like<br />
and friendly original personality which is<br />
twisted by the malign powers of the One<br />
Ring into the malicious Gollum persona,<br />
only to resurface during The Two Towers.<br />
Jackson describes Smeagol as “joyful<br />
and sweet”, which admittedly are rarely<br />
adjectives used to describe Erdogan, and<br />
says he should never be confused as the<br />
same as the vicious Gollum, even if they<br />
share the same body.<br />
Jackson’s argument does actually<br />
seem to have some weight behind it<br />
considering that the pictures Cifci used<br />
show the character smiling, and largeeyed,<br />
which was used in Jackson’s films<br />
to distinguish Smeagol from the darker<br />
Gollum persona. Tolkien also distinguished<br />
the two characters as separate with<br />
significant changes in his speech patterns<br />
and mannerisms when his good self was<br />
in control. It is not known yet whether<br />
Cifci’s legal team intends to use Jackson’s<br />
clarification in court, but considering<br />
the severity of the sentence hanging over<br />
Cifici it seems that they’ll take any help<br />
they can get. Perhaps this is a good way to<br />
settle long standing schisms in fan culture,<br />
perhaps placing a picture of Erdogan next<br />
to pictures of Kirk and Picard could finally<br />
establish which is the defining version of<br />
Star Trek.<br />
Japan continues<br />
lethal whaling<br />
By Emily Eaton<br />
Japan has defended its plans to carry<br />
out lethal whaling research, despite<br />
international opposition which has been<br />
largely spearheaded by the Australian<br />
government. The plans will see up to 330<br />
Minke whales harvested in coming months<br />
to “find out how the marine ecosystem of<br />
the Antarctic Ocean is actually shifting<br />
or changing”, according to Japan’s<br />
representative to the International Whaling<br />
Commission (IWC), Joji Morishita.<br />
Morishita added that the research will not<br />
just examine the whale population but also,<br />
“krill and the oceanographic situation.”<br />
In response the Australian Liberal<br />
government, led by Malcolm Turnbull,<br />
publicly criticised the plans and is now<br />
exploring the possibility of sending<br />
surveillance aircraft to monitor Japan’s<br />
whaling fleet, which set sail in early<br />
December 2015. The New Zealand<br />
government also released a statement,<br />
with the backing of 33 other countries,<br />
including the USA and Australia, saying;<br />
“We consider that there is no scientific<br />
basis for the slaughter of whales and<br />
strongly urge the government of Japan not<br />
to allow it to go ahead.”<br />
It is not the first time the Japanese<br />
and Australian governments have butted<br />
heads over the issue. The International<br />
Court of Justice (ICJ) last year ruled that<br />
Japan’s ‘scientific’ whaling programme was<br />
illegal, after Australia brought the case.<br />
Japan’s government has since attempted<br />
to circumvent the ruling, drawing up new<br />
rationale for the hunting.<br />
Japan also announced in a shock<br />
declaration to Ban Ki Moon, Secretary<br />
General of the United Nations, that it was<br />
removing itself from the jurisdiction of<br />
the ICJ in dispute over “living resources of<br />
the sea”, making further legal challenges<br />
difficult to pursue.<br />
©Bilgin Ciftci
14 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
15<br />
Opinion & Comment<br />
Opinion & Comment<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Illustration©Don Grant<br />
MARIUS BRILL’S<br />
MEMEING OF LIFE<br />
For what<br />
we about to<br />
receive…<br />
She hands me an exquisitely wrapped<br />
box and smiles. “Happy Christmas”.<br />
I open it, racking my brains for<br />
the appropriate response.<br />
“It’s lovely.” “Thank you.” “That’s<br />
so thoughtful.” “How did you know?”<br />
“What an amazing idea.” “Oh that’s<br />
perfect...”<br />
I’m impossible at Christmas (and<br />
birthdays). My phrasebook of gratitude<br />
is painfully thin. What’s more, I’m<br />
convinced that any of my utterances<br />
from it are totally transparent. I’m<br />
only trying to fill the void between my<br />
embarrassment at receiving a gift and my<br />
desperation not to hurt the feelings of<br />
the person who gave it. Because however<br />
lovely the gift, something tells me it’s<br />
not what I’m really grateful for and I’m<br />
in terror that I’ll be called out on my<br />
blatant insincerity:<br />
“Oh, you’re just saying that.”<br />
“No, no I was thinking just the other<br />
day I could really do with a… a um…<br />
nutcracker. And the fact it resembles a<br />
gilded scrotum makes it simply hilarious.<br />
And such a talking point. Thank you so<br />
much.”<br />
My upper-lip-stiffening upbringing<br />
instilled in me an inflated sense of selfworthlessness;<br />
so spend over a tenner on<br />
me and I squirm with embarrassment.<br />
Then again, go for something under that<br />
price point and really, there is nothing I<br />
need, or want, that I haven’t bought for<br />
myself already. It’s Gift 22.<br />
I realise that might seem bonkers but<br />
don’t give me a psychology book about it<br />
or, come December 28th, I’m off down<br />
Waterstones explaining how the book’s<br />
Jung, gifted, and back.<br />
“Actually it’s a sculpture Holly made<br />
of her baby brother.”<br />
“Oh yes! Absolutely.”<br />
“She made it in Play-Doh and we<br />
thought it was so brilliant we took a<br />
mould and a clever Chinese company<br />
on the internet made some lovely gold<br />
plated models.”<br />
“Isn’t it wonderful? There’s an eye<br />
… and the nose poking out below it.” I<br />
fondle and tweak the little baby nose.<br />
“That’s not an eye, that’s the belly<br />
button,” she says, archly.<br />
In the artificial setting of the<br />
Christmas celebration, giving is easy, it’s<br />
gratitude that’s hard. Genuine thanks<br />
seems a sliver of an emotion, something<br />
that can just be glimpsed between the<br />
fear of indebtedness and the pride of<br />
entitlement. In America they try to get<br />
the whole thing out of the way early<br />
by having their Thanksgiving a month<br />
earlier. But then, if Thanks is a gift<br />
in itself, you’re caught in an infinite<br />
paradigm: thanking people for giving<br />
thanks which they will need to thank you<br />
for ad nauseam.<br />
My kids are no better. We love them<br />
and we’ve done our best to protect them<br />
from suffering any deprivation. We do<br />
our best to give them everything they<br />
need when they need it (or the day<br />
after thanks to Amazon Prime). So the<br />
presents under the Christmas tree are<br />
guaranteed to only ever be excess. We<br />
have wrapped the kids up as carefully<br />
as their gifts and protected them from<br />
tragedy. But in doing so we’ve deprived<br />
them of the opportunity to experience<br />
real gratitude. Even so, I’ve tried to teach<br />
them to say “Thank You” and ape the<br />
responses one might imagine being truly<br />
grateful entails. We’ve done all that and<br />
that’s all the thanks we get!<br />
Not knowing how to be grateful is<br />
a true first-world problem. Genuine<br />
gratitude, in all the privilege and safety<br />
that being western and middle class<br />
bestows, is rarer than McTruffles because<br />
it depends on tragedy or misfortune<br />
to precede it; things we’re superb at<br />
avoiding. But a place to hide in the<br />
Holocaust, a solid Greek beach for a<br />
refugee, or a hand pulling you up from<br />
the window ledge of the Bataclan; when<br />
those who have been plucked from<br />
disaster try to describe their gratefulness<br />
it is as an emotional euphoria.<br />
Cicero called gratitude “not only the<br />
greatest of the virtues, but the parent<br />
of all the others”. Adam Smith in his<br />
Theory of Moral Sentiments wrote,<br />
“All the members of human society<br />
stand in need of each other’s assistance,<br />
and are likewise exposed to mutual<br />
injuries. Where the necessary assistance<br />
is reciprocally afforded from love, from<br />
gratitude, from friendship, and esteem,<br />
the society flourishes and is happy.”<br />
According to studies by scientists<br />
gratitude strengthens the immune<br />
system, lowers blood pressure, provides<br />
higher levels of positive emotions,<br />
more joy, optimism, and happiness, and<br />
inspires altruism. It’s the ultimate thing<br />
that money just can’t buy. In this age and<br />
society of abundance, the one gift we<br />
could all do with eludes us.<br />
But in that moment, holding my tiny<br />
golden scrotum, I look at my present<br />
giver and even I, with my pre-prepared<br />
stock phrases of appreciation, catch<br />
a tantalising vestigial sensation of<br />
gratitude: that my friends, and my family,<br />
still regard me as a part of them, still<br />
tolerate me, that they’ve pretty much<br />
forgiven my many, many mistakes, and,<br />
above all, can be counted on to be there<br />
with a bucket when I come down with a<br />
dose of schmaltz.<br />
Happy Christmas (and thanks).<br />
DUDLEY SUTTON’S<br />
I WISH I HAD<br />
WRITTEN THAT<br />
Paul Muldoon<br />
Symposium<br />
You can bring a horse to water but you can't make it hold<br />
its nose to the grindstone and hunt with the hounds.<br />
Every dog has a stitch in time. Two heads? You've been sold<br />
one good turn. One good turn deserves a bird in the hand.<br />
A bird in the hand is better than no bread.<br />
To have your cake is to pay Paul.<br />
Make hay while you can still hit the nail on the head.<br />
For want of a nail the sky might fall.<br />
You read it here<br />
first<br />
By Peter Burden<br />
You may have found recently while<br />
buying your customary daily newspaper<br />
that your newsagent has asked you if<br />
you’d also like a free copy of The Sun.<br />
One’s natural instinct, of course, is to<br />
recoil in horror while politely declining.<br />
The third time this generous offer was<br />
made to me, though, I thought I might<br />
as well take it, it would presumably cost<br />
News UK something, which would be<br />
good, and it would come in useful for<br />
picking up dogs’ doings, wrapping litter,<br />
or starting fires.<br />
I spent several years writing about<br />
criminal activity at the News of the World<br />
(RIP) and The Sun, but I hadn’t looked<br />
at a copy for some time. (Such is my<br />
prejudice against Murdoch controlled<br />
media that I won’t even use Times New<br />
Roman, let alone subscribe to Sky.) I was<br />
naturally intrigued about the motive for<br />
this uncharacteristic munificence on the<br />
part of the upper management of News<br />
UK (CEO: Ms R Brooks). There seemed<br />
to me to be something desperate in their<br />
strategy, and a review of the sales figures<br />
for The Sun and The Sun on Sunday<br />
People in glass houses can't see the wood<br />
for the new broom. Rome wasn't built between two stools.<br />
Empty vessels wait for no man.<br />
A hair of the dog is a friend indeed.<br />
There's no fool like the fool<br />
who's shot his bolt. There's no smoke after the horse is gone.<br />
(which replaced the defunct News of<br />
the World) shows how drastic their sales<br />
decline has been. In 1990, the NoW was<br />
selling more than six million copies each<br />
week; the current figure for the SoS is<br />
nearer 1.5 million. This could in part be<br />
due to their choice of columnists: on The<br />
Sun Rod Liddle, former anti-toff <strong>Today</strong><br />
programme leftist, now tubthumping<br />
Alf-Garnett-clone, ranting on in his<br />
column about Jezza Corbyn like a<br />
neo-Faragist; and on the Sun on Sunday<br />
Louise Mensch (Louise Bagshawe of<br />
the Chick literati), a supposedly bright<br />
woman who thinks a lot (of herself,<br />
mostly) and has pushed home an<br />
advantage gained perhaps by inserting<br />
her well-groomed head into the nether<br />
regions of the Murdochs during her five<br />
minutes of fame, grandstanding with<br />
astonishing grovelliness while sitting<br />
on the Commons’ Culture Media Sport<br />
Committee when they were supposed<br />
to be giving Rupert Rumplechops and<br />
Sonny Jim a good grilling over criminal<br />
activity in the UK branch.<br />
While earlier this year The Sun<br />
bowed to pressure to remove pictures of<br />
bare-breasted women on the third page<br />
of their print version, these continue to<br />
appear in the online version, whose paywall<br />
has recently been deemed a failure<br />
and has been allowed to drop like a Page<br />
Three Girl’s negligée. This hasn’t by any<br />
means, though, precluded a string of<br />
nudge-nudge, spotty youth excitement<br />
over snapping and printing shots of<br />
those errant nipples that minor female<br />
celebrities find it necessary to air from<br />
time to time to remind The Sun-reading<br />
public that they still exist.<br />
Having got that off my breast, I’ve<br />
been reviewing my output in your<br />
favourite local organ over the past year or<br />
so, I am pleased to be able to draw your<br />
attention to a couple of polemics that<br />
have turned out to be a little ahead of the<br />
zeitgeist.<br />
In April 2014 I advocated the<br />
introduction of a Fat Tax and again,<br />
in November 2014, I put forward the<br />
pressing case for a straightforward<br />
tax of £2 per kilo on raw sugar or its<br />
processed equivalent, which would raise<br />
an estimated £2.5 billion in revenue<br />
– money which would go a small<br />
way to covering the costs of treating<br />
the epidemic of diabetes that sugar<br />
overconsumption is causing, while the<br />
price hike would discourage some of<br />
those irresponsible parents who feed<br />
sugar-loaded food and drink to their<br />
offspring, because they’re too idle, too<br />
undisciplined, or too nervous to say no to<br />
their pestering issue.<br />
Those who advise telly chef Jamie<br />
Oliver in what he should say to keep his<br />
name in the headlines and his lacklustre<br />
cookery books flying off the shelves at<br />
WHSmith perhaps saw my pieces, and in<br />
June this year launched him into another<br />
of his highly visible campaigns to have a<br />
sugar tax applied, although only to fizzy<br />
drinks (ducking the issue of an overall<br />
anti-sugar strategy, so as to avoid denting<br />
his own popularity among his chubbier,<br />
sugar guzzling fans.) This led to a<br />
Channel 4 documentary, Jamie’s Sugar<br />
Rush in August, his October appearance<br />
in front of the House of Commons<br />
Health Committee, and the government<br />
being pressed for a response. It remains<br />
to be seen whether or not Master Oliver<br />
has the gravitas to push his agenda<br />
through to a serious conclusion, but<br />
at least he’s had some good exposure<br />
just ahead of the Christmas book sales<br />
bonanza.<br />
In another piece, published over<br />
two years ago, I suggested that the<br />
BBC was edging towards an ultimate<br />
monopoly in online news in Britain. All<br />
their journalistic input is paid for from<br />
the licence fee, while their competitors,<br />
primarily the print media, are paying<br />
for their journalism with a dwindling<br />
income from sales and advertising.<br />
The national papers, other than certain<br />
niche publications, have found it very<br />
hard to apply a paywall successfully, as<br />
long as the public can get their news<br />
from BBC Online without charge. This<br />
is not fair; the incline on the playing<br />
field is simply too great, and in any<br />
case there is a question over whether<br />
or not the propagation of news via the<br />
internet comes within the BBC’s remit.<br />
I proposed, in view of this and the<br />
worrying corollary that a potentially<br />
dangerous news monopoly could emerge<br />
that the BBC be made to charge for<br />
entry to its news site (which might also,<br />
incidentally, relieve its dependence on<br />
the licence fee without compromising its<br />
much envied standards.)<br />
At last, at the end of November, for<br />
the first time the BBC’s principal media<br />
commentator Steve Hewlett, raised this<br />
precise issue on the <strong>Today</strong> Programme,<br />
even to the point of suggesting that the<br />
BBC charge for its online news. I believe<br />
that ultimately this is inevitable. And you<br />
read it here first, in June 2014.<br />
www.peterburden.net<br />
The Snoopers’<br />
Charter is a<br />
terrible idea<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
There are lots of reasons why<br />
the Investigatory Powers Bill<br />
is terrible. There is debate over<br />
how effective it will be in combating<br />
terrorism, and the old ‘Freedom versus<br />
Security’ one, which is always dumbed<br />
down (you can’t have one without the<br />
other. Freedom to be robbed isn’t really<br />
freedom, and security has to be the<br />
security of something worth keeping<br />
secure). And of course there is security<br />
from different things. Assuming, and it’s<br />
a massive assumption, that the Bill did<br />
improve counter-terrorism security, it<br />
would still make us vulnerable in a host<br />
of other ways. We’re going to focus on<br />
one such vulnerability.<br />
One of the things the Bill will do is<br />
oblige communications companies to<br />
hold connection records for a year after<br />
the fact. So, for example, a mobile phone<br />
provider will have to keep a record of<br />
the webpages you’ve visited on your 4G.<br />
In an attempt to make this Bill more<br />
acceptable, Teresa May has added in lots<br />
of restrictions and processes to prevent<br />
the police or spooks from misusing<br />
the data – safeguards for “sensitive<br />
professions” (journalists, for example)<br />
would be written into law, the PM<br />
would have to be consulted regarding<br />
intercepting MPs communications,<br />
law enforcement agencies wouldn’t be<br />
allowed to request a warrant to see if<br />
someone had visited a medical website,<br />
and judge blah blah this, “double lock”<br />
oversight blah blah that.<br />
Assuming that these measures have<br />
no ulterior motives and that these<br />
safeguards are enough to prevent any<br />
inappropriate use of these powers, again:<br />
MASSIVE assumptions, the Bill is still a<br />
terrible idea.<br />
Remember that mobile phone<br />
company that we mentioned earlier? The<br />
Bill would also extend that obligation<br />
to any telecom and/or broadband<br />
provider. So, a company like recently and<br />
repeatedly hacked TalkTalk. In the most<br />
recent TalkTalk hack (there have been<br />
three within a year), financial data from<br />
their customers was reported to be for<br />
sale on Black Market internet forums<br />
within 72 hours, and that the potentially<br />
compromised data included names,<br />
addresses, dates of birth, and email<br />
addresses on top of bank and credit card<br />
details.<br />
There was also the recent Ashley<br />
Maddison hack, which saw the details<br />
of people signed up to the extramartial<br />
affair website released onto the web.<br />
Aside from the no doubt great distress<br />
this caused, France24 reported 1,200<br />
Saudi Arabian .sa email address were<br />
leaked. Adultery can be punishable by<br />
death in Saudi Arabia. And then last<br />
year there was the celebrity photo hack,<br />
which saw hundreds of private (often<br />
nude) photos of (mostly female) celebs<br />
leaked online, following a suspected hack<br />
of Apple’s iCloud.<br />
My point is that private companies<br />
don’t have a good record of keeping<br />
our data very safe, and that this virtual<br />
data can have some very real world<br />
implications. Even if I wasn’t worried<br />
about the Government snooping on my<br />
online activity, I sure am about someone<br />
else. Think of every web page you’ve<br />
accessed in the last year. Bank details<br />
and medical information; if you’re a<br />
lawyer/doctor communications between<br />
you and your clients, communications<br />
between journalists and their sources,<br />
public/private sector whistle blowers,<br />
everything.<br />
Even if the mantra of “if you’ve got<br />
nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to<br />
fear” were true, which it’s not, you’d<br />
still have everything to fear. The Home<br />
Secretary placed all those safeguards<br />
to prevent herself and successors, and<br />
her/their agents, from accessing certain<br />
information, tacitly admitting that said<br />
information is rightly private. But by<br />
mandating that this information is stored<br />
for a year, it exposes it to far greater<br />
risk of being compromised, making it,<br />
and therefore all of us, far less safe from<br />
cyber-crime.<br />
Postscript: Lauri Love is currently<br />
fighting extradition to USA where he is<br />
accused of hacking multiple government<br />
agencies (including NASA and the<br />
FBI), following the Crown Prosecution<br />
Service not pressing charges due to lack<br />
of evidence. He interests me for two<br />
reasons: a) the US government seeking<br />
extradition is a tacit admission that their<br />
agencies can be hacked, so no safety for<br />
our data in the hands of the government,<br />
and b) because he spoke very well on the<br />
matter we have been discussing today on<br />
Channel 4 News on the 4th November.<br />
I recommend finding the video on<br />
YouTube.<br />
Photograph © Kangrex
16 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
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Business & Finance<br />
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Tax “Avoidance”<br />
Exploding the<br />
Myths<br />
By Alan Pink FCA ATII<br />
Tax avoidance keeps hitting the<br />
headlines, with the Chancellor<br />
announcing yet another “crack<br />
down” on this nefarious activity in his<br />
Autumn Statement on 25 November.<br />
Most people have a vague idea that tax<br />
avoidance is nasty, even if not illegal:<br />
but the problem is that no-one, not the<br />
politicians, the press, or even the Revenue,<br />
have ever actually arrived at a reasonable<br />
definition of what it is.<br />
One perfectly reasonable definition<br />
that I’ve heard includes giving up smoking:<br />
after all, it’s a deliberate act you take,<br />
as a result of which you pay less to the<br />
Treasury and keep more in your purse. But<br />
not many people would regard giving up<br />
smoking as morally reprehensible on that<br />
account.<br />
So shall we shift the definition a bit,<br />
and define tax avoidance (which always has<br />
overtones of public odium in it these days)<br />
as actions taken by people to reduce their<br />
tax which the Government doesn’t want<br />
them to take? This leaves out giving up<br />
smoking, because the high taxes on things<br />
like tobacco and alcohol are obviously<br />
designed by the “nanny state” to influence<br />
people’s behaviour, and make them do<br />
what’s good for them.<br />
But I’ve got two problems, myself, with<br />
this revised definition:<br />
Why have we got a moral duty to do<br />
whatever the Government wants us to<br />
do? Or, putting it the other way round,<br />
why should it be treated as immoral<br />
to do something that the Government<br />
doesn’t want us to do? How have the<br />
Government’s wishes become suddenly not<br />
just a legal duty, but a moral duty as well?<br />
It’s very often not at all clear, in real life<br />
situations, what the Government’s wishes<br />
actually are.<br />
To take an example of the second<br />
problem, let’s assume there are two old<br />
ladies living next door to each other. Each<br />
inherited a modest share portfolio from<br />
her late husband, who died many years<br />
ago. Each wants to give away these shares<br />
to her grandchildren, who really need the<br />
income more at this time in their lives than<br />
they ever will again.<br />
Mrs A gives the shares to her<br />
grandchildren: one third of the portfolio<br />
each. Mrs B, on the other hand, for<br />
reasons that have nothing to do with tax,<br />
decides to give her shares to a trust for her<br />
grandchildren.<br />
Mrs A wakes up one morning to find<br />
a letter from her accountant telling her<br />
she’s got a whopping great tax bill. Mrs B’s<br />
accountant, on the other hand, says that<br />
she can avoid paying any tax on this gift by<br />
“holding over” the completely imaginary<br />
“gain” that she is treated as having realised<br />
on disposing of the shares.<br />
Mrs B is certainly avoiding tax by<br />
making a transfer to the trust rather than<br />
direct to her grandchildren: but why do the<br />
Government apparently want her to set<br />
up a trust for them rather than making an<br />
absolute gift? It beats me.<br />
One problem with the picture of tax<br />
avoidance that is assiduously promoted<br />
by the politicians and the Revenue is that<br />
it is based on an unspoken assumption<br />
which is actually completely absurd. This<br />
assumption is that, if only wicked “tax<br />
avoiders” would leave the UK tax system<br />
alone, it would produce a fair result:<br />
everyone would pay their “fair share of tax”.<br />
The example of the two old ladies is just<br />
one of very many that I could put forward<br />
to show that our tax system produces<br />
anything but “fair” results, if left to itself.<br />
Why on earth is it fair for Mrs A to pay a<br />
large amount of tax on an imaginary gain<br />
that she hasn’t made?<br />
You could go further, and get deeply<br />
political: why is it “fair” for wealthy people<br />
to contribute not just more money to the<br />
Exchequer, but a higher proportion of their<br />
total income, because of higher tax rates<br />
applying to high incomes etc? Whatever<br />
politicians and political theorists think,<br />
few of the wealthy themselves think it’s at<br />
all fair and personally I can’t find it in my<br />
heart to blame them.<br />
Alan Pink FCA ATII is a specialist tax<br />
consultant who operates a bespoke tax<br />
practice, Alan Pink Tax, from offices<br />
situated in Tunbridge Wells. Alan advises<br />
on a wide range of tax issues and regularly<br />
writes for the professional press. Alan has<br />
experience in both major international<br />
plcs and small local businesses and is<br />
recognised for his proactive approach to<br />
taxation and solving tax problems. Alan<br />
can be contacted on (01892) 539000 or<br />
email: alan.pink@alanpinktax.com. His<br />
book, The Entrepreneur’s Tax Guide, is on<br />
sale from Head of Zeus for £20, or from all<br />
good book shops.<br />
Entrepreneurial<br />
tips for success<br />
By Emily Eaton<br />
Missourian Julia Langkraehr is a<br />
businesswoman who came to the capital<br />
to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams.<br />
Langkraehr has made her mark finding<br />
perfectly tailored, small businesses to fill<br />
commercial spaces.<br />
Along the way, Langkraehr<br />
experienced redundancy, startup, and<br />
failure, but it is a city success story.<br />
Recently, Langkraehr exited the business<br />
and reinvented herself; now looking<br />
to consulting for other businesses and<br />
guiding them down the path to success.<br />
Once a model, Langkraehr<br />
considered fashion, but unwilling to sit<br />
behind a computer designing all day, she<br />
pursued other avenues. Langkraehr was<br />
recruited into the ‘greying industry’ of<br />
shopping centre retail, leading her across<br />
the Atlantic.<br />
“In 2001 there wasn’t really a buzz<br />
about entrepreneurs. It was a real man’s<br />
world.” After being made redundant,<br />
Langkraehr started up her own business,<br />
“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh there is a niche<br />
here and I can do it for myself instead of<br />
a big landlord!’”<br />
Langkraehr stresses the importance<br />
of forward planning and balancing the<br />
books.<br />
It pays off, with a lot of hard work<br />
and help from unlikely corners of her<br />
extensive network. This became a<br />
teaching mantra: “You need to build your<br />
network before you need it.”<br />
Langkraehr is remarkable in her<br />
ability to form productive partnerships,<br />
even with competitors. She built a<br />
fortuitous working relationship with an<br />
American expat in Russia, that saw the<br />
expansion of Retail Profile into Europe.<br />
“For me, if you are going to go into<br />
another country you either have to be<br />
boots on the ground and run it yourself<br />
or you have to find a local partner<br />
you match in terms of goals, values,<br />
outcomes, and timelines.”<br />
Having built success, Langkraehr is<br />
keen to replicate this in other midsize<br />
businesses and has completed hours of<br />
training as a business coach. “I want to<br />
build a lifestyle business to help other<br />
founders and entrepreneurs and CEOs<br />
who have matched values with me. I<br />
want to work with companies who are<br />
open, honest, and want to learn and<br />
grow.”<br />
Langkraehr, a mix of Mid-West<br />
charmer and city sophisticate, stresses<br />
the importance of building relationships<br />
all around you. Human capital, she says,<br />
now more than ever is of importance<br />
to the business world in the age of the<br />
instant connection.<br />
Langkraehr’s 3 Quick Tips to Success<br />
Hire a coach: the best athletes in the<br />
world do, so why wouldn’t you pay<br />
somebody to help you be your best?<br />
Find a peer group: ideally people that<br />
you aspire to be like. Find a peer group,<br />
because you can learn and share and<br />
grow with each other. Don’t just hang<br />
out with corporate people, if you’re<br />
an entrepreneur, hang out with other<br />
entrepreneurs.<br />
Convince a mentor: Find somebody<br />
you respect, who excites you. Get<br />
their wisdom for ‘free’ - buy a coffee<br />
for them, or go to where they are to<br />
make it convenient in their schedule,<br />
or treat them to a beautiful breakfast at<br />
theWolseley.<br />
Caltrics, a guide<br />
By Emily Eaton<br />
Getting the right balance in life for any<br />
busy London professional is like walking<br />
a tight-rope. Despite recent advances<br />
in technology, which make managing<br />
conflicting roles easier, with so many<br />
hats to wear, keeping a conscious track<br />
of everything can feel like trying to herd<br />
house flies. Or at least, so you might think.<br />
Newly launched company Caltrics<br />
(caltrics.com) is set to revolutionise the<br />
way we manage our electronic calendars.<br />
The company, which launched earlier in<br />
2015, allows the end user to curate their<br />
own calendars in a few simple moves,<br />
synchronising information across each of<br />
your devices. And all for exactly no cost!<br />
The Caltrics site motto is “find it,<br />
add it, live it”, and it really is as simple as<br />
that. Once the user has registered for an<br />
account with their email address, they can<br />
then browse the hundreds of calendars on<br />
offer, a lot of which are London-specific<br />
and broken down into subsections like<br />
‘art galleries’, ‘education’ or ‘politics’.<br />
Once these are added to an account, they<br />
will then be automatically added to any<br />
devices associated with that email address;<br />
this is across iCal, Outlook, and Google<br />
Calendars. In many of these applications<br />
the various calendars are often colour<br />
co-ordinated so you can tell them apart.<br />
Caltrics functions in conjunction with the<br />
main electronic calendar suppliers either<br />
by the click of a button or importing from<br />
HTML links to your unique calendar. The<br />
site is highly intuitive and user friendly<br />
with clear step-by-step instructions as how<br />
to create and edit a calendar tailored to<br />
your exact needs. For example, you may be<br />
a Fulham resident with children in school,<br />
living in the shadow of Stamford Bridge.<br />
Well, with Caltrics, your calendar could<br />
feature London events, Fulham term dates,<br />
and Chelsea at home games all at once;<br />
making the city, homework, and football<br />
traffic easily navigable at the click of a<br />
button.<br />
Caltrics is also useful to businesses and<br />
organisations who are trying to spread the<br />
word about the work they are doing. For<br />
a small fee, you can create a ‘publisher's’<br />
account and help keep your target audience<br />
up to date with your schedule. You can<br />
import your calendars via .csv or any other<br />
workable format, there are also options to<br />
customise your account, calendar or event<br />
with images and blurb. Any publisher can<br />
also gather vital information on who is<br />
following their calendar.<br />
Caltrics is getting behind women’s<br />
sport at a perfect time when public interest<br />
is piqued. Now, with the help of the<br />
Caltrics online calendars, loyal fans can<br />
keep up to date plans in the diaries for key<br />
matches and games.<br />
It truly is an ingenious tool that saves<br />
time for end users who might have been<br />
surfing multiple websites for key dates. It<br />
also cuts back on the effort for businesses<br />
and organisations, allowing them to get to<br />
know their engaged client base. With ease<br />
of use and functionality prioritised, finally<br />
someone is taking the hard graft out of<br />
organisation.<br />
Not for love<br />
nor money<br />
We marry – or choose not to<br />
marry – for a whole raft of<br />
different motives. So when a<br />
person in a long-term relationship says<br />
“We’re happy as we are; as far as I’m<br />
concerned, marriage is just a piece of<br />
paper”, it may, perversely, be a sign that<br />
they’re keenly aware that marriage is,<br />
indeed, so very much more than just a<br />
piece of paper.<br />
Marriage brings valuable tax<br />
benefits. My guess is that as many<br />
deathbed marriages, particularly between<br />
older parties,take place to secure the<br />
Inheritance Tax spouse exemption as<br />
seize the last minute chance to express<br />
a spiritual commitment to a long-term<br />
partner.<br />
Despite the financial plus points,<br />
many people have an emotional aversion<br />
to marriage. Even more avoid marriage<br />
through fear of having to share assets if<br />
the marriage ends in divorce. I can’t deny<br />
the legal reality of that fear though a<br />
prenuptial agreement may go some way<br />
to assuage such concerns.<br />
Although the obligation to<br />
maintain children from a relationship is<br />
YOU WON’T FIND US<br />
PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK<br />
Kinnaird House, 1 Pall Mall East, London, SW1Y 5AU<br />
Tel: 0207 766 5600 www.thrings.com<br />
independent of marital status, the fact<br />
remains that while the divorce courts<br />
have a pretty free rein in dividing assets<br />
on divorce, the rules are completely<br />
different for unmarried couples.<br />
A division of assets when cohabiting<br />
couples split up depends not on need but<br />
on prior agreement between the parties<br />
(express or implied) or on quantifiable<br />
financial contribution. So while the<br />
recent split between lecturer Rupert<br />
Ashmore and his former student Kim<br />
Woodward after 25 years made the<br />
headlines (sample: “She was just a lodger<br />
I loved no more than the dog”) her court<br />
award of £275,000 was based on Miss<br />
Woodward’s financial contribution to<br />
the couple’s home and business rather<br />
than any moral right, personal need or as<br />
a consequence Dr Ashmore’s behaviour<br />
(described by the judge as “callous”<br />
and “selfish”).<br />
All, however, might change if the<br />
Cohabitation Rights Bill 2015<br />
becomes law.<br />
The bill, which is currently going<br />
through Parliament, reflects the current<br />
disparity between the division of assets<br />
on divorce and on the breakdown of a<br />
long-term relationship akin to marriage.<br />
Under the bill, agreements between<br />
co-habitees as to the division of assets<br />
would only be binding if they followed<br />
a process similar to that recognised as<br />
essential for a pre-nuptial agreement<br />
to be persuasive; the court would have<br />
power to divide assets based not only on<br />
financial contribution, but also on the<br />
needs of the parties, their conduct, and<br />
any non-financial contributions to<br />
the relationship.<br />
The bill neither seeks to detract<br />
from the sanctity of marriage, nor give<br />
cohabiting couples all the tax and other<br />
legal benefits of marriage. But it does go<br />
some way towards properly reflecting the<br />
changing nature of relationships within<br />
our modern society.<br />
Jim Sawer,<br />
Private Client Partner,<br />
Thrings<br />
THRINGS<br />
SOLICITORS<br />
Photograph © Ewan Roberts
18 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
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The EU<br />
Referendum:<br />
A huge gamble<br />
Gina Miller: businesswomen,<br />
philanthropist & mother<br />
Mr. Cameron has promised to<br />
hold a referendum vote on<br />
the EU by the end of 2017.<br />
But there is already an air of fantasy and<br />
irresponsibility surrounding the debate.<br />
The referendum vote is so important<br />
that we must not play political games on<br />
the exit. Commentators and media must<br />
focus on facts not fairy tales as a ‘happy<br />
ever after’ is far from certain.<br />
By way of background, the EU was<br />
born of the will for a political union<br />
to ensure we would not be threatened<br />
by fascism again in the aftermath of<br />
WWII, when nationalism was seen as<br />
bad ‘ism’. But even before this there was<br />
a union where 10% of Britain’s exports<br />
went to the six countries that formed the<br />
European Coal and Steel Community<br />
(ECSC).<br />
Throughout history countries have<br />
conducted the majority of their trade<br />
with their neighbours and relied on them<br />
to help rebel invaders. For us that is<br />
Europe.<br />
In terms of a cheque book, the EU<br />
takes over 51% of British exports of<br />
goods and close to 45% when services are<br />
added in. Those who say it is the same<br />
for the other member states who export<br />
to us are incorrect as the figures are vastly<br />
different, with the other EU countries<br />
exporting only 6.6% of their goods to the<br />
UK. (IMF Direction of Trade Statistics).<br />
Under an optimistic scenario, in<br />
which the UK leaves but continues to<br />
have a free trade agreement (FTA) with<br />
the EU, losses would be 2.2% of GDP.<br />
I would argue our economy cannot<br />
accommodate this hit and that the<br />
highly probably net result is that the UK<br />
economy will suffer permanent losses on<br />
the back of weaker trade and investment;<br />
a highly risky gamble.<br />
The London think-tank, Centre<br />
for European Reform, has carried out<br />
a modelling exercise which concluded<br />
that Britain’s trade with the rest of the<br />
EU was 55% greater than it would have<br />
been if outside. Those from the Out<br />
campaign that argue we can replicate<br />
the same levels of trade with emerging<br />
market countries and Commonwealth<br />
countries have obviously not done much<br />
business in these economies. In any case<br />
there is no reason why this is a mutually<br />
exclusive choice; we can still be part of<br />
the EU and build up trade with these<br />
global markets; for example, Germany’s<br />
second largest market for exports is<br />
China.<br />
The full economic impact of Brexit is<br />
impossible to quantify but the concerns<br />
and anxiety that would result would<br />
create uncertainty in financial markets,<br />
which is never desirable. London would<br />
not instantly disintegrate as a financial<br />
centre but like a rug, once some part of<br />
the financial services tapestry gets pulled<br />
just a little bit, then over time the entire<br />
fabric could weaken.<br />
But putting these financial facts<br />
aside, if Article 50, a so-far untested<br />
mechanism whereby countries can leave<br />
the EU, is triggered there is no going<br />
back; no room for ‘buyer’s regret’.<br />
If we were to vote to leave, departure<br />
would come two years after formal<br />
notification, irrespective of what we<br />
have in place. Over these two years of<br />
limbo for the UK, we would lose our<br />
representation on the European Council<br />
of leaders of member states. We would<br />
also be unable to vote on any deal it<br />
negotiated. This is pure madness.<br />
There are also real political reasons why<br />
a favourable exit package is unlikely to<br />
emerge from the remaining 27 member<br />
states:<br />
a) It would encourage the far right<br />
in many other member states to demand<br />
a referendum/renegotiations for exit –<br />
France, Germany, Spain.<br />
b) An out vote could lead to each<br />
of the devolved areas under the new<br />
devolution Act to hold their own vote<br />
c) An out vote could push the<br />
unification of Ireland agenda even<br />
further<br />
The irony is that the EU membership<br />
we have today has resulted from many<br />
years of successful change. We should be<br />
proud of what Britain’s influence on the<br />
EU has achieved for 500 million people.<br />
The grey haired, veteran Eurosceptics<br />
are right that the EU we joined in 1973<br />
was flawed, with expensive ridiculous<br />
farm and fisheries policies, a budget<br />
designed to cost Britain more than any<br />
other country, no single market and only<br />
nine members. But thanks in no small<br />
part to British political clout, the EU<br />
now has less wasteful policies, a far more<br />
reasonable budget to which Britain is a<br />
middling net contributor, a liberal single<br />
market, and a commitment to freer trade.<br />
Most collaborations are a constant<br />
work in progress. But to flirt with exiting<br />
or conscious uncoupling is insanity,<br />
as the future of the EU should not be<br />
about a cheque book or trade alone.<br />
There are issues such as climate change,<br />
environmental threats, terrorism, and<br />
fascism that have no respect for borders,<br />
global ‘isms’<br />
marching<br />
across the<br />
world; virtually,<br />
physically, and<br />
virally. This<br />
has to be a<br />
sophisticated<br />
multilayered<br />
debate, not<br />
an overtly<br />
emotional one.<br />
Find it, add it,<br />
live it<br />
By Emily Eaton<br />
Getting the right balance in life for any<br />
busy London professional is like walking<br />
a tight-rope. Despite recent advances<br />
in technology, which make managing<br />
conflicting roles easier, with so many<br />
hats to wear, keeping a conscious track<br />
of everything can feel like trying to herd<br />
house flies. Or at least, so you might<br />
think.<br />
Newly launched company Caltrics<br />
(caltrics.com) is set to revolutionise the<br />
way we manage our electronic calendars.<br />
The company, which launched earlier in<br />
2015, allows the end user to curate their<br />
own calendars in a few simple moves,<br />
synchronising information across each of<br />
your devices. And all for exactly no cost!<br />
The Caltrics site motto is “find it,<br />
add it, live it”, and it really is as simple<br />
as that. Once the user has registered<br />
for an account with their email address,<br />
they can then browse the hundreds of<br />
calendars on offer, a lot of which are<br />
London-specific and broken down into<br />
subsections like ‘art galleries’, ‘education’<br />
or ‘politics’. Once these are added to an<br />
account, they will then be automatically<br />
added to any devices associated with<br />
that email address - this is across iCal,<br />
Outlook, and Google Calendars. In<br />
many of these applications the various<br />
calendars are often colour co-ordinated<br />
so you can tell them apart. Caltrics<br />
functions in conjunction with the main<br />
electronic calendar suppliers either<br />
by the click of a button or importing<br />
from HTML links to your unique<br />
calendar. The site is highly intuitive and<br />
user friendly with clear step-by-step<br />
instructions as how to create and edit a<br />
calendar tailored to your exact needs. For<br />
example, you may be a Fulham resident<br />
with children in school, living in the<br />
shadow of Stamford Bridge. Well, with<br />
Caltrics, your calendar could feature<br />
London events, Fulham term dates,<br />
and Chelsea at home games all at once;<br />
making the city, homework, and football<br />
traffic easily navigable at the click of a<br />
button.<br />
Caltrics is also useful to businesses<br />
and organisations who are trying to<br />
spread the word about the work they are<br />
doing. For a small fee, you can create a<br />
‘publisher's’ account and help keep your<br />
target audience up to date with your<br />
schedule. You can import your calendars<br />
via .csv or any other workable format,<br />
there are also options to customise your<br />
account, calendar or event with images<br />
and blurb. Any publisher can also gather<br />
vital information on who is following<br />
their calendar.<br />
Caltrics is getting behind women’s<br />
sport at a perfect time when public<br />
interest is piqued. Now, with the help of<br />
the Caltrics online calendars - loyal fans<br />
can keep up to date plans in the diaries<br />
for key matches and games.<br />
It truly is an ingenious tool that saves<br />
time for end users who might have been<br />
surfing multiple websites for key dates. It<br />
also cuts back on the effort for businesses<br />
and organisations, allowing them to get<br />
to know their engaged client base. With<br />
ease of use and functionality prioritised,<br />
finally someone is taking the hard graft<br />
out of organisation.<br />
Pitch to Rich<br />
winner<br />
Winners of Sir Richard Branson’s<br />
‘Pitch to Rich’ 2015, Fourex, who beat<br />
over 2,700 other companies based on<br />
their potential to disrupt the industry,<br />
have now launched into Blackfriars<br />
underground station.<br />
Fourex idea, “currency exchange<br />
on steroids”, is simple yet genius. A<br />
complete world first, Fourex kiosks are<br />
able to accept unsorted coins and notes<br />
(that are both in and out of circulation)<br />
from over 150 currencies, at the same<br />
time, and convert their value into<br />
either GBP British Pounds, Euros, or<br />
American Dollars.<br />
Unlike its competitors, Fourex<br />
is able to accept even the smallest<br />
denominations, and there are no hidden<br />
fees or commissions. This fills the huge<br />
gap in the market for the leftover coins<br />
and notes found in wallets and purses<br />
after holidays that no big company is<br />
willing to take.<br />
Fourex secured a contract with TfL<br />
and now have plans to launch into<br />
Blackfriars, Kings Cross and Canary<br />
Wharf underground stations from<br />
November 2015, before rolling out<br />
nationwide. They have also signed a<br />
contract with Westfield London and will<br />
be launching in to Westfield Stratford<br />
shopping centre at the end of 2015.<br />
Fourex has made incredible use of<br />
crowdfunding initiatives, receiving over<br />
£671,450 worth of investments (with an<br />
overfund of 244% in under two weeks).<br />
To find out more about the machines<br />
and how they work, please visit: www.<br />
fourex.co.uk/<br />
Photograph © Fourex<br />
TODAY'S ENTREPRENEURS<br />
Pobble takes<br />
on literacy<br />
By Emily Eaton<br />
Shocking statistics reveal that<br />
5.2 million adults in Britain are<br />
functionally illiterate, with reading<br />
and writing abilities below what would<br />
be expected of the average 11 year old.<br />
Now Pobble, an exciting new company<br />
is on a mission to inspire and tackle<br />
illiteracy in the next generation.<br />
Emerging from a slew of industry<br />
recognition, acclaim and even an<br />
award here or there, Pobble, formerly<br />
LendMeYourLiteracy, is being used<br />
by schools to provide a platform for<br />
young writers to build an audience and a<br />
portfolio.<br />
First cultivated by a small and<br />
dedicated group of teachers from<br />
Yorkshire, LendMeYourLiteracy started<br />
as an online site where primary school<br />
children could share their stories ‘beyond<br />
the classroom wall’. The intention was<br />
that once they experienced the joy of<br />
writing for a wide digital audience, who<br />
were leaving feedback they could read,<br />
they would be inspired to engage more<br />
and more in reading and writing. It<br />
would also help parents connect with<br />
their child’s learning journey and create<br />
an archive for their work.<br />
Now, what began as a humble<br />
WordPress blog, has grown to become<br />
a useful tool for parents and teachers<br />
alike, and the newly re-branded Pobble<br />
is being used in schools by teachers in<br />
over 100 countries worldwide. A lot of<br />
this was down to the hard-work of the<br />
founders who went into schools and<br />
ran workshops to encourage children<br />
and teachers first hand. The scholastic<br />
hallmarks of this initiative, crafted by<br />
teachers, are central to its ethos.<br />
‘Pobble’ means people in Celtic,<br />
and as co-founder<br />
and CEO Jon Smith<br />
asserts ‘people’ are<br />
“what Pobble’s all<br />
about… Sharing of<br />
best practice and<br />
collaboration produces<br />
better outcomes for<br />
everybody.”<br />
Anyone can go<br />
through the Pobble<br />
archive of handwritten<br />
work, either by<br />
searching for what you want, or just to<br />
browse what has been shared. There<br />
is plenty to read amongst the 35,000<br />
entries, from recent responses to the John<br />
Lewis Christmas ad Man on the Moon, to<br />
beautiful illustrated ‘shape’ poems, by 6-7<br />
year olds.<br />
Smith recalls one proud moment<br />
when a reluctant dyslexic boy, Fred<br />
Potts, 6, was eventually persuaded by<br />
an astute teacher to share some of his<br />
work. Pobble unlocked an audience for<br />
Fred and his work ended up winning<br />
Pobble’s winter writing competition.<br />
“After we deciphered his handwriting,<br />
some of the stuff Fred wrote was<br />
astounding! He talked about ice looking<br />
like ‘silk on the road’...” Smith cherishes<br />
the transformation in Fred’s attitude<br />
to reading and writing saying, “It is<br />
such a great example of how Pobble is<br />
transforming the learning experience.”<br />
Pobble is really ahead of the game<br />
in terms of digital engagement. Schools<br />
who have worked with Pobble are<br />
reporting a significant impact on the<br />
level of literacy attainment overall. UK<br />
classrooms in particular have been slow<br />
to the digital uptake, but Pobble and<br />
initiatives like it are driving a tech-led<br />
approach. Smith sees this as the future<br />
of the education sector “Children and<br />
teachers using Pobble feel very much a<br />
part of something… We want to work<br />
with as many schools as possible.”<br />
Schools can access a variety of<br />
Pobble resources for free and purchase a<br />
subscription to start sharing their pupils’<br />
work.<br />
Visit: http://blog.pobble.com/<br />
subscriptions/ to find out more.<br />
Photograph © Pobble
20 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
21<br />
Education<br />
Education<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Woldingham<br />
School<br />
Nestled in 700 acres of the English<br />
countryside and within the<br />
M25, Woldingham School is<br />
a Catholic boarding and day school<br />
for girls aged 11 to 18 and which<br />
welcomes girls of all faiths. The school<br />
was founded in 1842 and has been on<br />
the Woldingham site for 70 years. It is<br />
a member of the international network<br />
of Sacred Heart schools, with over 140<br />
schools in 41 countries.<br />
The perfect choice for busy London<br />
families, Woldingham pupils benefit<br />
from a direct commute from London<br />
Victoria (35 mins) or Clapham Junction<br />
(27 mins), to be met by the School’s<br />
courtesy minibuses at its very own<br />
Woldingham train station, on-site.<br />
The school has a “longstanding<br />
reputation for creative excellence now<br />
matched by burgeoning academics”<br />
(Good Schools Guide)<br />
In 2012, the Independent Schools<br />
Inspectorate awarded the School<br />
‘excellent’, the top mark, in every<br />
category. In 2015, 76% (including<br />
WJEC Latin) of GCSE grades were A*<br />
or A and 41.68% of grades at A*. At A<br />
level, almost 59% of grades were A* and<br />
A, representing a 3% improvement<br />
on 2014.<br />
Woldingham is a happy and<br />
successful school developing confident<br />
and compassionate young women.<br />
Alumnae include: Vivien Leigh, Lady<br />
Vanessa Musgrave, Caroline Wyatt,<br />
Louise Mensch and Carey Mulligan.<br />
Saturday Open Mornings in 2016 are<br />
7 May and 11 June and 1 October, all by<br />
appointment only. To reserve your place,<br />
please contact the Registrar, Mrs Linda<br />
Underwood on 01883 654206 or email<br />
registrar@woldinghamschool.co.uk.<br />
For further information, please visit<br />
www.woldinghamschool.co.uk.<br />
WESTMINSTER SCHOOL<br />
www.westminster.org.uk<br />
16+ GIRLS AND BOYS ENTRY<br />
Online registration for entry in 2017 will open in June.<br />
13+ BOYS ENTRY<br />
Register now for entry in 2019.<br />
To request a prospectus or find out about Open Days, please<br />
call 020 7963 1003 or email registrar@westminster.org.uk<br />
For information about entry to Westminster Under School<br />
at 7+, 8+ or 11+ please call 020 7821 5788.<br />
Westminster School is a charity (No. 312728) established to provide education.<br />
CREATIVE WRITING<br />
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CHARACTER<br />
Booking<br />
now for<br />
2016<br />
TAP2962_KCW_<strong>Today</strong>Ad_126mmWx154mmH_V1.indd 1 25/11/2015 14:06<br />
MEMOIR & LIFE WRITING<br />
with Julia Blackburn<br />
WRITING A NOVEL<br />
with Esther Freud & Richard Skinner<br />
GETTING STARTED<br />
with Keith Ridgway<br />
VISIT FABERACADEMY.CO.UK<br />
OR CALL US ON 0207 927 3827
22 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
23<br />
Education<br />
Education<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Morgan captains<br />
behaviour<br />
initiatives<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
Nicky Morgan, Education<br />
Secretary, assumed office last<br />
July. She faced a somewhat<br />
tumultuous start, with The Independent<br />
on Sunday reporting that former EdSec<br />
Michael Gove was still receiving copies<br />
of Department of Education (DfE)<br />
papers, trying to ensure that Morgan<br />
wasn’t watering down any of his more<br />
controversial reforms. Morgan dismissed<br />
this, obviously; but did quickly reach out<br />
to teachers that she wasn’t about to “wage<br />
ideological war”, which was seen a clear<br />
criticism of Gove’s approach in office. So<br />
a year and a half in, what has Morgan<br />
accomplished? One of her focuses has<br />
been on behaviour in the classroom, with<br />
a number of initiatives focusing on the<br />
issue.<br />
One was the appointment of a<br />
‘behaviour tsar’ who is tasked with<br />
preventing ‘low-level’ disruption<br />
in the classroom. Former teacher,<br />
former nightclub owner, and author of<br />
multiple books focusing on behaviour,<br />
Tom Bennett, who asked on his blog<br />
not to be called a tsar, has the job of<br />
preventing behaviours such as passing<br />
notes, swinging on chairs, and making<br />
silly comments. At the announcement<br />
of his role, Morgan argued that minor<br />
misdemeanours cost pupils around 38<br />
days of learning a year. Tsar Bennett will<br />
train teachers to deal effectively with<br />
chair-swinging and other such activities<br />
in an effort to clamp down on them.<br />
Another tactic of Morgan is sending<br />
in military veterans into schools to<br />
provide “educational and personal<br />
development activities for children”, to<br />
bring a ‘military ethos’ to schools. The<br />
DfE has been funding Commando<br />
Joes since 2010, but in December last<br />
year Morgan announced a £4.8 million<br />
in funding for projects such as Joes,<br />
with the aim to ‘instil character in<br />
pupils’. Commando Joes hires mainly<br />
male vets to run a variety of classes,<br />
clubs, and programs that “give a young<br />
person confidence, ambition and selfworth”.<br />
To achieve this, they focus upon<br />
five key areas: Resilience, Teamwork,<br />
Character, Communication, and Health<br />
& Wellbeing. Over the last three years<br />
they’ve been working with Swansea<br />
University to monitor their impact in<br />
the schools they work in, and report<br />
increases in attendance and academic<br />
achievement, and a fall in problem<br />
behaviour and tardiness.<br />
The argument for tackling chairswinging<br />
and instilling character are<br />
similar, that it will promote good<br />
study – minor misbehaviours consume<br />
classroom time, and a ‘military ethos’<br />
presumably includes discipline, focus,<br />
and so on, which Swansea Uni seem<br />
to back as effective. However, not<br />
everyone is a fan. Christine Blower,<br />
general secretary of the National Union<br />
of Teachers, told The Guardian that “A<br />
military ethos is certainly not the only<br />
way to achieve [the development of<br />
character and resilience]”, and even the<br />
Quakers wrote a letter to Morgan, in<br />
which they condemned the militarisation<br />
of education and said:<br />
“Quakers believe that a military<br />
ethos is not what young people need.<br />
While it claims to engender altruism,<br />
aspiration and teamwork, these are not<br />
the exclusive preserve of the military.<br />
A military culture is one of blind<br />
obedience, not the critical thinking<br />
learners need, and is founded on the<br />
normalisation of violence”.<br />
Some have also criticised the<br />
appointment of a Tsar to deal with “low<br />
level misbehaviour”, highlighting the<br />
difficulty faced by teachers over serious<br />
misbehaviour, as reported in KCW <strong>Today</strong><br />
in October, over 30,000 alleged crimes<br />
linked with schools were reported in<br />
2014, including 9319 alleged violent<br />
crimes.<br />
Photograph © Policy Exchange<br />
“London’s schools<br />
continue to be<br />
the envy of the<br />
nation”<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
On the 1st of December, Ofsted<br />
launched its annual report for<br />
2014/15. The report paints a<br />
national picture of the performance of<br />
schools, colleges, and further education and<br />
