New Web site and Blog

Finally, I have moved myself onto wordpress.org. Slightly afraid of the extra fiddle-faddling capability I now have at my finger tips......

So this blog will slowly fade into the dusk

The new blog is here: http://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/?page_id=11.

Go on have a look.

Report on the contribution of the culture industry to the economy.

The arts and culture industry has grown £390million in a year and now contributes £10.8billion a year to the UK economy.

https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication/contribution-arts-and-culture-industry-uk-economy-0

Restitution of objects

The government has turned its back on restitution.  What it should have done was promoted dialogue, not shut the door.

https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/25042019-culture-secretary-rules-out-restitution?utm_campaign=1468264_25042019&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Museums%20Association&dm_i=2VBX,VGX4,27LVJK,39QTE,1

Updated Lincoln's Inn Fields Wikipedia page

I quite often revise wikipedia pages if I feel I have a moment.

This one I did because the London Archaeologist had an article by Barbora Brederova about an excavation in the Fields, and it gave information not clearly listed on Wikipedia.

If you want to read it here it is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%27s_Inn_Fields#History

I included a reference to the discovery of a fragment of a fudding cup.

Ice House discovered near Regents Park

They have discovered a complete ice house by Regent's Crescent. near Regent's Park

https://www.mola.org.uk/blog/18th-century-ice-house-re-discovered-beneath-streets-marylebone?mc_cid=1d0f108c34&mc_eid=c123dc770c

My next Walks for London Walks are:

Saturday March 30 2019

The City of London Architecture Walk

Sat 14:30 · Tower Hill tube station · London

 

 

Pub Crawl up the River Fleet on May 18

London Bridge to Bermondsey on July 13

The Archaeology of London Bridge on July 14

City Backstreets on Oct. 5Roman Archaeology and Culture on Aug. 3

Chelsea on Sept. 28

Decline and Fall of Roman London on Sept. 28

Myths and Legends and the Origins of London on Oct. 5

The City and the Blitz on November 23

New film on Mary Anning starring Kate Winslet

They have started filming it in Lyme Regis.  The story casts Anning as a lesbian which has created a bit of a tiss.


https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/mar/19/mary-anning-biopic-kate-winslet-fossil-hunter-film?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX0d1YXJkaWFuVG9kYXlVS19XZWVrZGF5cy0xOTAzMjA%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&CMP=GTUK_email

Updating Wikipedia Walbrook Article

I  updated the wikipedia entry for the Walbrook.

Walbrook Wikipedia

Firstly, the augment the section on the Skulls that were found there which only he 2 original theories of their origin.

Secondly, to add the section on Tributaries particularly to add reference to the Langbourne.

City of London Ward Walk - Langbourn Ward

Yesterday, after days of research, I gave my walk around Langbourn.  The ward is small, almost arrow shaped ward, that runs from Bank to Fenchurch Street.    It is basically the land on either side of Lombard Street and the west end of Fenchurch Street, although recent boundary changes mean it is now only on the north side of those streets.

It actually begins as St Mary Woolnoth, the Hawksmoor Church, crosses Lombard Street and the southern border runs west to Billiter Street. The North side runs from Billiter Street, through the lanes and alleys south of Cornhill.

Its a great walk because the alley ways around Change Alley are very charismatic.

The walk began with a look at the Royal Exchange which despite not being in the ward is intrinsic to the story of the ward which is as the centre of London's financial district.

Lombard Street was where the Italian banking community set up after the Jewish Bankers were expelled by Edward 1st.  It was the medieval centre of business until Thomas Gresham built the Royal Exchange.

In the 17th Century the nascent stock and shares industry set up in Change Alley in Jonathan's and Garraway's Coffee House.  Across the road Edward Lloyd set up his Coffee House that became the centre of the Insurance industry. He had a pulpit set up n the centre for announcements.  In the 19th/20th Century banks such as Barclays, Lloyds and the TSB had their HQ's here, as well as the London Metals Exchange and tea and rubber traders, amongst many other.

The first Coffee House in London was founded here at which is now the Jamaica Wine House in 1652. The main investor was a member of the Levant Company one of the early Joint Stock companies.

At St Michael's Alley the walk changes tone as this is the western edge of the Roman Forum, and the road alignments have an important part to play in any discussion of Dark Age London and early christianity in London.   The area is full of Churches, present and past. Along Lombard Street are St Mary Woolnoth, St Nicholas Acon, St Edmund the King and Martyr; All Hallows Gracechurch, St Dionis, St Gabriel Fenchurch. Just out of the ward are St Michaels, and St Peter's.  So it honours 2 ArchAngels, the founder of the Roman Church, the evangelist of the Greece Church, and the Virgin Mary. Is this a coincidence or is it to do with the Forum.  St Michaels and St Peters are on the Basiclica front of the Forum, Saint Dionis, All Hallows and St Edmund, on or near the southern range of the Forum.  Archaeologist suggest a late 10th/11th origin for the road system and churches here. But it seems hard to accept the position of the Churches is purely coincidental.

Lime Street is thought to be named because lime burners were making a living, using the Roman remains to make lime, well into the 12th Century.

Back on Lombard Street we went to Plantation House, a huge development by Arup, HQ to many financial businesses.  Excavations here uncovered a totally unexpected Roman Fort dating to AD63.  Thought to be for reinforcements in the aftermath of the Boudiccan revolt of AD60.  It would have sheltered a Cohort of around 500 troops, and finds suggest Calvary as well as infantry. It went out of use 20 years later.

We then walk back along Lombard Street back to the Tube.  

The man who is changing the past

This is a great summary of the work being done in aDNA, ancient DNA which is overturning 60 years of folly among prehistorians.

Invasions are back in fashion

http://uclporticomagazine.co.uk/magazines/portico_issue5/body-of-work/

Measuring Worth - easy to use historical value calculator

This is great and will give much more accurate estimations of past value.

