Why is this splendid Art Deco building on Tooley Street called St Olaf House?
Why is it called St Olaf House? The answer is beautifully engraved on the wall …
The man himself …
The main entrance …
St Olaf House was built between 1928 and 1932 for the Hay’s Wharf Company and now houses the London Bridge Private Hospital’s consulting and administration rooms. You can read more about the building here.
Walking east you come acoss Hay’s Galleria …
In a fountain at the centre is a 60 ft moving bronze sculpture of a ship, called The Navigators, by sculptor David Kemp, unveiled in 1987 to commemorate the Galleria’s shipping heritage …
Further east on the south side of the road is The Shipwrights Arms, built in 1884 and now a Grade 2 listed building. I love the beautiful lady figurehead above the main door …
Back on the north side it’s easy to miss this commemorarive plaque …
It reads as follows : To the memory of James Braidwood, superintendent of the London Fire Brigade, who was killed near this spot in the execution of his duty at the great fire on 22nd June 1861. A just man and one that feared god, of good report among all the nation.
I shall be writing more about the heroic James Braidwood and the Great Tooley Street Fire next week.
If you would like to follow me on Instagram here is the link …
Visitors to the Tower looking down towards the river probably don’t give a second thought to this little strip of sand …
Here it is as seen from the cruise boat access bridge …
People had walked on the Thames foreshore for thousands of years but Tower Beach, as it was known, was created in 1934 by bringing 1,500 barge loads of sand to the site. When it was officially opened, King George V decreed that the beach was to be used by the children of London, and that they should be given ‘free access forever’.
Take a look at these wonderful images starting with the lovely girls from the famous Windmill Theatre …
East end lads having a great time …
Sadly it had to be closed in 1971 because of the danger of pollution to bathers.
You can see more if you click on this link to the article the images come from in the MailOnline.
This exciting sculpture, Girl With a Dolphin, was created in 1972 by David Wynne …
It looks even better when its water fountain is working.
I know not everyone likes The Shard but I appreciate the way it mirrors the sky, especially on a stormy day …
That’s the well-camouflaged HMS Belfast in the foreground.
St Katharine Docks opened on the 25th October 1828 and this painting shows the first ships entering during the opening ceremony …
The docks as they appeared in full operation …
These formidable lock gates are still in place and fully functioning …
St Katharine, a 4th century aristocrat, refused to marry the Emperor Maximilian and was punished by being tortured on a spiked wheel before being beheaded. Her usual symbols are a wheel and a book, and may also include the more general symbols of the virgin martyr, a crown and a sword. The saint on this plaque has two appropriate extra symbols: the water and the Tower …
You will see her portrayed throughout the area …
Posh flats and yachts …
You can glimpse The Gherkin and The Scalpel in the background …
Ivory House, designed by George Aitchison & Son in 1853, is the only original warehouse still standing in St Katharine Docks today. It gets its name because of the vast amount of ivory that passed through it. At its peak in the 1870s, nearly 200 tons of ivory was stored annually. Apart from the ivory, other luxury imports were stored such as perfume, shells, marble, carpets, spices and wine. The London docks were the world’s greatest concentration of portable wealth …
Note the thickness and height of the walls lining the street – serious security …
Across the river is Butlers Wharf, once used to store vast quantities of tea …
The sculptress Paula Haughney has a number of her works on display around the area which have as their theme the merchandise which used to be unloaded here. The stones used for these sculptures were part of the original dock. You’ll find a guide to where they are and their titles here …
The work has reminders of the dock’s past. The chains which support it are reminiscent of anchor chains. The ring of the sundial is a giant washer. The central gnomon is an enlarged nail.
Get your souvenirs here …
As I left the area and walked towards Tower Hill Station I noticed this curious building …
The London Hydraulic Power Company was established in 1868 to install a hydraulic power network in London. This expanded to cover most of central London at its peak, before being replaced by electricity, with the final pump house closing in 1977. This is the entrance to the Tower Subway which was originally an old pedestrian tunnel the Company bought to carry power under the Thames …
Just before I reached the station I noticed the Armistice Day wreaths left at the Tower Hill memorial. It commemorates more than 36,000 Merchant sailors who have no grave but the sea …
This will now be the site of the new Chinese Embassy since its purchase in 2018. This has proved controversial and you can read more here and view plans here.
If you would like to follow me on Instagram here is the link …
A trip to the Guildhall art Gallery is always a treat and it is even more so now with its Inspired exhibition which runs until 23 December. It’s a new exhibition drawn from the Guildhall Art Gallery’s permanent collections that examines ways in which visual artists have taken inspiration from the literary arts – poetry, plays, novels, and also music.
Let’s start with this thoughtful, gentle man, sculpted by someone who knew him very well personally …
This is Terry-Thomas, a major star in the 1950s and 60s best known for playing disreputable members of the upper classes especially ‘cads’, ‘toffs’ and ‘bounders’ …
The last years of his life were tragic. Following his death, Lionel Jeffries called him ‘the last of the great gentlemen of the cinema’, while the director Michael Winner commented that ‘no matter what your position was in relation to his, as the star he was always terribly nice. He was the kindest man and he enjoyed life so much’.
This is the actress Valerie Hobson at the height of her career in 1948…
She gave up acting shortly after marrying her second husband John Profumo, the government minister who later became the subject of a sensational (and epoch-changing) scandal in 1963.
This picture was originally entitled Young Airman …
It’s now believed to be a portrait of Roald Dahl in his RAF uniform.
His memoir This Small Cloud was published posthumously in 1987 and was a fascinating account of life as a working class gay man in the early 20th century.
This painting is entitled Keats Listening to the Nightingale on Hampstead Heath and represents the moment he was inspired to write his famous Odepublished in 1819 …
The little bird can be seen in the top left hand corner, silhouetted by the moon …
Here’s the dramatic moment in Macbeth when, at a banquet, he sees the ghost of the murdered Banquo. His wife, the principal figure in the painting, tries to take control by firmly grabbing his shoulder …
The guests stare at him in surprise …
Beautiful sculptures on display include Sir Henry Irving as Hamlet …
Geoffrey Chaucer …
Goethe’s female character Mignon …
and the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók …
Learn more about these works by watching this excellent 15 minute video tour by Katty Pearce, the exhibition curator, or even better visit yourself – you won’t be disappointed …
Curator’s tour : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOO8TKdqZLE
I visited the day after the Lord Mayor’s Show and his State Coach was on display at the Basinghall Street entrance to the Guildhall piazza …
If you would like to follow me on Instagram here is the link …