skill providing institutes.<br />
London has performed particularly<br />
well, with improvement in the proportion<br />
of children attaining a good level of<br />
development in their early years across<br />
London. Schools in the capital are<br />
some of the strongest in the country,<br />
with Kingston-upon-Thames, Camden,<br />
Lewisham, and Westminster among<br />
the top ten Local Authorities for the<br />
percentage of students in primary schools<br />
rated Good or Outstanding.<br />
London is the best performing region<br />
for pupil attainment and progress in<br />
reading, writing, and mathematics at the<br />
end of primary schooling. Kensington and<br />
Chelsea is the highest performing LA for<br />
attainment and progress in England.<br />
The capital is the strongest region<br />
in England for attainment in secondary<br />
schools, with Kingston-upon-Thames,<br />
Sutton, Barnet, Bromley, and Westminster<br />
in the top ten LAs for GCSE results.<br />
Pupils eligible for free school meal in<br />
London are as likely to go to university as<br />
their peers. Pupils eligible for free school<br />
meals in London also outperform those<br />
eligible outside the capital in both primary<br />
and secondary schooling.<br />
Commenting on London’s education<br />
performance, Mike Sheridan, London<br />
Regional Director said:<br />
“London’s schools continue to be the<br />
envy of the nation. Children in London,<br />
including the most disadvantaged,<br />
generally make better progress and reach<br />
higher levels of attainment than those in<br />
the rest of the country. Many of London’s<br />
schools stand out and that fact should fill<br />
the teachers, school leaders and governors<br />
of these institutions with pride. Such<br />
success does not happen by accident.<br />
Dedicated teachers and leaders are working<br />
incredibly hard in schools and academies<br />
across the capital to ensure young people<br />
are given the life chances they deserve.”<br />
However, over 16 learners performed<br />
less well, with significant variation<br />
in quality between LAs. Noting this,<br />
Sheridan said:<br />
“There are some grey clouds on the<br />
horizon though; London cannot become<br />
complacent. We are seeing some weak<br />
performance in individual schools and<br />
across local authorities. In some local<br />
authorities, pupils and learners from<br />
disadvantaged backgrounds don’t do well<br />
enough. Too often, London’s young people<br />
are let down at 16 by mediocre colleges<br />
who don’t adequately prepare them for the<br />
world of work.”<br />
St James provides for the intellectual, emotional and<br />
spiritual development of every pupil.<br />
Open Events 2016<br />
School in Action<br />
Tuesday 26th January 9.00am – 10.45am<br />
Thursday 5th May 9.00am – 10.45am<br />
To book: 020 7348 1748<br />
admissions@sjsg.org.uk<br />
www.stjamesgirls.co.uk<br />
Earsby Street | London W14 8SH<br />
Registered Charity No. 270156<br />
ST JAMES<br />
Senior Girls’ School<br />
Open Mornings<br />
7 May & 11 June 2016<br />
By appointment only,<br />
please call the Registrar<br />
Catholic boarding<br />
and day school<br />
All girls, ages 11-18<br />
700 acres in Surrey<br />
35 minutes from<br />
Central London<br />
100% ‘excellent’ in<br />
every category<br />
ISI Inspection Report 2012<br />
T: 01883 654206<br />
woldinghamschool.co.uk<br />
THE IVER ACADEMY<br />
DO YOU WANT TO BE A<br />
MAKEUP ARTIST ?<br />
THE IVER ACADEMY<br />
SCHOOL OF MAKE-UP AND HAIR ARTISTRY<br />
BASED AT PINEWOOD STUDIOS<br />
01753 659213<br />
WWW.IVERACADEMY.CO.UK
24 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
25<br />
Education<br />
Education<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
An exceptional<br />
educational<br />
experience<br />
for your daughter in the heart<br />
of the countryside close to<br />
London<br />
Weekly boarding numbers<br />
at Thornton College have<br />
grown significantly over<br />
the past decade as increasing numbers<br />
of London parents are looking for an<br />
excellent school in idyllic surroundings.<br />
As competition for places in the top<br />
London day schools is at an all time<br />
high, parents have been looking further<br />
afield for a first-class education at the<br />
top rural independent schools.<br />
Weekly boarders are collected from<br />
Milton Keynes Central train station<br />
on a Sunday evening and returned on a<br />
Friday after school. This set up is perfect<br />
for working families where time is at a<br />
premium. Their daughters get the best<br />
of both worlds - a full and active week of<br />
study and a wide variety of after school<br />
activities ranging from Japanese lessons<br />
to pool parties, and weekends are spent<br />
back at home with their families.<br />
Thornton College is situated within<br />
25 acres of Buckinghamshire parkland,<br />
just outside Milton Keynes. It has Prep,<br />
Senior and Sixth Form departments and<br />
educates just under 400 children aged 2<br />
½ to 18.<br />
The school is well-known for its<br />
exceptional pastoral care, outstanding<br />
academic achievement and high<br />
expectations of all its pupils. Pupils<br />
respect one another, value the<br />
community spirit, have fun learning<br />
and accomplish great things. They are<br />
extremely well educated both inside and<br />
outside of the classroom and grow up<br />
with confidence and a strong sense of<br />
humility.<br />
“Thornton is a dynamic, vibrant<br />
environment where we value academic<br />
success and co-curricular achievement<br />
equally. Students are encouraged to<br />
embrace the unexpected and to become<br />
resilient, self-reliant young people<br />
determined to excel in whatever they<br />
do and destined to make a positive<br />
contribution to the society in which they<br />
live.” Head of Thornton College, Mrs Jo<br />
Storey.<br />
Thornton is a Catholic school,<br />
founded by the Sisters of Jesus and Mary<br />
in 1917, but students of all faiths and of<br />
no faith are welcome.<br />
The school’s next open afternoon<br />
is on Sunday February 7th at 2pm, but<br />
families are welcome to visit on any<br />
normal working day.<br />
To arrange an appointment, please<br />
contact Mrs Claire Ballantyne, Registrar<br />
on 01280 812610.<br />
Photograph © Thornton College<br />
INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC DAY & BOARDING SCHOOL FOR GIRLS<br />
BETWEEN BUCKINGHAM & MILTON KEYNES<br />
Logic wiLL get you from A to B<br />
ImagInatIon wIll take you everywhere<br />
Albert Einstein<br />
OPEN AFTERNOON<br />
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 7TH - 2PM<br />
Considering weekly boarding schools?<br />
The Headmaster of Shiplake College invites you to a presentation about<br />
‘A Boarding Education’, with the opportunity to learn more about boarding<br />
at this popular HMC school near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.<br />
Join us on our open afternoon to find out more about the<br />
wonderful educational experience offered at Thornton.<br />
Welcome by Mrs Storey - Head of Thornton College at 2 pm<br />
Tours of the school commence at 2.30 pm<br />
GSA Girls’ Boarding and Day School 11-18<br />
*Open Morning 6 February 10.00 - 1.00pm*<br />
Weekly boarding bus return from London<br />
01483 810551<br />
priorsfieldschool.com<br />
Registered Charity No. 312038<br />
Thursday 11 February 2016, 6.00pm - 8.00pm<br />
London Rowing Club (Embankment, Putney, London, SW15 1LB)<br />
For Year 7, Year 9 and Year 12 entry in September 2017 and beyond<br />
Shiplake, rated ‘Excellent’ across the board in its 2015 full ISI inspection,<br />
provides flexi, weekly and full boarding for boys aged 11-18 and girls aged<br />
16-18, within an inspirational setting by the River Thames. Weekly bus<br />
route from West London available.<br />
For more details and to book a place, please go to<br />
www.shiplake.org.uk/london<br />
<br />
<br />
ONE OF THE UK’S TOP PERFORMING<br />
NON-SELECTIVE SCHOOLS<br />
LONDON EUSTON TO MILTON KEYNES IN 32 MINUTES<br />
We promise you a warm welcome.<br />
THORNTON COLLEGE, CONVENT OF JESUS & MARY,<br />
THORNTON, NR. BUCKINGHAM, MILTON KEYNES,<br />
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, MK17 0HJ<br />
WWW.THORNTONCOLLEGE.COM
26 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
27<br />
Literature<br />
Poetry<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Blood Meridian<br />
By Max Feldman<br />
Great works of literature frequently<br />
reveal the deepest workings of<br />
human consciousness. Writers<br />
like Dostoyevsky or Austen take us<br />
into the very soul of their characters<br />
and let us perceive their world filtered<br />
through their carefully author-curated<br />
perceptions. Cormac McCarthy however,<br />
doesn’t go in for any of that shit. His<br />
characters are dropped into the narrative<br />
like impassive stone idols, their innerlives<br />
and thoughts locked far away from<br />
the savage world that McCarthy conjures<br />
into being.<br />
Having spent his career up to<br />
Meridian toiling in wilful Southern<br />
Gothic obscurity, in 1985 McCarthy<br />
set his sights on writing a Western. The<br />
Western that emerged had as much<br />
in common with Dante’s Inferno as it<br />
did with True Grit. Based in part on<br />
the memoirs of soldier/bandit Samuel<br />
Chamberlain, the novel concerns itself<br />
broadly with the fortunes of a not<br />
particularly pleasant (on the first page<br />
our initial introduction limits itself to<br />
the fact that “He can neither read nor<br />
write and in him broods already a taste<br />
for mindless violence”) fourteen year<br />
old runaway as he falls in with a gang of<br />
scalp hunters on the Mexican-American<br />
border. However great swathes of the<br />
novel pass without word or thought<br />
from our ostensible lead and instead deal<br />
exclusively in the Miltonic fury of the<br />
narration, wherein the passage of the<br />
scalp hunters through the desert seems<br />
to have been transplanted directly from<br />
the Book of Revelation.<br />
Befitting such a brutal profession, the<br />
novel roils in a red tide of unconstrained<br />
brutality that moves beyond shocking<br />
into almost psychedelic territory.<br />
Violence is not the defining quality of<br />
the novel, violence is the novel. This<br />
can’t be stressed enough; the blood<br />
is not cathartic or even necessarily<br />
representative of greater themes, instead<br />
it is numbing, senseless and brutal, much<br />
like real violence. Rather than a reductive<br />
presentation of any race as particularly<br />
victimised, Blood Meridian draws its<br />
distinctions along more Darwinian lines<br />
between predator or prey instead of black<br />
or white. It’s in this stark and brutal<br />
landscape that McCarthy introduces a<br />
character who is as indelible a literary<br />
figure as Moby Dick’s White Whale;<br />
Judge Holden. The Judge is a leviathan<br />
of a man, entirely hairless and prone to<br />
expounding on bizarre philosophy that<br />
set him apart even in the company of<br />
the murderers he rides with. Presented<br />
as something not quite human and<br />
possibly immortal the Judge preaches<br />
war as the platonic ideal that mankind<br />
should strive for, declaring “war is god”.<br />
Even in landscape as unreal and hellish<br />
as Blood Meridian the Judge stands out<br />
as something unknowably ghastly yet<br />
intensely captivating.<br />
So far, so unrelentingly brutal,<br />
wherein lies the issue of the novel; it’s a<br />
non-stop death march through all the<br />
worst parts of the bible. This can make<br />
it hard to recommend, or indeed, even<br />
enjoy but within the novel lies some of<br />
the most starkly beautiful writing of<br />
the 20th century. For full disclosure I<br />
should admit I am not a particular fan of<br />
McCarthy but with Blood Meridian he<br />
achieves a kind of literary transcendence<br />
that most authors would kill to even<br />
dream of. With the novel he unleashed a<br />
bestial howl that Leonard Pierce called<br />
“the ultimate Western” as in the final<br />
completion of the form.<br />
Quake before its majesty.<br />
Literary criticism<br />
By Max Feldman<br />
“Much literary criticism comes from<br />
people for whom extreme specialization<br />
is a cover for either grave cerebral<br />
inadequacy or terminal laziness, the<br />
latter being a much cherished aspect<br />
of academic freedom.” -John Kenneth<br />
Galbraith<br />
When Freud admitted that<br />
sometimes a cigar can just be a cigar;<br />
rather than a cloaked metaphor for<br />
repressed homosexuality, American<br />
imperialism and the month of January<br />
he was unintentionally slamming a<br />
stake through the heart of traditionalist<br />
literary criticism (which would, with its<br />
dying breath, hiss out something about<br />
how a stake through the heart was not<br />
only a figurative sexual penetration,<br />
but also emblematic of the collective<br />
unconscious response to 9/11). In the<br />
relatively cloistered world of academia,<br />
nothing is allowed to be what it seems.<br />
Novels are interpreted via Marxist/<br />
Feminist/Nilhilst/Classist/Astrologist<br />
filters at the drop of the proverbial hat<br />
and suddenly Harry Potter has always<br />
been a metaphor for gender roles in<br />
times of warfare.<br />
Of course a quick look up the page<br />
at my Blood Meridian retrospective (and<br />
a longer look back to my Literature<br />
degree) will prove that rather than<br />
being immune to these tendencies, I am<br />
instead biting the hand that feeds with<br />
cheerful hypocrisy. Still even someone<br />
as pretentious as myself can occasionally<br />
baulk at the more sesquipedalian<br />
loquaciousness of some of the more<br />
hysterical interpretations (and I’m<br />
pretentious enough to use the phrase<br />
“sesquipedalian loquaciousness”). At<br />
their higher levels the institutions of<br />
higher education can become something<br />
of an echo chamber of the terminally<br />
solipsistic, friends who have reached<br />
PhD level have sometimes complained<br />
to me that their perception has grown<br />
so sharp that they find themselves<br />
using queer theory to analyse take-out<br />
menus when they were just looking<br />
for a large macaroni and cheese. To<br />
(badly) paraphrase Alan Ginsberg: “I<br />
Happiness<br />
New poetry by Jack Underwood<br />
saw the greatest minds in my generation<br />
destroyed by academia”.<br />
There is definitely a happy<br />
medium to be found between blithely<br />
taking art at face value and surrendering<br />
to total academicisation (wherein one’s<br />
opinions and beliefs become opaque<br />
and impenetrable to those who aren’t<br />
equally far along the intellectual garden<br />
path). Whilst such depth of study verges<br />
on necessary for such light reading as<br />
Gravity’s Rainbow or Infinite Jest, when<br />
applied to the wider world of literature<br />
it threatens to reduce a piece of art to<br />
a twitching pile of severed constituent<br />
influences. Criticism can always stand<br />
a critique and it can feel wrong to<br />
surrender too totally to the head for such<br />
a timeless substance as literature; give the<br />
heart something to work with.<br />
Bright and beguiling, daring and funny, an accomplished and memorable debut<br />
from a distinct new voice.<br />
Jack Underwood was born in Norwich in 1984. He graduated from Norwich<br />
School of Art and Design in 2005 before completing an MA and PhD in Creative<br />
Writing at Goldsmiths College, where he now teaches English Literature and<br />
Creative Writing. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 2007 and Faber published<br />
his debut pamphlet in 2009 as part of the Faber New Poet series. He also teaches<br />
at the Poetry School, co-edits the anthology series Stop Sharpening Your Knives, and<br />
reviews for Poetry London and Poetry Review. Happiness was published by Faber in<br />
2015. ISBN-13: 978-0571313617.<br />
Photograph © Faber & Faber<br />
THE ATTACKS ON CHARLIE HEBDO LAST JANUARY and the recent shootings in Paris have brought about a wave of uncertainty as<br />
to what to expect from 2016. These unacceptable attacks on freedom of expression, unfortunately, are not unique to our times. Many writers<br />
have been struck down in their prime as a consequence of extremism. Frederica Garcia Lorca (1898-1936) Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938) and<br />
Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) are just a few who held extremism to account using the pen rather than sword and who tragically paid with their lives. The<br />
fate of these doomed writers is captured here in this month’s poetry page in two poems by Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966). Veronezh is a chilling portrait<br />
of Stalin’s communist Russia and For Osip Mandelstam, a memorial to Akhmatova’s close friend and one of Russia’s most significant poets who did not<br />
survive the Stalinist great purge of 1935 -1940.<br />
In contrast poets have also employed language as a means of exploring the individual and international wounds brought about by war and revenge.<br />
Arguably, some of the greatest lines of modern times that examine these age-old themes can be found in The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney (1939–<br />
2013). Heaney’s own experiences of the political divide in Northern Ireland during the 1980s and the troubles that ensued gave him a unique position<br />
from which to consider the tension between individual needs, a loyalty to a cause and the possibility for growth and transformation.<br />
So with these humble offerings from Akhmatova and Heaney we look forward to 2016 with intelligence and sensitivity and wish you all<br />
a ‘Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année’.<br />
Portrait of Seamus Heaney by Peter Edwards. National Portrait Gallery<br />
The Cure at Troy<br />
(1990)<br />
Seamus Heaney<br />
Human beings suffer,<br />
They torture one another,<br />
They get hurt and get hard.<br />
No poem or play or song<br />
Can fully right a wrong<br />
Inflicted and endured.<br />
The innocent in gaols [jails]<br />
Beat on their bars together.<br />
A hunger-striker’s father<br />
Stands in the graveyard dumb.<br />
The police widow in veils<br />
Faints at the funeral home.<br />
History says, don’t hope<br />
On this side of the grave.<br />
But then, once in a lifetime<br />
The longed-for tidal wave<br />
Of justice can rise up,<br />
And hope and history rhyme.<br />
So hope for a great sea-change<br />
On the far side of revenge.<br />
Believe that a further shore<br />
Is reachable from here.<br />
Believe in miracles<br />
And cures and healing wells.<br />
Call the miracle self-healing:<br />
The utter, self-revealing<br />
Double-take of feeling.<br />
If there’s fire on the mountain<br />
Or lightning and storm<br />
And a god speaks from the sky<br />
That means someone is hearing<br />
The outcry and the birth-cry<br />
Of new life at its term.<br />
Literature & Poetry edited by<br />
Emma Trehane MA Ph.d<br />
Voronezh<br />
For Osip<br />
Mandelstam<br />
Anna Akhmatova<br />
And the town is frozen solid in a vice,<br />
Trees, walls, snow, beneath a glass.<br />
Over crystal, on slippery tracks of ice,<br />
the painted sleighs and I, together, pass.<br />
And over St Peter’s there are poplars, crows<br />
there’s a pale green dome there that glows,<br />
dim in the sun-shrouded dust.<br />
The field of heroes lingers in my thought,<br />
Kulikovo’s barbarian battleground.<br />
The frozen poplars, like glasses for a toast,<br />
clash now, more noisily, overhead.<br />
As though it was our wedding, and the crowd<br />
were drinking to our health and happiness.<br />
But Fear and the Muse take turns to guard<br />
the room where the exiled poet is banished,<br />
and the night, marching at full pace,<br />
of the coming dawn, has no knowledge.<br />
For Osip<br />
Mandelstam<br />
Anna Akhmatova<br />
I bow to them as if over a cup,<br />
Those innumerable precious lines –<br />
This is the black, tender news<br />
Of our youth stained with blood.<br />
The air is the air I breathed<br />
That night above the abyss,<br />
That night of iron emptiness,<br />
When all calls and cries were vain.<br />
How rich the scent of carnations,<br />
That came to me once in dream –<br />
There where Eurydice circles,<br />
The bull bears Europa through the foam.<br />
Here the shades go flowing by,<br />
Over the Neva, the Neva, the Neva,<br />
The Neva that splashes on the stairs –<br />
And here’s your pass to immortality.<br />
Here are the keys to that place,<br />
About which there’s never a word…<br />
Here’s the sound of the mysterious lyre,<br />
Guest in the meadow beyond this world.<br />
Cover extract taken from The Cure at Troy © Estate of Seamus Heaney and reprinted by permission of Faber and Faber Ltd
28 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
29<br />
Young Chelsea<br />
Young Chelsea<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Illustration © Rebecca Eaton<br />
Chelsea Nanny<br />
American Mom is sobbing in<br />
front of the John Lewis advert<br />
again. The Small One has been<br />
on a blue-Smartie level high since<br />
the underwhelming switching on of<br />
the Christmas lights in Duke of York<br />
square back at the start of November.<br />
The festive season lasts a confusingly<br />
long time in Chelsea. The Eldest is<br />
laminating his present list for the seventh<br />
time before sticking it back on the centre<br />
of the fridge door - prime list real estate.<br />
The Middle One is drafting a letter<br />
to Santa Claus on her iPad. When she<br />
asks what his number is so that she can<br />
send it as an iMessage I nearly drop the<br />
crystal angel destined for the top of the<br />
ten foot tree in the hallway.<br />
It’s only four days into the school<br />
holidays and we have already exhausted<br />
all the activity options. American Mom<br />
vetoed Winter Wonderland this year<br />
after the Small One almost slipped<br />
out of one of the rides last year and<br />
the Eldest got into a heated stand<br />
off with an elf called Elderfield. The<br />
Eldest claimed it was because the elf<br />
was grumpy. The Middle One told me<br />
afterwards that the Eldest had tried to<br />
pull Father Christmas’ beard off when he<br />
said he didn’t have any Star Wars robots<br />
left. As neither story could be verified I<br />
ignored both and turned my attention to<br />
making sure the Small One didn't choke<br />
on a candy stick.<br />
There are three whole days still to fill<br />
before the family jet off to Verbier. The<br />
tree is groaning under over-decoration.<br />
The cat has tinsel permanently tied to<br />
its tail. American Mom has been out to<br />
“stock up on Sherry for Santa” at least<br />
twice a day since school broke up. I<br />
have run out of places to hide the gifts.<br />
I pulled a pair of misplaced Chelsea FC<br />
socks intended for the Eldest out of my<br />
handbag in the pub two nights ago and<br />
now my boyfriend thinks I’m cheating<br />
on him.<br />
I have an all-too-brief week of respite<br />
while the Brats are skiing. They arrive<br />
back in Chelsea with goggle tans and,<br />
miraculously, no broken bones. I also<br />
receive a late token of festive cheer from<br />
American Mom, an ugly mohair scarf<br />
that she had received from her cousin.<br />
The tag was still on, wishing her a<br />
‘healthful and spiritual 2016.’ A priceless<br />
sentiment. The scarf, however, did have<br />
a price, a hundred and twenty five quid<br />
on eBay, to be precise. A handsome<br />
contribution to my New Year’s Eve<br />
fund. The other thing I take with me on<br />
my NYE night out is the Small One’s<br />
questionable version of Once in Royal<br />
David’s City, which is stuck in my head.<br />
Even Auld Lang Syne can’t shift it.<br />
New year, same brats.<br />
Young Chelsea is using small things<br />
to build something great this month.<br />
Fergus Coltsmann investigates<br />
how £15 loans can help businesses<br />
throughout the developing world<br />
find their feet with Lendwithcare<br />
and Jade Parker places her order in<br />
a new way of helping the homeless<br />
at Black Sheep Coffee. Meanwhile<br />
Chelsea Nanny’s Brats get to grips<br />
with the spirit of Christmas and Max<br />
Feldman gives a guide to giving up as<br />
his New Year’s resolutions amount<br />
to nothing. Remember, if you want to<br />
write for Young Chelsea, contract us<br />
@KCW<strong>Today</strong> on Twitter or email news@<br />
kcwtoday.co.uk<br />
Lending with<br />
care<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
Despite our well documented<br />
overindulgence in life’s vices, we at Young<br />
Chelsea are a compassionate lot. As that<br />
time of year rolls around, we felt we<br />
should partake in the season of giving<br />
and had a look around to see what we<br />
could find.<br />
Lendwithcare caught our eye as<br />
something a little different. The premise<br />
is pretty simple: someone in a developing<br />
country has an idea for a business. This<br />
entrepreneur approaches a Lendwithcare<br />
partner in their country and asks for a<br />
loan, and if they think it has legs they<br />
upload a profile to Lendwithcare’s<br />
website. People from other, better off<br />
parts of the world can view the profile,<br />
which contains details about the business<br />
plan, how much money is needed, and<br />
what the repayment schedule is. If they<br />
like it, they can put some money forward<br />
to the total loan. When fully funded,<br />
the loan is released to the entrepreneur<br />
and they can develop their business. If<br />
all goes well, the loaner then receive<br />
payments of their money back, and<br />
can either loan it to someone else or<br />
withdraw it.<br />
The amounts of money we’re talking<br />
about aren’t large, a few hundred pounds<br />
to maybe a grand or so for the total<br />
loan, with individuals loaning fifteen or<br />
twenty quid. What might pay for a night<br />
out in London (HA! Maybe the first<br />
round) can make a real difference in, say,<br />
Ecuador.<br />
We decided to pitch in £15 and<br />
lent the money to Javaid Younas from<br />
Lahore, Pakistan. Javaid makes colourful,<br />
decorative wreaths, and has done for two<br />
years. He asked for £176 to bulk buy<br />
materials, increase his product range, and<br />
sell at a higher profit. Along with ten<br />
other people, we funded Javaid, whose<br />
loan was quickly filled. As he builds his<br />
business, we’ll receive our repayments,<br />
and definitely reinvest the money in<br />
another entrepreneur.<br />
Photograph © CARE/Peter Caton<br />
Photograph © Black Sheep Coffee<br />
Hot cup of<br />
goodwill:<br />
Donate a cup of coffee for<br />
London's homeless<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
A<br />
café has set up a kind-hearted<br />
initiative whereby customers<br />
are able to buy a discounted cup<br />
of coffee and donate it to a homeless<br />
person. Black Sheep Coffee, which has<br />
branches in Fitzrovia and Aldgate, has<br />
set up the scheme to help local homeless<br />
people who cannot afford to buy a hot<br />
drink themselves.<br />
The coffee shop allows customers<br />
to kick start their morning with some<br />
caffeinated kindness by operating a<br />
‘pay forward’ system. Using this system,<br />
customers have the option of pre-paying<br />
for a coffee, placing a Post-it note on the<br />
free coffee board that a rough sleeper can<br />
then pick up and exchange for a free cup<br />
of coffee.<br />
Gabriel Shohet, co-founder of Black<br />
Sheep Coffee, believes local homeless<br />
people get a lot more out of the exchange<br />
than just a free coffee. He told Young<br />
Chelsea: “Many homeless people suffer<br />
not just from poverty but also from<br />
severe isolation and social exclusion.<br />
Sometimes, they can spend several days<br />
without exchanging a word or even<br />
making eye contact with another human<br />
being”.<br />
He went further to say: “The act<br />
of walking into a shop, chatting with<br />
a barista who knows you by your first<br />
name, and ordering coffee goes a long<br />
way. For a brief moment you are at<br />
eye level with everyone else in society<br />
because coffee is a simple treat that can<br />
be enjoyed by anyone regardless of class<br />
and social status. We think that our<br />
customers and our staff gain as much<br />
from the exchange as the homeless<br />
people. Sometimes giving something to<br />
someone in need can be as rewarding as<br />
a receiving a free cup of warm coffee on<br />
a cold day”.<br />
Despite its intuitive appeal, Gabriel<br />
told Young Chelsea that the scheme didn’t<br />
start off smoothly: “We were advised not<br />
to go ahead with the scheme. People told<br />
us that it would deter other customers<br />
from coming in because homeless people<br />
would smell bad, be drunk, rude, and<br />
use our toilets to do drugs and clean<br />
themselves up, leaving a mess every<br />
time. Of course none of those things<br />
happened. The homeless are usually a<br />
little embarrassed and extremely polite<br />
and apologetic. They try to come when<br />
the shop isn't too busy and all of our<br />
customers understand what the initiative<br />
is about and are very supportive. It's<br />
brought people together”.<br />
The idea of buying a suspended cup<br />
started off in Naples, and has quickly<br />
spread across the globe. With the<br />
Black Sheep Coffee shop showing how<br />
easy the process is, it is hoped that the<br />
goodwill scheme will take off across<br />
coffee shops around London.<br />
Irresolute<br />
Resolutions<br />
By Max Feldman<br />
New Year’s Resolutions are, in general,<br />
masochistic exercises that mainly serve to<br />
illustrate just how weak one’s willpower<br />
actually is, rather than anything that<br />
might help make great strides towards<br />
self-improvement. Only 8% of people<br />
stick to their principles throughout<br />
the year while the rest fall before the<br />
brutal realities of life without cigarettes<br />
around January 3rd; so presented for<br />
your reading pleasure is a list of the most<br />
common New Year’s resolutions and the<br />
exact moment you’ll break them:<br />
1 Stop (or at least cut down) drinking.<br />
Initially the easiest to make, considering<br />
that the day after New Year’s Eve<br />
tends to be an occasion where the mere<br />
thought of alcohol is enough to cause<br />
fevered shaking. The breakage tends to<br />
occur at the exact moment said hangover<br />
ends.<br />
2 Lose weight. The central problem<br />
here is that in the bleak darkness of<br />
the British mid-winter, food is one of<br />
the few pleasures that one has to stave<br />
off The Shining-style freakouts, and<br />
crowding into a gym in the evening dark<br />
is liable to cause similar psychological<br />
wobbles. Whilst a gym membership may<br />
be purchased, by late February it will be<br />
consigned to gather dust, alongside your<br />
hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow.<br />
3 Find a Significant Other/Break up<br />
with a Significant Other: Realise there<br />
was a definite reason that you were single<br />
in the first place. One way or another by<br />
February 1st any residual self-confidence<br />
will have melted away (unlike the snow).<br />
4 Make amends with those whom<br />
you’ve wronged: The moment you<br />
remember that none of them will answer<br />
your calls.<br />
5 Be a better person: Haha. No. Won’t<br />
even last past the first flowerings of<br />
hangover on New Year’s Day. You know<br />
what you’ve done.<br />
App that allows<br />
Londoners<br />
to become a jack of all trades<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
Learning a new skill in London can be<br />
costly, whether it be musical, linguistic,<br />
or sporty. For most people the allure<br />
of being able to nonchalantly flaunt<br />
an unusual talent is superseded by the<br />
associated costs and hassle of actually<br />
learning it.<br />
The Meetup App has removed both<br />
of these issues, allowing Londoners<br />
to meet groups of people with similar<br />
interests to them at little to no cost.<br />
From groups that provide free fitness<br />
classes to those which help people learn<br />
a new language, there is a Meetup group<br />
for almost everyone.<br />
Haymen Shams is member of one<br />
of London’s biggest Meetup groups,<br />
London’s Arab Circle, and told Young<br />
Chelsea: “The Meetup App has become<br />
so popular because people want to be<br />
connected, and with this app they can<br />
be instantaneously notified about events<br />
relating to what they're interested in.<br />
The Meetup app is simple and easy<br />
to use connecting people through events<br />
and to make new friends. It provides a<br />
safer way of communicating as it does<br />
not show personal details.”
30 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
31<br />
Astronomy Horology online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
08450 944 911<br />
The materials we relate to and find<br />
familiar range from the thinnest<br />
mountain air to the high density<br />
of iron, as in trying to budge the anchor<br />
of your boat or indeed someone else’s<br />
boat. Rarely do we venture outside this<br />
envelope and encounter Earth’s highest<br />
density elements which are twice iron’s<br />
weight. How many of us have ever lifted<br />
a bucket of lead or handled a bar of gold?<br />
The standard for assessing density<br />
is water, the most common compound<br />
in the universe. A cubic meter of water<br />
weighs 1000kgs, and 1 cubic centimetre<br />
weighs 1gram.<br />
Stars like our Sun have the same<br />
overall density as water or perhaps a little<br />
more. However when a star collapses<br />
in its old age, its material, its stuff<br />
increasingly compresses and the result is<br />
a brilliant white sphere of breath-taking<br />
density.<br />
Any star that weighs between 0.5 and<br />
1.4 solar masses i.e. the vast majority<br />
of stars in the universe, ultimately use<br />
up their nuclear fuel and collapse in a<br />
predictable way.<br />
When a sun exhausts its supply of<br />
nuclear fuel and splutters to a stop,<br />
gravity collapses it. The sun stops<br />
imploding because quantum mechanics<br />
says that each sub atomic particle needs<br />
a bit of elbow room. This so called<br />
“electron degeneracy pressure” halts the<br />
shrinkage but not before the star has<br />
become very small and very strange.<br />
This is where we come to the ‘Pup’.<br />
In 1844 German astronomer Friedrich<br />
Bessel had noticed a slight wobble in<br />
the motion of the ‘Dog Star’ Sirius and<br />
concluded that it was being affected by<br />
an unseen companion. Nearly 20years<br />
later the highly respected telescope<br />
maker Alvan Clark, whilst testing his<br />
latest 18.5inch refractor, spotted a faint<br />
8.5 magnitude dot next to the dazzle of<br />
Sirius in the position predicted by Bessel.<br />
It was named Sirius B, but soon became<br />
known as ‘The Pup’ due to its association<br />
with the Dog.<br />
Thanks to their binary system<br />
memberships, scientists have precisely<br />
determined the weights of both Sirius<br />
and the Pup. In fact it is relatively heavy<br />
for a white dwarf at between 98 and<br />
100% of the Sun’s mass condensed into<br />
a sphere almost exactly the same as the<br />
Earth, about 12,070 kilometres, which<br />
is only 640km smaller than our planet.<br />
Packing all that mass into an earth-sized<br />
ball means the matter in Sirius B is some<br />
100,000 times denser than iron. Sirius<br />
B has such fierce gravity that it actually<br />
bends light.<br />
So Sirius B matches our Sun’s weight<br />
and Earth’s size and it’s also the closest<br />
white dwarf to us. Also their angular<br />
2.5 arcseconds separation in 1993<br />
(impossible to see with the naked eye)<br />
is increasing from a roughly Sun-Saturn<br />
separation to a Sun-Neptune separation<br />
of 11 arcseconds in 2022, so good news<br />
for backyard astronomers.<br />
So soon we’ll be able to see it, but<br />
fortunately not eat it, as a teaspoonful<br />
The Pup<br />
A five ton teaspoonful!<br />
By Scott Beadle FRAS<br />
would bore a hole straight through your<br />
nether regions.<br />
And the next stages in the evolution<br />
of dying stars are the fate of larger<br />
stars than our Sun. They collapse to<br />
16km spheres or less and a not-to-betried<br />
teaspoonful would weigh in at a<br />
staggering 10 billion tons. Not only<br />
The Sun Now<br />
will this come flying out your nether<br />
regions with a vengeance but also won’t<br />
stop until it is at rest in the centre of the<br />
Earth’s core (this is only a fun thought<br />
experiment, don’t take it too seriously)!!<br />
Our own Sun will finally end its life<br />
as a white dwarf in about 5/6 billion<br />
years in the future.<br />
The Sun as a white dwarf<br />
(6 billion years from now)<br />
Sirius A (Top picture, optical image) is the brightest<br />
star in the sky. Sirius B is ten thousand times<br />
dimmer but in the Chandra X-ray image (Bottom<br />
left) the 'Pup' appears brighter than the Dog Star.<br />
The diagram shows the ultimate fate of our own sun<br />
far in the future when its mass is condensed into an<br />
earth sized object called a white dwarf like Sirius B.<br />
Photographs ©NASA<br />
Fool’s Gold<br />
By Jonathan Macnabb<br />
The name Pinchbeck is well<br />
known amongst dealers and<br />
collectors of jewellery as a term to<br />
describe items made from a golden metal<br />
composition. This was a closely guarded<br />
secret which fulfilled the Alchemists’<br />
dream of creating pure gold. It was an<br />
alloy of three parts zinc to four parts<br />
copper and became a term to describe<br />
cheaper imitation jewellery.<br />
This alloy owes its invention to a<br />
pioneering clockmaker and engineer<br />
called Christopher Pinchbeck who was<br />
born in 1670 and by 1716 was living in<br />
Clerkenwell at 33 St John’s Lane.<br />
Unlike his three sons, Christopher<br />
senior may have had some schooling<br />
on the continent where the fashion<br />
for musical automata was developing.<br />
There exists in an American collection<br />
a triumph of automata in a clock which<br />
combines a mechanical organ playing<br />
opera and jigs with the extra provision of<br />
a small flock of singing birds.<br />
After a move to Fleet street in<br />
1721, at The Sign of the Astronomico<br />
Clock that was the centre of high-end<br />
retail for horological items, his eldest<br />
son Christopher junior was successful<br />
enough to be noticed by the King,<br />
and there exists in the Music Room<br />
in Buckingham Palace a magnificent<br />
Astronomical clock in a 4-sided case<br />
designed by Sir Richard Chambers<br />
which is kept in working order.<br />
Remaining a family secret until the<br />
end of the century, “Similar in Colour,<br />
Smell and Ductability to Pure Gold”, the<br />
alloy was useful for making inexpensive<br />
watch-cases as it was easy to engrave<br />
and was able to take fire-gilding. It was<br />
also successful in providing imitations<br />
of expensive pieces which could be worn<br />
in stagecoaches or parts of town where<br />
robbery was possible or likely.<br />
Young Christopher’s talents were<br />
notable as an inventor. Promoting<br />
himself as a “Toymaker and Automata<br />
Maker” he designed a curious device, a<br />
type of programmable self-extinguishing<br />
candle stick called the “Nocturnal<br />
Rememberancer”, but more popular<br />
was a type of safety brake which could<br />
be applied to an industrial crane for<br />
which he was recognised with a Gold<br />
Medal. He was President of the Society<br />
of Engineers and a member of the<br />
Committee of Mechanics. The mainstay<br />
of the business was the production<br />
of Longcase clocks with musical<br />
and astronomical complications and<br />
pocket watches with ‘Improvements<br />
to the Timekeeping’. This refers to<br />
the development of temperature<br />
compensation which was at the<br />
pioneering stage of using a bi-metallic<br />
strip to act upon the balance spring. He<br />
was made an Honorary Freeman of the<br />
Worshipful Company of Clockmakers.<br />
The success of the alloy in its manufacture of costume<br />
pieces led to pieces being deliberately passed off as the<br />
real thing. Whilst this had never been the case within the<br />
family, it led to the coining of the name to denote an item of<br />
indefinite worth<br />
The final address of the business was in Cockspur<br />
Street after which the family pursued different careers. The<br />
complication of the clocks was such that the more rarefied<br />
ones seem to have been lost due to difficulties in maintenance<br />
however examples of the more standard 18th century styles<br />
of clock can still be found.<br />
Christopher senior is remembered by a plaque at 33 St<br />
John’s Lane, Clerkenwell, London, bearing his dates.<br />
Jonathan Macnabb has been restoring clocks for over 30<br />
years<br />
J. Macnabb Clock Repairs<br />
T: 020 8296 0106<br />
Photograph © Chronokeep
32 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
33<br />
Gentlemen’s Fashion<br />
Lifestyle<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
White tie<br />
and flying<br />
escutcheons<br />
By John Springs<br />
Dandy<br />
About<br />
Town<br />
There was that discernible, rasping<br />
dry cackle from the Sartorial<br />
Gods, otherwise known as the<br />
popular press, when Opposition Leader<br />
Jeremy Corbyn generously presented<br />
himself at a gala dinner for the Chinese<br />
President all togged out in white tie.<br />
Under this gaze he self consciously<br />
succumbed to the heat of the crimson<br />
razor of humiliation. A not-quitestiff<br />
enough and undulating fronted<br />
dickey shirt, tail coat, bat wing tie do<br />
not indulge a socialist’s credentials to<br />
the proper extent. But JC was by then<br />
deep in a hole of compromise which<br />
naturally resulted in him losing on both<br />
sides. It’s black or white, you can’t have<br />
it both ways. No wonder he looked as<br />
though he just emerged from being<br />
jostled by Scottish football supporters<br />
on a crowded Piccadilly Line, his rubber<br />
soled, traffic warden’s boots propelling<br />
him up the escalator. A dead giveaway<br />
is when the wearer absentmindedly sits<br />
on his tails rather than gives them a<br />
quick wafting flick before he goes down;<br />
you used to be given this piece of useful<br />
instruction by the man who rents them<br />
out; creased tails are right out. It’s called<br />
a ‘dickey’ from the Cockney rhyming<br />
slang, ‘Dickey Dirt: shirt’ and it’s where<br />
your ‘dickey bow’ tie gets its title. Had I<br />
been consulted by Labour HQ , I would<br />
have suggested a tail dress suit with<br />
cuffs, collar, and shirtfront made from<br />
bio-degradable recyclable paper, widely<br />
used by scriveners and office lackeys of<br />
the 19th century. It’s no coincidence that<br />
the demise of formal white tie and the<br />
increase in alarming levels of climate<br />
change occur at almost exactly the same<br />
date. In 1849, Richard Mullins Moody,<br />
tie manufacturer, began a range of cutprice<br />
collars, shirts etc. made from paper.<br />
The Beardsley-esque clerk in Alphonse<br />
Daudet’s pot boiler The Nabob spends<br />
his evenings carefully cutting out his<br />
cuffs and collars from paper to look “the<br />
business”. Sometimes a Dandy has to cut<br />
corners and the challenge can be half the<br />
fun of it; it’s not all about throwing large<br />
wads around Savile Row. The admired<br />
aesthete Cecil Beaton bought his suits<br />
from Hong Kong or Gillingham in<br />
Dorset, his shirts well worn and frayed<br />
still cut a dash; “It’s all how you wear it!”.<br />
White tie with cutaway tailcoat,<br />
fine linen starched shirtfront stiff as a<br />
cuirass with ivory waistcoat has a direct<br />
genetic link from the sober Regency<br />
rebellion that rose against all that<br />
powdery silk puffery and ruffles that<br />
preceded it. Nowadays I’m witness to<br />
so many parallels in and around some<br />
areas of London to the days of the early<br />
1930s and the Great Depression, the<br />
polarisation between wealthy ostentation<br />
and the very poor. What fascinates is the<br />
renewed interest, mostly by a younger<br />
generation, in white tie with these dressy<br />
affairs happening in private houses. No<br />
telly period drama is complete without<br />
some toff discharging blood all over<br />
his pristine shirt front, it’s a satisfying<br />
juxtaposition for a non-too subtle drama<br />
but it probably awakens an awareness<br />
that something of value that once held<br />
sway has been lost.<br />
Retailers are selling and stocking far<br />
more in the way of grand formal evening<br />
wear these days than ever, which means<br />
somebody must be throwing grand<br />
parties and others are dressing up to go<br />
to them.<br />
The tailcoats of the twenties were<br />
heavy affairs, all 20 ounce wool, and<br />
must have been stiflingly hot; the<br />
backless waistcoat was an attempt at<br />
some sort of cooling system, but what<br />
an embellishment! The whole thing<br />
smacked of flying escutcheons and the<br />
webbed toes of highborn inbreeding at<br />
play. By the thirties advances in cloth<br />
manufacturing enabled evening wear to<br />
be practically mass produced. The Prince<br />
of Wales became the executant of the<br />
trend of wearing his tails and trousers<br />
in a Midnight Blue colour instead<br />
of the accepted black. In the chrome<br />
and mirror-balled nightclubs the blue<br />
glowered an eye-catching ‘blacker than<br />
black’.<br />
As ever, Hollywood imparted a big<br />
influence on style at the time. The great<br />
hoofer Fred Astaire frequented much<br />
of Savile Row and Jermyn Street while<br />
living and performing in London in the<br />
1920s and continued to have his suits<br />
made at Anderson and Shepherd for<br />
many years. His tail coat and trousers<br />
were specially cut to allow more freedom<br />
for his thrashing limbs during dance<br />
routines; the armscye where the sleeve<br />
meets the body was made larger, more<br />
free, the trousers cut looser but not<br />
noticeably. The whole ensemble was just<br />
less than a half size too large, which he<br />
preferred. He was at his most elegant<br />
best in the 1936 movie production<br />
Swing Time, alas not shown on telly<br />
much these days probably due to one<br />
unfortunate dance sequence where Fred<br />
performs his routine in black face. Still,<br />
one affectation that he continued all his<br />
life that he picked up while living in<br />
England was using a wool tie as a belt.<br />
By the late 1930s the Golden Age of<br />
White Tie was a dwindling light and a<br />
group of young very wealthy men from<br />
a small hamlet in Upstate New York<br />
wanted a less formal evening wear that<br />
was more practical when they came into<br />
Grand Central Station for an evening<br />
of delights and to chase the ladies. The<br />
town, of course, was Tuxedo Park; black<br />
tie, dress shirt and short tail-less coat,<br />
double or singled breasted, the lapels<br />
peaked or shawled in silk satin. After a<br />
game of racquets at the club, nip into<br />
black tie, a cocktail or three, then off<br />
with no need for a manservant to help<br />
pin and plug you together.<br />
The British crooner Jack Buchanan<br />
claimed to have introduced the doublebreasted<br />
dinner jacket to the UK<br />
shortly afterwards. But don’t forget<br />
the cummerbund, a silk sash wound<br />
around the waist in place of a waistcoat,<br />
and covering up the dreaded top of<br />
the trousers demarcation. These came<br />
about from military dress gear and,<br />
as the name suggests, were sported<br />
around the officers mess in Asia and<br />
the sultry far East. Sir Thomas Picton<br />
became renowned as the highest ranking<br />
officer to fall at Waterloo, cummerbund<br />
resplendent. You can see him wearing<br />
it in his portrait by Thomas Lawrence.<br />
The pleats were useful to store coins in<br />
to hand out for tips. Picton was famously<br />
shot dead through his top hat by cannon<br />
fire on the charge, although rumours<br />
suggest that being such an unpleasant<br />
and sadistic man, hated by most, it was<br />
an opportunity to be dispatched by one<br />
of his own cavalrymen.<br />
In the late 1930s the white mess<br />
jacket, more or less a tailcoat docked of<br />
its tails and popular with British Naval<br />
officers briefly became the evening<br />
wear of the American yacht owning<br />
playboys and the Hollywood set. In light<br />
gabardine or duck, it had its limitations;<br />
the high cut and exposure at the rear<br />
failed to flatter the fuller figure, however,<br />
the drape of tails covered a multitude of<br />
indulgence.<br />
So now, with party season in full flow,<br />
is the time to invest, in this case longterm,<br />
in a set of tails and an array of silk<br />
ties, black and white. But I guarantee<br />
it will be worthwhile. The Men’s Dress<br />
Reform Party (1929-1937), called<br />
out for the abolition of tight, starched<br />
restricting clothing which lacerated the<br />
jugular rendering the wearer dazed and<br />
half-cocked. Celluloid collars were the<br />
equivalent of a magnesium chassis on a<br />
racing car; a tremendous fire risk true,<br />
but elegance comes at a price.<br />
And if you’re searching for a truly<br />
unique gift idea, look no further than<br />
than the Golden Closet website (www.<br />
thegoldencloset.com). A superb (used)<br />
vintage Sulka butterfly black silk bow tie<br />
as worn on stage by one Frank Sinatra. A<br />
mere $1,250.00.<br />
Illustration © John Springs<br />
A lot of Beauty<br />
Creams do not do<br />
what they say on<br />
the tin<br />
By Eva Lewis<br />
A<br />
report, called<br />
Deception in Cosmetics<br />
Advertising, has analysed<br />
cosmetics advertising claims and<br />
found the majority of them to be<br />
either false or unsubstantiated.<br />
Many consumers are completely<br />
unaware the extent to which they<br />
are being deceived.<br />
The report examined advertising claims<br />
made in fashion magazine advertising.<br />
They studied up to 300 full page adverts<br />
in publications such as Vogue and<br />
Glamour, looking at make-up, skincare,<br />
body products and others.<br />
Research judges sorted the claims<br />
into the following categories; ‘outright<br />
lie’, ‘omission’, ‘vague’ and ‘acceptable’.<br />
Whilst an outright lie had no shred of<br />
truth whatsoever, an omission meant<br />
the claim fails to include important<br />
History’s weirdest<br />
diets<br />
By Jade Parker<br />
Weight loss has become a massive<br />
global industry, with its value expected<br />
to reach £220 billion by 2017. But it<br />
seems the fad of losing weight isn’t a new<br />
craze, looking back into history many<br />
horrifying regimes were followed in the<br />
quest to lose those extra pounds.<br />
Lord Byron’s vinegar diet:<br />
During the 1820s famed poet Lord<br />
Byron adopted a very odd diet to keep<br />
his figure trim, drinking vinegar daily<br />
and soaking anything else he ate in the<br />
stuff. His fame and influence permeated<br />
young society, kick starting the cultural<br />
obsession with dieting.<br />
Cigarette diet: <strong>Today</strong>, we all have it<br />
drummed into our heads that cigarettes<br />
are bad so it may come as a surprise, that<br />
in the first half of the 20th Century, it<br />
was normal for cigarette manufacturers<br />
to advertise them as a weight loss aid.<br />
“Light a Lucky and you’ll never miss<br />
sweets that make you fat”, proclaimed<br />
one advert in 1929.<br />
Tapeworm diet: Not for the<br />
faint-hearted, the craze of swallowing<br />
tapeworm cysts became popular in the<br />
1950s. However, with parasites growing<br />
information needed to evaluate its<br />
truthfulness. Vague meant containing a<br />
phrase too broad to have a clear meaning.<br />
A shocking 621 of the 757 claims were<br />
deemed to be either a lie, omission or<br />
vague and only 136 were acceptable<br />
to the judges. Repetitive claims that<br />
were highlighted by the judges as being<br />
deceptive were: ‘dermatologically tested’,<br />
‘natural’, ‘beautifies’ and ‘soothes the<br />
senses’.<br />
Concern was given to cosmeceutical<br />
products that say they have aesthetic<br />
and medicinal properties. Even if<br />
consumers look carefully at their<br />
purchases the claims that are made often<br />
go unregulated and there are a lot of grey<br />
areas.<br />
Claims like ‘backed by science’ and<br />
‘clinically proven’ are now debateable.<br />
The authors of the report said, “There is<br />
usually no substantiation of these claims,<br />
and those who back the claims with<br />
scientific evidence and consumer testing<br />
often use questionable methodologies for<br />
their substantiation.”<br />
The research concludes that it is<br />
in the advertiser’s best interest to give<br />
consumers clarity and evidence to<br />
support a product’s claims. When it<br />
comes to scientific claims “the concrete<br />
evidence of ingredients, the scientific<br />
research processes used and lab<br />
results should be provided in laymen’s<br />
terminology”, advised the authors.<br />
Aesthetic Medicine is keeping a keen eye<br />
on the progress. www.aestheticmed.co.uk<br />
up to 9 metres in length it was a perilous<br />
weight loss strategy.<br />
Sleeping beauty diet: Rumoured<br />
to be favoured by Elvis Presley,<br />
the sleeping beauty diet picked up<br />
momentum in the 1970s. Instead of<br />
eating sensibly or exercising, followers<br />
of the regime were sedated for days at a<br />
time. After all you can’t eat cake when<br />
you’re asleep.<br />
Hallelujah diet: If you want to<br />
lose weight in a holy way the Hallelujah<br />
diet could be the one. Formulated in<br />
the 1990s the diet is based on only<br />
consuming what Adam and Eve ate in<br />
the Garden of Eden. The view on eating<br />
apples is still undecided.<br />
Male Grooming is Becoming Big<br />
Business<br />
These days, so many men are spending<br />
money looking after themselves, the<br />
male grooming market in the UK has<br />
been valued at well over £1.5bn. Salons<br />
and spas are feeling the urge to change<br />
their ways and start to market for men<br />
by using the kind of language and<br />
branding that would attract them. A<br />
few salons have been ahead of the game<br />
and stocking products for men for years.<br />
My salons have always welcomed men.<br />
However, I know that while men do<br />
visit salons nationwide and enjoy the<br />
experience, often they can be put off by<br />
the environment and jargon, which is<br />
still very female-orientated.<br />
Salon and spa owners are now asking<br />
vital questions about how to get into the<br />
mind of the male. In my experience, men<br />
do not want to waste their time and they<br />
don’t need fanciness. They want products<br />
and treatments which do what they say<br />
on the tin. New slogans are coming out<br />
like ‘recharge in 60 minutes’ and research<br />
reports that men respond better to words<br />
like ‘formula’ and ‘complex’<br />
Most treatment brochures prove<br />
indecipherable to the male population,<br />
with unfamiliar terms that are likely<br />
to have him running out of the door.<br />
The new buzzwords for the grooming<br />
industry are ‘comfort’ and ‘satisfaction’,<br />
rather than ‘pampering’ or ‘luxury’.<br />
Salons and spas employing this kind<br />
Taking beauty to<br />
the wild side<br />
By May Bulman<br />
Bull semen, sheep placenta, bird<br />
excrement… It may sound like a list of<br />
minerals in a biology lab, but this could<br />
be your next beauty treatment wish list.<br />
Yes, it’s a new year and time to<br />
take a more daring approach to beauty.<br />
Celebrities have started smearing<br />
excrement on their faces, and it’s time for<br />
us to follow suite. Here are three animalsourced<br />
beauty must-haves for 2016.<br />
First up, a favorite of Victoria<br />
Beckham, sheep placenta is the<br />
new product for de-aging skin and<br />
rejuvenating it to a more youthful<br />
appearance.<br />
Countless reviews tell that the<br />
treatment provides excellent results, and<br />
with it all ethically harvested from sheep<br />
post birth, you can admire your sheepsoft<br />
skin rest; assured that no harm is<br />
caused to the animals.<br />
Next is another celeb favorite, but<br />
this time in the form of nightingale<br />
‘droppings’, or more plainly put, bird<br />
crap.<br />
Tom Cruise is a keen advocate for<br />
having bird excrement pasted on his<br />
face, so why aren’t you? Also known as<br />
of language have found the financial<br />
benefits as men are encouraged to spend<br />
their money.<br />
Salon staff should be encouraged not<br />
to let men feel embarrassed by keeping<br />
them waiting and hanging around<br />
aimlessly at reception. A lot of men do<br />
not like to sit in the windows. Decor can<br />
also be a significant factor in drawing in<br />
customers with more male-friendly plain<br />
colours. Strong colours and simple words<br />
with force make a big difference. Look<br />
to television to see how advertising is<br />
targeting men.<br />
Men, like everyone else, do like to<br />
feel and look good about themselves.<br />
Unfortunately, up until now, many salons<br />
have been considered a no-go area.<br />
But the times – they are a changing!<br />
Eva Lewis<br />
www.monochromeskincare.com<br />
a ‘geisha facial’, it has apparently been<br />
used as a cleanser for centuries, so get<br />
with the program and get bird poop on<br />
your cheeks.<br />
Finally, a local delicacy imported to<br />
Knightsbridge from the rural lands of<br />
somewhere like Gloucestershire, bull<br />
semen conditioner could be your answer<br />
to achieving soft locks.<br />
Used in the ‘deluxe blow dry’ at<br />
Hari’s hairdresser, it turns out the<br />
reproductive fluid of a bull is a real<br />
hair-softener. And there are no fears of<br />
it running out, with owner Hari Salem<br />
assuring us that “it will be an ongoing<br />
treatment as long as the bulls perform”.<br />
There we have it: three ways to<br />
enhance your image in the new year<br />
with entirely naturally-sourced beauty<br />
products. Go wild.