I wrote a blog post about it earlier.

But this is just a little advert for the folk at Measuring Worth.

Have a go its fun.



https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/

Slavery in Bedford Square Walk

Saturday I attended a walk/event based on the slave owners who lived in  Bedford Square. The tour was organised and given by Jean Campbell from MA for Narrative Environments at CSM.

She used the UCL database of compensation payments for those who owned slaves when it was abolished in 1833. Legacies of British Slave Ownership this enabled her to identify several people who lived in Bedford Square who owned slaves.  Jean used this to help raise consciousness not only of slavery but of legacy issues, such as educational attainment of Black students.  The walk used several methods to increase interaction and to stop it being a didactic exercise.

The Government borrowed £20m pounds from 2 Bankers, one of them being Rothschilds. Jean reported that this debt was only paid off recently in 2015. ( Taxpayers still paying).

What would Darcy's £10,000 income be worth if he were not a fictional figure and alive today?

The answer is that is is very complicated.

History Today dealt with this in an article by Roderick Floud 'Pricing the Past' March 2019. It is often done using inflation indices which have been compiled for the past, these might be based on prices or earnings, or a combination - each giving different result. But the article suggests, as my anecdotal experience would confirm, that these give a result far too low.  People have resorted to other methods for example including taking a single commodity and using that at as the measure.   For example. you could give an idea of the buying power of a daily wage by giving it in the number of Mars Bars it could buy, or the income of a Doctor  in terms of the daily wage equivalent of unskilled labours, or Roman Legionaries.

Froud uses a site called MeasuringWorth.com which helps calculate historic value by a range of methods. Be warned it is complicated. However, I have just discovered that if you go straight to this page, then its quite simple!  www.measuringworth.com/calculators/
 
Froud suggests using GDP gives a better and more realistic result. Using this method Mr Darcy's income was £7m pound; the Crystal Palace cost £319m to build, and a Day's pay for a WW1 soldier was £16.50, his colonel would have been paid £462.


Using the price index suggests the cost of the Crystal Palace was a mere £8.7m, £66.3m  by the earnings index. This still seems low.  The GDP index,  by contrast, suggests a cost of £319m.  This appears more realistic but is it?  So he looks for a modern parallel  and notes that the  Dome cost £700m. So the GDP index of £319m is much more realistic than the other indices but you could conclude that finding a modern parallel is the best method. 

Darcy's income of £10,000 is a mere £620,000 by the price's income, calculated by the inflation rate makes it £620,000 still far short of the GDP index of £7m.  This  still seems low to me.  A quick google of the Duke of Chatsworth says he is worth £800m, lets say he gets a 5% return on that this would give an annual income of £40m.   My reason for choosing the Duke is that some think Austen based Pemberley on Chatsworth.  Darcy was not however titled.  So  lets be conservative and say Darcy has an annual income equivalent to £20m.

But your guess is as good as mine..

  Measuring Worth

Medieval Port of London Conference 18th May 2019

Conference on the Medieval Port of Londo.

http://www.docklandshistorygroup.org.uk/page38.html

Russell Hotel - Titanic Dining Room

I have wanted to go in and look at the Russell Hotel since I first discovered that Charles Fitzroy Doll, who designed the hotel in 1898, also designed the Titanic's Ballroom.

The exterior of the Hotel is covered in Doulton's 'The au Lait' terracotta tiles, and the interior is covered with amazing limestone cladding.

The claddings are described in this pdf.  https://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucfbrxs/Homepage/walks/RussellHotelFoyer.pdf

On the second floor is a dragon - called Lucky George as his pair sank with the Titanic.

Bermuda National Gallery

Having gone to the Bermuda National Library { about the size of a village library  about to be closed down } I had no great expectations for the National Gallery.  Its position above the City Hall confirmed my pessimism but once entering the Gallery my spirits lifted as it is a lovely space over two stories with surprisingly interesting exhibitions.

The star was an exhibition on Shepherd Fairey - rebel with a cause.  His punk, Russian Constructivism, Barbara Kruger, street art inspired exhibition showed a clear understanding of how to make an impact in public places. The video with the artist is as inspiring as it is informative.  Placing something in unusual places creates something memorable - maybe its obvious but combined with his flair for promotion it shows how he is able to provoke a reaction.  Like Banksy he has the eye for combining something striking with something meaningful.  So he puts a portrait of a typical american couple surrouded by art work from the Dollar, and the couple are cuddling a bomb.  Point simply made..

http://bernews.com/2017/08/bng-announces-new-exhibition-on-sept-21/

Another gallery is reserved for paintings of Bermuda of which one or two make a real impact. Upstairs and on the stairs are a series of modern art works which run the range of modern conceptual art - from the messy pieces of LookAtMe isms mascarading as pyschogeography to pieces that remind us that Marcel Descamps said it definitively and what is the point of saying it again?  But there are also one or two pieces that show that some modern artists are finding a confident voice which suggests a future for art beyond the conceptual.   

Vincent Van Gogh in London

Excellent article by Iain Sinclair in Tate Etc Issie 45 Middle.

His first house in London is unknown, and then he moved to 87 Hackford St, which reduced his commute to his job at Southampton Street, Covent Garden to about 45 minutes. He walked via Westminster Bridge.  While in London he visited cultural venues with his Sister, Anna, such as St Pauls Dulwich Picture Gallery, and Hampton Court.  He collected unpaid school fees in Whitechapel.

He  moved to Isleworth, and heard a sermon in Kew Road Methodist Church.

He did a sketch of Austin Friars, and copied Dore image of Prisoners Excercising in Newgate.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Prisoners-Exercising-Vincent-Van-Gogh-Art-Print-Poster-1890-Painting-/222940928857

We know something of his reading - the Arlesienne of 1890 

• 

  L'Arlésienne, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
  

shows him reading Uncle Tom's Cabin and Christmas Stories by Dickens. He also read 'Our Mutual Friend.'

