KCW Today June 2016

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster

Today

London news, global views JUNE 2016

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Chelsea Workshop London’s BENTLEY & ROLLS-ROYCE SPECIALISTS Nell Gwynn House, Draycott Avenue, Chelsea, SW3 3AU T. +44 (0)20 7584 8363/4 info@chelseaworkshop.com www.chelseaworkshop.com

( E XC E P T W H E R E S O L D )

Graphic © Tim Epps. epps@eppsdesign.com

ISSUE 0052

The

IN OUT NEWS INTERNATIONAL OPINION COMMENT BUSINESS EDUCATION FEATURES DINING OUT ARTS & CULTURE EVENTS LITERATURE POETRY BALLET HEALTH FASHION BEAUTY ASTRONOMY HOROLOGY MOTORING TRAVEL BRIDGE CROSSWORD CHESS

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Contents & Offices Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today 80-100 Gwynne Road, London, SW11 3UW Tel: 020 7738 2348 E-mail: news@kcwtoday.co.uk Website: www.kcwtoday.co.uk Advertisement enquiries: editor@kcwtoday.co.uk Subscriptions: news@kcwtoday.co.uk Publishers: Kensington & Chelsea Today Limited

Editor: Kate Hawthorne Art Director & Director Tim Epps Deputy Editor & Head of Business Development Dr Emma Trehane Business Development: Caroline Daggett, Niki Devereux, Antoinette Kovatchka, Architecture: Emma Flynn Art & Culture Editors: Don Grant, Marian Maitland Astronomy: Scott Beadle FRAS Ballet/Dance Andrew Ward Bridge: Andrew Robson Chess: Barry Martin Contributing Editors: Marius Brill, Peter Burden Derek Wyatt Classical Music: James Douglas Crossword: Wolfe Dining Out: David Hughes Editorial: Rowland Stirling Events: Leila Kooros, Guitty Peymanfard, Fahad Redha Fashion Lynne McGowan Food & Flowers: Limpet Barron Horology: Jonathan Macnabb Motoring: Don Grant, David Hughes, Fahad Redha News Editor, Online Editor & Arts Correspondent: Max Feldman Poetry & Literary Editor: Emma Trehane MA Ph.D Political & News Correspondent: Henry Tobias Jones Sub-Editor: Leila Kooros Sporting Calendar Compiled by Fahad Redha Travel: Cynthia Pickard

Contents 2 3 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 26 27 28 31 32 33 34 36 37 46 58 62 66 68 69 70 71

Contents & Offices News Letters Statue & Blue Plaque News Opinion & Comment News Features International Business & Finance Education Literature Poetry Dining Out Food & Flowers Gentlemans’ Fashion Horology Fashion Lifestyle Events Arts & Culture Travel Health & Beauty Motoring Motoring & Tennis Sport Crossword & Charity Chess & Bridge

June 2016

Illustration © Jonohills

News

Parliament Squared

by Derek Wyatt

T

he EU referendum has been a disaster for the political class who reside in the Westminster bubble.

Claim and counter-claim by either side has disfigured the whole process. Most of us are sick and tired of the infantile name calling. And it has gone on and on and on.

How on earth Michael Gove and Boris Johnson can hope to stay in the Cabinet should there be a Remain vote will test the Prime Minister’s mettle. He will have to steel himself. Of course, if it’s a Leave, sadly he will have to step down. This will undoubtedly cause the £ to fall 10% or more and may tip us into a general election.

Cosmopolitan Londoners will vote largely for Remain but the rest of England may not. We are used to Polish electricians, Italian plumbers and Romanian Uber drivers. Large swathes of the countryside do not like the European project especially those in Kent, East Anglia and the South West.

Yet curiously, they have had substantial investment from Brussels. Undoubtedly, a Leave vote will mean a lowering of our standard of living as no-one has costed the process or the time it will take to exit with the PM saying two years and Mr Gove at least five!

Labour’s part in the debate has been excruciatingly embarrassing with Corbyn

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk giving a speech where he was guilty of putting a size nine foot in and a size eight foot out. It was that bad. It would be extraordinary if an election was called and the Tories beat themselves up and consequently lost. No doubt life rafts are being readied.

Across the Atlantic, there is a different but not unrelated storm brewing. Trumpeting is the new poison.

You can take the Republican Party’s nomination as Donald Trump has done without a single policy properly thought through. I mean an equivalent of a Chinese Wall for the Mexican border might take a decade to build. A ban on Muslims entering the country is an affront to the US Constitution but hey why should he care?

Meanwhile, poor Hillary Clinton has been bewitched by the brilliant campaigning of Bernie Sanders which has undermined her confidence.

Nonetheless, she has become the first women of either party to be the nominated candidate. If she has the strength of character, as the fight against Trump will be unbelievably bruising, to go the final mile she should become the first female President of America and very well done to her. It is not always easy being a Clinton. Just compare the lack of intrusive investigations into any Bush candidate be that George Snr, George Jnr or Jed over the past thirty years..........

Back at base, Sadiq Khan easily won the London Mayoral election and well done him. And my how the regime has already changed for the better at County Hall with a number of initiatives announced and some wise heads being added to his team. A search party is still looking for Zac Goldsmith who was ungracious in defeat. He had not really understood London and found campaigning difficult. He should come out of hiding and make good with the new mayor.

Our nation has never gambled as much as it has with this EU referendum.

It will certainly bring the curtain down on any more.. Let us hope it is also not the end of the United Kingdom.

A Leave will cause Scotland to ask for independence. It will bring back a demand for a united Ireland.

It will leave us with Little Britain.

Eurexiting and Euremaining

By Henry Tobias Jones

Britain has always been one of the least European countries in Europe, and maintained a reputation for harbouring the strongest eurosceptic traditions.

However, in a recent survey by the Pew Research Centre, the so called “British question” appears to have spread across the channel and onto the continent. With many of the original member states now either fielding anti-EU parties in national elections, it appears that euroscepticism is on the march in Europe.

The Pew survey, which asked more than 10,000 people from 10 member states if they had lost faith in the EU, found that voters now had “unfavourable” overall opinions of the EU. The countries included in the survey are: Poland, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, UK, France, and Greece.

Only 51% of the surveyed nations have a favourable opinion of the EU. The countries which currently have the most unfavourable view of the EU are: Greece (71%), France (61%), UK (48%), and Spain (49%). Whereas the countries with the most favourable view of the EU are: Poland (72%), Hungary (61%), and Italy (58%).

More worrying still for Europhiles, the overall trend for views on the EU is declining with all of the countries surveyed now less attracted to the EU than in the early 2000’s. In particular, there has been a dramatic dip since 2012-13 when the European economy “cratered.”

The bad news continues, a median of 42% want more powers to be returned to national governments, whereas only 19% support giving Brussels more powers.

Nevertheless, only 16% of the people who took part in the Pew survey believe it would be a good thing for Britain to leave the EU. Richard Patient, the Chairman of Vote Leave London said: ‘With youth unemployment at unprecedented levels; the lowest growth of any continent apart from Antarctica; a migration crisis out of control and the rise of the far right, it is hardly surprising that euroscepticism is on the rise across Europe.”

The Pew study is not the only report of it’s kind to find that Brexit is making waves on the rest of the continent. US ratings agency, Standard & Poor, have also released their “sensitivity index” showing that Ireland will be the most affected trading partner if the UK decides to leave the EU. Claiming that Brexit could “take its toll” on trade between the UK and Ireland.

S&P nevertheless add that the outlook is not entirely gloomy for Irish markets, saying: “We would expect that Ireland’s highly flexible economy would manage to reorient trade toward even larger trading partners (such as the remaining EU and the US)”.

New Dawn Image & artwork © Jessica Taylor & UK Parliamment

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A new light sculpture celebrating the 150th anniversary of the campaign for female suffrage has been revealed in the Houses of Parliament.

The artwork which is called New Dawn was designed by Parliament’s Artist-inResidence for Women’s Suffrage, Mary Branson, and will be permanently located above the St. Stephen’s entrance.

As a light sculpture operating on a twelve and half hour cycle, it is linked to the tide of the Thames. See www.kcwtoday.co.uk for full story.

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Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

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News Mayor asks artists to brighten up Thames bridges

By Henry Tobias Jones

O

ne of Sadiq Khan’s first major cultural works since being elected as the Mayor of London will be commissioning artists to “brighten up” London’s bridges.

Calling on “the world’s brightest minds”, Khan will be asking artists “to come up with ideas to create a permanent light art installation” which will span between the Albert Bridge in Chelsea and Tower Bridge in the City.

The project will pass 17 bridges, all of which are historic London monuments as well as vital thoroughfares for the city.

Among those included are: Albert Bridge, Chelsea Bridge, Grosvenor Bridge, Nine Elms Bridge (in development), Vauxhall Bridge, Lambeth Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Hungerford Bridge and Jubilee Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, The Garden Bridge (in development), Blackfriars Bridge, Blackfriars Railway Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Cannon Street Railway Bridge, London Bridge, Tower Bridge.

The project, which is called The Illuminated River, will require artists to create an “elegant and charismatic light installation” harnessing the “most innovative, green and sustainable technologies.” When completed, the Mayor hopes it will be the world’s longest free, permanent outdoor river gallery, “creating a ribbon of light through the city at night and revitalising public spaces along the river’s banks.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to breathe new life through the heart of London each night in a new, permanent, fluid light art installation across the capital’s historic bridges.”

“It will throw a spotlight on the river and its banks,” Khan added, while “supporting London’s burgeoning nighttime economy.”

Khan also said that The Illuminated River project will be “a dazzling, free outdoor art gallery, for Londoners and all of our visitors to enjoy would encourage new investment and promote our great city to the rest of the world. With the right design, we can remind the world that London continues to be the global leader in innovation, sustainability and artistic creativity.”

Competition entrants have to

create the “most forward-thinking and environmentally friendly designs” to win first place. Only those projects which will “enhance London’s status as a low-carbon beacon and a world leader in cutting edge technology and engineering” will be shortlisted.

The Illuminated River International Design Competition is commissioned by a new charity, The Illuminated River Foundation, supported by The Rothschild Foundation. The project has been developed collaboratively by a number of organisations with responsibility for the bridges and the river, including The City of London; the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; Network Rail; the Port of London Authority; Transport for London and Westminster Council.

Protecting and promoting London’s premier position as a leading cultural city is one of the Mayor’s “top priorities.” The Illuminated River has, however, already been criticised by some as “yet another vanity project,” just like the controversial £60 million “Garden Bridge.”

Khan, however, insists that the project “will encourage the expansion of a vibrant night-time economy,” which is another top priority for the new Mayor. In his bid to grow the 24 hour economy in the capital, the Mayor will appoint a new Night Tsar who will “help to protect London’s live music venues, pubs, and clubs, as well as overseeing the delayed introduction of a 24 hour weekend tube service beginning in August.

Policy Chairman at the City of London Corporation, Mark Boleat, said: “This project will transform London’s historic river and the City of London Corporation is very proud to play a part in making it happen.”

Hannah Rothschild, Chair of the Illuminated River Foundation, said: “Even by London’s standards, this project is unprecedented in boldness and imagination: the opportunity to influence and transform the look, identity and experience of the world’s greatest city.”

She added “we’re looking for the finest artists, architects, designers, engineers, technologists and specialists to work together to help realise this exciting ambition. What matters is bold and innovative thinking to put the art back into London’s greatest artery.”

The shortlisted schemes will go on show in a public exhibition at the end of the year, after which a winner will be announced.

For full details of how to enter the competition, please see the Search Statement available on the competition website at: https://competitions. malcolmreading.co.uk/illuminatedriver

The Eton Wall Game by Jonohills With apologies to him for getting his credit wrong last month!

Construction industry growing despite claims of Brexit slowdown

By Henry Tobias Jones

In spite of complaints that uncertainty about the result of the EU referendum is costing jobs in the UK’s construction industry, experts show that the market is actually growing.

According to the latest Builders Merchant Index, which uses data from sales by merchants to builders and other trades, construction is currently showing “year on year growth of 5.4%”.

In particular, landscaping was the part of the industry to show the greatest growth (+10.7%), followed by plumbing and heating (+7.3%).

However, industry experts claim that already the outlook for the second quarter of 2016 is showing signs of hesitancy, “because of the uncertainty caused by the EU referendum.”

Managing Director of the Builders Merchants Federation, John Newcomb, said “there are very mixed views in the construction industry, including amongst merchants, about the Brexit debate, but one thing that is clear from our data is that the uncertainty is impacting on the level of activity in the construction industry.

The Builders Merchants Federation represents companies supplying materials to 80% of Britain’s builders, plumbers, joiners and decorators. Mr. Newcomb added that “the industry is looking forward to the EU question being settled” because “our members report that investment decisions are being put on hold until after the referendum and the general feeling is that we want this out of the way now, whatever the outcome is.”

Nigel Cox, Managing Director of Timbmet, explained that “businesses are delaying project decisions and investments until the outcome is known.”

As Timber is an “international business,” Mr Cox adds, “the uncertainty is also affecting exchange rates.” Claiming that therefore, many of the effects of the uncertainty would not be felt until after the referendum.

Steve Durdant-Hollamby, Managing Director of AWMS says: “The construction industry desperately needs more skilled tradesman but banks are not lending money and investment in new company start-ups is being held back until people know where they stand on Europe”.

020 7738 2348

June 2016

News

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

Photograph © Robert Kennedy

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

THE CHELSEA ARTS CLUB decked out by artist Tony Common for the Summer Ball, with a visual potted history, from its beginnings in 1891 co-founded by James McNeill Whistler, through punk and psychedelia, up to the present.

Men in Sheds

By Rod MacClancy

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aving been released from Hospital in 2014, I was finding it difficult to sleep and on one particular night I gave up and started to watch TV at about four in the morning; the programme was called Men in Sheds and was about an Australian initiative providing workshops where older mostly retired men could meet and repair and build both community and personal projects. The effects were found to improve the quality of their lives, the sociability of the “Shed” reduced loneliness, and made them feel useful. One side effect seems to be the lower incidence of mental deterioration amongst the members. Women tend to speak intimately between themselves face to face, men tend not to, but do open up when working shoulder to shoulder at a workbench unburdening themselves of their worries. The positive mental benefits are a bonus to the good works done by the members.

The first Men’s Shed was formed in Tongala Australia in 1996 and by the end of 2015 there were about 1400 in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and England. There are currently 300 in the UK and more are opening at the current rate of 3 per week!

I was taken by the whole idea and contacted the film makers to see if such a thing existed in the UK. Unfortunately

I was told that in 2014 there were about 170 in the UK and the only two in central London were in North Camden and Crystal Palace, both too far away to be convenient. I was delighted to find out in late 2014 that Wandsworth Council decided to start a “Battersea Shed” and a well attended meeting led to the opening of the Battersea Shed in February of 2016.

So what actually is a Men’s Shed?

The UK Men’s Shed Association was formed in 2013 and describes it as a place where the member feels at home and pursues practical interests with a high degree of autonomy. A Men’s Shed offers this to a group of such members who share the tools and resources they need to work on projects of their own choosing at their own pace and in a safe, friendly venue. They are places of skill-sharing and informal learning, of individual pursuits and community projects, of purpose, achievement and social interaction.

The Battersea Shed at Dimson Lodge 141 Battersea Church Road SW11 3NR currently opens every Wednesday and its members, including myself, are currently working on diverse projects including recycling pallets as bird and bat boxes, replacing a narrow boat’s aft deck, repairing furniture for local pensioners, building a large sandpit for a local school and planned for the future is the building of a small sailing boat!

For more information contact Geoffrey Cox gcox2@wandsworth.gov. uk or phone: 020 7223 5335

GET HELP FROM A HANDYMAN Thrift Urban Housing operates several projects in the community including a handyman service which covers everything from minor repairs to complete refurbishments.

The charity finds unique ways of raising money for those who can help themselves but need support when doing work.

The handyman service offers an extensive range of skills to homeowners and business alike with work referred so it can be supervised and inspected for peace of mind.

Call us for more information today on: t: 020 8772 6594 e: thrifturban@thrifturban.org.uk or visit www.thrifturban.org.uk (Charity No 1072534)

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of public employment services in North America and the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark to explore key issues, including: The role that local government and the private sector should play; and how the approach could be varied to meet the needs of those with a disability or health condition.

Tickets are available at: http://www.smf. co.uk/events/ask-the-expert-professordan-finn-what-makes-an-effectivenational-employment-service/

information, please contact events@ respublica.org.uk

www.KCWToday.co.uk

News Think Tanks

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hroughout the Capital each month the finest think tanks convene to discuss, debate, and decry the most important political issues facing London, the UK, and the World today. KCW Today brings you the very best of these Think Tank events, helping to ensure you see the real politics.

Centre for Cities

City Horizons: Benjamin Barber on how mayors can change Britain 20 June 2016 5.45pm Warwick Business School, The Shard, 32 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9SG We’re delighted to host the author of If Mayors Ruled the World for a talk at the Shard in London. http://www.centreforcities.org/event/ city-horizons-dr-benjamin-barberhow-new-urban-leaders-could-changebritain/

Centre for London

The Future of crowdfunding and crowdsourcing urban regeneration in London June 23rd 2016 6pm Kohn Pedersen Fox, 7A Langley St, London WC2H 9JA Can crowdfunding better connect City Hall with London communities? Join the Greater London Authority and Centre for London for a panel discussion on the future of crowdfunding and civic participation in London. http://centreforlondon.org/event/futurecrowdfunding-crowdsourcing-urbanregeneration-london/

Chatham House

Can the US Overcome its Failed Middle East Policies?

16 Jun 2016 6pm Chatham House, London, UK Professor Mearsheimer will explore what he believes to be the main causes of America’s failed policies in the greater Middle East since 9/11, the prospects of winning an American-led war against ISIS, and the consequences of failing to create a viable Palestinian state. https://www.chathamhouse.org/event/ can-us-overcome-its-failed-middle-eastpolicies Social Market Foundation ‘Ask the Expert’, Professor Dan Finn: What makes an effective national employment service?

June 28, 2016 12:30pm 11 Tufton Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3QB Professor Dan Finn will draw on recent comparative policy reviews

Institute of Economic Affairs

Think Conference 2nd July 2016 10.00am Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR A one day conference from the IEA featuring some of the biggest names in economics from around the world to speak about topics including ‘Behavioral Economics’, ‘The Economics of Happiness’ and ‘Entrepreneurship’. http://www.iea.org.uk/events/thinkconference-0

King’s Fund

Digital Health and Care Congress 2016 5–6th July 2016 The King’s Fund, London W1G 0AN The annual Digital Health and Care Congress provides a key opportunity for you to explore how the better use of technology and data can support and enable the developments needed to transform outcomes for patients and citizens. http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/events/ digital-health-and-care-congress-2016

Overseas Development Institute

Theos

Magna Carta at 801: Christian Perspectives on the EU Debate 15th June 2016 7pm Salisbury Cathedral, 6 The Close, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 2EF On the very day 801 years ago that Magna Carta was sealed by King John, Canon Dr Gary Wilton and Ben Ryan will explore how Christians might think about the European Union and exercise their democratic vote in the European Referendum. http://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/ comment/2016/05/09/magna-cartaanniversary-christian-perspectives-onthe-eu-debate#sthash.eorssibr.dpuf

Essential EU Referendum reading list: For the fast approaching EU referendum, set for the 23rd June, KCW Today wants to help you to make up your mind about which way you will vote. We have put together the Essential Referendum Reading List for those of you who don’t know if you are coming or going, leaving or staying, Brexiting or Bremaining.

Staying for Beginners: 2016 Beveridge Lecture: Mapping progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals 22nd June 2016, 6pm Royal Statistical Society, 12 Errol Street, London EC1Y 8LX Professor Andrew Tatem (University of Southampton) will discuss the challenges of constructing consistent, comparable and regularly updated metrics to measure and map progress towards the sustainable development goals in low and middle income countries. Followed by a wine reception. This lecture is free to attend but please register by email to events@ rss.org.uk Res Publica

Confronting Inequality Conference 19th July 2016 12pm 1 Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London SW1H 9JJ Launching their new Confronting Inequality Commission, ResPublica will host leading politicians, influencers and thinkers to discuss the causes of economic, social and cultural inequality.

Speakers include Sir Keir Starmer MP, Shadow Home Office Minister, Tristram Hunt MP, former Shadow Education Secretary, and Loyd Grossman, Chair of The Heritage Alliance.

This event is invitation only. For more

Centre ground:

Let’s Stay Together by Denis MacShane, published by I.B.Tauris 2016 rrp £4.99 80 pages ISBN 978-1784537289 Worth reading even if just for the pleasure of Denis MacShane’s 50 Reasons to Love the EU which includes highlight like: “Making the French eat British beef again” and ensuring that “Europe’s banana’s remain bent, despite skeptic’s fears.” This is a very light and readable argument for remaining, delivered with good humour and an endlessly positive approach.

Why Vote Leave by Daniel Hannan, published by Head of Zeus 2016 rrp £9.99 220 pages ISBN 978-1784977108 Daniel Hannan MEP makes a staunch case, “in effect, inviting, [readers] to serve [him] with [his] p45.” With chapters with titles like Anti-British Tariffs, More Europe, Less Democracy, and Who needs whom? it’s a book which launches headlong into the sovereignty fray. This is the best book for those of you who do not want to delve into 200+ pages of macro and micro economic predictions.

Deep cut divorce:

Should Britain Leave the EU? An economic analysis of a troubled relationship by Patrick Minford, published by Edward Elgar/IEA 2015, rrp £30.00 254 pages ISBN: 9781785360343 This, however, is the book for people who do want to delve into 200+ pages of macro and micro economic predictions.

Split into major analyses of the ‘cost and benefits of UK membership of the EU’ and the ‘analysis of trade’ Minford’s argument essentially concludes that the “unacceptably high costs” of our membership have “forced the UK to reconsider its relationship with the EU.” This is a thorough investigation well worth a read if you are tired of not getting all the fact - this book seems to have collected them all.

June 2016

News RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016

By Don Grant

C

laude Monet said that he owed becoming a painter to flowers and Ralph Waldo Emerson remarked that earth laughs in flowers.

Unquestionably, they are some of the most beautiful things on God’s earth, but there are amongst us some philistines who abuse and mangle their beauty by trying to ‘arrange’ them into hideous and tasteless floral displays.

There are dozens of headdresses, and one from Chelsea in Bloom, featuring an enormous purple peacock, and another of a winking crocheted floozie with a Carmen Miranda headdress lying on a chaise longue surrounded by old vinyl 78s. What’s that all about? The description uber-kitsch does not even do justice to Interflora’s Open Church, while Birmingham City Council has achieved the impossible, by producing a stand that is even more distasteful and vulgar than the last three years’ offerings. In 2014 the theme was the First World War, and last year focused on the Cathedral. This year the display centres around needles, yes, needles. Willard Wigins is a micro sculptor, who places tiny figures in the eye of an needle, which are viewable through microscopes.The centre piece of the display is a five metre tall needle with two others, one of which has water

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk pouring around the eye and the other has a planted line of hardy Gerbera running down the middle. The third needle holds a carpet-bedded punch ball and pair of wicker boxing gloves. On top of the needle are a couple of children on a see-saw, while a wicker Usain Bolt is in characteristic pose in a red T-shirt, and a giant hummingbird is in a group of metal birds to represent walking in your local park. You could not make it up.

There is so much naffness at Chelsea, not just in these ‘artistic’ displays, but in the garden sculpture, copper and glass water features, furniture, prancing balletic figures, cute goblins, fairies, owls, dogs, cats, snails and frogs, coy and capricious characters from Alice in Wonderland and Wind in the Willows cast in bronze, dragons, goats and galloping horses made of driftwood, and a Nic Fiddian-Green rip-off of a horse’s head but with none of the grace.The most offensive are the pre-pubescent young girls generally lounging about, reading or gazing at their own reflections in ornamental ponds, the three-dimensional equivalent of Margaret Keane’s big-eyed children. In the Great Pavilion, some of the flowers on display are astonishing in their Sunday-best peak condition and vibrancy, with frequent colour clashes, but one can only marvel at the growers’ expertise in timing it just right for those five days in May. Some of the RHS Plants of the Year are simply breathtaking, Petunia Night Sky being a deep violet flower speckled with white spots, and Clematis chiisanensis Amber having double-flowered yellow-cream nodding heads, which was voted Best in Show by the judges.

There are a few gems amongst the dross, including A Modern Apothecary for St John’s Hospice by Jekka McVicar, which

Photographs © Don Grant

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is a serene and tranquil haven away from the big, blousy show stands. They are promoting healing herbs like feverfew which helps prevent migraines, celery smallage for arthritis, hawthorn leaves and flowers for circulation and green lavender for insect bites. L’Occitaine’s offering this year featured a simple reconstruction of a dried-up river-bed, complete with a ruined borri, lavender, almond and olive trees and two hundred typical Provençal plants. Whether or not the stream was meant to be flowing, it certainly was not on Press Day. Another dry river-bed featured in the Brewin Dolphin, which is meant to highlight the fragility of England’s chalk streams, but it was a bit of a muddle and the point did not come across. Nick Bailey, the head gardener at Chelsea Physic Garden, designed the curious Winton Beauty of Mathematics Garden, which had a lot of people scratching their heads. He explained the concept was

‘subtly highlighting the mathematics that underpins everything,’ addding that everything is actually driven by algorithms and equations. A copper band runs through the garden, onto which are engraved equations for processes including photosynthesis and cellular expansion.

Anyone who declares himself to be an eccentric is patently not, and Harrods asked the wacky Irish pixie Diarmud Gavin to come up with some ideas for their British Eccentrics Garden. Supposedly influenced by the illustrations of William Heath Robinson and Rowland Emett, Gavin designed this self-conscious conceit, with revolving trees, window boxes hoisted up the side of the folly and rotating borders.

‘I like to have a bit of fun and try something new.’ One can justify almost anything by saying it was just a bit of fun, and anyone who does not concur, is a miserable kill-joy, but this elaborate joke is just plain silly. Juliet Sargeant’s worthy Modern Slavery Garden has been grabbing headlines, and not just because she is the first black designer in the RHS’s hundred-odd year history, but because it is an emotive subject. Her design had an obvious symbolism with brightly-coloured front doors on one side and, predictably, black on the inside.

The floor comprised charcoal chippings and black and white tiles, with barely legible captions on the backs of the doors.

There was a most impressive field of 300,000 hand-crocheted poppies, stretching from the showground right up to the back of the Royal Hospital, as another papaver tribute to all those who served in all wars, and were knitted by people from a range of cultures, and communities and ages, from two to 102 years old. In her 90th year, The Queen, the patron of the Show, has visited it 50 times over the years, and there is a 3m high floral installation created by Veevers Carter for New Covent Garden Flower Market in honour of the Queen’s 90th birthday, which used 10,000 flowers, 112 buckets and 300m of ribbon, forming a portrait of the monarch.

Happy Birthday Your Majesty.

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Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

Dear Sir, On June 23, we finally get to vote in the referendum to decide whether the United Kingdom leaves or remains in the European Union (EU).

The British government has called this referendum since many people believe that the EU has changed out of all recognition from the so-called Common Market that the British people voted to remain a member of in 1975.

However, I know from the public meetings that I have spoken at across London, many Londoners are still undecided about which way to vote.

Many of the undecided are confused or not convinced by the claims and counter-claims of both the Leave and Remain campaigns. This is why I have put together a pocket guide to the EU referendum which covers the reasons for the referendum, the changes agreed and the arguments of both the Remain and Leave campaigns.

You can download and read it at: www.syedkamall.co.uk/euref I hope your readers will find it helpful.

whatever you’re up to, get in touch at yourconnections.nationaltheatre.org.uk and share your Connections memories with us, however big or small, to help celebrate 21 years of the biggest youth theatre festival in the world.

Rufus Norris Director, National Theatre of Great Britain

Dear Editor, I am writing to you to highlight an ongoing issue that the residents in this borough have been long putting up with.

The streets in our neighbourhood have been the ideal spot for owners of extravagant sports cars to show off.

Although tolerable at first, this has rather unfortunately escalated into owners revving their cars unnecessarily, in addition to playing loud music. In fact, most of this happens in the middle of the night! As a result, residents, including me, have been constantly disturbed by these inconsiderate act. It has recently come to my notice that the increased number of policemen does little to stop what has now become a serious case of noise pollution.

I do hope that by highlighting the issue, you will allow residents to voice their thoughts which would help persuade the council to implement stricter measures and hopefully make the borough (RBKC) a peaceful place for the residents once again.

Yours faithfully, Alan Khaw (Aged 13)

Yours faithfully, Syed Kamall, MEP for London Leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group

Dear Editor, I have just returned to the UK after a short trip to Calais, France - a journey thousands of British families will make this summer as they go on holiday. Yet I went to visit the children living all alone in the refugee camp that's become known as 'the jungle'.

The young boys I met had all made dangerous journeys to escape war and many are trying to reach family members who are waiting for them right here in the UK. The children I spoke to had suffered so much, and being reunited with aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters would be a lifechanging opportunity to escape the dangers of trafficking, abuse and exploitation which they risk while stuck in Calais.

The Government has promised to help these children be reunited with their families, but many have already waited months, and are so desperate they are willing to risk their lives by attempting to stowaway in trucks or trains to get to the UK. It’s time for the Government to fulfil its commitments now, and get these children to safety with their families now.

I’d urge your readers to join Unicef UK in calling on the Government to reunite refugee children in Europe with their families in the UK at unicef. uk/familyreunion

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Letters

Dear Sirs National Theatre’s Connections celebrates 21 years.

21 years ago teachers and directors began telling the National Theatre that they wanted relevant and challenging new plays for young actors. We responded by launching Connections our flagship youth theatre festival.

Since then the NT has commissioned more than 150 plays for Connections, giving young people aged 13-19 across the UK and Ireland access to the very best new writing for theatre.

We want you to join us to celebrate Connections in our anniversary year. We hope to hear from people who have taken part in Connections plays over the last 21 years. Whether you’re Kevey Bow, from UROCK who performed in Remote at last year’s festival, or Roy Weise, now a trainee theatre director at the Royal Court Theatre (Chatroom

by Enda Walsh in 2004) or Hollywood actor John Boyega (Six Parties by William Boyd in 2009), we’d love to hear about your Connections experience.

Performing and working backstage as part of a brilliant youth theatre can be a transformative, life-changing experience and we want you to tell us how it changed you.

Wherever you are now, and

To the Editor: As Charles Birnbaum, president & CEO of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, points out in this opinion piece for Dezeen, this winning design in eVolo Magazine’s 2016 Skyscraper Competition, about which KCW Today reports, would not create a new Grand Canyon. It would create a “sidescraper” that would turn Central Park, "arguably the most important work of art created in America in the 19th century,” into Central Pit. Nord Wennerstrom Director of Communications The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Lily Caprani, Deputy Executive Director, Unicef UK

Dear Editor, The 314 people across London who volunteer for The Children’s Society are the lifeblood of our organisation and are crucial to our fight against child poverty and teenage neglect. I want to mark national Volunteers’ Week ( June 1-12) by thanking all our volunteers, whether they help out in our shops, raise vital funds and awareness, or directly support young people in our projects. They make an amazing difference to so many people’s lives!

I am also grateful to our volunteer campaigners, 3,098 of them in London, who strive to make the law work better for vulnerable children. In the past 12 months they have helped press energy companies to improve their treatment of households who have fallen behind with their bills. They helped persuade Parliament to debate how 16 and 17 year old victims of sexual exploitation are being failed. And in some areas they have helped stop bailiffs knocking at the doors of families with children.

This month we’re stepping things up with a new opportunity for people across London to become local campaigners, directing their energy, passion and commitment to making positive changes for our young people at a local level.

Anyone who is interested in being a Campaign Champion or volunteering for The Children’s Society in any other way can find out more at childrenssociety.org. uk/campaign-champion or call 0300 303 7000.

Yours Sincerely, Matthew Reed Chief Executive, The Children’s Society

The Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP Secretary of State for Transport Great Minster House 33 Horseferry Road London SW1P 4DR Dear Patrick London Heathrow’s Flight Paths As I understand i, the Secretary of State gives permission for up to 550 landings a year at LHR between the hours of 0400 and 0600. It is unclear how long this permission lasts.

I wonder before I come to my main set of questions whether your office could supply me with the Statutory Instrument or its** equivalent which enshrines this in law. Thank you.

I live under one of the flight paths in Westminster which was not the case when I first came to live here almost twenty years ago. I note that this path passes over Greenwich, Tower Bridge, City Hall, London Bridge, Waterloo, Parliament, Victoria, Buckingham Palace (close) and MI6. Please could you confirm that all of these organisations were consulted when the changes were made which I think was just after 9/11?

Whilst I accept planes must fly into LHR somehow, my concerns are twofold: ** Why has the western approach from Reading been overlooked or ditched since that flight path flies over less than 200,000 against the 1m over the River Thames? ** And why are any flights allowed to land before 0600? Notwithstanding the noise levels, kitting out LHR, organising overground and underground trains which do not start until after 0500 and sorting customs, policing and support staff is expensive for LHR’s owners and actually as we all know, including ISIS or any other terrorist group, is always slight or non-existent. Besides why would any passenger want to land at LHR without public transport support?

I want, though, to come to the noise element. Planes take about 30-45 seconds to fly over my house. The noise builds as a plane descends and within five minutes (between 0400 and 0600) another plane can be heard beginning its descent. The noise is unusual given the stillness of the night and must wake hundreds of thousands of people, disturb dogs and cats and wildlife. It is simply unreasonable that any plane is allowed to land at LHR between these hours. Of course between 0600 and 0800 planes are arriving every two to three minutes and the noise is much worse.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely Derek Wyatt cc Mark Field MP KCW Today

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June 2016

Statue & Blue Plaque

Photograph © Don Grant

STATUES

Charles de Gaulle Carlton Gardens Angela Conner

W

hen it came to the British, De Gaulle à soufflé le chaud et le froid, partly becaue he felt beholden to the military support he enjoyed whilst leader of the Free French resistance movement during WW2 and partly because he was not asked to join the Yalta or Potsdam Conferences. He was, however, allowed to represent France as one of the four countries to sign the final instrument of surrender of Germany, as well as one of the four occupation zones.

