West Ham Park – Visit by The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor, Fiona Woolf CBE - 6th June 2014

Guildhall Yard

The day dawned with bright sunshine and an early start to catch the coach from The Guildhall for the Annual Visit of the Open Spaces, City Gardens and the West Ham Park Committees to West Ham Park.

This part of London was new to me so the journey was just as exciting as the destination, and for the umpteenth time I told myself I must go and visit the Olympic site at Stratford, which we passed enroute.

We were greeted by Martin Rodman, Superintendent of Parks and City Gardens and informed The Lord Mayor would join us later in the tour and her Consort Mr Nicholas Woolf would stand in for the time being.

On entrance to the Park you are greeted by two glorious wildflower meadows, so lush and colourful it took your breath away, no picture can really capture their beauty. So many poppies!  After welcome refreshments and an opportunity to meet other members of the group Alderman Ian Luder made the introductions.  Ms Sue Banks then took us closer to the meadows and explained the outreach, biodiversity and sustainability projects in the park.

‘Thanks to funding from the City Bridge Trust 4,170m² of meadow has been sown over the last two years bringing the total area to 7,500m². Children from four different local primary schools have helped sow the seeds.’ (Taken from Programme of the day)

The park consists of 77 acres and is the largest in Europe and Grade II listed.  It has a recorded footfall of 1.2 million per annum and the local community consists of a population of 300,000 with 110 languages spoken, all living in a high density of dwellings. The park offers a ‘breathing space’ as well as encouragement to healthy living, various sports plus  a running track and an outdoor gym. In partnership with ‘activeNewham’ the community joins in seasonal cricket matches and tournaments.

Children are entertained by Mr Nicholas Woolf and Deputy John Bennett

There are over 1000 trees within the park, Plane trees account for 20% of them and there are also the famous Liquid Amber of which they have 77 different cultivars, a sight to behold in their Autumn glory. The management have been working with the London Borough of Islington to record every single tree in the park on Arbortrack a tree management database, which is an excellent tool to manage their tree stock.

Alderman Ian Luder, The Lord Mayor, Martin Rodman, Superintendant
of the Parks & City Gardens, Deputy John Bennett, Chief Commoner

Although the Winter Garden is relatively new and the first phase has begun with dwarf Silver Birch and red-stemmed dogwoods, it harks back to the Victorian age of ornamental gardens, rose-gardens and formal bedding, all of which West Ham can offer. There is also a Victorian Bandstand which is still used today.  They are all part of the rich history of the site, as with many parks, this magnificent started life as a rich man’s botanical enterprise and private garden.

History : Upton House www.newhamstory.com/node/958

West Ham Park was originally the site of Upton House, later to be called Ham House and home to several notables. In 1762 it was bought by Dr. John Fothergill, a Quaker physician and botanist. He enlarged the estate to slightly more than its present size and developed it into one of the finest botanical gardens in Europe. Another is the younger brother of Elizabeth Fry (the prison reformer) Samuel Gurney, a Quaker banker and philanthropist.  After his death in 1856 it was occupied by members of the Gurney family until its demolition in 1872 and the grounds became West Ham Park in 1874. The site of the house is marked by a cairn of stones in the park. 

Newham Heritage & Archives Ref 13/1/10 -47

The Lord Mayor joined us in the gardens to plant a Paulownia tomentosa (Foxglove tree). It is unusual that it flowers first – lilac-purple foxglove-live flowers in spring, soon followed by light green leaves. A native of China and first introduced in 1834.

Planting of the Paulownia tomentosa (Foxglove tree)
by The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor, Fiona Woolf CBE

 After a brief mix with the group, a photo opportunity and a presentation, in the nursery area, of a beautiful bouquet of flowers grown there, The Lord Mayor sadly was whisked away.