The third City of London Ward Walk - Castle Baynard

The Castle Baynard Ward Walk

We began with an introduction to the City of London and its 'democratic' (not) system.  Castle Baynard has an ex Lord Mayor as its Alderman (but that must be true of at least 50% of them).  He is public school educated but not Oxbridge and is a Tax expert who began with Arthur Anderson.

We discussed the weird change in the area of the Ward in the reforms of 2003.  It was roughly from St Paul's south to the River until 2003 when they added an enormous (more than doubled the size of the ward) area outside the Wall in the Fleet Street area.  It is almost cut in half by an inroad of Farringdon Within Ward.  The shape is called the Tuning Fork. The explanation I don't know but the reform must have been based on equalising the wards in terms of 'population' or 'electors' or amenities and facilities.

This is my sketch map.  The yellow is the new boundary, the blue/green is the historic one. You will see that Queenhithe has taken a bite out of the East boundary - if you look there is a sort of nose just under St Pauls, that is the St Pauls Tourist Information Kiosk which Queenhithe must have particularly wanted or needed?

The Ward also lost that 'arm' pointing up which is essentially Warwick Lane.  The major addition is the old printing area west of Farringdon Street and East of Temple Gardens, and the area north of Fleet Street and East of Fetter Lane.  It seems to me that they have shunted together 2 disparate areas with completely different histories.

The Walk turned out to be about:

St Pauls, and environs.

The War of The Roses as the College of Arms used to be Derby House which was where Lord Stanley (King of Mann and created Earl of Derby)  and Margaret Beaufort (mother of Henry VII)  lived. They stitched up Richard III at Bosworth Field.  Edward IV was proclaimed King at Baynards Castle  (as was Edward IV; Lady Jane Grey and Queen Mary). Buckingham suggested Richard III should become King here too.  Warwick lived in the area, as did Clarence (Le Erber).  There were various War of the Roses events at St Pauls although the most interesting was the 'Love Day' Procession where Henry VI hoped for an outbreak of love and peace by promoting a walk from Westminster to St Pauls. the Duke of York (Richard and Edward's dad) walking alongside Henry VI's wife (Margaret).   It had about as much chance of working as solving Brexit by getting Corbyn and May to hold hands on a similar walk.  I think they would have liked each other almost as much.

Shakespeare - the Carter Lane letter; print shop at the Sign of the White Greyhound,  Coat of Arms at College of Arms; Blackfriars Theatre and the Seven Ages of Man Statue at the Brutalist Baynard  House.

The statue shown above by Richard Kindersley was for me a highlight. I have pointed this out on many coach tours but only went up to see it again a couple of months ago.  It was therefore nice to read from Jacques speech in 'As You Like It.'

Telecoms. Opposite the HQ of BT is the Faraday Building which turns out to be London's first Telephone Exchange and then the World's first International Telephone exchange.

We had drinks in the Blackfriars and the Cheshire Cheese. The former being perhaps the most spectacular pub interior in London, and the latter the most historic?

I had to deal with the waterfront too briefly but was very excited in my research to come across a reference to Chaucer's Shipman. I am seeking to find out if I am the first person to notice this connection. (I doubt it!). Medieval waterfront shown to left.



We finished off with a quick trip through, Bridewell Palace, St Brides, Hogarth and Hanging Sword Alley and the Daily Express Building.

Fabulous Walk it turns out.

Castle Baynard Ward Guided Walk

First time I've had time to post about a walk for a long time.  But tomorrow I am doing a pub walk which explores, in depth, a small part of the City of London.

I am looking at Castle Baynard Ward which is south of St Pauls and west across the Fleet river into Fleet Street.

Do feel free to come along.
 

Castle Baynard Ward 7.15 St Pauls Tube Exit 2

 

 

Waterloo to be re-fought at the Kelvin Gallery Glasgow.

This looks like being an amazing event! I think you need to be a war gamer top attend sadly. Taking place in Glasgow June 2019

http://www.waterlooreplayed.com/about.html

Need Money? Remortgage your museum?

It has just been announced that Glasgow is to remortgage museums to pay for equal pay settlements.

This is a big surprise and I am surprised that not much seems to be made of it. It can't be a good idea can it?


https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/12022019-riverside-museum-glasgow-remortgaged?utm_campaign=1413726_14022019&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Museums%20Association&dm_i=2VBX,UAU6,27LVJK,34UZU,1

Have you a definition of the modern Museum? ICOM wants one.

New definition of the Museum called for by ICOM.

https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/11022019-icom-seeks-proposals-new-museum-definition?utm_campaign=1413726_14022019&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Museums%20Association&dm_i=2VBX,UAU6,27LVJK,34UZU,1


The current definition is: “A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.”

The MA definition is (1998)  'Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artefacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society.'

The Latest About the Man with the Boots in the Thames

No one has yet suggested he was on his way to a fetish club, but it seems he was a fisher man who died in his 16th Century Waders.

His teeth suggest he used them to control fishing lines or nets, and his bones suggests a physically stressful occupation. He was not buried but probably lost in the river and under 35 years old.


https://molaheadland.com/the-medieval-mystery-of-the-booted-man-in-the-mud/?mc_cid=45165f23d6&mc_eid=c123dc770c

Triforium project at Westminster Abbey

The CBA organised a visit to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey.  This 13th Century space has been cleared up and has been turned into a gallery with amazing views down onto the Abbey - particularly great to see the Cosmarti floor from on high.

Here is their video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPYi45hZ-uE


We heard about excavations just by Henry VII's gallery in what was called Poets Corner Yard. Here they found archaeological sequences which included

Dump levels containing prehistoric finds and Roman remains (but not in situ)
the original chalk raft for the Abbey
burial ground for monks including some coffins with head shaped ends for the corpses head.
Shops and workshops in the area that Chaucer and Caxton had house and workshop in.
Building levels from Henry III through to Gilbert Scott.