In 1940, de Gaulle learnt that Marshal Pétain was planning to seek an armistice with Nazi Germany and had moved the French government to Vichy.

He had other ideas and flew to Britain, where he was authorized

by Churchill to broadcast to the French people from the BBC in London, urging them to stand and resist the German occupation.

As a result, he was courtmartialled by Vichy in his absence and condemned to death. He made his headquarters in Carlton Gardens and lived on-and-off in Hampstead from 1940-44. In

spite of organising the Free French Forces, and steering a tricky course between the ‘Anglo-Saxons’, as he called the British and American allies, and the Russians, he never really felt that he was properly consulted, and that Roosevelt refused to recognise him as the representative of France. De Gaulle had a tempestuous relationship not only with him, but with his successors Harry S Truman, Eisenhower and Churchill, with whom he had many run-ins. After he became President of France, he famously vetoed the British application to join the European Economic Community in 1963 with one word, “Non”.

The sculptor is probably more famous for her overblown and elaborate kinetic pieces and water features, adorning Chatsworth House, Horsham town centre, Park West in Dublin and Hatfield House. Call me old-fashioned, but should not a portrait head actually look like the subject? On her web-site, Angela Conner has an array of famous people who, if it were not for the pop-up captions, would remain unidentified and consigned to the dustbin of history. The Duchess of Cornwall owes more to Brian Jones, late of the Stones, while poor Elizabeth Frink has had the Play-Doh Crazy Hair treatment. It should not be too difficult to capture de Gaulle, then, a lanky, 6' 5" in army uniform of a Général de Brigade and wearing a kepi, with a long, lugubrious face and an enormous Gallic conk, but Ms Conner has opted for an awkward and inelegant stance, with his left hand strangely raised, as though begging. The hat and nose combo make it easier to recognise him, as does the Cross of Lorraine on the side of the plinth, a symbol of the Free French Forces, as an answer to the Nazi swastika. An irascible and cantankerous leader, he insisted that France should have its own A-bomb, and later withdrew from NATO, thus upsetting the equilibrium of Europe.

After the student riots and factory strikes of 1968 and poor results in a referendum about regionalisation and the reform of the Senate, de Gaulle retired in 1969 and died the following year.

Don Grant

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

Blue Plaque: Sir Richard Arkwright.

(1732-1792)

The Greater London Council erected a Blue Plaque in honour of Sir Richard Arkwright, Industrialist and Inventor, at 8 Adam Street London WC2 N6AA. Known as the ‘Cotton King’, Sir Richard won the laborious race for invention. Before the Industrial Revolution textiles were a ‘cottage industry’. Raw cotton was turned into threads in people’s own homes using a spinning wheel. The whole family including the children helped. The threads were then woven on looms to make fabric.

Most people take cotton for granted, but it is only 250 years since it was imported. We did not use it ourselves until the mid-18th century. Eventually it became cheap, so people discarded their woollen clothing and found cotton cloth much better for underwear and sheets etc.

Sir Richard saw a great future in combining power, machinery and semiskilled labour with the new material of cotton to mass produce the creation of yarn. He was right and made a fortune.

During the early part of the Revolution he was the leading entrepreneur and created the modern factory system.

Being dynamic and aggressive, he often quarrelled with his business partners which resulted in his working on his own.

Sir Richard was born in Preston and his father was a tailor and a Preston Guild Burgess. He had no formal education and a cousin, Ellen taught him how to read and write. He was apprenticed to a barber and eventually became a barber and a wig maker.

While trailing round the countryside buying discarded hair, the urge to invent manifested itself in the creation of a waterproof dye for the fashionable

periwigs worn at that time!

He joined up with a clockmaker, John Kay, and together they worked on a spinning machine in Preston. The machine had a strong twist for warps replacing human fingers with its wooden and metal cylinders. It spun cotton cheaply and developed into the ‘water frame’ fuelled by water power.

A machine for carding had been invented in 1748 by Lewis Paul. Sir Richard had to improve it! Later he patented a machine that produced continuous skeins of cotton fibre out of raw cotton.

The first of Sir Richard’s many factories was founded at Nottingham.

During his partnership with Jedediah Strutt, they built the first water powered Mill at Cromford. He moved workers to the area and housed them. He even built a Pub for them, which still stands in the Market Square. He helped David Daly establish Cotton Mills at Lanark. His ideas were copied and there was trouble holding onto the patents.

He took over the lease of Birkacre Mill at Chorley making that town important. At Harleem Mill in Wirksworth he installed the first steam engine to be used in a cotton mill.

Employees worked in his factories for thirteen hours a day, some were only six years old.

Sir Richard was knighted in 1786 and was High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1787. He was married first to Patience and they had a son, Richard Arkwright Junior. Patience died the following year.

Margaret Biggs was his second wife and she bore him three children. Only one survived, Susanna.

Sir Richard died in Cromford and was buried at St. Giles Church, Matlock.

His remains were later moved to St Mary’s Church, Cromford The Arkwright Scholarship Trust was set up in his memory in 1991.

Cromford Mill is now a Grade 1 listed building and is the centrepiece of the Derwent Valley Mills, a World Heritage Site: among the visitors must be some children happy in the knowledge that they are not required to work those thirteen hours a day.

Marian Maitland

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June April/May 2016 2011

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

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News Photograph © Flower Angels

New Mayor for RBKC

By Henry Tobias Jones

T

Festival Season Whilst to me music festivals sound about as inviting as the Battle of the Somme (perhaps even slightly muddier), my children are made of sterner stuff and have plotted a campaign of seemingly endless festivals stretching past the end of summer (and further past the limits of their overdrafts). Unfortunately on examination it was discovered that their camping supplies thus far consisted of 16 tent pegs, a single Wellington boot and no tent in sight. I resigned myself that unless I wanted my offspring to come back with genuine shell-shock (or a stinking cold); I was going to have to help/force them to get organised.

Dragging the kids off the sofa I was, with some coaxing, able to corral them into Altimus, a combination high-end sportswear and shoe store on our very own High Street Kensington. Explaining my worries to a sympathetic sales assistant he wasted no time in leading us through piles of equipment that looked like it could keep you alive halfway up Everest (or possibly even in Outer Space) and into a synthetic forest of top-end tents, all exceptionally well-made and noticeably durable. With all of the kit on offer I was left quietly

are supported by the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation, the new mayor was thanked for selecting the charity.

The Foundation said “we would like to thank the Mayor for choosing us as her Mayoral Charity and we are delighted that the Mayor will be doing all she can in 2016/2017 to help us in our mission to improve local lives.” They further explained that “every penny we raise from the Mayor’s campaign will be passed on to help frontline local work.”

In one of her first acts as Mayor, Cllr Rutherford visited the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to open a new indoor garden for staff and patients.

CW+, the charity responsible for commissioning the new hospital gardens, appointed award winning landscape

designer Jinny Blom to design a “relaxing space.” Called the ‘CW+ Greenhaven’, the indoor garden is a “restorative and calming area of the hospital for patients,

confident that, even if the potential rain risks of bad posture and foot injuries. storms stray from ‘dispiriting’ into ‘biblical Picking myself out a sturdy pair of punishment’ the only thing I couldn’t truly Altberg boots, I envisaged a blissful prepare my kids for is the charms of paying unbothered summer of gentle hikes through the countryside, safe in the £15.00 for a soggy burger. knowledge that my children are not only Whilst the kids were busy loudly safe, but also far enough away that I won’t evaluating which eye blinding primary be called on to act as an unpaid chauffeur colour the tent should be, I found myself being drawn towards some of the various hiking boots that the store had to offer. Suddenly realising the benefits of having my children far away for weeks at a time, I happily began to look through the stock on offer, wondering if there was some way I could convince the kids to extend their plans and maybe only come back in November! In between the hiking boots my eye was drawn by some oddly shaped shoes, some of which had individual toes! On inquiring the staff member explained their unusual shape gave them unique orthopaedic qualities. At the point it was explained that Altimus have their own in-house orthopediatrician who, taking into account slight differences in leg length, strain on ankles 138 High Street Kensington, or hamstrings, can match London W8 7RL anyone to their perfect pair of shoes and eliminate the Tel: 020 7937 7177

their families and hospital staff.”

Jinny Blom says: “For a garden to be pleasing it has to be comfortable and accessible.” Mrs Blom explained, by thinking about how it might be used they “designed a multidimensional park” which is “sociable or private as the circumstances demand.”

Trystan Hawkins, Patient Experience Director for CW+ says: “We are thrilled with the garden which Jinny has so carefully designed. There is a wealth of research which demonstrates how natural environments have a real impact on patient’s wellbeing, recovery and mood. Many of our patients are unable to leave the hospital, often for prolonged lengths of time, so having this space of tranquillity and nature will be a great addition”. at the drop of a hat! With the camping equipment picked out and the threat of exposure now eradicated, the kids are now free to dance the night away, whilst I can experience nature at a slower (MUCH slower) pace.

Whilst we’re worlds apart, Altimus has helped all of us find their feet.

Promotion

he Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has elected Councillor Mrs Elizabeth Rutherford as the new Mayor, replacing Councillor Robert Freeman.

Choosing the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation as her Mayoral Charity, Cllr Rutherford has said she will focus her work as mayor on “making a difference close to home.” Speaking about the work done by her chosen charity, the new mayor said: “Through helping them in their mission to champion local charities by raising money and securing in-kind donations, I feel that I can bring much needed support to many of our local groups and through them to local people.”

Mayor Rutherford said that she is “keenly aware that the Royal Borough’s strong voluntary sector makes a huge contribution to the quality of life for many of our residents,” adding that RBKC’s many “voluntary organisations deliver specialist services tailor-made to the needs of the diverse groups in our community.”

While visiting two local voluntary groups based in Ladbroke Grove which

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June 2016

News Depression Blood Test

By Fahad Redha

Currently, medics have to rely on trial and error when picking the best drug for patients with depression. This means that around half the time, the first prescribed drug fails to work.

But researchers at King’s College London say they have developed a blood test to help doctors pick the best drugs. Those who test positive for inflammation need more aggressive therapy, they say. So far, the research has been carried out on just 140 people with depression and the researchers say they will need to do a large trial to see how well it would work in the real world.

The test measures two inflammation biomarkers in the blood, which past studies have shown are linked to a poor response to antidepressants. Patients with levels of both biomarkers above a certain threshold were certain not to respond to conventional, commonly prescribed drugs, while those below the threshold could be expected to respond to first-line antidepressants.

“The identification of biomarkers that predict treatment response is crucial in reducing the social and economic burden of depression, and improving quality of life of patients,” study author Professor Carmine Pariante from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, said.

Lead researcher Prof Carmine Pariante said this knowledge could help tailor treatment

Rare bowl returned to Afghanistan artifact

By Henry Tobias Jones A rare 17th century tinned copper bowl has been returned to the Embassy of Afghanistan in London by the British Museum, nearly 25 years after it was thought to be lost for good.

The Safavid bowl was lost during the civil war in the 1990s and was purchased “in good faith in December 1994 from an Afghan antiques dealer in Jeddah by Patrick and Paola von Aulock. After 20 years of safeguarding the artefact, they eventually decided to sell it and took it into Christie’s for a valuation.

Sara Plumbly, Specialist and Head of Christie’s Islamic Art department, recognised the bowl and gave the British Museum permission to examine it. The provenance of the bowl was confirmed by the museum and negotiations to return the bowl to Afghanistan began.

The bowl dates to the Safavid period (1501-1722), and includes a cartouche which identifies the bowls previous owner: Mohammad Abū Tāleb. It is decorated by three medallions which

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk to the individual. “About a third of patients might have these inflammatory markers and they would be people we might encourage to go on more aggressive treatment,” he said.

While antidepressants are safe, they can have side effects. “We would not want to go in prescribing too much medicine if it’s not necessary, but we would want to escalate people sooner rather than later if they need it.” Prof Pariante said He suspects that the inflammation is the body’s response to stress and high levels of it can get in the way of the process that is crucial for the drugs to work.

The team are looking to test whether given anti-inflammation drugs as well as antidepressants might help but he warned that “patients should not change their medication on their own or take an antiinflammatory without guidance from their doctor.”

“Anti-depressants can be a lifeline if you have a mental illness like depression, OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) or anxiety,” Brian Dow, from the charity Rethink Mental Illness, said, “but it’s not much of a lifeline if it takes years of trial and error to get to the right kind.

Doctors also recommend people with depression to keep active and busy, physically as well as socially. Self-help groups, which allow people to share experience can also be useful. For this reason, the NHS recommends other therapies alongside antidepressants including Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (which combat negative thoughts) and Mindfulness training which allows one to focus on “appreciating the here and now.”

depict scenes from a Persian tragedy Khosrow and Shirin composed by the poet Nizami Ganjavi. Another similar piece is currently owned by the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, and some have speculated that both pieces came from the same workshop in the city of Herat.

The majority of the Islamic metalware collection of the National Museum of Afghanistan was looted and lost in a fire following a rocket strike on the museum in November 1995, making the return of the bowl even more significant. The National Museum of Afghanistan has confirmed that they will be putting the bowl on display as soon as possible.

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Sara Plumbly said “Christie’s are delighted to have played a role in facilitating the return of this work to the Kabul museum and we would like to extend our thanks to the previous owners Mr and Mrs von Aulock for their collaboration.”

She continues to say “this is a good example of where research, cooperation and a wish to facilitate the right solution has succeeded,” adding that “Christie’s maintains its on-going commitment in this area and takes matters of cultural property very seriously”.

St John Simpson, Assistant Keeper in the Department of the Middle East, British Museum said that “this is another

important step in the rebuilding of the National Museum of Afghanistan and we are delighted to have played a small part in the return of this important object to Kabul”.

Fahim Rahimi, Director of the National Museum of Afghanistan said “I hope returning this bowl will be a start for more artefacts to be recovered, not only those looted from museums alsothose looted from archaeological sites in Afghanistan. I ask those collectors who keep artefacts from Afghanistan to help us return them and encourage the auction houses to always check their collections for looted objects from Afghanistan.”

Photograph © British Museum

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June April/May 2016 2011

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

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Opinion & Comment

MARIUS BRILL’S

MEMEING OF LIFE Meme: . An element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another...

#genashame

I

t wasn’t supposed to be like this. The saddest aspect of my mid-life crisis is not a sportscar or a baseball cap, it’s not hashtagging freshly invented compound words, or even indulging self-pitying grief for lost opportunities, it’s simpler and just as fruitless in its immutability, it’s genashame. (That’s #genashame kids! – swipe right to be patronised.)

I am deeply, mortifyingly, ashamed of my generation.

I’ve reached my fifties and, with few exceptions, my contemporaries are sitting in the world’s driving seats. The ministers and CEOs, lawmakers and leaders, movers and sheikers (#sheikers!), the elite, the grandees, the top dogs and fat cats, they’re the kids from my playground; or, more accurately, the one down the M4 south of Slough. And I can only apologise for what utter arseholes we’ve turned out to be.

As all kids must, I knew my parents’ generation had got everything wrong.

But instead of anger, I was so insufferably arrogant as to pity them. They had, after all, lived through WWII and the blinkered ‘Establishment’ Britain of the 1950s Could I really blame them then for, for instance, their apparently inherent racism?

After all they hadn’t had the opportunity to grow up in a post Windrush, second generation immigrant, diverse society.

Anybody who went to an urban state school in the 70s would have a rainbow spectrum of mates and I knew that, by the time my generation was running the country, fear of the dark and foreign would be as ancient history as a profit-led privatized railway … (pause for dramatic irony to sink in).

In my teens I watched the tribal thinking of the Baby Boomer older kids, the hippies, teds, punks, rockers, skinheads and mods, fade out. They called it the death of individuality and the rise of the grey, but many of us saw it differently: the birth of inclusivity. Our, frankly embarrassing, cross-over youth movement New Romanticism, embraced countless styles whilst ham-fistedly promoting gender neutrality with frilly shirts, and badly applied mascara. (I really can’t find any other excuse for it). We had our own French philosopher, Jacques Derrida, championing the margins and différence.

I was so proud of my generation, I just knew that, when we finally got into power the world would be put right. Extremism,

factionalism, sectarianism, sexism, gaybashing, queer baiting, they would all belong to the past as decisively as women in headscarves … (we’re still doing the dramatic irony thing).

When I started work, Thatcher deregulated the financial markets, her “Big Bang”, a term which can’t have made Denis feel very good about himself, introduced “the barrowboy into the city”. It all seemed to be preparing the world for my generation’s inevitable all-inclusive style leadership when we took over. The laying down of class divisions, opening the highest paid jobs to those who hadn’t had the benefit of an exhaustive private education, looked like meritocracy. Opportunities for all in banking would weed out the complacent, the corrupt and the greedy.

When anybody, everybody, could be a stockbroker, investor or banker, the exclusive ranks of the financial world would die out. The almost feudal idea of a tiny elite controlling almost all the money and power would be as dead and unfathomable as ripped jeans, chain smoking, anti-Semitism, nukes, bigotry, xenophobia, gender pay differences My generation, which invented Google and designed the iPhone, leveraged the internet in good faith; we thought it’d empower the less privileged and encourage global understanding. As it turns out, all it did was put up a screen, in every sense of the word, between all of us. In the 90s, it seemed misanthropic to predict that such a tool of mass communication would, in fact, encourage and enable elitism, factionalism, disagreement and dissatisfaction, but on a global scale.

Every now and again a millennial pops up on YouTube expressing their own #genashame. She’ll apologise for her peers: ignoring the world with their heads in their phones, trolling, slut-shaming, fraping, and a hundred other online and surly behavioural misdemeanours. And I long to reassure her. It’s not your fault. Just as my parents‘ generation, with all good intentions, deprived working class children of elite grammar educations and starved the present Establishment of diverse thinkers, the phone and its brain-sucking enchantment is down to my shitty selfish generation who put the hypnotic little box in your hands, to shut you up while we got on with our own lives.

We were dubbed Generation X. X was for “the unknown”, but I’m starting to realise that an X also resembles a tightly clenched arsehole. Somehow, we got side-lined and the few people from

my generation who could be bothered to grab all the top jobs were, on the whole, the most greedy, narrow-minded, blinkered, arseholes my generation had to offer.

The rest of us, it seems, did not care enough to really make a difference. We ignored our duty to take care of the economy, environment, rights or even hard-won social tolerance. We simply gave in to fear-mongering and terrorism of the most basic sort.

Euro 2016 Fatigue?

By Henry Tobias Jones

The tournament is underway, and like the knights of old, nations have sent their young champions to battle for the acclaim and adulation of the continent.

Or rather, Euro 2016 is about to take over the news cycle, bringing the might of geopolitical intrigue to a shuddering halt, purely to report on teenagers playing with balls in front of a stadium of middle aged, testosterone filled, drunks.

I have a confession you will not find overly surprising: I don’t care a jot about football. In fact, I care so little for football, that I almost considered not writing this piece at all. However, after hearing a torrent of gushing nostalgia about the “spirit of ‘96” I knew I had to speak up for the men of this country.

Let the Italians cry tears of passion into a Peroni bottle. Let Frenchmen get teary eyed at the sound of La Marseillaise.

But let’s, for goodness sake, not become a nation of Gazzas over the 20 year anniversary of a minor tournament we didn’t even win.

I won’t criticise football too much, but it is hardly the game it once was. Just days ago, I sat watching a Portuguese player being sent from the pitch for attempting to kick an English player in the head.

The friend who I was watching the game with was utterly outraged, saying “it’s so incredibly dangerous, he should never be on a pitch again.” After the game we watched a mixed martial arts fight where the primary aim of the sport is for one man to punch another into unconsciousness.

Do not mistake my dispassion for hatred.

I will sit in a pub at some point and plant the memories of the European championships in my mind just in case England happen to win; or just on the

I am utterly genashamed. We were too busy playing Space Invaders to give a f**k. Whilst we were indulging our own interests we forgot our social ones. We allowed our nimbys, our angry misfits and disgruntled reactionaries, the ones with small minds and axes to grind, who could be bothered, to take control.

We were so distracted by all the little gewgaws we invented we forgot to take care of things.

Sorry. off chance that anything of real note happens. I will even sit with friends and watch the games. But while I am watching grown men yelling, drinking, and crying over the course of 90 minutes of television, I will lose virtually all respect I have for them as adult males.

I alluded to it at the beginning of this piece but I’ll say it now, just to be clear: I actually think there is something seedy about being emotionally invested in polished young boys, rolling around with each other. Let’s not forget some of the boys should really be just finishing their exams.

DUDLEY SUTTON’S I WISH I HAD WRITTEN THAT Storytelling

By Sasha A. Palmer He tells her of ancient Greece, Mount Olympus with its gorges, and peaks, and gorgeous gods, quick-tempered, violent, unleashing their vengeance against mortals and each other.

He tells her of shining Ithaca, a tanned boy out in the sun, a man with sea water in veins, longing for voyage and land, a wanderer whose very name is casting lament upon his brow.

At nightfall he sheds his stories, heart bared, stands before her, trembling, heeding her silence, a boy-man, rugged, tender, weathered skin - a map of travels, its salty lines aching for touch.

She takes his hand, leads him into the deep of the island, through the familiar orchard, to the wedding bed, the olive still rooted to the ground, awaiting his homecoming.

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk Photograph © Stuart Yeates

Opinion & Comment

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

Now they’re gunning for your second home

By Douglas Shanks

W

e’re hearing a lot from the government, and the peddlers of politics of envy, about what’s fair in tax planning and how avoidance is the new evasion.

Never entirely comfortable with mainstream aspects of my chosen career, I was shoved into the marketing team before the ink was dry on my charter.

All respect for the tax system was undermined the moment I heard the case Mallalieu v Drummond. It hinged around whether or not a barrister wore special black court clothes for anything other than work. Broadly the facts were agreed but the sheer sophistry of the Revenue’s argument is breathtaking.

The prime function of her clothes was decency and warmth. Oh please!! Ann Mallalieu had plenty of other clothes; so: wholly and exclusively in the course of her business. “But not necessarily” I hear you heckle. “Necessarily isn’t a schedule D test,” slam-dunk to teacher.

I wear a suit to work and don’t wear a business suit ever for any other reason.

At weddings I wear a kilt. You need two pairs of brogues because they take two days to dry. Similarly suits, but you need a third for when one’s at the cleaners.

You’ve only got to look at me to know I’m not off the peg. So a grand times three for the suits and a grand for the shoes. I’m too old to potter around in anything other than Church’s and you can apply pretty much “exclusively” to them. I’ve got those pumps with long laces to wear with the kilt. We don’t discuss undergarments with the

Sassenach. So £4,000 before I’ve sullied my timesheet of wholly and exclusively expenses that the Exchequer has the courts’ sanction to disallow. Do not give me “fair”.

A few thousand quid cheated out of the professional middle classes on the cost of their clothes is one thing; the disaster that’s been inflicted on much the same community, and perhaps less affluent savers, is another. The attack on Buy-to-let has been a sickening about face from a party the aspirational community would have thought it could trust. All power corrupts so all governments wield power corruptly, and blatantly so when approaching the task of being re-elected, none can be trusted.

Don’t cheer the government when it’s doing for others; sooner or later it’ll do for you.

If you own a holiday home or a buyto-let property you need to take advice now. The property market is notoriously slow discounting market-logic into what is often more emotion-based pricing.

Wear and tear allowances are being replaced by capital allowances. I’d say that’s going to cost our clients more in fees establishing and monitoring the allowances which are themselves less generous and far more complicated than the old ten percent system.

Interest relief for borrowings will be reduced to basic rate tax relief from 2020, phased in from next year. It’s retrospective taxation. You’ve already bought the property so any fundamental change in the nature of taxation usurps

your human right to be treated fairly by the state. It’s unconstitutional.

Stamp Duty and Land Tax has been increased by 3% across the SDLT bands for all second homes, including holiday homes and buy-to-let. This is a swingeing swipe at anyone who’s been seduced by various government initiatives aimed at encouraging property ownership and will affect the property market. You can’t take a FURTHER three per cent out of a market (remember this is gross sale proceeds, not net profit) and expect any different. The government for a whole variety of misguided reasons is targeting the middle-class middle-this-and-that middle-England property-owning community and making it suffer.

In addition, a property business does not qualify for Capital Gains Tax relief on any disposals. In fact when CGT was brought down recently to 20%, people selling residential property were excluded from the reduction. There are no rollover provisions so no tax relief. Don’t get me started on the thieving Revenue’s attitude to loss relief. I can think of cases where they’ve happily spent £100,000 on their own costs gleefully refusing to allow a few quid of loss relief. Make a profit and they’ll tax it. If you’ve made a loss and want to offset it, good luck.

And you can forget Inheritance Tax relief. You might think it’s a property business and you’ll get business property relief. I mean you could be forgiven for thinking you would …. dream on.

What can you do? We’re not property

experts. I’m not going to say sell up.

Most clients will probably hold property until they die to get the CGT uplift on death and just suffer IHT on death. It’s that or get to the most unreasonable and totally unfair situation where you sell your property portfolio and get clobbered for CGT, and then on death the cash gets hit with 40% IHT as well … is double taxation unconstitutional? You might have thought so but what about the VAT you pay on fuel duty every time you fill your car. Or the jobs tax (employers’ national insurance) you fund on your home even when your company makes a loss?

In what world is that fair? Having said that, what is more unfair is saving all your life, one way or another, get ill or just old and have to go into nursing home and they take your cash and investments. That is 100% tax when you are approaching death. Can that be fair?

I’ve heard the average stay in a nursing home is two years eight months. That is another can of worms; especially as apparently local authorities have people trained to look at any arrangement where cash or value transfers take place.

They can then send aged relatives up to Durham which is reputed to be a source of cheap nursing homes.

The only thing that’s certain is taxes and death; then more taxes.

Douglas Shanks is the angry partner DSC Metropolitan llp Chartered Accountants © Douglas Shanks

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News

Photograph © Simon Jarvan

Photograph © Royal Mint

The Royal Mint extends a friendly hand for fallen heroes

The Royal Mint has dedicated the theme of the 2016 £2 coin to the memory of the Army’s ‘Pals’ Battalions; brave family members, neighbours and team mates who volunteered to serve side by side during the First World War in defence of Britain. The coin not only honours the spirit and camaraderie of the ‘Pals’, but also pays tribute to the part the Army played in the conflict. As Britain mobilised for war in 1914, it quickly became apparent that the British Army was not large enough for the impending global conflict. The call went out to enlist, and the response was astonishing, with most of the country swept by patriotic fervour. Up to 30,000 volunteers were signing up each day. Team mates, friends, neighbours and colleagues were all encouraged to sign up and serve side by side in ‘Pals’ Battalions, a move that would have devastating consequences for the communities from which the Pals Battalions were recruited.

Portrayed in the Futurist style of British First World War artist C.R.W. Nevinson, the design features three ‘pals’ side by side, conveying a sense of their camaraderie. Textured areas, when seen close at hand, reveal barbed wire detailing, suggesting the context of war.

Anne Jessopp, The Royal Mint’s Director of Commemorative Coins said: “We wanted to capture the spirit of the Pals Battalions and the camaraderie of the Army recruits who sacrificed their lives to defend their country, as well as the Army’s vital role in the First World War.” The coin has been designed for The Royal Mint by Liverpool-based creative team Uniform, and is the third £2 coin to be released as part of The Royal Mint’s five-year programme of First World War centenary commemorations in conjunction with Imperial War Museums. The 2014 £2 coin marked the outbreak of war, and in 2015 it was the turn of the Royal Navy to be featured.

Around five million £2 coins featuring this design are expected to enter circulation later this year; the design can already be found on precious metal commemorative editions of the coin; Gold Proof, Silver Proof and Silver Proof Piedfort, which are available to purchase online at royalmint.com.

State of the Art £12.4 billion NHS hubs now worth of empty offering RBKC homes in London seven day GP care By Henry Tobias Jones As part of a new service commissioned by the NHS West London Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), residents in Kensington, Chelsea, Queen’s Park, and Paddington can now access 7 days a week GP and nursing services.

The two new state of the art hubs, the Violet Melchett Clinic in Chelsea, and St Charles Centre for Health and Wellbeing near Ladbroke Grove, are now accepting referrals for GP and practice nursing services.

Part of larger plans to consolidate more of the care offered by practices into more convenient, community settings, the new hubs closely reflect the type of environment offered by GP clinics.

Dr Fiona Butler, chair of West London CCG, said: “We are proud to say that our patients now have access to a GP, or a practice nurse, seven days a week, including weekday evenings, at the Violet Melchett Clinic and at the St Charles Integrated Care Centre.”

Dr Butler adds “from our conversations with local people, we expect this to be popular, as it provides convenient medical care in a local setting.”

To make an evening or weekend appointment at one of the hubs, patients should contact the nearest practice who will help to book a convenient time slot.

Among the services available are: routine check-ups, small wound care, sexual health care, and most vaccinations. Hub opening hours are 6-9pm Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm on Saturday, and 9am-1pm on Sunday.

The two new hubs can be found at the following locations: Violet Melchett Clinic 30 Flood Walk London SW3 5RR St Charles Centre for Health and Wellbeing Exmoor Street London W10 6DZ

More than 200,000 properties in England, estimated to be valued at £38 billion, are sitting vacant, according to new research by crowdfunding platform Property Partner.

There are a reported 203,596 homes throughout England which are deemed to be vacant long-term.

With nearly 21,000 homes which have been vacant for over 6 months, London has the most long term empty homes. The boroughs with the most empty homes are not the most obvious suspects either, with Newham, one of the most deprived parts of the capital, having the most, with 1,318 unoccupied properties.

In total the sum of all the empty properties in London is worth an estimated £12.4 billion.

Outside the capital, Bradford has more empty homes than any other town with over 4,000 sitting empty, worth nearly £400m.

However, the new research is also showing that in many places there has actually been a dramatic decrease in the number or long-term vacant homes, with Manchester, for example, showing an 84% drop in the past decade.

Throughout the country, numbers of long-term vacant properties in England are actually reducing. The 313,616 recorded in 2005 had dropped by a third to 203,596 in 2015.

Property Partner used data from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) dating back to 2005 to estimate the number of empty properties and their corresponding values.

Although the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s (RBKC) long term vacant housing stock is not the highest in the country, the sum of the value of properties is a whopping £1.7 billion. RBKC is also one of only three boroughs that have increased the number of vacant dwellings since 2005, the other two are Haringey and Lewisham.

CEO of crowd funding platform Property Partner, Dan Gandesha, said that “these figures reveal a shocking waste of opportunity” in the English market, adding that “over a decade ago, the law changed giving councils the power to seize empty homes through Compulsory Purchase Orders and rent them back out to tenants, if they lay vacant for more than two years.”

“But we still find not enough being done in many parts of the country” he continues, “this is nothing short of a scandal.”

Mr Gandesha concluded by explaining that “if just half of the current empty homes could be brought to market, it would go a long way towards resolving the housing crisis, particularly in London.”

British Fashion Council Announces BFC Fashion Trust Recipients 2016

By Henry Tobias Jones

Twelve designers have been selected “to help promote the art and business of fashion” by the British Fashion Council (BFC) and will receive grant totalling £350,000.

All of the recipients picked by the BFC and Fashion Trust “represent the future of the British fashion industry.”

The twelve chosen designers are: Eudon Choi, Fyodor Golan, Gareth Pugh, Hillier Bartley, Holly Fulton, Huishan Zhang, Marques’Almeida, palmer// harding, Phoebe English, Prism, Rejina Pyo and Sibling.

The Fashion Trust, founded in 2011, is a charitable initiative within the BFC which offers “support through mentoring and financial awards.” It was founded in partnership by co-chairs Tania Fares and Kim Hersov, alongside the rest of the Fashion Trust Committee.

Describing the choice of recipients, Tania Fares and Kim Hersov, said: “Once again we are delighted to support these talented designers for the year ahead.

British fashion is globally recognised for its energy and originality which is why supporting the industry at grass roots is as vital as ever. These designers represent the future of the British fashion industry and we hope the Fashion Trust will further advance their position as global brands of the future.”

BFC CEO, Caroline Rush CBE, said: “We are thrilled to be able to support these twelve designers through the BFC Fashion Trust this year.”

She added that “the generous support of the BFC Fashion Trust members and Farfetch continues to help in the development of these brands and we are extremely excited to see how this initiative further enables their creativity and growth.”

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Brexit ‘could increase shopping bill by £220 a year’

By Sasha Fedorenko

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here is another argument added to the list of Brexit’s supposed damage to the country. The vote to leave would increase the cost of everyday items by £220 a year. These figures would leave the average family pay out an extra £123 a year on food and drink, with an extra £98 would be spent on clothes and footwear. This suggests that poorer families would have to cut down on their usual expenses in order to survive in the country free from EU’s influence.

The new Treasury analysis published on Tuesday 22 May predicts the decline in sterling with an average of a 12 percent fall in the value of the pound against other international currencies.

This would result in the increase of the cost of a typical food and drink shop for a household of two adults and two children by around £120 a year by 2018.

While the cost of clothing and footwear spending will rise by almost £100 over the same period.

The Prime Minister David Cameron warns families not to risk this by ‘voting to leave’ on June 23, as this decision would damage their financial balance.

“The analysis makes absolutely clear that British families are better off remaining in a reformed European Union.

Independent studies show that a vote to leave would hit the value of the pound, making imports more expensive and raising prices in the shops.”

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Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

most complete in the world. Among the approximately 2,000 medals in his collection are 580 full European orders of merit, including representation from almost every European monarchy and government.

“The most interesting awarding system in the world, for me, is the British because it’s the oldest one, and because it is still working uninterrupted without a revolution” since 1348 when Edward III created the Order of the Garter.

Also, for Russia the “British system was very important” Andrey tells me, “when Peter the Great visited London during the Great Embassy, he saw the Order of the Garter awarded at a ceremony in Windsor.” As it was his first introduction to the awarding of orders, Peter mistakenly believed that the Order of Thistle had died out in Britain because it was instituted by James VII of Scotland. As St Andrew was the patron saint of both Scotland and Russia, in 1698 Peter decided to restore the great order for Russia. “In this instance the British awarding system is the parent of the Russian one,” Andrey says proudly.

