Friday 26 December 2014

The Georgian Dining Academy - 26th February 2015 - At Simpson's Tavern at Cornhill




A Unique Experience!













Miss Kitty Pridden and Miss B invite you to join them for a special evening of Georgian conviviality, hospitality and frivolity!  In the dark panelled booths and courtyard of Simpson's Tavern in Cornhill, City of London.

A candlelit evening of delicious food, sparkling wit, beguiling performances in an atmosphere full of the bonhomie of a 1757 establishment especially opened this night for our inaugural Georgian dining event.

You will come away having partaken of a hearty repast, served with punch, wine and port plus introductions to some of the wonderful characters of Georgian London and other special guests.

Our guests enjoying the special punch!

A Three Course Supper with drinks, and performance throughout included in the price! A bargain, ‘theatre’ and dining combined!
Dressing up for the occasion is encouraged but is not obligatory.
Discounted rates available for groups of 6 or more, please enquire at nouveaurococo@outlook.com
You will receive a menu choice will be sent to you 2 weeks prior to event.


Vegetarian options available.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year




A quiet December by my standards, spent sorting our piles of paperwork, filing, plus working on rotas and dairy dates for 2015. Still not finished but it feels a little more organised.

Several Christmas drinks, dinners and a lovely Carol Service at St Magnus the Martyr in the presence of the Alan Yarrow, Lord Mayor of London, we belong to the same Ward Club don't you know!

View from the Gin Joint at the Barbican Arts Centre

My family is very small, so the two of us have a great time sharing the cooking and feasting at Christmas time. Venison Stew, Gressingham Duck, Belly Pork, a special Christmas Custard Tart with spices and fruit. I hasten to add these dishes were served up over several days.

An evening in front of the telly to watch Skyfall and Downton Abbey. Also a great afternoon spent with an elderly neighbour playing Cluedo. None of us had a clue I assure you, but we did laugh a lot!  Only regret is not going for that walk yesterday when it was so sunny.

The first quarter of 2015 is already taking shape and is varied and interesting. My first 'official' outing is to the Press Launch of the 'Transformational Rehang' at the Guildhall Art Gallery on the 15th January.  The Gallery is currently closed for this transformation but will open on 16th January. I will be right up to date for my Guildhall Art Gallery Walk on 24th January. You can book this here.

I also booked to visit the Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street on the 15th, so there will be plenty to blog about.

Photograph by Niki Gorick - Barber Surgeons Physic Garden
Roman bastion under furbishment 

The next engagement is at the  Guildhall Library where the Photoset by Niki Gorick of the City of London Guides is on show until end of March. On 22nd January, the second tranche of City Guides will each take a turn to talk about their experiences guiding in the City, I am one of them and at the moment cannot think of anything to say, but when has that stopped me!

I have also been quite diligent with my guiding calendar and have made several offerings to Footprints of London, which you can find here, starting with T S Eliot - The Wasteland Walk on the 17th January.

February is a time of preparation for several private walks and a new ones. Also it is time for another Georgian Dining Academy event at Simpson's Tavern on 26th February. Bookings open
http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-georgian-dining-academy-simpsons-tavern-tickets-14923151548



A new Women Through Time Walk is under construction and will take place around Fleet Street area, this will be ready in time for International Women's Day on 8th March the theme this year is 'Make It Happen'.


So that is all from me for now.  THANK YOU for your support and interest throughout 2014 and wish you all a PROSPEROUS & HAPPY 2015.







Friday 5 December 2014

Queenhithe Mosaic - a stunning new installation in the City of London


“Mosaic is a metaphor for bringing together all the peoples, tribes, creeds, cultures, colours, clans, faiths and freedoms to make a brilliant whole.” David Tootill – Project Director, Southbank Mosaics

A volunteer experience bar none!

I have always loved the site of Europe’s oldest and only remaining Anglo Saxon dock from the very first moment I set eyes on it. All that sludge and muck, and ribbons of flotsam and jetsam with bright orange rope entwined about plastic stuff in all shapes and sizes, everything from odd shoes to traffic cones, a weird and complex ‘necklace’ of non-compostable detritus within the most ancient of docks.



We cannot poke about in it, it’s a National Scheduled Monument since 1973 not only are the PLA authority on the lookout for renegade ‘mud larkers’ but even the public on the Thames Path shout at you if you so much as look like you might pick something up within its walls.

