When I go to buy the paper in the morning I often see the Bidfood truck delivering to Linklaters (lawyers seem to have great appetites). I like the pictures constructed out of food.
Here are my latest favourites …
Last year’s version …
I suppose I’m a bit sad recording these!
The weather was rather miserable in July but I think I captured some interesting sunsets.
Looking west towards St Giles church. Dating from 1682, the unusual profile of the tower would have been familiar to centuries of travellers approaching or leaving the City (obviously without the crane) …
Offices on London Wall look like they are aflame …
The view looking east …
Looking south with the moon behind the Shard …
Tower 52 gradually being surrounded by later developments …
Stormy sky with cranes. The tiny church steeple in the distance on the right is St Lawrence Jewry …
One more sunset pic …
Bees love the pollen from our purple Echinops …
This presents an opportunity for bee-related humour from the great Gary Larson …
Silk Street planting in June …
July …
August …
Wild crochet in North West London …
How wonderful it must have been to come back home to this house in Wetherby Gardens, South Kensington. On your way to the front door you would be walking past these extraordinary sculptures by the immensely distinguished Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm …
Where Barbican ducks do their shopping …
Proud mum …
Outside the Royal Exchange – I think he looks very authentic …
Lots of light and colour at the new Tottenham Court Road Station entrance …
The new London Bridge Station is a design masterpiece – and what a sweet idea to suggest people could arrange to meet at The Heart …
I think I prefer it to the controversial Meeting Place statue at St Pancras …
Interesting decor in the Sessions Arts Club restaurant …
A hotel I came across when visiting Chicago – surely the scariest fire exit steps in the world!
I thought I was familiar with the names of all the archiects associated with the City but somehow one of the most eminent seemed to have slipped my mind – although I must have read about him on numerous occasions. Some of his greatest works will be well known to all my readers – for example the original market buildings at Smithfield, Billingsgate and Leadenhall. His greatest surviving achievement however, in my view at least, is the structure that represents London itself to many people throughout the world – Tower Bridge.
Jones was a brilliant artist as can be seen from this pen-and-ink drawing by him from his 1884 design …
Some of the fascinating items on display in the exhibition.
This dramatic photograph captures the hive of activity during construction …
Centre stage are the high-level footway bridges slowly coming together while in the background you can see the South Abutment Tower under construction. Work on the bridge had started in 1886 and work was completed in 1894 (seven years after Horace’s death).
Hot tickets …
The ‘Ceremonial’ document outlining the programme. I was intrigued by the occupants of the carriages. What’s the difference between a ‘woman of the bedchamber’ and a ‘lady of the bedchamber’? And there are examples of chaps who are ‘in waiting’. Two equerries, a groom and a lord to be precise. No doubt a precise pecking order has been established over the centuries!
A napkin from the opening Celebration Dinner …
A great selection …
Instructions on how to operate the raising mechanism, an engineer with a super king size spanner, a workman doing masonry repairs, a police officer pulling a rope across the road to close it to traffic, the Tower Bridge tug and the Bridge Driver in the control cabin.
For the people of London during the First World War the bridge was more than a metaphorical symbol of resistance. Perched atop the upper walkway sat an anti-aircraft gun, its height and tactical position aligning it perfectly to defend against German raids. Its presence brought comfort to Londoners in the area and this poster captures the sentiment …
Each of the men listed in the centre of the poster were presented with a print as ‘grateful recognition of their services in protecting London against hostile aircraft during the Great War of 1914-1918’.
Whilst I was visiting I treated myself to this book. It’s a great read …
It explains in interesting detail why, despite a knighthood and elevation to the Presidency of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Horace never really received the full recognition he deserved and this remains the case today. For example, the Guildhall Gallery now owns the Ouless painting above but it is not on display. I’m pleased to say, however, that there is an excellent bust of Horace that you can go and see. It really gives a hint of the powerful presence and personality that clearly upset some of his contemporaries …
Unfortunately, I’m sad to say that it is tucked away at the back of the cloakroom! You’ll find it by turning right as you leave the special exhibition.
It’s on until 19 September and is located in the Heritage Gallery. During your visit you can enjoy watching films from the London Metropolitan Archive. This one is of the 1928 Lord Mayors Show …
You can also inspect a superb back-lit copy of the ‘Agas’ map of circa 1561 …
St Michael Cornhill impresses even before you go through the door.