Moreover, Andrey believes that now

keeps extensive records of where medals are sent.

“We said we knew that the owner was Abbas II of Egypt,” but Mr. Patterson offered to validate it anyway. By a strange twist of fate, the chain “actually belonged to Tsar Nicholas II.” Andrey explains how such a valuable item could have been misplaced: “Anything of worth was sold by the Bolsheviks when they took over in the 1920s, and what they couldn’t sell was melted down for gold. Only 4 of the Royal chains were returned to the Kremlin Museums in the 60s, all the rest were lost.” The statutes of the Royal Chains state that they are returnable to Britain after the recipient dies by the rest of the family and or state.

The tragic story of the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family in a basement in the Alexander Palace needs no explanation here. However, needless to say, the fall of the house of Romanov meant that the chains could not be returned to the British Monarchy.

Above: It is a testament to his honourable The Victoria Chain of Tsar personality that when Andrey realised Nicholas II © Her Majesty Queen that he had the chain of Nicholas II in Elizabeth II 2016 his possession he wrote to the Queen and “I asked Her Royal Majesty to take Left: Prof Andrey Khazin, the chain back, as is the custom.” with his two children “I received a letter from the Private Arseniy and Margaret, Secretary of the Queen” Andrey tells signing the long term loan for the me, “saying that while the Queen could Victoria Chain take the chain, she would much rather of Tsar Nicholas II. that it was put on display in the Moscow Kremlin museums for people to see.”

Andrey’s medals are a reminder that we should be looking more closely at our relations around the world, and really looking at how we come to the present. Far more than just fragments of aristocracy and monarchy, the medals are a tangible remnant of diplomacy, democracy, and nation building. If the story of the Queen’s gift of the Victorian more than ever: “we need to remember that during the last two ages, throughout Chain of Nicholas II isn’t enough of a reminder of the importance of our all the European wars from the friendship with Russia we only have to Napoleonic, the Great War, and finally look at the past. If ever we have had a World War 2, we were together.” “special relationship”, it was never with In February, on St George’s Day America, but with Russia. at the Moscow Kremlin Museums On 18th June 1812, America a ceremony took place opening the declared war on Britain. Just 5 days later, European Orders of Knighthood Napoleon’s France launched an invasion exhibition. Over 90% of the medals of Britain’s ally Russia. Many now in the exhibition are from Khazin’s believe that the decisions were linked. collection. But one, in particular has a After his defeat in Russia, Napoleon rather intriguing story. returned to the Western continent where “I had a Royal Victorian Chain in he was resolutely beaten by the British my collection,” Andrey says, but “when in Waterloo, auspiciously, on 18th June I bought the chain at an auction in London, it was listed as having belonged 1815. Russians stood with the British throughout the Napoleonic wars, the to Abbas II of Egypt and Sudan.”

Great War, and right up to when we When Khazin and Director of the occupied Berlin at the end of WW2.

Moscow Kremlin Museums, Yelena To most people, medals are just the Gagarina, contacted the Royal Collection military artefacts in our devastating to verify the owner of the chain, the history of war in Europe. But Andrey collection’s Head of Information Management, Stephen Patterson, offered recognises that they are actually a reminder of the importance of nonto check the number printed on the military diplomacy, and proof that often chain against the register of owners. what some people might call a ‘symbolic While other European Orders did gesture’ is actually worth far more than not usually have numbers, the Royal its weight in gold.

Victorian chain is a rare example that

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Features Andrey Khazin’s most magnificent medal collection

By Henry Tobias Jones

W

hen I arrive in the Promenade bar of the Dorchester Hotel, Russian Professor Andrey Khazin is waiting eagerly for our interview. He sits on the edge of his chair from beginning to end talking with what can only be described as the “zeal of a collector.” This is exactly what Andrey Khazin is: a collector. He is a former Russian senator, an author, but most importantly, he has one of the largest and most complete collections of medals anywhere in the world. Far from being just a run of the mill memorabilia collection, Andrey’s medals are worth a fortune, and not just because they span back to Edward III in 1348, and unite every major European monarchy right up to the present. As Andrey shows me over the course of our interview, his collection of medals have been, and continue to be, a vital tool in the art of creating and maintaining foreign relations.

His collection started when he was still just a child, albeit to all accounts a prodigious one. “My interest started when I was just 4 years old,” he tells me, “I remember the exact day, 7th November, which in Russia is the commemoration of the Socialist Revolution.” It is also Andrey’s grandfather’s birthday. In 1973 many of his grandfather’s friends came to a birthday wearing their uniforms and medals. Andrey recognized one friend in particular who “played cards with my grandfather every Saturday.”

“He was wearing three Hero of the Socialist Labour stars, the highest civil award in Russia,” Andrey says, “Brezhnev, who was one of the most important people in Russia, only had two, and aged four, I couldn’t understand how he could only have two but, my grandfather’s friend had three.”

By the age of 7 this fascination had evolved into passion. Although he was just starting school, Andrey explains “I already knew all of the ribbons and all of the Soviet medals.”

“It was very funny,” he tells me chuckling, “my Grandfather was taking me to school and I happened to see a man with a very rare order on his badge.”

Even today Andrey can remember that it was an Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class.

“I said to my Grandfather ‘Look it’s so rare’ and he was shocked,” Andrey says smiling, “he couldn’t understand how at 7 years old I knew what it meant.”

As an adult, his collection has grown to be one of the biggest and

June 2016

Features Soho. So over?

By Jim Slattery

“S

oho’s finished” according to many grumpy, older, London hands. Or if it hasn’t gone, it’s already halfway to hell, sans handcart.

The property developers and voracious landlords have won, and all the locals, professionals, burlesque, dance and gay clubs, ad agencies, film and music production houses (as well as live music venues) have moved out and gone East or West.

And supposedly, the independence and very existence of the Berwick Street market traders are under threat from yet another ‘rationalisation’ by Westminster’s planning and council committees. Well, that’s what the traders would have us believe. And most of us do.

The overwhelming chaos of the building of Crossrail 1 and now, possibly, Crossrail 2 threaten either end of Soho with hordes of rampaging office bores, shop boys and girls, out-of-towners and tourists, plus there’s an existential threat to one of London’s cultural beacons, the Curzon cinema.

According to this gloomy view, the only full-time inhabitants that will be left in Soho soon are the security guards looking after the foreign investors and their empty bank vaults in the air Plus, of course, the visitors and shoppers who gawk along the streets, glued to their mobiles, as well as the new breed (for Soho) of cocky retail estate agents.

Well, this all might be true, to some extent. But the ‘Soho’s dying’ narrative plays to the ‘Golden Age’, in which everything in the good old days was terrifically good, and modern life is, well, rubbish.

Many Londoners in search of a good night or day out, a few drinks, great food and some easy conversation with

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk interesting people still head for The French House on the Shaftesbury Avenue end of Dean Street, Soho.

Or if they’re coming in to Soho from the Oxford Street end, The Toucan just off Soho Square might be more their style, with its calmer atmosphere and excellent Guinness served in full pint measures.

Is it only those loyal enough, old school enough or indeed well off enough who still make it into Soho?

Is it worth picking your way, after the theatre or a hard day’s work, to your favourite meeting place, through this chaos of builders’ dust, grit and heavy lorries, plus the emerging plate glass chain restaurants, buy-to-leave flats and half-finished hotels those builders are throwing up all around you?

Or do knowledgeable and entertaining London people still frequent places like these two remaining Soho pubs? Not just estate agents, rich Arabs or Russian oligarchs’ henchmen…

The landlady and landlord of The French and The Toucan have their own views and opinions on these, and other points.

Here’s what they have to say.

Queen of The French House

Blonde one-time actress and ex-snake dancer Lesley Helen Lewis, now earth mother to her customers and any number of her staff and ex-staff, is the landlady of this archetypal Soho pub.

She has no hesitation whatsoever in telling me that Soho’s spirit is far from dead, even though many of the people still associated with the ‘glory days’ are, in fact, deceased. She even quotes Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale while sipping her house white to illustrate her point: “…thou met’st with things dying, I with things newborn.”

She checked out the quote with Tim Woodward, actor, who was talking next to us with Struan Rodger, another actor.

I was suitably impressed. She goes on: “Soho dying? Well, we’re not going to let it! Of course, the old days, with Francis (Bacon), Lucian (Freud), Jeffrey Bernard and all the rest have gone – because they’re gone… And they’re still going…today, we lost the lovely

Bert Kwouk (Cato in the Pink Panther movies), another one who used to come in here, with his barber’s shop quartet, sometimes.

“The Colony was a great loss, of course. But I have great hopes for Soho.

The new crowd, the young crowd, who are coming in; they’re different.

“I bet you that some of the young ones you see in here (she gestures towards the mixed crew of young and old people who were in The French as I spoke with her) will be just as famous as Francis and Lucian one day.”

The one thing that could kill the community is housing costs, she says.

“People should be able to afford to live here. But foreign money is killing the local community off. The new apartments you see around here, the 2 and 3 million pound flats, who can afford to live in them? It’s all foreign investment.

“We still manage to have a community spirit around here, though.

Food fetes, Soho village fetes, film showings, you name it; the business side is still happening. I have a strange type of hope.

“The thing that’s changed most in the 27 years since I’ve been here? The Access card! Your flexible friend! It changed the world!

She concludes: “The big problem is housing. You can’t afford to live here.

Unless you’ve got a pub.”

Next, I wander up Dean Street, past the endless building sites (one of my old ad agency buildings, GGT’s old offices, is now being turned into yet another hotel).

I walk past The Groucho Club and the various celebrities and TV people doing their thing. On the street, Terry Gilliam is having lunch with somebody and Charles Campion is hefting his considerable bulk into a Sicilian barber’s chair.

Eventually I end up in The Toucan on Carlisle Street, near to Soho Square and the interminable sbuilding sites that currently blight this end of Soho.

The Dry Wit at The Toucan

Photographs © Jim Slattery

020 7738 2348

Colin James Taylor is not quite as sanguine about present-day Soho in general, and Westminster Council in particular, as Lesley. “The most difficult council in the country to deal with” maintains this former shop owner, dealer in ladies’ shoes, and close cohabitee of Waterloo Station with ‘Buster’ Edwards, flower seller and Great Train Robber extraordinaire.

Since Colin took the pub 23 years ago, some of his most exhausting battles have been with some of the most elementary and accursed aspects of running any business in modern London; parking wardens, council officials who don’t turn up, and his delivery drivers (drays) being regularly turned over

by Westminster’s non-pareil parking attendants.

He goes into a long and searing description of his encounters with Westminster officialdom, one in particular, who Colin contemptuously calls the ‘Six million dollar man’. He’s the one who didn’t turn up, or in fact turned up far too late to keep track of a ‘double yellow lines and pavement chevron fandango’ which led to hassle, fines and needless aggravation for the essential delivery drivers who, one feels, must have the patience of saints when it comes to doing their job.

But once Colin has got this off his chest, he reiterates the reasons why he is still here, in Soho, after all these years, in this most friendly, fun and, for a Guinness connoisseur like myself, enjoyable little pubs in London.

“I still get a tingle when I think about being in this area. It’s the most vibrant part of this wonderful city. What has Shoreditch got? Bars, clubs and more bars. Here in Soho, you’ve got the best of the world’s theatres, cinemas and clubs, more creative people than anywhere else in London: musicians, writers, actors, advertising people, record companies, studios galore; so what more do you want?

“Soho’s still got a future.” © Jim Slattery 2016

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International British exports to EU showing dramatic decline

By Henry Tobias Jones

N

ew analysis published by the Think Tank, Civitas, shows that the proportion of British trade with other EU member states has decreased to pre-1973 levels.

With the looming EU referendum, set to take place on the 23rd June, many of the key arguments on both sides of the debate have focused around the stability of the economy and trade with the single market.

The share of UK exports going to fellow Single Market countries has plummeted in the past decade and is now lower than it was when Britain joined the European Economic Community in 1973, a new Civitas analysis shows.

British trade with the founding members of the EU have grown by just 2.5% in nearly 25 years. Moreover, the sum of the UK’s world exports going to founding members has nearly halved from 68% to 36% between 2007 and 2015.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published trade figures which show that the rest of the world is now a far more significant trading partner for exports from the UK. Michael Burrage the author of Civitas’ The Eurosceptic Handbook writes: “By whatever of these three measures one prefers to use, the Single Market has been an era of decline, in which UK exports to fellow members of the Single Market have sharply decelerated. If one of the goals of the Single Market was to raise UK exports to fellow members it has failed spectacularly.”

He adds, “No serious attempt has been made to explain why this has happened, probably because, in the UK at least, the Single Market has been continuously sold as a success story, and even as the ‘Crown Jewel’ of European integration, so no-one really wants to acknowledge that it has serious problems.”

450 years in the Vatican’s bad books

By Henry Tobias Jones

14th June marks the 50th anniversary of the abolition of the Vatican’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a list banning heretical, unholy, and lascivious books.

In 1966 the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decided no longer to publish the Index, however, they did maintain that the list should still be considered a “moral guide in so far as it reminds the conscience of the faithful they must avoid writings which can be dangerous to faith and morals.”

Included on the list of “dangerous” authors is: Rabelais, Montaigne, Descartes, La Fontaine, Pascal, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot, Casanova, Marquis de Sade, Stendhal, Balzac, Victor Hugo, Gustave Flaubert, Alexandre Dumas, Emile Zola, Anatole France, Andre Gide, Jean Paul Sartre, Machiavelli, John Calvin, John Milton, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Laurence Sterne, Emmanuel Kant, John Stewart Mill.

However, among the notable absentees from the collection of writers and books deemed heretical by the Vatican was Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species.

While even now, the Vatican can issue an Admonitum warning Catholics against books which could cause harm, however, unlike the original Index Librorum Prohibitorum it is no longer considered to be a part of full Ecclesiastical Law.

make the election of the new Secretary General a more democratic and transparent affair, because previously the organization has conducted elections behind closed doors.

As reported in KCW Today’s May edition, it has been widely speculated that the next UN Secretary General will be from Eastern Europe (in keeping with the tradition of regional cycles) and, for the first time in the organization’s history, is likely to be a woman.

Despite these predictions, all three of the debaters to attend the hustings, which was jointly hosted by Guardian Live and United Nations Association UK (UNA-UK), were male.

With many now more determined than ever to see a female UN Secretary General elected, many of the questions asked of the three men involved their stances on feminism and female rights.

The three candidates to attend were: António Guterres, Former Prime Minister of Portugal and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Vuk Jeremić, President of the Centre for International Relations and Sustainable Development, and a former Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Igor Lukšić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs for Montenegro. The debate was chaired by the Guardian’s Mark Rice-Oxley.

Introducing the candidates, the executive director of UNA-UK, Natalie Samarasinghe, the co-founder of the 1 for 7 billion campaign, said: “For 70 years the appointment of the Secretary General has been shrouded in secrecy,” adding that “the selection process for the Pope was more transparent.”

When it came to the debate, Guterres, Jeremić, and Lukšić were challenged by both the moderator and audience to offer a platform for their candidacy, having to speculate about international security, human rights, and feminism. Not only is it far too early to speculate on which of the three might have done well enough to eventually win the UN post, since many of the other candidates were not present the hustings was criticized by some for being unrepresentative of the real race.

First overseas UN Secretary General St Helena Airport debate held in

By Fahad Redha London

By Henry Tobias Jones

Earlier this month in the Barbican, the UN hosted the first ever overseas debate as part of the 1 for 7 billion election campaign searching for a new Secretary General.

While only 3 of the 12 candidates could attend the debate, it was an historic occasion for both the UN and London. The UN is actively seeking to

Following his defeat in 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte was imprisoned on the Island of St. Helena. His island home, Longwood House, was reputedly so damp and windswept that the British government were accused of trying to hasten his death.

Once again, St Helena’s windy climate has led to complaints about the British government. In April 2016, the St Helena Government announced that the opening of a £285 UK funded airport has been delayed, claiming that “further safety and operational work was required to address the impact of difficult wind conditions on landing the plane safely.”

Many have criticized the government, saying that they have effectively “wasted money” by building an airport which was not fit for purpose on a remote overseas territory.

But according to an investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) actually it is estimated that the new airport will actually save money overall, even despite the growing cost of the project after significant delays. £246m would be saved by replacing the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) St Helena and the airport itself presents a net value of £19.1m according to the 2011 business proposal which led to its construction. However, the investigation also shows that the Department for International Development (DFID) will not stop paying an annual subsidy to the St Helena Government until 2043.

St Helena is home to just 4,100 people yet DFID has paid a total of £27.8m in subsidies since 2015, excluding the funding for the airport.

It is estimated that it will cost the department £285.5m for the design, building and operation contract for the airport between 2011 and 2026.

Amyas Morse, Head of the NAO said: “The year in which the Department stops paying an annual subsidy to the St Helena Government, as well as the total subsidy paid, will depend on whether the estimates of, for example, tourist numbers and how much they spend, are exceeded or missed.” Nearly 30,000 people are projected to visit St Helena annually by 2042 according to the NAO. News of the delay to the airport will concern St Helena’s small but vital tourism industry as earlier in June the RMS St Helena sailed up the River Thames as part of its farewell voyage.

For 26 years, the last working Royal Mail Ship has been the only means of transport to the remote overseas territory of St Helena.

The 105-metre long vessel is being sold by St Helena Line Ltd, who operate the ship on behalf of the St Helena Government, after the announcement that the airport would be completed in May 2016, effectively rendering the ship useless. The current owners are hoping to find a buyer for HMS St Helena so that she can avoid suffering the same fate as Napoleon, rusting in the constant winds of St Helena.

020 7738 2348

International EU criticises Turkey

for stripping 138 members “immunity from prosecution”

By Henry Tobias Jones

E

Photograph © Kippelboy

urope’s MEPs have criticised the Turkish parliament’s decision to remove the immunity from prosecution of 138 of its members, saying that the decision “undermines the rule of law.”

In a debate with Johannes Hahn, EU Enlargement Commissioner, EU MEPs described the decision as “an attempt by Turkey’s President Erdoğan to silence the opposition and grab more powers.”

Adding that the “decision undermines the rule of law and freedom of expression and might harm EU-Turkey relations.”

While still claiming that the EU is “demonstrably willing to reenergise its engagement with Turkey”, Commissioner Hahn added that relations with Turkey cannot be a one way street. Pointing to the various ways in which the EU has delivered “political and financial support” to Turkey, Hahn suggested that there have been serious setbacks affecting the rule of law and freedom of expression situation in Turkey which the EU could not approve of.

Lawmakers from the governing party forced through amendments to Turkey’s constitution which will

Putin’s Disneyland

By Henry Tobias Jones

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has reportedly approved plans to build a “Russian-style Disneyland” which will cost upwards of $4 billion.

The new theme park, which will be built on the border of the Kaluga and Moscow regions has already been allocated 220 hectares of land by the

June 2016

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Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk effectively allow members of the Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) to be prosecuted for ties to Kurdish militants who have frequently been the cause of terrorist attacks on Turkish soil.

However, MEPs have criticised the move, claiming that it is likely to lead to Kurdish deputies being forced out of parliament.

The debate leading up to the decision has proven particularly fractious for the Turkish parliament’s deputies, at one point even erupting into a fight in Parliament that dislocated the shoulder of a deputy. 376 out of 550 deputies voted in a secret ballot to enshrine the constitutional amendment additionally meaning there will be no public referendum.

President Erdoğan began the incendiary debate over stripping the 138 deputies of their immunity when he called for members of the HDP to face prosecution for ties to Kurdish militants.

MEPs from all European political groups and parties have joined together to criticise the Turkish parliament and Erdoğan’s decision, calling on Turkey to “respect the rule of law and freedom of expression and to protect minority rights.”

Some MEPs described the Turkish parliament’s decision as an attempt by President Erdoğan to silence opposition, change the constitution, and increase presidential powers, which they said, runs counter to Turkey’s EU accession responsibility to ensure the stability of institutions.

Regional Governor Anatoly Artamonov, who recently met with President Putin to discuss the project.

The park, which will be called: The Magical World of Russia project, aims to attract the growing number of tourists visiting the region, which have doubled in the past three years to 2.5 million.

Included in the plans will be a Disneyland layout, with various “zones” and hotels.

The Magical World will also have the world’s largest water park. Among the zones will be features of historical and cultural significance such as: an indoor St. Petersburg exhibit complete with a Senate Square and Nevsky Prospect.

Governor Artamonov claimed that the President will not need to invest state funds in the park as they have already amassed the $4 billion required from private investors. He did, however, thank the President for his support. To which, President Putin replied: “Sure, with pleasure.”

There is already another theme park currently under construction to the South of Moscow, which is called: The Island of Dreams.

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Business & Finance Personal financial planning

By Jim Slattery

M

any people handle their personal finances using a melange of accountants, stockbrokers, solicitors, pensions advisers, tax lawyers or ‘personal account managers’ at their bank.

If you have significant amounts of money to play with - in your direct contribution (investment based, not final salary) pension scheme, for example - or you just have a decent sum of money available to invest, but you’re wary of fees or percentages and in particular the returns you might get, it’s time to talk to a professional financial planner.

It’ll cost you a fair amount, but making the right choice could affect, and might even ensure, your financial future.

Don’t be a cheapskate

A survey published in late May 2016

by Legg Mason, the US-based fund manager, showed that two in five UK citizens were not prepared to pay a penny for financial advice. And one in five would only pay £50 an hour, about a third of the going rate for reputable personal finance professionals.

All this is a result of the ‘Retail Distribution Review’ (RDR) of 2012, which banned fund managers and savings providers from paying commissions to independent financial advisers.

That means that financial advisers, banks and investment professionals in the UK can no longer take their payment in the form of direct (often undisclosed) commissions from the suppliers of the financial products they sell, but have to take their fees directly from their clients.

The previous illusion of ‘free financial advice’ has thus been destroyed, but unfortunately, people are still averse to paying financial professionals in the same way, and at the same kind of rates, that they are prepared to pay a solicitor or accountant.

Good reasons for mistrust?

The scandal of PPI also has a lot to do with the near universal mistrust of personal finance professionals, though, ironically, it was the result of mis-selling by banks rather than IFAs. The trust that ordinary people used to have in financial professionals has pretty much evaporated. The previous personal pension mis-selling scandal hasn’t helped matters either.

Nevertheless, the ‘advice gap’ remains, so unless you are in fact a financial expert yourself, DO NOT be one of the people who still expect ‘free’ financial advice.

You’re heading straight for the circling sharks, waiting to slash and tear, for example, at the pension money you

may have set free from compulsory annuities through the ‘pensions freedom’ engineered by George Osborne and his merry men.

Once you’ve made the decision

If you have a substantial amount of money or serious sums available to invest, anything over £50,000, you could get financial advice through your bank.

The amounts of available investable cash you’ll need for financial advice, and it won’t be free, from a selection of High Street banks are: Santander: £50,000 and over, Lloyds: £100,000 and over, and RBS/NatWest: £250,000 and over. (HSBC has less onerous limits, incidentally.)

If you would like, on the other hand, to pursue the ‘find and pay for your own financial advice’ route, a good independent investment or financial planner can compare the performance of your finances, and your financial intermediaries, against the goals you have set yourself.

Whether you go the bank route or the DIY way, these investment or financial planners should first of all, tell you how and when they will be paid. This is very important, as many people are quite rightly suspicious of being recommended policies, plans and investments that may benefit their planner, or their bank and the financial advisers they recommend, more than you, their client.

As one of JP Morgan’s clients famously said while being shown the famous investment manager’s magnificent collection of ocean-going vessels, ‘But where are the clients’ yachts?’

Whichever financial planner you choose to deal with, whether through your bank or through specialist wealth managers such as Brewin Dolphin, St James’ Place or online specialists Hargreaves Lansdowne, you’re heading in the right financial direction.

You should expect a meeting with the planner so that you can carefully analyse your financial situation. When you have done this together, you should make sure you get a detailed, written, action plan.

What your investment or financial plan should cover Your plan should include firm recommendations for these major areas:

• How much cash you’ll need at various times in your life • Paying for your children’s education • The investment portfolio you might create • Managing the unexpected • The insurance policies you might need • Minimising your tax liabilities • Preparing for your retirement • Organising your estate And, if applicable, • Planning how you should pass on your business. © Jim Slattery 2016

Investing in Turkey’s Green Energy market?

By Henry Tobias Jones

At the European Bank for Redistribution and Development’s (EBRD) annual meeting 2016, a round table discussion was held to explore how the example of the sustainable energy market in Turkey could be an example for more European investment in socalled Green industries.

Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources has, using financial assistance offered by the EBRD, developed the country’s first National Renewable Energy Action Plan, which puts the country “in line with the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive.” Growing the overall market share of renewables energies will reportedly increase the “security of energy supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” This is seen as vital in the process of Turkey’s accession to the EU. As part of the Renewable Energy Action Plan, Turkey has pledged to increase the proportion of its overall energy capacity from renewable sources by 30% in 2030. By doing so they hope to add 34 GW of hydropower, 20 GW of wind energy, 5 GW of solar energy, 1 GW of geothermal, and 1 GW of biomass.

Taner Yildiz, Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, said he: “Will continue increasing energy generation from its domestic resources, including from renewable sources such as hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass.”

He added that “renewable energy is one of the key elements of the policy and strategy which shape Turkey’s energy agenda.”.

Since 2009, the EBRD has invested almost €5 billion in Turkey via 140 projects in infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, industry and finance. As of 2014, Turkey receives upwards of €1.4 billion in investment, making them the largest single recipient country

in the bank’s network. Almost half of this portfolio of investments are in sustainable energy, with €2.1 billion devoted to 55 projects.

Natasha Khanjenkova, the EBRD’s Managing Director for Turkey and Central Asia, recently moderated a discussion on the investment outlook for Turkish renewable energy markets at the EBRD’s 2016 Annual meeting.

She said that the EBRD are “extremely proud of our achievements in Turkey, and very ambitious about our plans going forward.” She further explained that In order to contribute to sustainable growth, and to the COP 21 climate finance globalization objective, EBRD has also launched its own ‘Green Economy Transition approach (launched September 2015)” adding that “with this new approach the bank aims to increase climate finance from 25% to 40% by 2020.”

Hakan Tokaç, Director General of Turkey’s Undersecretariat of the Treasury, said at the EBRD annual meeting that sustainable energy growth is essential to reaching the High Income Threshold ($12,735 GDP per capita).

Kadri Samsunlu, CFO of Akfen Holding, however, offered a different analysis of the government’s outlook, calling Turkey a “land of contradictions.”

Since 2005, Mr Samsunlu explained that recent government decisions such as “incentivising investment into local coal industries” is just one of the contradictions which shows what the Government is willing to do as part of its accession to the EU.” Mr Samsunlu continues that “the government is intending on doubling A recent KPMG’s investment review concluded that, “after a turbulent year,” the British investment landscape is beginning to show “attractive opportunities emerging that do not necessarily rely on subsidy incentives.”

With “major cost reductions in technologies such as solar and storage, allied with new business models to exploit the benefits they can provide” the report adds that there are clear benefits for “investment prospects for the future both in the UK and internationally.”

Image © S Solberg

Finances for life

June 2016

Business & Finance To move or not to move

I

t will have escaped few people’s attention that the world has recently marked the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s passing. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of the Bard’s most celebrated plays, Lysander utters the immortal line “the course of true love never did run smooth”.

Many home owners involved in the process of selling their properties have argued that the same could be said of exchanging contracts.

But while the process can often be frustrating and lengthy, is there anything property owners preparing for the sale can do to speed things up?

The short answer is yes.

Frequently, the first a solicitor knows about their client’s intention to sell a property is when they receive the sales memorandum from an estate agent with the words “exchange agreed within 10 days” emblazoned across it. Ten days is all well and good if everyone is prepared for your property sale.

A sensible first step is to contact a solicitor you have used previously or who has been recommended to you. Solicitors

have to carry out initial checks to ensure their client is who they say they are, which can take time but the information required is no different from, say, opening a bank account. Be aware that online statements are not sufficient and banks can be slow in providing printed statements.

Where are your title deeds? They may be held by your lender or they may be with the solicitor who handled the purchase of your property. If the deeds can’t be found, copies are often available from the Land Registry. It is useful for your solicitor to review the title to enable them to deal with any potential title issues.

Have you carried out work to your

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

21

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk property? Let your solicitor have copies of any guarantees, planning permissions, building regulation consents and certificates. Often the building regulation completion certificate is forgotten, but a buyer’s solicitor will need to see this.

If you are selling a flat, did you get your landlord’s consent before the works were started (licence for alterations)? This is a requirement in most leases. Similarly, contact the managing agents for a management pack which contains details of the buildings insurance, service charge accounts, general information on the building management and future expenditure.

Your solicitor can provide you with standard property information forms which need to be completed and sent to your buyer’s solicitor with the contract. These act as a useful checklist and will help you identify any missing information. A fittings and contents form provides your buyer with a list of items included in the sale and those

which you are planning to take with you.

Dealing with these matters early on helps to speed up the sale process and could lead to a quick exchange of contracts, although if your buyer isn’t ready and hasn’t instructed a solicitor, there could be a delay. However, you will have done as much as you can to move things forward.

It’s difficult to know whether Shakespeare’s relatives encountered any frustrations when they sold New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon, the only family home he ever bought, in 1670. But as Reiner put it in Henry the Sixth, Part I, “delays have dangerous ends”.

Jayne Kemsley, Private Property Partner, Thrings

Promotion

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June April/May 2016 2011

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

www.KCWToday.co.uk

Education

Are international students accesses value for money?

international students to the UK, the question stands unanswered; are international students happy with the education they get at the country of their choice?

According to the UK International Unit analysis released in March 2016,

By Sasha Fedorenko foreign students rate the UK as a number one country for student satisfaction, ahead of the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany and New Zealand. he City of London enjoys an The report draws on feedback from enviable position as the second 365,754 international students studying largest market share of any global outside their home country. study destination, with 19 percent of The finding show that 91 percent student population who are international. of undergraduate and 89 percent of Yet many of them are in doubt when postgraduate international students considering to study in the capital due to are ‘highly’ satisfied with UK higher the negative experience with current visa education. Moreover, 85 percent of all policies. students would actively recommend their The report published in April 2016 UK study experience, which from 2007 by research programme Hobsons and went up by 5 percent.

British Universities International Liason Whereas notable areas of lower Association (BUILA) complements the satisfaction relate to financial indicators, growing evidence based on the benefits with 68 percent such as cost of that international students bring to the accommodation and careers, has seen a UK and to domestic student. marginal downturn, but scores are better International students not only bring than rival countries. diversity to the country, but also more If one seeks careers advice, work importantly, contribute £11 billion experience and employability skills, there annually towards the UK economy. The is no particular reason to choose one report estimates that the contributions country over another because all five are from subsistence spending such as countries show disappointing satisfaction rent, food and travel and tuition fees paid levels with the professional development directly to the UK universities. opportunities. Although, to continue The breakdown of granular local and to attract the best talent from across regional areas demonstrates how much the world, in greater numbers, the UK each sector gained from international universities must jointly and severally students with more than £800 million to capitalise on its evident strengths in the Northwest and £576 million and for higher education provision, while the East of England including London keeping an eye on innovations and with £2,500 million. improvements elsewhere.

Their positive influence extends beyond the economic profit to the country. Foreign scholars are also reported to directly contribute to the ‘amazing’ course choice available for UK students. Some of the key aspects were that international students enhance the

By Alice Burden experience of UK students, bringing a different perspective to the classroom, enriching campus life through events and As adults, we acknowledge the societies, and allowing UK students to be importance of a healthy work/life exposed to different cultures and ideas. balance. It has become a nirvanaWhile with myriad of advantageous like concept that a number of us are academic and financial factors of perpetually striving for. Many people

T

The Balancing Act

Whatever the reasons, as a result, some children are in danger of being pulled in too many directions in both mind and body. With every second of their lives accounted for, children are missing out on the opportunity to make time-management and commitment decisions for themselves. That decision making process can be a valuable part of growing up, learning responsibility as well as using some of that time to just be people in their own right. Sometimes it’s necessary to let children be children so that the transition into adolescence and then adulthood isn’t rushed and is resultantly, smoother.

I recently discussed the prevalent issue of chronic timetabling with a tutor and he offered the very appropriate analogy of an over-attended plant. As a zealous gardener, one could be in danger of over-supplementing a plant in the bid for the best results. Overfeeding, overwatering or crowding can overwhelm and drown an organism. However, given the right stimulus, sunlight, watering and a bit of space (bearing in mind, this differs from plant to plant), being aware of what that particular plant will benefit from and being attentive to that, will allow it to flourish. Having been a tutor myself, it is distressing to see children under so much pressure that they struggle to achieve anything at optimum level. When this happens they feel that they have failed, thus the extra work has the opposite of the desired effect. Equally, it’s fulfilling to be a part of the nourishing and enriching process.

It is possible to get the balance right. It simply requires some sensitive gardening.

Author works magic with schoolchildren

By Max Feldman

Nouneh Sarkissian, author of children’s book The Magic Buttons, visited the Year 5 class at Our Lady of Victories Catholic Primary School on Thursday 10th May to talk to them about becoming an author.

The visit gave the children a chance to use their imaginations and aspire to be authors. Nouneh talked to the class about what it means to be an author and the variety of writing habits that authors have tried, including Roald Dahl and Ernest Hemingway. She shared some extracts from her book describing the process she went through to turn ideas into writing and the steps it took to get published.

Nouneh encouraged the class of 30 to be creative and asked them to finish a story, The Golden Apricot, in their own words and to draw an imaginative pet from the magic world.

The results were impressive, some lovely words, wonderfully illustrated. At the end of the day over half the class said that they wanted to be authors.

Collection Nouneh Sarkissian

Photograph © UK Study

would be in agreement that hard work and the pressures of employment and other commitments need to be countered with time spent relaxing, unwinding or entertaining oneself, in whatever capacity.