34 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
35<br />
Dining Out<br />
Dining Out<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Bank<br />
Westminster<br />
45 Buckingham Gate,<br />
London SW1E 6BS<br />
020 7630 6644<br />
By David Hughes<br />
Hello! - this isn’t some plea for<br />
you to change the location<br />
of your personal finances,<br />
it’s the Bank group’s restaurant at 45<br />
Buckingham Gate. I did ask if there had<br />
ever been a bank on this site though, and<br />
the answer was a firm “no”<br />
Coming in from the street, you enter<br />
a corridor with a glass wall that reveals<br />
the Zander bar, which we didn’t visit on<br />
this occasion. It’s a bit like a hotel transit<br />
area, but once out of the corridor, things<br />
open out onto a spacious semicircle<br />
of a restaurant with a lovely outdoor<br />
courtyard and fountain. This outdoor<br />
area would obviously be the prime spot<br />
to go for in the summer, but in the cool<br />
of November…well, we chickened out.<br />
We did get a good table by the<br />
glass wall that separates the two spaces<br />
though, and some very attentive<br />
service. Before I launch into what we<br />
had, let me put in a big hand for our<br />
Italian manager and his largely eastern<br />
European team. Any reputation that the<br />
Balkans, Czechoslovakia, and some of<br />
the ex-USSR states have for dourness<br />
was totally dispelled.<br />
I started with the Scallop Thermidor,<br />
which employed a little bit of license in<br />
the definition, being served on the half<br />
shell with a little spinach and lemon.<br />
Did I care? No, they were perfectly<br />
cooked, well coloured in the pan, and<br />
four scallops in three shells made for a<br />
good plate. Madame went for the King<br />
Prawn Tempura with chilli and lime jam,<br />
and we happily traded a taster of each.<br />
Keeping the sharing thing going, we<br />
went on to the charcoal grilled Steak<br />
& Lobster for two at £27.50 ph, with<br />
some House Slaw and Creamed Spinach<br />
as sides to go with the hand cut chips.<br />
The rump steak is advertised as being 28<br />
day aged, and had a rich, hearty flavour<br />
that meant I had to be scrupulous in my<br />
divvying up, or there would have been<br />
serious complaints! The price of lobster<br />
at market these days means that you are<br />
only going to get one around 900-1200g<br />
to share, but small can be beautiful, and<br />
it was. The 2009 Rioja Reserva kept<br />
things flowing nicely, and earned an<br />
approving eye from our stylish manager.<br />
Desserts were a happy blur, and<br />
along with coffee and Madame’s grappa,<br />
rounded off a delightfully relaxed<br />
evening. Well done the restaurant team.<br />
It’s at this point I have an unusual<br />
footnote to add: the gents is a Piet<br />
Mondrian-like selection of blocky, bold<br />
colours, which is just fine; but the place<br />
where one goes for a pee is like a 10 ft<br />
long mirror, which makes for a line of<br />
chaps desperate not to catch anyone’s eye<br />
(or worse), all whistling aimlessly. Which<br />
bonkers architect thought this one up?<br />
Bank Westminster reservations on<br />
020 7630 6644<br />
Brasserie Joel,<br />
Park Plaza Hotel, Westminster<br />
Bridge Rd, SE1<br />
By David Hughes<br />
Even the most ardent North London<br />
cabbie could not complain about going<br />
“Souf of the water” to get to Brasserie<br />
Joel, situated on the roundabout on the<br />
south side of Westminster Bridge. This<br />
was once the Island Block, the annex<br />
to County Hall, and seat of the Greater<br />
London Council. Mercifully, it’s hard to<br />
see its dreary open plan, hessian divided<br />
history now.<br />
There’s good and bad about having<br />
your restaurant located within a big hotel<br />
chain. On the plus side, there’s usually a<br />
constant supply of guests who can afford<br />
to eat with you, and plenty of symbiotic<br />
marketing; on the bad side, you have<br />
usually to toe the hotel line on style and<br />
suppliers. Park Plaza must have felt they<br />
had done all the hard work luring people<br />
onto the premises, because the budget<br />
for the room needs a tweak.<br />
Getting to a venue early is never good<br />
for atmosphere, so forgive me for being<br />
a little picky, but one little succulent in<br />
a tiny pot by way of table flowers for a<br />
restaurant of this calibre? Plain tables,<br />
no linen or charger plates, and so many<br />
dark colours make this a tough canvas<br />
for executive head chef Walter Ishizuka<br />
to paint beautifully.<br />
There’s no coat check, and we pick a<br />
table near the middle of the room. The<br />
service is relaxed, but we are soon sorted<br />
out with water and good breads, and<br />
choose the recommended Tuna Tartare<br />
and the octopus. First up, an amuse<br />
bouche of scallop, chorizo, Pak Choi,<br />
and Lobster Bisque. It’s at this point<br />
the whole experience improves radically.<br />
It’s a salty mix, but with real substance<br />
and punchy flavours that speaks of good<br />
things to come.<br />
And so it was. The tuna with<br />
Japanese dressing and red amaranth is<br />
absolutely delicious, the sweet, fruity<br />
vinegar chasing the flavour of the tuna<br />
and avocado round in your mouth in the<br />
most entrancing way. The octopus dish,<br />
with its gelatinous flesh being offset by<br />
the piquancy of balsamic seems merely<br />
competent rather than show-stopping,<br />
but I enjoyed it all.<br />
On to the mains, a Truffle Salsa<br />
Tagliatelle with Lotus Root crisps, cubes<br />
of squash, and a scattering of Datterini<br />
tomatoes for Madame; and the Roasted<br />
Wood Pigeon with spiced butternut<br />
squash puree and toasted hazelnuts for<br />
me. There’s a brief entry in my notes<br />
THE RESTAURANT &<br />
WHISKY LOUNGE BAR<br />
European, Middle Eastern and Chinese Cuisine<br />
Open from 7pm until 2:30am<br />
Enjoy a complimentary glass<br />
of Champagne when dining<br />
at The Restaurant.<br />
Quote KCWDec.<br />
A Christmas Carol<br />
11TH December 2015<br />
Join us at Maxims, the residence frequented<br />
by Charles Dickens himself, for Festive Cheer,<br />
Victorian Cocktails, and Christmas Carols!<br />
Maxims Casino Club<br />
Palace Gate House, London W8 5LS<br />
Tel: 020 7581 0337<br />
Non Members Welcome<br />
New Year’s Eve Party<br />
31ST December 2015<br />
Tonight, celebrate the New Year in style. Enjoy<br />
live music from the fabulous Belle Erskine Trio,<br />
Champagne and Canapés from 8pm.<br />
For event reservations or further information contact Oriane at<br />
Oriane.Teysseire@gentingcasinos.co.uk<br />
here, a pause to<br />
approve of the Cote<br />
du Rhone Ogier`s<br />
suitability, a “pigeon<br />
is perfect” and<br />
“Mmmm!” for the<br />
Tagliatelle. I think I<br />
even started to forgive<br />
the aural wallpaper<br />
that passes for music<br />
at this point.<br />
A new waitress<br />
comes over to<br />
offer desserts, and<br />
I, at least, think<br />
there’s space. It’s a<br />
funny thing how<br />
‘deconstructed’ has<br />
come to be accepted.<br />
Do we really think<br />
someone has built<br />
something, then<br />
decided “hey, let’s<br />
un-build it!“ has a<br />
marketing edge? For<br />
£8.50 you can get<br />
a Tart Tatin in kit<br />
form, which won’t<br />
please the purists, but<br />
did please me.<br />
Food of this quality is not cheap, but<br />
its ability to transcend its setting speaks<br />
volumes.<br />
Books via Book A Table<br />
or 020 7620 7272<br />
Photographs © Brasserie Joel<br />
Kurobuta at<br />
Harvey Nichols<br />
By Caroline Daggett & Kiwi<br />
Harvey Nichols has made a canny<br />
‘food-heaven’ move by inviting<br />
Scott Hallsworth, owner of<br />
Kurobuta (Kings Rd and Marble Arch),<br />
to take over the former Fifth Floor<br />
restaurant space. The ex-Nobu, rock ‘n<br />
roll man has transformed it.<br />
Kurobuta (‘Black Pig’) is an<br />
atmospheric, great fun and informal<br />
Japanese Izakaya; a drinking<br />
establishment serving, in this case,<br />
knock-your-socks-off (Anata-nokutsushita-o-nokku!)<br />
cocktails, Sake<br />
(a must), wine and Kirin Japanese<br />
lager, topped with frozen foam no less,<br />
alongside sublime, unforgettable new<br />
creations of flavoursome succulent<br />
delights borne from brilliantly<br />
synthesized ‘two continent’ ingredients.<br />
The result is distinct, delicious,<br />
memorable ‘tapas’.<br />
Any dark jaded thoughts about yet<br />
another ‘fusion’ food establishment, too<br />
many Sokkusujusu, or jus de chaussette<br />
(sock juice) sushi experiences, were<br />
dispelled by the passionate and<br />
knowledgeable restaurant manager,<br />
Sam Moore. Kiwi, my guest, and I<br />
A legend at<br />
lunchtime<br />
By Tim Epps<br />
Throw away that sandwich curling<br />
like a rubber sole. Jettison that<br />
pot of soup. Eject that bag<br />
of salad. Chuck out the crackers and<br />
Philadelphia. Save the apples until later.<br />
Forget crisps and peanuts. Instil some joy<br />
into your lunchtime break.<br />
The alternative is at hand; healthy,<br />
delicious and fizzing with flavour and<br />
freshness. Forget other Asian food<br />
experiences. This is different and<br />
delightful.<br />
Vietnamese food is here on<br />
Kensington Church Street. Your lunch<br />
questions are answered by the freshly<br />
prepared, healthy and tasty lunch menu<br />
that delivers flavourful and beautifully<br />
presented food.<br />
KCW <strong>Today</strong> went prepared with<br />
recommendations from Vietnamese food<br />
aficionados. Although we went in the<br />
evening, the Summer rolls and Pho soup<br />
were on both menus, so we got to taste<br />
the signature dishes.<br />
Lucky for us, we tasted the evening<br />
menu, too. Van, the proprietor, scurried<br />
around greeting regulars and locals, new<br />
arrivals and making sure all was going<br />
immediately threw caution, waistlines<br />
and any misgivings to the wind as Chef<br />
produced one blissful dish after another,<br />
each bearing an outstanding balance of<br />
flavours and textures with consistent<br />
success. Each further enhanced by a<br />
superb repertoire of hand-selected Sake,<br />
an often misunderstood, ancient drink<br />
that is produced ‘like a beer but tastes<br />
like wine’. Kurobuta prides itself on<br />
sourcing hand-selected Sakes from small,<br />
family run breweries.<br />
Our Hoshi (star) dishes: Crunchy<br />
Kale Salad; Tuna Sashimi Pizza; BBQ<br />
Pork Belly Buns (made from rare breed<br />
black pig, hence name); Wagyu Beef<br />
Sliders; King Crab Tempura; Nasu<br />
Dengkaku (sticky grilled aubergine with<br />
candied walnuts; it works!); the most<br />
luscious Kombu roast Chilean Seabass.<br />
smoothly.<br />
He served a<br />
Vietnamese<br />
beer (as I<br />
am a beer<br />
drinker, I<br />
needed to<br />
check; a<br />
choice of<br />
two, and<br />
excellent!)<br />
and a<br />
Chardonnay<br />
at £22. He even made time to guide us<br />
through the menu. Duck curry provided<br />
a spicy rich taste with a fresh, sharp<br />
contrast of papaya salad with mint and<br />
coriander. Madame K ordered the beef<br />
stew hotpot. A warming brew, (cold<br />
night) served in a clay pot. A shared food<br />
experience; (naturally we tasted each<br />
other’s).<br />
We rounded off the evening with a<br />
powerfully aromatic Vietnamese coffee<br />
from Trung Nguyen.<br />
We happily emerged into a cold<br />
Kensington night thinking we’d had a<br />
unique food experience, and talked it<br />
about for some days afterwards.<br />
Change your lunch (or evening) food<br />
experience. Go East. Go Vietnam.<br />
Tem Tep, 135 Kensington Church<br />
Street, London, W8 7LP<br />
For reservations & takeaways:<br />
020 7792 7816 lunch menu available<br />
from 11.30 to 15.00 only.<br />
Puddings: Honey & Pistachio and<br />
Lavender Apple Pie.<br />
Cocktails: Sake Caipirinha and The<br />
Green Bastard.<br />
Sakes: Autumn Leaves; Misty<br />
Mountain and Gozenshu Plum.<br />
Pearl, their sparkling sake is popular;<br />
but try all 13 of them! The food was<br />
some of the best we have had.<br />
Also of note was the relaxed seating<br />
choice out of 90+ covers, from tables<br />
for two, the booths (6-8 people), to<br />
the central High Tops communal table<br />
seating 16, which we loved and where I<br />
would head if doing a quick stop on my<br />
own without feeling awkward. There is<br />
also a private dining room for 10.<br />
Typically, 3 dishes per person; dinner<br />
& drinks cost around £40/45 for lunch<br />
and £50/55 for dinner. Open from 12<br />
noon to 10.30 p.m. and perfect for all<br />
ages!<br />
Kurobuta, Fifth Floor, 109-125<br />
Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RJ<br />
T. 020 7920 6444<br />
kurobuta-london.com<br />
NEW VIETNAMESE<br />
LUNCH MENU<br />
THE EXCITING WAY<br />
TO LUNCH!<br />
135 Kensington Church Street, London,<br />
W8 7LP for reservations & takeaways: 020<br />
7792 7816 Available from 11.30 to 15.00<br />
only<br />
LUNCH MENU<br />
1) Tofu Summer Rolls with Mango Salad -<br />
£9.50<br />
2) Beef Stew with Rice - £8.90<br />
3) Vietnamese Style Slow-Cooked Pork<br />
with Rice - £8.90<br />
4) Wok-Fried Noodles with Chicken -<br />
£8.90<br />
5) Traditional Vietnamese Pho Soup -<br />
£9.00<br />
6) Chicken Curry with Rice - £8.90<br />
7) Authentic Vietnamese Dry Vermicelli<br />
Noodles with Crispy Vegetable Spring<br />
Rolls - £8.50<br />
And delicious Vietnamese filtered coffee<br />
from ‘Trung Nguyen’<br />
Christmas and New Year opening times;<br />
Closed: 24 Dec - 26 Dec, 2015<br />
Open: 27 Dec - 31 Dec, 2015<br />
Closed: 1 Jan - 2 Jan, 2016<br />
Photographs © Kurobuta<br />
Photographs © Tam Tep
36 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
37<br />
Dining Out<br />
Wining Out<br />
Photograph © The Hour Glass<br />
Photograph © Loch Fyne<br />
The Hour Glass<br />
279-283 Brompton Rd<br />
SW3 2DY, 020 7581 2497<br />
By Max Feldman<br />
Whilst the word ‘Gastropub’<br />
may sound like the name<br />
of a robot in a bad sci-fi<br />
novel, in the shadow of Weatherspoon’s<br />
domination gastropubs have emerged as<br />
a necessary counterbalance to keep the<br />
phrase ‘pub food’ from evolving into a<br />
contradiction in terms. The Hour Glass<br />
in South Kensington is a typical example<br />
of the kind of local that finds the line<br />
between pub food and traditional<br />
restaurants and does not so much try to<br />
erase as carpet bomb it out of existence.<br />
Nailing there colours to the wall with a<br />
menu which forsakes the full English for<br />
a sleek selection of rabbit, wood pigeon<br />
and sea bream, the upstairs dining room<br />
offers a pleasant if slightly cramped<br />
dining experience at non-bank breaking<br />
(for Chelsea of course) prices, most<br />
starters circling the £7 mark with the<br />
mains averaging out at a cool £15.<br />
My companion (ex-KCW<strong>Today</strong><br />
Dining Out stalwart Finbar Foley) and<br />
I managed (barely) to restrain ourselves<br />
from overindulging to enthusiastically<br />
in the pleasantly outfitted (if not exactly<br />
rock n’ roll) downstairs bar area before<br />
sitting down to a well presented starter<br />
of Wood pigeon served with pickled<br />
quince and black pudding with Finbar<br />
opting for the Potted rabbit & bacon<br />
butter, toast & gherkins. Whilst my<br />
companion guarded his food jealously,<br />
I was able to snatch a taste in an<br />
unguarded moment and can report that<br />
the rabbit was indeed worth guarding.<br />
The pigeon itself was obligingly<br />
succulent (and drew envious stares from<br />
Finbar) and was swiftly wolfed down<br />
with the only complaint being that there<br />
was not more of it. The black pudding<br />
was a slight black mark against the meal<br />
but overall things were off to a flying<br />
start. When I came to the mains I was<br />
unable to resist the Breast of lamb with<br />
green sauce & potch which whilst quite<br />
simple was soft and flavourful. Finbar<br />
went for the Flat iron steak, dripping<br />
chips, bone marrow gravy & watercress<br />
which I was able to snatch even less of<br />
than the rabbit, but the little I was able<br />
to seize filled the steak lover in me with<br />
savage delight, tempted as I was for<br />
another bite at his meal, I realised that<br />
it was best to leave it, friendships have<br />
broken down over less.<br />
Finishing up the meal we repaired<br />
our rapport with a shared Chocolate<br />
& porter cake served with cornflake<br />
ice cream and honey comb that was a<br />
pleasantly unhealthy (and delicious)<br />
end to the meal. For affordable, high<br />
quality food to be consumed on the go,<br />
you could do worse than give The Hour<br />
Glass your time.<br />
Loch Fyne<br />
2-4 Catherine St, London<br />
WC2B 5YJ<br />
020 7240 4999<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
The heavens opened as we made our way<br />
to Loch Fyne, Covent Garden, fitting<br />
for a seafood and grill chain, though the<br />
‘grill’ element is a bit misleading; only<br />
the briefest of lip services is paid to turf.<br />
The restaurant has an upmarket fish ’n<br />
chippy vibe to it, metal table tops, white<br />
tiles, marble bar counter, although from<br />
some angles this means it looks a little<br />
like a bathroom.<br />
Fortunately, my companion and I<br />
were whisked off to the back, where<br />
softer furnishings prevailed. After rich,<br />
dense bread; we shared some tempura<br />
oysters, served hot and battered with<br />
chili jam and lime. The actual oysters<br />
were tender, a hair’s breadth away from<br />
dissolving, but the tempura was over<br />
sweat and under crispy (bordering<br />
on undercooked), and even soggy in<br />
parts; though this did help bring out<br />
the flavour of the oysters. It was easy<br />
enough to kill it all with fire, as the chilli<br />
jam packed a real punch, with a more<br />
balanced taste on offer with a squeeze of<br />
lime.<br />
My companion carried on the theme,<br />
starting with chilli tempura prawns,<br />
while I went for scallops and haggis. The<br />
prawns were almost overpoweringly hot<br />
(fine if you’re into that sort of thing),<br />
and didn’t seemed textured quite right.<br />
All prawns crunch, but when you’re<br />
on the fourth chew and your mouthful<br />
has stopped seeping flavour, any food<br />
becomes tiresome. My dish was better,<br />
somewhat. The scallops were bland but<br />
the haggis made up for it, with an earthy,<br />
meaty taste and bitty texture.<br />
At this point I decided to double<br />
down and went with the ‘Seafood Grill’,<br />
containing more scallops and prawns,<br />
and also mussels, salmon, and bream,<br />
with sautéed potatoes and spinach.<br />
Literally the name of the place, I figured<br />
this must worth it. Unfortunately, it was<br />
distinctly less than the sum of its parts.<br />
As a dish it lacked a defining flavour<br />
with no complimenting feature to wrap<br />
it all together, bringing out the worse<br />
of each part; disappointing as all the<br />
components are ones usually enjoyed.<br />
My companion went with one of the<br />
day’s specials, the turbot. A heavy, meaty<br />
fish (a joy for his pescetarian self ), the<br />
top meat is good, but served pretty<br />
much whole the innards aren’t for the<br />
squeamish.<br />
My companion proved his better<br />
eye again at desert, going for a<br />
chocolate and raspberry delice, while<br />
I tried the mulled wine poached pear.<br />
The pear was redeemed only by the<br />
sugary blackberries, otherwise being<br />
remarkably unremarkable; but the<br />
delice let the raspberry creep up on you,<br />
complementing the initially powerful<br />
chocolate.<br />
Overall, it’s a chain (forty one<br />
locations) and a chain at every stop on<br />
the journey.<br />
Sharp’s beer and<br />
food pairing<br />
box at the British Street Food<br />
Festival<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
Deciding to hold a street food festival<br />
in December is a brave move, to put it<br />
politely. I was told that it was originally<br />
supposed to be in September, but that<br />
“unforeseen events” had forced it back.<br />
Arriving at 11:30, I discovered that “at<br />
the O2” meant “outside the O2”, which<br />
was a ‘oh…oh’ moment, but at least it<br />
wasn’t raining.<br />
Among the handful of indie food<br />
trucks sitting on tarmac surrounded by<br />
thrown-up wooden walls overlooking<br />
the City; I closed my eyes: Doom Bar,<br />
bracing wind, and sat asking myself “why<br />
here and why now?”; I could have been<br />
in Cornwall.<br />
Sharp’s Brewery had invited us along<br />
to their ‘VIP beer and food pairing<br />
session’. I’ve holidayed in Polzeath, just<br />
round the corner from the brewery’s<br />
base in Rock, spitting distance from the<br />
eponymous sandbank, and home of the<br />
Doom Bar pub (where I did more than<br />
a fair share of underage drinking). The<br />
only thing that was missing was the<br />
squeak of seagulls.<br />
The actual beer and food pairing<br />
session was very good, however I can’t<br />
say much more. Three pints down on an<br />
empty stomach at midday, I was ushered<br />
into a wooden box, and told “if you write<br />
about it, don’t give the game away”. Well,<br />
alright then.<br />
Afterward, I asked what I could say,<br />
“it’s about challenging the way you drink<br />
beer, like a wine tasting session, served in<br />
all different glasses”. Sharp’s don’t want<br />
to be a one trick pony, merely selling as<br />
much Doom Bar as possible. After their<br />
little experience, they hope people will<br />
think about beer, about serving this like<br />
a port, that with so-and-so. About how<br />
beer can be better.<br />
Well, without giving the game away,<br />
credit to ‘em, I’m convinced.<br />
Concept of<br />
renting out<br />
dining space<br />
proves popular<br />
Jade Parker<br />
Operating at the very edge of legality,<br />
pop-up restaurants in private homes have<br />
become a popular foodie fad. The idea<br />
of going to a stranger’s house and paying<br />
for a meal may seem unusual, however<br />
the Recession has seen these secret<br />
underground eateries become a popular<br />
and cheaper alternative to restaurants.<br />
Not only are pop-up restaurants cheaper,<br />
but they also provide a more intimate<br />
eating experience, as the typical barrier<br />
between chef and diner is broken. In this<br />
more informal setting, guests have the<br />
opportunity to chat with the chef and<br />
maybe even the chance to have a poke<br />
around their host’s house, much akin to<br />
Come Dine with Me.<br />
Despite the appeal of having a home<br />
cooked, three course meal; there are<br />
many legal issues associated with selling<br />
food without a licence. Restaurant<br />
owners, who have gone through all the<br />
hassle of obtaining numerous health<br />
certificates, are becoming increasingly<br />
infuriated at diners favouring pop up<br />
restaurants.<br />
Airbnb, who have a reputation for<br />
precariously tiptoeing their way across<br />
red tape minefields, tried to jump on the<br />
bandwagon. Having already triumphed<br />
in making thousands ditch hotels,<br />
Airbnb attempted to persuade diners to<br />
abandon restaurants as well. However,<br />
after a trial run in San Francisco it<br />
seems Airbnb has been dissuaded<br />
from pursuing the venture following a<br />
backlash of criticism.<br />
Following the takeover and expansion<br />
of chain restaurants, the concept of<br />
pop-up restaurants has revitalised and<br />
reopened the hospitality market to the<br />
general public. Some of the leading popup<br />
restaurants include the Savoy Truffle<br />
Supper Club and Ms. Marmite Lovers<br />
Underground Restaurant.<br />
Photograph © Mimosa<br />
AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DRINKS<br />
Mimosa, Chelsea<br />
Mimosa Restaurant & Lounge<br />
86 Fulham Road,<br />
London,<br />
SW3 6HR<br />
T: 020 7052 0052<br />
enquiries@mimosalondon.<br />
co.uk<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
Our evening attending the<br />
launch of Mimosa’s new<br />
basement club started, not in<br />
Mimosa, but in a pub round<br />
the corner. The Crown is an<br />
odd, little establishment, sandwiched<br />
between the Brompton and the Marsden.<br />
Reasonably priced ales on tap, attached<br />
Thai restaurant, yuppie crowd hung<br />
around outside so the serious drinkers<br />
could get down to business inside.<br />
Overall, worth checking out. The reason<br />
I’m telling you is because it meant when<br />
we went round the corner to Mimosa<br />
on Fulham Road, we were already<br />
quite drunk with bellies full of beer. So<br />
slamming threateningly bright cocktails<br />
was an interesting addition to the mix.<br />
Writing this piece, I keep<br />
subconsciously typing ‘Miasma’ instead<br />
of Mimosa, both pretty fitting.<br />
Served up upon entering was the<br />
appropriately named Mimosa Spritz,<br />
alongside a Coriander Martini. The<br />
former comprises aperol, bourbon, and<br />
maple syrup; the latter vodka, lychee,<br />
and pressed coriander. We sampled each,<br />
repeatedly, and for just under 9 quid a<br />
pop they ain’t badly priced (for Chelsea).<br />
The Martini has a fresh ring to it and<br />
naturally goes down quick, while I found<br />
myself savouring the Spritz a little<br />
more; though both are, regrettably for<br />
my current state, very drinkable. After<br />
a couple (or more) of each, we sampled<br />
the Pornstar Martini: more vodka,<br />
with champagne and passion fruit. The<br />
common theme identifying the drinks<br />
is, while certainly sweet, that none suffer<br />
from over sugaring; no added sugar than<br />
that naturally found in the ingredients,<br />
preventing them from turning into some<br />
cheap swill.<br />
It was the bourbon that really did me<br />
in, I’ve concluded. I’m not naturally a<br />
whisky man, but sneak it into a cocktail<br />
and it makes itself felt the next day. But<br />
that more mimosa’s fault than Mimosa’s.<br />
Can’t say I was a fan of the music,<br />
as it was little more than generic club<br />
electronic; perhaps more suited to the<br />
last place on a crawl than the first, once<br />
one has really obliterated standards<br />
from the mind. But then the cocktails<br />
would be wasted on one, no? Space wise,<br />
the basement disguises its small size<br />
with some choicely placed mirror walls,<br />
obscured by a weird Venetian pattern,<br />
almost like a screen. Tables and seating<br />
round the sides, leaving the (when<br />
we were there, unused) dance floor in<br />
the centre. My chief complaint would<br />
have to be the offensive long climb up<br />
multiple flights of stairs to get to the<br />
gents, which became an Everestian task<br />
after the fourth drink, fraught with as<br />
much danger.<br />
The crowd, I have to say, was an<br />
eclectic bunch. Not so much the yuppies<br />
from round the corner, nor the serious<br />
pint downers. I hate to say a ‘seen to<br />
be seen’ crowd, but there was a hipster<br />
vide to a lot of them, aside from the<br />
occasional out of place snow top. A<br />
Chelsea launch party crowd, then.<br />
Overall, not a bad place to do your<br />
drinking, but definitely a social venue<br />
rather than for when you really want to<br />
get down to some serious drinking.<br />
Crobar<br />
17 Manette Street, W1D 4AS<br />
open Monday to Saturday<br />
By Max Feldman<br />
Soho’s history and heritage is steeped in<br />
a lake of booze deeper than the Mariana<br />
trench, from the Groucho to the sticky<br />
teenage ‘meat market’ of Cheapskates,<br />
Jeffery Bernard’s spiritual home has<br />
long experience in quenching thirsts<br />
and annihilating livers. Increasingly<br />
however, gentrification has viciously<br />
tightened its neatly manicured grip on<br />
the area, causing prices to spike and<br />
man-bun haircuts to sprout throughout<br />
the area like a particularly virulent<br />
clutch of toadstools. In general the pubs<br />
themselves have been transitioning<br />
into an array of tasteful yet ultimately<br />
replaceable wine bars. The Crobar off<br />
Tottenham Court Road seems to have<br />
missed this particular memo however.<br />
A late night hole-in-the-wall, as soon<br />
as you stride under the enormous<br />
fanged skull in pride of place over the<br />
legend “BEER ‘N WHISKEY, ROCK<br />
N’ROLL” into a shadowy skid-row<br />
backroom coated in band posters, pages<br />
torn from Judge Dredd comics and<br />
framed in cracked glass it seems pretty<br />
clear that we’re not in Soho anymore<br />
Toto.<br />
It was in these decidedly<br />
insalubrious surroundings that I’ve<br />
found myself propping up the bar in a<br />
haze of skull popping doom metal and<br />
ill-advised (is there any other kind?)<br />
Long Island Iced Teas more times than<br />
I can count (which could be another<br />
possible side effect of the Long Island<br />
Iced Teas come to think about it). The<br />
reason behind these repeat visits to the<br />
kind of bar that looks like the kind of<br />
place where you would recruit a bounty<br />
hunter in bad (for bad read: all) Steven<br />
Seagal movies lies in the fact that it’s<br />
menu is not so much competitive priced<br />
as actively dangerous. From bourbon<br />
and coke going at £2.50 a glass to huge<br />
jugs of cocktails that have as much in<br />
common with sulphuric acid as with<br />
cosmopolitans for £12, this is a place<br />
you can do serious damage to yourself<br />
rather than your credit rating. As a result<br />
of these uncommonly (and potentially<br />
lethally) low prices and a 3am closing<br />
time, the clientele tends to be far more<br />
mixed than what you might expect, with<br />
yuppies squeezed in next to wild-eyed<br />
leather-clad Viking types with nary a<br />
sideways glance.<br />
Very rarely are there incidents<br />
involving fights breaking out, but now<br />
and again the off-piste decadence will<br />
get a little out of hand in unexpected<br />
ways. This can range from the “dance<br />
floor” (read: the regular floor) suddenly<br />
erupting into a seemingly spontaneous<br />
Irish line dance to that great Gaelic<br />
classic: Raining Blood by Slayer, or most<br />
unsettling of all when three strangers<br />
at our table went slightly above the<br />
standard public displays of affection by<br />
slithering on top of the table and to our<br />
horror began to follow the biological<br />
imperative right then and there, trapping<br />
us behind a terrifyingly enthusiastic<br />
forest of wiggling legs....<br />
As can probably be gleaned the<br />
Crobar is a rather unusual place, best<br />
used for non-metal true believers as a<br />
stop-off between destinations so one<br />
can take full advantage of the cheap<br />
drinks without being subjected to the<br />
best (and worst) of Iron Maiden. The<br />
grungy overlay might put some off, but<br />
as central London watering holes go<br />
it’s fairly unique (both in ambiance and<br />
pricing); anyone who has a particular<br />
love of metal will find plenty to love,<br />
but even for those who don’t, it’s worth<br />
checking out. Just be a bit careful if the<br />
couple next to you seems to be slightly<br />
too infatuated with each other...<br />
Photograph © Gary Knight
38 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
39<br />
Food & Flowers<br />
Gardening<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
This<br />
month’s<br />
festive<br />
recipe<br />
By Limpet<br />
Barron<br />
On the plate<br />
Its official:<br />
temperatures held up<br />
OK in November, but<br />
sunlight was scarce,<br />
and some confused<br />
plants kept flowering.<br />
The first nip of frost<br />
largely put paid to<br />
that, but as many a<br />
farmer will tell you, a<br />
nip of frost sweetens<br />
up the root vegetables<br />
that go so well in<br />
stews at this time of<br />
year.<br />
Fruit & Veg<br />
Apples & Pears<br />
Jerusalem Artichokes<br />
Leeks<br />
Parsnips and Swedes<br />
Brussel Sprouts<br />
Cavalo Nero<br />
Savoy Cabbage<br />
Chestnuts<br />
Fish<br />
Lobster, Mussels &<br />
Oysters<br />
Meat & Game<br />
Pheasant, Partridge,<br />
Goose, Suckling Pig<br />
&, of course, Turkey<br />
In the vase<br />
Holly & Ivy<br />
Mistletoe<br />
Decorative Ilex<br />
Poinsettia<br />
Amaryllis<br />
Mince<br />
Pies<br />
TO MAKE THE MINCEMEAT: mix together 450g finely diced Bramley apples, 150g shredded suet, 350g raisins, 225g each of<br />
candied peel, sultanas and currants, 350g light muscovado sugar, the juice and zest of 1 orange and 2 lemons, and 4tsp of mixed spice.<br />
Stir in 7tbsp of brandy and cover. Leave to marinate overnight then pack into sterilised jars. This mix will keep for many months in a<br />
cool dark cupboard, needing only a light refresh with a tablespoon or two of brandy stirred through it.<br />
FOR THE PASTRY: 400g plain flour (plus extra for rolling out) 50g unrefined icing sugar, 200g softened unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon<br />
orange zest, 1 large egg yolk.<br />
Mix the dry ingredients, then add in the softened butter and egg yolk, and combine with 4-5 tablespoons of cold water in a mixer bowl.<br />
Combine to form a firm dough, then chill in the fridge for an hour. Roll out to 2-3 mm. thick and cut out the cases to fit your baking tray. Add<br />
the mincemeat.<br />
FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING: 25g each ground almonds, flaked almonds & light brown muscovado sugar, 1/2 tsp. ground mixed<br />
spice. Mix all of the ingredients throughly together and add a generous teaspoonful to the top of each mince pie.<br />
Cook at 170c (fan oven) for approx 25 mins, or until golden brown and toasted on top. Allow to cool, then carefully turn out and serve with<br />
cream or brandy butter. Then make sure you meet under the mistletoe!<br />
Photograph © David Hughes<br />
Colour and life<br />
in the garden<br />
By Nick Bailey<br />
As the winter chill descends on<br />
the capital and we all cosy up<br />
indoors, it’s easy to assume that<br />
life in our gardens will retreat too. But<br />
life outdoors abounds. True, it doesn’t<br />
have the abundance of summer, but<br />
if you know where to look tentative<br />
stems, leaves, roots, and flowers are<br />
there, battling the cold in their dogged<br />
determination to persist.<br />
Tulips which were planted out in<br />
November are now in full growth. The<br />
cooling soil is their chequered flag to<br />
begin producing roots. We may not be<br />
able to see this underground activity<br />
in full fettle but come spring we’ll<br />
be thankful of these winter efforts as<br />
the bulbs bring riotous colour to the<br />
garden. Above ground, plants which<br />
may have been overlooked in autumn<br />
come into their own. The enchanting<br />
Vinca difformis, which has already been<br />
in flower for several months, positively<br />
glows out of the winter murk. Unlike<br />
its brethren, this Vinca, often known as<br />
periwinkle, is not rampant and intent<br />
on world domination. It’s a relatively<br />
diminutive, dark green, ground covering<br />
Galanthophiles<br />
take over<br />
The Chelsea<br />
Physic Garden<br />
30 Jan-7 Feb. 10am-4pm<br />
Snowdrops take centre stage at the<br />
Chelsea Physic Garden in a stunning<br />
display showing their intricate beauty at<br />
their first event of the year. These stars<br />
of winter will be unveiled in a fresh take<br />
on the traditional Snowdrop Theatre,<br />
staging snowdrops as you’ve never seen<br />
them before.<br />
Step into spring up to six weeks<br />
ahead of the rest of the country in<br />
the shelter of the Garden’s high walls,<br />
where you can delight in the swathes of<br />
elegant dark grasses interspersed with<br />
the radiant first flowers of the year. See<br />
over 70 different and unusual cultivars,<br />
many wild collected species, and 10,000<br />
Galanthus Nivalis growing in drifts<br />
throughout the woodland accompanied<br />
by a unique display of other spring<br />
flowers.<br />
A selection of snowdrops and other<br />
winter flowering plants will be on sale in<br />
the plant marquee. The Growing Friends<br />
volunteers will be on hand to guide you.<br />
plant, festooned with the palest of pale<br />
lilac-blue flowers which will continue to<br />
bloom come rain, hail, or snow.<br />
Joining it in this valiant effort are a<br />
broad range of other winter daredevils.<br />
The wordily titled Coronilla valentina<br />
subsp. glauca 'Citrina' is a low mounding<br />
shrub of Mediterranean origin. Its pale<br />
grey foliage sets of the white, cream, and<br />
yellow flowers a treat and on a sunny<br />
day the mere sight of it can whisk you<br />
back to heady memories of summer. It<br />
will often bloom all the way through<br />
winter. The New Zealand shrub Correa<br />
is another winter stalwart in London.<br />
There are a few different cultivars and<br />
forms but for real wow! Correa ‘Dusky<br />
Bells’ is the one to opt for. Unlike many<br />
other winter bloomers which often max<br />
out on scent but have little in the way of<br />
colour this shrub musters pendulous red,<br />
yes red, flowers throughout winter.<br />
If I still can’t tempt you outdoors<br />
why not bring some life in. Paperwhite<br />
Narcissus could not be easier to grow<br />
and are available now. Plant them in<br />
terracotta pots with their noses above the<br />
compost and the bulbs all but touching.<br />
Kept damp and grown in a coldish room<br />
they’ll transform from dry bulbs to longstemmed<br />
headily scented white flowers<br />
in 4-6 weeks.<br />
We may be avoiding the cold at all<br />
costs but there are plenty of plants that<br />
can, will, and do bring colour and life to<br />
the garden in spite of the winter chill…<br />
The Book & Gift Shop will be selling<br />
themed gifts and the Tangerine Dream<br />
Café will be providing warming lunches<br />
and drinks.<br />
Hidden in the heart of London,<br />
Chelsea Physic Garden is both a<br />
peaceful oasis in the city and a centre<br />
for learning. It was founded by the<br />
Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of<br />
London in 1673 for apprentices to study<br />
the medicinal qualities of plants and by<br />
the 18th century the Garden was one<br />
of the most important centres of botany<br />
and plant exchange in the world.<br />
<strong>Today</strong> the Garden’s features include<br />
Europe’s oldest pond rockery, the Cool<br />
Fernery, the Garden of Edible & Useful<br />
Christmas<br />
Gift Membership<br />
Treat someone special to London’s Secret<br />
Garden throughout the year for only £39*<br />
Full details available on the website or call 020 7349 6471<br />
Festive Shopping Days: 1-4 & 6–11 Dec free entry<br />
www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk<br />
Plants, the Garden of Medicinal Plants,<br />
and the World Woodland Garden. Its<br />
education and outreach programme<br />
reaches over 5,000 children a year<br />
from across London in addition to the<br />
programme of Family Activity Days and<br />
Walks, Talks & Workshops.<br />
The Garden’s microclimate means<br />
that many tender plants can flourish,<br />
including a number of rare and<br />
endangered species. It has the largest<br />
outdoor fruiting olive tree in Britain<br />
and the world’s most northerly outdoor<br />
*Offer valid until 18 Dec 2015<br />
k&c ad dec 2015.indd 1 24/11/2015 11:46:03<br />
Tangerine Dream Café<br />
Time Out-Love London<br />
Awards Winner 2015<br />
Best coffee shop/ cafe<br />
YES, YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY AN<br />
ENTRANCE FEE TO THE CHELSEA PHYSIC<br />
GARDEN to enjoy the café, but the garden<br />
itself was also a winner in the Local<br />
Culture category, so it's 2 winners for the<br />
grapefruit tree. From pomegranates<br />
to gingkoes, mulberries to eucalyptus,<br />
there are over 100 different types of<br />
tree in the Garden, many of which are<br />
rare in Britain. The glasshouses hold<br />
a collection of tropical and subtropical<br />
species.<br />
The Garden has evolved throughout<br />
its history but today, as in 1673, it<br />
remains a place which cultivates plants<br />
and ideas.<br />
CPG, 66 Royal Hospital Road,<br />
Chelsea, SW3 4HS. T: 020 7352 5646<br />
price of one admission here!<br />
A wander in the garden is a delightful<br />
prelude to some al fresco dining on the<br />
terrace, and Tangerine Dream pride<br />
themselves on simple presentation and<br />
the freshness of their produce.<br />
A typical mains selection would be<br />
their delicious signature Goats Cheese,<br />
Gruyère and sun dried Tomato tart,<br />
Salmon en Croute, pan fried scallops on<br />
Umbrian lentils, lamb cutlets & rainbow<br />
chard, and a high quality range of crunchy<br />
salads. There is a terrific selection of cakes<br />
too, from lavender scones to Orange and<br />
Polenta cake, or seasonal favourites such<br />
as the Fig Thyme and Almond, all baked<br />
daily on the premises. The café is licensed<br />
and has a proper wine list (including fizz)<br />
but the homemade Amalfi lemonade<br />
is surely the tipple of choice as you sit<br />
looking out across the parterres.<br />
For opening times to the garden and<br />
café go to www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk
40 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
41<br />
Events<br />
The Newspaper for the Royal Borough<br />
Kensington &<br />
020 7738 2348<br />
December 2014 / January 2015<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> 33<br />
Chelsea <strong>Today</strong><br />
BROMPTON, CHELSEA, EARLS COURT, HOLLAND PARK, Selling, NORTH & letting, SOUTH KENSINGTON, management, KNIGHTSBRIDGE, refurbishment, NOTTING HILL surveying and valuation<br />
Events<br />
E V<br />
E N<br />
T S<br />
December 2015 / January 2016<br />
Season’s greetings from all the team at<br />
Kensington Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
At this seasonal time of the year our events<br />
are brimful of activities for all age groups to<br />
take us through the holidays and into 2016.<br />
Film from the Royal Opera House, Shakespeare<br />
at the Globe, concerts and lectures at Westminster<br />
Abbey, Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Beethoven and<br />
Mendelssohn concertos and symphonies, Disney,<br />
Christmas markets, carols, fairs, auctions, lectures,<br />
theatre, ballet, Leonardo Da Vinci, tours in the<br />
Houses of Parliament, right through to Secret<br />
tunnels, Santa and Sinatra.<br />
The team at Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster<br />
<strong>Today</strong> would like to take this opportunity to thank<br />
all our readers, stockists, and advertisers for their<br />
support throughout the year and to wish you all a<br />
Happy New Year.<br />
020 3553 7147 waellis.com<br />
ICE RINKS<br />
Alexandra Palace Ice Rink N22 7AY<br />
Biggest and open all year round<br />
020 8365 4386<br />
Broadgate Exchange Square<br />
EC2A 2BQ Closes February 25 2016<br />
Canary Wharf, Montgomery Street<br />
E14 5AB. Closes February 27 2016<br />
Hampton Court<br />
East Molesey Surrey KT 8 9AU<br />
Closes January 4 2016<br />
020 3166 6000<br />
Lee Valley Ice Centre<br />
Lee Bridge Road E10 7QL. All year<br />
020 8533 3154<br />
London Eyeskate Ice Rink<br />
Closes January 10, 2016<br />
Natural History Museum<br />
Cromwell Road SW7 5BD<br />
Closes January 3, 2016 020 7942 5000<br />
Queens London Ice Skating and Bowling.<br />
17 Queensway W2 4QP<br />
All year. 020 7229 0172<br />
Sobell Leisure Centre<br />
Hornsey Road Islington N7 7NY<br />
All year. 020 7609 2166<br />
Somerset House<br />
The Strand WC2R 1LA<br />
Closes January 10, 2016<br />
020 7845 4600<br />
Tower of London<br />
Tower Hill EC3N 4AB<br />
Closes January 3 2016, 0844 482 7777<br />
Westfield London Ice Rink<br />
Ariel Way W12 7GF. Closes January 3<br />
Winterville Victoria Park<br />
Bow, E9 7DD Closes December 23 2015.<br />
0844 824 4824<br />
SANTA’S GROTTOS<br />
Ends December 20<br />
Santa’s Grotto<br />
Duke of York Square, Kings Road<br />
SW3 4LY<br />
020 7823 5577<br />
December 23<br />
Victorian Santa’s Grotto<br />
Museum of London Docklands<br />
Canary Wharf E14 4AL<br />
020 7001 9844<br />
December 23<br />
Santa and his Elves<br />
LEGOLAND Winkfield Road Windsor<br />
SL4 4AY<br />
0871 222 2001<br />
Ends December 24<br />
Christmas Grotto<br />
Harrods Knightsbridge<br />
87-135 Brompton Road SW1X 7PQ<br />
020 7730 1234<br />
Ends December 24<br />
Santa’s Grotto, Bluewater,<br />
Greenhithe, Kent DA9 9ST<br />
01322 475475<br />
Ends December 24<br />
Santa’s Grotto at<br />
The Enchanted Christmas House<br />
2-18 Britannia Row N1 8PA<br />
020 3227 3200<br />
December 24<br />
Father Christmas at<br />
the Royal Albert Hall<br />
Kensington Gore SW7 2AP<br />
020 7589 8212<br />
December 24<br />
Santa and his Elves Lapland U.K.<br />
Bracknell Forest Ascot SL5 8BD<br />
0871 620 7063<br />
December 24<br />
Santa’s Grotto The Rainforest Café<br />
20 Shaftesbury Avenue W1D 7EU<br />
therainforestcafe.co.uk/contact/keep-intouch<br />
Ends January 3<br />
Santa’s Grottos, Hyde Park<br />
Winter Wonderland W2 2UH<br />
07961 683685<br />
Ends December 24<br />
Adventure to Santa’s Grotto<br />
Westfield, Ariel Way, Shepherd’s Bush<br />
W12 7GF<br />
020 3371 2300<br />
CHRISTMAS MARKETS<br />
Ends December 18<br />
Every Thursday evening: Shoreditch<br />
Design Triangle with a ‘late night crawl’<br />
through the cafes, galleries, bars, stores and<br />
one-off events around the High Street and<br />
Old Street<br />
with music mulled wine and mince pies for<br />
energy. triangle@scp.co.uk<br />
020 7749 7384<br />
Ends December 20<br />
Shoreditch Christmas Craft Market<br />
An alternative Christmas market has stalls<br />
selling art, crafts from local artisans such<br />
as knitted clothes, accessories, stationery,<br />
cakes, food stalls, bags, jewellery and cards.<br />
The Red Market 288-299 Old Street<br />
EC1V 9LA<br />
Ends December 21<br />
Barbican Christmas Market<br />
Ten days of shopping with 35 independent<br />
designers, artisans and craftsmen with<br />
vintage and designer clothes, jewellry,<br />
books and toys. Mulled wine and mince<br />
pies.<br />
Silk Street EC2Y 8DS<br />
Ends December 21<br />
More London Christmas Market<br />
Riverside<br />
London Bridge<br />
Homemade gifts and wonderful food<br />
sold from German style chalets. Pottery,<br />
toys and pashminas, cheeses, chocolates<br />
and chutneys. Local entertainers and the<br />
Southwark Cathedral Bellringers.<br />
London Riverside SE1 2DB<br />
Ends December 23<br />
Christmas Market<br />
Tate Modern<br />
Chalets between the Tate Modern and the<br />
river bank sell handmade wooden toys,<br />
unique jewellry, intricate decorations and<br />
Giant biscuits all to music and a carousel.<br />
Bratwurst, crêpes, roasted nuts and Gluwein.<br />
Bankside SE1 9TG<br />
Ends December 24<br />
Greenwich Christmas Market<br />
A covered market with over 100 stalls<br />
selling jewellry, fashion, antiques, paintings<br />
as well as festive street food and drinks,<br />
presided over by Father Christmas and<br />
elves.<br />
Greenwich High Street SE10 9HZ<br />
Events<br />
Prime London service, global reach, outstanding property<br />
WESTMINSTER ABBEY<br />
ASSOCIATION<br />
BE PART OF<br />
OUR FUTURE<br />
For the first time in 1000 years,<br />
Westminster Abbey is proud to<br />
offer membership of its Association<br />
Membership starts from £50 and is available to buy at the Association desk in the Abbey<br />
Gift membership is also available<br />
For more information please email association@westminster-abbey.org<br />
or visit www.westminster-abbey.org/association
42 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
43<br />
Events<br />
020 3553 7147 waellis.com<br />
Events<br />
Prime London service, global reach, outstanding property<br />
Ends December 24<br />
Winter Market<br />
Southbank Centre<br />
A German style market with mince pies<br />
and mulled wine while you wander among<br />
affordable gifts, craftworks. Music and<br />
events.<br />
Belvedere Road SE1 8XX<br />
Ends January 3<br />
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland<br />
‘massive tribute to festive fun’ with ice rink,<br />
two circuses; one Christmas and the Cirque<br />
Beserk and the Magical Ice Kingdom with<br />
real snow, Giant Observation Wheel, rides<br />
around Santa Land including his grotto and<br />
Toy Factory which he runs with the help of<br />
his elves. Roller coaster and Giant Wheel.<br />
Santaland is free to enter but tokens can be<br />
bought from the many token booths for the<br />
various rides. Wise to Book ahead. More<br />
info.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/faq<br />
Ends January 10<br />
Skate at Somerset House with Fortnum<br />
