Late Night Keats: Frankenstein – Keats House

Presentation screen 'The Making of Frankenstein'

It’s years since I’ve been to Keats House, but I decided to go along one evening in October for a special event inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The highlight of the evening was a talk by Dr Amanda Blake Davis about the making of Frankenstein – the original inspiration and novel and subsequent stage and screen adaptations. It was interesting to hear about the context of the time and the idea of ‘the spark of life’ put forward by Erasmus Darwin.

Another fun experience was ‘Mary Shelley’s Literary Salon’, where we got to listen and speak to Mary Shelley herself! I also enjoyed myself making a gothic bead bracelet with spooky colours and skeleton beads.

A purple, lilac and red bracelet with skull beads

Kensington Gardens Nature Walk

Kensington Gardens

I signed up to attend a nature walk in Kensington Gardens. I was mainly prompted to do this by the Nature Lover badge, but I was excited nevertheless. It was a lovely autumn day in the Gardens, and we saw and learned a lot.

Some of the trees we were introduced to included bay, ginkgo biloba, turkey oak, yew, horse chestnut, sweet chestnut and lime/linden. We learned that the ginkgo biloba tree has ‘swimming’ sperm and can switch gender; the turkey oak has male and female flowers on the same tree; and the oldest trees in London and the UK are yews, which have separate sex trees – only the females produce berries. Horse chestnut trees are not native to the UK and will probably go extinct in the next century because of climate change, whereas sweet chestnuts have prettier flowers, are edible, and are more spiky.

ginkgo biloba treeGinkgo Biloba tree

Some of the plants we came across included rosemary, lavender, brambles and stinging nettles, as well as numerous flowers. Flowerbeds in the Gardens can be created with AI to provide the most pollen and nectar. Interestingly, some butterflies (including peacock butterflies) will only lay eggs on stinging nettles.

Throughout the walk we came across plenty of fungi, including artist’s bracket, chicken of the woods and birch polypore. Chicken of the woods is commonly found on oak and cherry trees (the one we saw was on a cherry). Birch polypores generally only grow on dead and dying birch trees; these fungi have about 80 sexes to be as compatible with as many others as possible.

LoggeryLoggery

We spied a loggery designed for beetles and also turned over some logs to see what we could find. Stag beetles are endangered in the UK; we didn’t see any on our walk, but they do live in the park, on or in rotting wood. We did spot woodlice: some woodlice are all female and reproduce asexually, because of a bacteria that turns eggs female while they are developing. Ladybird larvae can be found on leaves – they look very different to adult ladybirds. We learned about aphids, which are fascinating: aphids clone themselves (though they can mate with others if needed);  they have babies that are already pregnant and they can also have babies with wings (or without). Amazing!

We found a bee and were able to take a closer look. Most bees are, in fact, solitary. Apparently there is a type of bee called a cuckoo bee that will kill the queen and settle in to the hive so that the worker bees feed their larvae instead!

A beeBee

My favourite thing I learned during the walk was about galls and oak gall ink. Galls on acorns are created by wasps to house their larvae. Oak gall ink was the first permanent ink, made with ground up oak apple galls and iron sulphates. The Magna Carta and the American Declaration of Independence were both signed with this ink! It has also been suggested that the existence of wasp nests could have inspired humans to make paper. It seems that wasps are useful for something after all!

I thoroughly enjoyed my nature walk and the chance to spend more time in Kensington Gardens.

Bow Street Police Museum

Entrance to the Bow Street Police Museum

On Saturday I paid my first visit to the Bow Street Police Museum, a new museum in Covent Garden. I visited in order to attend a talk, arranged for Heritage Open Days, called Performing Justice: How satire created London’s first police force. The fascinating talk explored how writer Henry Fielding, famous for his satirical plays hugely popular on the London stage, applied his keen mind to the role of Magistrate and ended up founding the Bow Street Runners, sometimes called the first police force. Fielding was fiercely critical of the corrupt court system and endeavoured to stamp out bribery and a good deal of brutality when he was in charge. True, he didn’t challenge capital punishment, which was a feature of the period: but he had sympathy for many criminals and understood how circumstances conspired to leave many feeling they had no choice but to turn to crime.