The archaeological team cleared out all the dust of years that had accumulated in the gallery.  It included thousands of fragments of medieval painted window glass,  sherds, tobacco pipes, tiles, bricks, moulded stones. Amongst the many pieces of paper found was the wrapping for a 17th Century  tobacco pouch; and invites and seating plans for Queen Anne's coronation.

Well worth a visit (if you can afford it -currently £20 to get in and another £6 to see the Triforium.)

I am Ashurbanipil Exhibition at the BM

The British Museum has a host of wonderful relief carvings collected from Assyria in the 19th and 20th Century.  They are free to see, easy to get to on the ground floor, can be enjoyed without much insider knowledge, and nor is it necessary to spend long reading labels. Now the Museum has put some of them together with a whole load of objects from the store. The net result is a very satisfying exhibition which gives a pretty good background to the enjoyment of the reliefs.

The carvings are amazing, and look very good with the black backgrounds and relief lighting.

 

These two, are larg scale sphinx to the left and to the right the head of a diety half animal half human.

Ashurbanipil was also something of a star student, and is, in one notable relief, depicted with a pen in his waistband.  (picture to the right).  Archaeologists have found shelves and hundreds of clay tablets showing that the King had a large library.    The displays suggest that the library was mostly to help the king with spells, and prophecies which, is a little disappointing.  It would be interesting, though, to have more details of the library. The King did not seem to believe in humility as the inscriptions keep telling us how good he is at learning, prophecy, hunting lions, shooting arrows etc.

 

 This is a display of the clay cuneiform tablets. And a close up below.

 The picture below shows that they also used wax tablets like the Romans.

And this one shows the origins of double entry book keeping. These people shown below are keeping a list of booty collected in war. The accountants are always shown in pairs, one bearded and the other clean-shaven.  The panels suggests one writes on a board and the other on parchment and in different languages.  I wonder if the clean shaven ones are Eunuchs?

d

 

the possibility of unperceived existence, hyperobject and object orientated ontology

A  morning trying to update myself. Timothy Morton's book Hyperobjects being the subject.  What I like about it is a philosophy that makes the world not homocentric, one in which things have their own reality, and where we are not at the centre of everything.   The philosophy is called  Object Orientated Ontology (OOO).

In a way it seems another moment in time like Corpernicus's discovery that the Sun does not go around the Earth.  Now OOO allows us to ignore philosophers who tell us things can only be known by the senses and therefore their existence depends on our cognition.

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Of course it does.  But, I coming from the no nonsense school of philosophy,  have always believed in the 'the possibility of unperceived existence' and have objected to the subjectivists. So thanks to the OOO for bringing this back into reality.

Now Morton  has used OOO to attack the eco movement for putting Nature on a pedastal for us to admire, rather it being part of a mesh of existence upon which we all exist as equals.  I see an echo here in biodynamism who not only want to farm organically for our health but what to farm well for the good of the patch of land they farm in its own right.  Not to increase yields, not to help us, but because that patch of land has its own existence and rights.

As to Hyperobjects - hmmmm.  the definition is baffling and its hard to understand what they are and more importantly what they are not.  So they don't really have any existence.  Maybe just a way of looking at things?

List of English Words and their Latin Alternatives

So if you judge someone you are doing this in Anglo-Norman derived from Latin, in English you deem or doom.  A judge is a deempster.  If you are called to the Bar,  made into a Barrister and facing trial in a Court these are all anglo norman words from Latin.


In English Jesus was crutched or crossed in Latin Cruxified.

A roman officer controling nearly 100 people is called a centurion. In English he would be a hundreder.

A lot of decisions were made in the lead up to the King James bible where a lot of decisions went the latin way.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Germanic_and_Latinate_equivalents_in_English

Good piece on the 18th Century LGBT community

https://londonist.com/london/history/18th-century-queer-london?utm_source=Today%27s+posts+from+Londonist&utm_campaign=7ca5d986e9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_01_21_04_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_acfd22879f-7ca5d986e9-219853617

Judy Garland in Chelsea

She got married in Chelsea Registry Office and died in a Mews House at 4 Cadogen Lane, just north of Sloane Square.

http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/2009/12/the-marriage-and-death-of-judy-garland-chelsea-1969/

What does Dickens' Christmas hide?

This is an excellent Guardian article comparing Dickens frantically hearty Christmas ideal with the reality of his less than enthusiatic embracing of family life.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/20/bleak-house-the-dark-truth-behind-charles-dickens-christmas-obsession?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX0d1YXJkaWFuVG9kYXlVS19XZWVrZGF5cy0xODEyMjE%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&CMP=GTUK_email

It is a review of an Exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum • Food Glorious Food: Dinner with Dickens, curated by Pen Vogler, is at the Charles Dickens Museum, London WC1N, until 22 April. 

how does grammerly work ? forr 

This is the place' about Manchester by Tony Walsh

Great belief, great expression of the love of place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmSKF5hdIpw

and the words

https://speakola.com/eulogy/tony-walsh-this-is-the-place-manchester-vigil-2017

Smithfield Pub Tour

This is an excellent comparison of pubs now and in 1973 with a little bit of history

https://darkestlondon.com/tag/old-red-cow/

Living with The Gods Exhibition - British Museum

I found this exciting at the beginning and disappointing by the end.  It begins with a communion with a 40,000 sculpted piece of walrus ivory.  Lion-man of the Hohlenstein-Stadel.  The oldest figurative art.  Its amazing and may equally be female.  But around the wall of the dark space are words and phrase s that suggest the exhibition is really going to explore the meaning of spirituality.  And I was ready for it having just been reading Mary Beard on the Parthenon in which she has a small section where she hints at the complexity of polytheism.  So in the dark space beyond the Lion-Man you read the words: Thinking, Making, Symbolism, Worlds beyond Nature.  'Tranfering thoughts into objects'.  'Turn everyday experiences of being into worlds beyond nature'  And this is what religion is something to reshape the ordinary into the sublime, or the complex into a story, of the scary into the sphere of the Gods. 