and Mason<br />
One of the best in seasonal shopping<br />
including the West Wing’s shopping popup<br />
Christmas arcade, the Apres-Skate<br />
restaurant and beer. DJs from the best<br />
international festivals.<br />
Strand WC2R 1LA<br />
020 7845 4600<br />
Ends January 17<br />
Winter at the SouthBank Centre<br />
Award winning entertainment for all ages,<br />
riverside markets offering food, drink<br />
and gift ideas, a retro-roller disco, free<br />
dancing and gigs, buskers and outdoor<br />
performances.<br />
More info. outhbankcentre.o.uk/what’son<br />
December 23<br />
Little Feast Street Food<br />
Goldhawk Road<br />
In a Scandinavian forest setting of wooden<br />
huts, seasonal street food and warming<br />
drinks. 12pm-11pm<br />
W12 8HA<br />
CHRISTMAS SHOWS and<br />
PANTOMIMES<br />
December 16 - January 3<br />
Slava’s Snow Show<br />
Royal Festival Hall<br />
A hit in over 80 cities around the globe,<br />
a show for the whole family, comedy<br />
enveloped in a blizzard of snow.<br />
Southbank Belvedere Road SE1 8XX<br />
0844 847 9910<br />
Ends December 19<br />
Cinderella<br />
Bernie Grant Art Centre<br />
Town Hall Approach<br />
Tottenham N15 4RX<br />
020 8365 5450<br />
Ends December 19<br />
The Night Before Christmas<br />
Different Breed Theatre<br />
A dark christmas comedy<br />
Gary’s Warehouse<br />
128 Druid Street SE1 2HH<br />
Ends December 26<br />
The Ballad of Robin Hood<br />
Southwark Playhouse<br />
77-85 Newington Causeway SE1 6BD<br />
December 22-January 3<br />
Disney on Ice<br />
The 02 Arena<br />
Famous characters from Disney’s world<br />
take to the ice with spectacular stunts and<br />
special effects.<br />
Peninsula Square SE10 0DX<br />
020 84 663 2000<br />
Ends December 30<br />
The Wizard of Oz<br />
The Shaw Theatre<br />
100-110 Euston Road NW1 2AJ<br />
020 7666 9037<br />
Ends January 2<br />
Elf The Musical<br />
Dominion Theatre<br />
Based on the film, this show stars Ben<br />
Forster, Kimberley Walsh, Joe McGann<br />
and Jessica Martin.<br />
Tottenham Court Road W11T 7AQ<br />
020 9827 0945<br />
Ends January 3<br />
Jack and the Beanstalk<br />
Hackney Empire<br />
291 Mare street E8 1EJ<br />
020 895 2424<br />
Ends January 3<br />
Ben Hur<br />
Tricycle Theatre<br />
269 Kilburn High Street NW6 7JR<br />
020 7372 6611<br />
Ends January 3<br />
Cinderella<br />
Lyric theatre<br />
King Street W6 0QL<br />
08444 124 661<br />
Ends January 3<br />
Wonder.Land<br />
Olivier Theatre<br />
National Theatre, South Bank,<br />
Belvedere Road SE1 9PX<br />
Ends January 3<br />
The Snowman<br />
The Peacock Theatre<br />
Portugal Street WC2A 2HT<br />
020 7863 8222<br />
January 16 - March 6<br />
Cirque du Soleil: Amaluna<br />
Royal Albert Hall<br />
This production has never been seen before<br />
in the UK. Written and directed by Tony<br />
Award-winning director Diane Paulus, the<br />
production is a celebration of love with<br />
exciting circus acts and beautiful visuals.<br />
Kensington Gore SW7 2AP<br />
020 7589 8212<br />
CAROL SERVICES<br />
December 13<br />
Christmas Meditation:<br />
Benjamin Britten<br />
Westminster Abbey<br />
A ceremony of carols.<br />
December 13<br />
Third Sound of Advent<br />
St Margaret’s Church<br />
Service of lessons and carols.<br />
December 14- 18<br />
Temple Winter Festival<br />
A concert series some with with organ<br />
recitals of masterpieces from Nordic<br />
Europe by Greg Morris, and a concert<br />
with the Temple Church Choir with<br />
Temple Brass and another with The Choir,<br />
broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The church is<br />
late 12th century in the City of London<br />
built by the Knights Templar and worth a<br />
visit in itself.<br />
Temple EC4Y 7BB<br />
020 7353 8559<br />
Ends December 14 - 24<br />
A series of Carol programmes<br />
Royal Albert Hall<br />
Kensington Gore SW7 2AP<br />
020 7589 8212<br />
December 14-29<br />
Christmas Carols and services, some<br />
candlelit.<br />
St Martin-in-the-Fields<br />
Trafalgar Square WC2N 4JJ<br />
020 7766 1100<br />
December 14- 23<br />
Christmas Tree and Carols<br />
Trafalgar Square<br />
The annual Norwegian gift of the great<br />
Christmas tree, in appreciation of Britain’s<br />
aid in WWII, where different choirs sing<br />
carols for an hour everyday to raise money<br />
for various charities.<br />
Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN<br />
020 7983 4000<br />
December 15 - 23<br />
Christmas Services, Carols and Musical<br />
Events<br />
St John’s Square SW1P 3HA<br />
For more info visit 30th christmas Festival<br />
St John’s Smith Square<br />
020 7222 1061<br />
December 15<br />
Christmas Carols<br />
Kensington Palace<br />
A tour of the Palace with stories of the<br />
past and a soundtrack of a brass ensemble<br />
ending with a carol service under the giant<br />
Christmas tree, mince pies and mulled<br />
wine in the price of the ticket.<br />
Kensington Gardens W8 4PX<br />
0844 482 7777<br />
December 16<br />
Andy Williams Christmas Spectacular<br />
Indig02<br />
Andy is joined by the Osmonds; sing along<br />
to the Christmas classics Silent Night,<br />
Merry Christmas Everybody and other<br />
perennial favourites,<br />
Peninsula Square Greenwich SE10 0DX<br />
020 8463 2000<br />
December 16<br />
Canine Partners Carol Service: 25th<br />
Anniversary<br />
Guards Chapel<br />
Hosted by Angela Hamlin, founder<br />
of Draycott Nursing & Care, hopes to<br />
raise a substantial amount to reach the<br />
Charity’s anniversary target of creating<br />
80 new partnerships. Readings by special<br />
guests, Jodie Kidd, Nicholas Parsons,<br />
Fiona Fullerton, David Robb, Colonel<br />
John Blashford-Snell OBE, Jo Hill<br />
accompanied by her dog Derby and<br />
appearances of CPA dogs. 6.45pm<br />
Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk<br />
SW1E 6HQ<br />
book online caninepartners.org.uk/<br />
carolservice<br />
020 7351 7171<br />
December 17, 19, 20, 23 24<br />
St Paul’s Cathedral<br />
Traditional Christmas services and carols<br />
throughout December and the Midnight<br />
Mass on Christmas Eve (which can be<br />
seen on the big screen in Paternoster<br />
Square).<br />
St Paul’s Churchyard EC4M 8AD<br />
December 17, 23, 24, 25<br />
Westminster Abbey<br />
A number of carols and lessons services in<br />
magnificent surroundings.<br />
Check westminster-abbey.org for details<br />
and tickets.<br />
20 Dean’s Yard SW1P 3PA<br />
020 7222 5152<br />
December 18, 20, 22, 24,<br />
Southwark Cathedral<br />
A number of Christmas services open<br />
to the public with the singing of the<br />
Cathedral Choir with the congregation<br />
joining in. Readings from the bible are<br />
interspersed with the music.<br />
Bridge Bankside SE1 9DA<br />
020 7367 6700<br />
December 24<br />
Christmas Eve at Westminster Abbey<br />
Crib stories at noon. Carol services at<br />
4pm. First Eucharist of Christmas at 11:30<br />
(ticketed).<br />
December 24<br />
Christmas Eve at St Margaret’s Church<br />
First Eucharist of Christmas at 6pm.<br />
Ticketed.<br />
December 25<br />
Christmas at Westminster Abbey<br />
Holy communion at 8am. Sung Eucharist<br />
at 10:30. Evensong at 3:00pm.<br />
December 25<br />
Christmas at St Margaret’s Church<br />
Matins at 11am. Ticketed.<br />
December 27<br />
First Sunday of Christmas<br />
Westminster Abbey<br />
Holy Communion at 8am. Matins said<br />
with hymns at 10am. Sung Eucharist at<br />
11:15am. Evensong at 3pm.<br />
DANCE<br />
Ends December 19<br />
To London with Love<br />
Bloomsbury Ballroom<br />
Fridays and Saturdays from 7.00pm; dress<br />
code is Glamorous.<br />
Victoria House Bloomsbury Square<br />
WC1B 4DA<br />
thelondoncabaretclub.com<br />
020 7242 0002
44 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
45<br />
Events<br />
020 3553 7147 waellis.com<br />
Events<br />
Prime London service, global reach, outstanding property<br />
Ends January 3<br />
The Snowman<br />
Peacock Theatre<br />
A perennial family favourite, the tale of the<br />
friendship between a boy and a snowman<br />
and their adventures in the North Pole<br />
where they meet dancing penguins,<br />
reindeers and Father Christmas captivates<br />
audiences. A mixture of dance, story<br />
telling, music, spectacle and magic.<br />
Portugal street Holborn WC2 2HT<br />
020 7863 8222<br />
Ends January 3<br />
The Little Match Girl<br />
Lilian Baylis Theatre<br />
A sell out last year, the ballet directed and<br />
choreographed by Arthur Pita returns.<br />
Based on the story by Hans Christian<br />
Anderson, it is a touching tale told through<br />
dance, song and original music.<br />
Rosebery Avenue EC1R 4TN<br />
020 7863 8000<br />
Ends January 3<br />
Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games<br />
Playhouse Theatre<br />
Ground-breaking new technology<br />
holographs, special effects, dancing robots,<br />
champion acrobats and a great team of<br />
Irish dancers.<br />
Northumberland Avenue WC2N 5DC<br />
0844 871 7631<br />
Ends January 14<br />
The Nutcracker<br />
Royal Opera house<br />
Peter Wright’s restaging of Lev Ivanov’s<br />
original choreography for Tchaikovsky’s<br />
ever popular ballet.<br />
Bow Street, Covent Garden,<br />
WC2E 9DD<br />
020 7304 4000<br />
Ends January 17<br />
Elizabeth<br />
Linbury Studio Theatre<br />
Choreographer Will Tuckett in<br />
collaboration with librettist Alasdair<br />
Middleton and conductor Martin Yates<br />
explore in dance, music and text the<br />
woman and her relations with the men in<br />
her life using her own writings. Martin<br />
Yates composed the score and weaves in<br />
the music of Dowland, Morley, Tallis and<br />
others. Dancers Carlos Acosta, Laura<br />
Caldow. Zenaida Yanowsky.<br />
Covent Garden WC2E DD<br />
020 7304 4000<br />
Ends January 24<br />
Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty<br />
Sadler’s Wells<br />
Spectacular design by award winning Lez<br />
Brotherston and Paule Constable for this<br />
traditional fairy tale with its good v evil,<br />
but with an unexpected twist. The Observer<br />
wrote “An eye-popping gothic delight.<br />
Unforgettable.”<br />
Rosebery Avenue EC1R<br />
020 7863 8000<br />
December 16 booking until January 2017<br />
Stomp<br />
Ambassadors Theatre<br />
A lot of “bashing, crashing, smashing,<br />
swishing, banging and kicking” goes<br />
on according to the Chicago Tribune. A<br />
comedy with a rock and roll at its centre.<br />
West Street WC2<br />
08448 112 334<br />
December 16 - January 10 2016<br />
Nutcracker: English National Ballet<br />
The Coliseum<br />
An Edwardian setting of glorious sets<br />
in which Clara and her Nutcracker doll<br />
discover a world of magic brought to life<br />
by over 100 dancers and musicians.<br />
St Martin’s Lane Covent Garden WC2N<br />
4ES<br />
020 7845 9300<br />
January 9- January 24<br />
Until the Lions<br />
The Roundhouse<br />
An Indian epic, the Mahabharata is<br />
told through the medium of dance with<br />
choreography by Akram Khan using a<br />
mixture of classical Indian dance with<br />
contemporary dance.<br />
Chalk Farm Road NW1 8EH<br />
0844 482 8008<br />
January 13- 24<br />
Le Corsaire<br />
London Coliseum<br />
Based on an epic poem The Corsair by<br />
Lord Byron, this 19th century Russian<br />
dance- drama is one of the most difficult<br />
and spectacular roles for the male<br />
performer. The music is by Adolphe Adam,<br />
Leo Delibes, and Prince Oldenbourg<br />
and the Hollywood film designer Bob<br />
Ringwood designed the sets and the<br />
costumes.<br />
St Martin's Lane Covent Garden WC2N<br />
4ES<br />
020 78459300<br />
February 16-20<br />
The Last Tango<br />
New Wimbledon Theatre<br />
Strictly Come Dancing stars Vincent<br />
Simone and Flavia Cacace dance in their<br />
final show performing the Argentine<br />
tango for the last time.<br />
93 The Broadway Wimbledon SW19<br />
1QG<br />
020 85457900<br />
DRAMA<br />
December 18 - January 17<br />
Peppa Pig’s Surprise<br />
Duke of York Theatre<br />
Peppa Pig, George and their friends<br />
are back with a brand new stage show.<br />
Peppa is playing outside with her friends<br />
when Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig have<br />
a surprise for her and George. Fun and<br />
games surprises and new songs.<br />
Perfect for pre-school audience.<br />
St Martin’s Lane WC2N 4BG<br />
0844 871 7623<br />
December 18-22, 27-29<br />
A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens<br />
Charles Dickens Museum<br />
Actor Dominic Gerrard returns to re-live<br />
Dickens classic tale of Scrooge’s life in a<br />
one-man show in the author’s house.<br />
48 Doughty Street WC1N 2LX<br />
020 7405 2127<br />
Ends January 2<br />
I Want My Hat Back<br />
National Theatre<br />
Bear has lost his hat and he wants it back<br />
An adaptation of the book by Jon Klassen<br />
with lyrics by Joel Horwood and music by<br />
Arthur Davill; a treat for the family from<br />
Houses of Parliament<br />
Houses of Parliament<br />
Visit one of the world’s<br />
most iconic buildings<br />
3-100.<br />
South Bank SE1 9PX<br />
020 7452 3000<br />
Visitor Services Advert 126 x 154 Travel GBI 5.indd 1<br />
Ends January 3<br />
The Illusionists<br />
Shaftesbury Theatre<br />
The world’s best-selling magic show<br />
which has been to 71 cities in 17 countries<br />
with seven of the world’s best magicians<br />
including the British magician Jamie<br />
Raven, the escapologist Andrew Basso,<br />
the inventor Colin Cloud, the warrior Ben<br />
Blaque, the manipulator Den Den and the<br />
trickster David Williamson.<br />
210 Shaftesbury Avenue WC2H 8DP<br />
020 7379 5399<br />
Ends January 3<br />
Dressed by Angels<br />
Old Truman Brewery<br />
A new exhibition of over 100 costumes<br />
including some from Game of Thrones, Star<br />
Wars, Lawrence of Arabia and Titanic and<br />
many other iconic costumes.<br />
15 Hanbury Street E1 6QR<br />
0203 773 8995<br />
Ends January 9<br />
Linda<br />
Jerwood Theatre downstairs<br />
An award winning business woman of 55,<br />
dedicated to changing the world and in<br />
her prime starts to feel the cracks below,<br />
but is determined to fight.<br />
Sloane Square SW1W 8AS<br />
020 7565 5000<br />
Ends January 9<br />
Little Eyolf<br />
parliament.uk/visiting<br />
020 7219 4114<br />
8/19/2015 11:13:30 AM<br />
Almeida Theatre<br />
Richard Eyre directs the Ibsen play which<br />
forensically dissects a marriage as it falls<br />
apart.<br />
Almeida Street N1 1TA<br />
020 359 4404<br />
Ends January 17<br />
Around the World in 80 Days<br />
St James Theatre<br />
A cast of eight play over 50 characters in<br />
this high-spirited escape. Fast and furious<br />
fun and perfect for Christmas.<br />
12 Palace Street SW1E 5JA<br />
0844 264 2140<br />
Ends January 23<br />
Hapgood<br />
Hampstead Theatre<br />
Tom Stoppard’s take on espionage in the<br />
Cold War directed by Howard Davies.<br />
Somebody in spymaster network is leaking<br />
secrets; is the double agent actually a triple<br />
one?<br />
Eton Avenue Swiss Cottage NW3 3EU<br />
020 7722 9301<br />
Ends January 23<br />
Macbeth<br />
Young Vic<br />
Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin create a<br />
new version of the Shakespeare classic with<br />
some disturbing choreography weaving<br />
through it.<br />
66 The Cut SE1 8LZ<br />
020 7922 2922<br />
Ends February 13<br />
Les Liaisons Dangereuses<br />
Donmar Theatre<br />
Rachmaninoff<br />
Piano Concerto No. 2<br />
Enescu<br />
Romanian Rhapsody<br />
No. 2<br />
Leslie Howard - piano<br />
Christopher Petrie - conductor<br />
Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of London<br />
Cadogan Hall | Thursday 17 December 2015, 7.30 pm<br />
Early bird offer until 10 th November<br />
Box Office: 020 7730 4500<br />
www.cadoganhall.com<br />
www.london-orchestra.com<br />
Huma<br />
Symphony ‘Carpatica’<br />
(London premiere)<br />
quote ENESCU for 20% off<br />
photo credits: “Sparkler 2” by kallerna - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons -<br />
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sparkler_2.JPG#/media/File:Sparkler_2.JPG<br />
Choderlos de Laclos’ novel of innocence,<br />
sex and betrayal written in 1782 adapted<br />
by Christopher Hampton for the stage<br />
with Elaine Cassidy, Janet McTeer, and<br />
Dominic West.<br />
41 Earlham Street Seven Dials<br />
WC2H 9LX<br />
020 7845 5822<br />
Ends February 13<br />
The Homecoming<br />
Trafalgar Studios<br />
A new production of one of Harold<br />
Pinter’s finest plays, fifty years after it was<br />
first produced in London. Jamie Lloyd<br />
directs a fine cast with Keith Allen and<br />
Gary Kemp.<br />
14 Whitehall SW1A 2DY<br />
0845 505 8500<br />
January 14 - February 20<br />
The Rolling Stone<br />
Orange Tree Theatre<br />
Dembe and Sam have been seeing each<br />
other for a while; they are gay and this is<br />
Uganda.<br />
1 Clarence Street Richmond TW9 2SA<br />
020 8940 3633<br />
January 21 - February 13<br />
Pink Mist<br />
The Bush Theatre<br />
Owen Sheer’s powerful play about three<br />
young men returning from Afghanistan to<br />
the women who must share their physical<br />
and psychological aftershock. Brilliantly<br />
directed by John Retallack and George<br />
Mann.<br />
7 Uxbridge Road W12 8LJ<br />
0208 743 5050<br />
January 2 - 23<br />
Dinosaur Park<br />
St James’ Theatre<br />
An amusing award-winning parody based<br />
on Spielberg’s classic; a show-stopping epic<br />
adventure with “spine-tingling theatrics<br />
and megalithic mayhem.”<br />
12 Palace Street SW1E 5JA<br />
0844 264 2149<br />
January 5-30<br />
P’yongyang: In-Sook Chappell<br />
Finborough Theatre<br />
“We have to be careful, we can’st trust<br />
anyone. but, in the dark, your thought your<br />
own.”<br />
A world premiere about life in North<br />
Korea which crosses class and border<br />
divides to tell a love story which pits hope<br />
against hunger.<br />
118 Finborough Road SW10 9ED<br />
020 7244 7439<br />
January 21- March 12<br />
Escaped Alone: Caryl Churchill<br />
Jerwood Theatre<br />
Three friends meet for tea in a garden on<br />
a summer afternoon. “tea and catastrophe”<br />
directed by James Macdonald.<br />
Royal Court Theatre Sloane Street SW1W<br />
8AS<br />
020 7565 5000<br />
January 22 - February 13<br />
Yen<br />
Jerwood Upstairs<br />
Hench is 16, Bobbie 13 who are left<br />
alone to watch the world go by until one<br />
day Jenny turns up: Anne Jordan’s award<br />
winning play transfers from Manchester.<br />
Royal Court Sloane Square SW1W 8AS<br />
020 7565 5000<br />
January 23 - March 16<br />
The Master Builder<br />
Old Vic<br />
Ibsen’s exploration of power and control<br />
involving life and death in a brilliant new<br />
adaptation by David Hare with Ralph<br />
Fiennes in the leading role .<br />
The Cut SE1 8LZ<br />
0844 871 7628<br />
January 23 - February 27<br />
The Meeting<br />
Hampstead Theatre Downstairs<br />
Andrew Payne’s biting new comedy of the<br />
battle of the sexes in the boardroom.<br />
Eton Avenue Swiss Cottage NW3 3EU<br />
020 7722 9301<br />
February 2-27<br />
Weald<br />
Finborough Theatre Downstairs<br />
In a remote livery yard in rural England,<br />
a man returns home after eight years<br />
needing work. He tried it once before,<br />
without success. Will he succeed this time?<br />
A dissection of male emotions: fathers and<br />
sons, honour legacy. A new play by Daniel<br />
Foxsmith.<br />
118 Finborough Road Kensington SW10<br />
9ED<br />
0844 847 1652<br />
Ends March 5<br />
Funny Girl<br />
Menier Chocolate Factory<br />
Sheridan Smith stars in this classic<br />
musical that shot Streisand to stardom.<br />
Already sold out, could be worth trying for<br />
Returns.<br />
53 Southwark Street SE1 1RU<br />
020 7378 1713<br />
EXHIBITIONS<br />
Ends December 31<br />
Group Exhibition<br />
Contemporary Ceramics Centre<br />
A wide selection of ceramic objects in the<br />
only gallery in London dealing exclusively<br />
in British studio pottery.<br />
63 Great Russell Street WC1B 3BF<br />
020 7242 9644<br />
Ends January 3<br />
The Fallen Woman<br />
Foundling Museum<br />
Paintings, drawings and newspapers<br />
illustrations show the Victorian women<br />
who campaigned for a Foundling Hospital<br />
to take illegitimate children into care:<br />
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Richard Redgrave<br />
and George Frederic Watts are some of the<br />
artists.<br />
40 Brunswick Square WC1n 1AZ<br />
020 7841 3600<br />
Ends January 8<br />
An Oasis in a World Gone Crazy<br />
Talbot House<br />
In 1915 the army chaplain ‘Tubby’ Clayton<br />
established the Everyman’s Club at Talbot<br />
House in a small town a few miles from<br />
the front line in Ypres. Rank was irrelevant<br />
and orders prohibited; the soldiers were<br />
encouraged to forget about the war for a<br />
short time, This exhibition tracks the story<br />
of this ‘oasis’ for soldiers and includes items<br />
from Talbot House; the memoirs of ‘Tubby’
46 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
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and the actual hut in which he wrote them<br />
after fleeing from the Germans.<br />
Guildhall Library Gresham Street EC2P<br />
2EJ<br />
020 7332 1313<br />
Ends January 10<br />
Elvis at the 02<br />
A chronicle charting the rise of the<br />
icon Elvis Presley from his origins in<br />
Mississippi to the King of Rock and Roll<br />
with a range of his stage costumes, guitars,<br />
vehicles as well as audio and video clips.<br />
Peninsula Square North Greenwich SE10<br />
DX<br />
020 8463 2000<br />
Ends January 10<br />
Radical Disco: Architecture and Nightlife<br />
in Italy 1965-1975<br />
ICA<br />
A presentation exploring the relationship<br />
between architecture and nightlife in the<br />
1960s and 70s.<br />
A number of discos opened in Italy<br />
designed by architects of Radical Design,<br />
a political socially oriented group who<br />
viewed discos as a new type of space for<br />
‘multidisciplinary experimentation and<br />
creative liberation’, which seems rather<br />
frivolous of them.<br />
The Mall SW1Y 5AH<br />
020 7930 3647<br />
Ends January 10<br />
The Fabric of India<br />
V&A<br />
Spectacular objects, drawn from a single<br />
private collection, explore the broad<br />
themes of tradition and modernity in<br />
Indian jewellery. Highlights include<br />
Mughal jades, a rare jewelled gold finial<br />
from the throne of Tipu Sultan, and pieces<br />
that reveal the dramatic changes that took<br />
place in Indian jewellery design during<br />
the early 20th century. The exhibition<br />
examines the influence that India had on<br />
avant-garde European jewellery made by<br />
Cartier and other leading houses and will<br />
conclude with contemporary pieces made<br />
by JAR and Bhagat, which are a creative<br />
fusion of Mughal motifs and Art Deco<br />
‘Indian’ designs.<br />
Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL<br />
020 7942 2000<br />
Ends January 10<br />
Giacometti: Pure Presence<br />
National Portrait Gallery<br />
The first major exhibition to hang the<br />
artist’s portraits drawn from the work<br />
through his entire career which includes<br />
paintings, sculptures and drawings which<br />
concentrate on his principal models.<br />
St Martin’s Place WC2H 0HE<br />
020 7306 0055<br />
Ends January 16<br />
Arboretum: A Journey through Trees<br />
Crane Kalman Gallery<br />
Works by Corot, Hockney, Newcombe,<br />
Nicholson, Nash, Pasmore, Sugito,<br />
Sutherland and Fred Williams.<br />
178 Brompton Road SW3 1HQ<br />
020 7584 7566<br />
Ends January 17<br />
Art, Identity, Migration<br />
Ben Uri Gallery and Museum<br />
Rothenstein’s Relevance<br />
Examining the work of Sir William<br />
Rothenstein and his circle which included<br />
Barnett Freedman, Mark Gertler, Jacob<br />
Kramer, Albert Rutherson and Alfred<br />
Wolmark.<br />
108a Boundary Road NW8 0RH<br />
020 7604 3991<br />
Ends January 30<br />
Peter Blake: Portraits and People<br />
Waddington Custot Galleries<br />
The show which includes 2 portraits of<br />
Helen Mirren, fashion designer Paul Smith<br />
and musician Ian Dury focuses on the<br />
artist’s enduring interest in people and<br />
their personalities;<br />
11 - 12 Cork Street W1S 3LT<br />
020 7851 2200<br />
Ends January 31<br />
Tintin: Hergé’s Masterpiece<br />
Somerset House<br />
An exhibition using the artefacts from the<br />
Hergé Museum in Brussels to explore both<br />
the cartoon character and his creator as<br />
well.<br />
Strand WC2R 1LA<br />
020 7845 4600<br />
Ends January 31<br />
Art is Your Human Right<br />
William Morris Gallery<br />
Patrick Brill, a leading contemporary artist<br />
who usually works under the pseudonym<br />
Bob and Roberta Smith, enraged by the<br />
Government’s downgrading of art in<br />
the schools, decided to fight back; this<br />
exhibition follows his campaigns from his<br />
painting ‘ Letter to Michael Gove’ to his<br />
launch of the Art Party and his efforts to<br />
be elected to parliament in 2015. Sculpture,<br />
banners, placards, a slogan-covered van and<br />
a film ‘Art is your human right: why can’t<br />
politics be more fun?’<br />
Lloyd Park Forest Road E17 4PP<br />
020 8496 4390<br />
Ends January 31<br />
the Battle of Agincourt<br />
HM Tower of London<br />
The 600th Anniversary of the Battle of<br />
Agincourt which defined the outcome<br />
of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453).<br />
The exhibition features some rare historic<br />
objects and one can witness the chaos and<br />
scale of the battle through the diorama of<br />
the battlefield which features 4,000 painted<br />
scale model figures and examples of the<br />
longbow and arrows from the Mary Rose<br />
Trust. A series of talks, demonstrations and<br />
family activities will take place alongside<br />
the exhibition.<br />
Tower Hill EC3N 4AB<br />
0844 482 7777<br />
Ends January 31<br />
Jean-Etienne Liotard<br />
Royal Academy of Arts<br />
A comprehensive exhibition that brings<br />
together 70 works by the Swiss 18th<br />
century artist who painted much of the<br />
royalty of Europe, but who later enjoyed<br />
working in Turkey and took to wearing<br />
turkish clothing.<br />
Burlington House W1J 0BD<br />
020 7300 8000<br />
Ends January 31<br />
Shoes: Pleasure And Pain.<br />
V&A<br />
This exhibition explores the transformative<br />
BEETHOVEN<br />
VIOLIN CONCERTO<br />
MENDELSSOHN<br />
‘ITALIAN’ SYMPHONY<br />
MOZART<br />
OPERA ARIAS<br />
BEETHOVEN<br />
‘EROICA’ SYMPHONY<br />
Tickets £10-35<br />
Booking 020 7730 4500 | cadoganhall.com/lco<br />
(Use code KCW10 for a 10% discount)<br />
BENJAMIN BEILMAN VIOLIN<br />
RICCARDO MINASI CONDUCTOR<br />
WEDNESDAY 2 MARCH 2016 7.30PM<br />
LUCY CROWE SOPRANO<br />
CHRISTOPHER WARREN-GREEN CONDUCTOR<br />
WEDNESDAY 6 APRIL 2016 7.30PM<br />
2015-16<br />
Cadogan Hall<br />
Photographs © Julien Mignot & Marco Borggreve<br />
and the 18th century, but it also celebrates<br />
contemporary designers who enjoy ‘the<br />
excesses and the delights of the vulgar’.<br />
Silk Street EC2Y 8DS<br />
020 7638 8891<br />
Ends February 7<br />
Egypt: Faith after the Pharaohs<br />
British Museum<br />
How Egypt‘s religion was transformed<br />
over 12 centuries from polytheism<br />
by Christianity and Judaism to the<br />
monotheism of Islam.<br />
Great Russell Street WC1B 3DG<br />
020 7323 8299<br />
Ends February 7<br />
Wittgenstein’s Dream: Gavin Turk with<br />
Ben Brown Fine Arts curated by James<br />
Putnam<br />
Freud Museum<br />
The philosopher Wittgenstein thought<br />
Freud’s interpretation of dreams was<br />
wrong; he believed that ‘...we were asleep.<br />
Our life is like a dream.’ Gavin Turk has<br />
installed three works Id, Ego and Super<br />
Ego , and in the dining room a photowork<br />
relating to the Narcissus myth. In<br />
counterpoint to Freud’s own collection, the<br />
artist has arranged his own keepsakes and<br />
talismanic objects. Illusionism, the idea<br />
of what is ‘real’ and issues of authorship,<br />
authenticity and identity are all concerns of<br />
the artist.<br />
20 Maresfield Gardens NW3 5SX<br />
020 7435 2002<br />
The Queen’s Gallery<br />
From the Royal collection come 27<br />
masterpieces which include the work<br />
of Gerrit Dou, Gabriel Metsu, Jan<br />
Steen, Pieter de Hooch and Johannes<br />
Vermeer’s ‘A Lady with the Virginal with a<br />
gentleman’ and ‘the Music Lesson’.<br />
Buckingham palace SW1A 1AA<br />
030 3123 7301<br />
Ends February 14<br />
High Spirits: the Comic Art of Thomas<br />
Rowlandson<br />
The Queen’s Gallery<br />
19th century life examined through the<br />
artist’s cynical eyes with a blistering<br />
depiction of Dandies, dashing officers, fat<br />
squires, corrupt politicians; nor does he<br />
spare ‘the fair sex’.<br />
Buckingham Palace SW1A 1AA<br />
030 3123 7301<br />
Ends February 20<br />
Designing Bodies: Models of Anatomy<br />
from 1945 to Now<br />
Hunterian Museum<br />
For centuries anatomists and surgeons have<br />
used 3-D models of body parts in their<br />
training and today these are exceptionally<br />
imaginative. Brains, lungs and limbs as<br />
well as corrosion casts, orthopaedic models<br />
and neurosurgical training devices. A place<br />
to hide, if the Christmas Festivities are<br />
becoming too much.<br />
35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields WC2A 3PE<br />
020 7869 6560<br />
Ends February 14<br />
Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in Ends February 28<br />
the Age of Vermeer<br />
Tibet’s Secret Temple<br />
CIF_Desire_Chelsea_16_154x126_CIF_Desire_Chelsea_15_154x126 11/11/2015 13:30 Page 1<br />
*Use code Pcdmat25 when booking online or by phone.<br />
ELLEN TERRY<br />
WITH EILEEN<br />
ATKINS<br />
11 January – 13 February<br />
Eileen Atkins returns with her witty and<br />
intriguing insight into Shakespeare’s<br />
women as first told by Ellen Terry.<br />
«««««<br />
‘She brings Shakespeare’s<br />
women to spellbinding life’<br />
The Telegraph<br />
£25 best seats<br />
for matinees*<br />
Subject to availability, not in conjunction with other offers, cannot be applied retrospectively. £2.50 transaction fee applies online.<br />
Offer valid for matinee performances of Ellen Terry with Eileen Atkins only.<br />
A season of Shakespeare’s four<br />
late, indoor, classic romances<br />
P e r i c l e s<br />
19 November – 21 April<br />
C y m b e l i n e<br />
2 December – 21 April<br />
T h e<br />
W i n t e r ’ s T a l e<br />
28 January – 22 April<br />
T h e T e m p e s t<br />
17 February – 22 April<br />
power of extreme footwear. The exhibition<br />
presents around 200 pairs of shoes ranging<br />
from a sandal decorated in pure gold leaf<br />
originating from ancient Egypt to the<br />
most elaborate designs by contemporary<br />
makers. The exhibition considers the<br />
cultural significance and transformative<br />
capacity of shoes and examines the latest<br />
developments in footwear technology<br />
creating the possibility of ever higher<br />
heels and dramatic shapes. Examples<br />
from famous shoe wearers and collectors<br />
are shown alongside a dazzling range of<br />
historic shoes, many of which have not<br />
been displayed before.<br />
Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL<br />
020 7942 2000<br />
January 15<br />
Grayson Perry In Conversation With<br />
Charles Holland<br />
Patternity is a leading specialist<br />
organisation dedicated solely to pattern.<br />
PATTERNITY’s uniquely curated archive<br />
and award-winning approach are used as<br />
a source of inspiration by design houses<br />
around the world, including Burberry,<br />
Chanel, and Vivienne Westwood, and<br />
they have collaborated with organisations<br />
from Apple and Nike to Selfridges and<br />
the V&A. At this talk, art director Anna<br />
Murray and surface designer Grace<br />
Winteringham, cult pattern pioneers and<br />
founders of the company, will discuss the<br />
inspirational power of pattern as they<br />
teach us to look beyond mundane forms to<br />
uncover the hidden patterns that often pass<br />
us by.<br />
Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL<br />
020 7942 2000<br />
January 20-24<br />
London Art Fair<br />
Business Design Centre<br />
Modern British art and photography from<br />
today’s contemporary artists; the 20th<br />
century to today.<br />
52 Upper Street N1 0QH<br />
020 7359 3535<br />
January 23 & 24<br />
The Adventure Travel Show 2016<br />
Olympia<br />
The show specialises in adventure travel<br />
companies with over 100 talks and<br />
lectures about travel photography, writing,<br />
and filming.<br />
Hammersmith Road Kensington W14<br />
8UX<br />
020 8943 5000<br />
Ends February 6<br />
The Art of Bedlam: Richard Dadd<br />
Bethlem Museum<br />
A retrospective of the Victorian artist<br />
(1817-1886) who was detained as a<br />
lunatic in the Bethel Royal Hospital after<br />
stabbing his father to death. This show<br />
brings together works from his early life<br />
including rarely seen paintings from public<br />
and private collections.<br />
Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham<br />
BR3 3BX<br />
0203 228 6000<br />
Ends February 5<br />
The Vulgar<br />
Barbican Art Gallery<br />
What is it that makes something ‘vulgar’?<br />
The exhibition explores the notion of<br />
vulgarity in the fashions of the Renaissance<br />
JEWELLERY &<br />
SILVERSMITHING FAIR<br />
Purchase direct from the UK’s leading designer makers<br />
OLD TOWN HALL<br />
CHELSEA<br />
26-28 February<br />
Fri 10am - 6pm • Sat & Sun 10am - 5pm<br />
Admission £6 • London SW3 5EE<br />
www.desirefair.com
48 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
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Wellcome Collection<br />
An exhibition of Tibetan Buddhist yogic<br />
and meditational practice and their<br />
connections with physical and mental<br />
wellbeing. It features over 120 objects<br />
which include scroll paintings, statues,<br />
manuscripts, archival and contemporary<br />
film together with a wide range of<br />
ethnographic and ritual<br />
artefacts.<br />
183 Euston Road NW1 2BE<br />
020 7611 2222<br />
Ends February 28<br />
Blood<br />
Jewish Museum<br />
This is a show dedicated to the life-giving<br />
fluid which is ‘both life and death, sacred<br />
and profane, pure and impure, cleansing<br />
and polluting’,viewed through the ‘lens of<br />
Jewish religion, culture and history.<br />
Raymond Burton House 129-131 Albert<br />
Street NW1 7NB<br />
020 7284 7384<br />
Ends February 28<br />
Big Bang Data<br />
Somerset House<br />
Find out how large quantities of data have<br />
been shaping our culture and the way<br />
we live and how it shapes the future. It<br />
explains how the data is collected and its<br />
use in surveillance.<br />
The Strand WC2R 1LA<br />
020 7845 4600<br />
February 4 - October 16 2016<br />
States of Mind<br />
Wellcome Collection<br />
WINTER<br />
19 - 24 January 2016<br />
Battersea Park, London<br />
An exploration of phenomena such as<br />
somnambulism, mesmerism and disorders<br />
of memory and consciousness which<br />
examines ideas around the nature of<br />
consciousness and what happens when<br />
consciousness if interrupted or damaged.<br />
183 Euston Road NW1 2BE<br />
020 7611 2222<br />
February 10 - September 4<br />
The Mechanics of Genius: Leonardo da<br />
Vinci<br />
Science Museum<br />
This exhibition explores the nature of<br />
Leonardo’s genius with items on display<br />
which include designs and sketches and<br />
39 historical models of self-propelled<br />
carriage, gears, a large scale model of<br />
the Brunelleschi crane, a spinning wheel<br />
with mobile wings, diving apparatus and<br />
weapons. The exhibition is divided into<br />
six sections : Transforming Movement,<br />
Preparing for War, Drawings Inspiration<br />
from Nature, Imagining Flight, Improving<br />
Manufacturing, and Unifying Knowledge.<br />
Book Now<br />
Exhibition Road SW7 2DD<br />
020 7942 4000<br />
February 11-14<br />
Works on Paper Fair<br />
Royal Geographical Society<br />
Pictures drawn by hand, in ink, pencil,<br />
crayon, chalk pastel, gouache, and charcoal.<br />
Includes a special exhibition of rare and<br />
unseen works by Laurie Lee.<br />
1 Kensington Gore London SW7 2AR<br />
01798 215 007<br />
Antiques and 20th century<br />
design for interior decoration<br />
February 11 - May 22<br />
Vogue 100: A Century of Style<br />
National Portrait Gallery<br />
A celebration of the 100th anniversary of<br />
this magazine with over 280 prints taken<br />
by some of the most famous photographers<br />
from the Conde Nast archive (founded in<br />
2016) and international collections.<br />
St Martin’s Place WC2H 0HE<br />
020 7306 0055<br />
February 18 - July 10<br />
Imran Qureshi: where the shadows are so<br />
deep<br />
The Curve Gallery<br />
The Pakistani artist’s exquisite miniature<br />
paintings use the curve as a motif first in<br />
nature then in darker works.<br />
Barbican Centre Silk Street EC1Y 8DS<br />
020 7638 8891<br />
February 20 onwards<br />
Frank Brangwyn: ‘Songs of a Wayfarer’<br />
William Morris Gallery<br />
The artist travelled through South Africa<br />
and southern Europe as a young man<br />
recording the different landscapes which he<br />
then turned into the oil paintings NOW<br />
are on display here.<br />
Lloyd Park Forest Road E17 4PP<br />
020 8496 4390<br />
February 20 - May 29<br />
Social Fabric: African Textiles <strong>Today</strong><br />
William Morris House<br />
The exhibition explores how the printed<br />
and factory-woven textiles of eastern and<br />
southern Africa mirror the changing tastes,<br />
social, political, religious, emotional and<br />
sexual concerns of the region. The patterns<br />
and inscriptions can be an unspoken<br />
language expressing feelings that cannot<br />
be voiced. In the show are also works by<br />
artists and photographers inspired by the<br />
textiles.<br />
Lloyd Park Forest Road E17 4PP<br />
020 8496 4390<br />
Ends March 28<br />
Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution<br />
National Maritime Museum<br />
The largest exhibition to ‘delve into the<br />
scandalous world of Stuart London’: the<br />
execution of the king and the glorious<br />
Revolution which is covered by 200<br />
painting and objects from the museums,<br />
galleries and private collections from<br />
Britain and beyond.<br />
Park Row Greenwich SE10 9NF<br />
020 8858 4422<br />
Ends April 10<br />
Artist and Empire<br />
Tate Britain<br />
Over 200 paintings for this major<br />
exhibition of art associated with the British<br />
empire from the 16th century to the<br />
present day. A number of objects including<br />
maps, flags, photographs, paintings,<br />
sculptures and artefacts.<br />
Millbank SW1P 4RG<br />
Ends June 12<br />
On Their Own: Britain’s Child Migrants<br />
Museum of Childhood<br />
The heart-breaking true stories of the<br />
British children who were sent to Canada,<br />
Australia and other Commonwealth<br />
decorativefair.com Tel: 020 7616 9327<br />
KEN<br />
countries between 1869 and 1970. An<br />
estimated 100,000 British children were<br />
sent overseas on various migration schemes<br />
which were run by a partnership of<br />
charities, religious organisations and the<br />
government which claimed to offer boys<br />
and girls the opportunity to have a better<br />
life overseas. Many never saw their homes<br />
and families again.<br />
Cambridge Heath Road E2 9PA<br />
020 8983 5200<br />
Ends June 30<br />
Bicycles Revolution<br />
The Design Museum<br />
A celebration of everything to do with<br />
cycles: bespoke creations to performanceimproving<br />
designs,<br />
dozens of bikes from manufacturers from<br />
all over the world. Items and accessories<br />
belonging to famous cyclists such as<br />
Sir Chris Hoy and Sir Paul Smith, an<br />
exploration of ‘thrill seekers’ and ‘urban<br />
riders’. Also concerned with the future and<br />
considers safety and increasingly complex<br />
technology.<br />
28 Butler’s Wharf Shad Thames<br />
SE1 2 YD<br />
020 7403 6933<br />
MUSIC<br />
December 14, 15, 16, 18.19, 21 - 23, 28-<br />
31 January 1 & 2<br />
The Firework-Maker’s Daughter<br />
Linbury Studio Theatre<br />
An entertaining family show based on a<br />
story by Philip Pullman, “David Bruce’s<br />
opera weaves a colourful sound world<br />
around a perilous quest, incorporating<br />
... exotic sounds in a score that delight<br />
and surprises”. A visually spectacular<br />
production with puppetry by Indefinite<br />
Articles.<br />
Royal Opera House Bow Street<br />
WC2E 9DD<br />
020 7304 4000<br />
December 14<br />
La Nuova Musica; Cesti Orontea<br />
Wigmore Hall<br />
David Bates directs “one of the most<br />
exciting consorts in the Early Music field”<br />
in one of the most popular operas of the<br />
17th century.<br />
Wigmore Street<br />
020 7935 2141<br />
December 15,18,21, 29 and January 1<br />
Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci<br />
The Royal Opera House<br />
Director of the Royal Opera, Antonio<br />
Pappano and the award-winning Italian<br />
director Damiano Michieletto join forces<br />
in this new production of these two<br />
operas. Eva-Maria Westbroek, Aleksandrs<br />
Antonenko and Carmen Giannattasio lead<br />
casts that include the Royal Opera Chorus.<br />
Covent Garden WC2E 9DD<br />
020 7304 4000 roh.org.uk<br />
December 19<br />
Belshazzar’s Feast<br />
Cecil Sharp House<br />
A Christmas themed show mixing<br />
traditional folk music with a touch of<br />
classical, jazz, and pop and with wry<br />
humour. The audience loves the “eclectic<br />
and eccentric mix of tunes” and the chat<br />
between. 7.30pm<br />
2 Regent’s Park Road NW1 7AY<br />
020 7485 2206<br />
musicglue.com/cecilsharphouse<br />
December 19, 22, 30 January 2,4 and 7<br />
Eugene Onegin<br />
Royal Opera House<br />
Kasper Holten’s production of<br />
Tchaikovsky’s opera based on a story by<br />
Pushkin is a powerful tragedy with Nicole<br />
Car in the role of Tatiana and acclaimed<br />
newcomer Michael Fabiano as Lensky<br />
with Semyon Bychkov conducting.<br />
Covent Garden WC2E 9DD<br />
020 7304 4000 roh.org.uk<br />
December 20<br />
Festive Gathering<br />
Cecil Sharp House: Kennedy Hall<br />
A carol concert with a folk twist; a cappella<br />
arrangements of traditional seasonal songs,<br />
carols and wassails from the British Isles.<br />
Folk dancers, singers and musicians with<br />
sword dancing by Thrales Rapper and the<br />
percussive sound of clog dancing.<br />
for tickets musicglue.com/cecilsharphouse<br />
booking advised.<br />
2 Regent's Park Road NW1 7AY<br />
020 7485 2206<br />
December 28<br />
Max Emanuel Cencic countertenor;<br />
Armonia Atenea<br />
Wigmore Hall<br />
A programme of operatic arias and other<br />
works by Johann Hasse (1699-1783) with<br />
George Petrou on the harpsichord and<br />
Theodoros Kitsos on the mandolin.<br />
36 Wigmore Street W1U 2BP<br />
020 7935 2141<br />
January 9, 11,12,15, 18, 21, 25, 29 7<br />
February 5<br />
Tosca<br />
Royal Opera House<br />
Jonathan Kent’s production of Puccini’s<br />
masterpiece is set in Rome in 1800. It has<br />
two fabulous casts; Angela Gheorghiu<br />
and Amanda Echalaz in the title role<br />
with Riccardo Massi interchanging with<br />
Najmiddin Mavlyanov in the role of<br />
Cavaradossi and the bass baritones Samuel<br />
Youn and Roberto Frontali sharing the<br />
role of Scarpia.<br />
Covent Garden WC2E 9DD<br />
020 7304 4000 roh.org.uk<br />
January 10<br />
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)<br />
Wigmore Hall<br />
James Ehnes performs the ‘fiendishly<br />
difficult’ Sonata for solo violin BB124<br />
written for Yehudi Menuhin in 1944, and<br />
the Second Rhapsody, and with the pianist<br />
Andrew Armstrong the Sonatina for violin<br />
and piano BB102a.<br />
36 Wigmore Street W1U 2BP<br />
020 7935 2141<br />
January 12<br />
Hamish Dustagheer<br />
Leighton House<br />
One of England’s foremost Catholic<br />
organist and improvisers who plays<br />
regularly in the great churches and<br />
cathedrals of Europe. His programme<br />
includes Liszt, Satie, Poulenc, Scriabin,<br />
Ropartz, Debussy and Franck.<br />
12 Holland Park Road, Kensington<br />
W14 8LZ<br />
020 7602 3316<br />
January 16, 22, 27, 30 February 4, 6<br />
La Traviata<br />
Royal Opera House<br />
Richard Eyre’s sumptuous production<br />
Inspiration l Craftsmanship l Heritage<br />
THE MAYFAIR<br />
ANTIQUES & FINE ART FAIR<br />
THE LONDON MARRIOTT HOTEL<br />
GROSVENOR SQUARE, LONDON W1K 6JP<br />
two for one admission with this kcw advertisement<br />
has been revived for this winter with the<br />
Russian soprano Venera Gimadieva as the<br />
tragic heroine and Luca Salsi sharing the<br />
role of Giorgio with Quinn Kelsey.<br />
Covent Garden WC2E 9DD<br />
020 7304 4000 roh.org.uk/traviata<br />
February 1, 3, 6, 15,18,20, 24<br />
L’Etoile<br />
Royal Opera House<br />
Emmanuel Chabrier’s “tune-filled” and<br />
“zany comedy” this operetta for the first<br />
time. Mariame Clement makes her<br />
directorial debut in a production “full of<br />
silly characters, complex situations and<br />
exotic fantasies...perfect for a show that<br />
features a tickling song.” A largely French<br />
cast includes Christophe Mortagne<br />
alongside Kate Lindsey with Mark Elder<br />
conducting.<br />
Covent Garden WC2E 9DD<br />
020 7304 4000 roh.org.uk/letoile<br />
January 22 2016<br />
Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis<br />
Cadogan Hall<br />
Leading cellist Isserlis joins violinist Joshua<br />
Bell in a programme of Brahms’s brilliant<br />
Double Concerto in A minor, Beethoven’s<br />
Symphony No 8 in F major, Op 93, Dvorak’s<br />
Waldesruhe arranged for cello and orchestra<br />
B.182 and Benjamin Britten’s arrangement<br />
of the second movement of Schumann’s<br />
Elegy for Orchestra.<br />
5 Sloane Terrace SW1X 9DQ<br />
020 7730 4500<br />
January 24 2016<br />
Great British Classics<br />
Royal Festival Hall<br />
Vaughan Williams’ overture The Wasps,<br />
IN ASSOCIATION WITH<br />
7 - 10 JANUARY 2016<br />
Thursday 12.00 - 21.00<br />
Friday/Saturday 11.00 - 18.00<br />
Sunday 11.00 - 17.00<br />
T 01797 252030<br />
www.mayfairfair.com<br />
T H E<br />
A N T I Q U E S<br />
D E A L E R S<br />
F A I R<br />
L I M I T E D<br />
A Sea Symphony, and Finzi’s Clarinet<br />
Concerto. John Wilson conducts the<br />
British and Gloucester Choral Societies<br />
with Philharmonia Voices. 3.00pm<br />
Southbank Centre Belvedere Road<br />
SE1 8XX<br />
020 7921 3900<br />
January 28<br />
Santtu-Matias Rouvali conductor with<br />
Hakan Hardenberger on trumpet.<br />
Royal Festival Hall<br />
The programme has Sibelius’<br />
Lemminkainen’s Return, Symphony No 2 and<br />
Martinsson Bridge,Trumpet Concerto No 1<br />
Southbank Centre Belvedere Road<br />
SE1 8XX<br />
Freephone box office 0800 652 6717<br />
February 4<br />
Lahav Shani: Philharmonia Orchestra<br />
Royal Festival Hall<br />
The young Israeli conductor-pianist plays<br />
Mozart’s D minor Piano concerto No 20,<br />
K466 and Mahler’s Symphony No 1.<br />
Southbank centre Belvedere Road<br />
SE1 8XX<br />
Freephone box office 0800 652 6717<br />
February 8<br />
The Mighty Handful<br />
Royal Opera House<br />
An all-Russian programme with a worldclass<br />
orchestra which play the works of the<br />
composers Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin,<br />
Mussorgsky, Cesar Cut and Mily Balakirev.<br />
Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra<br />
of the Royal Opera House.<br />
Covent Garden WC2E 9DD<br />
020 7304 4000<br />
DF_Kensington_160Hx260W.indd 1 17/11/2015 16:57
50 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
51<br />
Events<br />
020 3553 7147 waellis.com<br />
Events<br />
Prime London service, global reach, outstanding property<br />
February 14<br />
St. Valentine’s Day Gala<br />
Royal Festival Hall<br />
An afternoon concert with the<br />
Philharmonia Orchestra with a programme<br />
of Saint-Saens, Mascagni, Bruch,<br />
Mendelssohn, Mahler, J Strauss II, and<br />
Bizet. Michael Collins conducts and Alina<br />
Pogostkina on the violin.<br />
Southbank Centre Belvedere Road<br />
SE1 8XX<br />
Freephone box office 0800 652 6717<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY<br />
Ends December 31<br />
Henry Wessel<br />
Tate Modern<br />
Recently acquired by the museum the<br />
27 photographs by Henry Wessel reflect<br />
his interest in the daily life and social<br />
landscape of the USA.<br />
Bankside SE1 9TG<br />
020 7887 8888<br />
Ends January 10<br />
Sinatra at 100: A Century in the Making<br />
Proud Gallery<br />
To celebrate Sinatra’s 100th birthday, a<br />
collection of rare and unique photographs<br />
from the crooner’s Family Archive.<br />
161 Kings Road Chelsea SW3 5P<br />
020 7349 0822<br />
Ends January 16<br />
Evgenia Arbugaeva: Arctic Stories<br />
Photographers’ Gallery<br />
“Weather Man” is inspired by the life<br />
of a meteorologist whom the Russian<br />
photographer stayed with for two<br />