The nursery has eight glasshouses and sees 250,000 plants passing through annually. Over 350 varieties of summer and spring bedding plants are nurtured here.  The nursery not only provides the City of London green spaces but also The Royal Parks, plus the floral displays for functions at the Guildhall and Mansion House.

It was a wonderful way to spend a sunny morning, excellent company, new contacts, beautiful park and the presence of The Lord Mayor. We climbed back in to the coach for a splendid lunch at the Guildhall in the Livery Hall.

Again I was lucky with my companions at table, hosted by Deputy Michael Welbank CBE, which included David Curtis from Roots and Shoots, Stella Fox, Support Officer, West Ham Park, Sandra Lea, Alison Elam, Chamberlain’s Department and Daniel George a City Gardens Apprentice.

After an initial debate about whether one should pay for the use of toilets in the City and the writer expounding the virtues of the Toilet Map, the conversation did take did change tack as lunch was served!

I can only highly recommend a visit to this excellent Park, it is  a short bus ride from Stratford and an easy walk.  Take a picnic as presently no refreshments available although I have it on very good authority that this will be remedied very soon.  Oh and by the way, there are loos!

Ruin Lust - Tate Modern - last few days

Azeville 2006 - Jane & Louise Wilson

I am always missing exhibitions which, when launched, I make a note of wanting to see, then somehow before I know it, it's all over

This time I took the morning out from under my work load and took myself off to Millbank to check out the 'Ruin Lust' exhibition.

Vauxhall looked grim yesterday morning, but the bus took me swiftly to the rear of the Gallery and into the new entrance. So sleek and spacious. Art Fund card at the ready I got in at half-price (thank you son for the wonderful Christmas gift!) a bonus!

The last time I had visited was the Pre-Raphaelite Exhibition and for some reason did not notice the abstract decoration of the stairs leading up to the other galleries. Why? Because its a new wall drawing by David Tremlett , it creates a wonderful colour blast in this large stairwell.

Large space! Walked into a display of enormous proportions, installations created with pallets, chipboard, old dust sheets, cardboard, string, tape, wire, paper,  wooden planks all displayed lying, hanging, piled high, nailed into huge pyramids of .... one visitor asked the Guide if one of the pieces had 'fallen over'!  A bit like the Shard question 'When will they finish it?'. A Tate Britain commission by Phylida Barlow.

No its not fallen, as installed.

I moved on as I could hear the voice of James Mason (would recognise those tones anywhere - annoyingly it was sub-titled in english!!!!). A film was on a continuous loop - The London Nobody Knows 1967' about the Bedford Theatre in Camden, Marie Lloyds's favourite. It included the old time favourite 'The boy I love sits up in the gallery' . I said to the chap who was checking the tickets 'You must know every word of that song by now? he looked at me blankly. Perhaps he had become traumatised? Ok, let's move on.

What is it about ruins?  As a child I love to play in deserted houses, army camps, old mills/factories, as an adult I'm always drawn to the ancient and derelict and have been lucky to live in places such as Cyprus to seek out the amphitheatres and temples, North Africa (Tripoli) trips out into the desert to seek lost cities. At home never happier when visiting a ruined cathedral, church or mansion.  As a City Guide I can see a ruin a day each time I enter the City and am constantly drawn and thinking about timelines, and wonder what it was like to live when ruins were proud edifices. Nostalgia, I'm of an age, when it is with me often.

No photographs allowed in the exhibition and the catalogue is in fact a book, a current trend for galleries it seems, which means the pictures are small and you cannot really appreciate their beauty. A book goes on the shelf and catalogue on display.

Turner appears often, there is also a Constable (note the shepherd with his red kerchief), Paul Nash (including photographs) and Piper, also Dore and an amazing birds-eye view of the Bank of England as built by Soane by Joseph Michael Gandy, its beautiful frontage leading the eye beyond to ruins ... perhaps an omen of what was to come, its eventual destruction.