But the Exhibition didn't deliver it just became tokenism as so many exhibitions do.

Towards a "molecular archaeoparasitological" map of Europe

Interesting new technology which may provide new sources of information about connections in Medieval Europse.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/uoo-pfm101518.php

Marie Antoinette's breast cup

Interesting story about a cup being modelled on Marie Antoinette's breast.

http://www.hanleywoodtexas.com/ancienne-manufacture-royale-marieantoinette-jatte-teton-footed-bowl-pieces-p-38636.html

Pyschodelic pyschogeography - an interview with me

https://storiesinspaces.wordpress.com/2018/09/05/entry-1/

Marble Hill house and Alexander Pope's part in it

New discovery!

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/26/poet-alexander-pope-designed-londons-marble-hill-garden-says-historian?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail

The Rivers of Westminster and Vauxhall

This web site gives an insight into geoarchaeological research on the river Tyburn and Tachbrook.


http://molarchaeology.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=6b00daa1acac4df7a2fcde06104bac1a

Goodbye Eve. New light on Human Origins in Africa

So good bye to a single African Eve. Chris Singer and a host of other authors in their article: 

Did Our Species Evolve in Subdivided Populations across Africa, and Why Does It Matter?

suggest that Homo Sapiens developed all over African in multiple communities, not in a single region.

 See the paper here:

Authors:

Eleanor M.L. ScerriCorrespondence information about the author Eleanor M.L. ScerriEmail the author Eleanor M.L. Scerri

,

Mark G. Thomas

,

Andrea Manica

,

Philipp Gunz

,

Jay T. Stock

,

Chris Stringer

,

Matt Grove

,

Huw S. Groucutt

,

Axel Timmermann

,

G. Philip Rightmire

,

Francesco d’Errico

,

Christian A. Tryon

,

Nick A. Drake

,

Alison S. Brooks

,

Robin W. Dennell

,

Richard Durbin

,

Brenna M. Henn

,

Julia Lee-Thorp

,

Peter deMenocal

,

Michael D. Petraglia

,

Jessica C. Thompson

,

Aylwyn Scally

, Lounès Chikhi

https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(18)30117-4

A great personalised Guided Tour

Not sure I will ever be able to do a guided walk as good as this.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjvzCTqkBDQ

London 1944 archive film

This is a film about the Abercrombie Plan of 1944 which was to transform London from an unplanned mess to a machine that worked rationally for its inhabitants providing space, light and separation of factories from living spaces.

Fascinating.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8X5bEFvFJQ

London Bridge Revealed - Medicine

I gave a walk for the London Festival of Archiecture on Medicine - good turn out and it went well.

 I tried to give a medical, architectural, historical and to add in various ideas of health and well-being.

London Bridge Revealed – Medicine (Guided Walk)

During June the Museum of Walking will lead an eclectic series of walks focusing on some of the key characteristics that make up London Bridge’s past, present and future: its riverside, railway and greenery, and its unique heritage medical and leisure heritage.
Both the provision and education associated with Guy’s Hospital and Kings College has a huge legacy in the area, and has attracted private hospitals as well. Not only is the Guy’s tower a significant landmark (purportedly the highest hospital building in the world both at the time of its construction in the 1970s and in the present day), but as one of the largest employers, holds the key to many personal and collective memories.
Join for a guided walk in the company of Kevin Flude, former director of the Old Operating Theatre Museum (in St Thomas’ St) who will slice the area with the accuracy of a surgeon’s knife, revealing how the area retains its position at the heart of modern medicine and public health.
The walk is free of charge, but we ask that you book a place through the link provided. The exact meeting point will be announced here before the walk.

https://www.londonfestivalofarchitecture.org/event/__trashed-314-4-2/

Julius Caesar - Soc. of Antiquities Public Lecture "Julius Caesar in Britain" by Andrew Fitzpatrick FSA.

An up date on what we know of Caesar's invasion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfFTM5_WcOE&t=20s&utm_source=Salon+Subscribers&utm_campaign=dda885a268-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_04_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c0cb6b55f1-dda885a268-40167989

Basement Mania in London

Very good article on the subject of digging deep basements in the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/may/07/going-underground-the-subterranean-secrets-of-londons-super-rich?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=274068&subid=2272382&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

Roman Era names

This is a simple web site that has a fairly comprehensive list of Roman era names in a list - gives you the meaning and origin of each name.


http://www.romaneranames.uk/

Virtual St Stephens Project

Here are some 3D visualisations of St Stephens Chapel, home of the House of Commons, Westminster.

https://www.virtualststephens.org.uk/explore

Victorian London Alphabet

This is a lovely Victorian Alphabet illustrated with London sights.


http://spitalfieldslife.com/2018/04/09/the-london-alphabet-x/

London's smallest police station isn't.

London's smallest police station isn't.

Interesting story


https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2018/04/08/london-smallest-police-station-in-trafalgar-square-isnt-what-its-claimed-to-be/

20 great films based in London

Here is Time Outs List

https://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-30-best-london-movies

' Tonite let's male Love in London' 60s documentary

https://vimeo.com/111691128

Radical Walking and other pyschogeographic activiites

Triarchy Press has a set of authors who are developing the idea of walking as a radical art form.