weeks in a remote part of Russia and<br />
whose surroundings, life and isolation<br />
she photographed. Tiksi shows the<br />
photographer’s Siberian home on the shore<br />
of the Arctic Ocean featuring ethereal<br />
images and the light landscape through the<br />
story of Tanya, a young local girl.<br />
16-18 Ramillies Street W1F 7LW<br />
020 7087 9300<br />
Ends February 28 2016<br />
The Enduring Eye: The Antarctic Legacy<br />
of Sir Ernest Shackleton and Frank<br />
Hurley<br />
Royal Geographical Society<br />
A celebration of the centenary of the<br />
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition<br />
(1914-17) better known today as The<br />
Endurance expedition.<br />
Never before seen by the public, the fragile<br />
glass plate negatives of the expedition<br />
saved from the ice by the expedition<br />
photographer Frank Hurley and Sir Ernest<br />
Shackleton.<br />
1 Kensington Gore SW7 2AR<br />
020 7591 3000<br />
Ends March 28 2016<br />
Julia Margaret Cameron Influence and<br />
Intimacy<br />
Science Museum<br />
Celebrating the 200th anniversary<br />
of the photographer’s birth, the<br />
exhibition includes family members, and<br />
acquaintances from the arts and literature<br />
like Holman Hunt, Alfred Tennyson and<br />
Thomas Carlyle. Also included are objects;<br />
a camera lens, handwritten notes from<br />
her autobiography, shots of Sri Lanka<br />
taken towards the end of her life, and a<br />
daguerreotype self-portrait,<br />
Exhibition Road SW7 2DD<br />
0870 8704 868<br />
Ends April 10<br />
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015<br />
The Natural History Museum<br />
From 42,000 entries, 96 countries the final<br />
shortlisted 100 photographs are exhibited<br />
here. An amazing insight into nature.<br />
Cromwell Road SW7 5BD<br />
020 7942 5000<br />
Ends June 26<br />
Insight Astronomy Photographer of the<br />
Year<br />
Royal Observatory<br />
The annual competition in which<br />
photographers and astronomers submit<br />
their best work of the night skies, planets,<br />
and stars in attempt to catch the most<br />
beautiful night skies.<br />
Greenwich Park, Greenwich SE10 9NF<br />
020 8312 6565<br />
January 22 - March 31<br />
Powerpoint Polemics<br />
Photographers’ Gallery<br />
The 25th anniversary of Microsoft’s<br />
release of PowerPoint, the Media Wall.<br />
In partnership with the Goethe-Institut<br />
are commissioning 15 artists, scientists<br />
and theorists “to playfully consider the<br />
politics and the aesthetics of slideware,<br />
while speculating on the future of image<br />
production.”<br />
16-18 Ramillies Street W1F 7LW<br />
020 7087 9500<br />
January 22 - April 3<br />
Easter Rising 1916: Sean Sexton<br />
Collection<br />
Photographers’ Gallery<br />
Eighty rarely seen photos and ephemera<br />
including souvenir postcards, albums, press<br />
and military photos and stereoscopic views,<br />
which cover the years between 1840s and<br />
the 1930s; portraits of executed leaders,<br />
scrapbooks, collages. This collection covers<br />
documents from the Nationalists and<br />
also images from the British authorities<br />
and Unionists. For those interested in the<br />
Troubles a must.<br />
16- 18 Ramillies Street W1F 7LW 020<br />
7087 9300<br />
January 22 - May 15 2016<br />
Other Worlds: Visions of our Solar System<br />
Natural History Museum<br />
70 composite images created by Michael<br />
Benson curator and writer using data<br />
from the NASA and ESA space missions.<br />
A celebration of six decades of space<br />
exploration.<br />
Cromwell Road SW7 5BD<br />
020 7942 5000<br />
February 11- May 22 2016<br />
Vogue 100: A Century of Style<br />
National Portrait Gallery<br />
300 prints from the Conde Nast magazine<br />
British Vogue with images by Cecil<br />
Beaton, David Bailey, Lee Miller, Irving<br />
Penn, Herb Ritts and Mario Testino and<br />
included are portraits of Dior, Damien<br />
Hirst, Henri Matisse and Alexander<br />
McQueen.<br />
St Martin’s Place WC2H 0HE<br />
020 7306 0055<br />
WALKS<br />
December 23<br />
Charles Dickens’ ‘Christmas Carol’ and<br />
Seasonal Tradition<br />
Meet by the Tower Hill Tram coffee stand.<br />
Dickens’ famous story is the route map<br />
for this walk; Scrooge, Marley and the<br />
Cratchits are all here and life will be spiced<br />
up with Christmas puddings, mince pies<br />
crackers, and mistletoe. The walk ends near<br />
St Paul’s tube.<br />
January 1 and every Friday morning at<br />
10.45 2016<br />
The Secrets of Westminster Abbey<br />
A massive discount for the entry to the<br />
Abbey, and then a three-dimensional walk<br />
through the history of England. Kings<br />
and Queens married, crowned and buried.<br />
Tombs, wall paintings, monumental<br />
sculpture, and memorial tablets. 10.45 Tour<br />
takes about two hours<br />
Meet Tom or Brian outside exit 4 of<br />
Westminster Tube.<br />
SPOKEN WORD<br />
December 29 and 30<br />
Festive Family Tours<br />
House of Parliament<br />
These festive tours start at 11am and<br />
2pm and take about an hour. Kids go<br />
free. Beginning in Prince’s Chamber, the<br />
tours also include the Lords Chamber,<br />
Central Lobby and the Commons<br />
Chamber before finishing in Westminster<br />
Hall which is home to the Parliamentary<br />
Christmas tree. During the tour discover<br />
more about Christmas during the time<br />
of Oliver Cromwell, the influence that<br />
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had<br />
on the festive season we know today and<br />
how Westminster Hall has been a place of<br />
feasting over the years. After the tour, join<br />
Parliament’s Visitor Assistants for some<br />
festive family activities.<br />
Private Guided Tour<br />
Houses of Parliament<br />
A small number of guided tours of the<br />
House of Commons and House of Lords<br />
will run on New Year’s Eve. These tours<br />
are available to private groups of up to<br />
25 people. Tour highlights include the<br />
Queen’s Robing Room, Royal Gallery,<br />
Lords Chamber, Central Lobby,<br />
Commons Chamber, St Stephen’s Hall and<br />
Westminster Hall. Led by an expert ‘Blue<br />
Badge’ guide, each tour takes 90 minutes.<br />
Starting at 30 minute intervals between<br />
9am and 12pm, the price per group is<br />
£475.<br />
January 7<br />
Medieval Music;<br />
To Chant in a Vale of Tears<br />
St Sepulchre Without Newgate<br />
Tears and music have a long history<br />
together, but a show of tears means<br />
different things at different times.<br />
Professor Christopher Page explores the<br />
nature of a lachrymose response in the<br />
‘EXPECT TO<br />
BE AMAZED’<br />
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH<br />
UNDER<br />
18’S GO<br />
HALF<br />
PRICE! *<br />
THE UNSTOPPABLE SMASH HIT!<br />
medieval experience of music. 1pm Free<br />
Holborn Viaduct EC1A 2DQ<br />
020 7831 0575<br />
StompLondon.com<br />
020 7395 5405 | Ambassadors Theatre<br />
January 12<br />
A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled<br />
Howtoacademy at Conway Hall<br />
Ruby Wax puts her high energy with and<br />
humour to an altogether calmer purpose<br />
for the evening talk, based on her studies of<br />
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy at<br />
Oxford University, she will share practical<br />
guidance to solve a problem that affects us<br />
all; stress. 6.45<br />
25 Red Lion Square WC1R 4RL<br />
020 7405 1818<br />
January 12<br />
A Very Brief History of Computing, 1948-<br />
2015<br />
Museum of London<br />
The world’s first modern computer was<br />
unveiled in Manchester in 1948, but was<br />
followed by a series of crises of software,<br />
leading to the most recent software crises,<br />
this time of cybersecurity.<br />
Professor Martyn Thomas leads us through<br />
the complexities, Free<br />
150 London Wall EC2Y 5HN<br />
020 7831 0575<br />
January 11<br />
Learn techniques for energy healing and<br />
meditation<br />
Kensington Central Library<br />
Discover the amazing benefits of healing<br />
energy work to balance your physical and<br />
emotional body. Learn effective techniques<br />
for self-healing, relaxation and well-being.<br />
Phillimore Walk, London W8 7RX<br />
*Tickets usually priced at £52.50 available at half-price for all those 18 and under.<br />
For exclusions and valid dates please visit StompLondon.com<br />
January 13<br />
The Parasite Zoo<br />
Gresham College<br />
Professor Mark Viney on these unlikely<br />
fascinating subjects and their lives. 6.00pm<br />
Barnard’s Inn Hall Holborn<br />
EC1N 2HH<br />
020 7831 0575<br />
January 14<br />
Secret Tunnels Author Antony Clayton<br />
Chelsea Library<br />
So-called secret tunnels are a subject of<br />
perennial interest. Could there really be<br />
labyrinths of hidden passageways under<br />
our ancient buildings, towns and cities,<br />
or are these tunnel tales another seam of<br />
England’s rich folklore? Antony Clayton,<br />
author of Secret Tunnels of England: Folklore<br />
and Fact and Subterranean City: Beneath the<br />
Streets of London will attempt to sort fact<br />
from fiction in this illustrated talk.<br />
Chelsea Old Town Hall, King's Rd,<br />
London SW3 5EZ<br />
January 18<br />
Creative Writing Workshop<br />
Brompton Library<br />
Have you considered writing? Have you a<br />
story to tell or a topic of interest? Do you<br />
want to develop your potential to create<br />
your own art and tap into the creative<br />
economy? Then this workshop may be for<br />
you.<br />
This interactive workshop, working with<br />
a combination of experiential exercises,<br />
feedback and readings, is hosted by<br />
Bella Enahoro, director of WriteBounty,<br />
a Fulham based Creative Writing<br />
organisation designed to empower<br />
James Lane on why STOMP<br />
remains one of the West End's<br />
best loved shows<br />
Recently the West-End show STOMP,<br />
totally unique for its combination<br />
of percussion, movement and visual<br />
comedy, celebrated eight years at<br />
London’s Ambassadors Theatre.<br />
To mark the occasion we spoke to<br />
long time cast member, drummer and<br />
actor James Lane, who has been with<br />
STOMP for 14 years.<br />
Lane who is from the West<br />
Midlands, and has been drumming<br />
since his early youth, trained<br />
professionally as an actor at age 18. As<br />
a performer with such a wide range of<br />
talents, STOMP had immediate appeal,<br />
Lane says; “It’s a clean slate in terms<br />
of acting and performance, there’s no<br />
dialogue - only archetypal characters<br />
- so you can really make a role your<br />
own.” This may be part of the reason<br />
for STOMP’s international success, it<br />
is “not bound by language” and the<br />
‘STOMPers’ make an effort to “tailor<br />
each show” to an individual crowd.<br />
In 2001, Lane attended a six week<br />
‘workshop’ for STOMP, which would<br />
ultimately change his life and see him<br />
become a core STOMPer. Although<br />
rehearsals for STOMP take place<br />
everyday, except on Sundays when<br />
individuals through creativity.<br />
Unleash your inner writer!<br />
210 Old Brompton Rd, London SW5 0BS<br />
January 19<br />
V&A the Lydia & Manfred Gorvy<br />
Lecture Theatre<br />
Grayson Perry in conversation with<br />
Charles Holland about the House for<br />
Essex which Perry designed for Living<br />
Architecture, Holidays in Modern Architecture<br />
scheme. This unique house is an artwork<br />
in itself and a space to display a number of<br />
Grayson’s works. 6.30pm<br />
Cromwell Road SW7 2RL<br />
020 7942 2000<br />
January 26<br />
Elisa Sednaoui: Model, Actor and<br />
Philanthropist<br />
V & A<br />
Model and muse to Karl Lagerfeld and<br />
actor Elisa has always brought a sense of<br />
cultural awareness to her fashion work.<br />
Philanthrophy has alway been her true<br />
passion and in 2013 she set up the Elisa<br />
Sednaoui Foundation, a non-profit<br />
organisation aimed at delivering after<br />
school workshops to promote a sense of<br />
community through the arts, teaching child<br />
groups. She discusses her career and future<br />
plans for her Foundation with Davina Catt.<br />
Cromwell Road SW7 2RL<br />
020 7942 2211<br />
January 26<br />
21st Century Health and Fitness<br />
The Lecture Club<br />
Ben Davies, fitness coach, on looking after<br />
your most valuable asset in today’s hectic<br />
world. 6.30pm<br />
the turn around is too quick, the<br />
performers manage to maintain<br />
the primality and ferocity that is<br />
essential to the show and have a huge<br />
input into the development of their<br />
characters. “There is a lot of scope to<br />
work out what kind of STOMPer you<br />
want to be…about 30% of the show<br />
is improvised”<br />
Lane also credits the friendships<br />
that have grown in the cast for<br />
making the show what it is, with<br />
performers responsive not just to<br />
the audience but each other. This is<br />
something Lane would pass on to<br />
anyone thinking of auditioning for<br />
the show “You have to bring yourself<br />
into it. Don’t try and be someone<br />
else.”<br />
Visit www.stomplondon.com/gettickets/<br />
to purchase tickets<br />
9 Ilchester Place W14 8AA<br />
thelectureclub.com<br />
January 25<br />
The Ethics of Physician-Assisted Suicide<br />
The Museum of London<br />
Professor Browne Lewis’s Fulbright<br />
Lecture looks at the legislation of assisted<br />
suicide in the UK, which is as controversial<br />
as the Death with Dignity Act (DWDA)<br />
that led to its decriminalisation in Oregon<br />
in 1994. What can be learned in the UK<br />
from the USA experience.<br />
150 the London Wall EC2Y 5HN<br />
020 7831 0575<br />
February 1<br />
Winter Survival Strategies<br />
Chelsea Physic Garden<br />
A talk by Michael Holland with a tour of<br />
the garden.<br />
66 Royal Hospital Road Chelsea SW3<br />
4HS<br />
020 7352 5646<br />
February 2<br />
Can You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks<br />
the Lecture Club<br />
Daniel Fryer, CBT therapist and and<br />
hypnotherapist on neuroplasticity and how<br />
to retrain your brain.<br />
9 Ilchester Place London W14 8AA<br />
Compiled and edited by Leila Kooros with<br />
assistance by Fahad Redha and Jeanne<br />
Griffiths.
52 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
53<br />
Arts & Culture Arts & Culture online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Michael<br />
Craig-Martin:<br />
Transience<br />
Simon Denny:<br />
Products for<br />
Organising<br />
Serpentine Gallery and<br />
Serpentine Sackler Gallery<br />
Until 14 February 2016<br />
serpentinegalleries.org<br />
The Serpentine has staged two<br />
exhibitions that, at first glance,<br />
could not be more divergent<br />
or diverse. Although, on reflection,<br />
there is a commonality of ‘product’<br />
that overlaps. Craig-Martin is mildly<br />
obsessed with everyday objects, mostly<br />
obsolete technology, all rendered in<br />
intense flat colour with a thin black<br />
outline around each, whether it be a<br />
laptop, games console, watch, computer,<br />
cassette or incandescent light bulb.<br />
When he painted them, the objects were<br />
cutting edge, and he thought they had a<br />
permanence that would last for years, but<br />
the technology was advancing at such a<br />
rate, objects such as VHS and audiotape<br />
cassettes became redundant, along with<br />
the players, so that there was no means<br />
to access the data in them. Even the<br />
humble light bulb would be outlawed by<br />
the EU and replaced with energy-saving<br />
ones.<br />
Craig-Martin has a meticulous way<br />
of working; firstly, he scans an object,<br />
pulls it through Photoshop, and reduces<br />
it to a basic isometric shape, which he<br />
then projects onto the canvas, which, in<br />
many cases, is painted black. So those<br />
thin black lines are not all that they<br />
seem; through masking and painting<br />
the large expanses of vibrant colour<br />
with four-inch rollers to achieve the<br />
flat effect, they are what is left. Two<br />
of the black and white drawings were<br />
‘painted’ directly onto the walls, using<br />
a projected image and electrical tape,<br />
which can be bent to go round corners.<br />
It is the precision of the works that<br />
is so appealing, and the background<br />
colours he uses, not just on the canvas,<br />
but on the walls of the gallery, as he<br />
did so startlingly at the Royal Academy<br />
Summer Show this year. There is<br />
nothing Farrow and Ball about Mr<br />
Craig-Martin’s colour swatch, shocking<br />
pink, an equally shocking turquoise,<br />
viridian green and deep blue, and in<br />
the first two rooms, he had lined the<br />
walls with his own wallpaper, speciallydesigned<br />
for the show, featuring more<br />
outlines of obsolete objects, this time in<br />
grey on a white background. Only two<br />
of his subjects are non-techy; a running<br />
shoe on a pillarbox-red background and<br />
a carton of McDonald’s-style chips, but<br />
painted in toxic green. He has reduced a<br />
credit card to a minimal purple rectangle<br />
with a black strip and a white signature<br />
box, but still recognisable. The star of<br />
the show is Eye of the Storm, a whirling<br />
maelstrom of out-of-scale objects,<br />
including a garden fork, a safety pin, a<br />
cassette, a knife, a bucket, a pair of pliers,<br />
a metronome, and a light bulb. If there<br />
is a hidden meaning, then it passed me<br />
by, but it is the sheer energy and vibrant<br />
colours that assault and excite the senses.<br />
His most recent works feature a<br />
current lap-top, but these, too, will<br />
doubtless become redundant and<br />
superseded by something thinner,<br />
smaller, and smarter, along with all the<br />
other objects he has rendered.<br />
Hack, either as a noun<br />
or a verb, has a number<br />
of meanings - a humble<br />
horse, a literary drudge or<br />
second-rate journalist, a<br />
rack for feeding animals, a<br />
piece of advice, a walk, an<br />
irritating cough, the act of<br />
chopping, or a kick in the<br />
shins.<br />
Since the 1980s, hacking has<br />
taken on a whole new meaning,<br />
that of unauthorized remote<br />
computer break-ins using<br />
communication networks<br />
such as the Internet. These<br />
criminals are often termed<br />
Black Hats, but there are<br />
those that try to debug and<br />
fix security problems, referred<br />
to as White Hats. Simon<br />
Denny: Products for Organising<br />
is a hi-tech exhibition that<br />
traces the history of hacking,<br />
from its origins in a student<br />
organisation formed at MIT<br />
in 1946, to the present-day<br />
commercial tech companies<br />
like Apple, and Government<br />
Communications Headquarters<br />
in Cheltenham (GCHQ), the<br />
British intelligence and security<br />
organisation and the largest<br />
information-gathering and<br />
listening-post in the world.<br />
Most of the language,<br />
jargon, and terms used by the<br />
designer Simon Denny at<br />
the press view, were virtually<br />
impenetrable, flippantly using<br />
words like Holacracy and<br />
Agile, radical management<br />
practices, tension processing,<br />
branded managerial<br />
techniques, business process<br />
re-engineering, computer<br />
bulletin-board systems<br />
(BBSes), and ARPANET.<br />
My head began to hurt, as,<br />
not only did I not understand<br />
what Mr Denny was telling<br />
us, I didn’t really care. There<br />
was no real explanation as to<br />
exactly how a hacker breaks<br />
into a network, or even why?<br />
There were plenty of vitrines<br />
with computers, flashing lights,<br />
scrawled graphics, plush toys,<br />
books, LED strips, T-shirts,<br />
and hardcore graffiti spray<br />
cans, alongside architectural<br />
models of GCHQ, the Apple<br />
Campus, Zappos and Agile/<br />
Holacracy Workspaces,<br />
covered in graphics, which<br />
were mounted on their ends, so<br />
that the visitor had a bird’seye<br />
perspective on the circular<br />
buildings, but they did not<br />
really bring anything new to<br />
the party.<br />
Don Grant<br />
Photographs © Don Grant<br />
Gillray’s Ghost<br />
Cartoon Museum<br />
35 Little Russell Street,<br />
WC1A 2HH<br />
Until 17 July 2016<br />
Admission £7<br />
The Plumb-Pudding in Danger. James Gilroy. 1805<br />
The Baked Bean in Danger. © Steve Bell. 2015<br />
The great political satirist and<br />
caricaturist James Gillray died<br />
exactly 200 years ago, but his<br />
drawings still resonate and rattle down<br />
through the years. Although revered in<br />
Georgian times, his biting humour and<br />
uncompromising views on politics and<br />
the royals did not go down so well with<br />
the Victorian gentility, and he evaporated<br />
into the ether, only to be ‘re-discovered’<br />
by such artists as Ronald Searle, Ralph<br />
Steadman, and ‘Vicky’. The idea behind<br />
this exhibition is to celebrate the<br />
artist’s work by showing it alongside<br />
other cartoonists’ work which has been<br />
inspired by it, and amongst them are<br />
Leslie Illingworth, Nicholas Garland,<br />
Peter Brookes, Steve Bell, Peter Shrank,<br />
Dave Brown, Martin Rowson, Chris<br />
Duggan, and Morten Morland. The only<br />
problem in doing this is that none are as<br />
good as the original, and a parody of a<br />
truly original and innovative comment<br />
from two centuries away will always be<br />
seen as a poor relation.<br />
Fourteen years ago Tate Britain put<br />
on a Gillray show, with over 220 works<br />
on display, mostly on loan from the<br />
British Museum, which showed the<br />
astonishing range of his subject matter,<br />
techniques, and draughtsmanship. This<br />
exhibition can only scratch at the surface<br />
of his brilliant wit and dazzling skills,<br />
with such well-known gems as The<br />
Plumb-Pudding in Danger, which has<br />
been pastiched by half a dozen artists,<br />
including Steve Bell, who portrayed<br />
David Cameron and Nicola Sturgeon<br />
carving up a giant baked bean. It seems<br />
as though Bell’s<br />
depiction of<br />
Cameron has<br />
almost morphed<br />
into Martin<br />
Rowson’s smooth<br />
red saveloy, except<br />
Bell has upped<br />
the smoothness<br />
by pulling a<br />
condom over<br />
his head. Other<br />
proponents<br />
depicted carving<br />
up the ‘political<br />
football’ have<br />
been Blair and<br />
Helmut Kohl<br />
slicing through<br />
John Major’s head<br />
by Richard Cole;<br />
Tony Blair again,<br />
this time with<br />
Jacques Chirac by<br />
Jensen; Nicholas<br />
Garland’s Mrs<br />
Thatcher and<br />
David Steel<br />
carving up<br />
Denis Healey’s<br />
head; and Dave<br />
Brown’s The<br />
Scotch Pudding in<br />
Nae Danger, with<br />
Blair serving up<br />
Gordon Brown<br />
as a haggis to George Dubya. Not one<br />
of these comes even close to Gillray’s<br />
original etching for shear brilliance.<br />
There is a thin, etched line between<br />
homage and rip-off, and Nicholas<br />
Garland’s take on the MPs’ expenses<br />
scandal has merely lifted Gillroy’s<br />
original Fashionable Contrasts, and put<br />
nothing else into the drawing except a<br />
couple of labels, one saying “MP” and<br />
the other,“Taxpayers”, which smacks of<br />
laziness. Another of his great cartoons<br />
is A Voluptuary under the Horrors of<br />
Digestion, depicting a debauched and<br />
bloated Prince of Wales slumped in a<br />
seat picking his teeth with a fork. Even<br />
his coat of arms is parodied as a crossed<br />
knife and fork, and there are a couple<br />
of little jars behind him on a table, one<br />
labelled “Drops for stinking breath”, and<br />
the other “For the Piles”. Chris Duggan<br />
has updated this as A Select Committee<br />
Absentee under the Delights of an Expense<br />
Account, which makes an excellent<br />
lampoon, but what this exhibition does is<br />
underline the notion that nobody really<br />
comes anywhere near the standard of this<br />
father of political cartooning.<br />
Don Grant<br />
High Spirits<br />
The Comic Art<br />
of Thomas Rowlandson<br />
The Queen’s Gallery,<br />
Buckingham Palace<br />
Until 14 February 2016<br />
Admission £10<br />
In conjunction with another exhibition,<br />
Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in<br />
the Age of Vermeer, High Spirits covers<br />
some of the same ground, although, at<br />
first, it is hard to make the connection.<br />
The common thread running through<br />
both is in the observation of everyday<br />
life, with the Dutch paintings of the<br />
Royal Collection. The subject matter<br />
could be what has since been described<br />
as genre painting, such as a merrymaking<br />
in a tavern scene, with people playing<br />
cards and flirting, or a market, an<br />
interior, or simply a portrait. Rowlandson<br />
has the same witty depictions of the<br />
absurdities of fashion, political and<br />
royal intrigue, and love. Most of this<br />
collection of drawings and etchings were<br />
amassed by George III, George IV and,<br />
surprisingly, Queen Victoria and Prince<br />
Albert. Rowlandson is not only known<br />
as a biting satirist, but also as a fine and<br />
prolific erotic artist. When questioned as<br />
to why there was none of this work on<br />
display, Kate Heard, Senior Curator of<br />
Prints and Drawings, said that Victoria<br />
had destroyed all the Rowlandson<br />
pornography that George IV had<br />
previously collected. I pointed out the<br />
thin distinction between eroticism and<br />
pornography - with eroticism one uses<br />
a feather; with pornography, the whole<br />
chicken. Ms Heard said that Rowlandson<br />
certainly used the whole chicken.<br />
Satirical printmaking was an<br />
established tradition in Georgian Britain,<br />
with its long history of freedom of<br />
speech, and the fashionable elite queued<br />
up to collect them as soon as they were<br />
published, from other artists<br />
such as James Gillray, James<br />
Sayers, and the Cruikshank<br />
family. Gillray and Rowlandson<br />
were contemporaries and would<br />
have coffee together whilst<br />
discussing the latest royal<br />
affair or scandal, such as the<br />
resignation of the Commanderin-Chief<br />
of the British Army,<br />
George III’s second son, The<br />
Duke of York, after his mistress<br />
Mary Anne Clarke was accused<br />
of accepting money in return<br />
for obtaining promotions in<br />
the army. Although George<br />
IV was an avid collector, he<br />
also attempted to suppress<br />
those that showed him and<br />
the royal family in a bad light,<br />
particularly when dealing with<br />
his debts or affairs. Debauchery<br />
was another subject in which he<br />
was particularly interested, as<br />
there was plenty of it about at the end of<br />
the nineteenth century, and Rowlandson<br />
himself drank and gambled away his<br />
inheritance from a wealthy aunt, which<br />
initially made it possible for him to study<br />
at the Royal Academy Schools.<br />
He was a fine artist, with a<br />
distinctive flowing style and a healthy<br />
sense of the absurd, who was able to<br />
capture a likeness with an economy<br />
of line rarely bettered. He introduces<br />
us to the lecherous squires; dashing,<br />
young dandies; busty serving wenches;<br />
ruddy-faced politicians; bawdy tarts;<br />
and the dissolute Prince of Wales with<br />
his cronies. It is also a very good way<br />
to learn about British history in the<br />
time of the Regency, with manifold<br />
machinations going on behind the<br />
scenes, particularly with William Pitt<br />
the Younger, Charles James Fox, and<br />
the Duchess of Devonshire, who is<br />
portrayed in one cartoon canvassing<br />
Fox’s candidacy by kissing voters.<br />
Current affairs, particularly the<br />
ongoing war between Britain and<br />
France, was another target for his<br />
sharp eye, as was the theatre, where he<br />
had many friends, and he turned his<br />
attention to the audience, showing their<br />
reaction to the play, whether comedy<br />
or tragedy. In another hand-coloured<br />
etching entitled The Prospect Before Us,<br />
the view is from the back of the stage of<br />
the Pantheon looking out and depicts<br />
two ballet dancers in the foreground, but<br />
it is the orchestra and rows upon rows of<br />
audience that demand attention. Boxes<br />
at the sides contain the fashionably<br />
dressed beau monde of London, who<br />
were as much the focus of attention for<br />
the audience as were the performers,<br />
and there are literally hundreds of<br />
tiny figures, each one differently<br />
drawn. Fashion was another target<br />
for Rowlandson, and he relentlessly<br />
ridiculed it at every level, with some<br />
biting caricatures, like A Little Tighter<br />
and A Little Bigger.<br />
Don Grant<br />
Doctor Convex and Lady Concave
54 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
55<br />
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Egypt: Faith after<br />
the Pharaohs<br />
Until 7th February 2016<br />
The British Museum<br />
Room 35<br />
Bejewelled Treasures:<br />
The Al Thani Collection.<br />
Victoria and Albert Museum.<br />
Until 28th March 2016<br />
The Mughal Emperors' vision<br />
beyond the battlefields of<br />
conquest gave the world a<br />
wondrous legacy of priceless treasures.<br />
The Mongols conquered and ruled many<br />
countries, including most of Northern<br />
India, during the early 16th century until<br />
the late 18th century. Their Emperors<br />
were not only warriors, but aesthetes,<br />
patronising Science and the Arts.<br />
The best known Mughal Emperor<br />
was Shah Jahan, who ruled in India<br />
from 1628 to 1658. During this period,<br />
culture reached supreme heights. The Taj<br />
Mahal is an eternal witness to this great<br />
age. But, perhaps, the real legacy lies in<br />
the personal jewellery and objets d’art of<br />
these extraordinary rulers.<br />
Many treasures of the Mughal<br />
Emperors can be seen in the collection<br />
of HH Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al<br />
Thani, a member of the Qatari ruling<br />
family, which is being exhibited at the<br />
Victoria and Albert Museum. It is<br />
interesting to see how Mughal themes<br />
have influenced jewellery design today, as<br />
seen in Cartier's work.<br />
HH Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah<br />
Al Thani was fascinated by the jewels<br />
of India from an early age and the<br />
Maharaja Exhibition in 2009 at the V&A<br />
impressed him deeply. It inspired him to<br />
form his amazing collection, which was<br />
exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum<br />
of Art in New York last year. It gives<br />
him pleasure for the world to see his<br />
treasures.<br />
Words fail when describing the<br />
unsurpassed beauty of these art forms.<br />
They transcend the power of language.<br />
The exhibition shows the Shah Jahan<br />
Emerald, inscribed with the Imperial<br />
title Padishah (Master of Kings). He did<br />
not have the right to that title, which<br />
shows his intent to overthrow his father.<br />
Also on view is his dagger, the handle<br />
is carved from a single jade block<br />
surmounted by a boy’s head. This could<br />
have been carved earlier than the blade<br />
by Venetian craftsmen, who gave the<br />
boy a European look. There were also<br />
Persian craftsmen at the Mughal Courts,<br />
as indicated by the pen case and inkwell<br />
on display.<br />
Observe the fine workmanship of a flask<br />
set with gems and admire the tiered ruby<br />
choker made by Jacques Cartier in 1931<br />
for the Maharaja of Patiala. Do not miss<br />
the golden rosewater sprinkler inlaid<br />
with cabochon rubies and emeralds<br />
separated by rows of half pearls. It is an<br />
honour to look upon this treasure.<br />
Left: © V&A London<br />
above: The Al Thani Collection<br />
© Servette Overseas Limited.<br />
Photograph Prudence Cuming<br />
Associates<br />
below: © V&A London<br />
bottom: The Al Thani Collection<br />
© Servette Overseas Limited.<br />
Photograph Prudence Cuming<br />
Associates<br />
Empires and their rulers are transient,<br />
jewellery is eternal and strangely<br />
animate.<br />
Marian Maitland<br />
This inspiring exhibition is curated by<br />
Susan Strong, and sponsored by Wartski.<br />
It forms part of the V&A India Festival.<br />
Advance Booking recommended:<br />
T: 0800 912 6961 www.vam.ac.uk<br />
Victoria and Albert Museum.<br />
Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL<br />
The ancient Egyptians, creators<br />
of many gods, ceased to rule<br />
their native land after enduring<br />
successive conquests. But the gods of<br />
their Kingdom did not immediately lose<br />
their spiritual power, the conquerors<br />
respected and embellished this<br />
pantheistic worship.<br />
Much research and scholarship<br />
has been devoted to the period of the<br />
Pharaohs in Egypt, but the sweep of<br />
history after 30 BC has been neglected<br />
and the survival story of their gods has<br />
faded.<br />
Egypt: Faith after the Pharaohs is<br />
the first major exhibition to present a<br />
history of Egypt after the Pharaohs,<br />
dating from 30 BC, when Egypt became<br />
a province of the Roman Empire,<br />
following the death of Queen Cleopatra.<br />
The exhibition portrays events up to<br />
1171 AD when the rule of the Fatimid<br />
Dynasty ended.<br />
An amazing amount of archaeological<br />
material has survived due to Egypt’s<br />
arid climate. Two hundred objects are<br />
displayed, all having various uses. Some<br />
were institutional, others were domestic.<br />
There are luxury goods too. A wealth of<br />
texts, scriptures, legal documents, and<br />
letters were discovered in rubbish heaps<br />
in ancient towns. Many are exhibited,<br />
and including letters from the Roman<br />
Emperor, Claudius. A deep insight into<br />
the everyday life of communities of<br />
different faiths, living mostly in harmony,<br />
is revealed through these exhibits.<br />
The exhibition explores in depth the<br />
transition in Egypt from polytheism (the<br />
worship of a pantheon) to monotheism<br />
(the worship of one God, as found in<br />
the Abrahamic religions of Judaism,<br />
Christianity, and Islam). It clearly shows<br />
how these three faiths reinterpreted<br />
the polytheism of the Pharaohs. The<br />
Muslims were fascinated by ancient<br />
Egyptian monuments and recorded<br />
them. The exhibition emphasises<br />
the survival of the ancient Egyptian<br />
gods through the Persian, Greek, and<br />
Roman Conquests. Some even started<br />
wearing Greek drapery and Roman<br />
armour! Some ancient monuments were<br />
destroyed, but others were adapted or<br />
reused. Parts of ancient temples were<br />
incorporated into Christian Churches.<br />
In Judaism, there is one god and<br />
He acts in history; the Jews believe He<br />
granted them freedom from slavery<br />
under the Pharaohs. He is omnipotent<br />
and an intrinsic part of their being.<br />
There were several Jewish communities<br />
in Egypt and they lived almost peacefully<br />
with the Pagans. There were only<br />
sporadic episodes of violence.<br />
Christianity arrived in this scene<br />
of fluid, mingling faiths with strong<br />
monotheistic views. Its followers were<br />
known as Copts. They adapted Jewish<br />
scriptures into Greek translations as<br />
their Old Testament, and later added<br />
Gospels and epistles to form their New<br />
Testament. When the Roman Emperor<br />
Constantine converted to Christianity,<br />
the ancient Egyptian gods did not meet<br />
with his approval. It is significant that<br />
Christianity became the State Religion<br />
which gave its adherents power. This<br />
did not bode well for the old gods. By<br />
395 AD Christianity was the dominant<br />
religion in Egypt, made strong by<br />
learning and scholarship. However,<br />
Christianity became divided over the<br />
definition of Christ, as to whether he<br />
was God and this led to confrontation<br />
Left: bronze head of the<br />
Emperor Augustus. The<br />
Trustees of the British<br />
Museum<br />
above: Codex Sinaiticus ©<br />
British Library<br />
below: Solomon<br />
Schechter at his desk<br />
working on documents<br />
from Cairo.<br />
By kind permission of<br />
Syndics of Cambridge<br />
University Library<br />
with Caesar.<br />
In 639 AD the armies of Islam<br />
invaded Egypt and by the 10th Century<br />
AD Islam became the dominant religion<br />
as Christianity had before. The Muslims<br />
did not accept the Bible and had their<br />
own Holy Scripture, The Qu’ran. The<br />
oldest surviving Life of the Prophet<br />
Mohammed, to whom the Religion was<br />
relayed, was written in Egypt. Egypt<br />
became the centre of Islamic civilisation.<br />
Great mosques of much beauty were<br />
built and the art of calligraphy flourished.<br />
Cairo was founded as the Capital. In 972<br />
A.D. the University of Al-Azhar was<br />
founded.<br />
Three significant treasures are seen<br />
on arrival at the exhibition, firstly the<br />
Hebrew Bible, the earliest surviving<br />
Jewish manuscript of illumination from<br />
the Middle East. Secondly the Christian<br />
New Testament, which is part of the<br />
4th century Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest<br />
surviving Bible and complete copy of<br />
the New Testament. Thirdly, the Qu’ran,<br />
which is copied in an angular script,<br />
known as Kufic. It is from the Middle<br />
East and can be dated between 9th and<br />
10th centuries.<br />
The interaction between Classical<br />
and Christian motifs can be seen in a<br />
pair of door curtains depicting Cupids<br />
and Winged Victory figures. The latter<br />
reveal a jewelled cross. Iconography is<br />
often fused as seen in the statue of the<br />
ancient Egyptian God, Horus adorned<br />
in Roman armour.<br />
The letter from the Roman Emperor<br />
Claudius concerning the cult of the<br />
Divine Emperor and the position of the<br />
Jews in Alexandria must not be missed.<br />
There is good statuary in the<br />
exhibition. The bronze head of the<br />
Emperor Augustus is impressive,<br />
previously a part of a life size figure.<br />
Note the authority in his plaster and<br />
calcite eyes as he surveys the exhibition.<br />
His great nephew, Germanicus, is<br />
portrayed as a heroic youth. He is not<br />
in good condition, but does advertise<br />
the exhibition. Note the incised cross on<br />
his forehead indicating tension as a new<br />
religion was arising.<br />
The jewellery, gemstones, and<br />
amulets are evocative and the carved<br />
ivories show fine detailed workmanship.<br />
I was moved by the exhibit of<br />
a child’s knitted woollen sock with<br />
separate toes like a glove.<br />
This exhibition is supported by the<br />
Blavatnik Family Foundation and is<br />
a collaboration between the Staatliche<br />
Museen Zu in Berlin and the British<br />
Museum.<br />
During this serious, academic, and<br />
well documented exhibition you can see<br />
many exhibits which will appeal to a<br />
wide audience.<br />
Do watch the video which shows<br />
heart-warming scenes of Christians<br />
encircling and protecting Muslims at<br />
Prayer and Muslims guarding Christians<br />
at Prayer. The world hopes for peace.<br />
Marian Maitland<br />
The British Museum<br />
Great Russell Street<br />
London WC1B 3DG<br />
T : 020 7323 8181<br />
e-mail britishmuseum.org./egypt
56 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
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Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
57<br />
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Masters of the<br />
Everyday:<br />
Dutch Artists<br />
in the Age of<br />
Vermeer<br />
The Queen’s Gallery<br />
Buckingham Palace<br />
Until 14th February 2016.<br />
Divine frivolity and incongruity,<br />
so often apparent in peasant life,<br />
appealed to 17th century Dutch<br />
Artists. They portrayed rumbustious fun<br />
in village taverns and the contrasting<br />
peace of domesticity. The paintings<br />
reveal families relaxing as they played<br />
games and enjoyed music. The subject<br />
matter is, doubtless, unremarkable,<br />
but the rendering is superb with<br />
extraordinary attention to detail. These<br />
painters were masters in the depiction of<br />
space and light. They interwove humour<br />
and messages of morality into their<br />
paintings in a subtle form. Rustic charm<br />
and coarse humour pervaded these<br />
portrayals of peasant life. Later, some of<br />
the advanced humour was over painted<br />
as tastes changed.<br />
During a conservation on Isack van<br />
Ostade’s A Village Fair with a Church<br />
Behind, a squatting figure answering<br />
a call of nature was revealed. He was<br />
later reinvented and painted over as a<br />
shrubbery! Likewise, Jan Steen’s A Village<br />
Revel shows drinking and brawling<br />
outside a village Inn. The Tavern sign<br />
sported a man exposing his buttocks.<br />
This was later over painted as a bull’s<br />
head.<br />
Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of<br />
the Queen's Pictures and Curator of the<br />
Exhibition said:<br />
“Dutch Painters often include people<br />
or animals answering the call of nature<br />
partly as a joke and partly to remind the<br />
viewers of that crucial word ‘nature’, the<br />
inspiration for their art. Queen Victoria<br />
thought the Dutch Paintings in her<br />
collection were painted in ‘a low style’;<br />
two years after her death perhaps a royal<br />
advisor felt similarly”.<br />
During the 17th century the Royal<br />
Families of Britain and the Netherlands<br />
were closely connected. In 1613 James<br />
I’s daughter, Elizabeth Stuart, married<br />
Frederick V, Elector Palatine, grandson<br />
of William I of Orange. In 1677, their<br />
son, William III, married James II’s<br />
daughter Mary. These two seized the<br />
British Throne in 1688 during the<br />
Glorious Revolution and established the<br />
Constitutional Monarchy as we know it<br />
today.<br />
British Monarchs were commissioners<br />
and collectors of Dutch art. Charles I<br />
received the first Rembrandt to come to<br />
Hendrick Pot, Charles I, Henrietta Maria and Charles, Prince of Wales, later Charles II, c.1632<br />
Ludolf de Jongh, 'A Formal Garden: Three Ladies Surprised by a Gentleman', c.1676<br />
England and George IV was particularly<br />
fond of the Dutch art of everyday scenes.<br />
The exhibition Masters of the<br />
Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of<br />
Vermeer has been created in partnership<br />
with the Royal Picture Gallery<br />
Mauritshuis, The Hague, where it will be<br />
shown in the Autumn of 2016.<br />
Some very fine works of the Dutch<br />
painters are on display. Rembrandt van<br />
Rijn's portrait of an old woman, The<br />
Artist's Mother (1627-1629), was a gift<br />
to Charles I from his Ambassador, Sir<br />
Robert Kerr, at the Court of the exiled<br />
King and Queen of Bohemia. Being the<br />
first of Rembrandt's paintings to arrive<br />
in England, it established the artist's<br />
name.<br />
Music is a recurring theme in Dutch<br />
painting. Johannes Vermeer’s Lady at the<br />
Virginals with a Gentleman, also known<br />
as The Music Lesson, was purchased<br />
by George III. Vermeer's mastery of<br />
perspective draws the eye to the two<br />
figures in the rear of the room. The<br />
young woman's face is only seen in a<br />
reflection in the mirror. It is hard to<br />
say whether the subject is enjoyment of<br />
music or romance, as they so often go<br />
together. Again, these two themes are<br />
represented in Gabriel Metsu’s The Cello<br />
Player, in which a woman makes her<br />
entrance and is greeted by her pet dog<br />
as her suitor tunes his cello. The detail<br />
of her dress is exquisite. There is an<br />
atmosphere of expectation in the scene.<br />
Jan Steen’s A Woman at her Toilet<br />
(1663) shows how messages of morality<br />
found their way into Dutch paintings.<br />
Viewer becomes voyeur observing an<br />
unmade bed and a woman not dressed. A<br />
lute with a broken string and a flameless<br />
candle clearly indicate the perils of<br />
submitting to sensuality.<br />
Several paintings in the exhibition<br />
portray jollity and pleasure. Jan Steen’s<br />
Card Players in a Tavern (1664) clearly<br />
depicts pleasure with the mussels<br />
scattered in the foreground with a<br />
dustpan and brush is particularly<br />
effective. Other works of tavern scenes<br />
by Steen show how the Dutch painters<br />
brought to life music, drinking, dancing,<br />
and jollity in their paintings of the<br />
Golden Age of Dutch art.<br />
The realistic rendering of domestic<br />
scenes is well illustrated in The Young<br />
Mother (1658) by Gerrit Dou. The light<br />
shining forth on a new life and the<br />
Madonna like figure of the mother are<br />
truly inspirational. Further portrayal of<br />
domesticity is beautifully revealed in<br />
Pieter de Hooch’s A Courtyard in Delft<br />
at Evening, a Woman Spinning (1657).<br />
Beneath a bright blue sky a woman spins<br />
in the shadow whilst another figure<br />
comes out of the sunlight into the shade.<br />
The Netherlands were leaders in<br />
commerce, art, and science during the<br />
Golden Age; and the scenes of music,<br />
pleasure, and domesticity in the Dutch<br />
paintings reflects the spirit of that<br />
glorious age.<br />
Marian Maitland<br />
Visitor Information and tickets for the<br />
Queen’s Gallery :<br />
www.royalcollection.org.uk<br />
T: + 44 (0) 303123 7301<br />
Pictures: Royal Collection Trust© HM Queen Elizabeth II. 2015<br />
Artist & Empire<br />
Tate Britain<br />
Until 10 April 2016<br />
Admission £14.50<br />
tate.org.uk<br />
Here we go again - another<br />
‘worthy’ academic exhibition<br />
at Tate Britain, from the same<br />
stable as Edourard Muybridge, Victorious<br />
Sculpture, Salt and Silver, Ruin Lust<br />
and British Folk Art. The curators have<br />
amassed a cornucopia of objects from<br />
all over the globe, and there are some<br />
remarkable works on display, including<br />
George Stubbs’s A Cheetah and a Stag<br />
with two Indian Attendants, but there<br />
are also deeply kitsch and sentimental<br />
paintings, like Millais’s North-West<br />
Passage, Joseph Noel Paton’s In<br />
Memoriam, Eastwood Ho! August, 1857<br />
by Henry Nelson O’Neil, and Benjamin<br />
West’s Death of General Wolfe. One<br />
enormous canvas is entitled Retribution<br />
by Edward Armitage, an allegorical<br />
scene of a ferocious-looking Justice as<br />
Britannia about to plunge a sword into a<br />
Bengal tiger’s breast, symbolising Britain<br />
taking revenge for the Indian mutiny.<br />
There are a few gems, like John Singer<br />
Sargent’s portrait of the caddish Sir<br />
Frank Swettenham, and Augustus John’s<br />
one of T E Lawrence in desert gear, and<br />
UK/RAINE<br />
Saatchi Gallery<br />
Until January 3, 2016<br />
Admission Free<br />
http://www.saatchigallery.com<br />
Presumably some bright spark at<br />
Saatchi came up with the snappy<br />
portmanteau title UK/RAINE,<br />
which was an open competition and<br />
exhibition, showcasing emerging artists<br />
from the UK and Ukraine, aged between<br />
18 and 35, living, working or born in<br />
either country. The private view and<br />
prize-giving was a massive bun-fight<br />
peopled by the many artists, jeunesse<br />
dorée, hangers-on, and liggers being<br />
topped up with copious amounts of<br />
champagne. The Ukrainian Firtash<br />
Foundation funded the initiative, and<br />
provided £75,000 in prize money to<br />
the winners; £20,000 going to Sergiy<br />
Petlyuk for his extraordinary best-inshow<br />
animated hanging installation,<br />
Tolerated Violence, which was draped<br />
across one of the galleries. At the other<br />
end, Mariia Kulikovska, a naked lady in<br />
a pink wig, sunglasses and Rosa Klebb<br />
shoes, emerged from a door and began<br />
attacking her sculpture Homo Bulla,<br />
which comprised three of her own bodycasts<br />
made of soap, with a hammer. This<br />
Johann Zoffany’s Colonel Mordaunt’s<br />
Cock Match, but this show has an ‘oldfashioned’<br />
feel to it, and not just because<br />
it is stuffed with Victoriana, like a<br />
provincial museum.<br />
The British Empire was the largest<br />
the world has ever seen, and yet, as<br />
with all the others, it faded away and<br />
is now a mere shadow of its former<br />
greatness. One of the problems with<br />
staging a show such as this is one of<br />
editing some of the more controversial<br />
topics surrounding Britain’s sometimes<br />
appalling behaviour on the world<br />
stage, with copious incidents of wars,<br />
exploitation, plundering, oppression<br />
and slavery. However, for better or<br />
worse, the British Empire had a massive<br />
impact on the history of the world for<br />
over two centuries. By 1922, more than<br />
450 million people lived in the British<br />