Gallery from the Magistrates' CourtGallery from the Magistrates’ Court

Trials were held at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court, which took place in the building next door: notable figures to be tried here include Oscar Wilde. The museum itself shows how the site developed over the years to become an early police station, with police cells built next to the court and used to house prisoners until the 1990s. Many of the original cells can be visited and they hold objects from the Metropolitan Police Heritage Service and videos featuring former Met officers, stationed in this building, telling their stories.

A police cell

The museum is fascinating and an essential resource to explore the history of policing in London, which is linked to the social history of the city and of Covent Garden. The museum also runs regular talks, and occasional walks and special events.

FACTS

Address: 28 Bow Street, London, WC2E 7AW

Website: bowstreetpolicemuseum.org.uk

Opening Hours: Fri-Sun 11am-4:30pm

Price: Adult £6, concession £4.50, under 12 free

Rituals of Power Through the Centuries – The Society of Antiquaries

The Society of Antiquaries

To coincide with Charles II’s coronation today, I went along to an event at The Society of Antiquaries last night. The Society organised poetry and music sessions, displayed portraits of royals across time and opened up access to its beautiful library.

I went to a fascinating talk about the Magna Carta and listened to a librarian talk about the Great Seal of Henry VIII, which was on display for visitors. I also saw other artefacts like Civil War pamphlets and a panorama of Queen Victoria’s coronation procession.

Finally I took part in some lino block printing, making myself a postcard and a little badge to take away.

The Library

Jack in the Green

The May Day tradition of ‘Jack in the Green’ has been revived in recent years, in places like Whitstable and Hastings. Jack’s origins are shrouded in mystery: some claim he is a survival from pagan tradition, others that he dates back to the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. Supposedly, he dates from a time when May Day celebrations meant making bigger and more ridiculous garlands that eventually seemed to cover the carrier in greenery. Nowadays, an individual completely covered in foliage (and in Hastings, wearing a floral crown) heads a procession to mark the day. At the end, he is “slain” (foliage removed) to release the spirit of summer.

Earlier today I attended a Jack in the Green procession, held in Deptford, south east London. There was a lovely atmosphere and the whole thing had a real celebratory feel.

image shows an individual dressed in green foliage with a man dressed in orange and carrying a drum behind him

Neighbours: The Celebration Tour

The London Palladium

There is no TV show that has meant more to me or that has played a bigger part in my life than Neighbours. The Australian soap has been on my TV regularly for as long as I can remember; my parents watched it, and I can remember paying attention for the first time when I was about six or seven. I’ve grown up with it, and I was devastated when it was announced last year that it would be ending. I was out at a gig on the day the last episode was broadcast, so I came home late, turned my computer on and watched it late at night in floods of tears.

Amazingly, a few months later, it was announced that it was coming back. New episodes are due later this year on Amazon Freevee. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, and the history of this theatrical event really shows that. Originally announced to mark the soap’s 35th anniversary, it was postponed due to Covid. When the soap’s demise was announced, the single event turned into a UK tour and was renamed “The Farewell Tour”. Once its resurrection was announced, the tour was renamed once again, this time to “The Celebration Tour”.

Six beloved cast members are appearing on the tour. Stefan Dennis (Paul Robinson), who has been in the show from the beginning bar a break of a few years in the middle; Annie Jones (Jane Harris), another original cast member who returned to the soap in the last few years; Jackie Woodburne and Alan Fletcher (Susan and Karl Kennedy), who joined in 1994 and are the soap’s most beloved couple; Ryan Moloney (Toadie Rebecchi), the teen tearaway-turned-lawyer who arrived in 1995; and April Rose Pengilly (Chloe Brennan), one of the newest cast members, who joined in 2018.

The atmosphere at the Palladium was amazing – everyone was super friendly and so excited. Songs by Neighbours alumni such as Natalie Imbruglia and Holly Valance were played beforehand and during the interval. We got to see clips of some of the show’s big events to whet our appetite for the interviews to come.

The first half was taken up with individual interviews with each of the six cast members. Host Leah Boleto did a great job, not least because she is a big fan of the show herself, and her own journey with this tour is dramatic to say the least: she originally had tickets, had to cancel when she got pregnant, then eventually ended up hosting it!

Each cast member walked on to a song of their choice. Top marks to April for choosing 5ive’s ‘Everybody Get Up’. It was lovely to hear from each cast member about their first day on set, their memories of the show, their character’s best moments and other anecdotes from behind the scenes. The second half saw all six actors on stage answering audience questions and discussing big moments from Neighbours, as well as their hopes for the future: all six actors will be back when the soap resumes filming (though April will sadly only be back for a guest stint).