While in theory it follows that the same should be said for children, a number of prominent educational theorists insist that playtime is often, in many ways, just as important as lesson time. For a lot of London youngsters, this doesn’t happen. Their lives are often meticulously timetabled with extra curricular activities. There are various reasons for this over-scheduling, many lead to the all-important need for an impressive array of topics to discuss in interviews for prospective schools.

Authors working directly with schools not only educates children about writing as a career, it’s also a chance for children to learn about creativity and the skill of using their imagination, an alternative and often unexplored career idea. Schools have historically struggled with how to standardise teaching creative writing and often it is ignored in favour of more examination friendly subjects. By putting schoolchildren in contact with genuine authors it helps break down the mystique surrounding writing and helps them get a leg up into a profession that can seem impenetrable.

Nouneh Sarkissian has published 13 children’s books and The Magic Buttons is her first UK publication.

ISBN 9780704373839

020 7738 2348

June 2016

Education St James’ School for Girls EU Referendum At the beginning of the Spring Term this year, members of the Politics Club decided to hold a St James’ EU Referendum to mirror the real Referendum that will take place in June.

The aim of our St James’ version was to educate pupils on wider political topics and to increase awareness of issues in worldwide relations. The run up to the Referendum would also prove to be a lot of fun!

Maeve Cullinan and Viola Moss, Year 12, volunteered to lead the ‘Brexit’ and ‘Brit-IN’ campaigns respectively.

They quickly gathered together small teams who researched the two sides of the debate with rigour and put together an impressive slew of propaganda, from posters and emotive badges to a multitude of red and white balloons bearing the scrawled words ‘Vote Brexit’.

The campaigns became very creative in their approach to winning the hearts of the younger years.

The campaign teams spoke on two occasions in assembly, both sides argued with striking coherence and passion, while exercising respect for all opinions.

Teachers and students probably found

Chelsea Nanny

Scheduling

“I need to see an updated copy of the kids’ term-time weekly timetable. Can you print them off and put them on the wall?

Laminated, obviously. Also iCal me all their new appointments”, says American Mom waving her iPhone as she breezes out of the door.

Managing the Brats’ diaries would be a challenge even for the most efficient PA. I’m not sure I’ll ever master it. No matter how expertly I co-ordinate three school pick-ups, clubs, music lessons, sports and tutors, something, somewhere slips under the radar. As long as it’s not one of the Brats, American Mom doesn’t tend to notice or care. Occasionally she’ll display an interest in their after-school activities, resulting in elevated stress levels for the entire household. Alternatively, she’ll announce that she’s taking them out for supper, with no regard for the running order of the day and still expecting everything else on the list to happen. She hasn’t threatened that today but it’s still early.

The Small One finishes school first and has a swimming lesson programmed five minutes after his lessons end.

Unfortunately, that five minutes, which is allocated walking time from school to the pool, is taken up by his teacher filling me in on how naughty he’s been today. Late, apologising and scoffing seaweed as a

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk that they learnt more from the St James’ EU debate than they had learnt from the UK so far, such was the clarity and strength of the campaigning!

Old-fashioned hustings were staged at break times, where members of each campaign ventured into the playground to talk to the pupils. Many fervent discussions took place across all age groups and the way in which all pupils began to articulate their thoughts so well truly showed the success of this Referendum in raising wider political awareness.

The vote took place on Friday 20th May using official ballot boxes and poll cards. Overall 271 votes were placed, a team of students and teachers counted the votes and the results were announced.

St James voted to remain in the EU with 73.4% of the votes going to the ‘Brit-IN’ campaign!

The members of St James Politics Club have been given the opportunity to further this referendum officially at the UK Parliament in Westminster on the 21st June, where we will put our knowledge and debating skills to the test in ‘The Big EU Youth Debate for Disenfranchised Voices’.

Thank you to Maeve and Viola for all their hard work in running this Referendum and thank you to Dr Craven and Mr Bevan for suggesting the idea and supporting us throughout the campaign.

Hayley Page, Year 12

snack, we arrive at the pool. It seems The Small One has no intention of confining his naughty behaviour to the classroom.

To be fair to him, I packed the Eldest’s swimming trunks by mistake. Backstroke is hard enough without having to simultaneously hold on your dignity. He’s not remotely interested in backstroke anyway, as it happens. The swimming teacher is the second person to tell me today how naughty he is. I sympathise with the Small One. I’d be naughty too if I had a schedule as jam-packed as his.

I don’t hold much hope for the piano lesson.

We pick up the Middle One on the way back. The piano teacher and the tutor are waiting on the doorstep. I deposit one child with each and cook supper while they have their respective sessions and then swap. The Eldest is dropped off from his play-date as the plates are put on the table. “I ate at Ludo’s!” the Eldest says quickly, pushing my latest culinary experiment away from him. “I need to use the computer to do my homework,” he continues, sliding off his chair. I manage to get him to sit for a whole ten minutes before he escapes. To my surprise and relief, he does seem to be doing actual homework. The Middle One does hers while the Small One has a bath. I only just get them all through the bedtime routine before American Mom arrives back from her wine tasting club.

“Did you not take them to the park after school for a run around?” she asks. “You didn’t have time? What have you been doing?”

THE ARTS

AT KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA COLLEGE

GO TO KCC.AC.UK TO VIEW OUR EXHIBITION DATES AND COURSES

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Education Summer Education Listings

16:00 - 19:00 Registration for this event is required. events@linnean.org +44 (0)20 7434 4479 Ext 11

By Rowland Stirling

General Events: The Linnean Society Treasure Tours 01 June 2016 Tours 13:30-14:30 Library@linnean.org +44 (0)20 7434 4479 Ext 24

T

he first days of summer are finally here, and before we all too quickly descend into one more season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, it’s time to better our bodies and minds in preparation for the frigid winter months. Within these lines you will find an array of potential talents waiting to be discovered, from beekeeping to stand-up comedy to handweaving. So if you’re looking to improve your draughtsmanship or writing skills, or make a splash at a party with your knowledge of the Bayeux Tapestry (it’s actually an embroidered cloth don’t you know), there’ll be something here for you.

Remember, it’s never too late to learn a new skill.

City Academy

www.city-academy.com email: info@city-academy.com phone: 0207 042 8833 City Academy courses occur at several different venues across London.

Stand Up Comedy-Beginners & Showcase Wednesdays. 22 June-27 July.

19:00 - 21:30.

Arts Theatre, Leicester Square With Kate Smurthwaite £189.00 Improvisation An introduction Sun 03 July.

10:30 - 17:30.

With Jake Lyons Sadler’s Wells Theatre: Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4TN Cost £129.00 Sat 20 Aug. 10:30-17:30.

With Jake Lyons Umbrella Rooms: 241 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2 8EH. Cost £129.00 Improvisation-Level 1 Thursdays. 01 Sept-20 Oct. Time: 18:15-19:45.

Diorama Arts Studio, Euston.

With Jake Lyons Cost £220.00 Improvisation-Level 2 & Showcase Thursdays. 01 Sept-20 Oct. 19:55-21:25.

Diorama Arts Studio, Euston. £220 With Jake Lyon Cost £215.00

The Handweavers’ Studio

www.handweavers.co.uk Phone: 020 7272 1891 140 Sevensisters Road, London, N7 7NS Introduction to Weaving 25-26 June & 2-3 July (two weekends) With Dawn Willey Cost: £325 (inc £75 deposit) Weaving Clinic 01 July.

15:00-7:00 With Dawn Willey Cost: Free

Humble by Nature

www.humblebynature.com Email: info@humblebynature.com T: 01600 714 595 Upper Meend Farm Penallt Nr Monmouth NP25 4RP Smallholding for Beginners Sat 27 Aug 2016 9:45-16:30 Instructor: Liz Shankland Cost: £120.00 Sustainable Beekeeping Sat 3rd Sep 2016 9:45-16:30 Instructor: Bees for Development Cost: £95

The Linnean Society

www.linnean.org Email: info@linnean.org Phone: +44 (0)20 7434 4479 (ext.13) The Linnean Society of London, Burlington House Piccadlly London W1J 0BF When Antarctica was Green: Fossil Plants reveal Antartica’s Climate History 16 June 2016 18:00-19:00.

Lecturer: Professor Jane Francis Tea will be served in the Library at 17:30 and the event will be followed by a wine reception.

Conversazione 2016 Friday 8 July 2016

The Royal Academy

www.royalacademy.org.uk Phone (box office): 020 7300 8090 Phone (urgent): 020 7300 8000 Burlington House Piccadilly London W1J 0BD From Street Art to Contemporary Art: The evolution of a 21st Century Art Movement 2 July 2016 10:30-17:30 3 July 2016 10:30-17:30 Led by: Cedar Lewisohn Venue: The General Assembly Room Price: £360.00 Creative Writing: A conversation between Sitter and Writer.

5th July 2016, 18:30 - 20:30 12 July 2016, 18:30 - 20:30 Led by Alba Arikha Venue: Belle Shenkman Room The Keeper’s House Burlington House Royal Academy of Arts Price: £250.00 Painting Essentials: The Reality of Abstract painting.

Four week practical course 06 July 2016, 18:00-21:00 13 July 2016, 18:00-21:00 Led by Emyr Williams Venue: The Life Room, Royal Academy Schools Price: £360.00 (including all materials)

The Royal Society

www.royalsociety.org events@royalsociety.org 6-9 Carlton House Terrace London SW1Y 5AG and Chicheley Hall, Chicheley Newport Pagnell Bucks MK16 9JJ Residential Communication and Media Skills This two-day residential course combines the writing about your research course and media skills training.

20-21 June 2016 28-29 November 2016

Cost £900 (includes one night accommodation, dinner and breakfast

City Lit

www.citylit.ac.uk Phone: (enrol-lments): 020 7831 7831 1-10 Keeley St Covent Garden London WC2B 4BA A Journey through Boccaccio’s Decameron 18 June 2016 10:30-16:30 Location: KS Keeley ST Cost: Full: £45 Senior: £35 Concession: £21 Taught by: Francesco Bucciol A Very Wicked Place: Representations of London in Dickens’ later novels 25 June 2016 10:30-16:30 Location: KS - Keeley St Cost: Full: £94 Senior: £66 Concession: £41 Taught by: Peter Brennan Contemporary international writers and national identities 11 June 2016 10:30 - 16:30 Location: KS - Keeley St Cost: Full: £47 Senior: £33 Concession: £21 Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio: Creators of Italian Literature 30 July 2016 10:30 - 16:30 Location: KS-Keeley St Cost: Full: £49 Senior: £34 Concession: £25 Deciphering ancient writings Course Date 16 July 2016 10:30 - 16:30 Location: KS - Keeley St Full fee: £59 Senior: £41 Concession: £36 From Page to Screen: Graphic Novels into Film Course Date 27 July 2016 18:30 - 21:30 Location: KS - Keeley St Full fee: £49 Senior: £49 Concession: £22 Taught by: Dr Cristina Massaccesi From Stage to Screen: Tennessee Williams’ Night of the Iguana Course Date 23 July 2016 10:30 - 16:30 Location: KS - Keeley St Full fee: £49 Senior: £34 Concession: £25 Compiled by Rowland Stirling

020 7738 2348

June 2016

Education

25

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

WESTMINSTER SCHOOL

www.westminster.org.uk

water that will make it unsafe.

for Drowning Prevention Week 2. Look out for weeds.

By Henry Tobias Jones

A

s part of Drowning Prevention week, SPATA, the Swimming Pool and Allied Trades Association is recommending that “all children by the age of 11 years should be able to swim 25 metres unaided.”

From 18-26th June, the Royal Life Saving Society UK, will be campaigning to cut the number of people who drown every year. Approximately 400 people drown in the UK annually, with many thousands more suffering life changing injuries. This equates to one person dying every 20 hours, making death by drowning the third highest cause of accidental child death in the country.

In order to raise awareness, SPATA have released tips showing the importance of water safety: 1. Always check the depth of the

water.

Shallow water can deepen suddenly, therefore if you are not a strong swimmer you should not swim out of your depth and set clear boundaries about where you will swim. Also, don’t jump or dive into water that you cannot see the bottom of, even if you swim there regularly. Rocks and debris could have moved in flowing

One or two weeds aren’t uncommon in slow flowing water, but a spaghetti-like forest can entangle a swimmer’s legs. Try to avoid them. If you do encounter some, slow your swim speed right down and either float using your arms to paddle or turn around slowly.

3. Watch out for strong currents.

The best water has flowing currents and therefore you should be careful to judge the strength of the current to assess if you are a strong enough swimmer to deal with it. Always think about your escape route if you do get washed downstream.

3. Don’t swim alone.

People should ideally swim where there are others to supervise them, as this may reduce the risk of drowning, as there will be someone to rescue or raise an alarm if a swimmer gets into difficulty.

SPATA also say that “being able to swim from an early age can open the door to incredible experiences” later in life.

“Time spent at a swimming class can bring years of new opportunities as you grow.”

As well as being “essential for any watersports such as diving, canoeing, jet skiing, snorkelling, rowing, kitesurfing and wakeboarding,” being able to swim competently could eventually save your life.

16+ GIRLS AND BOYS ENTRY Online registration for entry in 2017 will open in June.

13+ BOYS ENTRY Register now for entry in 2019.

To request a prospectus or find out about Open Days, please call 020 7963 1003 or email registrar@westminster.org.uk For information about entry to Westminster Under School at 7+, 8+ or 11+ please call 020 7821 5788.

Westminster School is a charity (No. 312728) established to provide education.

TAP2962_KCW_TodayAd_126mmWx154mmH_V1.indd 1

First time for Queen’s scholars This year, for the first time in the long history of Westminster School, girls can apply to become Queen’s Scholars.

Queen’s Scholarships were established

by Queen Elizabeth I in 1560. Her aim, she said, was that ‘the youth which is growing to manhood, as tender shoots in the wood of our state, shall be liberally instructed in good books to the greater honour of our state.’ When there is a King on the throne the scholars are known as King’s Scholars because they are always the scholars of the reigning monarch. At every coronation since

25/11/2015 14:06

1685 the Queen’s or King’s Scholars have greeted the arrival of the new monarch at Westminster Abbey with shouts of ‘Vivat Regina!’ or ‘Vivat Rex!’ Over the centuries the Scholars have included John Locke, John Dryden, Charles Wesley and A. A. Milne.

The four girl Scholars elected every year will live in the same boarding house as the boy Scholars. It is called College and it’s a beautiful 18th century building, designed by Lord Burlington of Chiswick House fame, which overlooks the garden of Westminster Abbey with the Houses of Parliament beyond. Boys are elected to be Scholars when they are thirteen but girls join Westminster School for the Sixth Form when they are sixteen. Registration for Sixth Form entry in 2017, and for the new Queen’s Scholarships, will open in June.

Photograph © Westminster School

Learn to Swim

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June April/May 2016 2011

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

www.KCWToday.co.uk

Literature

Patronage & Publishing in the Life of John Clare (1793-1864)

by Emma Trehane MA, Ph.D

Seize The Day

By Max Feldman

I

n Cynthia Ozick’s introduction to Seize The Day she names author Saul Bellow as the heir to the Hemingway, though not quite in the standard sense of that phrase. By the time of Seize The Day’s release Hemingway’s technique of surgically cutting out any extraneous detail (“clotting the curds” as he called it) out of his sentences had been so copied, that the style’s freshness had been drowned under a sea of imitators.

generous and noble exertions he has been raised from misery and despondency.”

Clare worked hard to try and appease both parties but the dispute continued until Taylor begrudgingly removed the offending passages. While a new age of modern editorial control was beginning to emerge it was clear that aristocratic patronage still held some sway.

A bitter rivalry soon ensued between Radstock and Taylor resulting in Clare sinking into deeper poverty on account of both parties withholding payments and what the poet describes in his letters to Emmerson as ‘blue devils’ and “frightful visons”. While there were many factors that contributed to Clare’s madness and eventual removal to High Beech Asylum in 1837, the incident between his publisher and patron had clearly left him scarred.

For further information about John Clare’s poetry visit the John Clare Society Website.

illiam Waldegrave, later Admiral Lord Radstock (1753-1825) is perhaps best known in literary circles as the rather despotic patron of the Northamptonshire peasant poet, John Clare. Radstock was of noble birth and descended from King James II. In his naval days he served alongside Horatio Nelson among other renowned naval leaders. Unlike Nelson history has not looked too kindly upon Radstock on account his iron-fisted

rule. He was also a founding member of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, an organisation whose members were concerned with the improvement of moral standards, relief for the poor, especially among the working and rural classes, and the removal of blasphemous and licentious literature from public circulation.

When Clare first came to fame in 1820, Eliza Emmerson, a neighbour of Radstock’s and someone who became Clare’s confidant and loyal friend, approached the old admiral in a poem she wrote for The Morning Post calling for him to “Take this little volume to thy care/And be the friend of Genius, and of Clare!”. Radstock took up the role of patronage with great alacrity much to the annoyance of John Taylor (1781-1864), Clare’s editor and publisher. Taylor was also Keats’s publisher and self-made man.

He was less concerned with propriety than the making of new poetry.

Clare’s first volume, Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery was a resounding success.

However, while preparing a third edition of Poems Descriptive, a letter from Radstock arrived at Taylor’s Fleet Street office demanding that “If you are determined to serve poor Clare; you must do your duty! You must tell him to expunge certain highly objectionable passages in his 1st Volm before the 3rd Edition appears; passages, wherein, his then depressed state hurried him not only into error, but into the most flagrant acts of injustice; by accusing those of pride, cruelty, vices, and ill directed passions who are the very persons; by whose truly

Seize The Day (and its predecessor The Adventures of Augie March) struck out in a new direction that was equally as electric as when Hemingway first exploded onto the scene, with a notable advantage: No-one could even work out what it was Bellow was doing, let alone how to rip it off.

There are echoes of other novels and cultures to be found throughout Seize The Day: a hint of the dissatisfaction with 20th century life from The Great Gatsby, a resolute refusal to separate the trivial from the metaphysical that always turns up in the works of the greats of Russian literature (For example; a character complains that in New York if “you wanted to talk about a glass of water, you had to start back with God creating the Heavens and the Earth”) and a healthy dose of the Willy Loman’s trapped and frightened mania from Death of a Salesman. But rather than read as a summation of those influences, when

they are assembled it flows together into something rather unprecedented.

The book takes place over one day in the life of Tommy Wilhelm, one of those sheepish yet not uncharming men who are condemned with the irresistible ability to ferret out the single worst course of action to take and then grimly hone in on it with the single-minded obsession of a cruise missile. Having dropped out of university to find fame in Hollywood at the mild encouragement of an inept talent scout (who pegged him to play “the type who loses the girl”) before shuttling through various personally unfulfilling (if occasionally lucrative) jobs, the novel finds him unemployed, living in a hotel and haemorrhaging his last seven hundred dollars.

Despite how depressing this summation sounds there is actually something peculiarly vibrant and lively about the novel (which perhaps has some shared DNA with the Jewish

idea that “laughing and trembling” are only separated by the thinnest of lines, if indeed they are separated at all). As Wilhelm reviews his life’s mistakes, humour is rarely far away: When reflecting on how he changed his name from Wilhelm Adler to Tommy Wilhelm he comforts himself with the thought that “it was a good thing perhaps that he had not become a success as Tommy since that would not have been a genuine success. Wilhelm would have feared that not he but Tommy had bought it off, cheating Wilky of his birthright.”

Bellow’s prose manages the rare art of being intensely lyrical whilst never interfering with the flow of the narrative, we are given a doorway straight into Tommy Wilhelm’s dusty uptown Broadway, a place as evocative and fully realised as Flannery O’Connor’s Deep South or Nathanael West’s Hollywood.

Redemption is a thing to be prized and Seize The Day is a prize in itself.

W

020 7738 2348

June 2016

Poetry

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

27

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

Bristol’s Shakespeare

T

HIS MONTH BRISTOL IS HOSTING AN EVENT on the 30 June celebrating the renovation of the home of the eighteenth century poet Thomas Chatterton. The poet, described as ‘Bristol’s Shakespeare’, was born in 1752. Raised by his mother Sarah and sister Mary (his father died 15 weeks before Chatterton’s birth) in the parish of St Mary Redcliffe, he demonstrated a precocious talent for writing poetry from a very early age. By the age of eleven he was contributing poems to Felix Farley’s Bristol Journal. Chatterton left school at the age of fourteen to become apprenticed to an attorney. In his biography Edward Meyerstein notes that Chatterton, eager to feed his literary appetite, would borrow books on Science, Arithmetic, Astronomy, History and Literature from the many merchants and tradesmen that lived close by, some of whom became his patrons. The Chatterton family had long held the office of Sexton at St Mary Redcliffe, the ancient church, that still dominates the Bristol city skyline. It was here that the boy familiarised himself with medieval writing through studying old bibles, ecclesiastics, ancient music folios and developed a love of antiquity that would seal his literary reputation as poet and forger.

Chatterton became interested in some old wooden chests that he found in the muniments room at St Mary Redcliffe. Naturally quizzical and eager to learn what treasures lay inside he opened the chests to discover scraps of ancient parchment that had lain untouched for centuries. Around the age of twelve he began to write poems in a medieval style on the parchment. In typical mischievous schoolboy fashion Chatterton showed the poem Elinoure and Juga to his school master Thomas Phillips, passing it off as the work of a 15th century poet. Here’s an extract of the poem: ONNE Ruddeborne bank twa pynynge Maydens sate, Theire teares faste dryppeynge to the waterre cleere; Echone bementynge for her absente mate.

Who atte Seyncte Albonns shouke the morthynge speare.

The nottebrowne Elinoure to Juga fayre Dydde speke acroole , wythe languishment of eyne, Lyche roppes of pearlie dew, lemed the quyvryng brine.

ELINOURE. O gentle Juga! heare mie dernie plainte, To fyghte for Yorke mie love ys dyghte in stele; O maie ne sanguen steine the whyte rose peyncte, Maie good Seyncte Cuthberte watche Syrre Roberte wele.

Moke moe thanne deathe in phantasie I feele; See! see! upon the grounde he bleedynge lies; Inhild some joice of lyfe, or else mie deare love dies.

JUGA. Systers in sorrowe, on thys daise-ey’d banke, Where melancholych broods, we wyll lamente; Be wette wythe mornynge dewe and evene danke; Lyche levynde okes in eche the odher bente, Or lyche forlettenn halles of merriemente, Whose gastlie mitches holde the traine of fryghte , Where lethale ravens bark, and owlets wake the nyghte.

No moe the miskynette shall wake the morne, The minstrelle daunce, good cheere, and morryce plaie; No moe the amblynge palfrie and the horne Shall from the lessel rouze the foxe awaie; I’ll seke the foreste alle the lyve-longe daie; Alle nete amenge the gravde chyrche glebe wyll goe, And to the pallante spryghtes lecture mie tale of woe.

Whan mokie cloudis do hange upon the leme Of leden Moon, ynn sylver mantels dyghte; The tryppeynge Faeries weve the golden dreme Of Selyness , whyche flyethe wythe the nyghte; Thenne (botte the Seynctes forbydde!) gif to a spryte Syrr Rychardes forme ys lyped, I’ll holde dystraughte Hys bledeynge claie-colde corse, and die eche daie ynn thoughte.

In the years that followed Chatterton conceived the romances of Thomas Rowley, a fifteenth century monk from St Mary Redcliffe. These poems became known as the Rowley forgeries and renowned for fooling a large number of Bristol merchants and scholars into believing that Chatterton had discovered a new literary genius. Hoping to gain the attention of the poet Horace Walpole, Chatterton sent specimens of the Rowley poems. However, on learning that Chatterton was only sixteen years old and that the poems might be forgeries Walpole rejected the young poet. In turn Chatterton decided to move to London to try his hand at writing periodical literature and politics. However, he grew depressed and earned very little money from his writing.

It has been argued that this resulted in his suicide at

the age of seventeen in 1770, from arsenic poisoning in Holborn, London. That Chatterton committed suicide has never been proved, however, his death resulted in numerous creative responses and in part inspired the Romantic movement and the rise of poets like Byron, Keats, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and Blake to name a few.

Included in this month’s poetry page are some examples of posthumous artistic responses to Chatterton’s death. The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw a plethora of artistic outpourings celebrating his life and death. In 1815 John Keats wrote the following Sonnet To Chatterton and also dedicated his book of poems Endymion to the young poet.

O CHATTERTON! how very sad thy fate!

Dear child of sorrow - son of misery!

How soon the film of death obscur’d that eye, Whence Genius mildly flash’d, and high debate.

How soon that voice, majestic and elate, Melted in dying numbers! Oh! how nigh Was night to thy fair morning. Thou didst die A half-blown flow’ret which cold blasts amate.

But this is past: thou art among the stars Of highest Heaven: to the rolling spheres Thou sweetly singest: naught thy hymning mars, Above the ingrate world and human fears.

On earth the good man base detraction bars From thy fair name, and waters it with tears.

William Wordsworth contemplates the life and death of Chatterton in his poem Resolution and Independence written in 1802 and through the poem is responsible for Chatterton reputation as ‘the marvellous boy”.

I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous Boy, The sleepless Soul that perished in his pride; Of Him who walked in glory and in joy Following his plough, along the mountain-side: By our own spirits are we deified: We Poets in our youth begin in gladness; But thereof come in the end despondency and madness.

Coleridge too, paid homage to Chatterton and describes his death in Monody on the Death of Chatterton (1790) When Want and cold Neglect had chill’d thy soul, Athirst for Death I see thee drench the bowl!

Thy corpse of many a livid hue On the bare ground I view, Whilst various passions all my mind engage And Southey edited the first edition of the Works of Thomas Chatterton in 1803.

In the twentieth century Vita Sackville-West memorialises Chatterton in her play of the same name (1909) Do I? who can tell? At any rate, I know what it may mean to leave the earth In spirit, while the body, dead machine, Unconsciously records the spirit’s thoughts.

My eyes, my hands, are strangers to me then, I scarcely know what they will make me do.

I am not present, and my will is gone; Some other will compels me to obey, And sways me,—hell or heaven-born, who knows?

Chatterton expert John Goodridge described Sackville West as celebrating ‘the almost privileging alienation, vulnerability and otherness of the creative artist’ in her play.

The life and death of Chatterton has also been the subject of several artists. On display at the Tate Gallery is an oil painting on canvas from 1856 of the Death of Chatterton by the English Pre-Raphaelite Henry Wallis.

The likeness, however, was not based on Chatterton but another young man called George Meredith.

Rarely has an artist or poet inspired so much reaction from members of his own discipline and over so many centuries!

Compiled and edited by Emma Trehane MA, Ph.D

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June April/May 2016 2011

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

have a dream you have to be determined and you can’t be side tracked.” Despite his father’s concerns that “hospitality wasn’t a proper profession”, David started his career as a manager for the British Transport Hotels. “I thought they would give me the best training as a manager” but after running a very successful hotel overlooking the Isle of Skye, he moved to the other end of the country to open the first ever gastropub in Yattendon in

Berkshire. It was here that David really hit his stride as a “bolshy” innovative business man. He has fantastic stories about reinventing the pub food industry, and introducing fresh coffee to astonished country locals.

However, in 1969 David bought the plot which became The Capital Hotel.

“At the time, everyone said ‘It’s too small for a hotel David, no one will come’ but they did” he tells me “and it’s actually rather nice to say that now that they have been proven wrong.” In almost 40 years the Capital has gone from strength to strength, not altogether surprisingly as the Queen has been one of their regular diners throughout the years.

Nevertheless, the city has changed dramatically since the early 70s. When I ask David about how Knightsbridge has changed during the hotel’s lifetime he advises that I ask his daughter who has been sat quietly beside her father, enjoying her father’s stories as much as I was.

Kate Levin steps in at this point to speak up for all that is positive about the changes taking place in Knightsbridge, saying: “I still think that is very alive, it’s never gone out of fashion.” Kate almost literally grew up in the hotel. Since the Capital really is a family some of the staff have seen her growing up; “they’ve seen all my worst fashion years”, she jokes.

Kate is David’s daughter and now also the hotel’s General Manager, securing the Capital Hotel as a family business.

www.KCWToday.co.uk

The Capital Family Dynasty

By Henry Tobias Jones

B

ritishness, and even more so Englishness, is suffering from a crisis of confidence today.

While once we were fond of our cream teas, brollies, and stiff upper lips, now so much of what was considered quintessentially British almost seems like a dream tourists have invented for us.

Nestled sweetly into a plot on 22 Basil Street, Knightsbridge, The Capital Hotel is, however, “unashamedly English”.

The man responsible for preserving this curiously traditional island of Englishness is David Levin MBE. As the owner and manager, David has incubated the hotel’s philosophy for over 40 years, maintaining the very best traditions of Britain’s hospitality industry.

His life’s ambition of opening a “grand hotel in miniature” of his own in London was released in 1971 when The Capital Hotel opened its doors for the very first time.

“My wife and daughter may disagree,” David tells me, “but when I was younger I was incredibly bolshy. I think if you

The Capital “Royal” Afternoon Tea The Queen regularly dined in the Capital’s restaurant and tea room. So, when the hotel decided to mark the occasion of Her Majesty’s 90th birthday with a special “Royal” Afternoon Tea, you can rest assured they are doing so with her particular tastes firmly in mind.

To begin, Caesar, the most affable master cocktail maker on the planet, will fix you a Royal Cocktail. So called because it was the Queen Mother’s favourite: Gordon’s Gin, Dubonnet and homemade Lemonade. As far as first steps go, this one’s a doozy. It is refreshing and if I am honest, I could have easily seen off a couple more; indisputable proof that the Queen Mother was a woman of taste.

A rather splendid tea caddy will then be planted in front of you. On Sundays the tea is served in the restaurant from a Silver trolley (well worth experiencing in and of itself ). The formula of sandwiches and sweet treats, followed by scones, all consumed between sips and splashes of hot tea is so traditional it needs no introduction. But the Capital’s twist is its

theme of a “Royal Picnic.”

The sandwiches are at the same time very hard to get wrong, and incredibly difficult to make innovative. Will Torrent and the Capital Hotel have done a wonderful job of making them .

Coronation chicken makes an obligatory appearance but it is by far one of the best you will have. Likewise the chive butter in the cucumber sandwiches makes them so much more vital than any I have eaten before or since.

From the minute you begin speaking to Kate, you are bowled over by just what a charming, and elegantly collected woman she is. But, whereas her father is, in his own words: “Bolshy” and proud to speak his mind, Kate is very much the moderating presence at his side.

While its is undoubtedly David’s force of personality that made the Capital Hotel possible, it is this relationship, including the professional, modern elements that Kate brings to the equation, that make the Capital Hotel so unique.

When I ask David how his professional relationship with his daughter works he takes just a small moment to think before he answers. “She just fits perfectly,” he says adding “that’s the highest compliment in my language.”

David explains to me that the worst thing in many modern hotels is that they are just too big to be run as a proper hospitality business. He says: “If you have a general manager spending most of their time filling in reports and going cap in hand to the board of directors the first person to suffer is the guests.”

To illustrate just how important his guest’s happiness is to David, towards the end our interview, a couple of the hotel’s loyal customers come over to thank Kate and David. I cannot help but overhear one of the two ladies say “I want to move in here for ever.” When David sits down he turns to me and says: “I hope you heard that, it cost me £5 to get her to say that loud enough for you to hear!”

The sweet treats and scones are a hazardously moreish experience.

The Capital will gladly replenish your plates because they want you to feel at home, and if you enjoy their desserts anyway near as much as I did, you will leave Knightsbridge feeling rather full up. In particular, their regal purple biscuits are something you will ask to buy a packet of. If they could package and sell those biscuits they would put every shortbread, hobnob, and jaffa cake out of business for good.

Selecting a tea at the Capital is vital to your experience. Because it is a royal tradition, the Earl Grey will almost definitely be the choice to pair with your sandwiches. However, by the time you are done it will be far better to match your cakes and desserts with a lighter and more fragrant tea. The Jasmine Pearl was particularly light, but by far the best tea to pair with your treats is the Blackberry and Hibiscus. As they sell Jing teas in the Capital, I would also invest in a pot to take home.

At £35 with a ‘Royal Cocktail” the experience will give you remarkably affordable quality.

Moreover, the Capital’s Royal Afternoon Tea is an overdue dose of true regality. It isn’t a nouveauriche mid-shopping spree tea, it’s something I think the Queen would be very proud to put her name to.

Photographs © Capital Hotel

Photographs © Capital Hotel

Dining Out

June 2016

Dining Out

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

THE all day bar & brasserie

O

fficially London’s longest restaurant housed in a 200-foot long arch, COUNTER is THE all-day bar & brasserie where Manhattan emerges in Vauxhall.

Located just seconds from the main line and Victoria Line stations, COUNTER brings a touch of New York’s ‘happening’ Meatpacking District

By Max Feldman

St Luke’s Kitchen can be found under the relatively newly opened LIB-RARY on St Martin’s Lane, as the seeming random ‘-’ in LIB-RARY probably tells you, there are a few differences from the council-run kind. A private members club complete with a fully stocked bar and jumping live music isn’t exactly virgin territory for the heart of Westminster. My associate and I weren’t there to soak up the nightlife so regretfully we finished off our (thoroughly excellent) Old Fashioneds and headed down into St Luke’s Kitchen, the club’s attached restaurant (which is open to non-members provided they book) in a pleasantly cosy nook under the main bar. With enough varieties of wine available to float a cruise liner, there seems little danger of anyone mistaking St Luke’s for a church, but Head Chef, Gavin Lambert has made every effort to make things as heavenly as possible.

In keeping with the Library theme of the upstairs club our menus were partially concealed inside books, a charming little quirk that seemingly every other patron of the restaurant was

to what is Europe’s largest urban regeneration area and the top casual dining destination.

This 175-cover restaurant serves up an eclectic feast of freshly made (and seasonal) French and American inspired dishes throughout the day.

Think colourful plates, bold flavours and freshness.

What’s more, COUNTER has just launched its weekend bottomless brunch.