Empire, which was more than one fifth<br />
of the world’s population at that time,<br />
and covered almost a quarter of the<br />
Earth’s total land area, but by the end of<br />
the 20th century, it had diminished to a<br />
few overseas territories. Every schoolboy<br />
knew the maxim that it was “the empire<br />
on which the sun never sets”, as it was<br />
so large that the sun was always shining<br />
somewhere in it, which comprised<br />
dominions, colonies, protectorates,<br />
mandates and other territories.<br />
The maps and charts are a fascinating<br />
diversion, displaying vast tracts of red<br />
across the globe, and were used by the<br />
military, the navy, road and railway<br />
Roman Mikhaylov with his<br />
sculpture Shadows<br />
© Don Grant<br />
apparently echoed the destruction and<br />
looting of the Izolyatsia Centre once<br />
based in Donetsk, but now relocated<br />
to Kiev, forced there by the conflict in<br />
eastern Ukraine.<br />
The Installation Prize of £10,000 was<br />
deservedly won by Roman Mikhaylov,<br />
whose ships made of charcoaled wood,<br />
Shadows, were reminiscent of Anselm<br />
Keifer’s U-boat display at the Royal<br />
Mahadaji Sindhia entertaining<br />
a British naval officer and<br />
military officer with a Nautch,<br />
1815-20, by a Dehli School<br />
artist. The British Library<br />
Board<br />
builders and trading companies, like<br />
the East India Company, which formed<br />
the backbone of the empire. In the<br />
same gallery there are some gloriously<br />
colourful Ghanaian Asafo flag collages<br />
by Fante artists, like union jacks on<br />
acid, and Andrew Gilbert has installed<br />
a tableau of life-size marching British<br />
soldiers in military red coats under a<br />
sun-shade, one with a kitchen knife<br />
sticking out of his face, which is covered<br />
in a straw African mask, others with pith<br />
helmets, carrying cups of tea and wearing<br />
black, high-heeled kinky boots. It is<br />
not clear whether this is his ironic view<br />
of how the Brits were perceived by the<br />
colonised, or just ‘avin’ a laugh. There are<br />
many other examples of how they saw us,<br />
through African and South Sea Island<br />
sculptures, so it not all about plundered<br />
Academy exactly a year ago. There<br />
was a public vote, which was won by a<br />
British artist, Olivia Bax, whose Sink<br />
or Swim structure was made from<br />
handmade paper, pulped sticks, and<br />
yellow sculptured sandwiches, lassoed<br />
together with bungee cord; and the work<br />
is installed differently each time it is put<br />
together. The organisers must be pleased<br />
with their efforts in providing financial<br />
treasures, or overblown paintings of<br />
heroic deeds in fighting, and sometimes<br />
losing, against the indigenous hoards we<br />
were trying to suppress and exploit.<br />
The exhibition comes up-to-date<br />
with a number of works by postimperial<br />
artists from the Caribbean,<br />
the Antipodes, Oceania, Canada,<br />
particularly Aubrey Williams and<br />
Donald Locke from British Guiana,<br />
Ben Enwonwu and Uzo Egonu from<br />
Nigeria, Avinash Chandra and Bairaj<br />
Khanna from India, and Sidney Nolan<br />
from Australia, who, it appears, doesn't<br />
just paint Ned Kelly. It is not the quality<br />
of the works on show, but the manner<br />
in which they have been displayed,<br />
interpreted, captioned and juxtaposed,<br />
that makes this potentially fascinating<br />
story so dull. Don Grant<br />
support for young artists and help in<br />
building a cultural bridge between the<br />
two countries. The exhibition continues<br />
the collaboration between the Firtash<br />
Foundation and Saatchi Gallery as part<br />
of the Days of Ukraine in the UK festival<br />
and follows on from the huge success of<br />
Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now, which<br />
ran at the Saatchi Gallery last year.<br />
Don Grant
58 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
59<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Photograph © Sophie Winham<br />
Bernard Cohen:<br />
About Now<br />
By Ian McKay<br />
Flowers Gallery<br />
ISBN 978-1-906412-71-5<br />
92pp. £30<br />
I<br />
have always been a bit wary of<br />
the word ‘zany’ - it conjures up<br />
amusingly unconventional and<br />
idiosyncratic humour, and derives from<br />
a clownish character in Commedia<br />
dell’arte, Zanni. Cohen states that he<br />
struggles with the titles of his paintings,<br />
and yet has named four Zany at Home,<br />
Zany in Grey, Zany Again and Zany in<br />
the Detail, which, apart from the lack of<br />
humour, are certainly unconventional<br />
and idiosyncratic. Complex swirling<br />
shapes, overlapping colours, geometric<br />
lines, rectangles and circles, squiggles,<br />
all meticulously laid in acrylic or oil<br />
on canvas or linen, using masking tape<br />
to achieve the overlaying effects, some<br />
like a smashed Victorian mosaic tiled<br />
floor, others like those 3D stereogram<br />
images, where one’s eyes have to go ‘lazy’<br />
to see the hidden picture within. David<br />
Hockney said, when trying to paint<br />
swimming pools in California, he was<br />
influenced not only by Dubuffet, but by<br />
Cohen’s ‘Spaghetti Paintings’. In some<br />
later works textures and stencilled and<br />
painted shapes, are enmeshed in layers<br />
of patterns and motifs, like aeroplanes,<br />
to produce a dizzying assault on the<br />
senses. He titled several paintings after<br />
Billy Wilder’s Cold War comedy One,<br />
Two, Three, starring James Cagney as a<br />
Coca Cola executive in West Berlin, but,<br />
for some inexplicable reason, called the<br />
series One, Two, Three, Four, and there<br />
are no clues in the works as to what they<br />
have to do with this funny, rapid-fire<br />
satire.<br />
The academic and critic Ian McKay<br />
has written what amounts to a treatise<br />
on Cohen, and intellectualises on the<br />
meaning behind his work, citing T.S.<br />
Eliot, Samuel Beckett, Jean-Paul Sartre,<br />
Albert Camus and existentialism, Henri<br />
Bergson, Thomas Hardy, even Joseph<br />
Conrad. But are his paintings that<br />
complicated and imbued with deep and<br />
hidden meanings? McKay was minded<br />
to ask Cohen whether he had painted a<br />
self-portrait, but found the question no<br />
longer relevant, as he now reckons that<br />
his paintings are all self-portraits. Well,<br />
call me old-fashioned, but I just don’t<br />
buy that. He is patently obsessed with<br />
his subject, even re-reading those novels<br />
that Cohen has been reading; works by<br />
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Philip Roth, and<br />
Donna Tartt, concluding that what they<br />
all have in common is “secrets that define<br />
the human being”.<br />
Cohen trained at St Martin’s, then<br />
the Slade, in the 1950s, returning in<br />
1988 to become Chair, Professor, and<br />
Director of Slade School of Fine Art, a<br />
post he held for 12 years. His first solo<br />
exhibition was at Gimpel Fils in 1958,<br />
and since then he has had one-man<br />
shows at Kasmin, Waddington, and, of<br />
course, Flowers East, West and Central,<br />
a Retrospective at the Hayward in 1972,<br />
and 48 of the works of this important<br />
British abstract expressionist painter are<br />
held by Tate, but none from the 2000-<br />
2015 period covered in this book.<br />
Don Grant<br />
They All Love<br />
Jack: Busting the<br />
Ripper<br />
By Bruce Robinson<br />
Harper<br />
ISBN-10: 006229637X<br />
They All Love Jack is Bruce Robinson’s<br />
800 page doorstop of an attempt to<br />
figure out what has baffled many: just<br />
who murdered (at least) five women<br />
in 1888? Who was Jack the Ripper?<br />
It started out as a £15 pub bet that<br />
Robinson couldn’t solve the mystery,<br />
made over a decade ago, but it is easy to<br />
see that it developed into an obsession.<br />
Robinson’s writing is personal,<br />
engaging, and scathing; however his<br />
gonzo-esque style means that he has a<br />
tendency to ramble and sometimes the<br />
direction of the dialogue will abruptly<br />
lurch. A chapter focused on discussing a<br />
particular murder will end up containing<br />
a rant about the immorality of the<br />
Victorians and a handful of paragraphs,<br />
seemingly out of place, on Freemason<br />
archaeology.<br />
One really has to jump on Robinson’s<br />
train of thought and hold on, as he<br />
obviously considers all these things<br />
relevant and in their proper place,<br />
which, given that this is an argument<br />
being made in support of a theory<br />
and not fiction, means that it must<br />
make sense to him, at least. And the<br />
immorality of the Victorians and<br />
Freemasonry are the heart Robinson’s<br />
case, the target of his thrusts, joined<br />
on the chopping block with the rest of<br />
Ripperology.<br />
It’s almost a shame that he felt<br />
the need to try to solve the case.<br />
As a criticism of an attack upon<br />
the Victorians, the related culture<br />
of Freemasonry, and self-declared<br />
Ripperologists, the text is powerful and<br />
merciless.<br />
Robinson’s problem is that of many<br />
conspiracy theorists; that just because<br />
your argument makes sense doesn’t<br />
mean it’s right. Robinson constructs<br />
the theoretical framework within which<br />
his argument runs smoothly, however<br />
it comes short of persuading that this<br />
is what actually happened: There is a<br />
difference between what could have<br />
happened and what did, what makes<br />
sense and what is.<br />
Robinson’s attempt to solve<br />
the case is a shame, not because it<br />
is unconvincing, but because it is,<br />
obviously, the point of this behemoth.<br />
Had it simply been a few hundred pages<br />
titled Why I hate the Victorians, and why<br />
you should too, then it would have been<br />
far more tolerable to read; as it stands, it<br />
is a task.<br />
Approach it as a rational argument,<br />
and Robinson’s writing style may quickly<br />
obscure a clean reading; approach it as a<br />
quirky text with a sharp edge, something<br />
a little risqué, and all the Ripper stuff<br />
gets in the way. Which, unfortunately,<br />
leaves it somewhat unapproachable.<br />
Fergus Coltsmann<br />
John Le Carré:<br />
The Biography<br />
By Adam Sisman,<br />
Bloomsbury, £25 hardback,<br />
ISBN 9781408827925<br />
For Anton Chekhov, “Every person lives<br />
his real, most interesting life under the<br />
cover of secrecy”. David Cornwell, spy<br />
turned novelist John Le Carré, is no<br />
exception then, and what a life it is. Now<br />
aged 84, he decided to let Adam Sisman<br />
loose on his authorised biography and<br />
the result is nothing if not thorough.<br />
Or is it? The biography is a brick<br />
of a book, running to more than 600<br />
pages including four pages of a select<br />
bibliography, 16 pages of notes on the<br />
text, and an index of hundreds of entries,<br />
taking up 21 pages. So the first question<br />
one asks is, does Le Carré the novelist<br />
deserve such treatment and attention to<br />
detail? He may be a great writer, but he<br />
is hardly a Dickens or a Tolstoy.<br />
Deception and duplicity are part<br />
of the spy’s stock in trade, they stand<br />
Janus-like with one eye perpetually<br />
looking over their shoulder. Spies need<br />
charm, cunning, and patience, for it is<br />
a waiting game. With a record such as<br />
his, posterity also plays its part and one<br />
wonders whether the reader is given the<br />
full picture or just an excuse for one.<br />
In other words, just how far can this<br />
account be trusted?<br />
Like many others, I have grown up<br />
with all Le Carré’s books starting with<br />
his hugely successful third novel, The<br />
Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963).<br />
There is only one I attempted three<br />
times but could never get further than<br />
a third of the way through due to its<br />
lack of pace, and that was The Little<br />
Drummer Girl (1983 ). As for the best,<br />
it was undoubtedly A Perfect Spy (1986),<br />
described by Philip Roth as “the best<br />
English novel since the war”.<br />
There is a good reason for this: it is<br />
largely autobiographical, telling the story<br />
of Ronnie Cornwell (1906-75), David’s<br />
father, who was one of the most daring<br />
conmen who ever lived. He beat and<br />
sexually abused his boys, and beat his<br />
women (his wife did a runner when the<br />
younger brother was aged five), lived the<br />
high life but ran away from his bills, and<br />
served two jail terms. No wonder young<br />
David had insecurities which were never<br />
going to go away.<br />
We read of Cornwell’s spying on<br />
friends and tipping off MI5 about<br />
their leftward-leanings; so loyalty to<br />
his country came first, not them. After<br />
studying modern languages at Oxford,<br />
he switched his allegiance to MI6, and<br />
then taught at Eton for a while. Once he<br />
had made his first £20,000, in 1964, he<br />
jacked it all in for full-time writing and<br />
made a number of fortunes through book<br />
sales and film and television rights.<br />
He claims to be a lifelong Labour<br />
voter. He will not allow his publishers to<br />
enter his books for literary competitions,<br />
such as the Man Booker. And he<br />
has turned down gongs, including a<br />
knighthood. Is this because of humility,<br />
or vanity? His first marriage ended in<br />
failure and he had a string of affairs,<br />
including with the wife of a best friend.<br />
He once contemplated suicide. Indeed<br />
he comes across as not a very pleasant<br />
character at all, so one wonders why he<br />
supported this publication, and why now.<br />
If one has a private inroad to certain<br />
characters he encountered in real life,<br />
but for some reason did not make it onto<br />
the page, one can apply a different sort<br />
of test. For example, there is no mention<br />
of Czech President Vaclav Havel, or his<br />
biographer Michael Zantovsky, recently<br />
Czech ambassador to London. There is<br />
no mention of Nick Scarf, also an MI5<br />
and MI6 man who, he claimed, was Le<br />
Carré’s inspiration for Barley Blair in The<br />
Russia House (1989). Never considered,<br />
or edited out?<br />
There are some who argue, of course,<br />
that definitive biographies can only be<br />
written after the death of their subject.<br />
This is hinted at, and one wonders what<br />
new revelations are to come. And he has<br />
promised his own memoir in maybe a<br />
year’s time. Unfinished business?<br />
And Le Carré has his critics as well<br />
as his admirers: Salman Rushdie, the<br />
late Christopher Hitchens, and Clive<br />
James among them. One of James’s<br />
many autobiographical books is entitled<br />
Unreliable Memoirs and one wonders<br />
whether this may apply too to Cornwell/<br />
Le Carré?<br />
So, even after more than 600 pages,<br />
the man remains enigmatic to the end,<br />
and therefore what is embarked upon<br />
as a quest for the truth is ultimately<br />
unsatisfying.<br />
Or maybe he gave the game away<br />
not in this book, but in a quotation<br />
used in Ben Macintyre’s book, A Spy<br />
Among Friends (2014). On page 245,<br />
Le Carré states: The privately educated<br />
Englishman “is the greatest dissembler<br />
on earth… Nobody will charm you so<br />
glibly, disguise his feelings from you<br />
better, cover his tracks more skilfully, or<br />
find it harder to confess to you that he<br />
has been a damn fool…<br />
“He can have a Force Twelve nervous<br />
breakdown while he stands next to you<br />
in the bus queue and you may be his best<br />
friend but you’ll never be the wiser.”<br />
After 600 pages, and £25, wiser is<br />
exactly what you should be.<br />
James Pallas<br />
Fallout 4<br />
By Fergus Coltsman<br />
My first few hours experience of Fallout<br />
4 were not of playing it, but of upgrading<br />
my PC in order to actually run and<br />
download all 24 glorious gigabytes of<br />
it. This is a good thing, both that the<br />
minimum specs for the PC version<br />
recommend an obscene 8 gigs of RAM<br />
and that it took an hour to download, it<br />
illustrates in raw numbers the behemoth<br />
of a game it is.<br />
(Spoiler warning: This article will<br />
contain incredibly minor spoilers for the<br />
first two hours or so of plot.)<br />
Fallout 4 starts you out in prenuclear<br />
apocalypse Boston, 2077, just<br />
as the US/China cold war turns hot<br />
and you’re rushed into the nearest<br />
bomb shelter. Things quickly take a<br />
turn for the sinister and 200 years later<br />
you stumble out, into the irradiated<br />
wasteland Massachusetts has become.<br />
This scene setting doesn’t take very<br />
long, which is a shame. Fallout 3 forced<br />
you spend a couple hours in the sterile,<br />
claustrophobic shelter before thrusting<br />
you wide eyed into the hellish nightmare<br />
of the outside world, inspiring the sort<br />
of joyous fear that only comes with<br />
freedom. In contrast, F4 rushes you,<br />
lacking the emotional punch of 3.<br />
But what it’s rushing you toward is<br />
good. Bethesda, the game’s developers,<br />
have never been Shakespearean writers,<br />
but they have always been fantastically<br />
immersive world builders, and Boston is<br />
no exception. Exploring long abandoned<br />
towns in the morning sun, hunting<br />
mutated wildlife in grey-green fogged<br />
hills, and fighting running battles with<br />
psychotic raiders in tight city streets as<br />
thunder and lightning cracks overhead<br />
all bring the world alive.<br />
Further life is added by the colourful<br />
cast of survivors eking out life in the<br />
wastes. From wandering tradesmen to<br />
almost-thriving towns growing inside<br />
a baseball stadium, the characters are<br />
lively and diverse, (if one can get past<br />
the Boston accent). F4 offers a new<br />
way to interact with them; previously,<br />
aside from the odd grunt or Thu’um,<br />
Bethesda player characters were silent,<br />
F4 has a Mass Effect-esque dialogue<br />
system, where conversing characters<br />
actually have an immersive back and<br />
forth; an actual dialogue. It doesn’t even<br />
suffer too badly from the problem that<br />
plagued ME, where the short prompt in<br />
the options menu would not intuitively<br />
relate to what your character ended up<br />
saying. That said, very occasionally the<br />
characters will fall into the Uncanny<br />
Valley and throw the immersion off.<br />
The overall gameplay is stronger than<br />
previous games, F4 is actually a good<br />
shooter rather than a tolerable one.<br />
Enemies will dynamically duck in and<br />
out of cover, your guns kick and click<br />
satisfactorily, and bad guys stagger in<br />
response to hits, often accompanied by<br />
a visceral spray of blood; and ghouls and<br />
other baddies visibly disintegrate as they<br />
take damage.<br />
The depth of customisation has<br />
reached new heights. Characters can<br />
be customised to ridiculous degrees,<br />
weapons can be molded to the point of<br />
being unrecognisable from their original,<br />
settlements can be built and improved<br />
to protect their occupants. The overall<br />
effect is that not only is your character<br />
and adventure unique, but your Boston<br />
will be unique to you as well.<br />
At time of writing, I’m only twenty<br />
hours in, which is barely a scratch<br />
on the surface, with much left to be<br />
explored. Given the substantial engine<br />
improvements over Skyrim, I don’t even<br />
feel like I’ve figured out the fundamental<br />
P E T A L<br />
PAINTING AND EVERYTHING ELSE<br />
JULIA WHATLEY supports PETAL ‘Painting and Everything Else’, a charity<br />
which encourages creative attitudes and thinking from an early age and<br />
sponsors creativity in children.<br />
The emphasis is on childrens’ development. Julia says “When a child is<br />
traumatised they need love and support to help them go forwards in life,<br />
and creativity can help unlock the trauma”<br />
Everything about Julia is to promote positivity in others, especially<br />
children. She devotes her time to creating works of art. She says,<br />
“Anything I have produced in the last 12 years is for the positive to<br />
outweigh and replace the negative”.<br />
Her work, is like her personality; overwhelmingly sensitive, colourful<br />
and positive. The ideas, themes are poignant and powerful. Her desire is<br />
to enable people to express their true selves in a an unhindered free way<br />
and to create world peace<br />
Anyone wishing to get involved in the charity should contact www.<br />
talismanlondon.com jamesnalty@gmail.com or www.jennyblanc.com<br />
The charity is currently seeking International Trustees.<br />
Julia is working on a book to support The Crane foundation – for<br />
the protection of birds.<br />
PETAL ‘Painting and Everything Else’. Registered charity no. 1120847<br />
workings; the two sided coin of mystery<br />
and discovery, last seen when I first<br />
played Oblivion as a wide eyed youngster,<br />
has returned in force.<br />
© ZeniMax Media<br />
Collage © Julia Whatley
60 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
61<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Architect Adalberto Libiera<br />
BRICKS AND<br />
BRICKBATS<br />
BY ATRIUM<br />
Patronage at<br />
a price worth<br />
paying<br />
The Flint House was a worthy<br />
winner of the RIBA House<br />
of the Year, shown as a Grand<br />
Designs special this year, following its<br />
abandonment of the RIBA Stirling<br />
Prize some years ago. Architecture can,<br />
and does, make good television when<br />
presented in the right way, and noone<br />
surpasses Kevin McCloud for his<br />
knowledge, enthusiasm and laid-back<br />
style.<br />
The architects were a small but<br />
distinguished London practice, Skene<br />
Catling de la Pena, for a patron whose<br />
family have commissioned probably<br />
more houses, they number more than 40<br />
across Europe, than any; the Rothschilds.<br />
Their estate at Waddesdon Manor,<br />
completed in the early 1880s, was<br />
designed by a French architect who<br />
gloried in the name of Hippolyte<br />
Destailleur. For followers of modern<br />
architecture, there’s an interesting<br />
precedent for the form, namely Casa<br />
Malaparte (at left) on the island of<br />
Capri, but of course the Flint House<br />
reflects its setting in the Chilterns,<br />
hence a traditional use of knapped flint.<br />
And the architect’s intention is that<br />
the mosses and lichens found locally<br />
should reclaim the building and the<br />
site, just the sort of rare humility one<br />
welcomes. Such quality does not come<br />
cheap, but who’s counting? Certainly<br />
not Lord Rothschild. He builds for<br />
generations.<br />
Photographs © James Morris<br />
The Planning<br />
Consent<br />
Conundrum<br />
An Architect’s View<br />
By Tom Pike<br />
Why is it that obtaining<br />
Planning Permission to<br />
extend or alter one’s home is<br />
such a painful and frustrating process?<br />
There is a short answer to this question,<br />
but I’m not altogether sure if it is<br />
printable!<br />
The main problem lies in the fact that<br />
since the 1970s successive governments<br />
have instigated one initiative after<br />
another in the attempt to ease the whole<br />
planning process i.e. to make it easier for<br />
homeowners to gain planning consent.<br />
But we all know that when governments<br />
meddle in due process, they are past<br />
masters at complicating matters.<br />
Consequently the issue of gaining<br />
planning consent to build or to alter a<br />
building is now more convoluted and<br />
protracted than it ever has been.<br />
Gone are the days of being able to<br />
ring up one's local authority planning<br />
department to ask for some basic<br />
guidance on a planning issue. Nowadays<br />
Above: Contemporary glazed extensions to a Regency villa<br />
Right: A rear dining room addition to a substantial Victorian house<br />
if you call the planners and ask for<br />
any form of advice or direction, you<br />
are referred to their website (planning<br />
portal) and are directed to their Pre-<br />
Planning Consultative Service. In<br />
principle this is fine until you discover<br />
that in order to take advantage of this<br />
service it requires a formal application,<br />
involving a full set of architects drawings,<br />
a substantial fee to be paid, which is<br />
significantly more than the planning<br />
fee for actually making a planning<br />
application, and worse is to come, the<br />
preplanning consultation process takes<br />
almost as much time as a planning<br />
application. To compound all this, the<br />
advice that one receives back from the<br />
planning department is usually couched<br />
in such negative rhetoric (a case of the<br />
glass being more than half empty!)<br />
that one is left wondering if it’s going<br />
to be worthwhile to make the planning<br />
application at all. Planning Officers are<br />
far more likely to tell you what you can’t<br />
do as opposed to telling you what you<br />
can do.<br />
Since planning authorities launched<br />
their Pre-Planning Consultation Service,<br />
casually referred to as a ‘pre-app.’ in<br />
2008 we as architects have only found<br />
the process to be counterproductive. In<br />
short, we have found it to be a waste of<br />
time, money and effort.<br />
In the last few years we have found<br />
it more effective to by-pass the pre-app.<br />
process, and instead to move swiftly on<br />
to lodging a full planning application<br />
with the local authority.<br />
Having submitted the application we<br />
then monitor it closely and tenaciously<br />
and do all in our powers to shepherd<br />
the scheme through to a formal consent<br />
being granted.<br />
Local authorities themselves are<br />
well disposed towards the pre-app.<br />
process for two understandable reasons.<br />
Firstly it buys them more time in which<br />
to deal with a planning application,<br />
and secondly it provides them with<br />
an additional income stream. So, one<br />
doesn’t have to be overly cynical to see<br />
why the planners encourage applicants<br />
to go down the pre-app. route.<br />
To successfully navigate the vagaries<br />
of the planning system, it is important<br />
to engage a firm of architects and/ or<br />
planning consultants with relevant<br />
experience and with a proven track<br />
record…a firm who can work within or<br />
around the planning policies of the local<br />
authority.<br />
Tom Pike is a partner in Giles<br />
Pike Architects, which is a practice<br />
specialising in residential design projects.<br />
Photographs © Giles Pike Architects<br />
Pied à terre?<br />
That’ll be £88m<br />
Ian Simpson is the most famous<br />
Manchester export, in design terms,<br />
since Norman Foster 60 years ago.<br />
The architect heads up Simpson<br />
Haugh, noted for a string of<br />
distinctive buildings in his home city, but<br />
now active on four residential sites in<br />
London.<br />
His Hilton Tower in Manchester is<br />
the tallest building in the UK outside<br />
London. At its peak, there is a two-storey<br />
penthouse occupied by, you guessed it,<br />
Ian Simpson!<br />
While he is busy on an early phase of<br />
Battersea Power Station, his other major<br />
project on the South Bank is receiving<br />
even more attention: One Blackfriars.<br />
As far as I know it has yet to acquire<br />
a nickname. We already have the<br />
Gherkin, the Shard, the Walkie-Talkie,<br />
the Cheese-grater and several others,<br />
but given its distinctive form, would the<br />
Hunchback be out of place?<br />
The 50-storey tower rises 170m.<br />
Prices from £2.3m. The developer is<br />
St George, part of the phenomenally<br />
successful Berkeley Group.<br />
Your correspondent just happened<br />
to be talking to a Berkeley sales rep the<br />
other day, and asked about the cost of<br />
the three-storey apartment at its apex.<br />
The reply: £88m.<br />
The difference between one-off<br />
houses, such as the Flint House for a<br />
distinguished architectural patron, the<br />
overseas investor, and those who rely on<br />
social housing, has never been greater.<br />
Thank heavens the London market is<br />
predicted to take a tumble.<br />
Soon won’t be soon enough.<br />
Architects Simpson Haugh and Partners<br />
ARCHITECTURE • PLANNING ADVICE • INTERIOR DESIGN • PROJECT MANAGEMENT<br />
Giles Pike Architects specialise in high-end residential projects, including<br />
new build, alterations and extensions to houses and apartments.<br />
www.gilespike.com<br />
020 7924 6257<br />
537 Battersea Park Road<br />
London SW11 3BL
62 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
63<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
PRESENTS<br />
Ave Maya<br />
A ballet gala in memory of Maya Plisetskaya<br />
Gala with the participation<br />
of international ballet stars<br />
Artistic Director: Andris Liepa<br />
Rambert Dance<br />
Company<br />
By Andrew Ward<br />
There was a real buzz in the<br />
foyer at the Sadler’s Wells,<br />
packed with people jostling to<br />
get into the auditorium for Rambert<br />
Dance Company’s (RDC) Love, Art &<br />
Rock ‘N’ Roll. RDC is one of the UK’s<br />
top national dance companies, with a<br />
brand of dance and choreography that<br />
stimulates audiences the world over with<br />
dynamic energy, passion, and sometimes<br />
elegance. Tonight the dancers were at<br />
their best!<br />
Didy Veldman’s new work The 3<br />
Dancers opened the evening with great<br />
effect. Inspired by Picasso painting<br />
The Three Dancers, Veldman depicts<br />
the themes from the painting and<br />
Picasso’s life, such as love, passion,<br />
depression, and manipulation, with a<br />
trio of dancers dressed in white and a<br />
trio dressed in black engaging each other<br />
in a mesmerising palette of dynamic<br />
movement. Veldman successfully brings<br />
the work from canvas to stage by teasing<br />
out the emotions of life, starting with<br />
love as the white trio intertwined are<br />
followed by the dark imagery of betrayal,<br />
pain, and suicide coming to the fore with<br />
the black trio. Lighting designer Ben<br />
Ormerod’s square beam of white light<br />
onto a dark stage set the scene for the<br />
light and shade of cubic imagery, making<br />
the piece a true collaboration of artistic<br />
influences. Elena Kats-Chernin’s music<br />
gave a real sense of French drama, with<br />
the accordion playing its part in painting<br />
the picture. Kimie Nakano white and<br />
black costumes providing Veldman with<br />
a blank canvas to complete what was<br />
a visually stimulating piece superbly<br />
danced.<br />
Next up was ART with Kim<br />
Brandstrup’s new work Transfigured<br />
Night. Music: Arnold Schoenberg;<br />
Design: Chloe Lamford; Lighting:<br />
Fabiana Piccioli. Brandstrup takes the<br />
narrative from a Richard Dehemel<br />
poem in which a woman confesses<br />
to her lover that she is pregnant with<br />
another man’s child. The piece is divided<br />
into three sections, each delivering a<br />
different outcome immediately after the<br />
confession of adultery is made. The first<br />
depicts total rejection and the fear of all<br />
that it entails. The second is dream-like,<br />
where all is forgiven and forgotten as if it<br />
had never happened. In the final section,<br />
reality sets in as the lovers take stock,<br />
and despite the anguish experienced and<br />
the uncertainty in the air, they rediscover<br />
their love for each other. Brandstrup’s<br />
choreographic genius was unlocked after<br />
seeing Egon Schiele’s painting, Lovers:<br />
Self-Portrait with Wally, which has such<br />
anguish, vulnerability, and awkward<br />
physicality that it must have painted an<br />
intense picture in his mind, as it inspired<br />
him to create this most moving of pieces.<br />
The first and last scenes were danced<br />
with a gripping intensity by Miguel<br />
Altunaga and Simone Damberg Würz<br />
(both starring in the first ballet in the<br />
white and black trio respectively), with<br />
a large ensemble of dancers in the<br />
background adding energy by numbers.<br />
There are some very poignant moments<br />
where the ensemble are standing still in<br />
silhouette, with their backs to the action.<br />
Dane Hurst and Hannah Rudd danced<br />
the dreamy scene with rapturous serenity,<br />
with some soaring gymnastic moves by<br />
Hurst.<br />
The evening ended with Christopher<br />
Bruce’s Rooster which has been a real<br />
crowd pleaser since 1991. Music from<br />
tracks by The Rolling Stones shows<br />
the dancers in fine form but the staging<br />
looked tired and needing a rest. This<br />
is by no means Bruce’s best work…<br />
Swansong comes to mind. I look forward<br />
to seeing who and where RDC’s current<br />
director, Mark Baldwin, goes to find the<br />
next blockbuster.<br />
www.rambert.org.uk<br />
Left:<br />
© Johan Persson<br />
Above:<br />
© Didy Veldman<br />
Top right:<br />
© Tristram Kenton<br />
Right:<br />
© Johan Persson<br />
Opposite:<br />
© Bill Cooper © Johan<br />
Persson<br />
Professional Russian Ballet Method of Training<br />
Full time Academic A level Tuition<br />
Knowledge<br />
is of<br />
no value,<br />
unless<br />
you put it<br />
into<br />
practice<br />
AUDITIONS 2016<br />
Auditions take place in February and March 2016<br />
For full application and audition details please visit<br />
www.londonrussianballetschool.com<br />
www.londonrussianballetschool.com<br />
London Russian Ballet School<br />
42 Clapham Manor Street London SW4 6DZ<br />
Tel: 00 +44 (0)207 498 0498. email: info@lr-bs.com<br />
Registered charity no: 07102626<br />
Royal Ballet<br />
Ashton Double<br />
Bill<br />
By Andrew Ward<br />
Bringing a ballet back after 30 years<br />
in the archive is always going to<br />
be a risk. It would be easy to say<br />
it looks dated. In the case of The Two<br />
Pigeons, Royal Ballet’s director Kevin<br />
O’Hare deserves praise for taking that<br />
risk. Sir Frederick Ashton created this<br />
ballet in 1961 for The Royal Ballet<br />
Touring Company with Lynn Seymour<br />
and Christopher Gable in the lead roles.<br />
This classic was brilliantly re-staged<br />
by Christopher Carr, bringing it back to<br />
life to captivate today’s audience with the<br />
nuances of this most heartwarming and<br />
romantic of works. As an ex-dancer, he<br />
clearly has insight into the ballet, having<br />
performed it many times and worked<br />
first hand with Ashton.<br />
Set in a Parisian attic, a young painter<br />
tries to get his lover to sit still whilst<br />
painting her. Not wanting to sit still,<br />
the coquettish young girl tries to get her<br />
lover to put his brushes down and dance<br />
with her. Frustrated he gives up any idea<br />
of finishing the portrait. Two pigeons<br />
fly across the window catching the<br />
attention of the couple when suddenly<br />
some passing gypsies stop by. The young<br />
artist’s eyes are suddenly attracted to the<br />
sparkle and compelling looks of a gypsy<br />
girl. Despite trying to imitate the zesty<br />
gypsy’s appeal, the young girl is no match<br />
and is left alone as he leaves with the<br />
travellers.<br />
Act 2 starts in the Gypsy camp.<br />
The young artist is lured into dancing<br />
with the gypsy girl whilst her lover<br />
watches from the side before stepping<br />
in to reclaim her attention, winning<br />
a competition with the artist before<br />
throwing him out of the camp. The final<br />
scene is back in the studio, where the<br />
sorrowful girl is alone before the artist<br />
returns with a pigeon on his shoulder.<br />
He asks for forgiveness and they dance<br />
together, and reunited in their love for<br />
each other the second pigeon joins them<br />
on the artists’ chair as the curtain comes<br />
down.<br />
Messager’s score is romantic and<br />
full of vitality and Dupont’s designs are<br />
charmingly period. Performances to<br />
note: Laura Morera shimmers with an<br />
enticing, playful spirit that brilliantly<br />
showcases the swashbuckling swagger<br />
of Ashton’s gypsy camp divertissement;<br />
Lauren Cuthbertson, dancing the<br />
young girl, shows a soft, playful side to<br />
her acting skills with a mix ’n match<br />
of confectionery sweet and sorrowful<br />
moments, which are endearing,<br />
especially in the final pas de deux; Vadim<br />
Muntagirov gave a polished performance<br />
with his high leaps but his classical<br />
look needs to change in Act 2 to really<br />
get to grips with the gypsy scenes; and<br />
Marcelino Sambé blew the audience<br />
away with his blisteringly fast turns as<br />
the Gypsy Boy.<br />
Starting the evening was Ashton’s<br />
Monotones I and II set to Satie’s Trois<br />
Gnossiennes & Gymnopédies. In both<br />
pieces Ashton sculptured pure classical<br />
line with an earthy feel in the first trio<br />
and a ‘walking on air’ feel to the second<br />
trio. The dancers’ technical execution<br />
could not be faulted as they were, for the<br />
most part, calm and collected despite<br />
the odd wobble. Marianela Nuñez was<br />
exceptional with her searching looks and<br />
épaulement that Ashton so desperately<br />
craved for in his ballets.<br />
Box Office: 020 7304 4000<br />
SUNDAY 6 MARCH 2016<br />
7:00pm<br />
London Coliseum<br />
St Martin’s Lane, London WC2<br />
Tickets: £25-£145<br />
Book online: www.eno.org<br />
Box office: +44 (0)20 7845 9300<br />
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Ave Maya KCW advert 126x154.indd 1 01/12/2015 15:14<br />
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64 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
65<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Photograph ©Docurama<br />
MAX<br />
Feldman<br />
REVIEWS<br />
Dont Look Back<br />
“I’m glad I’m not me.” –Bob Dylan<br />
In 1965, a 23 year-old Bob Dylan (née<br />
Zimmerman) was in a hurry. Having<br />
pushed protest Folk music to its limit<br />
and finding himself straightjacketed<br />
by the stylistic constraints of the genre<br />
and surrounding culture, he elected to<br />
trade in his Martin for a Stratocaster<br />
and proceeded to “electrify half his<br />
audience and electrocute the rest”.<br />
Honed to razor sharpness by a diet of<br />
Rimbaud and amphetamines, Dylan<br />
unleashed Bringing It All Back Home, a<br />
half electric/half acoustic record which<br />
announced Dylan’s new so-called<br />
“thin mercury sound” to unprepared<br />
folkies with the force of an atomic<br />
bomb. Soon his infamous ‘Dylan goes<br />
electric’ appearance at the Newport Folk<br />
Festival would demonstrate to an entire<br />
generation that the ostensible messiah<br />
of folk music sure wasn’t playing on<br />
no f**king farm anymore, Maggie’s or<br />
otherwise.<br />
However, all of this was still in the<br />
future for the poet laureate of Rock<br />
N’ Roll. Dont Look Back (he was<br />
clearly moving too fast to bother with<br />
punctuation) takes place two months<br />
before the Newport crossroads, with<br />
D.A. Pennebaker’s landmark fly-onthe-wall<br />
documentary following the<br />
young visionary as he ‘puckishly spars<br />
against’ (read: ‘is a complete arsehole<br />
to’) both fans and the press over the<br />
course of his 1965 tour of England. Over<br />
the course of Dont Look Back, Dylan is<br />
clearly convinced that he’s the smartest<br />
guy in the room and is determined to<br />
prove it via a tortuous series of mind<br />
and word games, intellectually tearing<br />
apart anyone in his sights with the same<br />
glee as a sadistic toddler pulls wings off<br />
flies (musical contemporary Donovan is<br />
subject to a particularly vicious series of<br />
humiliations). This would be intolerable<br />
if he didn’t genuinely come across like<br />
he IS indeed the genius he arrogantly<br />
asserts himself as (barring one exception<br />
when arguing with a reporter from<br />
Time, where he oozes the exact kind of<br />
smug condescension he is accusing the<br />
magazine of ). Helpfully, he manages to<br />
be incredibly funny with his mind games,<br />
whether it’s confusing some teenage<br />
fans furious at his new electric sound by<br />
insinuating that he’s only trying to give<br />
his friends some work (and what kind<br />
of a monster could have a problem with<br />
that, after all?) or eloquently insisting<br />
to an interviewer (with the ghost of a<br />
smirk) that he is every bit as talented a<br />
singer as Enrico Caruso. Throughout the<br />
film it’s clear he’s not taking anything,<br />
even himself, particularly seriously.<br />
It’s this relentless impropriety that<br />
makes the film as entertaining as it is<br />
historically interesting. At one point,<br />
whilst reading aloud an article about<br />
him by a London paper that claims<br />
he smokes eighty cigarettes a day, he<br />
amusedly muses “I’m glad I’m not me”,<br />
as good a tagline for the film as any. The<br />
Dylan that Pennebaker films seems as<br />
much a construction for the cameras as<br />
any of David Bowie’s personas; whilst<br />
he is clearly having fun, it’s hard to feel<br />
like you come away with a particularly<br />
deep understanding of the musician’s<br />
inner life. He is as opaque as the famous<br />
opening “music video” for Subterranean<br />
Homesick Blues, where a glaring Dylan<br />
drops hand-drawn lyric cue cards in a<br />
back alley behind the Savoy. This lack of<br />
deep insight isn’t necessarily a problem,<br />
the film gives you such a strong sense of<br />
time and place, and captures one of the<br />
most important cultural figures of the<br />
20th century in a moment of white hot<br />
creativity and drive which would rarely<br />
be equalled and arguably never topped;<br />
which is more than enough for the casual<br />
(or not so casual) fan.<br />
Just spare a moment of pity for poor<br />
Donovan.<br />
The Criterion Edition of Dont Look Back<br />
was released on November 24th<br />
La Soirée<br />
Since La Soiree’s inception in the form of<br />
La Clique back in 2004, the spiky circus<br />
flavoured Alt Cabaret that it trades<br />
in has steadily grown in popularity to<br />
the point where it has eclipsed regular<br />
Cabaret almost entirely. Taking up<br />
residence in a TARDIS-esque big top<br />
(Bavarian decadence inside, garden<br />
centre outside) on the Southbank for<br />
the sixth year in a row, La Soiree has<br />
had ample time to establish itself as<br />
a London institution. This year the<br />
thematic thrust was far more orientated<br />
towards the circus element as opposed<br />
to straight (or not so straight...) cabaret,<br />
with the practical upshot being that<br />
there was less burlesque than outlandish<br />
acts of bizarre physical prowess. Indeed,<br />
barring some scantily clad femme fatales<br />
swinging from the rafters, the closest<br />
La Soiree came to stripping were the<br />
monstrously muscled Denis Lock and<br />
Hamish McCann, who after a session of<br />
physics defying gymnastics undertaken<br />
whilst reading the Financial Times ripout<br />
of their suits and trilbies to reveal<br />
nothing but the briefest of Union Jack<br />
briefs. It’s this winking subversion of<br />
expectations that helps the show avoid<br />
the trap of adolescent sex obsession<br />
that often ensnares lesser shows of this<br />
nature.<br />
This is not to say the La Soiree<br />
maintains a prudish distance from...<br />
fleshy matters; some of the biggest<br />
laughs of the evening came from the<br />
Sexual Gentleman (Asher Treleaven),<br />
who in between exposing his Diablo<br />
to an unsuspecting audience reduced<br />
your humble columnist to near tears of<br />
laughter with his dramatic reading of<br />
a Mills & Boon sex scene. Altogether<br />
the theme was pleasantly elastic,<br />
swinging from grinning eccentrics like<br />
contortionist Captain Frodo (who used<br />
his double joints to squeeze through two<br />
tennis rackets in a frankly grisly fashion)<br />
to hard to define esoteric performances,<br />
such as Denis Lock’s bubble blowing<br />
act, which on paper might sound almost<br />
unspeakably lame, but in practice is<br />
a crash course in enchantment which<br />
steals the entire show. The audience<br />
seemed receptive and enrapt, which is<br />
truly make or break for performance<br />
art like this, and for veteran performers<br />
such as Mario, Queen of The Circus, the<br />
adulation went as far as enthusiastically<br />
crowd surfing the would-be Freddie<br />
Mercury.<br />
The evening seems catered to be<br />
enjoyed with a flute of something<br />
bracing in hand and there is an onsite<br />
bar with enough variety to slake most<br />
varieties of thirst (though those in the<br />
mood for absinthe cocktails will leave<br />
sadly disappointed). Tickets start at<br />
an eminently reasonable £15 for those<br />
happy standing (for seated tickets the<br />
price spikes up to more typical London<br />
standards, with varied options ranging<br />
from £32.50-£67.50, which seems more<br />
than a tad steep). Whilst the two hour<br />
show can occasionally feel padded, none<br />
of the acts fall particularly flat. La Soiree<br />
is definitely a different kind of Christmas<br />
entertainment, but for those looking for<br />
something a bit subversive and unusual<br />
they should find plenty to enjoy under<br />
the big top of La Soiree’s Spiegeltent.<br />
Photograph © La Soirée<br />
Photograph © La Soirée<br />
Photograph © Gaumont<br />
Narcos<br />
The Netflixisation of television<br />
continues unabated with<br />
Narcos, a new pitch-dark<br />
show centred around the rise and fall of<br />
Pablo Escobar, the Colombian leader<br />
of the Medellin cartel. Escobar was<br />
one of the first to realise that Reagan’s<br />
War on Drugs was one of the greatest<br />
moneymaking opportunities since<br />
Prohibition, and by introducing cocaine<br />
to America went on to establish a<br />
criminal empire whose power was only<br />
matched by its brutality. Raking in<br />
literally billions of dollars, he ended up<br />
giving huge sums to poverty stricken<br />
ghettos (in part to establish political<br />
credentials as a Robin Hood figure, in<br />
potentially larger part because he had so<br />
much cash it was impossible to launder<br />
all or even most of it) and established<br />
himself as a philanthropist who would<br />
have you killed for looking at him wrong.<br />
For such an infamous figure, Escobar<br />
has rarely ended up on the silver screen,<br />
though via movies like Scarface, we’ve<br />
been shown variants of his narrative since<br />
time immemorial.<br />
The show therefore wisely<br />
avoids focusing on him exclusively.<br />
Approximately half the screen time is<br />
given over to the DEA agents working,<br />
on loan, with the Colombian government<br />
to bring him down which, along with<br />
a Goodfellas style narration, paints in<br />
broader historical and social context.<br />
Thanks to the relatively flashy direction,<br />
this gives the show a documentarian<br />
sheen which effectively elevates<br />
proceedings out of a genre ghetto. As a<br />
result of showing the drug deals in their<br />
historical context the show comes closer<br />
to the more holistic approach favoured<br />
by more artistically bold shows such as<br />
The Wire rather than simpler rise/fall<br />
narratives seen the world over.<br />
This is not to say that the bare<br />
bones of the drama is sub-par or<br />
dull, Brazilian actor Wagner Moura<br />
does excellent work as the drug lord.<br />
Managing to portray the man as<br />
compelling but without ever losing sight<br />
of his cold-blooded murderousness; he<br />
comes across as the magnetic villain he<br />
was, rather than the anti-hero that would<br />
be all too easy to portray. The DEA side<br />
of the equation is regrettably, but perhaps<br />
inevitably, less exciting but the sheer<br />
amount of unwise (is there any other<br />
kind?) late 70s/80s fashion on display<br />
is also good for some period thrills; and<br />
Pedro Pascal (who played fan favourite<br />
Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones)<br />
turns in some particularly good work as a<br />
corrupt yet dedicated narcotics agent.<br />
One of the only concerns is that there<br />
might possibly be an overabundance<br />
of narration: sometimes the show bogs<br />
itself down in exposition that, whilst<br />
illuminating, cuts into the flow of what<br />
is otherwise an addictive and relentless<br />
narrative.<br />
There is a certain slickness to the<br />
show that prevents Narcos from reaching<br />
the status of unmitigated classic. Perhaps<br />
it’s the familiar nature of the story<br />
(even if its central component is the<br />
primogenitor for the copycats rather than<br />