To find out more, follow this link:

https://www.triarchypress.net/walking.html

Victorian Buildings in London you did not know about

This is an excellent selection of buildings, most of which , I did not know about but wish I had!



https://londonist.com/london/best-of-london/five-victorian-buildings-you-didn-t-know-about?utm_source=Today%27s+posts+from+Londonist&utm_campaign=f988096749-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_03_27&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_acfd22879f-f988096749-219853617

Mary Ward House

Great bit of Arts and Crafts Architecture in Tavistock Place

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/27/gun-debate-culture-war-young-people-will-win?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=269200&subid=1563368&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

Beautiful Brutalism in Camden

This is one of the great estates in London.

Its said to be one of the largest listed buildings in Britain. the Alexandra And Ainsworth Estate and is by the great Neave Brown of Camden Council's Architects Department 1968.


http://londonist.com/london/videos/alexandra-and-ainsworth-estate?rel=handpicked

How many coffee houses in 18th Century London?

I seem to remember they numbered in thousands but initial searches suggest 500. But I came across this web site which gives the answer.

https://publicdomainreview.org/2013/08/07/the-lost-world-of-the-london-coffeehouse/

'By the dawn of the eighteenth century, contemporaries were counting between 1,000 and 8,000 coffeehouses in the capital even if a street survey conducted in 1734 (which excluded unlicensed premises) counted only 551. Even so, Europe had never seen anything like it. Protestant Amsterdam, a rival hub of international trade, could only muster 32 coffeehouses by 1700 and the cluster of coffeehouses in St Mark’s Square in Venice were forbidden from seating more than five customers (presumably to stifle the coalescence of public opinion) whereas North’s, in Cheapside, could happily seat 90 people. '

Milk or Tea first?

I have always believed that you put the milk in first because of the risk of cracking your bone china with boiling hot water.  But have just heard what sounds like a definitive answer to the question:

 

BUT if you are wealthy you can afford cups that don't crack under boiling water AND by the time the hot water comes up from downstairs the water is not so boiling so UPSTAIRS you can put the tea in first DOWNSTAIRS you put the milk in first

So which goes in first becomes a measure of class.  Just like everything else in the UK.

Tudor Map of London 1520

This is another Tudor mapping project. This time it hopes to create a new map fitted to the modern street plan showing the identified parts of Tudor London. And they are printing it!

Here is the link to buy a copy

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Map-Tudor-London-Englands-Historical/dp/0993469833

Here is a link to the project.

http://www.historictownsatlas.org.uk/content/tudor-london-1520

Layers of London Project

This is a project to create an online mapping project for the history of London.

I can't yet see how it is going to work. It has a lot of ambition and very little detail as yet.

Vanessa Harding said the Tudor Map of London project she and Caroling Barron have been working on will link to it.

https://layersoflondon.blogs.sas.ac.uk/

"The Agas Map." and the Map of Early Modern London project

This is one of two really great mapping projects ongoing about Tudor London. 

This one is based at the University of Victoria and is an attempt to populate a digital version of Agas' Early Tudor London Map with information from Stow's 'Survey of London'  and other sources .

I found it very useful for my research for my Cornhill Walk. I also felt sad as I was working reading Stow and looking at hard copies of maps, and then found it all on a plate on this web site.

So it felt like an end of an era.

This is the reference and the link.
 

Jenstad, Janelle. The Agas Map. The Map of Early Modern London. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Web. 01 March, 2018. <http://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/map.htm>.

Refugium

 Refugium

This is one of my students' projects which is about the issue surrounding being a Refugee.

It is running on 18th March if you wish to attend.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQsy-fTQoOshwa5HVVW60FS_BYhudaPdYHzspnpgtZFsATOw/viewform

Cornhill Ward Walk

The next in my series of Ward Walks of the City of London, I am doing Cornhill Ward. 

We will look at the archaeology and history of the Ward from the earliest times to the present day.

10th March 18 Cornhill Ward of the City of London
2.30 Bank Tube. Exit 3

Ancient DNA Revolution

We are witnessing a revolution in ancient DNA. The first results came from inference from modern DNA and seem to have given results which are somewhat dubious. But recently changes in cost and technology has built up a new and expanding database of Ancient DNA which is shaking prehistory.

This article gives a good summary.

https://phys.org/news/2018-02-ancient-dna-tales-humans-migrant.html#jCp

One result is that the Beaker folk have been restored to a genuine folk movement after a couple of decades of PC cultural diffusion of a pottery style. But more than that the Beakers Folk are not only an intrusion from abroad But they replaced 90% of the Neolithic genome. The mechanism by which this happened is not yet established. 

So the great Henge projects were created by the first farmers who were largely descended from the Hunter-Gatherers.  Around 2,400 B.C. the beaker folk came over. This was after the Sarsen phase of Stonehenge.  They seem to have adopted neolithic use of henges but not the desire or ability to build huge new ones.

The DNA report is published here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25738.epdf?referrer_access_token=VWOWCyPVVXLk4xPfgQahc9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MvCgRpafo1l7XRALArFgCO6vOi1SAh6jgQaefsnzZX1pGLIas5jRPHdWo7nCUK_NDOU3EOuvXbOrokXtSkYpMwwyPp1RX8x9L3YKpE-avBD7y8BMXJGkh-s2PAa-PuH7cIWtx6FXGfFnry1J9SOi7RD1_Z0pibAnYRUIYfq10aZna5ImBOjjsywu8l14vdp0I%3D&tracking_referrer=www.bbc.co.uk

Salon IFA 402 wrote:

'Ancient DNA Continues to Revolutionise the Past

Around 4,500 years ago migrants entered Britain from the European continent, probably travelling from the coasts of France, Belgium or Germany, and initiated a substantial population replacement. The impact is still felt today, with only 10% of the preceding Neolithic genome remaining. The copper age in the UK truly marked the beginning of a new era.