Above the entrance is the warrior Archangel Michael ‘disputing with Satan’. It was carved by John Birnie Philip when the church was remodelled in 1858-1860. No question as to who is winning this battle …
To the right of the entrance is another sculpture of Michael brandishing a flaming sword. It is a bronze memorial to the 170 out of the 2,130 men of this parish who enrolled for military service in the First World War and died as a result …
The sculpture (by R R Goulden) was described in the Builder magazine as follows
St Michael with the flaming sword stands steadfast above the quarreling beasts which typify war, and are sliding slowly, but surely, from their previous paramount position. Life, in the shape of young children, rises with increasing confidence under the protection of the champion of right.
Walk down the narrow alley beside the church and you come to a lovely, quiet churchyard where you get a good view of the commanding tower …
Originally believed to be by Wren, it was rebuilt in the ‘Gothic’ style between 1718 and 1722 by his protégé Nicholas Hawksmoor.
The church, with the exception of the tower, was completely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. The church history notes state that it was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren between 1669 and 1672. The interior, with its majestic Tuscan columns, was beautified and repaired in 1701 and again in 1790 and then extensively ‘remodelled’ in the High Victorian manner by Sir George Gilbert Scott between 1857 and 1860 …
John Birnie Philip also carved the angels …
Pre-Victorian features that remain today include 17th century paintings of Moses and Aaron incorporated into the reredos …
The 1850s stained glass was made by the firm Clayton & Bell …
The box pews date from the Scott remodelling …
In 1716, the poet Thomas Gray, famous for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, was born in a milliner’s shop adjacent to St. Michael’s and was baptised in the church. Two hundred years later, Martin Neary, who became Master of the Music at Westminster Abbey, was baptised in the same font, which dates from 1672 …
Look to the left on entering and you’ll see the noteworthy Churchwarden’s pew …
It shows St Michael thrusting a lance into the mouth of a truly evil-looking devil. It’s a work by the eminent wood carver William Gibbs Rogers (1792-1875) …
The present organ began life in 1684 …
You can read more about its fascinating history here. I attended the recital last Monday. Absolutely wonderful. On Bank Holiday Monday (26 August) at 1:00 pm you can listen online as David Goode plays Holst’s The Planets. Join on Zoom from 12:45 pm ID 828 1357 0952 Passcode 827123.
Regular readers will know that I like a nice monument or memorial and this church has over 40 of them, many in clusters like these …
I’ve picked a few favourites.
The earliest is to John Vernon who died in 1615. It was erected by the Merchant Taylors Company after the Great Fire of 1666 to replace the ‘ruined’ original. He was a generous benefactor to the Company and its scholars. When he started to lose his sight he gifted his collection of paintings to the company so his fellows could better enjoy them as he could no longer see. Every year at Christmas boys from the Merchant Taylors’ School visit the church to sing at the special Vernon Carol Service …
He has a contemplative expression enhanced by the posing of his hands, one to his breast, the other resting on a skull, emblem of mortality and death. He wears a broad ruff and a fur lined cloak.
Next door, the Platt Family cherub endeavours to keep his feet warm …
The biggest monument in the Church is to Sir Edward Cowper who died in 1685. Bob Speel describes it as follows: ‘a grand mass of marble rising from the floor with fantastically twisted pillars and strikingly coloured marble. Perhaps by the sculptor Thomas Cartwright Senior, another of the sculptor-masons working on Wren’s City Churches’ …
In the same corner of the Church is the monument to Sir William Cowper, who died in 1664 and his wife Martha [Master] of East Langdon, and their fourth son, Spencer Cowper …
I admired the coats of arms at the end of the pews …
This one in particular intrigued me …
Whose arms are these? The mitre in the carving suggests a bishop but what are the birds all about, with their necks pierced by arrows? All is revealed in the Friends of City Churches Newsletter – highly recommended!
In addition to the war memorial outside there are several inside the church itself.
This one reads: In proud and grateful memory of the men of the County of London Electric Supply Company Limited and its associated companies who gave their lives for their country.
The Royal Fusiliers and local office workers …
The Stock Exchange Battalion …
And finally, an unusual item. This is a book prepared by the Association of British Civilian Internees, Far East Region, and placed here on 24th May 2009 …
St Michael’s church doesn’t seem to be open very often (despite what the website says). I got in because I wanted to attend the organ recital. According to their website, the wonderful Friends of City Churches are there on Tuesdays between 11:00 and 3:00.
On my way home this shop window display made me smile…
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