For just £29 (but discounted to £25 until the end of August), select two plates from a tempting three-course menu of delicious and creative dishes (with some wonderful combos which are daringly

different) and let the Bellinis or Prosecco flow freely for 90 minutes.

COUNTER’s impressive four-sided, brass-topped bar shakes up some of the Capital’s best tasting cocktails to sip on, whether it’s a top Tom Collins, a magnificent Martini or the quintessential Cosmo. Also check out COUNTER’s carefully curated wine list, comprised exclusively of French and American wines, as well as an extensive selection of laid-back craft beers.

Dubbed ‘Deco meets Disco’, the look and ambiance is a trend-setting take on glamour, bringing the traditional brasserie firmly into the 21st century.

able to discover within seconds whilst I sat gormlessly waiting for the menu to materialise until one of the waiters tactfully took pity on me. St Luke’s menu is fairly unique in that it rotates every 6-8 weeks based on cookbooks as the restaurant works with author chefs and publishers to come up with a new menu that suits the style of the guest chef in question. For our visit we started with the Quail 3 Ways, Onion Confit and Crispy Bacon and the Seared

Tuna Loin, Pickled Mooli, Cucumber and Radish; of which the quail was the definite standout, moist and satisfying without being too gamey and perfectly complemented by the onion confit (the crispy bacon might have erred too much towards the “crispy” rather than the “bacon” but that’s nit-picking), the tuna loin was equally delicious but there just wasn’t enough of it to properly savour.

St Luke’s pride themselves on pairing the right wine to the right courses and

Combining the heritage of Vauxhall’s historic reputation for pleasure-seeking with its emerging skyline and recent development projects in the area, glittering antiqued mirrors and a palette of lacquered grey tones are highlighted with brass detailing and custom-made lighting set off against reclaimed teak floors.

Finally, BackCOUNTER Lounge (housed in the same Arch as COUNTER but with its own private entrance) brings cabaret back to its Vauxhall home with Sassy Saturdays, a seductive cabaret dinner and show hosted every second Saturday of the month and stages some of London’s most edgiest performers.

What’s more, every Thursday is BackCOUNTER Swing (cocktails & jazz) from 7pm-10pm (free entrance) whilst Friday’s is Friday Night Fever, a live set with DJ Chillz (8pm-1am) with happy hour from 5pm-9pm.

Photograph © Counter

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

COUNTER Vauxhall Arches

Eat your words at LIB-RARY

29

COUNTER Vauxhall Station 7-11 South Lambeth Place London SW8 1SP Monday – Thursday: 7am-12:30am Friday: 7am-1:30am Saturday: 9am-1:30am Sunday: 9am-12:30am T: +44 20 3693 9600 countervauxhall.london www.counterrestaurants.com by the time our mains emerged, ties were being loosened (or at least mine was, my companion had forgotten he wasn’t wearing one and seemed to be trying to tear open his shirt collar). I ravenously tore through my Roasted pork tenderloin, crispy Parma ham, blue cheese croquette and apple purée, the undisputed jewel of the meal (and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t even like blue cheese), the pork was mouthwateringly tender and juicy (and there was plenty of it) and whilst the Parma ham was certainly crisp, it didn’t feel like it could be utilized as a knife in a pinch, like the bacon. My companion opted for the Pan fried sea bass, chard, speck and lentil dressing, of which I particularly favoured the lentil dressing, (my friend was fiercely protective of his main after his tuna loin, so I could only sneak small tastes when he was otherwise concerned with his wine. Thankfully this was a fairly regular event). Closing with a decadently rich Dark Chocolate Mousse we were practically rolled out of the tasteful interior of St Luke’s and into the chaos of Theatreland. Considering the locale, the prices (around £16.00 for a main) seemed more than reasonable and it’s nice to step off the busy streets and find a little peace and quiet in the LIB-RARY. LIB-RARY Private Members Club Martin’s, 112 St Martin’s Ln, London WC2N 4BD T: 020 3302 7912

Photograph © LIB-RARY

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June April/May 2016 2011

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

In the right venue though, it’s very relaxing having that space, so I rolled back a little deeper into my seat to make the most of it. As the smiling waitress caught my eye, I hoped I didn`t look too smug. What shall I do with my time? Is this when writers compose those never ending I`d-like-to-thank or I-couldn’thave-written-this-without pages? I recently read a book with 3 sides of largely meaningless names and credits, but no doubt Mr Iain Crapper from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was dead chuffed at the mention of his expertise in identifying Husky poo.

My pal came ambling in to break this reverie. He’s a blend of nervous energy and intense stares, helpful, obliging, sometimes wearing and deceptively

intelligent. After a quick round of “hi, howare yas?” he rattles out his order of Dorset Crab, Avocado and Pink Grapefruit, followed by the Risotto. I’m going for the Pan Fried Chicken Livers, Bacon, Peas & Mint, followed by the Lemon Sole.

There are two schools of thought on the chicken livers; you can keep the heat even producing a creamy, almost foie gras texture, or you can turn up the wick and major on that lovely caramelised edge.

Being a bit more inclined towards fine dining the Arch goes for the former, but the bacon does its stuff to provide the essential balance. This was a very decent sized starter, probably considered a light lunch by the ladies who do that sort of thing.

Marco’s crab was a more delicate offering, and he was pleased. Clean, citrusy and reminiscent of beachside shacks selling today’s catch. Another couple of ounces saved, and much more fun than some censorious diet. We take a brief pause to top up the beer, refresh the glass of white and await the mains.

The Risotto is almost translucently pale, the wild garlic, asparagus, pea & radish not staining its purity at all. I have my doubts about something this white being able to harbour any flavour, but the chefs pulled off a neat trick, and Marco tucks in. You might wonder if putting Risotto on a British inspired menu is quite within the rules, but the Italians will no doubt point to the contents, and

they have a point. I try a bit, sullying it with some salt and pepper. It’s a trade off in looks, but for me it pumps up the taste.

The name Sole allegedly derives from the Roman for sandal. Lemon Sole is lighter in colour than Dover Sole, and shaped ever so vaguely like, guess what, a lemon! It’s also a lot more widespread and sustainable than old Solea Solea, (the Dover Sole) which might have the bigger reputation, but cousin Lemon, treated well can make a very tasty dish. I have to admit to a little bias here, as the addition of little brown shrimp, dill, cucumber and a horseradish sauce was always going to result in a clean plate.

We split our puds, going halves each on the Lemon Posset, and the Chocolate Fondant. It was a tough call, the fondant being predictably decent, and lifted by the very more-ish salted caramel ice cream and nut brittle, whilst the posset had the curled sesame and poppy biscuit and raspberries to give it a bit of zing.

Our vote went first to the ice cream, then the posset, then the nut brittle.

Gold, silver and bronze medals awarded, it was time for coffee, before heading out into a balmy summer evening. London can be so wonderful on nights like this.

and other produce into beautiful flowers and shapes, and the delicate (kohlrabi?) lotus flower presented atop a crunchily and lavish Yun Neua was a fine example of the art. A rose accompanied the soft shell crab, together with batons of ginger and chilli, and M and I polished off the lot.

Nearly everything comes with these delicate budding delights, but before this sounds like a late report from the Chelsea Flower Show, let me assure you that whilst the decoration delighted the eye, the contents also delighted the

tastebuds. Somehow this kind of food seems made for sharing, and even in the salubrious surroundings of Nipa we didn’t feel as though etiquette was being transgressed. A mains of Kai Phad Med Ma Muang Him Ma Parn, (how they loved my attempt to pronounce all of that!) or chicken with cashew nuts to the non-linguists amongst us went happily with the Stir fried prawns, chilli and basil leaves, a Pad Thai and some outstanding coconut rice.

Fried banana with chocolate sauce and ice cream must be a bit of a

concession to western influence, and for me the outer pancake was a bit too dominant, but it did little to undermine a charming evening. The service was impeccable, we had a glimpse of the park through the trees and all we had to do now was time it right to get off the island.

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Hunter 486 at The Arch

By David Hughes

I

have been here before, but with a new menu on offer and a friend I`ve been meaning to catch up with round the corner, the time was right for a re-visit.

He was running a few minutes late, so over a beer I began to ponder these spare moments in time. It’s rare these days to have just nothing to do: angst over something usually kicks in, as distracted hands check phones for signal strength, and pat pockets for wallets and IPads.

Hunter 486 at The Arch, 50 Gt Cumberland Place.

Reservations info@thearchlondon.com, bookatable, opentable, or just call on 020 7724 4700 and speak to a real person.

Nipa Thai

By David Hughes

Nipa Thai is on the first floor at the Lancaster Hotel, the modernist block that pretty much makes up the whole central island formed by the Bayswater Rd, Lancaster Terrace & Westbourne St. Crossing from the sanctuary of the other side of the street can require the deftness of a Toreador at the height of rush hour, but as you enter the hotel a much calmer atmosphere prevails.

Up on the first floor, things get even more solicitous as we are escorted to our window seat. Coats taken, water attended to, beer and wine on the way, the Maître D asks if there is anything else we would like. I’m tempted, but I don’t think an impromptu massage before we eat will somehow be appropriate, and unfortunately he’s not quite sure which numbers I should pick for tonight’s lottery. Sadly, I’ve heard that one before.

Nipa Thai promises the utmost fidelity to traditionally prepared cuisine.

I can’t pretend to be encyclopædic on the matter, and I rather suspect that some regional variations occur, but the allfemale team under head chef Sanguan Parr certainly produce some beautifully presented and stunning food. It’s a uniquely Eastern habit to carve radish

Nipa Thai, Lancaster London Hotel, Lancaster Terrace, London W2 2TY Reservations on 020 7551 6039

Photographs © David Hughes

Dining Out

June 2016

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

Food & Flowers

31

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

This Month’s Recipe Saltimbocca & Pepperonata By Limpet Barron Serves 4 Ingredients 800g of thinly sliced veal 8 slices of prosciutto 12 sage leaves 8 red bell or other sweet peppers, grilled, peeled & de-seeded 6 Italian plum vine tomatoes, grilled, peeled & de-seeded 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 1 red onion, finely chopped Olive oil Salt and black pepper Sweat the chopped onion, garlic and 2tbls olive oil over a low heat until soft, taking care not to burn. Add the tomatoes, and allow to simmer until reduced by 25%. Add the peppers and cook for a further 20 mins. Grill the prosciutto until crisp, and set aside.

Shallow fry the sage leaves in a pan until they darken, then carefully place onto kitchen paper to drain off any excess oil.

Lightly coat both sides of the veal with olive oil and season, before pan frying.

Cooking until just faintly pink in the middle will give the most succulent dish.

In the vase:

Fish:

On the plate

Delphiniums

Cornish Sea Bass,

Asparagus, still

Peonies

Sardines,

magnificent

Sweet Peas

Pollack,

Broad Beans

Roses

Sea & River Trout

Globe artichokes Radishes

Meat & Game:

Sweet peppers

Lamb,

Broad beans

Wood Pigeon

Gooseberries Strawberries

TANGERINE DREAM

C afé Fo o d & Wi n e Fl ow ers Ev ent s The renowned Tangerine Dream café based in Chelsea Physic Garden SW3 is currently recruiting for:

• An apprentice to help with admin & bookings • Assistant chef • Full and part time waiting staff

Our season runs until the end of October, with opportunities after this for key staff.

Please email David at tangerinefig@aol.com with a brief resumé and contact details.

Photographs © David Hughes

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June April/May 2016 2011

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

www.KCWToday.co.uk

Gentlemans’ Fashion

Cravat Club Arlo Woven Silk Day Cravat Colour: Carmine Red with Brilliant White Polka Dots RRP £95 http://www.cravat-club.com

The cravat is dead, long live the cravat

By Mr e.e. Sartorius

TM Lewin Gold Paisley Cravat Colour: Gold with printed paisley design RRP £32.50 http://www.tmlewin.co.uk

C

ravats are the opposite of an essential. It is for this reason I ever so slightly balked when my editor asked me for my first Sartorius column in the paper to ebe ntitled: “Mens Essential Accessories: Cravats.”

In fact, for the first week of research I rather felt the proverbial noose tightening.

Unfortunately, for the longest time, I have associated the Cravat with a bowlful of Jaguar car keys and what I imagine are some rather horsey looking middle aged swingers. But as a scruffy young American once said: “the times they are a’ changin’.”

Once again the Cravat is in full swing (pardon my pun). What’s more, they are one of many steps being taken by fashionable gents to break the cold, tedious grip of male fashion slovenliness (MFS © ee. Sartorius).

Today many of the rules that once governed male attire are gone. Just a couple of weeks ago I read an article in the Spectator decrying the death of the business suit tie. Even for work, men can comfortably arrive wearing just jeans and a t-shirt (you know who you are). If we had carried on the decline we were on, very soon I think we might have had men earnestly fighting for the freedom to be oppressed and restricted by their mortal foe: trousers.

But through the cracks of fashionable lawlessness, has grown inventiveness and a liberality to revive items like the cravat. I will admit when I saw a young man trying on cravats with a t-shirt I did wonder if this was always for the best, but who am I to judge? Moreover, as with any regime change, ‘what comes after’ is giving young gentlemen the chance to try clothes they might only have imagined wearing to a 90s wedding or Royal Ascot.

The cravat is firmly in this camp of accessory. It is as unattainable as a top hat, requires the bravery needed to tie a bow tie, and provides the wearer with the pointless flair of a pocketwatch.

“To the uninitiated it looks like an inverted silk hanky bib, shoved down the front of your shirt.”

But the cravat has previously been so resolutely tied to ‘occasional wear’ that most wouldn’t think of it as just an alternative to wearing a tie. Nevertheless, today ties and cravats are seen as interchangeable.

But all neckwear was not created The cravat is actually older than the tie, in fact, it’s the tie’s earliest ancestor, a living fossil. In the 16th and 17th century.

Named after the French military unit (who pioneered the look): The Croats (Croatians). Cravats went on to become so popular that they effectively killed the ruff. Just as soon as everyone was wearing them, men needed their cravats to set them apart. Thus the colourful cravat was born. The bloom of colours and patterns gracing the necks of gentlemen soon turned into extravagant knots and new ways of tying the cravat, which,

inevitably, was how the tie came into being.

While the 60s and 70s remade the cravat for a new generation, the modern cravat is not a psychedelic kerchief anymore. Now they are for the man who makes the effort to stand out, complete with the stamp of authority that comes with wearing what most people think of as formal wear 365 days a year.

On your behalf I have tirelessly sought out the best cravats London has to offer. But do remember chaps, if you do have a healthy bed of chest hair the cravat will most certainly not be required.

You are a man after all; covering one of the few definitively manly parts of your body with a floral paisley cravat is perhaps a little too close to selfcastration.

Forzieri Lavender Floral Print Silk Ascot Colour: Lavender RRP £51.83 http://www.uk.forzieri.com

Ede and Ravenscroft Circle Outline Printed Silk Cravat Colour: Red/white RRP £55 http://shop.edeandravenscroft.com

Ede and Ravenscroft Floral Emblem Diamond Silk Cravat Colour: Navy/Burgundy RRP £45 http://shop.edeandravenscroft.com

020 7738 2348

June 2016

Horology

Smart at a price

By Jonathan Macnabb

T

he sales figures released at last year’s Baselworld Fair, threw a bright flash of light over the comfortable hauteur of the Swiss Watch Manufacturing Industry.

This was as a result of the unforeseen success after the release of the Apple watch which, with the other brands of wrist-wearable smartwatches, sold 8.1 million units against 7.9 million Swiss watches according to figures for the last quarter of 2015.

After the traditionally dismissive attitude of the Swiss (“Is that a phone on your wrist, sonny?”), the fact is that these new kids on the block have showed that the interest in wrist-wear has migrated to a practical device that could be used as an addition to a smartphone.

The reaction of the traditional watchmakers has been defensive, noting that the Smartwatch sales have totalled only $1.5Bn against watch sales of $6.3Bn. Tag Heuer have broken ranks however and unveiled the Connected Smart watch which has sold 20,000

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

units at £1,000 each and are currently in the second phase of the production of another 60,000 units.

Statistically over 40% of Smartwatches are generally bought to be used for their Health and Fitness applications. The popularity for finetuning your requirements as to heartrate, distance covered and calorific consumption is as invaluable in an outdoor environment, as is monitoring a flight check-in time, currency conversion or even ordering a takeaway!

The price of a basic Apple smartphone is about £250 although there are more expensive versions with 18 carat gold cases and a rare and exotic bracelet design with gold links set with diamonds for about £50K. The Apple 2 watch is hotly anticipated as the next big thing and is due to be released later this year.

The main spoiler alert is that it will have a more powerful processor, the ARM Cortex A 32, which will make it faster and provide a longer battery life.

The Sony Smartwatch 3, one of its main rivals, is less broad on display, however it features Android which can easily configure with Microsoft and is also used by the near ubiquitous Samsung smartphones. Generally these watches are all trying to make the break from their nearby Motherships

via the Bluetooth type range connections to their owners Smartphones. There are a few which now have independent GPS, and one of the future development targets is for a stand-alone watch which can deliver face to face communication via the internet. The required miniaturisation has started to become apparent as the KaravanX-01 is marketed as a rugged stand alone utility piece but, being bulky, does not try to compete on style.

The Swiss meanwhile remain calm, and whilst Tag Heuer offer a free mechanical watch should you return their Connected smartwatch, their concentration focussed on developing more robust and appealing watches for the traditional and luxury markets.

For the diehard traditionalists, Breitling have developed a Pilot wearable Chronograph wristwatch with an LED chronograph function.

Top left: Apple Smartwatch Top: Tag Heuer Connected Right: Sony Smartwatch 3 Below: Karavan Bottom: Old school (no LED!) Breitling Chronometer All pictures © their respective manufacturers

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projecting forwards into the future.

To celebrate five European Space Agency missions between 2014 and 2016 and sponsored by innovative material engineering companies including start-up and show backer Bionic Yarn (US) and Technical Absorbants (UK); five European fashion schools representing the five nations on board the International Space Station displayed their star-gazing imagination and earthly skills to universal applause. Fascinatingly, Bionic Yarn’s high performance ecothread is manufactured from recycled plastics collected from shore lines; between 2014 and 2015 Bionic recovered and reconstructed over 5 million plastic bottles.

Seatbelts fastened, the show lifted off with Pharrell Williams, Bionic’s creative director broadcasting some airy views followed by a brief introductory speech from our favourite astronaut Tim Peake, out in real space from inside the International Space Station.

Denmark was the first to blast off, motivated by astronaut Andreas Mogensen with models on roller skates sporting slick monochrome commuter wear with flashes of fiery orange followed by Germany taking on climate change and the missions of Alexander Gerst with a range of outfits from a snowy padded all-in-one, deconstructed layering and diagonal

stripes to a turquoise body airbag.

France embraced sports and protective body monitoring technology looking for guidance from Thomas Pesquet and delivering generously hooded kagoules, practical boiler suits and finishing up with a fabulous ruched skirted outfit in white. Italy, influenced by Samantha Cristoforetti’s missions and maintaining physical and mental wellbeing revealed more feminine chic with a hint of flamenco frill contrasting with linear bianco and foil. All garments expertly cut and crafted as can be expected from the Politecnico di Milano.

Inspired by Tim Peake, UK ‘s Ravensbourne were deservedly cheered for sheer impact and ‘out there’ creativity.

Many outfits were certainly out of this world and fit for exploration and combat in hostile environments. High performance padded quilting prevailed for comfort and warmth but a model wearing a sinister split visor presumably for relaying live info feed or frightening Martians flung open his jacket to reveal an exquisite detailed lining.

For the finale all the garments were modelled for one victorious last lap of the catwalk, and when lined up at the end there was a hint of the Star Wars intergalactic bar but the clothes were so refreshingly imaginative and made with such precision and careful detailing it was hard not to adore them all.

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Photographs © Barry Macdonald

Fashion

Sputniks and space cadets ‘Couture in Orbit’ space fashion at the Science Museum Lynne McGowan

T

he atmosphere sparkled with exuberance and brio as young models patrolled the runway decked out in the latest technical yarns and moon walking footwear, their faces painted in silver and gold; a touch of Ziggy Stardust meets Darth Vader in white.

A partnership concept of vision and bravure has resulted in pioneering alliance between wearable technology sponsors and leading European fashion schools; mission impossible you might think, not a bit of it. An excellent collaboration all round. Students were offered the challenge and opportunity for design creativity with exploring how intelligent technical fabrics might be used for space missions and everyday life on planet earth. This was a fashion show

020 7738 2348

June 2016

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

35

Fashion Photographs © Simon Armstrong

Future fashion designers

O

n May 26 Central London’s cavernous Ambika P3 was packed to the rafters with high profile VIP’s for the University of Westminster’s graduate fashion show. The BA (Hons) Fashion course, whose alumni go on to shape world of design in top fashion houses such as Calvin Klein and Burberry, kicked off its end of year celebrations with a vibrant and eclectic runway display.

Graduates including Liam O’Sullivan, Christopher Pak, Leah White, Jack Byne, and Yasemin Cakli showcased their final year collections, featuring menswear, womenswear, tailoring, print and embellishment in front of an industry audience that included fashion journalists Sarah Mower and Charlie Porter, and Westminster alumni Claire Barrow, Ashley Williams, Robert Einer, and Liam Hodges.

Among the 2016 graduates, Liam O’Sullivan presented his womenswear collection featuring everyday, throwaway items, inspired by urban girls with attitude, while Christopher Pak’s womenswear collection featured his hand-crafted textiles, inspired by outsider artist James Castle. Jack Byne who interned last year at Louis Vuitton’s menswear studio in Paris - showed a menswear collection of exaggerated tailoring featuring striped silk taffetas, in pale yellow-greys and khaki greens, contrasted with jet black leather.

Andrew Groves, Course Director of the University of Westminster’s BA (Hons) Fashion Design, said: “With the international fashion industry currently going through a period of change, instability and upheaval, our graduates have shown a variety of different responses to the challenges that this demands. Their collections have demonstrated an incredible mixture of creativity paired with excellent technical skills which offer hope and show where fashion will be heading in the future.”

Last year’s graduates from the University’s BA (Hons) Fashion Design are now employed by prestigious international fashion houses, including Burberry, Max Mara, Versace, Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen, Adidas, and Harrods. Also from the class of 2015, designer Roberta Einer launched her eponymous label at London Fashion Week last February and was selected as the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN ‘One-to-watch’, while fellow graduate David Ferreira showed his debut runway collection at the New York Fashion Week in September last year.

Previous alumni of the course include Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative Officer of Burberry; Jutta Kraus, Creative Director of Bernhard Willhelm; and Stuart Vevers, Creative Director of Coach.

A sparkling array of creativity; movers and shakers of the fashion world of the future.

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Steelin’ Hearts with Inga Verbeeck

“We are not just an introduction agency. We are really a partner for their personal life.”

By Henry Tobias Jones

I

nternational Luxury Matchmaking is anything but a fool’s sport. With clients willing to spend upwards of €250,000 to find their significant other, it takes nerves of steel to embroil one’s self in the middle of the relationships of the rich and famous.

It is fortuitous, therefore, that Inga Verbeeck, the founder of luxury matchmaking agency, Ivy International, has steel in her blood. Before helping the wealthy and successful to find love, she was the chief executive of her family’s Antwerp steel trading business.

But, according to Inga, the steel industry is not the place to meet eligible bachelors. “The different kinds of people you meet are, limited” she explains. “No matter where you go, you keep bumping into the same people.”

Inga was both married and divorced before she was 30. As a gracefully beautiful, tall blonde, she certainly doesn’t seem to need the help of a matchmaking agency. Nevertheless, in her search to find the right man she became the regular client of a premium matchmaking agency. “I travelled a lot,” she tells me “and I thought it was very hard to find interesting people or interesting dates so why not meet some interesting people in London?”

In fact, Inga became so enamoured with the world of luxury matchmaking that she actually crossed the aisle and went from being a client to working for the agency.

A little over a year ago, however, Inga left her job and set up a rival agency with a “different philosophy.” “I had views about how the business should grow, and how to give more value to clients” Inga says, describing the split. “I have a business background and a lot of people in matchmaking do not.”

With 22 members of staff and offices in Paris, Antwerp, Geneva, and now London (not to mention plans for 3 new offices in New York, Miami, and San Francisco), Ivy International is a very complex business.

“I chose this business because of

the personal connections, and most importantly to help make people happy,” Inga says, “but, at the same time it’s a business and it has to be driven and proper structures and communication are the only way to keep a client truly happy.”

The philosophy that sets Ivy apart is, as Inga explains: “We are not just an introduction agency. We are really a partner for their personal life.” As well as offering a bespoke dating service, Ivy International also has a team of external consultants, including: dating coaches, psychologists, stylists and personal trainers.

“We help people throughout the process of meeting people,” Inga says “some people just need to have a refresher session with a dating coach to get comfortable with dating again,” whereas others “really need to look at their lives because they don’t have the time to even meet someone let alone have a relationship.”

“We are not just an introduction agency. We are really a partner for their personal life.”

“We have an expression in Flemish,” Inga tells me “there’s a lid for every pot.”

Charmingly quaint as this romantic saying is, it belies the practicality at the heart of the matchmaking business.

I ask Inga about the type of people who visit Ivy, and she tells me “a lot of them don’t know what they want, and if they do, they might not know what’s best for them.”

Some people find the premise of ‘luxury matchmaking’ uncomfortable.

I ask Inga candidly, isn’t luxury matchmaking just a more discrete term for helping rich people meet similarly well off partners? “No, it’s not, not at all,” she says “relationships are hard enough as they are, so when you have a very big social or financial gap things can be very complicated.”

“If you have a successful woman who has worked hard to obtain a certain level of life, it is hard to fall in love with someone that doesn’t have the money to

allow that.”

“Either the woman ends up paying for the man and that goes to hell,” or the man ends up resenting the fact he can’t provide the lifestyle his wife has become accustomed to.

This strand of conversation inevitably turns towards the roles of men and women in relationships. Despite the fact that 21 of her 22 members of staff are women, Inga proudly declares: “I’m a very independent woman but I am not a feminist.”

“I know this is dangerous territory,” she says, “but we have to be honest; men and women are different.” Perhaps it is a consequence of the clientele that Inga caters for, but the romance at the centre of Ivy International is rather conservative.

Using her own example, Inga explains: “I’m not going to cook for my husband every night, when I have the time, yeah sure, but otherwise he can cook.” But “at the same time I want to feel like a woman, and every female client we have has the same idea.”

The traditional, perhaps even twee, elements of Inga’s philosophy are what make Ivy International so attractive to her clients. As Inga says, “people come looking to make a commitment, and the assurance they get fro]]m us is that the person opposite them will want the exact same thing.”

Towards the end our interview, Inga asks me with a characteristically European, entrepreneurial forwardness about my own dating life. As a bashful, British gentleman my first instincts were, of course, to mumble the word “no” three or four times in a bid to change the subject. But the question really belies what makes Inga tick.

She is an impressive businesswoman, a hopeless romantic, and, most of all, Inga Verbeeck is the type of woman who enjoys getting you to gossip about your love life.

One Night Stand Hire a Beautiful Dress …

Have a Beautiful Evening

8 Chelsea Manor Studios Flood Street London SW3 5SR Phone: 020 7352 4848 Email: Joanna@onenightstand.co.uk Website: www.onenightstand.co.uk Facebook: http://on.fb.me/vhmpv5

Photograph © Ivy International

Lifestyle

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June 2016

020 3553 7147 waellis.com

Rosebery Avenue EC1R 020 7863 8000 June 26 My Soul is Alight Richmix A double bill with two young dancers performing two different dance styles, ‘Kathak' by Parbati Chaudhury and ‘Odissi' by Katie Ryan with Ranjana Ghatak the singer and May Robertson on the violin.

35 - 47 Bethnal Green Road E1 6LA 020 7613 7498 June 29 - July 3 Natalia Osipova - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/ Russell Maliphant/ Arthur Pia Sadler’s Wells The award-winning ballerina experiments with contemporary dance and has commissioned new work by the three foremost contemporary choreographers.

Rosebery Avenue EC1R 020 7863 8000

June 2016 DANCE June 14 - 18 ZIK’R - the Mystical Path of Flamenco from India to Seville The Peacock Theatre A new Flamenco show created by and starring Karen Ruimy and Killing Joke bassist Youth which traces the history of that form of dance from India via the Middle East to Spain.

Portugal Street WC2A 2HT 020 7863 8222 June 14 & 15 Intoto The Place New works by up-and-coming choreographers Freddie Opoku-Addai, Luke Brown, Gemma Nixon and Eleesha Drennan.

17 Duke’s Road WC1H 9PY 020 7121 1100 June 16 & 17 En Avant, Marche Sadler’s Wells A fusion of music, dance, theatre and opera celebrating the marching band, with four performers, Alain Platel,

Frank Van Laecke and Steven Prengels and seven musicians joined on stage by a London based concert band.

Rosebery Avenue EC1R 020 7863 8000 June 17 & 18 Slap and Tickle The Place ‘A dark and ribald comedy, a physical commentary on cultural mores, forays and sexual taboos.’ with Liz Aggiss in a solo performance which decodes mythologies, platitudes and old wives’ tales which is both moving and disorienting.

17 Duke’s Road WC1H 9PY 020 7121 1100 June 24 & 25 LA Dance Project Sadler’s Wells A mixed programme from this collective with the choreographer dancer Benjamin Millepied who will present the UK premier of his widely acclaimed ‘Hearts & Arrows” set to Philip Glass’ music, and ‘Harbour Me’ choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

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July 9 The Royal Ballet School Summer Performance A chance to see the depth and breadth of talent emerging from the Royal Ballet School with students as young as eleven through to graduates.

Royal Opera House Bow Street Covent Garden WC2E 9DD 020 7304 4000 October 3 - 7 BooK Now for Carlos Acosta The Classical Farewell Royal Albert Hall The superstar prepares to retire with this spectacular farewell performance.

Kensington Gore SW7 2AP 020 7589 8212 DRAMA Ends July 2 Battlefield Young Vic “This is the most thrilling and crucial play in London” (Guardian). Race, ethics sanity and prejudice collide in Joe Penhall’s exquisitely sharp state of the nation classic. Matthew Xia directs this Olivier award-winning play, as timely now as it ever was.

66 The Cut SE1 8LZ 020 7922 2922 Ends August 13 The Spoils Trafalgar Studios A sharp new comedy written by and starring film star Jesse Eisenberg; a cutting satirical glimpse of a lost

08450 944 911 soul’s search for reality. Perceptively disconcerting, the play speaks to the exasperated, self-analysing millennial generation.

14 Whitehall SW1A 2DY 020 722 9301 June 7 - August 6 Richard III Almeida Theatre Director Rupert Goold brings Shakespeare’s most darkly amusing villain to the stage in the shape of Ralph Fiennes with Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Margaret; should be worth queuing.

Almeida Street N1 1TA 020 7359 4404 June 14 - July 8 No Villain Trafalgar Studios A debut play by Arthur Miller staged for the first time nearly 80 years after it was written; the story of a manufacturing family torn apart by the Depression and the play foreshadows Miller’s favourite themes; the role of women, the tricky relationship between father and sons and the ruinous effect of money.

14 Whitehall SW1 A2DY 0844 871 7632 June 15 - July 9 Commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, the world premiere of It Is Easy To Be Dead by award-winning playwright Neil McPherson opens at the Finborough Theatre for a four week limited season on Wednesday, 15 June 2016.

118 Finborough Rd, London SW10 9ED June 15 - October 3 1984 London Playhouse Theatre Headlong’s highly acclaimed new adaption of Orwell’s classic by Olivier Award-winning director Robert Icke and Olivier Award nominee Duncan Macmillan is a highly pertinent examination of the detrimental effects of surveillance and control of Big Brother on society.

Northumberland Avenue WC2N 5DE 0844 871 7631 June 17, 26 & July 10 Sh*t-Faced Shakespeare: the Merchant of Venice Udderbelly Raucous interactive, the show has entertained over 45,000 theatregoers in the UK and the USA. An entirely serious Shakespeare play with an out of control cast.

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Events 0844 847 9910 June 19,20, 21, 26,27, 28 July 3, 4, 5 Maggie and Pierre Finborough Theatre

By Linda Griffiths with Paul Thompson, this is the European premiere of a Canadian play; in 2015 Justin Trudeau became the Prime Minister of Canada in a landslide victory; Maggie and Pierre were his parents. Maggie, a 19year old hippie, meets the urbane charismatic and soon to be elected Pierre Trudeau and they fall in love, marry, have children, and break up in an ugly and very public way; a one woman show about the pressure of power and fame.

Finborough Road SW10 9ED 0844 847 1652 June 22 - 25 Alice in Wonderland After auditioning over a 100 local school children this March, Earls Court-based performance artists, The Earls Courtiers, have finally concluded their search for the perfect Alice for their June production of Alice in Wonderland in Barkston Gardens, Earls Court.

Barkston Gardens, Earl's Court, London, SW5 0ER

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June 22, 30 July 7 &14 Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel Udderbelly A new Austen novel improvised every night with live musical accompaniment.

Belvedere Road SE1 8XX 0844 847 9910

EXHIBITIONS

Ongoing Above and Beyond National Maritime Museum Fly like a bird, race like a supersonic jet and take an elevator ride to the edge of space; a ground-breaking interactive exhibition exploring the marvels of aerospace innovation, design June 25 - July 30 and technology with flight simulation, Boys will Be Boys virtual reality and immersive Bush Theatre experiences. Ages 7+ Some say the City is still a man’s world, Greenwich SE10 9NF but in this play by Melissa Bubnic the 020 8858 4422 cast are all women; an ‘exhilarating’ night out with cabaret music.

Ongoing 7 Uxbridge Road W12 8LJ Cutty Sark 020 8743 5050 Life on board Experience life on board the legendary July 1 - September 17 sailing ship, the only surviving tea Into the Woods clipper and the fastest of her time.

Menier Chocolate Factory Events and exhibitions for the family.