The photography was particularly moving. Eerie, atmospheric, spooky and often sad and depressing.
Clapton Park Estate being demolished from a series of photographs by Rachel Whiteread. Others Jon Savage Uninhabited London 1977-2008, could only recognise one the Great West Road flyover towards Heathrow. Tacita Dean, remember Sound Mirrors 1999 - film about early-acoustic warning structures? There is whole wall dedicated to her work plus an audio installation - a film about the Kodak factory in France prior to its closing, entirely made of old colour and black and white film stock from that very place. Mesmerizing.

My favourite is the monolith depicted in Azeville 2006 by Jane Wilson and Louise Wilson (see above). An anti-aircraft turret, I think. The size of it, a massive concrete structure, gaping black hole, 'portal into the past' a permanent reminder of WWII - the remains of the Nazis' defensive Atlantic Wall.  http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/photography-and-film/art52708

Another thought provoker and curioustiy arouser,  is John Latham's Derelict Land Act:Five Sisters 1976. Originally a proposal to convert five shale heaps or 'bings' into monuments rathen than excavated and removed. The idea to shape them into five books, with their bindings upwards would have been a sight to see, on a scale much larger than the Angel of the North.  A man way ahead of his time suggesting preserving industrial waste land as a tourist attraction as sculptures; monuments to West Lothian's mining past 'bleak zones as memorials or works in themselves - in short, as ruins.' What a tourist attraction that would have made! Nostalgia again for me, memories of playing on the slag heaps of Wigan!

Slag heap - Wigan 1970s
That could be me on the left!

There are other audio installations too, which reminded me of Mad Men, then I discovered why. I'll leave you to find this one out for yourself.

The exhibition ends on Sunday 18th May, go to it.

A city - any city, every city - is the eradication, even the ruin of the landscape

from which it rose. In its fall, that original landscape sometimes triumphs.

Rebecca Solnit, The Ruins of Memory 2007

The Wax Chandlers Hall & City in Bloom

As part of the Britain in Bloom campaign Friends of City Gardens are supporting the City of London in their 'City in Bloom' nominations.

The gardens and green spaces as you know from previous blogs and my garden walks are very important to the City as areas for rest and relaxation for the workers as well as to encourage bio-diversity within a built environment, plus to add colour, shade and areas of peace and calm.

I am enjoying my role to nominate companies, pubs, restaurants, livery halls, banks et al. From a window box or planter, to an 'avenue' of bay or olive trees, a sunken garden, a high rise arboritum, I'm in there!

It's early days but I have already signed up some delightful displays, the nominations have to be in by the end of June so the judging can start, so if you have a particular favourite City in Bloom area please let me know.

During my search for nominations the Beadle of The Wax Chandlers Hall - they have been winners of The W.C. of Gardeners Awards for several years running, so they are a strong contender for the 'window box' category -  invited me to view their Court and Great Hall.

http://www.waxchandlers.org.uk/the-hall/architectural-story-of-the-hall.php

The Wax Chandlers Hall has been rebuilt and refurbished on several occasions but since the early C19th on the same foundations. In days gone by it was the site of a tavern! The interior was refurbished in the 1980s and I must say they are extraordinarily modern, bright and light and yet in keeping with the old traditions, employing panelling, lighting, curtain treatments, with gorgeous chandeliers to create a refined elegance that enhances the ancient livery and its artefacts.

Stained glass window survived from previous
halls and now on full view in the Court Room.
Previously hung in the stairwell unseen.

Below are listed some of the original members -
one or two of the families continue to be represented in livery

The Charter from Richard III - Only livery company to receive on
from this King

Recently presented with a new Charter by Queen Elizabeth II
This one is in 'plain' english and can be read easily
It refers to the Charters given previously which is considered unusual

The origins of the livery company http://www.waxchandlers.org.uk/origins/index.php

The company in keeping with modern traditions is a member and great supporter of The British Bee Keepers Association.  Bees are very popular in the City of London and several companies keep hives on their roof tops.