The importance of the place since time began is in its name ‘hythe’, a natural inlet, Dowgate and Billingsgate were the chosen gaps in the Roman wall for the very same reason. It seems Queenhithe was the most suitable to beach boats and then the creation of embankments, initially with brushwood and clay (London has a lot of clay). Old boats, broken up to strengthen it, rubbish of all kinds tipped in to build up the revetments created a harbour where at high tide ships could be tied up and goods landed there.


Corn arrived early on, thus the site being named Quern Hythe and later changed to Ethelred Hythe. Then passing to Henry I’s Queen Matilda to enjoy the customs and taxes from goods arriving at the port, hence its current name. When it finally silted up, in part due to the building of the stone London Bridge, this part of the Elizabethan port was sold to the City of London as the revenue was dramatically reduced. It worked on until the early 1970s.

Initially it was a secret who had commissioned the mosaic, all is now revealed. His initials can be found, on the hat being held aloft by a tiny figure at the end of the timeline – ‘GWH’ for Gordon Warwick Haines, the Alderman of Queenhithe Ward.  The project was paid for by the Heritage Lottery Fund, City of London and 4C Hotel Group.

Southbank Mosaics, who ran the project were based on the opposite bank from the City. Interestingly I was the only volunteer on the team who had any real knowledge of the Ward of Queenhithe and the history of the City of London. So I was invited to arrange a tour of the area to familiarise the rest of the group with the site. Mike Webber our archaeologist was also keen to gain some knowledge of the landside, so we could tie this in with the exploration of the foreshore which would come next. There were people involved who never set foot in the City, it was not essential, as their choice was to dedicate their talents to physically putting the design together, bit by tiny bit.

 
Initial design 


Consultant, Tessa Hunkin created the design with the Project Team of Jo Thorpe and David Tootill. It was discussed, researched and then checked through for the timeline in detail. Included were not only great moments in the history, but flora and fauna, as well as coin, coats of arms, animals, disasters, much else and, of course, people, the great and the ordinary.  We all had an area to research and develop and everyone was given an opportunity to state their case for elements to remain or to go, many an interesting debate ensued! Final decision down to the Project Director!



Meanwhile one thing that did not change was the ‘flow’ of the river within the design, so work began immediately on getting this started.  The style of the mosaic was to be in the Roman/Classical style. This dictated the use of a certain colour palette, using ceramic and glass tiles, but the visual impact would be more like the Bayeaux Tapestry, the stylised figures especially.

Also the whole mosaic is created in reverse (placing the front of the tile face down on the paper).  Another essential part of the work was sizing up the Tessa Hunkin design to actual size and this task was undertaken by Maria Palmieri. With her talented team, she also designed the beautiful ‘cameos’ of the great and good that stand out from the timeline, and much else. Maria’s other task was to supervise the volunteers working on the sections. The next stage was the lettering, a template was created to ensure everyone knew exactly how many tiles were used in ‘T’ or a ‘W’ etc. Plus there were colour codes to follow too.  I did some lettering and wish I had done more having achieved ‘UNITY’.

 
This not supposed to be upside down, but the blog will not have it any other way!


There are 164 themed sections to the whole, which is over 100 feet long and it was imperative they all join up exactly. The next stage were the ‘scenes’ of important events, which required great skill to achieve the fluidity of movement of the figures whilst creating backgrounds which allowed this to shine through. The work forged ahead on schedule.

Jon Newman led the history team who researched all the themes and he is also editing the book being written about the project. Meanwhile Paula Ligo organised a record of the whole process, using filmmakers. This included filming walks on land and foreshore, interviewing volunteers and photographing them. Also planning meet ups to discuss research for the book and preparing for publication.  Yes, by the end of it there will be a short film, a book and maybe a T-shirt?

Sherds of many centuries 

The foreshore walks proved to be a great favourite. We were all looking for sherds (bits of pottery) and elements that would form the border of the mosaic, again following the timeline. Mike Webber’s enthusiasm and patience was endless and we brought him all manner of finds. Roman pottery, medieval bits and pieces, green glazed Tudor, parts of the dappled Bellamine ware, Delft platters, Victorian plates etc, oyster shells, clay pipes and so on.  All this was sorted and washed, then checked to find out whether it would actually survive being part of the mosaic. Thankfully the finds passed the test and are now mixed with modern ceramics tiles to form an ‘archaeological’ border to complement the timeline as it flows towards the C21st. There are also embedded QPR codes to get additional information.