The ground-breaking theatre company National Maritime Museum Fiasco bring their enchanting Greenwich SE10 9NF production of Stephen Sondheim and 020 8858 4422 James Lapine’s masterpiece to this theatre; a Tony award-winning musical, Ends June 19 featuring such songs as ‘Into the Moses, Mods and Mr Fish: the Woods’ and ’No-one is Alone’ .

Menswear Revolution 53 Southwark Street SE1 1RU Jewish Museum 020 7378 1713 From formal wear of the 19th century to the Mod culture of the 1960s, the

exhibition tracks the male wardrobe over 150 years; Luxury clothes by Mr Fish - Mick Jagger and David Bowie and the fashion revolution of Carnaby Street.

Raymond Burton House 129-131 Albert Street NW1 7NB 020 7284 7384 Ends June 26 Russia and the Arts: the Age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky National Portrait Gallery A once in a lifetime opportunity to see masterpieces from the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow which focuses on the great writers, actors and composers active between 1867-1914.

St Martin’s Place WC2H 0HE 020 7321 6600 Ends August 7 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year.

An exhibition of amazing photographs Royal Observatory National Maritime Museum Greenwich SE10 9NF 020 8312 6608 Ends August 27 Unseen - London, Paris, New York, 1930s - 60s

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Houses of Parliament Ben Uri Gallery and Museum Art, Identity, Migration Photographs by Wolfgang Suschitzky, Dorothy Bohm and Neil Libbert.

Vintage photographs by three major 20th century photographers , presenting their artistic responses to three great world cities across three crucial decades.

108a Boundary Road NW8 0RH 020 7604 3991 Ends August 29 Dorothy Bohm: Sixties London Jewish Museum 30 photographs by the eminent photographer who was sent by her parents to Britain in 1939 to escape the Nazis.

Raymond Burton House 129-131 Albert street NW1 7NB 020 7284 7384 Ends September 4 The Rolling Stones Exhibition Saatchi Gallery Years of planning with input from Mick Jagger, this exhibition contains over 500 artefacts original posters, costumes, unseen video clips, personal correspondence, and work from their collaborations with Andy Warhol, Tom Stoppard, Ossie Clark and Martin Scorsese.

Duke of York HQ King’s Road, SW3 4RY Tickets 0844 453 9020 Ends September 6 Shakespeare in Ten Acts The British Library A landmark exhibition that charts the constant reinvention of Shakespeare through 400 years; from the first production of Hamlet and The Tempest to today.

96 Euston Road NW1 2DB 01937 546 546 Ends October 9 Maria Merian’s Butterflies The Queen’s Gallery In 1699, the German artist and entomologist Maria Sibyyla Merian went to Suriname and studied the animals, plants and the life cycle of insects. Her story is told through these 50 works in the Royal Collection.

Buckingham Palace Road SW1A 1AA royalcollection.org.uk/tickets 0303 123 7301

Ends November 27 Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost World British Museum Wonderful objects have been revealed from two ancient cities hidden under the sea for over a thousand years and discovered only recently.

Great Russell Street WC1B 3DG 020 7323 8299

Houses of Parliament

Ends March 12 2017 Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear Victoria and Albert Museum The history of private and intimate clothing from corsets to bustles which explores underwear’s function. Would Victoria be amused to see her mother’s pantaloons on display?

Cromwell Road SW7 2RL 020 7942 2000 June 11 - September 6 Lucien Freud Unseen National Portrait Gallery This unfinished portrait and a small selection from the artist’s sketchbooks, childhood drawings and letters are brought together for the first time.

Floor 0 Room 40 St Martin’s Place WC2H 0HE 020 7321 6600 June 13 - 26 Royal Chelsea Duke of York Square Chelsea Society Exhibition charts Chelsea’s Royal Heritage and tells stories of all things Royal going back through the history of Royalty going back 2000 years.

London SW3 4LY June 13 - August 21 Summer Exhibition 2016 Royal Academy of Arts Richard Wilson, leading British sculptor and Royal Academician has written “the Summer Exhibition 2016 will be unpredictable, stimulating and enjoyable with 10 startling rooms of contemporary art submitted from around the world. Each of the rooms will be hung by a member of the committee, resulting in themes of free speculation, practice or technique.”

Burlington House Piccadilly.

020 7300 8000 June 16 - June 25 New English Art Club Annual Open Exhibition 2016 Mall Galleries

Visit one of the world’s most iconic buildings

Visitor Services Advert 126 x 154 ChurchillFEB2016.indd 4

The New English Art Club exhibits painting, drawing and sculpture made from direct observation.

The Mall SW1Y 5BD 020 7930 6844 June 20-30 Christies A much anticipated highlight in the two weeks of 20th Century auctions this summer. Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale will take place on Wednesday 22 June. The sale includes 36 lots, providing personal insights into the life and work of titans such as Monet, Modigliani, Picasso, Kandinsky and Klee.

June 17 – July 15 A Month-Long Public Exhibition of Five Centuries of British Art London.

Christies Great British Masterpieces sold over a period of 250 years by Christie’s, including works by Holbein, Stubbs, Landseer, Turner, Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Mackintosh, Lowry, Freud & Auerbach 8 King St, St. James, London SW1Y 6QT 020 7839 9060 June 23 - September 4 BP Portrait Award

parliament.uk/visiting 020 7219 4114

2/16/2016 3:37:48 PM

National Portrait Gallery Selected from 2,557 entries by artists from 80 countries around the world; parents, nudes, to famous faces; in styles from sketches to photo-realism.

St Martin’s Place WC2H 0HE 020 7321 6600 June 28 - July 2 David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation Wildlife Foundation Wildlife Artist of the Year 2016.

Mall Galleries Celebrating the world’s wildlife through art, the exhibition includes the shortlist for the £10,000 Wildlife Artist of the Year award.

The Mall SW1Y 5BD 020 7930 6844 June 28- July 30 Australia’s great crossover indigenous artist comes to London for a one-man show at Messum’s during Brown’s London Art Weekend 28 Cork St, London W1S 3NG 020 7437 5545 June 30 - October 2 Seven Halts on the Somme Leighton House Museum Memorial paintings by Hughie O’Donoghue RA Marking the centenary of the Battle

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FEASTS & FIESTAS

of the Somme, seven large-scale abstract paintings go on show to coincide with the start of that battle in July 1916. The artist writes “Seven Halts on the Somme represents seven places where the army stopped 1916…

These paintings are a meditation in concrete form on past events, built up in successive layers..”.

12 Holland Park Road W11 1LR 020 7183 3577 July 2 - October 2 David Hockney RA - 82 Portraits and I Still Life Royal Academy of Arts The artist has rediscovered portraiture and has 82 portraits of the same size with each sitter sitting in the same chair against the same blue background; they include Celia Birtwell, Barry Humphries, and portraits of his California circle.

Burlington House Piccadilly W1J oBD 020 7300 8090 July 6 - October 30

Georgia O’Keefe Tate Modern A rare opportunity to see over 100 remarkable works by this amazing 20th century artist who is known for her magnified flowers, animal skulls and desert landscapes.

Bankside SE1 9TG 020 7887 8888 Ends November 6 Mind Over Matter: Contemporary British Engineering V&A Honouring the “Unsung heroes’ of design; A major retrospective of Ove Arup which highlights the global impact of contemporaryBritish engineers which include AKT II, Atelier One, Buro Happold, Expedition Engineering and Jane Wernick Associates, this display presents models, drawings and digital renderings of structural, civil, environmental and master-planning schemes.

Cromwell Road SW7 2RL 020 7942 2000

Ends September 25 London Wonder ground Southbank Centre Live acts, cabaret, and outrageous circus acts, comedy and family shows, burlesque show Between the Sheets, Monski Mouse’s Baby Disco Dance hall for children and a spectacular Utterly Spiffing Spectacular Magic Show and much more. londonwonderground.co.uk Belvedere Road SE1 8XX 0844 846 9910 June 10 - 26 Pride In London A celebration of the LGBT community with 250 community groups, dancers and performers taking part. The culmination is the Parade on June 25, follows a route from Baker Street, Oxford Street and then Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Pall Mall and ends in Trafalgar Square. Here there are performances and speeches.

June 15 - 19 Taste of London Regent’s Park Top chefs producing fantastic food return to the park for their annual

summer restaurant Festival. 40 of London’s top restaurants including some Michelin starred ones, come for the public to sample food, or just watch the cooking demonstrations, meet the chefs, take part in masterclasses including in smoking and grilling. Also present are some beer makers, distillers and vintners.

Regent’s Park & Primrose Hill NW1 4 NR 0300 061 2300 June 18 &19 Open Garden Squares Weekend: Explore over 200 private, secret and little-known gardens in the 27 boroughs of London; some are old, historic and traditional and others are experimental; private gardens, roof gardens, community gardens, allotments,.

One ticket gives access to most gardens.

June 19 ‘Steam and Ale’ Father’s Day in association with Twickenham Ales Museum of Water and Steam A chance to taste some great beer from the famous brewery and eat some home cooked pies.

Green Dragon Lane Brentford TW 8

THE DAZERA JEWELLERY SHOW 22nd-26th June 2016

This June The Exhibitionist Hotel in South Kensington will play host to the first ever fine jewellery exhibition organised by the designers themselves. Responding to the need for more opportunities to exhibit high end art jewellery, young designer Domini Hogg started to gauge interest among other designers for running their own show.

Previously responsible for social media at LoveGold, a trend setting jewellery site for high carat gold creations, Domini’s address book was already filled with the names of innovative jewellery designers from around the world.

Carefully selected for their originality and quality, this exhibition running from 22nd to 26th June will showcase the work of ten contemporary jewellers - Astratelli, Laura Bangert, Sarah Herriot, Josef Koppmann, Hee Young Kim, Mark Nuell, Julia Lloyd George, Maria Frantzi, Jinks McGrath and Emily Nixon. The quirky, artistic entrance hall of The Exhibitionist Hotel, where visitors are met by an enormous bull and multi coloured lighting, will be the perfect backdrop for these trailblazing designers.

This is an unusual set up, but Domini has already shown that it works. Josef Koppmann, who exhibited at the private view she organised just before Christmas comments, “it was a great success both for the designers and the jewellery collectors, who enjoyed the buzzy atmosphere. There is a real need for other high end jewellery exhibitions and Dazera has the potential to become a big annual event for contemporary British art jewellery, so I am excited to be exhibiting at the inaugural one.”

“This is just the beginning,” Domini explains.

The show at The Exhibitionist will launch the concept as Dazera intends to represent designers from places as far afield as India, China and Latin America and bring more ground breaking new designers to the British audience.”

The Exhibitionist Hotel 8-10 Queensberry Place London SW7 2EA www.dazera.com

Julia Lloyd George

Josef Koppmann

Sarah Herriot

Astratelli

Hee Young Kim

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Time to get out of town and head to a country auction

By Anna Bromley

W

eekends were made for wandering around auction houses where a plethora of hidden gems await your intimate perusal. KCWToday has put together a collection of the finest auction houses to tootle around. Head out of the hustle and bustle of London life and breathe in the tranquility of the countryside. Get the convertible out of the garage and put your weekend strides on: relaxation awaits. Surround yourself with the greenery of our beloved countryside and acquaint yourself with the charming objects that are waiting to be discovered.

Look particularly for the Swiss musical boxes with singing birds atop and early antique oriental scrolls at The Swan Tetsworth auction at the end of June. If

you can’t wait until then, Trevanion & Dean will be featuring a walrus decanter, designed by Alexander Crichton in 1882 in their Fine Arts and Collectables auction on 18 June. And that’s just for starters. Now, what are you waiting for?

Trevanion & Dean Auctioneers & Valuers is located in The Joyce Building on Station Road in the beautiful market town of Whitchurch in North Shropshire. Despite having only been open for 18 months, Christina Trevanion and Aaron Dean, who are partners at the auction house, have had a stellar year; harnessing 21st century technology to sell to buyers across the globe. Once

you’ve picked up your delights make sure you head outside into the beautiful countryside that surrounds Whitchurch: sample the delights of strolling along the canal, cycle through country lanes and enjoy the fresh air. On 18 June at 10.30am Trevanion & Dean will be holding an auction which includes fine art, antiques and collectables.

Gorringes has been open since the 1920’s and is a well-established antiques auction based in the country town of Lewes, East Sussex. On 21 June at 10am Gorringes will be auctioning a whole host of lots, including fine art, antique furniture, ceramics, silver, jewellery, collectibles and other interesting pieces.

And if you still don’t want to leave lovely Lewes after all that bidding, be sure to browse the antique shops of the Cliffe or grab a cuppa and unwind at Bill’s.

Spot famous faces such as Mary Berry, Sophie Dahl and Jackie Chan at the gorgeous Swan at Tetsworth. (One of Oxfordshire’s best kept secrets.) The auction house is set in a historic grade II listed building, with 40 showrooms that are stocked with the finest quality country furniture, small decorative antiques and other artistic objects: you’ll be browsing for hours. At less than an hour away from London, with a large car park situated to the front and renowned restaurant adjacent to the auction house, why not make a day of it? On 30 June at 10am The Swan will be auctioning

fine art, jewellery, paintings, ceramics, oriental art and furniture. Look out for their wonderful ships clock, which is from Tirpitz, the German WWII battleship. Still, if fine portraits of voluptuous women are more your thing, then you’ll be pleased to know that a 17th century Sir Godfrey Kneller piece is being auctioned on the day.

You may know that Dreweatts & Bloomsbury have two prestigious London salerooms. However, the eminent auction house certainly recognises the value of the perfect setting with their third saleroom, Donnington Priory, which is set in a beautiful country house in picturesque Berkshire.

On sale viewing days they open their quaint café and whilst visiting, spend some time enjoying their manicured gardens and scenic views. On 14 July at 10am Dreweatts & Bloomsbury will be auctioning fine jewellery, watches, silver and objects of vertu.

Captivating scents: fresh floral fœtid

A Scented Season at London’s Secret Garden Visit our scented outdoor exhibition this summer. Pick up the scent trail which will lead you around the scented displays in the Garden. Discover displays showcasing the plants used in aromatherapy and perfumery.

If you’re feeling brave visit the Abhorrent Arbour which features some of the worlds stinkiest plants!

Events & Tours • Award-winning Café • Shop 66 Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4HS

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0EN 020 8568 4757 June 24 - 26 Fold Festival - A Freakout Festival Experience Fulham Palace Nile Rodgers, composer, producer, arranger and guitarist brings his Fold festival to the UK with his multiplatinum Band CHIC and sequel invited trailblazers to perform.

Bishops Avenue SW6 6EA 020 7736 3233 June 25 & 26 Punk Fest London Design Museum Watch musical and spoken word performances and join fanzine-making workshops with many other events to provide a farewell to the Design Museum at its current location and moves to a home in Kensington.

Shad Thames Bermondsey SE1 2YD 020 7940 8783

June 27 - July 3 The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia Global dealers with masterpieces in three-dimensional art from all over the world including ceramics, wood, glass, metal, jewellry and fibre; from the 17th to the early 20th Century. late night opening until 9.30 pm on June 30.

Hammersmith Road W14 8UX website:olympia-art-antiques.com GARDENS Ends August 29 2016 Brazil: a Powerhouse of Plants Kew Gardens An exhibition of the work of Margaret Mee a pioneering artist influenced by Brazil with other artists influenced by that country’s flora and fauna.

Shirley Sherwood Gallery Kew Richmond TW9 3AB 020 8332 5655 Ends June 18 - 19 Open Garden Square Weekend

One ticket allows entrance to most of the garden Squares of London, and the tickets are now on sale and about 200 Squares take part.

Tickets can be bought at City Information Centre opposite St Paul’s Cathedral June 26 - 26 Contemporary Garden and Lifestyle Fair Hampstead Heath A curated selection of contemporary design and craft makers, over 100 exhibitors with outdoor furniture, rare plants and flower and garden sculpture.

NW3 ITH 020 8246 4846 HELLO@GROWLONDON.COM July 5 - 10 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show The World’s ‘Biggest annual flower show’ from which includes a Butterfly Dome with specimens from Indonesia and South America.

East Molesey Surrey KT8 9AN 0203 176 5850 Ongoing Queen Mary’s Gardens Regent’s Park

The first two weeks of June are the best time to visit this rose garden which has about 12,000 roses with 85 single variety beds on display.

Examples of most varieties from the classic to the most modern English roses are present.

Inner Circle NW1 4NR 0300 061 2000 MUSIC June 13, 15, 17, 19 matinee, 21, 23, 24, 25 Iris Opera Holland Park The opera by Pietro Mascagni premiered in Rome in 1898 and is set in Japan and concerns the life of an innocent who falls into the clutches of an unscrupulous libertine.

37 Pembroke Road W8 6PW 020 3846 6222 info@operahollandpark.com 0300 999 1000 June 12 Natalie Clein: Christian Ihle Hadland Wigmore Hall Natalie is on the cello and Christian on the piano in a programme with Debussy, Kurtag, Britten, Kodaly and Prokofiev.

“For all things authentic, alternative, eclectic and magnificent”

June 2016

Events 36 Wigmore Street W1U 2BP 020 7935 2141 June 11 - 21 Haim: By The Light of a Violin Coronet Print Room Tracing the true story of the Polish Jew born in 1922 to a poor family, but whose passion for the violin made survival possible in the death camps; it is a mixture of classical music with traditional klezmer melodies. Direct from a critical triumph in France and Switzerland, written by Gerald Garutti, it is performed in FRENCH. 103 Notting Hill Gate W11 3LB 020 3642 6606 June 13, 20, 29 Rising Stars Royal College of Music Some of the RCM’s most impressive soloists and chamber groups for this most spectacular concerts.

5 Sloane Terrace SW1X 9DQ 020 7730 4500 June 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 La Bohème Opera Holland Park A new production by Opera Holland Park of Giacomo Puccini’s tragic story about young love in Paris in 1830, 37 Pembroke Road W8 6PW 030 0999 1000 boxoffice@operahollandpark.com June 16 London Firebird Orchestra St Paul’s Covent Garden An evening of Russian music with pre-concert drinks at 6.45 on the lawn of this church designed by Inigo Jones and known as the ‘Actors church’.

Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5 and Rachmaninoff ’s Piano Concerto No 2 with Michael Thrift conducting and Marc Corbett-Weaver on the piano.

Bedford Street WC2E 9ED info@firebirdorchestra.com

June 17 Complete Chopin Cycle St John’s Smith Square Continues with Warren Mailley-Smith playing the Barcarolle and many other pieces.

St John’s Smith Square SW1P 3HA 020 7222 1061

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June 19 Michael Liu Foundling Museum The flautist returns to the Museum for an afternoon of British flute music with the works of English composer Edwin York Bowen.

40 Brunswick Square WC1N 1AZ 020 7841 3600 June 23 Orpheus Sinfonia St John’s Smith Square Tamsin Little on the violin with David Malusa on the piano and Thomas Carroll conducting the programme with work by Mozart, Chopin, Vaughn Williams and Beethoven.

Smith Square SW1P 3HA 020 7222 1061 June 24 The Planets: Royal Albert Hall NASA images and films projected onto a 24-foot screen as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs Holst’s The Planets. the multi-sensory event is preceded by Strauss’ Thus Sprach Zarathustra and Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine Kensington Gore SW7 2AP 020 7589 8212

in the Abbey every Sunday afternoon at 5.45pm Throughout the year, free of charge.

The Chapter House Westminster Abbey 20 Dean’s Yard SW1P 3PA 020 7222 5152 VIVA Cuba Live Cuban bands and DJs every Friday in Ronnies’s Bar from 6pm 3am (starts at 9pm) 47 Frith Street Soho W1D 4HT 020 7439 0747 Free concerts by Royal College of Music can be found on your lunch break at St Mary Abbots, St Martin in the Fields, Lincoln’s Inn Chapel, Regent Hall and St James’s Piccadilly.

One can also unwind before going home with the rush-hour concerts at the V & A, St Stephen’s and Steinway Hall. Sunday mornings at 11am the Royal Albert Hall has ‘Classical Coffee Mornings featuring recitals by ‘our very best performers’. All Free unless stated otherwise. rcm.ac.uk/events/external TALKS AND WALKS June 9 Utopia

William Morris Gallery An evening of discussion and performance celebrating Thomas More’s Utopia and William Morris’s ectopian novel News From Nowhere.

With Joe Dunthorne, poet and author of Submarine, Luke Turner, writer and editor of Quietus and a D.J. set from Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press.

Lloyd Park Forest Road Walthamstow E17 4PP 020 8496 4390 June 16 Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years National Portrait Gallery Historian John Guy reassesses the image of the queen as Gloriana, an icon of strength and power, showing that the reality was not so simple.

12.45 June 21 Mathematics of the Mob Imperial College Professor Pierre Degond “Attempt to understand traffic jams, flocking birds and competing sperm with classical physics.’ 17.30 Clore lecture theatre Huxley building South Kensington Campus.

June 26 Stravinsky: the Firebird Suite Royal Festival Hall the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra in a thrilling all-Stravinsky programme conducted by Diego Masson, included is the composer’s famous Firebird Suite.

Belvedere Road SE1 8XX 020 7960 4200 June 28 Gorge Benson Royal Albert Hall Legendary ten time Grammy winner and NEA Jazz Master will feature his masterful guitar playing with his band Kensington Gore SW7 2AP 020 7589 8212 June 29 Diabel Cissokho Album Launch of Tambacounda Express Rich Mix Diabel’s music draws on an eclectic mix of cultures from Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, Niger and Morocco. He will be supported by Amira Kheir, known as then diva of the Sudanese desert’.

35-47 Bethnal Green Road E1 6LA 020 7613 7498 Westminster Abbey Organ recitals of 30 minutes are held

Tickets only £10

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June 17 The Chelsea Fireworks Prom Open-air concert series set within the historic home of the Chelsea Pensioners featuring the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.

Royal Hospital Road SW3 4SR 020 7881 5257

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Royal Tea

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Spend an afternoon swinging and jiving to live jazz from Albert’s Big Band in the breath-taking surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall Call: 020 7589 8212 royalalberthall.com

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Choreography by

Benjamin Millepied Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

12 - 16 July

Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company

L.A. Dance Project

Patrias 24 & 25 June

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

sadlerswells.com WO PREM RLD IERE

020 7863 8000

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

6 - 17 Sep

26 JULY - 21 AUGUST

“Sheer joy.

Wherever they go they raise the roof” Time Out

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Free Public Evening Lecture and Reception

Prof Graham MacGregor Unhealthy Food: By Far the Biggest Cause of Death in the UK 18:00, Tuesday 21 June 2016, SCI, Belgravia

June 24 Midsummer Eve’s guided Bat Walk in King’s Cross with London Wildlife Trust Meet outside King’s Cross St. Pancras Underground station for a short walk to Camley Street Natural Park. Explore the night-time wildlife with expert guides and hand-held bat detectors.

20.30-22.30 Free, booking essential June 29 Crime Science Museum Imperial scientists present their research to aid the fight against crime.

18.45 Exhibition Road South Kensington July 7 The Bloody Necessity National Portrait Gallery The Battle of the Somme 1916 To mark the centenary of that battle, historian Andrew Robertshaw outlines one of the bloodiest conflicts in military history and investigates what life was like for a soldier on the Western Front.

St Martin’s Place WC2H 0HE 020 7321 6600 Christie’s Auction On the first Tuesday of every month, Christie’s South Kensington keeps its doors open late for an evening of talks and demonstrations. Anyone can drop in to Christie’s 85 Old Brompton Road between 6.00 and 8.30 pm for a postwork drink, to hear experts talk about art, interior design and collecting, and to see what happens behind the scenes.

Christie’s Lates have a different theme every month, which explore the world of antiques, contemporary art, and everything in-between. Whether you’re an auction regular or just curious about art and collecting, you’re invited to Christie’s Lates. Visit the website for updates and details of future events

in 2014, Britain spent more than £47bn dealing with the healthcare and social costs of an increasingly overweight population. In 2015 The World Health Organisation and the UK Health Forum predicted that almost three-quarters of men and two-thirds of women in the UK would be overweight or obese by 2030.

Prof Graham MacGregor will outline how the time has come for consumers, governments and food companies to realise that the food industry is slowly poisoning large sections of the population. The greatest profit to the food industry comes from very cheap, processed foods that are very high in salt, fat and sugar. He will look at how we need to control the industry so they produce more healthy foods and how this could be done by reformulating the sugar and fat content, as has occurred with the reduction of salt in recent years.

Prof Graham MacGregor is Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary, University of London and Honorary Consultant Physician at Barts and The London Hospital. In 1996 he set up an action group on salt, Consensus Action on Salt and Health, to try and get the food industry to add less salt to food and thereby get a reduction in salt intake, the resulted in the Food Standards Agency taking on the task of salt reduction.

Join SCI on 21 June to find out why we need to change our diet now!

Compiled and edited by Leila Kooros with assistance by Fahad Redha and Jeanne Griffiths.

Register for the free lecture and wine reception E: conferences@soci.org T: 020 7598 1561 W: soci.org/events SCI, 14-15 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PS KCWT_MacGregor_v1.indd 1

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★★★★★ ‘A WORK OF EXTRAORDINARY

QUALITY AND INTENSITY’

The Independent

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June April/May 2016 2011

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

www.KCWToday.co.uk

Painting with Light

Tate Britain Until 25 September 2016 Admission £18

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was immediately lured by the title of this new exhibition at Tate Britain, which examines the link that was forged in the mid-19th century between painting and the newly-invented technique of photography. It was a happy and mutual dialogue which enriched and cross-fertilised both mediums, with revolutionary ideas about painting and how art should be seen. No less a man than JMW Turner inspired the first photographic panoramic views, with drawings of Edinburgh from Carlton Hill, and Ruskin used photographs in his architectural drawings. I seem to remember that it was somehow frowned upon to use photographs or tracing as it was regarded as somehow ‘cheating’, but these boys, and girls have been doing it since the early Victorian times. Two Scottish gentlemen, who pioneered this marriage in Edinburgh were Robert Adamson and David Octavious Hill, a painter, who set up one of the first photographic studios, and assisted

by Miss Jessie Mann, took over 2000 photographs in a four-year binge. One of their most celebrated works was

their enormously ambitious Disruption Portrait, which took over twenty years to complete. It portrays an astonishing 457 separate and recognisable people who made up the rebel assembly which founded the Free Church of Scotland in 1843, and photography was used extensively to paint the figures. This is the first time this iconic work has been seen outside Scotland for almost 150 years.

By the mid-nineteenth century, painters and photographers collaborated to such an extent that the PreRaphaelites, including John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, moved out of their studios to discover ‘truth’ through photography by observing details in the landscape that had been previously overlooked, ‘rejecting nothing, selecting nothing’. Back in the studio, in one charming juxtaposition, Mr Heatherley, the founder of the famous

art school, is photographed by Samuel Butler. The title of the painting, again

by Butler, is Mr Heatherley’s Holiday; An Incident in Studio Life, where he is seen mending a skeleton from a pile of bones, surrounded by dusty props, statues and objects from Victorian classicism.

Frederick Goodall used Roger Fenton’s photograph of a Nubian water-carrier in his The Song of the Nubian Slave, and the fashion for orientalist painting was augmented by photographs of models in costume. Scenes from Shakespeare, Alfred Tennyson and other poets, were created using props, sets and costume, one of the most famous being the death, at the age of seventeen, of the poet Chatterton by Henry Wallis with the tragic hero dramatically posed, almost pieta-like, across the bed in his attic room, a phial of arsenic on the floor surrounded by torn-up sheets of poetry, lit by the pale dawn light. It caused

a sensation at the Royal Academy in 1856, with a quotation from Marlowe: Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight/ And burned is Apollo’s laurel bough.

Some artists began to distance themselves from the clarity and detail discovered through photography and went in search of pure beauty. The pioneer photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, the aesthete painters George Frederic Watts and Rossetti all worked together with Tennyson, and shared models, like Jane Morris and Elizabeth Siddal, with their pouting red lips, tumbling auburn hair and heartshaped faces. One of the most famous photographs taken by Cameron is Whisper of the Muse, of Watts with a violin and a young girl speaking softly in his ear. Queen Victoria’s granddaughters indulged in tableaux vivants, which were carefully staged recreations of popular paintings of the time, such as Marcus Stone’s Two’s Company, Three’s None, the original of which is shown alongside.

Thomas Goodall also reconstructed paintings from carefully arranged photographs taken by his collaborator, Peter Emerson, of which there are eight photographs and four Goodalls on display, the most recognisable being The Bow Net, which depicts his fiancée Nancy Bessey, with her father, John, setting the net that Nancy would have made. Whistler also used photographic reference for his etching The Adam and Eve pub in old Chelsea, made thirteen years after James Hedderly took a photograph of the same scene, the whole of Chelsea Embankment having been re-constructed in the intervening years, along with Battersea Bridge. It could be argued that his famous Nocturnes of Cremone Gardens and Old Battersea Bridge were influenced

by Japanese prints and photographs taken by Emerson and Alvin Langdon Coburn, but it also worked the other way, with photographers adopting his atmospherics and aesthetics to produce a more soft-focus effect.

This is a well-considered exhibition, with an even mix of photographs and paintings, with each illustrating a connection between the two mediums.

Arthur Hacker painted A Wet Night at Picadilly Circus, which is an evocative view of reflections of the gas-lights on the wet pavements, lending a dreamy, swirling quality to the misty scene. The master of such views was John Atkinson Grimshaw, best known for his nocturnal marine views of the docks in Liverpool, Hull and London, with gas-lights on wet streets. Whistler said of him, ‘I considered myself the inventor of Nocturnes until I saw Grimmy’s moonlit pictures’. He has two works on display, one of Pall Mall and the other St James’s Street, but what was a revelation to me was the fact that he actually painted in oils directly onto photographs taken by others. Now, surely that is cheating?

Don Grant

Left: Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Proserpine. © Tate. Right:Zaida Ben-Yusuf. The Odour of Pomegranates. © Tate

Arthur Hacker. A Wet Night at Picadilly Circus © Royal Academy of Arts

Arts & Culture

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk © I. B. Tauris and company. Ltd

George Lance.

Victorian Master of Still Life.

By John Radcliffe and Mark Lance Published by Philip Wilson Publishers, an imprint of I. B. Tauris and company. Ltd., April 2016.

Hardback £25.00.

ISBN 978 1 78130 031 2

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his book is a welcome, first Biography of George Lance ( 1802-1864), still life artist, whom it must have been a privilege to know. His life was like a rich and varied tapestry and the authors explore the many threads in a scholarly way, only drawing on reliable sources and family archives.

He reached his zenith in the 1850s and after that became mysteriously unappreciated. This was surprising as J.M.W. Turner referred to him as one of the three great colourists of his era and Graham Reynolds, Art Historian, considered him to have effected the revival of the still life genre on his own.

This Biography restores him to his rightful place and rectifies the injustice.

The prolific illustrations leave no doubt that Lance was a great master of the still life genre.

Both authors were present at the Launch. Mark Lance is descended collaterally from the artist's brother, Frederick and John Radcliffe is the artist's great, great, great grandson.

John's brother, David Radcliffe, was also present with other relations. John verbally dedicated the book to their late father, Clinton Bower Radcliffe, who was a fruit importer in Liverpool and a passionate art collector. They have some of Lance's paintings in their homes. John was a long established Solicitor in the City of London until retirement and Mark, a Fellow of the Institute of Secretaries and Administrators, is Managing Director of the Cornhill Group Ltd. Formerly they were not known to each other, but they worked and researched harmoniously and enjoy their friendship.

The dramatic backcloth of Victorian times in which Lance lived and painted is explained vividly in the Biography.

In the darkness, deep underground, the Northern soil was yielding great wealth, not gold, but iron and coal. Those who reaped the profits prospered and built stately homes. They became collectors of fine art and adorned their homes with rare furniture, tapestries, objects wrought of silver and gold and above all paintings. The Cotton industry boomed

in Lancashire, there was greed, hard conditions too, but also philanthropy.

Hospitals. schools and orphanages were founded. The great cotton industrialists patronised the arts. It was a favourable time to be an artist. The Industrial Revolution flourished leading to overseas trade and expansion of the British Empire.

George Lance's birthplace is believed by the authors to be Easton Lodge, a vast Elizabethan building, seat of Charles Maynard, second Viscount, in Essex. The family moved to London shortly after Lance's birth. His father

was appointed Inspector of the Bow Street Horse Patrol. Lance's school is not known, but he was well educated with classical knowledge. He had always loved drawing. The family lived at various addresses in London.

The beginning of an artist's career is always intriguing.

Chance plays a big part. Lance’s career is told in detail from which we learn how he met Charles Landseer by chance in the British Museum which led to him becoming a pupil of the renowned B.R. Haydon for seven years. Whilst teaching his pupil Historical Painting, a well thought of genre, Hadon advised he should study anatomy and nature and copy it. Thus, Lance concentrated on still life painting.

In the illustrations you can see the strong influence of Dutch and Flemish still life painters, especially Weenix, van Huysum, van Bergen and Snyder.

Haydon introduced Lance to the vibrant art world of London and he met many influential people who became patrons and clients. He had always had a good relationship with the sixth Earl of Shaftesbury and the Sixth Duke of Bedford who bought his work.

He was also a frequent guest of the Marlboroughs at Blenheim Palace.

Lance also moved in Theatre and Opera circles meeting celebrities who patronised him. Among them Luigi

Lablache, Samuel James Arnold and he painted Henry Phillips.

The Biography further reveals that Lance had contacts in the City of London. He painted certain works of Rundell and Bridge, leading jewellers, goldsmiths and medallists who were by appointment to Her Majesty and HRH the Duke of York and all members of the royal family. His paintings of their work reflects the importance and wealth of the City of London in Victorian times.

The importance of Liverpool is featured in this biography. It was the first provincial city to hold an art exhibition.

The Academy of Liverpool was founded on the lines of the Royal Academy in London and it awarded an annual prize.

Lance won it and frequently exhibited in the Academy. However, the Academy did not survive and the Corporation took over the art of Liverpool which led to its obscurity.

Lance married Sarah, daughter of Edward and Sarah Rawles. They had a son and a daughter. His lifelong ambition to be a member of the Royal Academy in London was never fulfilled.

The reason remains a mystery. Life is not always just.