At the end of the show, the cast stood up and Jackie repeated her moving speech from the final episode of Neighbours, only this time her fellow actors accompanied her. It was a really emotional moment and reiterated how much I love this programme.

The cast of Neighbours on stage

Evening With the Stars – Royal Observatory Greenwich

View of Greenwich at night, covered in snow

Just before Christmas, two friends and I attended an ‘Evening with the Stars’ at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

We started off in the Planetarium with a live show all about the stars, the most common constellations, and how they seem to move in line with the seasons.

We then moved out to the Observatory and got to look through the Great Equatorial Telescope, 130 years old, to see Jupiter and Mars.

After that, we went outside and were able to look up at the sky and identify some of the more modern constellations. Luckily it was a clear night, and we were able to see quite a lot.

Garth Marenghi in Conversation

Back in the day I loved watching Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, a horror comedy supposedly set in the 80s, starring Matthew Holness as Garth Marenghi who played the lead doctor alongside other comedy names such as Richard Ayoade and Matt Berry. Now, Garth Marenghi is back with his new TerrorTome, and I went along to an event at the Prince Charles Cinema to hear him talk about his new book.

The event was great fun and I can’t wait to get the book and immerse myself in Garth Marenghi’s weird, spooky world.

Elizabeth line late – London Transport Museum

I’ve wanted to go to a late event at the London Transport Museum for a while, and the Elizabeth line late seemed the perfect time to do so. I’d hoped to take the opportunity to visit the Hidden London exhibition at the same time, but in the end there was far too much going on to spend any time actually looking around the museum!

The window of the London Transport Museum shop

I decided to wear my La Vidriola tube line necklace, which got several compliments. Many other people wore purple to celebrate the Elizabeth line’s signature colour – assorted purple merchandise was also available to buy. Sadly, I never did get hold of a purple balloon hat, as sported by several attendees.

In the centre of the Museum, Zoom Through History had set up a table featuring various board games from the different decades of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. They also had costumed characters from each decade. In the canteen, there was a pub quiz, and a special bar was also available, selling assorted purple drinks.

I never got round to checking out any of those things, because I went straight to the craft modelling activity, which allowed you to construct your own Elizabeth line station from card, blu-tack, toothpicks and sellotape. I was rather proud of my station, which I named Farringdon’t, and it supported the toy as required in the specification, but when I went to check on it later it had collapsed, so clearly it’s a good thing I didn’t pursue a career as an engineer.

I spent most of my evening at the talks offered by members of staff. Collecting the Elizabeth line saw former Documentary Curator Rosamund Lily West talk about how the Museum documented the story of the Elizabeth line in real time, collecting relevant items that are of significance in its story and construction. I found this fascinating as it involved thinking about what future generations will find significant, and how they will approach learning about the past.

Planning the Elizabeth line was a talk by Chris Nix, the Museum’s Assistant Director of Collections and Engagement (also known for the Hidden London Hangouts on YouTube). He talked about the history of the Elizabeth line, and how plans for it were originally explored over a century ago, along with plans for a number of other routes and railways that never came to fruition.

Finally, Simon Bennett, Head of Learning Legacy at Crossrail, delivered Building the Elizabeth line, talking about the later stages of the line’s construction and how the line became operation. His talk was also fascinating, and I appreciated his honesty about the line’s delayed opening and the issues it faced, as well as the positives.

I had a great time, and I’m not too annoyed that I will have to make a repeat visit to the Museum to see the Hidden London exhibition!

A white woman with blonde hair wearing a tube map necklace

SALON NO.93: London Mud – London Clay

The Horse Hospital

Antique Beat are an organisation that arrange interesting talks on London-related matters in unusual locations throughout the city. Their 93rd event was named London Mud – London Clay and took place at the historic Horse Hospital near Russell Square tube station.

The first part of the evening featured author Tom Chivers as he explored the geology of London, how different kinds of soil and clay and now-hidden rivers have affected the development of the city.

In the second part, Lara Maiklem told us about her interest in mudlarking, how historically mudlarkers were poor people who searched at the banks of the Thames for anything they could sell, while nowadays they are people with a fascination for treasure hunting who hope to find interesting items relating to London’s history. These can be as varied as pipes, pins, bricks, crockery, even human bones.

I really enjoyed this fascinating talk and would like to find out more about both topics – I will look up the presenters’ books.