So the mosaic is complete, remember it has been created in reverse, so what we saw laid out in the hallway of South Bank Mosaics was not what would face the front. So the moment of truth was yet to come when the sections were mounted on the defence wall at Queenhithe.



Walter Bernardin was commissioned to place the mosaic in situ and he works alone, acknowledged as the most skilled in work of this kind. I arrived on one of the days the panels were going up and I felt for everyone.  It was a very tense scene, particularly for Maria who had been involved in the scaling, designing, making and bringing to completion this great work. It looked incredible on that day and it was not even complete. Meanwhile the film was being made of the great moment.



The mosaic was up for the Lord Mayor’s Show on 8th November and my guide colleagues, some who had seen the work going up, were in awe at its size and beauty and were delighted to be some of the first people to extol its merits on that special day.

Where to find the mosaic follow the Thames Path from Millenium Bridge towards London Bridge, behind Queens Quay building.

Watch out for my Queenhithe Ward & Foreshore Walk due to return in the spring.

Sunday 7 September 2014

Government Art Collection with London Historians - 13th August 2014


Peas Are the New Beans
Bob & Roberta Smith 1999
vinyl paint on wood panel
Another excellent outing with London Historians with more than a touch of the magical mystery tour to locate the collection tucked away off the main thoroughfare of Tottenham Court Road. The entrance  is in an architecturally interesting courtyard surrounded by a well maintained 1930's office block all beautiful bright and white.  Of course I cannot give you the exact location or I will have to kill you!

The security was very strict as one signed for all! Security at reception insisted that NO photographs be taken (unless a member of staff was present?) as he would know by a special monitor on his phone. We all agreed we would switch our phones off and keep them in our bags. I have a feeling he was joking - but not sure...

We were greeted by Clive Marks who asked us to make oursevels comfortable on a series of sofas whilst he made gave us an introduction. The collection consists of over 13,500 works of art spanning five centuries, the Government Art Collection is the largest most dispersed colleciton of British Art in the world. Two thirds of the works are on display in British Government buildings in nearly every capital city, placed in offices and official residences.  The idea of course is to promote British art and histroy while contributing to cultural diplomacy.

Tacita Dean's work was hung at HM Treasury. A photoset of six pieces.
http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?obj=34584

The works are placed in locations with which they have a direct historical, geographical or cultural connection, for example Jazz Singers by Edward Burra has been displayed in New York City and I What What My Heroes Think of the Space Race by Derek Boshier has been displayed in the embassy in Moscow (the painting refers to the 1961 flight by Russion cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin).

Reflection

Reflection by Bridget Riley (1982)
The painting hung in Cairo at the Embassy
BR influenced by wall paintings in the dark tombs of Luxor

There is always a small exhibition of current interest, presently there are paintings and prints dating to World War I and this is where we started. There was a scrabble for the phones when Clive granted us permission to take photographs (not me you will notice due to lack of pictures here), with the usual copyright provisos and no flash. All the majority of works are available to view on the web site.

We went into the storage stacks and were like kids in a candy shop. Clive pulled out the stacks on request and half us would be on one side as he moved it out, exclaiming in delight and awe what we saw, whilst an 'echo' of our exclamations came back to us from the other side. A relay of moving people from one side to another as we worked our way through the art - portrait, landscape, seascape, abstract, prints, photography, installations;  all shapes and sizes - miniature, huge, small, frames with crowns, frames without, no frames, textiles, on and on it went!  We even managed to get into the sculpture store where I came up close to a Calder mobile (the hangind type not phone!) Great shapes and Cubist palette.  Then on to the Receiving and Despatch room with an ever changing scene as paintings arrive and/or despatched to far off places.

There was a policy tocommission art but this is currently on hold. Nothing is sold, and purchases when they happen are through art dealers. There is strong drive to keep the collection up to date with current artistic trends as and when they can.  The collection is not insured as it is priceless and irreplaceable, but security is obviously high.

By the end of the visit we felt that it would be an excellent idea if the GAC could be available to the public on a say, three weekly loan basis, we come in borrow a work of art and bring it back for another. If only!  Open House features the GAC but sadly it is fully booked. You can book groups and there is a plan to open at lunch times for a 1 hour tour. So keep an eye on the web site, it is worth the time and the effort to visit this outstanding collection.