This excellent Biography will be valuable to Art historians and scholars, furthermore it will give pleasure to the general reader. It enhances the reputation of George Lance. His still life paintings of nature's cornucopia of fruit will always bear witness to his greatness.

Marian Maitland

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Arts & Culture Photographs © British Museum

Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds.

The British Museum.

Sainsbury Exhibition Gallery.

Room 30 19th May 2016 until 27th November 2016

The evocative strangeness of the past is revealed by the unique exhibits in Sunken Cities at the British Museum.

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monumental, pink granite statue depicting Hapi, the ancient Egyptian God of Fertility and the Annual Flooding of the Nile, welcomes visitors to the Exhibition.

Crowned with papyrus leaves and standing five and a quarter metres high, he originally greeted sailors and merchants arriving at Thonis-Heracleion, once a busy trading centre which was built at the Delta of the Nile in about 700 BC and mysteriously sank into the bed of the sea in about 800 AD. The Exhibition illustrates the strong connection between Egypt and Greece in ancient times, revealing cross cultural exchange in Art and Religion, also clarifying that neither culture was weakened. Egypt was cosmopolitan, not an isolated civilisation. Hybrid art works are displayed thus emphasising the interwoven relationship of Greece and Egypt. These exhibits show that Egyptian art was not challenged or influenced until there was exposure to Greek and Roman Art with its realism.

The Exhibition describes the importance of the two lost cities. Firstly, Thonis-Heracleion, a thriving trade centre, was named after Heracles, the Hero and Demi-God. Thonis was the ancient Egyptian name for the city. It was actually a huge port of entry to Egypt and all trade had to go through it. Every Pharaoh had to attend its Temple to receive the title of his power as Universal Sovereign from the supreme God Amun.

Secondly, Canopus, which was founded and lost at the same time as Thonis-Heracleion, was the seat of the Cult of Osiris, ancient Egyptian God of After-Life.

Both cities had an Egyptian culture in the seventh century BC and came under the influence of Greece in the fourth century. They were built on islands at the edge of the fertile islands of the Nile Delta and were intersected by canals. The location was perilous and unstable like that of Venice. An earthquake or tidal wave may have

caused the clay foundations to liquefy, and the cities were buried in sediment up to three metres thick which was a paradise for preservation. The remains were submerged for over a thousand years.

The Exhibition portrays the dramatic story of the underwater excavation of these two sunken cities and the rescue of their extraordinary treasures. The ceiling of the Exhibition Gallery had to be altered to accommodate the monumental statues.

Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus were known from ancient Egyptian Decrees, Greek mythology and various literary and historical references. Attempts to locate the cities had failed.

In 1933 an RAF Pilot, flying over the Nile Delta, reported to the Egyptian Royal Family that he had seen some dark shadows in the waters. In 1996 it was decided that the lost cities of the Nile Delta were located in the nearby Aboukir Bay. Franck Goddio, a French Maritime Archaeologist, Founder and President of the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology, went diving there and made the sea give up

her secrets. Thus the British Museum launched its first major Underwater Exhibition in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry for Press Releases.

Goddio and his team used the latest magnetometer technology to identify anomalies in the sediment and saw a wall of a huge building which he identified as the Serapeum of Canopus dedicated to the Egyptian-Greco god Serapis. This Temple was famous for healing the sick and they slept there. Imagine the drama and realise that the slightest movement of the silt would eliminate the divers’ view. Goddio solved this problem by developing 3D scans of the site accurate to the nearest centimetre.

The spectacular exhibits include a monumental statue of Queen Arsinoe 11 ( eldest daughter of Ptolemy 1) who became a Goddess after her death and was much loved by Egyptians and Greeks. Her statue is a good example of hybrid art. She is delicately carved from black granodiorite in traditional Egyptian style, but is adorned with Greek, diaphanous flowing drapery. She is depicted as Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty, who also granted ‘safe sailing’.

The exhibits of stelai are valuable for historical evidence. Goddio was thrilled with the stele of 380 BC with its Decree

by Nectanebo enforcing tax on Greek imports.

The smaller exhibits are impressive.

On view is intricate jewellery and a gold pectoral set with lapis lazuli and glass is particularly beautiful. There are significant coins and examples of hieroglyphics which are interesting from the historical and art angle. The lead models on view represent papyrus barges associated with the Mysteries of Osiris, the most popular festival celebrated annually. The barges celebrated the first navigation of the event and would have been illuminated by three thousand and sixty five lamps; a unique exhibit.

The Exhibition is brilliantly curated

by Aurelia Masson-Berghoff.

Franck Goddio made a great contribution to our knowledge of Egypt and Greece through his daunting excavation of the lost cities of ThonisHeracleion and Canopus. The Exhibition reflects his joy in the search and discovery of these two sunken cities.

Goddio likes underwater excavation as there is no limiting modern interference. The sea belonged to him; an archaeological paradise.

Marian Maitland The Exhibition is supported by BP and is organised with the Hilti Foundation and the Institut Européen d’Archeologie Sous-Marine in collaboration with Ministry of Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The British Museum Great Russell Street London WC1 B 3DG Tickets: +44 ( 0 ) 7 323 8181 e-mail: tickets@britishmuseum.org

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk Photographs Courtesy of the artist & Wilkinson Gallery, London

George Shaw: My Back to Nature

National Gallery, Sunley Room Until 30 October 2016 Admission free www.nationalgallery.co.uk

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his is going to be tricky to write up, I thought as I entered the Sunley Room. Two dozen canvases, painted in enamel, of trees in a wood, and sixty pencil, charcoal and pen and ink works on paper. George Shaw is Associate Artist at the National Gallery, which means that he has his own studio somewhere at the back of this grand building and has access to the galleries outside normal opening hours. Following on from last month’s article about Chelsea Flower Show and the comparative use of areas the size of Wales, London buses and football pitches, I went onto the National Gallery website, only to discover that, including the Sainsbury Wing, the Gallery has a total floor area of 46,396m², which, as they state, is equivalent to around six football pitches, and big enough to hold over 2,000 London double-decker buses. Mr Shaw’s journey to work takes him past many Old Masters, including three by Titian, Death of Actaeon, Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto, and he tries to make a connection between Actaeon’s stumbling on a bathing Diana with other ample, pink ladies and Tiresias doing the same thing to Athena, and getting blinded for his troubles, while poor Actaeon gets ripped to death by his hounds. These unfortunates bring to George’s mind Lady Godiva’s bareback ride through

Coventry, his home town, with poor old ‘Peeping Tom’ meeting the same fate as Tiresias. On another wall, a couple of lush Poussins, the busy scene of abandoned licentiousness in The Triumph of Pan, which is just seventeenth century filth under the flimsy guise of classical mythological allusion, and the deeply erotic Nymph with Satyrs, in which a lecherous old satyr lifts the sheet to find the ecstatic girl playing with herself.

Shaw’s tramp takes us from voyeurism in the woods to the wooded enclaves painted by Titian, Poussin, Bellini and Constable, but with the people taken out and replaced by the rubbish they left behind.

Unlike most of the paintings he walks past, the sylvan scenes he depicts are all unpeopled, except for one, which has our backwoodsman pissing up against a tree. Another, by John Constable has a lonesome stag at the Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds. He has pared the subject matter down to the barest minimum, and used nothing more than the title to make the connection between, say Correggio’s Venus with Mercury and Cupid, otherwise known as The School of Love, with his own take on it, which is an abandoned striped mattress thrown into the bushes. Whether one wants to pursue this as being ‘meaningful’, witty or poignant, is open to conjecture; one

Top: School of Love Above: The Old Master

thinks it may just be tongue-in-cheek.

Human detritus abounds, from crushed drinks’ cans, bottles, condoms, plastic bags and sheets and ripped pages from porn mags. His use of ordinary, domestic Humbrol enamel paints lends a glossy, almost photographic, luminosity to the paintings, but it must be a fiendishly difficult medium to apply and control, particularly on canvas. Apart from the naked ladies, Shaw is interested in Jesus, and his crucifixion, and he sees his trees

as being representations of the cross.

The National Gallery is stuffed full of as many sacred and religious paintings as there is bare flesh, sometimes combining the two, as is in Carlo Crivelli’s The Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels.

Four pencil drawings of Christ with crowns of thorns are entitled Frilly Knickers and a See-Through Bra, for no perceivable reason, so maybe that is mere frivolity. There are also a series of 14 nude self-portraits of him in various poses representing Christ in traditional Stations of the Cross compositions.

Titles are a bit hit-or-miss, The Tossed being one of the hits, as it includes the discarded pages from girlie magazines arrayed around the trunk of a tree. Some tree have ugly gashes across their bark, while others have vulvate qualities to the openings in their trunks, but maybe that is just me being satyrical.

The accompanying catalogue at £20 is a philosophical treatise, without which one would be even more in the dark woods about the contemporary contrasts between, say, porn and the nudes populating the paintings of the Old Masters. The reproductions unfortunately have not been properly colour balanced, and do not do the paintings any favours, as in real life they are much more vibrant than the darkened images we are offered, which is just lazy.

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Arts & Culture

CLASSICAL MUSIC

BY JAMES DOUGLAS

A classical month

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mörgåsbord: Glass, Mozart, Beethoven, Gilmour, National Opera Studio at the Wandsworth Mayor’s Ball, Dobrinka Tabakova and the Bulgarian Cultural Institute at the Cadogan Hall, inter alia As Clive Owen says in Chancer quoting a military adage “proper planning prevents piss-poor performance”; I usually start the month with a theme, be that a résumé of what the colleges are up to like Steve Reich’s Minimalism at the Royal College of Music, or focussing on a venue like St John’s Smith Square. May just blew me off my feet. As the diary filled up with “can you please cover that?”, “come along as my guest to this” and “I must see”, I opened my diary, lay back and enjoyed.

It doesn’t come much more off the wall than on Friday 20 May 2016 when I met with colleagues at the Bulgarian Embassy for a sumptuous and very well attended cocktail party to celebrate the 2017 EU Council joint presidency between UK, Bulgaria and Estonia, hosted by no lesser eminence than His Excellency Mr Konstantin Dimitrov the Ambassador from Bulgaria to the Court of St. James’s, in the most elegant surroundings of his embassy in Queen’s Gate, pretty much the axis of our musical manor. Speechless but for the shortest of ambassadorial welcomes, the atmosphere was relaxed, guests engaged and entertaining. We hooked up with Dominic Lake from the Department for Culture Media & Sport, and headed off for the Gala Concert at a commendably

packed Cadogan Hall. The speeches were complete with word-perfect translator and an elegantly behatted suitably stern Orthodox priest; the venue served the evening well. Grammy Award-winning choir Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares closed proceedings, bookending the opening selection of flamboyant and heavily accented pieces from the London Bulgarian Choir. The loudest cheers (from a raucous cosmopolitan audience, Brits please take note) came for Dobrinka Tabakova’s Three impressions for string orchestra: Searching, Nostalgia, Dance.

I enjoy a good mid-life friendship with, believe it or not, the headmaster in all but name of my prep school (Pinewood near Swindon; all of seventyfive us in the whole school; if you’ve heard of it you probably went there).

I’m not sure Patrick Mackie’s courteous surprise that I’ve done as much as I have, given a privileged head-start, is necessarily a compliment, but we get along just fine. Amongst many memorable adventures, we’ve enjoyed a couple of trips to the Cadogan Hall; as he puts up at the Rag in Pall Mall, we feel it’s pretty much our local.

This time Mackie wondered, over a refreshing interludinal Hendricks and tonic if Glass’s Ninth Symphony (jointly commissioned by the evening’s players the Bruckner Orchester Linz) could follow Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto.

Normally adhering to the maxim that nothing but Bach or Mozart should ever try and follow Beethoven, I hedged my bets: every time I thought a Minimalist might struggle in Classical company I had been proved wrong. The Glass blew us both away, thus in a way proving me right. We parted (me in my new hat, a last-minute treat from Farlows against surprisingly heavy but delicious warm spring rain) bonds enhanced by an evening’s culture and conviviality, all but fifty years from the day we met. Maybe my parents should stump up some overtime …

I’m always mildly surprised when clients are grateful. Maybe I look after

them better now I’m older and they seem scarcer; a bit like girlfriends. Mario Swanston from CAI Vision (excellent home automation including multi-room audio-visual, and close friend of Plus One Colin) expressed his by treating me to a seat in his box for Gilmour’s Teenage Cancer Trust bash at the Royal Albert Hall. Gilmour’s solo stuff is so strong I’d happily have listened to that all night; he opened with 5am and the eponymous Rattle That Lock from September 2015’s excellent album.

Anything by Pink Floyd after Wish You Were Here, which is after all their tenth studio album (if you include Relics which you should; name the previous nine, no googling but I’ll give you the overlooked More), is a bit lost on me, but I did go misty-eyed hearing Gilmour sing the Odes to Syd perhaps one last time: Wish You Were Here’s title track and of course Shine On You Crazy Diamond. We were even treated to a fabulously refreshed and up-tempo Astronomy Domine (surely the greatest track one side one of a debut album), perhaps Syd Barrett’s (and even Floyd’s) most important of all. David Gilmour was sufficiently resilient as a youth to carry the lead guitar and lead vocals as the band lost its founding genius (and his schoolfriend) Barrett, and then reprise the trick in midlife when Waters left, so we shouldn’t be surprised he’s still as fresh as a daisy at seventy. Even the light show was magnificent, never more so than when the lights turned purple in tribute to Prince, as one of rock’s greatest musicians referenced the guitar solo from another’s Purple Rain.

My alter ego the accountant is currently chairman of neighbouring borough Wandsworth’s chamber of commerce, and in that capacity went along with the newish lawyer to the Mayor’s Charity Ball. Nicola Nardelli has been a gloriously extrovert Mayor and her farewell party was a musical

Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. We had a great table including Martin Herbert and his colleagues from Banham’s (posh locks etc), and Emily Gottleib, Alice Clayton and William Morgan from the National Opera Studio. I had a Sarfraz moment. (On asking the cricketing legend to repeat his name he modestly replied, “Sarfraz, Sarfraz Nawaz; I used to play cricket”.) I was sure I’d met William. Turned out I’d seen him star with Romanas Kudriašovas at the two NOS functions I covered a couple of months ago. The pair of them stood up dramatically and sang beautifully in the staggered interval between starter and main. Emily was saying that Romanas has won a key role playing the Count in The Marriage Of Figaro at Glyndebourne this summer.

Proof, if it were needed, that for great entertainment in the Royal Borough and its no lesser neighbours you just need to get out and about. I usually do a round-up of what’s on but to be honest I just get on the internet and digest it for you through the questionable filter of my own imagination. You might as well do the same for yourself. Everything you see that remotely takes your fancy will be excellent from our regular hosts, including St John’s Smith Square (for God’s sake, and I mean not to blaspheme as you’ll believe once you’ve heard him playing Chopin in that most sacred of halls, get along to hear Warren Mailley-Smith conjuring Him while you can), Cadogan Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal College of Music and countless others. Don’t forget the Royal Opera House and Sadler’s Wells. 606 isn’t classical but it offers great jazz; a lovely venue with good food served cabaret. Now listen to us good and listen well … Jesus! I nearly forgot the sublime perfectly-formed Wigmore Hall. Many apologies to anywhere I’ve offended.

Let me know and I’ll make it up to you next time.

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk Photograph © Johan Persson

Murder, Mystery and a Party Rambert’s Season at The Sadler’s Wells

By Andrew Ward

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Above: Tomorrow by Lucy Guerin Right: A Linha Curva by Itzik Galili

work in complete harmony with all the surrounding discourse to enhance the overall drama of the piece. One is transfixed by the beam of light that gradually lifts to reveal the two halves of the stage as one briefly, before returning the beam of light to the height of a tennis net that splits the calm acting court and mad psychotic one at the start of the piece. The truth is that one’s eye was constantly trying to follow the action just like at a Wimbledon Tennis court. The only problem was it was very one sided with all the action on the mad team! Bravo to Team Rambert dancers who kept the piece alive with the universal language of contemporary

Photograph © Chris Nash

ambert, Britain’s flagship contemporary dance company, has a rightful place on the world stage. Now in its 90th year, the 20 dancers perform across the UK and internationally with a sense of being and confidence that is very refreshing. Artistic Director, Mark Baldwin, has a group of dancers at his fingertips that, individually and collectively, excite the senses with their brilliant dynamic technique and artistry.

The London Season was titled Murder, Mystery and a Party. The evening ended on a high with a Party but the first piece did not stand out on several fronts.

Terra Incognita, was originally choreographed in 2014 for the company

by Shobana Jeyasingh. With only a hint of mystery the piece did not deliver the promised journey into the unknown but rather an exploration that got stuck at base camp. The piece had all the hallmarks of Jeyasingh’s distinctive style of movement in abundance with a fusion of Indian classical dance with contemporary movement. Credit to the dancers who were faultless in their efforts, but on this occasion the first piece did not have a beginning, middle or end other than to take the audience to the first interval feeling the programme had not really got going yet.

World Premieres are a must for the evolving art form so expectations are high, especially when Rambert’s creative genius is set at Olympic levels raising the bar each time. Tomorrow was created by Australian choreographer, Lucy Guerin, following on from her recent collaboration on Macbeth with Carrie Cracknell at the Young Vic. Celebrating the 400th year of the grand master Shakespeare, Tomorrow is based on Macbeth but the play was acted out in reverse which was confusing and did not add to the drama. The stage was set with two defined areas, almost like a tennis court, with actors on one side and witches on the other. A beam of light separates the dancers on stage: seven dressed in black depicting the play in reverse order with a series of ”acting” movements; and seven witches (both male and female) dressed in cream nightgowns twisting and writhing in convulsive jerky movements that tease out the psychological intensity of the psychotic themes of the play.

Both Conor Murphy’s set designs and Lee Curran’s lighting designs

movement. At its best it can reach and engage an audience no matter where you are in the world… and it did!

A Linha Curva, choreographed by Itzik Galili, ended the triple bill with gusto, flare and a real wow factor that had the audience buzzing as they left the theatre.

Galili based the piece on Latin American rhythms and movement with music by a Dutch percussion group called Percosa.

The set design, also by Galili, was pure genius. The stage was set like a cross between a chess board and a game of scrabble or crossword. Beams of square light lit the dancers performing an intricate series of movements all over

the stage. In a flash you saw a series of movements in a canon with 7 squares lit up across the grid pattern followed by 4 down on a chess board. Next it would be like one was watching a word game on stage with a series of 12 squares being lit up on a diagonal one after another with a blink of an eye in between each square being lit up in turn.

The concept, timing and intensity of the piece was simply cosmic. Bravo to the 20 Rambert dancers and 8 dancers guesting from the Rambert School. The evening ended on a high note. Both dancers and the audience left the theatre with an extra spring in their step from the power of dance!

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Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

has injected new life into what many regarded for many years, as an outmoded, institutionalised mode of hanging. For a start, he has introduced artistic duos into the Main Galleries, comprising ten works in the Wohl rotunda, although why Allen Jones’s solo Action Painting is included amongst the duos is not explained.Tim Noble and Sue Webster have ventured out of their comfort zone of shadow painting, and produced a flashy, dare one say, vulgar, piece with neon and LED lamps spelling out Forever.

At the end wall of the first gallery is an enormous in-yer-face work Böse Blumen by Anselm Kiefer an Hon RA and invited artist, flanked by Sean Scully’s impressive Landline Darkness, Frank Bowling’s riotous acrylic splash, Pouring over 2 Morrison Boys and 2 Maps II, and Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s Emergency Exit #4, one of the duos. The scale of these three works is colossal, and yet they have room to breathe, an accusation levelled at the hanging in previous years. At the other end are two of the late Bert Irvin’s vibrant acrylics, in honour of the artist who died last year.

In between, there are works by the usual suspects, including works by Tony Bevan, Fred Cumming, who seems to improve with age, a surprisingly piss-poor snow scene by Ken Howard, peopled by awkwardly out-of-scale people,

and precision personified

by Michael Craig-Martin in Space II. David Remfrey never disappoints, and he has curated Gallery VIII with a quirky eye that focuses on peoplewatching, with a strange emphasis on hairstyles, including the delightfully rude cabinet Head Case by Cathie Pilkington, with an array of witty and allusive figures from the world of art. Stephen Chambers was given a print gallery to curate, and he included Richard Long’s large abstract Honky Tonk Women, which dominates the space, which also includes three bronze seed pods by Peter Randall-Page entitled Inside Out. The prestigious £25,000 Wollaston Award was won by David Nash with his astonishing Big Black, which comprised an enormous charred segment of California redwood, which was first installed at Compton Verney last year. Alongside in this gallery curated by Jock McFadyen and devoted to landscape, is another charred piece of wood by David Mach, which has been drilled with thousands of PoziDriv screws called Dark Matter. Humphrey Ocean seems to have lost the plot with Joyride, an oil painting of a car’s brake light so extruded as to be meaningless, while the Boyle Family continue to delight with their resin and fibreglass slices of ‘earth’, and guest artists Gilbert and George produced a vast site-specific work entitled Beard Aware.

The architectural section has been strengthened and enlarged by Louisa Hutton and Ian Ritchie to include a younger generation of architects centered around the theme of Unbuilt, which illustrates how ideas are formed and

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248th RA Summer Show

Until 21 August 2015 Admission £13.50 www.royalacademy.org.uk

L

ast year’s show, curated by Michael Craig-Martin, with the first three galleries in shocking pink, even more shocking turquoise and a Gauloise packet blue, reached by Jim Lambie’s multi-coloured vinyl striped staircase, was an improvement on the previous years’ tired, formulaic art and self-congratulatory academicians hanging each other’s works. This year is a revelation. Many people will know Richard Wilson from his monumenal sculpture ‘Hang on a minute lads, I’ve got a great idea . . . ‘, which comprised a 1960s coach balancing on the roof of Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff ’s iconic De La Warr Pavilion, itself a response to the last line said by Michael Caine in the film The Italian Job when the coach containing the stolen gold bullion skids off the road and is left swaying over a precipice. He

Serpentine Pavilion

Until 9 October 2016 Free admission serpentinegalleries.org

This year the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has come up with a contradictory structure that is both a wall and a hollow space, transparent and opaque, sculptural and free-form, modular and flowing.

Constructed of pultruded (new word to me) fibreglass frames or bricks, stacked up on each other and bolted together, it was originally designed to be climbable on the outside, but the ‘elf ’n’ safety boys at the Royal Parks had kittens, and had a safety-rail installed. As one walks round

it, and through it, it changes constantly, and pleasingly, with undulating patterns emerging and no two views the same, with the daylight inside subdued.

Around the main pavilion are four additional ‘summer houses’, designed and built in response to Queen Caroline’s Temple, an 18th century summer house attributed to William Kent overlooking the Long Water. These seem a bit superfluous and add nothing to the Pavilion, even though individually they are interesting enough structures. Last year’s Pavilion was a very flimsy, brightlycoloured and reflective fabric building on a steel frame, with criss-crossed cat’s cradle latticework by the Spanish practice José Selgas and Lucia Cano, selgascano. This year, we have something a little more substantial from the Dane and the ‘see-through solidity’ also works well from a distance.

Don Grant

developed from concept and design, although not necessarily realised. Richard Wilson invited the Turkish filmmaker Kutlug Ataman to exhibit his truly monumental video installation, which was originally commissioned by the Sakip Sabanci family to mark the ten years since the death of the patriarch philanthropist and businessman; it comprises 10,000 LED panels suspended on a rig above the viewer, and depicts the tens of thousands of people who, either worked for him, or whose paths he crossed. There are some terrific pieces of sculpture in The Lecture Room, from the pocketable Dancer on Ball III

by Tim Shaw at £3,000 to a shipping container with spy-holes by Jimmy Cauty, in which there is a highly-detailed model of a lorry crash at night called The Bridge. This is but a tiny segment of the sensational installation he had at Banksy’s Dismaland Bemusement Park in Weston-Super-Mare last summer, called Aftermath Displacement Principle.

Yinka Shonibare’s Balloon Man depicting exactly that, has a price-tag of an eyewatering £195,000, whereas Ron Arad’s gigantic articulated camera rig Spyre in the courtyard does not have a price at all, so, if you have to ask, you patently can’t afford it, sir. One of the smallest, and cheapest, works is a slice of toast of a mountain range painted in oils at £300

by India Dewar.

Bill Jacklin and Bill Woodrow also curated galleries, as did David Mach with Cathie Pilkington, and this generates a variety and diversity of works of art, and Richard Wilson is at pains to stress, that although he had overall curatorial control, it was a collaborative effort. Of approximately 12,000 entries, most of which were open submissions, 1,240 artworks are on display, and virtually all are for sale. It should be said that a percentage goes towards subsidising students at the free post-grad RA Schools.

Don Grant Photograph © Bjarke Ingels

Photograph © Don Grant

Arts & Culture

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June 2016

Arts & Culture

BRICKS AND BRICKBATS

BY EMMA FLYNN

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

engineering season until it comes to a close in November. Visitors will have the opportunity to watch the construction live as an on-site robotic arm weaves new elements of the structure. The growth of the pavilion across the courtyard will be determined by sensors embedded in the canopy’s glass fibres that will respond in real-time to structural behaviour and occupancy patterns in the garden.

“Remember the impact that the first industrial revolution here in England had on architecture, as strikingly expressed in the Victorian Greenhouse?” asked Menges at the press preview of the pavilion. “With Elytra Filament Pavilion, we aim to offer a glimpse of the transformative power of the fourth industrial revolution currently underway, and the way it again challenges

square meter roof structure, supported on similarly formed funnel-shaped legs.

Unfortunately for Menges and the team, the scale of each component was limited by the narrow doors of the historic V&A building, capping the potential size of the structure. Menges believes that the material could be used to produce much larger spanning structures, with robotic fabrication unlocking its potential. To Menges and his team, carbon fibre is architecture's biggest unexplored resource: “The genuine possibilities inherent in the material are not fully tapped into,” he said. “We haven't left that phase where these new materials are mimicking old materials… It's a very new technology so nobody has picked it up and commercialised it.”

we just built the component,” he says.

According to Menges, the use of moulds stifles experimentation. It is old technique, which is designed to mimic traditional processes. By applying the same technique to a relatively new group of fibrous materials, the industry is missing out the chance to explore the materials full potential. “Fibrous materials are still not used in a way that really explores the intrinsic material properties and characteristics,” he said, “both in terms of the design language, but also in terms of the structural capacities that they have.” Instead, Menges’ technique is a form of robotic weaving that leaves fibres raw and exposed rather than combining them in a composite material. It is a system he believes could be used to build carbon-

established modes of design, engineering and making. Built entirely from robotically produced fibrous systems, the Pavilion will intensify the visitor’s experience of the V&A’s Garden by providing a differentiated and evolving space. Its intricate, filament canopy is at the same time an architectural envelope, load-bearing structure and environmental filter, which will extend and transform over time.”

While the robotic fabrication process itself is unique, it is the materiality of the structure that really gets Menges excited: “One of the most exciting materials we’ve found are fibre-reinforced plastics, it’s also interesting to see that nature also uses fibrous composites.”

Constructed from 40 components, each piece is formed by a single length of resin-coated fibre and weighs just 45 kilograms. Lengths of carbon and glass fibre are drawn through a resin bath by a robot, and then wound around metal framework by the robotic arm. The resin-coated structures are then cured in a giant oven before being detached from their framework to form rigid standalone pieces. These components are then pieced together on site, forming a 200

Ten times stronger than steel, and much lighter, carbon fibre is one of the newest and most revolutionary materials in construction. Part of a family of fibrereinforced composites, its high tensile strength makes it an ideal material for the transport, furniture and sport goods’ industries. Thirty years ago carbon fibre was too cost prohibitive to be used in anything except aerospace. Today, the first mass-produced carbon-fibre car and plane have been recently introduced.

Use of the material in architecture has so far been limited, with most attempts adopting the aesthetics of the automotive industry. In most cases, the carbon-fibre components are formed in moulds, laid over a formwork to structure their shape; this is how Formula One racing cars are made, for example. But using a mould for an architectural project makes little sense, says Menges. “A mould is actually a really complicated thing to build; it’s the biggest investment.” While cars are mass-produced in the same shape, a building requires multiple different components that will likely only be used once. It makes more sense to eliminate moulds altogether. “Rather than build a mould for every individual component,

fibre structures large and strong enough to form stadium roofs, programming robots to do the building. The primary challenge, he said is the development of the software needed to programme the robotic fabrication. The robots need to be more intelligent than those used in the car industry, able to create bespoke structures, rather than simply repeating one task.

Menges will lead a symposium about biomimicry, design and engineering in conjunction with the V&A Engineering Season, which opens on 18 June and runs until 6 November 2016.

The Engineering Season at the V&A will celebrate the ‘unsung heroes’ of design that create and shape the built world. The season of engineeringthemed events will explore some of the most advanced engineering taking place in the world today The exciting line-up includes the first major retrospective of Ove Arup, the 20th-century engineer behind the Arup group, an exhibition highlighting the global impact of contemporary British engineers including AKT II, Atelier One, Buro Happold, Expedition Engineering and Jane Wernick Associates.

Elytra Filament Pavilion at the V&A, 2016. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

http://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/elytra-filament-pavilion

The Elytra Filament Pavilion at the V&A

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

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robotically woven carbon-fibre pavilion has been constructed in the courtyard garden of the V&A museum as part of a season of engineering events. The Elytra Filament Pavilion is undulating canopy of transparent glass and black carbon fibre cells that have been fabricated using a novel robotic production process.

Inspired by lightweight construction principles found in nature, the web-like design takes its cue from the fibrous structure of the forewing shells of flying beetles known as elytra.

Designed by experimental Architect and researcher Achim Menges, the pavilion is a collaboration with architect Moritz Dörstelmann, structural engineer Jan Knippers and climate engineer Thomas Auer. It forms part of the group’s on going research projects into biomimicry at the University of Stuttgart.

Intended as a showcase of how design and engineering can come together, the pavilion explores how digital design and emerging robotic technologies are transforming architectural design and engineering. A live research project, the pavilion will grow over the course of the

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Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

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Arts & Culture REVIEWS

Green Room

Director: Jeremy Saulnier Run Time: 95 Minutes

Photograph © Broad Green Pictures

“PUNK AIN’T NO RELIGiOUS CULT/PUNK MEANS THINKING FOR YOURSELF!”- Nazi Punks Fuck Off by Dead Kennedys Punk’s relationship with racism could kindly be described as ‘confused’ (and less kindly described as ‘a s**tshow’).

The more intellectual elements of the (admittedly overwhelmingly white) subculture are often at the forefront of battles to enact progressive social change, whilst the…less progressive elements tend to be made up of the kind of people who view racially motivated assaults as an essential part of a healthy exercise routine. With its tale of a cosmopolitan middle class punk band thrust into an unexpected battle for survival against a smirking gang of neo-Nazi skinheads, Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room explores through punk’s ideological divide with the force of an axe to the throat.

Saulnier made his name through the melancholic and darkly amusing revenge thriller Blue Ruin in 2013 which featured a drifter ineptly attempting to get revenge on the criminals who killed his family (and doing about as well as you or I would) and whilst Green Room trades in the quiet feeling of doom that made that film such a success, it replaces it with a horrific grinding tension that slams into place early and refuses to release the audience until the closing credits. Early in the film the menacingly urbane leader of the neo-Nazis (played

by Patrick Stewart, in one of the more inspired pieces of stunt casting in recent memory) states matter-of-factly that “this won’t end well” and he’s certainly not wrong.

The film traces the debatable fortunes of the (fittingly named) Ain’t Rights, a hardcore punk band in the mould of Black Flag who are long on authenticity but short on funds (and indeed audiences); we join them at the end of a seemingly unsuccessful cross state tour that has reduced them to siphoning gasoline in an attempt to get their rust-bucket tour van back home.

Offered a last second replacement gig at a skinhead dive bar in the depths of a Deliverance-esque forest the Rights jump at the chance for a last second payday. Clearly uncomfortable in the sea of shaved heads and white power slogans which greet them, the band make the potentially suicidal decision to open with a cover of Nazi Punks F*** Off by the Dead Kennedys but otherwise manage to make it through their performance unscathed until a last minute detour back to the Green Room to pick up a forgotten phone causes them to walk straight into a murder scene.

Corralled in the Green Room (“we’re not keeping you, you’re just staying” they are informed as the door swings shut) with the corpse and an unknown third party (Imogen Poots) it is distressingly apparent that the aggression which the band can summon on stage is no match for the coming storm.

With Green Room Saulnier has created a bleak (if spiked with dark humour) thriller that hums with extreme violence that manages to avoid seeming gratuitous. Much cinematic violence is so extreme these days that it’s easy to become desensitized, however Saulnier grounds his in a believability, a million miles from the usual pseudopornographic approach that gets gorehounds salivating and instead had the audience squirming uncomfortably.

Green Room lacks the subtleties of Blue Ruin and sometimes feels like an arthouse take on a grindhouse flick but in its brutal uncompromising nature offers an authenticity and a heady pulse that is barely flickering in modern Hollywood’s anaemic thrillers. It might not be religious but it’s certainly a cult that viewers might find themselves all too caught up in.

“a buzzing whirlwind of strings nestled in a bed of seething static”

Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool £10.00

Radiohead has long since gone beyond the point where their albums can be evaluated free of critical baggage. As the unhappily anointed ‘saviours of rock’ who reacted to the huge critical and commercial success of 1997’s game-changing OK Computer by doubling down for 2000’s epochal Kid A before angrily rejecting their crown to follow whichever way their contrarian muse was blowing. Despite the uniform excellence of the four albums which followed there is a prevailing undercurrent in their critical consensus (along with large swathes of their audience) who seem to react to new Radiohead with a “Yes this is all very nice, but don’t you think it’s about time you made a PROPER album?”.

This ever heralded ‘return to rock’ is unlikely to ever materialise (especially considering the open contempt that the band seem to hold much of their early material in) and the latest offering A Moon Shaped Pool has strode even further away from anything that seems to ever trouble the singles chart even by Radiohead’s own oblique standards.