We knew this from a Harvard University research paper published online last year ahead of peer review (‘Pots on the March’, Salon 388). Nature published the article on 21 February, allowing its authors to talk to the press. Among those who did was Mike Parker Pearson FSA (UCL). He told BBC News that the Neolithic British community had monument building ‘absolutely as its core rationale’, while the incoming makers of Beaker pottery were ‘not prepared to collaborate on enormous labour-mobilising projects; their society [was] more de-centralised.’

The context for this is Stonehenge, where our current dating suggests the main structure was built at the very end of the neolithic and shortly before the arrival of Beaker migrants – though smaller megaliths continued to be re-arranged during the Beaker era. There was no ‘violent invasion’, however. The Beaker people, said Parker Pearson, were ‘moving in very small groups or individually’. Steven Shennan FSA (also UCL) noted that ‘around 2500 BC the population [in Britain] is very low and that's precisely when the Beaker population seems to come in.’

In a press release from the University of Cambridge, Christopher Evans FSA (Executive Director of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit) said, ‘this study has been a tremendous project to be involved with. The results are truly ground-breaking and suggest that, with the influx of Continental communities, Britain’s prehistoric story needs to be rewritten in a much more dynamic manner.’ ‘Different teams had different key samples,’ said co-senior author Kristian Kristiansen FSA (University of Gothenburg), ‘and we decided to put together our resources to make possible a study that was more definitive than any of us could have achieved alone.’ The Cambridge Archaeological Unit has supplied many further samples for another Harvard study, of a thousand British Iron Age individuals.'

Good article on Spitalfields by the Gentle Author


http://spitalfieldslife.com/2018/02/26/down-a-well-in-spitalfields/

Daily Mash woman-in-art-gallery-just-guessing-how-long-to-stand-in-front-of-each-painting-

Satire on difficult issues for Museum visitors.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts-entertainment/woman-in-art-gallery-just-guessing-how-long-to-stand-in-front-of-each-painting-20170311123869

The First Britain

The obviously interesting aspect of this is that he is dark skinned. But the piece below indicates what I think is a major change in perception of our origins.  Early DNA studies suggested that most Britains were descended from peoples coming here after the ice melted c 14,0000 years ago.  It was suggested that 90% (in the west) and 75% (in the East)~ were descended from the Basque area refuge.

This threw doubt on the scale of Saxon migration and made the division of peoples on these islands into Celts and Britains a cultural not a genetic indentity.  

 

However, this piece talks about  Cheddar man being part of the Western Hunter Gatherer Group and it then reports a recent  'study released last year also in preliminary form claimed that around 4500 years ago, the time Stonehenge was built, the then indigenous UK genome was all but displaced by migrants from the Continent who made Beaker-style pottery (see Pots on the March, Salon 388). The 10% of WHG DNA seen in modern white Britons could be derived from these Beaker people. They would have picked it up from intermixing with Neolithic Continental populations with a proportion of WHG in their genome.'

 

Thus - we - the British have been continously in these islands not for 14,000 years but 6,500 at most.  Big big changes. I for one am finding the contradictory results from DNA very confusing, and I feel  that the shaft of light that DNA seemed to throw on archaeology was a chimera. Am I right?

 

 

 

This is from Salon IFA 

Salon: Issue 401
20 February 2018

 

 Begin Quotation

 

 

Britain's First Hunter-gatherer Genomes Sequenced

This is the face of Cheddar Man, a modern human buried in a cave near the Somerset village 10,000 years ago, as reconstructed by Dutch brothers Alfons and Adrie Kennis. The model comes from the most recent of a series of projects led by Chris Stringer FSA at the Natural History Museum, in which scientists have been analysing late glacial remains from Cheddar Gorge recovered since the 19th century, including some from new excavation. Cheddar Man, a very rare near complete skeleton of its age, was found in Gough’s Cave in 1903.

The shape of the head and facial details were determined by features of the skull, but skin (dark or dark to black), hair (dark brown possibly black) and eye colour (blue/green) were suggested by elements of the man’s DNA. His whole genome has been sequenced, from a small amount of bone taken from the skull. It was read by Ian Barnes and Selina Brace at the Natural History Museum (NHM), and analysed by Mark Thomas and Yoan Diekmann at UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment.

This is the first time the colour of Cheddar Man’s skin has been shown to be dark. Public interest was strong, helped by promotion for a Channel 4 film broadcast on 18 February (First Brit: Secrets of the 10,000 Year Old Man). That people in Britain at this time were likely to have been dark-skinned, however, had already been known by scientists.

Cheddar Man’s genetic profile, said Thomas in a release, ‘places him with several other Mesolithic-era Europeans from Spain, Hungary and Luxembourg whose DNA has already been analysed. These “Western hunter-gatherers” [WHG] migrated into Europe at the end of the last ice age, and the group included Cheddar Man’s ancestors’.

Ancient DNA analysis is increasingly showing the history of modern Europeans to have involved several significant genetic changes resulting from migrations and mixing. There are remains of more ancient humans from Gough’s Cave, from whom Cheddar Man was not directly descended, and only around 10% of modern indigenous British ancestry can be linked to the 10,000-year-old skeleton.

The research paper was put online ahead of peer review on 19 February, titled ‘Population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain.’ Authors include Alison Sheridan FSA, Mike Parker Pearson FSA and Chris Stringer. Cheddar Man’s genome represents one of six Mesolithic British individuals, and along with that of 16 new Neolithic and 51 previously published Neolithic British individuals, is used to characterise the Mesolithic and Neolithic populations of Britain. The scientists conclude that the transition to farming at the start of the Neolithic 6,000 years ago was accompanied by incoming continental farmers.

A study released last year also in preliminary form claimed that around 4500 years ago, the time Stonehenge was built, the then indigenous UK genome was all but displaced by migrants from the Continent who made Beaker-style pottery (see Pots on the March, Salon 388). The 10% of WHG DNA seen in modern white Britons could be derived from these Beaker people. They would have picked it up from intermixing with Neolithic Continental populations with a proportion of WHG in their genome.