The War Office
The War Office c 1918 by William Monk (1863-1937)
etching - purchased 1978 GAC 13696
By kind permission of GAC


This print featured in the exhibition of WWI art the GAC, it really is quite beautiful in its detail of the neo-Baroque building on Horseguards Avenue, Whitehall, the London home of the War Office between 1906 and 1963. The night time scene and the silhouette of horse-drawn carriages in front of the building from which powerful searchlights shoot upwards into the night sky create an atmospheric war time view.

http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/visit.html

Apologies for lack of photographs I really did not know where to begin.

Wednesday 20 August 2014

The Hammersmith & City Railway - 9th August 2014

Last Week - you can see I'm running a bit behind here!



I was lucky, not only to be a steam train enthusiast, but to be with friends of a similar bent! Also some of my colleagues are more than generous with their time, complimentary tickets and encouragement to ‘get up and do it’!  Can you believe it?  I nearly turned down the tickets to go on this wonderful trip!

We assembled at Moorgate, the Moorfields entrance to be greeted by a brass band playing lively Victorian marching tunes which went on to music hall medleys. The staff were well informed and very organised and we followed our ‘ticket inspectors’ to our respective groups, for us ‘E’, there we waited excitedly to get on to the platform to begin our journey to Hammersmith in style!





Hammersmith & City Railway opened on 13th June 1864 with services from Hammersmith joining the Metropolitan at Edgware Road and continuing to Farringdon. The line was ‘cut and cover’ not tunnelled so we would played ‘peek a boo’ with the steam aficionados waiting on various bridges and viaducts to take a photograph of us en route.


 The ‘Sarah Siddons’ the oldest working main-line electric locomotive in the UK would take us on the outward journey. One of twenty locomotives made by Metropolitan Vickers for the Metropolitan Railway.  Sarah is No. 12, and for my Guide friends, No. 8 was named Sherlock Holmes and No. 20 Sir Christopher Wren.  Our locomotive was refurbished in 1971, and again in 2008 to as near as possible to her Metropolitan Railway livery circa 1929.

'Jubilee' First class carriage
First Class

Another ‘celebrity’ travelling with us was Met carriage No. 353 built in 1892 by Craven’s of Sheffield, the only surviving example of the first class four-wheeled ‘Jubilee’ carriage.  It was withdrawn from service in 1905 but kept working on a light railway in Somerset until 1940. During WWII it became a clubhouse for American servicemen, used as a low cost home, an antique shop and finally an outbuilding. It survived and was revived in time for the 150th anniversary. I was not in this carriage, we were in Third Class with this fabulous upholstery!

Third Class upholstery
We would return by steam by Metropolitan Railway Locomotive No. 1 the last loco to be built at Neasden Works in 1898.  It worked the last steam service on the Chesham branch until July 1960 and the last steam-hauled passenger train in regular service between Rickmansworth and Amersham in September 1961.  In 2011 London Transport Museum and Buckinghamshire Railway Centre formed a partnership to have Met No 1 overhauled at workshops in Gloucestershire ready for 150th anniversary of the Underground in 2013.



On getting to the platform our collective joy at seeing the steam loco made it a real task for the staff to get us into our respective carriages in time for the train to leave! Finally all comfortable and settled with open windows and plush seats we were off! 

It was fun to see the faces of the Saturday commuters as we whisked by, with a look of disbelief. We waved madly and found that Kings Cross Station with Baker Street following a close second, were the best for responsive and enthusiastic ‘wavers’! Also it was interesting to see a modern Tube train beside us with the travellers oblivious to us sideling up to and then sliding past them. They have no idea what they missed!

On arrival at Hammersmith a lot of hustle going on - ‘let’s get in the way of the camera, video, phones’ as the press of people went to what was now the front of the train to watch Met No 1 take on water from an improvised tank, ready to steam us back. 



Oh the smell of steam, the fug of soot and touch of grit! The minute the loco started, the rapture, yes the rapture on our faces. The sound of the train gathering speed that steady rise of sound as we gathered pace. Into the first tunnel and yes, the intense smoky smell and grit in your eye! Bliss!



We did not find out until we arrived back at Moorgate that we had shared our carriage with one of the last steam train drivers (the big ones) ever! Well I am sure we will meet again on a steam train sometime soon and we can plague him with questions.

Out into the bright sunlight ready for a cup of tea and excited chit chat about our adventure! 


Special Thanks to Paul, Mike and Jeanette and the rest of the crew!

Lovely smiles from those we left behind.