the other way around) but compared to<br />
more original work it can’t help but feel<br />
a tad slight. There is a great amount of<br />
entertainment to be found in the series<br />
however and at a lean ten episodes it’s<br />
definitely worth the time investment.<br />
Darker and more unrelenting than<br />
previous Netflix original programming,<br />
Narcos seems to illustrate that, much like<br />
Escobar, Netflix knows how to get you<br />
hooked.<br />
Narcos is available on Netflix<br />
The Magic Band:<br />
Under The Bridge 20/11/15<br />
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band<br />
were one of popular music’s perennial<br />
outsiders; their music was a berserk<br />
mishmash of Blues and Free Jazz served<br />
up with Dada flair and anchored by<br />
Beefheart’s astounding eight octave<br />
singing/howling voice. His warped muse<br />
blazed trails through weird and hitherto<br />
uncharted regions of music that still<br />
causes seismic reverberations to this<br />
day. That The Magic Band was able to<br />
hack bizarre classics from his oblique<br />
instructions (which often ran to the<br />
effect of “Play it like a bat being dragged<br />
out of oil and it’s trying to survive,<br />
but it’s dying from asphyxiation”), and<br />
despite suffering under his dictatorial<br />
control was forged into one of the most<br />
adventurous and dexterous backing<br />
bands of all time. Whist their influence<br />
is vast, there are precious few individuals<br />
(barring Swordfishtrombones-period<br />
Tom Waits) that even attempt to<br />
approximate Magic Band’s exact style.<br />
Whilst the good Captain (real<br />
name Don Van Vliet) died of multiple<br />
sclerosis in 2010, The Magic Band<br />
have continued to tour without him<br />
since their reformation in 2003, led<br />
by drummer/arranger John “Drumbo”<br />
French. This is not the kind of disaster<br />
that it very easily could be as French is<br />
miraculously able to recreate Beefheart’s<br />
squeals and bellows with such accuracy<br />
that sometimes his style seems closer<br />
to possession than imitation. Due to<br />
the recent departure of slide guitarist<br />
Feelers Rebo (Denny Walley) and the<br />
hospitalisation of Rockette Morton<br />
(Mark Boston) for heart surgery, the<br />
incarnation of the band that took to the<br />
stage at Chelsea FC’s intimate Under<br />
The Bridge venue only had French as an<br />
original member but any fears over the<br />
incongruously young band’s talent were<br />
quickly disabused once they locked into<br />
the creeping industrial menace of When<br />
It Blows Its Stacks. If anything the band<br />
was overly virtuosic, with their blazing<br />
bluesy solos belying the shamanistic<br />
weirdness of peak-period Magic Band.<br />
Whilst songs like the more delicate<br />
Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles failed<br />
to reach the heights of their recorded<br />
counterparts, in the second half of<br />
the concert, where the band started to<br />
explore the intimidating (and flat out<br />
insane) masterpiece Trout Mask Replica,<br />
the band gelled into<br />
formidable and bruising<br />
form. The skittering<br />
time-signatures and<br />
gnarled rhythms of<br />
Steal Softly Through<br />
Sunlight, Steal Softly<br />
Through Snow had<br />
the entire audience<br />
undulating (dancing<br />
is too strong a word)<br />
in unison. The Magic<br />
Band’s uncompromising<br />
approach to music<br />
is definitely a fertile<br />
breeding ground for long term<br />
obsessives, but rather than the expected<br />
audience of aging male acid casualties,<br />
there was an unexpectedly mixed<br />
crowd with all ages and genders well<br />
represented. Whilst most in the crowd<br />
(which included, faintly bizarrely,<br />
Will Self ) were clear devotees, there<br />
were a couple (brought by myself for<br />
experimental purposes) who had never<br />
even heard of Beefheart; both were<br />
thoroughly blown away by the time The<br />
Magic Band ripped through the volcanic<br />
finale of Big Eyed Beans From Venus. This<br />
is the second time The Magic Band have<br />
played at Under The Bridge and fans of<br />
music that resists easy characterisation<br />
whilst being capable of rocking the<br />
house down should keep an eye out for<br />
a repeat performance. Repeat after me:<br />
“FAST N’ BULBOUS!”.<br />
Photograph ©Straight/Reprise Records
66 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
67<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
Travel<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Photograph © Amy Randall<br />
Richard Heason<br />
An hour or so in the company<br />
of baroque’s leading impresario<br />
St John’s Smith Square<br />
Winter 2015<br />
Events have conspired to time the<br />
interview with Richard Heason<br />
as a piece that might naturally<br />
evolve into something of a wrap of the<br />
year. Given that the extended KCW<br />
<strong>Today</strong> manor includes the Royal Opera<br />
House, the Royal College of Music,<br />
and the Wigmore Hall, attempts to<br />
select one pre-eminent are exercises in<br />
local luminary Gerhardie’s first novel<br />
(Futility). Other big guns would concede<br />
2015 has been an amazing year for St<br />
John’s Smith Square (SJSS). KCWT<br />
has been showering praise on SJSS<br />
following triumphs, which have included<br />
the launch of the Southbank residency,<br />
Bampton Opera’s fabulously ambitious<br />
and innovative Trofonio (Salieri), Ken<br />
Woods’ voyage around Mozart’s Requiem<br />
Mass in D Minor K626 with the English<br />
Symphony Orchestra, and Warren<br />
Mailley-Smith’s Complete Chopin Cycle,<br />
to be continued on Friday 15th January<br />
2016. Don’t miss the pre-concert event<br />
at half six; this is the big one: all twentyfour<br />
preludes.<br />
So having spent the year loving his<br />
work and enjoying his hospitality, it was<br />
with some excitement that the Editor<br />
and I went round the back of the Palace<br />
of Westminster to the baroque icon St<br />
John’s Smith Square to meet the dynamo<br />
that is Director Richard Heason. To<br />
interview Richard is to be taken on a<br />
three dimensional, virtual tour along<br />
psychedelic musical corridors examining<br />
400 years of the most intense creativity in<br />
the round. Heason reveals how the whole<br />
era is dominated by Johann Sebastian<br />
Bach, the one towering figure rendering<br />
the modern era a cohesive whole, a living<br />
tableau. We disciples listen engrossed as<br />
the conductor brought pieces and their<br />
authors to life with each adroit twist of<br />
his erudite and engaged musical mind.<br />
What journey brought you to St<br />
John’s Smith Square?<br />
“I’m a conductor by training, starting<br />
out as a brass band musician in Cornwall,<br />
which has a long tradition of brass bands<br />
linked to the tin-mining industry. I<br />
moved on to orchestral music and took<br />
up conducting when I was fifteen, taking<br />
a year out after school sitting at the feet<br />
of great conductors, including Pierre<br />
Boulez. I entered competitions including<br />
the International Hungarian Radio &<br />
Television conductors’ competition,<br />
where I was the youngest participant,<br />
going on via experience in France to<br />
western Hungary for a course, winning<br />
the conducting competition at the end<br />
of that”.<br />
Richard went on to discuss his<br />
experiences reading music at York<br />
University, finding himself engaging with<br />
the local community as he has continued<br />
to do throughout his career organising<br />
and leading workshops. After that, his<br />
career involved spells with the Orchestra<br />
of St John’s (coincidentally the orchestra<br />
has just moved back to SJSS), the BBC,<br />
and venue management in Aylesbury and<br />
Blackheath.<br />
What does the job involve?<br />
“Everything from engaging the artists<br />
to fixing the plumbing in a building<br />
that’s 300 years old. One day we’ll justify<br />
having a chief operating officer. We do<br />
have a box-office manager supervising<br />
ticket sales for over 300 concerts a year”.<br />
It’s clear that Richard is also an<br />
entrepreneurial business leader. Richard<br />
describes SJSS’s place in the market<br />
with energetic clarity, differentiating the<br />
venue from its competition with respect<br />
and understanding. The grand hall<br />
reflects its clerical origins, its uncluttered<br />
core enabling events where the audience<br />
can lose itself in the round.<br />
The Southbank residency packs a<br />
huge punch with an extended repertoire<br />
and audience, a genuinely international<br />
presence, opening in October 2015 with<br />
Ian Bostridge and the Orchestra of the<br />
Age of the Enlightenment.<br />
SJSS’s role in the community is<br />
clearly important to Richard. Perhaps<br />
uniquely St John’s is still consecrated,<br />
there had been a sung Eucharist with a<br />
congregation receiving communion the<br />
day we met in November.<br />
“On 27th December 2015 there will<br />
be a special 10am Sunday service lead by<br />
our own parish vicar the Revd Graham<br />
Buckle of St Stephen’s Rochester Row,<br />
encompassing St John’s Smith Square in<br />
the presence of the Rt Revd and Rt Hon<br />
Richard Charteris Bishop of London,<br />
who was instrumental in the reconvening<br />
of the church when he was the local<br />
parish vicar here in the 1980s”.<br />
Leading with Warren Mailley-<br />
Smith’s Complete Chopin Cycle, Heason<br />
enthuses about what he calls ‘box sets’.<br />
“Within a week of my appointment<br />
Warren approached me, very keen to<br />
make it work. Chopin’s enduring appeal<br />
made it an attractive proposition. We<br />
don’t want to become reliant on complete<br />
cycles but they do have their place. We’ve<br />
performed the complete Beethoven<br />
piano concertos and in 2017 we’ll do<br />
the complete Beethoven symphonies.<br />
For Christmas 2017 we’re doing the<br />
complete JS Bach organ works, throwing<br />
open the doors free of charge”.<br />
Catch them at six o’clock every<br />
evening from Advent (Sunday 3rd<br />
December 2017) until 23rd December<br />
2017, which doesn’t seem to have a<br />
special name other than Saturday the eve<br />
of Christmas Eve.<br />
The Editor and I commented on<br />
the beauty of the organ, a Johannes<br />
Klais, inaugurated in 2011 and recently<br />
used to dramatic effect at the 2015/16<br />
season launch with David Titterington’s<br />
rendition of Carillon de Westminster by<br />
Vierne.<br />
“Bach is, of course, the God of<br />
baroque music, so it is fitting that<br />
we should house such an excellent<br />
instrument. It’s interesting,” Heason<br />
reflects, “that the truly great composers<br />
arrive in pairs: Bach and Handel; Mozart<br />
and Haydn; Beethoven and Schubert;<br />
Brahms and Wagner; and Shostakovich<br />
and Britten. St John’s Smith Square is<br />
the only baroque music venue in the<br />
country dating from the baroque era.<br />
Handel was in London throughout the<br />
time that St John’s was being built and<br />
Bach was about to move to Leipzig when<br />
it was completed in the late 1720s. There<br />
are of course other wonderful composers,<br />
Rameau, Vivaldi, Telemann, Purcell; but<br />
we find ourselves returning to Handel<br />
and Bach”.<br />
Would they have known each other’s<br />
music?<br />
“Probably not. Handel was not only a<br />
great composer; he was also a celebrated<br />
impresario who became extremely<br />
wealthy. In that context it’s all the more<br />
remarkable that Bach, an isolated church<br />
organist in provincial east Germany,<br />
exerted such an important global cultural<br />
influence”.<br />
We spoke about St John’s Smith<br />
Square’s rising profile as a venue.<br />
“The more experimental we want<br />
to be, the greater the need for buffer<br />
finance. Developing the venue is fine<br />
but artistic product militates against the<br />
venue being a major source of revenue.<br />
We have to remember we’re the only<br />
baroque venue in the country and my<br />
aim is to consolidate our position as<br />
the natural home for Handel, Bach,<br />
Telemann, and the rest, while on the<br />
other hand it takes £1,500 a day just to<br />
switch on the lights. Ideally we’d be so<br />
busy offering cutting-edge performances<br />
we wouldn’t have time to develop the<br />
venue, but it’s difficult to run a historic<br />
monument on ticket sales alone. The<br />
challenge is hard at times but it’s<br />
probably a good thing not to have an<br />
unlimited budget”.<br />
Baroque ’n’ Roll in a Queen<br />
Anne church five minutes’ walk from<br />
Westminster tube. What I’ll take away<br />
from meeting Richard is an enduring<br />
affection for a venue that oozes<br />
individuality, provenance and glamour<br />
together with a revitalised appreciation<br />
of JS Bach.<br />
Was the pinnacle of musical<br />
achievement Bach’s St John Passion<br />
BWV 245, or St Matthew Passion<br />
BWV 244?<br />
“That changes by the hour. I have a<br />
vision, one on each of a pair of Desert<br />
Islands and swimming between the two”.<br />
James Douglas & Kate Hawthorne<br />
ST JOHN’S SMITH SQUARE<br />
is delighted to announce that<br />
it has been selected as one of<br />
the 6 shortlisted finalists for<br />
the Dot London Small Business<br />
Awards in the category,<br />
Independent Cultural Venue of<br />
the Year.<br />
Richard Heason, Director of St<br />
John's Smith Square said: “We<br />
are particularly thrilled to be<br />
shortlisted for the Independent<br />
Cultural Venue of the Year category<br />
of the Dot London Small Business<br />
Awards as we are the only solely<br />
classical music venue to have made<br />
the shortlist. St John’s Smith Square<br />
is the UK's only concert hall from the<br />
baroque period and, whilst we are<br />
very proud of our unique heritage<br />
setting, it is really pleasing that<br />
this award recognises our forward<br />
thinking approach to the promotion<br />
of classical music. We are always<br />
looking for ways to develop and<br />
engage new audiences, especially<br />
through emerging technologies,<br />
and success in this award would be<br />
a great endorsement of all that we<br />
have achieved over the past year.”<br />
The finalist with the most votes<br />
from each category by January 2016<br />
will take home the coveted trophy,<br />
along with prizes including £1000<br />
cash and one-to-one mentoring from<br />
Dot London's awards sponsors. The<br />
public voting will close at 5pm on 8th<br />
January 2016 and the winners will be<br />
announced at the Awards ceremony<br />
on 21st January.<br />
Voting is now open via the<br />
website www.awards.london. Please<br />
spread the news of St John's Smith<br />
Square's success and vote for us!<br />
Vote here: http://awards.london/<br />
independent-cultural-venue-of-theyear.php<br />
Madeira<br />
By Derek Wyatt<br />
My Sunday school teacher was<br />
called Miss Penelope Isle. She<br />
used to take her holidays in<br />
Madeira. We thought that very posh.<br />
We did not know where it was but<br />
it sounded exotic. We were rather a<br />
naughty lot and when she returned we<br />
used to come into class with our arms<br />
flapping like a plane whilst making a<br />
noise like a missile. It was a terrible<br />
joke but we repeated it until the penny<br />
dropped.<br />
Fifty five years on, I have finally<br />
made it to this extraordinary archipelago.<br />
If you want a short break in the sun<br />
in November or December where do<br />
you go? The Keys in Florida is too far,<br />
Greece cannot guarantee the weather.<br />
Egypt even before the Russian plane<br />
disaster is a no-no if you also want peace<br />
and quiet. We chose Funchal, the capital<br />
of Madeira. We were not disappointed.<br />
Funchal itself is not overly attractive<br />
and has no beaches. It is volcanic so<br />
there are steep cliffs and black lava<br />
doubles as so-called sand. It has a small,<br />
deep harbour which can easily take those<br />
wretched cruise liners. A million tourists<br />
visit here annually so it must have<br />
something.<br />
The key is to find a hotel which acts<br />
as an oasis. So not the famous Reid’s or<br />
the many new hotels built on the front to<br />
the west which have little to commend<br />
themselves. Up a little from the hurly<br />
burly are a small number of old houses<br />
or quintas with wonderful gardens,<br />
outstanding service, a heated pool and<br />
old fashioned charm.<br />
We were recommended to try<br />
Estalagem Quinta da Casa Branca and<br />
we were not disappointed. The blurb said<br />
its new extension was in honour of Frank<br />
Lloyd Wright but we thought it more<br />
Mies van der Rohe (Barcelona Pavilion<br />
et al) but it matters not for it is work of<br />
sheer beauty.<br />
Tourism has changed Madeira.<br />
Funchal’s boundaries have expanded up<br />
the mountains without, depressingly, any<br />
obvious planning regime. Its 130,000<br />
population is employed in tourism, wine<br />
making (“Another Madeira, m’dear?”)<br />
and agriculture.<br />
It was surprising to see so many<br />
manicured terraces up the mountains,<br />
by the road side and frankly even<br />
where there was the smallest of spaces.<br />
Growing bananas, grapes, potatoes,<br />
mango, sugar cane, bamboo and<br />
tomatoes is de rigeur. Almost anything<br />
can grow in these rich soils and does.<br />
Of course being an island, fishing<br />
provides another living and there is a<br />
vibrant fish market in the old town. The<br />
fish on our menus included scabbard, red<br />
pepper, sardines and halibut,<br />
We took a tour of the Island with a<br />
driver. The last train failed to make it<br />
home but there are buses and you can<br />
hire a car. Madeira has been enriched in<br />
every way by the EU. Dozens of difficult<br />
and cleverly placed tunnels make the<br />
journey easier. We took the old roads and<br />
pottered at our leisure finishing up at a<br />
delightful restaurant in Santana on the<br />
north coast for lunch.<br />
There is only one downside to a<br />
November break in Madeira and that<br />
is the hundreds and hundreds of wild<br />
flowers are sadly not in bloom. I still fell<br />
in love with the Bird of Paradise, X and y<br />
so not all was lost.<br />
We came for a spot of R&R and<br />
were not disappointed. We favored lazy<br />
lunches and smarter evenings out. We<br />
had goodly times at Taberna da Escuina,<br />
Zarco’s, Viverde (Santana), Tokos,<br />
Centre de Design da Nini, Challet<br />
Vincente, Il Gall d’Oro (the only one<br />
star on the island) and Restaurante do<br />
Forto.<br />
The most famous recent Madeiran<br />
has been Christian Ronaldo, now playing<br />
for Real Madrid and the subject of a new<br />
film currently on theatrical release. I first<br />
saw him as a youngster for Manchester<br />
United versus Charlton at the Valley.<br />
That day he was keen on falling over at<br />
every attempted tackle. Ronaldo hails<br />
from a poor family and had to beg and<br />
borrow his soccer kit when he was very<br />
young. He has repaid this in spades<br />
funding projects and creating a Ronaldo<br />
museum . They adore him here.<br />
Finally, Portuguese wines have been<br />
overlooked for too long. Try in the<br />
whites: Curtimenta 2011, Ninfa 2013<br />
and Esporoa Reserva 2102 and in the<br />
reds: Herdade San Miguel Reserva 2011<br />
and for a classy Madeira try Bual 10 anos<br />
(Blandys, of course!). Enjoy.<br />
Photograph © Bjorn Ehrlich<br />
Photograph © sDerek Wyatt
68 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
69<br />
Travel<br />
Travel<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Photograph © Jo Palmer<br />
Mission creep!<br />
Driving in Albania<br />
Mission Creep. That’s how<br />
Drive Albania founder Ed<br />
Reeves describes the story<br />
behind his innovative boutique travel<br />
company.<br />
A former journalist, Ed first visited<br />
Albania in early 2012 on assignment for<br />
the Sunday Telegraph. During his stay,<br />
he read The Wildest Province, Dr Rod<br />
Bailey’s book on the Special Operations<br />
Executive’s derring-do in the country<br />
during WWII, and decided to research<br />
a trek in the footsteps of one of the<br />
missions featured. The son of an SOE<br />
officer involved got in touch, asked Ed<br />
to arrange a 4x4 tour, and, as Ed puts it,<br />
‘One thing led to another…’<br />
Three years on, Ed’s UK-registered<br />
company Drive Albania, specialising in<br />
(extremely) off-the-beaten track tours<br />
by Land Rover, has just come to the end<br />
of its first full season and is opening an<br />
office in Tirana.<br />
‘It’s been a steep learning curve,’<br />
says Ed. ‘I’ve had to find good Albanian<br />
drivers, learn all about Land Rovers and<br />
find the most spectacular routes across<br />
the mountains of Albania. Sat-Nav,<br />
Google Maps, maps in general, in fact,<br />
are almost useless here. On every tour we<br />
pass some poor sap of a tourist in a hire<br />
car, scraping the sump on what passes for<br />
a road, and have to tell them to turn back<br />
as there’s no way they’re getting through.<br />
People who don’t know the country<br />
are madly unrealistic, without local<br />
knowledge and a 4x4 you’re very limited<br />
in where you can get to.’<br />
Albania’s poor infrastructure, of<br />
course, makes it the ideal destination<br />
for travellers wanting to escape from<br />
mass-market tourism. But there’s no<br />
Photo accreditation: Agence Zoom<br />
Ski & board from just<br />
€218pp per week<br />
inc self-catering<br />
accommodation<br />
& ski pass!*<br />
*Selected dates apply<br />
Ski and board the secret<br />
of the French Alps<br />
question of roughing it. ‘Hotels are of<br />
a good standard now,’ says Ed, ‘and the<br />
food is absolutely excellent, as Rick Stein<br />
discovered on his recent BBC show From<br />
Venice to Istanbul.’<br />
But the big draw, quite apart from<br />
the food, scenery, empty beaches, history,<br />
UNESCO Heritage Cities and ancient<br />
archaeological sites, is the welcome you<br />
get from the Albanian people. ‘They<br />
just love having visitors,’ explains Ed.<br />
‘Tourism is a sign that the country is<br />
re-joining the European mainstream,<br />
not just after 50 years of North Koreastyle<br />
Communist dictatorship, and then<br />
the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, but<br />
also after 500 years of being a neglected<br />
Ottoman backwater. It’s changing<br />
fast, though, so my advice to anyone<br />
interested in going is to get out there<br />
sooner rather than later.’<br />
Drive Albania will be at<br />
the Destinations Travel Show<br />
(destinationsshow.com) at London<br />
Olympia from 4-7 February 2016. Ed<br />
will be giving a talk on his efforts to<br />
create a trek in the footsteps of a Special<br />
Operations Executive mission at 13.30<br />
on the Saturday. For more information,<br />
visit drivealbania.com, email info@<br />
drivealbania.com or call 020 3292 9989.<br />
British Airways flies direct to Tirana<br />
from London Gatwick, with a flight<br />
time of just under three hours.<br />
It is also possible to travel via Corfu,<br />
which is a short ferry ride from Saranda<br />
in southern Albania.<br />
serre-chevalier.com Tel: +33 (0)4 92 24 98 98<br />
Photographs © Ed Reeves<br />
Advice for Prague<br />
By Cynthia Pickard<br />
May I recommend some<br />
essentials for your trip to<br />
Prague? Start with very<br />
comfortable shoes, forget stilettoes; you’ll<br />
be walking on cobbled streets for most of<br />
the time. Although every type of cuisine<br />
is available, if you go for the Bohemian<br />
specialities, expandable waist bands are<br />
advised to make room for vepřo-knedlozelo,<br />
huge plates of several kinds of meat<br />
with cabbage and dumplings, and my<br />
latest discovery, the Trdelnik or chimney,<br />
a tube of grilled dough covered in sugar<br />
and walnuts with optional fruit or cream<br />
filling, not to mention the attraction of<br />
so many micro breweries, so much great<br />
beer. Pack some very warm clothes for<br />
sitting in baroque churches to listen to<br />
any number of un-missable concerts of<br />
sublime music. And don’t forget the seat<br />
pad to soften those hard pews.<br />
Mug up on architectural styles,<br />
because every one of them is here cheek<br />
by jowl, from Medieval, Baroque and Art<br />
Deco to Frank Gehry’s Dancing House,<br />
all miraculously retained throughout<br />
the last thousand years of wars and<br />
occupations.<br />
Next a map; orient yourself by means<br />
of the 1357 Charles Bridge spanning the<br />
Vlatava river and some hilly landmarks,<br />
try and work out the difference between<br />
the Old Town and the New Town (1347)<br />
or the baroque Lesser Town, the Malá<br />
Strana also known as the Little Quarter,<br />
don’t believe that these names mean what<br />
they say. The Old Town is where you will<br />
find the main square and Astronomical<br />
Town Hall Clock, one of Prague’s most<br />
popular tourist attractions when it strikes<br />
the hour. Josefov is the historic Jewish<br />
Quarter with several synagogues and<br />
the atmospheric Old Jewish Cemetery<br />
(1478). The Pinkas Synagogue has the<br />
names of more than 77,000 Czech Jews<br />
killed in the holocaust inscribed on the<br />
walls in a moving memorial. Several<br />
palaces and churches, including St<br />
Vitus’s Cathedral, form part of Prague<br />
Castle as it dominates the skyline<br />
overlooking the city.<br />
My favourite building in Prague is<br />
the Municipal House, Obecní Dum, one<br />
of the greatest examples of Art Nouveau<br />
architecture, (of which there are many<br />
in Prague). A concert hall, a grand<br />
café, a restaurant, the American bar,<br />
every element, every lamp and piece of<br />
furniture designed by the leading artists<br />
such as Alphonse Mucha and architects<br />
of the day to the highest quality, not to<br />
be missed!<br />
Even in 1998, when I previously<br />
visited Prague, the multinationals, from<br />
MacDonald’s to Mappin and Webb<br />
had already muscled their way into<br />
the consumer vacuum of this former<br />
communist state. At that time there<br />
was a two tier economic system, doctors<br />
were earning £1 an hour and unable to<br />
afford the luxury of fruit and vegetables<br />
while simultaneously tourists were<br />
paying normal European prices for their<br />
hamburgers. There are now even more<br />
tourist shops in the overcrowded centre<br />
of town selling souvenirs, Thai massage<br />
and Bohemian glass. So when you’ve had<br />
your fill of sightseeing here, it’s a good<br />
idea to get out and find what else the<br />
Czech Republic has to offer.<br />
Moravian Contrasts<br />
To us, Bohemia and Moravia are<br />
romantic almost fictional names. The<br />
journey east from Prague to Kromeríž<br />
through a flattish landscape reveals the<br />
modern Czech Republic as an important<br />
centre of logistics, situated as it is in the<br />
heart of Europe, industry is a bigger<br />
earner than tourism here. On the way we<br />
pass Slavkov, the town formerly known<br />
as Austerlitz. Who knew it was more<br />
than the name of Napoleon’s battle and a<br />
Paris station?<br />
The charming town of Kromeríž is<br />
a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the<br />
Archbishop’s Palace or Chateau was<br />
the summer residence of the Olomouc<br />
bishops and archbishops and houses a<br />
wonderful art collection, Cranach and<br />
Breughel, Van Dyke and Veronese, a<br />
historic Library and the Bishop’s Mint.<br />
One door opens into the Hunting<br />
Room, the walls covered with sporting<br />
trophies, crossed swords and guns, the<br />
heads of hundreds of deer plus the odd<br />
parrot and wild boar. This extraordinary<br />
room is the historic location for a game<br />
of billiards played during a meeting<br />
between Tsar Alexander III and Emperor<br />
Franz Joseph in 1885. The sumptuous<br />
early baroque building has been used as<br />
a setting for many films, including Miloš<br />
Forman’s Amadeus.<br />
The renaissance Flower Garden,<br />
promoted as the Czech Versailles, not<br />
only showcases elaborate formal parterres<br />
and a 244 metre long colonnade with<br />
antique statues, but includes an aviary, a<br />
quirky artificial ‘rabbit hill’, hot houses<br />
and alleys of ancient limes.<br />
In total contrast, the town of Zlin was<br />
built in the 1920’s and 30’s completely<br />
in the Functionalist architectural style.<br />
Tomáš Bata, the father of the shoe<br />
empire was such a great admirer of<br />
Manchester that he opened a brick<br />
factory so that the same red bricks could<br />
be used to build his workers houses<br />
and the industrial buildings which were<br />
laid out in the same grid of numbered<br />
streets and avenues as his other love,<br />
Manhattan. There, production methods<br />
were inspired by the principles of Henry<br />
Ford.<br />
Bata’s Modernist office block was<br />
the second highest in Europe when it<br />
was built in the thirties. It was full of<br />
the latest experimental innovations such<br />
as air conditioning and the star exhibit<br />
was its incredible elevator. As the lift<br />
doors slid open one stepped, not into a<br />
windowless box, but into a large office,<br />
complete with desks, picture windows,<br />
telephones and even a wash hand basin,<br />
clients were then transported up to<br />
the top floor. The lift was used as a PR<br />
exercise, a world map covering one wall<br />
displaying the extent of the Bata empire.<br />
Although Tomáš Bat’a was killed<br />
in a crash in the 1930’s, the empire<br />
that had started with his cobbler<br />
grandfather, expanded into making<br />
tyres, animated films, travelogues, air<br />
travel, and his philanthropic philosophy,<br />
providing, subsidised houses, shops and<br />
entertainment for his workers continued.<br />
When the Nazis came to power<br />
most of the Jewish Bat’a family and top<br />
managers were abroad and managed<br />
to escape religious persecution. When<br />
the Communists took over in 1945<br />
they considered the company to be<br />
exploitative and wound it down, not to<br />
recover until liberation.<br />
The beautifully designed Bat’a Shoe<br />
Museum in Zlin holds the largest, most<br />
comprehensive historic and geographic<br />
collection of foot-ware after Toronto,<br />
from hamster skin slippers to avantgarde<br />
winkle-pickers. It also tells the<br />
fascinating story of the Bat’a empire.<br />
If you like your liquor strong, try a<br />
visit to the Rudolf Jelinek Distillery at<br />
Vizovice. Try Czech whiskey or Slivovic,<br />
there’s even a Kosher version.<br />
If spa treatments are more to<br />
your taste, Luhacovice, up in the hills<br />
surrounded by pine forests is one of<br />
many Czech spa towns. Here you not<br />
only immerse yourself in the pool,<br />
jacuzzi or sauna, but you are urged to<br />
drink the slightly strange tasting water<br />
too. For architectural interest, this town<br />
has some great examples of faux Alpine<br />
villas.<br />
The town of Olomouc is<br />
recommended as a good centre for<br />
your exploration of Moravia. If you are<br />
not starting out from Prague, Eastern<br />
Moravia can be reached speedily from<br />
Vienna too.<br />
Cynthia Pickard was a guest of Czech<br />
Tourism.<br />
Photographs © Cynthia Pickard
70 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
71<br />
Health<br />
Health<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Kensington’s<br />
Bupa Cromwell<br />
opens UK’s most luxurious<br />
hospital suites<br />
Bupa Cromwell Hospital, a<br />
landmark on Cromwell Road for<br />
over 30 years, has a worldwide<br />
reputation for clinical excellence. It<br />
now offers the ultimate healthcare<br />
environment to match this quality of<br />
care as the ultra-luxurious Royal and<br />
Presidential suites are unveiled.<br />
The Royal and Presidential are<br />
amongst the most luxurious hospital<br />
suites in the world. Made up of large<br />
inter-connected rooms, with separate<br />
dining and lounge areas, they have been<br />
furnished to the highest standards and<br />
bring a new level of service quality to<br />
UK private healthcare. Patients have<br />
access to a host of services, including a<br />
VIP Coordinator and round trip airport<br />
transfers.<br />
The Cromwell attracts patients from<br />
across the globe, who come to take<br />
advantage of its high calibre consultants,<br />
clinical reputation and location a stone’s<br />
throw from Knightsbridge. The new<br />
suites are expected to attract high profile<br />
patients, from international royalty to<br />
London residents who demand the very<br />
best.<br />
Philippa Fieldhouse, General<br />
Manager of Bupa Cromwell Hospital,<br />
comments; “Whilst quality of care<br />
will always be our first priority, we<br />
understand that some of our patients<br />
expect the highest level of service and<br />
comfort in every aspect of their life,<br />
and there is no reason why they should<br />
compromise when they need it most.<br />
“The new Royal and Presidential<br />
suites are the centrepiece of our wider<br />
hospital redevelopment, and I have<br />
no doubt that they will be extremely<br />
popular”.<br />
Whilst best known for carrying out<br />
complex surgery such as liver and kidney<br />
transplants, as well as cutting edge<br />
cancer and heart care, Bupa Cromwell<br />
Hospital also offers local residents an<br />
exceptional resource for everyday health<br />
requirements. There are in-house GPs,<br />
a full diagnostics service with same<br />
day appointments, and highly regarded<br />
paediatric outpatient department.<br />
Bupa Cromwell Hospital is a 5<br />
minute walk from Gloucester Road<br />
and Earls Court, or 10 minutes from<br />
Kensington High Street.<br />
www.bupacromwellhospital.com.<br />
Prevention not<br />
Restoration<br />
How a new dental clinic in<br />
Kensington is changing the<br />
way we see dentistry<br />
Ms Vaida Buksnaityte Founder and director, Oral Health Network Ltd<br />
What is Oris Oral Health Centre?<br />
Oris is more than just a dental clinic.<br />
It’s an alternative for people looking for<br />
more from their dental practice.<br />
We provide patients with a complete<br />
and holistic approach to their oral health<br />
that focuses on preventing dental disease<br />
and improving their overall health as a<br />
result.<br />
We provide preventative, restorative<br />
and cosmetic dentistry and a tailor made<br />
service that can prevent oral health<br />
problems before they become a painful<br />
and costly issue for our patients.<br />
What is prevention in dentistry?<br />
We recognise not everyone will be<br />
at the same risk from developing dental<br />
problems. Factors such as lifestyle, diet,<br />
oral hygiene and genetics can play a role<br />
in what happens to your teeth and gums.<br />
With over half the UK suffering<br />
from gum disease, we exist not just to<br />
treat dental problems but to work with<br />
patients to reduce the likelihood of these<br />
problems occurring. We assess each<br />
patient and provide an individual plan to<br />
keep their teeth, gums and body healthy.<br />
How do you approach dentistry<br />
holistically?<br />
We believe the mouth, teeth and<br />
gums are an integrated part of your body<br />
and its system. By promoting a healthy,<br />
natural and toxin free lifestyle, our clinic<br />
helps patients achieve the balance their<br />
body needs to maintain a healthy oral<br />
environment.<br />
What makes Oris unique in<br />
Kensington?<br />
Our passion for prevention extends<br />
beyond the clinic. We stand uniquely<br />
within the Kensington area as a dental<br />
clinic for the local community, providing<br />
preventative dental services and oral<br />
health education.<br />
We work with schools, businesses<br />
and families to improve understanding of<br />
prevention so the people of Kensington<br />
can achieve the best oral health possible<br />
for themselves and their families.<br />
T: 020 7938 2378 e: info@orisohc.<br />
co.uk www.orisohc.co.uk<br />
SPECIAL OFFER FOR<br />
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When panic<br />
attacks<br />
Stop panicking,<br />
it will pass<br />
By Lynne McGowan<br />
I was prompted to write this article<br />
after hearing a radio program on which<br />
was described a daughter’s distress after<br />
witnessing her elderly father, about to<br />
retire, in a highly panicked state. Three<br />
days were spent trying to calm and keep<br />
him safe until he could be attended to<br />
professionally, but for all concerned they<br />
would have been a very challenging few<br />
days.<br />
Having experienced a full-blown<br />
panic attack, I can verify it is a pretty<br />
alarming phenomenon but back then<br />
I had absolutely no idea what was<br />
happening or what was causing it. Dizzy<br />
with visceral fear and feeling as though<br />
my mind had shattered into a thousand<br />
fragments, I could only foresee my<br />
future life collapsing domino-like into<br />
blackness. It all sounds highly dramatic<br />
on paper but afterwards with equanimity<br />
fully restored, I made a personal vow<br />
to learn how it came to be and never to<br />
repeat the experience again.<br />
Panic attacks are known to be<br />
....in reality things<br />
nearly always turn out<br />
to be not so bad.<br />
associated with major life losses and<br />
transitions, such as entering the<br />
workplace or beginning retirement,<br />
but severe stress and anxiety is also a<br />
common cause, manifesting as either an<br />
irrational, projected fear of the future or<br />
regressive fear of the past.<br />
For mental health as with physical<br />
health, it is better to be forearmed<br />
and aware that panic attacks often<br />
happen when anxiety related stress is<br />
allowed to rise and continue unchecked.<br />
The sensation of panic is perfectly<br />
natural and is the body’s only way of<br />
communicating ‘Enough!’, forcing you<br />
to ease off. It wants to recalibrate and<br />
return to its natural base line of balance.<br />
Because, although it has been trying<br />
to communicate with you for weeks or<br />
months with little warning signs such as<br />
tension in the neck, low moods, anxious<br />
thoughts, and disrupted sleep, you have<br />
not been listening. In fact, not only have<br />
you been ignoring it but also accelerating<br />
anxiety levels further by seeking solace in<br />
stimulants and indulging in all manner<br />
of unwise ways.<br />
Of course we all like to be in control<br />
of our minds and when the nervous<br />
system decides to take charge to do its<br />
job it can be surprising and traumatic.<br />
The panic state occurs when the<br />
sympathetic nervous system is alerted by<br />
the primitive brain (not distinguishing<br />
between real fear and irrational fear) and<br />
signals for the release of hormones like<br />
adrenaline and cortisol, preparng you to<br />
fight or flee. It is worth noting constant,<br />
prolonged spurts of these hormones<br />
unbalances the immune system, deplete<br />
‘feel good’ neurotransmitters like<br />
serotonin and so fuelling feelings of<br />
anxiety and nervousness further.<br />
It’s helpful to make friends with your<br />
nervous system, in the primeval past it<br />
will have enabled you to escape a sabretoothed<br />
tiger and survive. Take pity on<br />
your poor little adrenal glands, that have<br />
been used and abused and put under so<br />
much pressure. They are only the size<br />
of a grape sitting there on top of each<br />
kidney, multitasking away.<br />
And if by chance you are caught off<br />
balance and swept up in a fearful frenzy<br />
with the rapid breaths, palpitating heart,<br />
sweating, tingling palms, and a mind<br />
swamped with negative data, panic<br />
not, you are not going crazy; accept it<br />
for what it is, only a panic attack and<br />
it will last a few minutes, twenty at the<br />
most, and then it will slowly deflate<br />
and die down. Don’t go to battle and<br />
fight it, go with the flow, float and ride<br />
the waves breathing deeply and slowly<br />
saying to yourself ‘it’s ok, it will pass,<br />
it will pass’, and sure enough it does.<br />
Mindful breathing is key in allowing<br />
you to be centred in the present and not<br />
to anxiously project forward, thinking<br />
the worse when in reality things nearly<br />
always turn out to be not so bad.<br />
www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety.../<br />
understanding-panic-attacks<br />
Illustration © Lynne McGowan (after Mel Calman)<br />
CALM raises<br />
awareness of male<br />
suicide rates<br />
By Fergus Coltsmann<br />
International Men’s Day, while perhaps<br />
not celebrated or even observed by most,<br />
passed on the 19th of November. But<br />
the Campaign Against Living Miserably<br />
(CALM) marked the day by handing out<br />
Oyster Card holders as a part of their<br />
Mind the Chap campaign.<br />
The campaign aims to raise<br />
awareness of the fact that suicide is the<br />
biggest single killer of men aged under<br />
45 in the UK. In partnership with<br />
TOPMAN and Octopus Investment,<br />
they handed out 23,000 holders across<br />
twelve London stations.<br />
Male suicide rates are historically<br />
higher than in the female population,<br />
with the latest data supporting this trend.<br />
In 2014, 76% of all suicides were by men,<br />
making the male suicide rate three times<br />
higher than the female rate. Over 4500<br />
men kill themselves every year in the UK<br />
around 12 a day.<br />
A YouGov poll conducted on behalf<br />
of CALM revealed that 42% of men<br />
responded that they had considered<br />
suicide, with 41% responding that they<br />
never talked about their issues. Jane<br />
Powell, CEO of CALM, said of the poll:<br />
“The results of this research, together<br />
with the latest mortality statistics,<br />
show that we urgently need to raise<br />
the nation’s awareness of this hugely<br />
important and under-discussed issue.<br />
“This isn’t an issue which affects<br />
‘other people’ or one that can be solely<br />
reasoned to mental health issues,<br />
considering suicide is clearly something<br />
many men will consider should their<br />
life circumstances change. Of those<br />
men polled, the largest proportion of<br />
those who’d thought about suicide never<br />
actually talked to someone about it and<br />
the reasons they didn’t talk reinforce the<br />
norms of what society think it is to ‘be a<br />
man’ – not to talk about their feelings or<br />
make those around them worry.<br />
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Dr Kate’s current<br />
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Please quote KCW today<br />
E: frontdesk@chelseaprivateclinic.com www.chelseaprivateclinic.com
72 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
73<br />
Health<br />
Health<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
The Hidden<br />
Costs of Cancer<br />
By Fahad Redha<br />
Eighty-three percent of people with<br />
cancer are an average of £570<br />
worst off every month as a result<br />
of a cancer diagnosis, new research from<br />
Macmillan Cancer Support has revealed.<br />
The extra costs include regular trips to<br />
medical appointments and hospital bills, as<br />
well as the cost of heating homes, as people<br />
with cancer feel the cold more. In addition,<br />
people may stop working and face a loss<br />
of income as a result, while still having to<br />
cope with the additional costs. The type of<br />
cancer a person has as well as their income<br />
at the time of diagnosis affects how they’re<br />
affected.<br />
Reduced income is a major factor, as<br />
nearly a third (30%) face a loss of £860 a<br />
month, and 33% stopped working either<br />
permanently or temporarily. The most<br />
common additional cost people with<br />
cancer face is getting to and from hospital<br />
or making other health care visits. Costs<br />
related to outpatient appointments hit<br />
almost three quarters (71%) of people<br />
with cancer and over a quarter (28%)<br />
for inpatient appointments. More than<br />
half (54%) of people living with cancer<br />
experience higher day-to-day living costs<br />
which can add an extra £63 a month.<br />
Despite people living with cancer being<br />
eligible for free prescriptions, another<br />
common cost was for over-the-counter or<br />
prescription medicine. Over third (37%)<br />
incurred costs for clothing, specialised<br />
equipment and home medication, on<br />
which people spent an average of £70<br />
a month. Replacement clothing was<br />
the most common here, though home<br />
modifications were particularly expensive<br />
for those who needed them.<br />
“Cancer is the toughest fight most of us<br />
will ever face,” said Ciarán Devane, Chief<br />
Executive Macmillan Cancer Support.<br />
“Its impact lasts long after treatment has<br />
ended. But while everyone anticipates the<br />
cost to health, few understand the financial<br />
impact of cancer. Macmillan’s new research<br />
reveals the sheer scale of the financial<br />
burden faced by people living with cancer.”<br />
The charity is calling on governments<br />
across the UK to make sure people<br />
affected by cancer can claim and receive<br />
vital benefits when they need them the<br />
most and to ensure that welfare support is<br />
protected from budget cuts. They would<br />
also like to see help given to people living<br />
with cancer so that they may return to or<br />
remain in work, help such as providing<br />
vocational rehabilitation.<br />
Macmillan also wants the NHS to<br />
make sure people with cancer can access<br />
support and information on finances and<br />
work as soon as possible, and for hospitals<br />
to abolish car parking charges for people<br />
with cancer, in line with policy and<br />
guidance.<br />
“We want governments across the<br />
UK, the NHS, businesses, and the<br />
voluntary sector to work with us to find<br />
solutions,” Mr Devane said. “Already,<br />
many organisations are doing this. Our<br />
partnerships with Citizens Advice,<br />
local authorities, and others continue to<br />
achieve great results in hard times. And I<br />
must thank the RBS Group for helping<br />
Macmillan pilot our financial guidance<br />
service and for part-funding this valuable<br />
research. Their backing and recognition of<br />
this important issue is much appreciated.<br />
No one should face cancer alone. With the<br />
support of governments across the UK, the<br />
NHS and businesses, we can make sure the<br />
fight against financial hardship is one less<br />
thing”<br />
Women more<br />
likely to take up<br />
tailored diabetes<br />
care<br />
Tailored care that can reduce mortality<br />
in diabetes most cases is more likely<br />
to be taken up by women than men,<br />
new research has shown. A study by<br />
Dr Marlene Krag, from The Research<br />
Unit for General Practice, University<br />
of Copenhagen, was published in<br />
Diabetologia, the journal of the European<br />
Association for the Study of Diabetes<br />
(EASD).<br />
The data showed women who were<br />
given ‘structured personal care’ were 26%<br />
less likely to die of any cause and 30%<br />
less likely to die from diabetes related<br />
causes compared to women given routine<br />
care. Women given the personal care<br />
intervention were 41% less likely to suffer a<br />
stroke and 35% less likely to experience any<br />
diabetes-related endpoint (a combination<br />
of multiple outcomes), EurekaAlert<br />
reports.<br />
None of these differences were seen<br />
in men, though the differences between<br />
genders were only statistically significant<br />
for all-cause mortality and diabetes related<br />
deaths.<br />
“Women accept disease and implement<br />
disease management more easily, which<br />
might affect long-term outcomes,”<br />
the authors said. “Masculinity may be<br />
challenged by diabetes, demanding daily<br />
consideration and lifestyle changes. The<br />
structured approach could conflict with<br />
men's tendency to trust self-directed<br />
learning instead of self-management."<br />
"We propose that the improved<br />
outcomes in women may be explained<br />
by complex social and cultural issues of<br />
gender. There is a need to further explore<br />
the gender-specific effects of major<br />
intervention trials in order to rethink the<br />
way we provide medical care to both men<br />
and women, so that both sexes benefit<br />
from intensified treatment efforts.”<br />
St. Mary’s<br />
Hospital ‘More<br />
Smiles Appeal’<br />
launches to raise funds to treat<br />
