What is it about West Africa?

When this site first started I had not long got back from an amazing trip to Sierra Leone - well the pause in service this last week has been a trip to The Gambia.

It's very similar to Sierra Leone, both climatically and culturally, and I find the mix of relaxation and intense hustle and bustle totally intoxicating.

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2007/12/yep-ive-fallen-in-love.html

I'll post more over the next few days but here is one picture that sums up the trip for me...

Come on St Stephen's...

At the top of Haverstock Hill, on Rosslyn Hill, at the bottom of Hampstead High Street, at the top of Pond Street, opposite the bottom of Lyndhurst Road sits St. Stephen's Church - you will gather that it's quite well placed on a key junction.

It is without a doubt one of the more intimidating architectural features in the local landscape.

It is both heralded by those who love it and openly damned by those who loathe it - I'm ambivalent in terms of preference for it, but am genuinely impressed by the dark, heavy and looming demeanour of it. I'm told it's early French Gothic style...

Designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon it is considered to be his masterpiece, even his magnum opus, but he died soon after it's 1869-1871 construction and so didn't see the full splendour in use by worshippers - one church census has 1,372 present in 1886.

As part of the restoration fundraising I went on a tour on one of the open days - organised and co-ordinated by Stephen Taylor it has become a work of love. The building inside is stunning (a great staging of Shakespearean plays is relatively frequent) and the tiling, the carving and painting is just breath taking as well as the much survived stained glass.

I'm sure it needs a full photographic and architectural study and this no doubt will follow with the opening which I think is in the near future.

The church became redundant in 1977 and has now been taken over by the St Stephen's renovation trust - they are converting back into use as a community type centre with rooms and space for markets, bazaars and the like as well as performances as well as digging in a basement for the next door school.

It is this basement that you can see in two of these pictures taken from the side (from the Hampstead Green side).

Not unsurprisingly really the building is a grade 1 listed building and when you pause and see the carved angels on the exterior you realise why...

I don't give naked plugs on this site but the restoration of this building to it's glory is a benefit to all and a massive enhancement of this part of the area:
Mr Michael Taylor, St Stephens, Pond Street, London, NW3 2PP
Phone: 020-7433 1272
Fax: 020-7433 1272
Email: ststephenstrst@aol.com

If you can help or donate etc then please do get in touch - it's taken a long time to get to this stage but it's so so worthwhile. And what's the alternative? - a better view of the Royal Free Hospital - I don't think so!

If you're interested in this sort of restoration then have a peek at the buildings at risk register: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/BAR_London_part1_2007.pdf

Hampstead cemetery as a place to visit...

The tradition of taking a stroll around a graveyard has faded - it was a sunday norm for my grandparents and their parents, but it still remains a fascinating activity.


Hampstead cemetery is no exception. Located at the top of Fortune Green Road (West Hampstead) it is over 25 acres of land.



First purchased in 1875 it saw pretty fast development - the population of the area had grown significantly and demand was high. The lodge and chapel also date from this time and were built by Charles Bell.

This picture was taken at a time when it was slightly over-cast so perhaps doesn't draw out the architecture - well worth a visit.

The graves themselves are pretty impressive - whether it's for the famous and household names, the astonishing wealth of nature and wildlife that thrives here or the design and grandeur of many of the graves themselves.

There is a Friends of Hampstead Cemetery - details of which i'll add when I can locate them easily.

The 100th and the 50th anniversaries of liberalism

Today 8th April is the 100th anniversary of the accession of Herbert Asquith as Prime Minister.

http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/freeodnb/magazine/asquith/

For the occasion I can bring a picture taken just last week of a group of descendants, Henry Brand (great-great grandson), Virginia Brand, nee Bonham Carter (great grand-daughter), me (unrelated), Violet Brand (great-great grand-daughter), Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (great grand-daughter), Lady Leslie Bonham Carter (Mark Bonham Carter's widow) and Adam Ridley (Mark's nephew and Asquith's great grandson).

It's all quite appropriate as it follows fast on the heels of the 50th anniversity of the Torrington by-election which saw the election of Asquith's grandson Mark Bonham Carter.

So I'm uploading here some of the pictures we took on this gathering of the Asquith descendants... http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/03/bonham-carters-of-torrington-and-queens.html

The star of the show was of course Leslie, Mark's widow, but it was drawn together by daughter Virginia.

Lady Bonham-Carter (Leslie) brought along the family scrap book which was just amazing to flick through and appreciate.

A stunning evening rather amusingly in the Lloyd George Room not the Violet Bonham Carter Room. :-)

Snow in April...

Okay, waking up on Sunday morning to a thick coating of snow in London was a bit of a shock - but a great opportunity to get out there with a camera.

Here is a small selection from either my balcony, Kilburn Grange park or the neighbouring streets.

I'm especially pleased with capturing the Kilburn State cinema tower in snow - looks pretty iconic and stunning...

The layer on Kilburn Grange was really deep and I counted at least 9 attempts at snowmen
:-)

The kids out playing in the snow was very special - i was struck how many of the children were from differing countires across the world, either un-used to snow or very familiar...

Makes it much easier planning for the Christmas card this year when it handily snows in April - usually I get to October or November and end up scrabbling around for an image or picture to convert...

I'm more than little aware that there is a whole science to weather reporting and you can get much much more here http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/index.html

which inlcudes confirming that although snow in April felt odd and uncommon it in fact isn't and the last time it snowed in England in April was 2000

April 2000

"Snow fell across much of central England although, except in some upland areas (notably the Pennines), it did not settle for long. At Lyneham in Wiltshire snow was reported for 18 consecutive hours. Although not a common event for April, similar snowy conditions have occurred at Lyneham as recently as 1998."

Glengall and Pessell anyone?

A brief stroll down Glengall Road, Kilburn/Queen's Park and I found this - clearly marked Glengall Chambers a smallish (I guess three or four flats) residential building - you can see the name plaque visible over the main entrance.


But in the tiling at the entrance is Pessell Chambers.

1. It raised three things with me... Glengall?
2. Pessell?
3. but also to what extent were these late victorian residential expansions actually for commuters or for people who worked locally? It seemed quite possible to me that at one point this was in fact a chambers for a company (law firm) or an admin HQ for a stationers etc.

The best I can locate is that Glengall is an Irish peerage dating from 1816 so it's quite possible that there is some connection there and Pessell is a fairly common-ish surname.

Tesco building quite impressive - shock!

The artistic design of Tesco here in Willesden Lane is quite a revelation - a modern Tesco in the right setting CAN look good.

I certainly sense that this building could feel quite iconic. It was build quite quickly and I was there the other day and with a short burst of sunshire was really struck at how good it looked.

It leaves a few questions - why don't we have more buildings like this? How come new development is so often lacking flair and design? and on the negative will the structure be of the quality that will last?

Too many buildings in the modern past have had to be pulled down due to shoddy quality and is this facade the cover for poor lifespan? Time will tell...