This week .... talking statues, a great golden grasshopper and a cheesegrater!

London Historians Blog - The founder of the Royal Exchange and Elizabeth I's Financial Wizard.

http://londonhistorians.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/gresham-the-great-golden-grasshopper/

Also in the City this week - Talking Statues!

An article:
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/19/jeremy-paxman-john-wilkes-talking-statues?CMP=twt_gu

A short film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrUiGl3hSiE&feature=youtu.be

The Cheesegrater undercroft is open!
Interesting article from Footprints of London

http://footprintsoflondon.com/archives/3187


Monday 11 August 2014

Kettle's Yard - Home of Jim Ede - an 'art house'

Private Visit - Cambridge - 16th June 2014

The three black/white collages by Italo Valenti 1964
To the right: Above: Ben Nicholson Abstract Design 1934
Below: Frank Auerback R B Kitaj 1980
Table: Right to left: Fiddle Fish 1963 & the bowl 'The Wave' Lucie Rie 1971

I count myself lucky that I guide for the National Trust in a 'museum home' a place which feels so lived in that at any moment you expect the original occupiers will return. Anticipating a cheery 'Hello' and invitation to stay for tea or a cocktail and hear about their day. The atmosphere at 2 Willow Road, Hampstead is like that, welcoming and forever interesting.  Kettle's Yard on a larger scale, welcomes you, invites you in and silently accepts your awe and delight as you enter the extraordinary spaces which were home to Jim Ede and his wife Helen. 

[ Article from 2008 - Update : entry is now through a purpose-built reception/gallery area.



'a friend of artists'

Jim Ede (1895-1990) studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London for a year, he wanted to be a painter, like many of the young men of the time, he needed to earn a living. As fate would degree it was lucky for us and future artists that in 1921he joined the National Gallery as Assistant Photographer. He went on to the Tate Gallery as an Assistant where he remained until 1936, wait for it, emerging as the Tate's first curator of modern art!



Ede's original interests lay with the Renaissance but working for a national art gallery in the 20s gave him an enviable introduction to the avant garde artists of the time, the likes of Ben and Winifred Nicholson and Christopher Wood. Trips to Paris brought him into contact with Picasso, Chagall, Miro and Brancusi. A 'renewal' of view and introduction to contemporary art of the time. Being a personable chap what were initially introductions and recommendations developed into life-long friendships which were the foundation of his developing new interest and taste.
  
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska Wrestlers relief 1914
By 1927 Ede's reputation was growing and was enhanced by arrival of a vast quantity of work by Henri Gaudier Brzeska (sculptor) at the Tate. Ede had not heard of him and the Tate did not know what to do with this 'gift' which no-one seemed to want. Brzeska had been killed in action in 1915, his work,hardly known, had been pushed from pillar to post finally landing at the Tate via the Treasury Solicitor General.  Ede realised the quality of the work and set to arranging for a friend to buy three pieces for the Tate and three for the Contemporary Art Society, the rest he bought - a bargain! Brzeskas work today can be seen at the Tate Gallery, the Musee. National d'Art moderne in Paris and Kettle's Yard. Ede went on to write a book on the sculptor, Savage Messiah, a best seller in Britain and Ken Russell made the film. Ede continued to establish the artist's international reputation by supporting exhibitions and donating works.

Painting: William Scott Pears 1979 
Sculpture: George Kennethson Forms 1968

1936 saw Jim Ede take early retirement from the Tate Gallery and move to Tangiers, building a modernist House called White Stone. Morocco was his base for 20 years all told; travelling and  lecturing on art all over Europe and the US.  It was during this period that the idea came to him to create a home which would also be an place to show works of art, a domestic setting where guests and students could relax and enjoy the works without the formality or restrictions of museum or gallery. An idea he had practiced previously in the 1920s when he opened his home in Hampstead to visitors such as Braque, Gabo, Moore and John Gielgaud. Ede had also gone on to experience this type of 'event' in private homes and public galleries in the US.