Stringer, Research Leader in Human Origins at the NHM, first excavated at Gough’s Cave 30 years ago. He said in a release, ‘I first studied Cheddar Man more than 40 years ago, but could never have believed that we would one day have his whole genome – the oldest British one to date!
End Quotation

Hay's Wharf and Hay's Gallerie

Excellent article on Hay's Wharf, Southwark.

http://www.exploringsouthwark.co.uk/hays-wharf/4588352949

BBC Documentary on Thomas Cromwell

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch argues the case that Thomas Cromwell was a pioneering statesman who laid the foundations for the modern British state.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01t03ky/henry-viiis-enforcer-the-rise-and-fall-of-thomas-cromwell?ns_mchannel=email&ns_source=PAN_SOLUS&ns_campaign=PANUK_DIV_04_IPL_Recommends_C+fortnightly&ns_linkname=bbctwo_henry8senforcerthomascromwell_FactualHistory_henry8senforcerthomascromwell&ns_fee=0

Book review of Quartz and Feldspar. Dartmoor: a British landscape in modern times Planning Perspectives Vol. 0, Iss. 0, 2018

My book review has just been published:

Flude, Kevin Quartz and Feldspar. Dartmoor: a British landscape in modern times

Planning Perspectives Vol. 0, Iss. 0, 2018

Last 2 people to be executed for sex between men in England

This is a  horrendous taie of the judicial murder of  James_Pratt and John_Smith who were found guilty on the evidence of a landlord and landlady spying their sexual activity through a keyhole.

The Magistrate urged clemency but, although the Privy Council, spared everyone else found guilty of burglary, attempted murder and robbery during that period, the only 2 they executed was Pratt and Smith.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Pratt_and_John_Smith

Divorced, Beheaded, Died Sales to Date

Book Sales 'Divorced, Beheaded. Died'  100,380 units  to date. 

 

Moral - don't enter into a fixed price contract.

Hardback 50664 copies

Paperback 24986 copies

Ebook 24,703 copies

Audiobook 27 copies

 

Although, I do think the publisher might give the occassional bonus.

 

Wolfhall London. More and Cromwell Tudor London Walk

My next walk for London Walks is this Saturday 13th January 2018 at 10.45.  St Pauls Tube Exit 2

The Walk is a look at London during the Reformation. Its also a companion to Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall.  We look at the London of the early 16th Century and walks the streets known to both men - both Lord Chancellors to Henry VIII, both commoners, both beheaded, friends but on rival side of the intelectual and political divide.


Here is a short promo video.

https://youtu.be/Jkiza8HOFm4

Sex Pistols - the Uxbridge Gig

Johnny Rotten remembers it as a terrible gig in a huge sports hall with an inadequate sound system, and an incapable Sid Vicious in front of a largely uncomprehending audience.

I should have been there but I couldn't be bothered to travel all the way out to Uxbridge on a cold Dec night in 1977. (16th December, Cost £1.75)

Pictures:


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.153253181495781.35035.148548651966234&type=3

Description

Diffusion Choir art versus nature

Diffusion Choir.

 

This is, what you might call,  atrium art. And it is a beautiful composition which subtly changes mimicing flocking birds.

Beautiful it is but interesting that it is nowhere near as beautiful as flocking birds.

https://www.treehugger.com/culture/diffusion-choir-sculpture-soso-limited-plebian-design-hypersonic.html

Barging through London

This is a film following a trip along the Regent's Canal in 1924.

Shows Limehouse, Mile End, Whitechapel, Hackney,Camden, Kings Cross.

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-barging-through-london-1924-online

The Arts for Health and Wellbeing

This is a useful Parliamentary Report

It includes links to download the full report; a summary report and videos.

http://www.artshealthandwellbeing.org.uk/appg-inquiry/

Is this the meaning of London

There are some people who think German was spoken in Eastern Britain before the Romans. For them the meaning of the words Thames and London given by modern linquists are wrong.

Thames - Dark River
London - indo-european for Plowonida (Richard Coates - meaning settlement by the Dark or flowing river)

These should be replaced by  (according to:  http://www.proto-english.org/l10.html) 

Thames:
'Etymology of Thames: 'aT (the) ames' = 'inhabited place where the estuary begins'. The Romans wrote: Tamisa or Tamesa. [4] The river would later (before the Romans came!) be named similar to 'the London river' as 'the Thames river'.  '

They make the point that the name originates as reference to the land and then gets transferred to the River.

London
'Landen, if one accepts that the place-name was originally proto-English. 'Land-en' (aphonic 'e') is an ancient English, but still used in Dutch, plural for 'land'.

'Land' meant originally: an open space to build a home upon, the farmhouse with its surrounding grounds.'

Did Beaker Fold replace the Neolithic population

The claim is that the British Neolithic population are 90% replaced by Bell Beaker people in the Bronze Age.  Can't quite see how such a genocide can have taken place at this period in history, but maybe its more of a statistical replacement rather than with death and horror?

You can download the paper or read the abstract here.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/05/09/135962

The Wooden Roads of London

This is a great article about the surfaces of London Roads.  It focuses on the use of wooden setts in the 19th Century.

They can still be seen in Islington and Farringdon.

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2015/01/10/the-time-when-londons-streets-were-paved-with-wood/

The City still pays rent to the Queen

In October there is a ceremony where the City pays its rent to the Queen.

The rent consists of:  an axe, a knife, 6 horseshoes, and 61 nails.

 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/london-is-still-paying-rent-to-the-queen-on-a-property-leased-in-1211

How does it feel to survive Execution?

Well John Half-Hanged Smith survived in 1705  to be revived and pardoned.

This is link includes his memoire of what it was like to be hanged.

http://www.executedtoday.com/2008/12/24/1705-john-half-hanged-smith-half-hanged/