critically ill children<br />
A<br />
major fundraising appeal has<br />
been launched to help expand<br />
and improve the facilities at the<br />
paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at St.<br />
Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.<br />
The fundraising appeal led by the<br />
Imperial Health Charity and COSMIC<br />
charity aims to raise two million pounds<br />
to help create a larger and more inviting<br />
facility which will have more beds,<br />
equipment and ultimately help save more<br />
lives.<br />
Parents of critically ill children<br />
describe the care at the facility provided<br />
as ‘absolutely amazing’ and ‘world class’.<br />
However, a common observation is that<br />
there is a serious lack of space at the<br />
facility.<br />
The lack of space means that over 200<br />
children, who can travel from as far away<br />
as Birmingham, have to be turned away<br />
each year by the ward in St. Mary’s.<br />
The redevelopment of the ward see<br />
the number of beds being increased to<br />
15, allowing an extra 200 children to be<br />
cared for each year. It will also include a<br />
dedicated parents’ room, a private room<br />
where doctors and nurses can provide<br />
emotional support to families, and much<br />
needed new equipment.<br />
The campaign is being supported by<br />
actress and writer Fay Ripley whose niece<br />
was treated in the facility.<br />
To find out more about the St Mary’s<br />
Hospital More Smiles Appeal, visit www.<br />
moresmiles.org.uk or telephone 020 3312<br />
6179.<br />
Volunteers<br />
needed<br />
for Alzheimer’s trial<br />
By Fahad Redha<br />
A trial into a promising treatment for<br />
Alzheimer’s is looking for participants<br />
in London. Liraglutide is already used<br />
to treat diabetes and, in lab tests and a<br />
small preliminary study in people with the<br />
condition, has shown “promising results”<br />
for Alzheimer’s. The trial is funded by<br />
Alzheimer’s Society and Imperial College,<br />
with additional support from other<br />
charities, pharmaceutical companies and<br />
the NHS.<br />
Previous studies have shown a<br />
strong link between type 2 diabetes and<br />
development of Alzheimer’s. Diabetes<br />
occurs when cells in the body cannot<br />
properly process glucose, a type of sugar. It<br />
is thought that in Alzheimer’s, brain cells<br />
cannot use glucose properly, keeping them<br />
from functioning.<br />
Volunteers in the trial will take either<br />
the drug Liraglutide or a placebo for a<br />
year as researchers will use a range of brain<br />
scans and memory tests to see the effects<br />
of the drug on brain function and memory.<br />
The current treatments for Alzheimer’s<br />
alleviate the symptoms for a while but do<br />
not treat the causes of the disease. It has<br />
been over a decade since the last treatment<br />
was approved for use.<br />
Testing an already licensed drug as a<br />
dementia treatment means the drug has<br />
already passed the required safety tests<br />
and if it is shown to benefit people with<br />
dementia, it can be brought to those in<br />
need sooner.<br />
“We are asking people who have mild<br />
Alzheimer’s disease to take part in this trial<br />
to find out whether Liraglutide has any<br />
effect on the condition,” Dr Paul Edison of<br />
Imperial College London who is leading<br />
the trial said.<br />
“Volunteering to take part in trials<br />
is a vital aspect of research and we very<br />
much appreciate the time and effort<br />
that our participants have put into this<br />
study already. The more people that take<br />
part, the quicker we will understand the<br />
potential effects that this drug may have on<br />
Alzheimer’s disease.”<br />
Mr Alan Bayes from North London is<br />
participating in the Liraglutide trial. He<br />
said:<br />
“When I was diagnosed with<br />
Alzheimer’s disease, I was very interested<br />
in participating in a clinical trial as it<br />
offered me the opportunity of helping<br />
myself as well as others with the disease.<br />
I chose this trial because there were<br />
promising early results and it is a licensed<br />
drug, and so, if effective, it could be<br />
available for treatment of Alzheimer’s<br />
disease fairly quickly.”<br />
Dr Doug Brown, Director of Research<br />
at Alzheimer’s Society, said:<br />
“It is estimated that 72,000 people are<br />
living with Alzheimer’s disease in London,<br />
with these numbers expected to rise,” Dr<br />
Doug Brown, Director of Research at<br />
Alzheimer’s Society. “Effective treatments<br />
for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms<br />
of dementia are desperately needed and<br />
trials such as this are the way to find these<br />
treatments.”<br />
If you are interested in taking part in<br />
the above study, please contact the team<br />
at 0208 383 3704 or 0208 383 1969 or<br />
e-mail: memory@imperial.ac.uk.<br />
If you are interested in taking part in<br />
dementia research studies, whether it is just<br />
filling in a questionnaire or participating<br />
in a full scale trial such as this one, you<br />
can sign up to Join Dementia Research.<br />
This service will match you to suitable<br />
studies in your area and you do not need<br />
a diagnosis of dementia to sign up. Find<br />
out more at www.alzheimers.org.uk/<br />
joindementiaresearch<br />
HRH Princess Alexandra meets “unsung<br />
heros” from the Alzheimers Society<br />
THEY WON’T<br />
SEE THE<br />
DIFFERENCE<br />
BUT YOU WILL<br />
LYRIC<br />
IS 100%<br />
INVISIBLE<br />
Lyric is a new type of implantable hearing aid that can be<br />
worn for up to three months at a time, without the need for<br />
daily insertion or removal - or the need to change batteries.<br />
Its placement deep in the ear canal means it has a totally<br />
natural sound quality, improving your hearing even in the<br />
most challenging of listening situations and it’s totally invisible.<br />
MEET THE TEAM<br />
Our aim is to provide the highest standard of hearing healthcare,<br />
by combining the latest state of the art technology with professional<br />
expertise and exceptional levels of aftercare.<br />
Rony Ganguly MSc, RHAD<br />
Mr Ganguly is the clinical director of Pindrop Hearing<br />
and has over 15 years experience in Audiology. He has<br />
worked at leading NHS Audiology Departments such as<br />
the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital and at<br />
Guy’s & St Thomas’.<br />
Julitta O-Mensah<br />
Clinical Audiologist & Registered Hearing Aid Dispenser.<br />
Julitta is our senior clinical audiologist and registered<br />
hearing aid dispenser. She has extensive experience<br />
working with children and adults in both the NHS and<br />
the private sector.<br />
Isobel McGown BSc (Audiology), RHAD<br />
Vestibular Specialist, Hearing Aid Specialist. Isobel is the<br />
latest member of our team. A senior clinical audiologist,<br />
she specialises in Vestibular Diagnostics and in Hearing<br />
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the NHS and private sector and worked for another<br />
leading Harley Street Audiology clinic before making<br />
the switch to Pindrop.<br />
Are you conscious of the way your<br />
hearing aids look?<br />
Are you always losing your hearing aids?<br />
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IF ANY OF THE ABOVE RESONATES WITH<br />
YOU CONTACT PINDROP HEARING AND<br />
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TRUST THE EXPERTS<br />
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Pindrop Hearing, located in Harley Street, London is the<br />
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OFFER FOR KCW READERS<br />
We’re offering 50 KCW <strong>Today</strong> readers a 50% reduction on our<br />
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So don’t delay, call Pindrop Hearing on 020 7487 2660 to<br />
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74 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
75<br />
Motoring<br />
Motoring<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
From the Back<br />
Seat - Part 28<br />
By Don Grant<br />
I<br />
have mentioned my dad’s dad’s<br />
driving skills before, insomuch that<br />
neither my brother Gregor nor I<br />
would rush to sit on the bench-style<br />
front seat of his Hillman when he took<br />
us on one of his jaunts. Usually the<br />
front seat was the much-coveted prize<br />
reserved for the eldest son-and-heir, but,<br />
in the case of Grandpa, it was the last<br />
place you wanted to be, even as a callow<br />
six-year-old. He was a truly atrocious<br />
driver, with no regard for other roadusers,<br />
or pedestrians, or even inanimate<br />
objects. Sliding about on wet cobbles<br />
and being deflected by tram lines on<br />
the road from Bearsden to Milngavie,<br />
with Grandpa hunched over the wheel,<br />
was one of the more scary things I have<br />
ever experienced. He managed to write<br />
off two Hillmans, which dad used to<br />
get at a discount through a chum of<br />
his called Pat Prosser, who owned a<br />
garage. He also managed to get through<br />
clutches and gearboxes at an alarming<br />
rate, refusing to get an automatic. The<br />
ear-splitting sound of him trying to<br />
get the column gear-shift into reverse<br />
instead of top gear, whilst hurtling along<br />
the Switchback Road at sixty, could<br />
be heard all over Dunbartonshire. He<br />
rarely stopped at junctions, and traffic<br />
lights were, to him, I imagine colourful<br />
decorations; if anyone had the nerve to<br />
point out that he had just gone through<br />
a red light, he would mutter, “well, it<br />
wasn’t there yesterday”.<br />
Grandpa was a musician by<br />
profession, and a very good one. He<br />
passed the entrance examination to the<br />
Army School of Music in 1914 but,<br />
instead he was sent on active service<br />
to France then East and West Africa,<br />
obtaining a commission in the Argyl<br />
and Sutherland Highlanders and the<br />
Cameronian Scottish Rifles. After<br />
completing his army service in 1922<br />
Gregor James Grant Snr concentrated<br />
on training brass bands, composing,<br />
arranging and teaching. He was on the<br />
staff of the Royal Scottish Academy of<br />
Music as euphonium and tuba teacher,<br />
and was passionate about the benefits of<br />
playing and listening to music especially<br />
for children in the Glasgow slums. He<br />
conducted the Govan Burgh Band<br />
from 1924 and the Bonnybridge Band<br />
from 1925 and coached many bands<br />
for contests. He joined the Scottish<br />
National Orchestra in 1929 with a break<br />
to return to army service with the Royal<br />
Artillery in WW2. Brass bands under his<br />
baton won many national competitions<br />
and on 21 May 1929 at The Peoples<br />
Palace in Glasgow he conducted two<br />
bands to receive 1st and 2nd places.<br />
In 1931 The Daily Record said, “Great<br />
credit must be given to Lieut.Grant,<br />
as not only has he made his band one<br />
of the foremost in the country, but he<br />
has also, by the application of modern<br />
methods of arranging and by adapting<br />
the compositions of composers new to<br />
the brass band world, been essentially<br />
responsible for the increase in popularity<br />
shown by the public to the bands of<br />
Scotland.” In his obituary, the brass band<br />
movement mourned the loss of one of<br />
its greatest personalities, as conductor,<br />
arranger, composer and grand old man<br />
of music. Grandpa died in 1966 and<br />
a beautiful memorial service was held<br />
in Bonnybridge Parish Church. The<br />
Band of the 7th Argyll & Sutherland<br />
Highlanders, of which he was musical<br />
director, played Land of the Leal and<br />
the Grand March from Aida arranged<br />
by (then) Captain Gregor J Grant. I<br />
remember that, after his death, dad<br />
would receive a cheque for £5 5s. 6½d.<br />
or whatever, every year from the BBC<br />
for recording rights to arrangements<br />
he had made, such as the William Tell<br />
Overture, or writing The Flying Scot for<br />
the brilliant cornet player Willie Barr.<br />
His William Tell was used in the closing<br />
sequence of the film Brassed Off.<br />
Grandpa would drive me, my brother<br />
Gregor, sister Simone and our mum,<br />
up to Loch Lomond, where he kept his<br />
little cabin cruiser, which turned out to<br />
be a double-whammy of white-knuckle<br />
experiences. Dad would always have<br />
an excuse not to be on one of these<br />
outings, having an ‘important meeting<br />
in toon’. The Loch was only about thirty<br />
minutes drive from Glasgow, but the<br />
way Grandpa drove, it was more like<br />
twenty. As a child, things appeared to be<br />
always much bigger, but not in the case<br />
of Grandpa’s cabin cruiser, it was not just<br />
smaller, it was tiny. There was a great<br />
deal of prep before we could even go on<br />
board, like fixing the outboard motor<br />
to the transom plate, filling it up with<br />
two-stroke fuel, priming it, coiling ropes<br />
(sorry, painters) cleaning the yellowing<br />
perspex windscreen and generally storing<br />
things away. With a picnic basket on<br />
board, there was hardly any room for<br />
the five of us, and when Grandpa tried<br />
to start the outboard motor by yanking<br />
on the toggled string, we all had to duck<br />
down, otherwise we would be met with<br />
a flaying fist. Finally, after many pulls,<br />
bright red in the face, he would coax the<br />
little engine into life, and, in a cloud of<br />
blue smoke, we were off, putt-putting<br />
our way into the unknown. The whole<br />
area in the Trossachs National Park is<br />
seriously beautiful and only a few miles<br />
from the rather austere City of Glasgow.<br />
I didn’t know then, but I do now, that<br />
Loch Lomond is the largest body of<br />
freshwater in mainland Britain. As soon<br />
as Grandpa donned his nautical hat, he<br />
turned into a cross between Captains<br />
Queeg and Bligh, but no-one dared to<br />
mutiny as he barged his way through<br />
a flotilla of sailing boats or swamped<br />
children in canoes. He would bark orders<br />
at us all. “Fend off on the starboard<br />
side. No, starboard!That’s port. Right!<br />
RIGHT!” “Hold onto that rope! No,<br />
not that one!” “For goodness sake, dinna<br />
all sit on the same side! You’ll have us<br />
over!” Not only would he get very angry<br />
if we didn’t comply immediately, he also<br />
got very agitated with other ‘sailors’ if<br />
they came too close. The weather was<br />
not always that kind to us, and on some<br />
outings, we were all huddled in the<br />
‘cabin’ wearing anoraks and oilskins,<br />
eating our picnic, listening to the rain<br />
hammering on the fibreglass roof.<br />
Hard-boiled eggs, Marmite sandwiches,<br />
Wagon Wheels, a salad with beetroot<br />
bleeding into the lettuce, salad cream<br />
dressing and Thermos flasks of oversugared<br />
khaki tea. So we sat there,<br />
bobbing up and down, moored to a buoy<br />
fifty yards from the shore, eating off<br />
soggy, purple paper plates, watching a<br />
squall building up at the far end of the<br />
loch, “This is the life, eh, Donnie?” “Yes,<br />
Grandpa.”<br />
Another outing involved being<br />
driven south-west across Glasgow from<br />
Bearsden to Largs on the Ayrshire west<br />
coast opposite Bute, where he kept the<br />
smallest caravan in Scotland, if not Great<br />
Britain, amongst the pines and ferns. It<br />
was the size of a Wendy house, and with<br />
any more than two small children inside,<br />
it was full. Somehow Grandpa managed<br />
to manoevre himself about on his own,<br />
like a big bear, without knocking too<br />
many things over, but it was nervewracking<br />
to watch as the caravan<br />
pitched, rolled and yawed, while he lit<br />
the Calorgas stove in a great whoosh!<br />
of blue flame, which did not seem to<br />
surprise nor frighten him, even though<br />
it took his eyebrows off and singed his<br />
moustache. In his kitchen at home, there<br />
were so many plugs fitted into one socket<br />
with adaptors, the last one was resting<br />
on the worktop through the sheer weight<br />
of it. Once, his daughter Rita plugged a<br />
Hoover into this bowed, plastic structure,<br />
and she was thrown across the room with<br />
such force, she banged her head on the<br />
wall opposite and could not stop shaking.<br />
Dad was furious, and got Grandpa to<br />
rationalise his use of plugs and put more<br />
sockets in.<br />
The first time we went to the seaside,<br />
Gregor and I walked down for<br />
a paddle, possibly even a swim, while<br />
lunch was being prepared under the<br />
awning. The biggest problem about<br />
Scotland, and particularly the West<br />
coast, were midges; not just thousands,<br />
but millions. I now understand that two<br />
million of the little buggers weigh just<br />
one kilo and one square metre of land<br />
will contain about half a million of them,<br />
and it is only the female of the species<br />
that bites. In the area of ferns between<br />
our encampment in the pine forest<br />
and the sea, our walk turned into a trot<br />
and then a run, otherwise a great, grey<br />
chimney would form above one’s head,<br />
like a fine-mesh, upside-down witch’s<br />
hat. Simone has become our Clan Grant<br />
archivist, and she has a better handle on<br />
family history, than I, so I have willfully<br />
pillaged her blog about Grandpa,<br />
which is well worth a look -http://<br />
simonemgrant.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/<br />
gregor-james-grant-brass-bandconductor.html<br />
Photographs © Grant Family Archive<br />
Photograph © Teasla<br />
Classic & Sports<br />
Car Show<br />
Alexandra Palace<br />
By David Hughes<br />
Alexandra Palace is possibly one<br />
of the best and most charismatic<br />
show spaces in London, perched<br />
up high with a marvellous view down<br />
over the city. It has history too, of<br />
course, as the site of the world’s first<br />
mass television broadcast, courtesy of<br />
the BBC. This heritage was in part<br />
illustrated by the display in front of the<br />
entrance, which included an early BBC<br />
Outside Broadcast van, a travelling<br />
cinema bus of a style much loved by The<br />
Ministry of Information, and a mockup<br />
of a Spitfire. The early morning mist<br />
was also perfectly evocative of the era.<br />
Cars to look<br />
forward to<br />
By Fahad Redha<br />
Tesla Model X<br />
The Volvo S90. After several years,<br />
Volvo returns to the flagship segment<br />
with a very stylish four-door saloon<br />
(and upcoming estate). Sharing some<br />
styling cues from the XC90 SUV, it<br />
boasts a more coupe like profile than the<br />
S80 with a lower roofline which Volvo<br />
says will "bring something entirely new<br />
to this rather conservative segment."<br />
But this Swede’s beauty is more than<br />
skin deep. The car will boast semiautonomous<br />
capabilities and the next<br />
generation of the company’s safety tech.<br />
The Tesla Model X. The American<br />
company that made electric cars cool<br />
have taken the wraps off an all-wheeldrive,<br />
all electric SUV with a range of<br />
over 300 miles. More impressive than<br />
that, the top of the range P90D model<br />
will accelerate to 60mph in just 3.2<br />
seconds, about the same as a Ferrari<br />
458 Italia. For the family, there are<br />
‘falcon wing’ doors making loading and<br />
It’s not the largest venue, but<br />
it easily holds a medium sized car<br />
show, with a side offering of bikes.<br />
There was some real exotica there,<br />
but perhaps mindful of accusations<br />
levelled at other shows of there<br />
being too many stands selling<br />
the same old budget tools and<br />
ephemera, this had disappointingly<br />
little for the man hoping to offset<br />
his slightly steep £25 entry fee with<br />
a few bargains.<br />
As shows go, this had a decent variety,<br />
with a fine selection of Ferraris from<br />
various eras (including a super rare F50)<br />
to 1920s and 30s English tourers, an old<br />
Grand Prix Lancia, various E Types, and<br />
a couple of proper old-school, looney<br />
unloading as well as getting out in a tight<br />
parking space easier.<br />
The Fiat 124 Spider. The Italian<br />
firm sees a return to the rear-wheel-drive<br />
sports car segment with a retro styled,<br />
Mazda MX-5 based roadster. The 124<br />
Spider will feature the company’s 1.4 litre<br />
four cylinder, turbocharged to produce<br />
138bhp and 177lb-ft, much more than<br />
the Mazda’s naturally aspirated set<br />
up. This could make it faster than its<br />
Japanese twin’s 0-60mph sprint of 7.3<br />
seconds. But it could also cost more than<br />
the MX-5’s £19,500.<br />
C<br />
The Honda FCV Clarity. After<br />
M<br />
real world testing in California, Honda<br />
Y<br />
is finally ready to release its hydrogen<br />
powered car to the public. With a range<br />
of over 400 miles, the FCV (for fuel cell<br />
vehicle) relies to power a battery and<br />
CY<br />
emits only water. Because hydrogen is the<br />
CMY<br />
most abundant element in the universe,<br />
it’s not going to run out any time soon.<br />
The only issues are with storage and<br />
infrastructure. Honda already has a filling<br />
station in Swindon but it will be some<br />
time before you can drive all over the<br />
country.<br />
Honda NSX. After years of<br />
development and many concept cars,<br />
the new Honda NSX is finally here. The<br />
old car’s basic, simplistic approach has<br />
been replaced by a state of the art hybrid<br />
supercar with torque-vectoring all-wheel<br />
drive courtesy of three electric motors.<br />
Only time will tell if it deserves to wear<br />
the NSX badge.<br />
CM<br />
MY<br />
K<br />
Lamborghinis. Quite a lot was for<br />
sale, either via auctioneers or high end<br />
dealers, so in parts it had the feel of a<br />
snazzy dealer’s forecourt.<br />
The bikes were a bit tame, the<br />
proposed new Hesketh being something<br />
750ml<br />
KCW_AdQtrPgv2_3mmBleed.pdf 1 30/10/2015 17:06:09<br />
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a bit different from the usual roll call of<br />
old British iron, much of which I’m sure<br />
I’ve seen here before. It’s beginning to<br />
get a bit of a crowded market for shows<br />
of this style, but this was something solid<br />
to build on for next year.<br />
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Produit de France<br />
Photographs © David Hughes
76 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
77<br />
Motoring<br />
Private bankers<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
Why electric<br />
cars and hybrids<br />
are better for the<br />
environment<br />
By Fahad Redha<br />
With their big, heavy batteries<br />
and extra hardware, how can<br />
electric cars and hybrids be<br />
better for the environment than their<br />
petrol and diesel powered counterparts?<br />
After all studies have shown that with<br />
all it takes to make a Toyota Prius, it<br />
does more long-term damage than a<br />
Hummer. The reality is that this has<br />
been debunked. And yet, nearly a decade<br />
later, the myth persists.<br />
In April 2006 CNW Marketing<br />
Research published Dust to Dust<br />
which claimed that when production<br />
is taken into account, a hybrid is worse<br />
than a petrol powered car, comparing<br />
both hybrid and non-hybrid versions<br />
of the US market Honda Accord.<br />
Almost immediately, the study was<br />
refuted as many called into question<br />
the methods and assumptions CNW<br />
made. For example, they claimed that<br />
BMW i<br />
The Ultimate<br />
Driving Machine<br />
BMW i3.<br />
THE ELECTRIC CAR<br />
THAT DRIVES LIKE A BMW.<br />
To enquire about our extended test drives † call us on 020 3073 5000 or email mail@bmwparklane.co.uk<br />
BMW i Park Lane<br />
56 Park Lane, London W1K 1QB<br />
020 7514 3593 www.bmwparklane.com<br />
90% of a vehicle’s emissions come from<br />
manufacture when the reality is that up to<br />
90% come from operation (being driven).<br />
Shortly after that, The Daily Mail<br />
published a piece claiming that the plant<br />
that produces the batteries for the Toyota<br />
Prius has turned the area into a “dead<br />
zone” and that “the acid rain around<br />
Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the<br />
plants and the soil slid down off the<br />
hillside.”<br />
The trouble is, this information was<br />
out of date. The environmental damage<br />
done to the region was cleaned up<br />
decades before the Prius existed. This<br />
was followed by a complaint from Toyota<br />
to the Press Complaints Commission,<br />
after which the article was retracted and<br />
replaced with a letter from Toyota that<br />
points out that the plant has since “won<br />
praise from the Ontario Ministry of<br />
Environment and environmental groups”<br />
The myth should’ve died here. But<br />
in a 2008 episode of Top Gear, Jeremy<br />
COULD IT BE TIME TO INVITE A BMW i3 INTO YOUR LIFESTYLE?<br />
Clarkson once again cited<br />
“a recent study in America”<br />
claiming that the Prius “does<br />
more long term damage than a<br />
Hummer.”<br />
So what impact do hybrids<br />
and electric cars actually have<br />
on the environment and, more<br />
importantly, is it worse than<br />
their exhaustive counterparts?<br />
Studies from both the<br />
Argonne National Laboratory<br />
and UCLA both show that<br />
while hybrids do emit more<br />
in the production stage, their<br />
lower emissions allow them to<br />
make up the difference, and<br />
in fact they do less long term<br />
damage than a comparable<br />
petrol or diesel car.<br />
This is because the<br />
overwhelming majority of a<br />
vehicle’s emissions come from<br />
driving it, making an ecofriendlier<br />
car better even than keeping<br />
your old one going.<br />
When you take charging into<br />
account, it gets a lot more complicated.<br />
The infrastructure obviously needs to<br />
change as an entirely coal powered grid<br />
can make it worse. But electric cars<br />
are fuel agnostic, they don’t care where<br />
the electricity comes from. This really<br />
highlights an issue with where we get<br />
our power. But that’s a different story all<br />
together.<br />
Official fuel economy figures for the BMW i3: mpg N/A, CO 2 emissions 0g/km, nominal power output (electric motor) 75/102 kW/hp at 4,800 rpm; peak power output (electric motor)<br />
125/170 kW/hp, total average energy consumption per 62 miles/100 km (combined cycle) 12.9 kWh. Total range: 118 miles (combined cycle). Customer orientated range: up to 100 miles.<br />
Figures may vary depending on different factors, including but not limited to individual driving style, climatic conditions, route characteristics and preconditioning. *From 1 July 2013, all electric vehicles which emit 75g/km of CO 2 or less and meet the Euro 5 standard for air quality, would qualify for a 100%<br />
discount from the Congestion Charge if they are registered with TfL. Plug-in hybrid electric cars and vans that are on the TfL approved list are currently eligible for the Electric Vehicle Discount and would qualify for the new Ultra Low Emission Discount. **Free parking is Westminster Council area<br />
only and for a duration of up to 4 hours per day. ^Assumes 10% mileage via fuel. BMW i3 cost based on an EDF Energy Economy-7 Overnight Tariff of 6.36 pence per kWh using the BMW i Wallbox or public charging network. All figures correct at time of print and are subject to change. † Test drive<br />
subject to applicant status and availability.<br />
Photograph © Teasla<br />
SPORTING<br />
CALENDAR<br />
London Football<br />
December 12<br />
Fulham v Brentford, 15:00<br />
December 12<br />
QPR v Burnley, 15:00<br />
December 15<br />
Fulham v Ipswich, 19:45<br />
December 12<br />
QPR v Brighton, 19:45<br />
December 19<br />
Chelsea v Sunderland,<br />
15:00<br />
December 21<br />
Arsenal v Man City, 20:00<br />
December 26<br />
Chelsea v Watford, 15:00<br />
December 28<br />
Arsenal v Bournemouth,<br />
17:30<br />
December 28<br />
QPR v Huddersfield,<br />
15:00<br />
December 29<br />
Fulham v Rotherham,<br />
19:45<br />
January 1<br />
QPR v Hull, 17:15<br />
January 1<br />
Arsenal v Newcastle, 15:00<br />
January 2<br />
Fulham v Sheff Wed,<br />
15:00<br />
January 13<br />
Chelsea v West Brom,<br />
19:45<br />
January 16<br />
Chelsea v Everton, 15:00<br />
January 23<br />
Fulham v Hull, 15:00<br />
January 23<br />
QPR v Wolves, 12:30<br />
January 24<br />
Arsenal v Chelsea,<br />
16:00<br />
EFG Events<br />
March 6-12 2016<br />
BACARDI Miami Sailing<br />
Week<br />
miamisailingweek.com<br />
Motorsport<br />
&Trackdays<br />
December 16, January 13,<br />
27, 31<br />
Drift What Ya Brung,<br />
Public drift day, Santa pod<br />
raceway DWYB.co.uk<br />
January 31<br />
MGJ Engineering<br />
Brands Hatch Winter<br />
Stages, brandshatch.co.uk<br />
Golf<br />
Courtesy of BBC Sport<br />
December 10th-12th<br />
USPGA Tour: Franklin<br />
Templeton Shootout,<br />
Tiburon GC, Naples,<br />
Florida, United States.<br />
December 12th-13th<br />
USPGA Champions<br />
Tour: PNC Father/ Son<br />
Challenge, Ritz-Carlton<br />
Golf Club, Orlando,<br />
Florida, USA.<br />
January 7th-10th<br />
European Tour: SA Open,<br />
Glendower GC, Gauteng,<br />
Johannesburg, South<br />
Africa.<br />
7th-10th<br />
USPGA Tour: Hyundai<br />
Tournament Of<br />
Champions, Plantation<br />
Course at Kapalua,<br />
Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii,<br />
United States.<br />
14th-17th<br />
European Tour:<br />
Joburg Open, Royal<br />
Johannesburg &<br />
Kensington GC,<br />
Johannesburg, South<br />
Africa.<br />
14th-17th<br />
USPGA Tour: Sony Open<br />
in Hawaii, Waialae CC,<br />
Honolulu, Hawaii, United<br />
States.<br />
21st-24th<br />
USPGA Tour:<br />
CareerBuilder Challenge<br />
in partnership with the<br />
Clinton Foundation ,<br />
PGA West Stadium<br />
Course, La Quinta,<br />
California, United States.<br />
21st-23rd<br />
USPGA Champions<br />
Tour: Mitsubishi<br />
Electric Championship<br />
at Hualalai, Hualalai<br />
GC, Ka'upulehu-Kona,<br />
Hawaii, United States of<br />
America.<br />
28th-31st<br />
USPGA Tour: Farmers<br />
Insurance Open, Torrey<br />
Pines GC (South), San<br />
Diego, California, United<br />
States.<br />
Tennis in January<br />
Courtesy of BBC Sport<br />
4th-10th<br />
ATP Brisbane<br />
International presented<br />
by Suncorp, Brisbane,<br />
Australia.<br />
4th-10th<br />
ATP Aircel Chennai<br />
Open, Chennai, India.<br />
4th-10th<br />
ATP Qatar ExxonMobil<br />
Open, Doha, Qatar.<br />
11th-17th<br />
ATP Heineken Open,<br />
Auckland, New Zealand.<br />
11th-17th<br />
ATP Apia International<br />
Sydney, Sydney, Australia.<br />
18th-31st Australian<br />
Open, Melbourne,<br />
Australia.<br />
Horse Racing<br />
Ascot<br />
December 18-10<br />
Christmas Racing<br />
Weekend<br />
January 23<br />
Clarence House Chase<br />
ascot.co.uk<br />
Kempton Park<br />
December 15<br />
Afternoon Flat<br />
December 16<br />
AWT Twilight<br />
December 26-27<br />
William Hill<br />
Winter Festival<br />
January 6, 11, 13, 20, 27<br />
AWT Twilight<br />
January 9<br />
William Hill Lanzarote<br />
Hurdle Day<br />
January 17<br />
Afternoon Flat<br />
January 25<br />
Afternoon Jump<br />
kempton.thejockeyclub<br />
.co.uk<br />
Marathons in the UK<br />
January 16<br />
Endurancelife,<br />
Dover Marathon<br />
Other events’ dates TBA<br />
at time of writing.<br />
marathonrunnersdiary.<br />
com<br />
England Hockey<br />
Until March 13<br />
Men’s Hockey League<br />
Until March 19<br />
Women’s Hockey League<br />
englandhockey.co.uk<br />
Skiing<br />
December 16-19<br />
Val d’Isere, Ladies’,<br />
France<br />
December 16-19<br />
Val Gardena / Groeden,<br />
Men’s Downhill, Italy<br />
December 20<br />
Men’s Giant Slalom<br />
December 20<br />
Men’s Parallel Giant<br />
Slalom<br />
December 20<br />
Slope behind Hotel<br />
Ladinia, the center of La<br />
Villa<br />
December 20<br />
Center of La Villa, snow<br />
stage, next to Hotel<br />
Ladinia<br />
December 20-21<br />
Gran Risa, Italy<br />
January 12-17<br />
Men’s Downhill,<br />
Wengen, Switzerland<br />
fis-ski.com/alpine-skiing<br />
skiworldcup.it<br />
Mountaineering<br />
April 23 2016<br />
Catbells Festival of Light<br />
for Community Action<br />
Nepal<br />
thebmc.co.uk/events<br />
UIAA Ice Climbing<br />
World Cup calendar<br />
December 11-14<br />
Bozeman, U.S.A<br />
January 16-17<br />
UIAA Ice Climbing<br />
World Cup<br />
& Asian Championships<br />
January 22-23<br />
UIAA Ice Climbing<br />
World Cup Switzerland<br />
January 29-31<br />
UIAA Ice Climbing<br />
World Cup Italy<br />
theuiaa.org<br />
Cresta Run, St Moritz<br />
December 18 - March 6<br />
cresta-run.com<br />
Rugby<br />
Premier League<br />
Courtesy BBC Sport<br />
December 26<br />
London Irish v<br />
Northampton,<br />
Madejski Stadium, 14:30<br />
December 26<br />
Exeter v Sale Sharks,<br />
Sandy Park, 15:00<br />
December 26<br />
Leicester v Newcastle,<br />
Welford Road, 15:00<br />
December 27<br />
Wasps v Saracens,<br />
Ricoh Arena, 14:00<br />
December 27<br />
Bath v Worcester,<br />
The Recreation Ground,<br />
14:30<br />
December 27<br />
Harlequins v Gloucester,<br />
Twickenham, 16:30<br />
January 1<br />
Northampton v Exeter,<br />
Franklin’s Gardens, 15:00<br />
January 2<br />
Gloucester v London<br />
Irish,<br />
Kingsholm, 15:00<br />
January 2<br />
Newcastle v Bath,<br />
Kingston Park, 15:00<br />
January 2<br />
Saracens v Leicester,<br />
Allianz Park, 15:15<br />
January 2<br />
Sale Sharks v Wasps,<br />
AJ Bell Stadium, 17:30<br />
January 3<br />
Worcester v Harlequins,<br />
Sixways Stadium, 15:00<br />
January 9<br />
Exeter v Gloucester,<br />
Sandy Park, Sandy Park,<br />
15:00<br />
January 9<br />
Harlequins v Saracens,<br />
Twickenham Stoop, 15:00<br />
January 9<br />
Leicester v Northampton,<br />
Welford Road, 15:00<br />
January 10<br />
Wasps v Worcester,<br />
Ricoh Arena, 14:00<br />
January 10<br />
London Irish v<br />
Newcastle, Madejski<br />
Stadium, 15:00<br />
January 30<br />
Sale Sharks v<br />
London Irish,<br />
AJ Bell Stadium, 14:30<br />
January 30<br />
Gloucester v Leicester,<br />
Kingsholm, 15:00<br />
January 30<br />
Northampton v Wasps,<br />
Franklin’s Gardens, 15:00<br />
January 30<br />
Saracens v Bath,<br />
Allianz Park, 15:00<br />
January 30<br />
Worcester v Exeter,<br />
Sixways Stadium, 15:00<br />
January 31<br />
Newcastle v Harlequins,<br />
Kingston Park, 15:00<br />
National Badminton<br />
League<br />
January 11<br />
Team Derby v<br />
Birmingham Lions<br />
January 11 - MK<br />
Badminton v University<br />
of Nottingham<br />
January 11 -<br />
Surrey Smashers v<br />
Loughborough Sport<br />
nationalbadmintonleague.<br />
co.uk<br />
Compiled by Fahad<br />
Redha<br />
Photograph © Tsutomu Takasu<br />
Photograph © RWS<br />
33591_bs204348_BMW_Park_Lane_i3_160x260_KCW mag.indd 1 26/10/2015 10:09
78 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong> www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk 020 7738 2348<br />
December/January 2015/16<br />
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster <strong>Today</strong><br />
79<br />
Crossword & Marketplace<br />
Chess & Bridge<br />
online: www.KCW<strong>Today</strong>.co.uk<br />
This is the forty second<br />
Wolfe Cryptic Crossword<br />
I hope you enjoyed the last crossword. Ms<br />
M Atwood of Penfold Street NW8 is last<br />
months winner.Well done!<br />
Please let me have any comments or<br />
suggestions you may have. Remember, even<br />
if you haven’t totally finished the whole<br />
crossword still send in your grids either by<br />
post to Wolfe, at Kensington,Chelsea and<br />
Westminster <strong>Today</strong>, 80-100 Gwynne Road<br />
London SW11 3UW, or scan it in and send<br />
by email to wolfe@kcwtoday.co.uk. as the<br />
first correct or substantially correct answer<br />
picked at random will win a prize of a bottle<br />
of Champagne kindly donated by:<br />
Lea and Sandeman.<br />
www.leaandsandeman.co.uk/Fine-Wine.<br />
211 Kensington Church St, London W8<br />
7LX. T: 020 7221 1982 contact Sandor.<br />
1<br />
S<br />
E<br />
2 C O 3 4<br />
N D I N<br />
5 C O 6 M M 7 A N 8<br />
D<br />
I A I S O E B U<br />
A R A G E S 10 M A D E I R A<br />
N C H U M I D L<br />
P A R T 12 E G O M A N I A C<br />
F S F T N I<br />
14<br />
15<br />
O S C A N I N I F I G H T<br />
H L N O L I<br />
X<br />
17 C E L 18 S A N T A C 19 R U Z<br />
Z H I T E E<br />
21<br />
V E R L A D E 22 23<br />
N T I T A N<br />
D A A I I E O S<br />
25<br />
M P A S T O T H R O U G H<br />
A E S U R E C I<br />
O N N O I S S E U R S H I P<br />
9<br />
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11<br />
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I<br />
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C<br />
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PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS OR<br />
SERVICE<br />
CONTACT: JOHAN THOMSEN<br />
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Studio in SW3, SW5, SW7,<br />
W8, W11 or SW10.<br />
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Across<br />
6 Reindeer sound like a vehicle one<br />
noisily disapproves of. (7)<br />
7 Reportedly tall through excitement.<br />
(5)<br />
9 Short Marxist on the run? (4)<br />
10 Point of discussion I’ve joined is a<br />
matter of opinion. (10)<br />
11 Reported French twice, note this<br />
German ship. (8)<br />
13 Slow on drinking from one of these!<br />
(6)<br />
15 The countryman that gets off free.<br />
(4)<br />
17 Windmill like a threshing tool. (5)<br />
18 Held by paratrooper aiding an<br />
attack. (4)<br />
19 Cleans a cavity or commonly with a<br />
bag describes an idiot. (6)<br />
20 Get bigger for batsman to be safe<br />
here. (8)<br />
23 Call digit that can hold evidence of<br />
intention. (4,6)<br />
26 Missing from this these and those !<br />
(4)<br />
27 Left after presented instrument to<br />
auctioneer. (5)<br />
28 Would one be down in the mouth<br />
eating this sweet? (7)<br />
Down<br />
1 Hermit? I act disturbed helps figure<br />
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2 Confused a heraldic expression with<br />
1 2 3 4 5<br />
6 7 8<br />
9 10<br />
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11 12 13 14<br />
15 16 17 18<br />
19 20 21 22<br />
23 24 25 26<br />
27 28<br />
a victimiser. (6)<br />
3 Small number unable to move. (4)<br />
4 Carver complete sounds happy. (8)<br />
5 Fight contained by wasp attack. (4)<br />
6 Model car follows the Queen. (5)<br />
8 Little turnips in Italian dish. (7)<br />
12 Military colour sounds as if it could<br />
be used to start a vehicle. (5)<br />
14 High flying correspondence. (3,7)<br />
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16 Doing this to the books might<br />
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17 Pliable Ibex fell apart. (8)<br />
21 Some wench Romeo covers with<br />
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22 Sea food I left for naughty boy ! (5)<br />
24 Donated or left out of hammer. (4)<br />
25 Green plum pledged as guarantee<br />
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CHESS<br />
By Barry Martin<br />
Three Books<br />
Any chess player wishing to<br />
improve their game has to<br />
study. Study before a game,<br />
during the game, and postgame. There<br />
are chess books galore that further this<br />
endeavour, and every year the chess<br />
industry worldwide produces hundreds<br />
of new books to this end. I remember<br />
an elderly member of the Chelsea Arts<br />
Club, a good bridge player, asking my<br />
advice several years ago, as he wished to<br />
take up chess. I suggested several books<br />
which he said he would obtain. I saw<br />
him several months later and enquired<br />
how it was going. He looked a little<br />
glum and explained that he had read<br />
the books thoroughly and then sought<br />
to play against opponents. After losing<br />
a number of games back to back he had<br />
given up. Why, I asked? He said that all<br />
the players he had played against played<br />
different moves to any he had read in the<br />
books! Practical play can often be at odds<br />
with theoretical understanding. However,<br />
as Christmas approaches, several chess<br />
related books would make excellent<br />
presents to chess-minded recipients.<br />
The ever resourceful Garry Kasparov,<br />
who fights as aggressively in ink as<br />
he does across the chessboard, is the<br />
author of two of my recommendations.<br />
The third is John Donoghue’s recently<br />
published book, The Death’s Head Chess<br />
Club, which climaxes in the 37th chapter<br />
titled, ‘The Immortal Game’ (confusingly<br />
there are two 37th chapters in the book,<br />
the other ‘Endgame: Four Knights’)<br />
which encapsulates the piety, hope,<br />
fraternity, and goodwill to all men that<br />
are definitive of the festive season.<br />
The first of Kasparov’s books is Garry<br />
Kasparov on Garry Kasparov (Everyman<br />
Chess) which comes in three volumes;<br />
Part I: 1973-1985, Part II: 1985-1993,<br />
and Part III: 1993-2005. They detail<br />
his greatest games, with analytical<br />
commentary by Kasparov that explains<br />
his tactics and goals, and why certain<br />
moves were made rather than others.<br />
This three volume set by the greatest<br />
chess player the world has ever seen is<br />
not for the beginner, encapsulating the<br />
brilliant mind of an inventive, attacking<br />
strategist, and taking away the breath<br />
of any keen chess player! It records<br />
a continuous march over 32 years of<br />
unrelenting and entirely successful chess<br />
encounters, the last 26 at the highest<br />
levels of international play.<br />
Kasparov’s 1979 appearance at a<br />
tournament in Banja Luka is often<br />
seen as divine intervention, speeding<br />
up the world’s recognition of this<br />
young Azerbaijan player, aged just<br />
15. Few people know his attendance<br />
was actually due to a mistake! The<br />
Russian Chess Federation sent him<br />
to this tournament believing it to be a<br />
junior event, and Kasparov didn’t even<br />
have an international rating. It was in<br />
fact a major international event, with<br />
numerous world grandmasters playing<br />
in the contest. Kasparov erupted with<br />
genius and won the tournament two<br />
points clear of the field with 11.5 points<br />
from 15! Kasparov held the world<br />
championship crown from 1985 until<br />
2000, and without doubt has been a<br />
great ambassador for the game. As the<br />
official artist for the 1993 and 2000<br />
World Matches I can vouchsafe the<br />
dignified glamour and aura of specialness<br />
he brought with him to these world<br />
occasions.<br />
My second recommendation is<br />
another Kasparov book. The recently<br />
published Winter is Coming: Why<br />
Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the<br />
Free World Must be Stopped sees its<br />
author, not competing at international<br />
chess tournaments anymore, play a<br />
very different game on the board of<br />
world events with this book’s subject.<br />
It reaffirms the old adage that chess is<br />
a reflection of life itself, and vice-versa,<br />
and seems particularly pertinent in the<br />
times we live in. The book questions the<br />
West’s acquiescence in allowing Russia<br />
to be dragged back into a dictatorship<br />
under the leadership of the ex-KGB,<br />
Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir Putin,<br />
who became President in 1999. This was<br />
a move away from democracy, and the<br />
subsequent appeasements offered by the<br />
West have encouraged Putin’s aggression<br />
towards free markets and democracy.<br />
Kasparov likens Putin to ISIS, Al Qaeda,<br />
and Kim Jong-un in his opposition to<br />
the free countries of the world, although<br />
recent events may have overtaken this<br />
contention.<br />
The book singles out Obama<br />
and the American Democratic Party<br />
to be particularly guilty of chronic<br />
appeasement and weakness ‘‘in<br />
empowering the likes of Putin through<br />
negative responses’'. The title Winter is<br />
Coming.... was inspired by the book and<br />
television series Game of Thrones, a catchy<br />
title that reflects the concept. History<br />
cannot end, it is seasonal, and we are<br />
approaching a new season. We’d better<br />
be prepared!<br />
Finally, The Death’s Head Chess<br />
Club (Atlantic Books), by John<br />
Donoghue, is part novel and part fact.<br />
It is a fermenting indictment of human<br />
atrocity, when ‘the season is upon us’,<br />
and democracy and freedom of will are<br />
denied and bludgeoned under foot. The<br />
three central characters carry guilt by the<br />
bucket load through 38 chapters, each<br />
titled with a chess opening, chess term,<br />
or famous match, such as ‘The Immortal<br />
Game’. Donoghue ties the scene around<br />
Auschwitz and the relationships between<br />
Jewish inmates and Nazi SS Officers -<br />
Emil Clement, a French Jewish inmate,<br />
known as ‘The Watchmaker’, and Paul<br />
Meissner and Wilhelm Schweninger,<br />
who are playing for the<br />
other side. Chess is the<br />
central theme, both<br />
in the camp and at<br />
an international chess<br />
tournament in Holland<br />
in the early 1960s,<br />
when all three meet<br />
again unexpectedly.<br />
Remorse has<br />
eaten away at all<br />
three characters, but<br />
through a series of<br />
sacrifices success is<br />
finally achieved, in<br />
both the real chess<br />
match, ‘The Immortal<br />
Game’ played by Adolf<br />
Anderssen and Lionel<br />
Kieseritzky in June,<br />
1851 in London, and<br />
in the story.<br />
Forgiveness, tolerance, and<br />
compassion win against brutality and<br />
inhuman indoctrination. It has a seasonal<br />
message!<br />
The chess puzzle is taken from<br />
another game played between Lionel<br />
Kieseritzky and Adolf Anderssen in<br />
Haringey, London,1851. Black has just<br />
played his Rook to e8, and White’s<br />
response seems correct, 36.Ne6,<br />
attacking Black’s Knight on g5, but also<br />
attacking f8 and giving White’s rook<br />
on f4 covering power, if it decides to go<br />
to f8 and check! Rxf8, Nxf8, attacking<br />
Black’s Queen, which then needs to<br />
move. However, 36. Ne6, Nxe6, and<br />
37..... White’s next move, more or less<br />
concedes a draw.<br />
What was it?<br />
Answer upside down below.<br />
Answer,<br />
37.Rxg4,Nd4.38.Rh2,Re5.39.<br />
Rgh4,Kg7.40.Rxh5,Rxh5.41.<br />
Rxh5,Qg6.42.Kf2,Qf6.43.Ke3,Nc2+.44.<br />
Kd2,Nb4.45.Rh7+,Kg8.46.<br />
Rh4,Qf2+.47.Kc3,Qc2.48.<br />
Kxb4,Qb2+.49.Kc4,Qc2+.50.Kd4,Qd2+<br />
1/2-1/2.<br />
Monthly Bridge Tip for Intermediates<br />
with Andrew Robson<br />
If one opponent plays a critical card in a suit, his partner is almost twice as likely to have<br />
the adjacent card in the same suit. This is the Principle of Restricted Choice (“PRC”) -<br />
a mathematical theory that was found to have relevance at the bridge table by Terence<br />
Reese. He first expounded the theory in his epic book The Expert Game, written in 1958;<br />
an inspirational read for any ambitious player.<br />
South Deals<br />
N-S Vul<br />
♠<br />
♥<br />
♦<br />
♣<br />
♠<br />
♥<br />
♦<br />
♣<br />
♠<br />
♥<br />
♦<br />
♣<br />
♠<br />
♥<br />
♦<br />
♣<br />
♠<br />
♠<br />
♦<br />
♠<br />
1. Regular four-ace Blackwood; how many<br />
aces?<br />
2. One.<br />
3. How many kings? Note that kings should<br />
only be asked for when (a) holding all the aces<br />
and (b) when interested in a grand slam. In my<br />
experience, 5NT is bid far more often than it<br />
should be.<br />
4. Three.<br />
West’s ♥10 lead ran to declarer’s ♥J and declarer cashed ♠K, necessary to preserve<br />
dummy’s ♠A10 as a possible finesse position. East’s ♠J fell and declarer used PRC to<br />
deduce that West was now almost twice as likely to hold the adjacent card - ♠Q. The<br />
reason for this is that, with ♠QJ, East would have a choice whether to play ♠Q or ♠J;<br />
about half the time he would play ♠Q and about half the time he would play ♠J. The<br />
fact that he played ♠J affords the presumption that he had no choice in the matter, hence<br />
why it is called “Restricted Choice”.<br />
When declarer followed by leading ♠4 and West played ♠9, he crossed his fingers<br />
and inserted ♠10. East discarded a ♣ and he breathed a sigh of relief. He now cashed<br />
♠A felling West’s ♠Q, and claimed his grand slam, making a mental note to start<br />
playing Roman Key Card Blackwood, which would enable his partnership to discover<br />
that ♠Q was missing and therefore avoid this risky grand slam venture.<br />
ANDREW’S TIP: When one opponent plays a critical card in a suit, play his<br />
partner to have the adjacent card in the same suit.
80 December/January April/May 2011 2015/16<br />
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