White Stone - Tangiers. Morocco
Jim and Helen lived here on and off from 1935-52
(c) The Dartington Trust Archives
Jim and his wife Helen returned to England and looked for the 'stately home' to create this concept. They were far from wealthy and were recommended to contact the President of the Cambridge Preservation Society, who offered them four tiny condemned slum dwellings! Far from the imagined stately pile! So be it, from this pile of bricks and mortar Kettle's Yard was born.
Gregorio Vardanega's plexiglass Disc c1960
Alfred Wallis - Seascapes

Connection between the old and the new - 'The Bridge' looking towards the 'cottages'   
From 1957 onwards Kettles Yard kept 'open house' to university undergraduates, these were the people he wanted to introduce to his collection, as well as encouraging local artists. Also musical evenings were very much part of this and concerts are still held at the house on a regular basis. The idea developed and grew and the University went on to continue the activity to this day in one form or another since 1966. Jim remained until1970 as 'honourary curator'. 

An extension was created in 1970 by the architects of the Royal festival Hall (Sir Leslie Martin and David Owers) it was at this point that the realisation dawned of the exact scale of Jim Ede's collection and it's diversity. Forty-four works by Ben Nicholson and one hundred paintings by Alfred Wallis. A collection of outstanding quality and importance.


Round pebbles are extraordinarily hard to find.
My last visit to the seaside only produced ovals which are not quite the same.
The tiny objet in the forefront is Toy by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska
 This house and the man whose vision created this extraordinary space for students and public to enjoy will not get the time and space he rightly deserves here. What is important, and must be mentioned -  it is not just the works of art that are to see here. Everything at Kettle's Yard is a perfectly balanced whole, the furniture, found objects, glass, light their relationship to each other become a work of art in its own right. Further reading about Jim Ede's vision can be found in A Way of Life (1984).

Painting: Ben Nicholson Bertha (no. 2) 1924
Sculpture: Henri Gaudier-Brzeska Maternity 1913
Best of all is to go and see for yourself an experience like no other! Well, there are other's that rank highly too, but Kettle's Yard is exceptional.  Highly recommend the purchase of the Guide Book, lots of information and description of works, there are no labels! Plus you can sit on the chairs, couches, benches, which is a bonus, to absorb the house, art, the universe and everything.

A word used by Jim Ede in his foreword to the Guidebook is 'rapture'; he is talking about the artists of the Renaissance, for me personally, this one word describes perfectly my visit to Kettle's Yard.

Rapture [Oxford Dictionary]
A feeling of intense pleasure or joy OR

Expressions of intense pleasure or enthusiasm about something

You can hear Jim Ede in this rather wonderful recording, the way he talks is frightfully good! 

Helen's Room - the only room in the house not open to the public
during the time they lived there
Jim and Helen are mentioned briefly in this blog, http://darkstarlit.blogspot.co.uk/ but the piece is so fascinating and interesting, especially third paragraph down, that I just kept going. I hope you enjoy it too. This is what happens when you surf the internet, you can get such a high exploring above and beyond the call of the essentials!

Wallhanging: Ben Nicholson Princess (Kings and Queens) c 1933
Sculpture: Henri Gaudier-Brzeska Two Men with a Bowl 1913
There are also new exhibitions in the new gallery extension plus a shop on site -  more details here http://www.kettlesyard.co.uk/house/

All the photographs are my own (except for White Stone) if you would like use of them please ask permission first. Thank you.

Queenhithe Ward & Foreshore Walk - 31st August 2014

Another great afternoon on the foreshore, we will be out and about again on 26th October. It is an early start (9am), but it will be worth it. Book here: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/queenhithe-ward-and-foreshore-walk-tickets-13255901759

MissB in the Dock! (c) Bruno Rondinelli

This walk started life as an introduction to Queenhithe Ward and the City of London for the volunteers at South Bank Mosaics who are working on the design of a 30 metre long by 1 metre high art work celebrating Queenhithe Dock. I have teamed up with project archaeologist, Mike Webber, to offer you a chance to hear about the quayside history and its relationship to the Thames foreshore.  There will also be an opportunity to search and discover artefacts connected with the history of the area from below Hanseatic Walk to Millennium Bridge. A fascinating and absorbing tour. Duration 3 hours.


Start: Under Millennium Bridge North Side (Paul's Walk)10.30am (if you are late we will be walking East, so you can catch us up at the next stop Broken Wharf). 
Ends : Coming up from the foreshore almost where we started.

Please wear appropriate footwear for walking on the Thames beach, very wet weather wellies are good, or old trainers, walking boots. A container to carry your finds is also useful.
Children 10 and over are welcome provided they have an adult each to be responsible for them.
14 and under go free.

WARNING: there are steep steps going down and coming up from the foreshore.
A full Health & Safety brief will be given. 

Please email missbtakesawalk@gmail.com if you have any queries.