The album jerks to life with the driving Burn The Witch (sadly not a Queens of the Stone Age cover) which comes storming at the listener. Any fans of Jonny Greenwood’s (excellent) score for 2007’s There Will Be Blood should find plenty to luxuriate in (indeed Greenwood’s strings are something of a constant throughout the album, certainly outweighing his guitar work).

It’s always a fool’s errand to look for exact interpretations in a Radiohead song but Thom Yorke’s soaring falsetto is pregnant with anxiety as he sketches

© Dawn Chorus LLP

Feldman MAX

images of a Daily Mail driven society that is constantly on the lookout for hate figures to tar and feather where “if you float, you burn.” The song reaches a fever pitch where the strings discordantly begin to shriek out of place before the album suddenly drops into the drowsy melancholia of Daydreaming. The propulsive excitement of Burn The Witch is never regained in an album which seems far more interested in exploring nervy ambient soundscapes than it does in providing the listener with pulse racing catharsis.

That being said the bleeps and bloops that have defined late period Radiohead are substantially stripped back, admittedly mainly replaced by the aforementioned edgy strings. The human emotion of the album comes pouring through (not always a given when dealing with Oxford’s favoured sons), whilst the band would probably resent armchair psychology, Yorke has recently split from his long term significant other and that heartbreak seems to have seeped into the cracks and crevices of the album and infused it with a melancholy quite distinct from the fevered disconnect and fears of previous records. So whilst it might not quite be the album of choice to really get a party going (and to call it Radiohead’s Blood On The Tracks would be ridiculously disingenuous) it’s certainly as emotive and powerful as any album that might come up on your radar any time soon. The album closes with a long time live favourite True Love Waits, a hitherto unrecorded track that’s been kicking around Radiohead sets since 1995, reimagined as a piano ballad (which might put up the hackles of purists) bathed in soothing synths. A Moon Shaped Pool isn’t going to make true believers out of any who haven’t been won over by the band’s oeuvre beforehand but it’s another skittering step on the unapologetically idiosyncratic path the band have been treading since Kid A and it has plenty to offer those receptive to its bounties.

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June 2016

Arts & Culture Everybody Wants Some!!

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Sing Street

Luckily for the cast of Sing Street, despite also being primarily concerned with a band, that is where the similarities to Green Room end. Instead of vicious neo-nazis the primary focus of Sing Street is impressing girls (a motivation

on a play on Synge Street, where the shabby Christian Brothers school and its rules-happy headmaster bring grief ).

If any of this seems familiar that’s due to the heavy influence Sing Street takes from The Commitments (and to a lesser extent from 2015s oddball cult favourite We Are The Best!!) this is certainly not a bad thing, Sing Street plunges headfirst into the trappings of its 1985 setting and wears it’s nostalgia as a badge of honour.

The music and fashion trends from Duran Duran, the Cure, Spandau Ballet, Joe Jackson and the prom scene from Back to the Future all make appearances without overdoing it. The film is bursting with genuine musical enthusiasm and it

hopefully a tad more familiar than battling far right thugs to the average cinema patron) our young hero is Connor, a talented if rather shy young man, who is immediately struck with Cupid’s arrow on encountering a rather sullen statuesque beauty with the unlikely name of Raphina who fancies herself as a model. Seeing an opportunity to ingratiate himself Connor immediately sets himself to convincing her to star in a music video. The only problem lies in the fact that Connor is lying through his teeth and his band only exists in his imagination. Faced with the unthinkable prospect of not impressing the object of his ardour Connor is forced to form a band post haste. Luckily his rather more charismatic brother Brendan (who steals ever scene) is on hand to help Connor (who is quickly redubbed with the stage name Cosmo because it’s the 80s) and soon with a faintly superheroesque assembly of musicians forms the eponymous Sing Street (a play

would take a deep well of cynicism to not be swept away with it (or a deep loathing of 80s pop in which case there is little to be done).

This is not writer-director John Carney’s first musical rodeo, being responsible for both the musical and film version of Once and has clearly found a groove that he’s happy to mine for the foreseeable future. The film isn’t all sunshine and happiness however, Carney’s script mines some affecting melancholy as Brendan’s older brother cool slowly erodes to reveal the confused and lost young man beneath. Coupled with the collapse of Connor and Brendan’s parents collapsing marriage and a depression ravaged city the film has all the ingredients of a Ken Loach gloom-fest but the overall mood is so gosh-darned chipper that it’s hard to describe the film as anything but feelgood.

The degree to which a prospective audience member will enjoy Sing Street is intrinsically tied up in how much they can tolerate musicals; whilst it’s hardly Les Miserables this is a film which has music as it’s beating overlarge heart so anyone who comes out in hives at the merest thought of Simon LeBon should probably avoid this like the plague. For anyone who is game however, this film’s name is Rio and it’s dancing in the goddamn sand.

Director: John Carney Run Time: 105 minutes

Photographs © Lionsgate

Photographs © Annapurna Pictures

Director: Richard Linklater Run Time: 116 Minutes

to his savagely competitive dorm, Jake does his best to fit in as the team attempts to fit in as much drinking, dope and girls before term begins proper after the weekend. There are no big moments or crisis to deal with in Everybody Wants Some!!, yet it’s deeply pleasant to hang out with this crew of highly believable (if perhaps a touch wittier than any 18-yearold could hope to be) dorm mates.

Much has been made of how

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

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ichard Linklater’s career has been filled with a wilful desire to play by his own rules (often to the detriment of his box office) jumping from punky anti-comedies (Slacker) to crowd pleasing blockbusters (School of Rock), romantic dramas (the Before trilogy) and high-concept Oscar bait like 2014’s Boyhood with schizophrenic aplomb.

Everybody Wants Some!! is firmly cut from this outsider cloth, serving as a spiritual successor to 1994’s stoner hangout comedy classic Dazed and Confused.

Whilst that particular slice of Americana took a holistic approach to high-school culture, spending time with every social strata of a Texas school on the last day of term circa 1976 (in a manner that bears more resemblance to The Wire than The Breakfast Club) Everybody Wants Some!! updates its setting to the first days of university and narrows its focus down to just the jocks, namely the baseball team.

Whilst focusing on the ever unpopular ‘college bro’ type (who would serve as the villains of the piece in a more normal film) risks alienating a large portion of the film’s potential audience, Linklater uses his narrower focus to humanise a maligned social group to a degree that might come as a surprise for an audience who just showed up for a good time. The narrative focuses on Jake (Blake Jenner) a newly arrived pitcher trying to acclimatize the high school to a college shift that’s taken him from big fish in a small pond to medium sized fish in an ocean of testosterone brimming with rapacious sharks. As a new addition

perfectly the film captures the 1980s, but considering that it takes place in August of 1980 there are still plenty of holdovers from the Seventies: Everything from a bong hit fuelled listening party to Pink Floyd’s Fearless (“it’s all about the notes he DOESN’T play man”!) to aggressive Alpha Male McReynold’s unironically John Holmesian porn mustache, grounds the film in a deeply immersive intersection of place and time, this can lead to some issues for the modern viewer (most of the cast’s views on women could most charitably be described as ‘unreconstructed’) but even the most crusading viewer would be challenged to not be swept away by the party.

With an entirely no-name cast (somewhat standard operating procedure for the director; Dazed and Confused launched the careers of Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Renee Zellweger and Mila Jovovich) and an absence of a standard dramatic backbone, it’s unlikely to be a hit and it lacks the broad focus that helped make Dazed and Confused such a delight but Everybody Wants Some!! offers the thrills that no other director in the business is interested (or capable) in offering.

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Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

risks the rage of the poverty profiting Mr Peachum, by marrying his daughter Polly, before galavanting through London’s cat houses pursued by Chief Inspector Tiger Brown, an old compadre.

Kinnear, dressed businessman-like in a double breasted three piece, marries his magnetism with cold calculation and a definite sense of danger. Despite spitting every syllable he speaks with nothing so human as mere cynicism, and fixing a deadened, indifferent stare that boarders on psychotic, it comes as no surprise that every woman swoons at his advance. Once he started singing I was ready to jump on that particular band wagon myself. Another notable performance comes from Nick Holder, whose combination of natural rotundity and affected femininity as Mr Peachum, at first disarms and later exaggerates the character’s malevolence; he makes a

remarkable and disturbingly watchable villain.

Known for his assertion that audiences “hang up their brains with their hats in the cloakroom”, Brecht’s ‘epic theatre’ focusses on alienation, allowing the maintenance of analysis.

Norris’s production predominantly reduces its ties with the movement to pastiche. Overtly visible signage on stage is used to comic effect; Mack flaunting a newspaper whose headline reads “Mack does bad things”, the opium addicted Jenny Diver succumbing to a tin labelled “Drugs”, and a bullhorn emblazoned with the word “Loud” being chief among them. Self aware shouts of “scene change!” and “interval!” at the end of the first half also act as a nod of the head toward the movement that spawned the text, while David Shrubsole’s musical direction brings Kurt Weill’s brilliantly atonal score to life with a motley, eight piece band who share the stage with the players.

The set, unapologetically aware of its own artifice, simultaneously sates a contemporary audiences’ desire for spectacle whilst adhering to the plainness demanded by the doctrines of ‘epic theatre’. At times a vast expanse, delineated by blank back walls and

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By Rowland Stirling

T

he Threepenny Opera’s first performance in 1928 (adapted from John Gay’s original) contained all the analytical antagonism toward the Weimar Republic that you’d expect of its socialist, cigar chomping writer. Picture then, the despair felt by critic and musicologist Rodney Milnes that the National’s 1986 production had turned Bertolt Brecht’s surreal and stylised critique of corrupt capitalism into a ‘quaint little musical comedy’.

Three decades later and Rufus Norris’s updated version, more than a year into his tenure as the National’s Artistic Director, seems a far cry from its predecessor. A new translation from Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime) strips the script down to the blunt, acerbic creature at its core and guarantees any utterance of the word ‘quaint’ will get lost (and probably mugged) in the cavernous Olivier Theatre.

Rory Kinnear leads the cast as Captain Mack the Knife Macheath, who

A Twist of Lemmon

By Rowland Stirling

T

wo time academy award winning actor Jack Lemmon won over the hearts of generations of audiences with a career that spanned over half a century. Fifteen years after his death and his son, Chris, himself a prolific performer, is honouring him with a one man show about his life: A Twist of Lemmon. Knowing precious little about their relationship, I was interested to catch this rare glimpse into the golden age of Hollywood royalty.

The St James Theatre’s cosy basement studio snugly fit the fifty or so audience members around circular, cabaret-esque tables, complete with flickering electric candles. The intimacy of the setting and unassigned seating generated a sense of informality; there was something comfortingly communal about finding yourself sharing a table with strangers to whom your only connection is a shared love of Lemmons.

There was a distinct lack of fuss or fanfare when the show began and as the lights dimmed I became aware of someone passing behind my seat and

tripping over the satchel I had left carelessly in the makeshift gangway.

Turning to apologise I look straight into the face of Chris Lemmon who grins and shoots me an effortlessly charming wink before continuing to maneuver, almost apologetically, around the tables and chairs toward the stage.

“How do you follow in the footsteps of a giant, particularly when that giant is your father?” This is Chris

Lemmon’s opening sentiment as he leisurely plays the piano, switching to an (uncannily accurate) impersonation of his father’s self-interrupting vernacular.

Watching him seamlessly segue between impressions of his father’s friends and heroes, ranging from Gregory Peck to Mae West, is nothing short of astonishing, but where the performance really shines is in its well metered pathos.

There is something very human

strewn with theatrical detritus (a painting ladder here, a sandbag there); at others it becomes a sprawling set within a set, made of paper partitions and skeletal stairs that suggest the fragility of a society struggling under austerity.

It moves organically, rotating, opening, ascending, descending and consuming actors like a living Escher etching. The multitude of theatre flats create an impression of a desolated London, where destitution and insanity are rife, whilst providing a shocking means of entry for performers (in a manner that will seem vaguely familiar to those acquainted with Vivian from The Young Ones).

3 Penny Opera manages to highlight the text’s relevance today without falling into the trap of being overly didactic or drawing too obviously on modern parallels. The ensemble works together fantastically, creating vignettes of physical theatre ranging from comedic to harrowing; they deservedly take individual bows during the curtain call.

Although playing fast and loose with the theories behind Brecht’s theatrical legacy might cause some grave-spinning in Berlin, one can’t help but think the late Mr Milnes would have approved.

Tickets: https://www.nationaltheatre.org. uk/shows/threepenny-opera/whats-on Running time approx: 3 hrs On until October 1st Price £15-50

about watching a man put himself in his father’s shoes and attempt to understand his demons; alcohol abuse, the long absences he took during his only son’s youth, divorce and a difficult remarriage being chief among them. It was the humanity and every-man charm in Jack Lemmon’s characters that captivated audiences, and which are so present in Chris’s depiction of his father’s life. This makes the performance immediately relatable, despite stories involving golf with Clint Eastwood and football on the beach with Marilyn Monroe and President Kennedy.

There are times that his typically American sincerity threatens to tip into maudlin sentimentality that could prove unpalatable for cynical British audiences (which, given the subject matter’s personal nature seems perfectly reasonable); but Lemmon keeps enough of the citric sting of his namesake to offset the more saccharine moments.

Although a little too long for a one man show (running over two hours including an interval) there is much zest to be found in A Twist of Lemmon both for die hard fans and for those new to his oeuvre.

St James’ Theatre Studio 2 Palace St, London SW1E 5JA until June 18th 2 hrs 05 mins Tickets: £15-30 www.stjamestheatre.co.uk

Photographs © Kim Sheard

3 Penny Opera: Brechtian Punk

Photographs © Richard H. Smith

Theatre

June 2016

Arts & Culture The Spoils Photograph © ATG

By Max Feldman

Jesse Eisenburg has spent the vast majority of his career serving as the edgier, thinking man’s version of Michael Cera; trafficking in the same foot in mouth social awkwardness of the Superbad star but with an antagonistic edge that often blurs the line between amusing and abrasive. In The Spoils, his new play just opened at Trafalgar Studio, he cranks both of these qualities up to eleven for his portrayal of Ben; a monster of a millennial.

Ben is an aspiring experimental filmmaker, whose belief that “any film released commercially is necessarily compromised” is somewhat undercut by the fact he lives in an apartment bought for him by his father (“a prick” is all we get to hear about him). He spends his time primarily smoking weed and alternating between savagely mocking and obsessively complimenting his saintlike Nepalese roommate (Kunal Nayyar, excellent) and proclaimed “only friend” who lives in the apartment free of charge.

This co-dependency is challenged after Ben’s chance meeting with an old school friend (Alfie Allen, sporting a rather dire American accent) who’s getting married to Ben’s pre-school crush, whom a jealous Ben resolves to steal away.

The Spoils never stops getting laughs and Eisenberg in particular is on blisteringly good form, but due to a slightly woolly plot (long on fantastic monologues, short on that much actually happening) and an infuriating ending that feels tacked on and unearned, it feels relatively inessential. Eisenberg fans will find plenty to love, and lovers of razor sharp dialogue should be delighted by the viciousness on display here (a particularly scatological fantasy manages to not only bring the house down twice but also is of vital plot importance). But going in with high expectations may spoil The Spoils.

Trafalgar Studios 14 Whitehall, London SW1A 2DY until 13 August Running time 2.5 hours Tickets:£35-80 www.atgtickets.com

Winifred Knights

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

Along with Pallant House, Dulwich has got a reputation for putting on shows by slightly recherché and partiallly neglected 20th century English artists like Evelyn Dunbar, Eric Ravillious and now Winifred Knights. She was declared a genius by the Daily Graphic for her seminal painting The Deluge, which was displayed at the Royal Academy in 1921. Prior to that, she had studied at

disciplines. She won the prestigious Summer Composition Prize in 1919 with A Scene in a Village Street with Mill-hands Conversing. She then won the coveted Prix de Rome scholarship at the British School in Rome, ahead of her male colleagues, and she arrived in Rome, for the start of her three-year stint in October 1920.

Her style was resonant of the Italian Renaissance painters, like Masaccio, Giotto and Piero della Francesca, using the frieze-like arrangement of figures with a thrusting dynamism borrowed from Wyndham Lewis and Edward Wadsworth of the Vorticist movement, which was fashionable at the time. Although she was not taken with Rome, she loved the surrounding countryside, and particularly Tuscan

the Slade under Henry Tonks in 1915, but, after she witnessed a Zeppelin attack on a munitions factory from the top of a tramcar, she had a breakdown and spent the academic year 1917-18 recuperating at a cousin’s farm in rural Worcestershire. She returned to her studies in 1918, where she developed a style dictated by ‘Decorative Painting’, which had the effect of reducing form and colour, flatening perspective and the employment of meticulous compositional

and Umbrian towns and villages, where she was inspired to paint a number of compositions. She spent her summers at the enchanted hilltop village of Anticoli Corrado, an artists’ community, and she devoted her last two years working on a complicated large-scale painting of the Marriage at Cana, which, although submitted unfinished, satisfied the Painting Faculty that she had fulfilled her duties as a scholar. While in Rome, she had a relationship with Arnold

Mason, and then a fellow Rome scholar, Thomas Monnington, winner in 1922, who she married at the British Consulate in March 1924. In the company of a group of peasants from Anticoli Corrado, the couple took a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of the Santissima Trinità at Vallepietra in Lazio, which inspired her to produce a most ambitious painting featuring a group of female pilgrims resting, which combined the landscape, particularly the mountains, and the religious rituals. Whilst holidaying at Lake Piediluco in Umbria she produced a delightful composition, Edge of Abruzzi, which has a boat with three people in it against a mountainous backdrop.

She returned to England, where the critics were enthusiastic about the works she produced in Italy, with the French Government awarding her with a silver medal when The Marriage at Cana was exhibited at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Art in Paris in 1928. She received a commission to paint a reredos for a chapel in Canterbury Cathedral, which took several years to complete, working closely with the architect Sir Herbert Baker, and then she received another commission to paint The Flight into Egypt for the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres. She was obviously a sensitive soul, as she was deeply affected by the Second World War as well, while at the same time struggling to reconcile motherhood with the life of a painter. After the war, she began to paint again, but her short life life came to an end as a result of a brain tumour in 1947. Her Stanley Spencerish angular style, drab colours and humourless biblical scenes lacking in warmth or compassion, make her a difficult artist to fully appreciate, so hats off to Dulwich for going out on a limb in putting together this absorbing show, although I think the Daily Graphic may have slightly over-stated her status.

Don Grant

Bush Theatre searches for Associate Artists

focussed on new writing. Applicants will be assessed and selected by a panel consisting of the Bush Theatre’s Artistic Director Madani Younis, Associate Director Omar Elerian and an external panel member.

The Bush Theatre was established in 1972 and has since gained the reputation as a seedbed for flourishing new playwrights. It is currently undergoing a major redevelopment including the creation of a second performance space, a renovation of backstage areas, a new front of house area as well as making the whole building fully accessible and more sustainable; all part of Younis’ stated aim of creating a theatre that truly reflects the

community in which it sits.

Successful applicants to the Associate Artist position will be able to make full use of these spaces, receive financial support in the form of a £2,500 bursary as well as being able to expand their practice and audience base, capacity and potential. In-kind support will include mentoring, use of R&D and meeting spaces in the building, and access to and involvement with key events, meetings and decisions in the everyday life of the Bush Theatre.

Applications can be submitted via the Bush Theatre’s website at www. bushtheatre.co.uk/artists/ from today until the window closes on 30 June 2016.

Dulwich Picuture Gallery Until 18 September 2016 Admission £12.50

By Rowland Stirling

The Bush Theatre is on the lookout for three exceptional artists or companies to join them as associate artists in an 18 month programme starting from September 2016. The search is for individuals or groups of people with an established following of specific audiences and whose practice is

Winifred Knights, The Deluge, 1920. © Tate, London 2016. © The Estate of Winifred Knights

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June April/May 2016 2011

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

all based on the Mediterranean diet.

Here my face is treated to cleansing with honey and orange, apricot exfoliation, oiling with grape, olive and essential oils and a treatment of red wine and beeswax. The application feels wonderful and must be doing me good. Other treatments and massages include Royal Jelly, said to be the elixir of youth, honey, bee propolis and essential herb oils applied to rejuvenate the mature skin, it sounds ideally suited to my needs although it might take more than this to eliminate the wrinkles!

Our hotel takes the Easter traditions seriously, at 11.30pm an Orthodox priest intones the Liturgy of Resurrection in the hotel’s own small but beautiful St Catherine’s Chapel. When the priest declares, “Christ is risen!” all the candles are lit and fireworks explode overhead.

At midnight traditional Mageritsa

offal soup is served and we all revert to childhood to compete with each other, just like playing conkers, cracking the red dyed hard-boiled eggs!

I’ve learned a lot about Corfu; this strategically placed island has been fought over by many powerful forces and has absorbed their cultural influences, leaving their mark on the art, architecture and atmosphere.

Following the early Corinthians came 500 years of Roman rule, centuries under the Venetians who planted thousands of olive trees, followed by the French who built the Liston Arcades, copying Paris’s Rue de Rivoli, and under the British Protectorate in the nineteenth century both cricket and ginger beer as well as improved infrastructure were introduced. The last invaders were the Nazis who deported the nearly two thousand members of the Jewish community.

There have been many notable residents; as well as Lawrence and Gerald Durrell, Edward Lear and Empress Elisabeth of Austria lived here and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was born here.

On Easter Sunday, after more ouzo and a variety of mezzes, more traditional music and dancing, a row of lambs is barbecued on spits by the pool alongside rows of sunbathers also roasting themselves. The 5 star Marbella Hotel faces the mountains of mainland Greece across a calm sea; the narrow beach stretches alongside the crystal clear water, ideal for snorkelling. The 384 luxurious rooms offer views of the

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Photographs © Cynthia Pickard

Travel

Corfu: Pot hurling & Superfood facials

By Cynthia Pickard

F

rom Agios Ioannis Peristeron our hotel’s boat is speeding us on the twenty-five minute journey towards Kérkyra, Corfu Town for the celebrations. It’s the Greek Orthodox Easter Saturday and barely 9.30am when the captain offers us the first shot of ouzo. Early in the morning the mummified body of the patron saint of Corfu, Saint Spyridon is carried through the historic town, his name the inspiration for generations of Spyros.

On the dot of 11am the mad pot throwing begins; huge crowds have gathered on the balconies of the buildings and in the square below to join in the countdown and cheering as larger and larger pots are competitively hurled to smash into pieces on the street below.

This crazy activity is supposed to eclipse misfortune.

Traditional dancers and uniformed brass bands then press their way through the narrow thronging streets past churches, two cathedrals and numerous souvenir shops selling Easter candles, embroidery, sponges, kumquat liqueur and fig cakes, while crunching broken pottery underfoot.

After lunch at Corfu’s Sailing Club, at the New Fort (1572) we speed back across the calm lake-like water for a swim in one of the hotel’s pools before heading to the Spa for a ‘Skin Superfood’ treatment created in conjunction with the Greek skincare brand Apivita; it’s

gardens, olive groves, mountains and the sun glinting on the turquoise Ionian Sea. There are water sports, tennis courts and separate activities for children. Recently added are family suites with their own private pools, or one can choose a room with a large terrace and its own Jacuzzi.

Friendly staff are on hand to help locate all the facilities and restaurants.

Having followed the successful TV series, The Durrells, I wondered if Corfu had retained any of its wild and unspoilt side and to what it extent it would now resemble the 1930s island that has been playing out on our screens.

Corfu in early summer is very green, the hills are covered with olive trees, lemons, oranges, kumquat and loquat trees. The roadsides are bursting with flowers while swifts and swallows swoop overhead. Away from the seaside there are plenty of peaceful walks and hilltop villages to explore off the beaten track without the danger of plummeting pots!

Classic Collection Holidays (0800 294 9315; classic-collection.co.uk) offers 7 nights at Marbella Corfu Hotel from £949 per person in September based on 2 adults sharing, half board, including transfers and return flights from Gatwick (direct flights available from Dublin and eight UK airports).

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Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

Photographs © Ikos Oceania

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

Ikos Oceania, Halkidiki

By Dr. Emma Trehane

T

he region of Halkidiki is best known to the ardent traveller as the three-fingered peninsular stretching out from Northern Greece into the Aegean sea. This distinctive land is the birthplace of Aristotle and the site of Mount Olympus, believed by the Ancient Greeks to be home to the Greek Gods. There is a tendency to think of the Greek landscape as being peppered with fallen temples from ancient times and barren scenery. However, in the case of Halkidiki this couldn’t be further from the truth. The valleys that roll down from the mountains are green, with great numbers of forests, olive trees and colourful wild flowers all year round. A truly beautiful part of the world.

For those who like to enjoy the benefits of an all-inclusive break Halkidiki does not stand out as the typical package holiday destination.

Having experienced the area first-hand we would argue that this certainly works in the readers favour! This hidden gem is largely unspoilt. Located only 45 minutes from Thessoliniki airport, where an Ikos representative will be waiting to transfer guests to the resort, Ikos Oceania offers its guests the ideal all-inclusive concept whether you want to participate in water sports, enjoy fine wining and dining, work on a tan by the pool or just enjoy your own privacy in luxury rooms with a private balcony and stunning views.

With direct access to a private beach, an infinity pool with a bar and waiter service, 4 restaurants, a fitness centre and luxury spa, there is something here for everyone without having to spend any extra euros. Oceania is one of three resorts run by the Ikos group, the sister resorts being Olive and Sani, which are also in Halkidiki and equally as charming.

Oceania sits amongst beautifully kept landscape gardens built on the slopes of hills leading down to the beach. This is no ordinary package deal holiday. It is very much high-end service with lots of attention to detail. Guests’ needs are taken into consideration to make the stay relaxing and enjoyable. On arrival we were given a lovely warm reception followed by Margaritas on the terrace and then on to the Provence restaurant for a buffet lunch. The flavours are all Mediterranean inspired and created

by Michelin star chefs. At the Ouzo, Anaya, Fusco and Provence restaurants guests can sample flavours from around the world including Greek, French, and Italian and Asian, the bars offer signature cocktails and there are hundreds of different wines served by experienced Sommeliers.

The accommodation, Deluxe Suites, were just right for enjoying our stay. A bottle of wine and delicious macaroons were awaiting us in the rooms; a nice welcoming touch. The bathrooms are spacious and clean, and all rooms have large flat-screen TVs with DVD Players, 24 hour room service, a mini-bar (restocked twice daily), coffee and tea making facilities and lovely bright white cotton sheets on comfy beds. The rooms all extend out onto a private balcony overlooking a crystalline Aegean view; the perfect way to enjoy a bottle of crisp white Greek wine from the mini-bar and a fresh Tabbouleh salad ordered off the 24 hour room service menu. Ikos

Oceania is a totally unique all-inclusive concept. Perhaps one of their greatest offerings is the Health Spa where guests can receive a number of treatments in their tranquil treatment rooms from Shiatsu to Parisian style spa. The whole experience is wonderfully relaxing and we can recommend both the hotel and wider region to anyone looking to enjoy a stress free holiday at affordable prices

Classic Collection Holidays (0800 294 9315; classic-collection.co.uk) offers 3 nights/7nights at Ikos Oceania from £659/£977 per person in September.

Price based on 2 adults sharing on an Infinite Lifestyle all-inclusive basis and includes return flights from London Gatwick (direct flights also available from Stansted and Manchester) and private transfers.

luxury savings

GREECE

PERSONALISED HOLIDAYS tailor-made for you

CORFU

5★ Marbella Corfu

A luxurious hotel in a beautiful location overlooking the Ionian Sea

7 nights in September from £1,229pp

HALKIDIKI 5★ Ikos Oceania A luxurious & stylish all-inclusive hotel

5 nights in September from £953pp Based on 2 sharing, including return flights from the UK and private transfers

For further information see your local travel agent or call 0800 294 9323

PRIVATE TRANSFERS INCLUDED

FLY FROM YOUR LOCAL AIRPORT

www.classic-collection.co.uk

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Travel A Lazy LongWeekend By Derek Wyatt

M

y children, both in their twenties, have been telling me for some time to get a life and try Airbnb. Airbnb is an odd title for a $billion+ company barely eight years old which like Uber and YouTube is essentially what the techies refer to as a platform. None of the aforementioned own bed and breakfast places, or taxis or videos but they have a space on a place where you can put stuff on for other people to be “entertained”.

Airbnb lets you put your spare bedroom, flat or house onto its platform and then lets others look at it in glorious technicolor. You can also see what other people have said about it (a little like Trip Advisor). You then apply to book it assuming it is free on the dates you request and more or less after that it is yours. It is that simple. Card details are exchanged, fees are taken and suddenly you are online to the said owner. Actually, we were online before confirming our booking.

We decided that 2016 would be the year we gave it a go. As is quite usual in our house, we have not booked one experience, we have booked three! The first was last month when we spent a lazy long weekend on the Essex/Suffolk borders.

The second will be at Christmas when our families, eight in all, will fly from Seattle, New York and London to meet in a house on a beach with five separate bedrooms and four bathrooms in Costa Rica, provided one of its volcanoes has stop working. It is going to be some adventure.

And then not to be outdone, we spotted this before the airlines had woken up, next year St Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday. Then, thankfully, as the Good Lord would wish, there is then a day of rest before Sunday’s Ireland v England match completes the Six Nations tournament. So with our closest friends we have booked a house in the city of Dublin for four nights. We may never return.

Back to the Essex/Suffolk long lazy weekend. We booked a wonderful 2 bed, 2 bathroom cottage on the side

of a slightly grander house in Little Horkesely for three nights. The village is small with no shops, a dodgy pub, a village hall and about 25 houses some dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries with that wonderful wood for which, Suffolk at least, is so famous for.

Oh, and the strangest of churches. A WW2 bomb took its pleasure and so the external walls and tower and have been rebuilt but not to any great satisfaction.

LH is a mile or so on the Essex side of the famous River Stour so it is best to pack your passports.

We were exhausted and wanted just to be quiet together, walk a bit, read a lot and satiate ourselves in a restaurant or two in the evenings. But, since the cycle lane build out in London, trying to find a way across London by car has become vexatious. I sometimes go along the north embankment, up to Tower Bridge and then to Canary Wharf to pick up just north of the Blackwall Tunnel the A12 and then the A11, M11 and A12 again. It used to take me 90 minutes to reach the Colchester by pass, thirty minutes to flee the fumes and then break the land speed record; now it is two hours or more. I have tried south of the river but the chaos at London Bridge now has traffic queuing day and night.

This time I lost the meaning of life.

I tried Waze and it suggested going up the Edgware Road, popping onto the A1 and then using the M25 to reach the A12. Three hours later and not in the best frame of mind, we made it to Little Horkesley to the enchanting Chisholms

Cottage and with a glass or two of Louis Jadot’s magical Macon Villages and with the sun still trying to make an appearance, we pondered our next three days.

I have been coming to this border territory off and on since 1958. I used to stay with my grandfather in Bures every Summer and his idea of a walk was a gentle five to ten miles most afternoons.

So, there was a familiarity about revisiting Nayland, its upstart: Stoke by Nayland, Boxted, Dedham and East Bergholt. It is best not to even bother with its counterpart West Bergholt. This time we missed out Hadleigh and Kersey and tiredness meant no Lavenham or Clare. We did go the other way to Elmstead Market which has had its day, but not so the richly painted Beth Chatto Gardens, which to my surprise I loved. Of course, we also dropped in on the Dedham Vale Vineyard and bought a couple of bottles. The vineyard is expanding and its white sparkler is a must.

I can not tell you how much I miss not living here. It is frankly bonkers but it feels like it has been my home for a thousand years. I can smell my family. I can feel their presence. There are other reasons. Suffolk is so flat it makes for the most stunning skies. These can be large and threatening or not. John Constable’s paintings captured this exquisite light which had a profound impact on JMW Turner’s work and thousands and thousands of others; painters or not.

There are no real restaurants of

note in the border towns and villages.

Hintlesham Hall is long gone having been swallowed up by a golf club though the building is a grand. I can still taste the sweet and sour Italian vegetables I had as a starter when Robert Carrier was the chef in 1974. You would have to go in to Colchester to try Memoirs or Church Street Tavern (so traffic and parking to contend with and of course no Uber.)

We did walk into Nayland, about two miles across the water meadows,but the taxi back cost us £15.

Of course there is Le Talbooth on Gun Hill in Dedham but I wanted to find new up-and-coming pubs with younger owners. There were three we would recommend. The best was The Sun Inn in Dedham which has the best wine list you will see anywhere in the south east of England; the food is pretty good too.

It has staff who are knowledgeable about the way the food has been prepared, where it has come from and why this or that wine would suit. We loved it. I had the Handmade Malfatti and then the Sardines with a green bean salad.

Amazingly, we were taken by the dessert menu, a rarity, and settled for Vanilla Pannacotta, Macerated Strawberries with Pistachio Granola.

The Crown at Stoke by Nayland, the village is worth a visit in itself with dozens of Elizabethan buildings and a superb church (check out Pevsner's Suffolk guide), was packed when we booked on a Friday night. I mean packed. We fancied a Sancerre but it was too warm. We gently complained.

The sommelier agreed and said it was because of a fault in the refrigeration unit and promptly found us chilled glasses and marshalled a land slip of ice for our bucket. Not ideal but impressive nonetheless.

Lastly, we had a Sunday lunch at the reborn Boathouse in Dedham on the Stour itself so you can hire a boat and work up a sweat. It was a delight though parking is difficult if you book after 12.05! (It is that popular). We ate outside by the river where we were accompanied by a gentle crooner singing us a little bit of blues and jazz.

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The illusion of the Taj Mahal

Photographs © Cynthia Pickard

by Cynthia Pickard

We welcome you to witness and participate in the spectacle that is INDIA. The vibrant colours, culture, the people and their smiles makes an everlasting impression on each and every traveller that has come to it shores. It is one of the most chaotic, enchanting, spiritual and life affirming countries in the world. We understand and realise that travelling to India for many is a once in a lifetime event and we strive to make it a memorable and most importantly an exuberant one.

O

nly 200 miles from Delhi and an essential component of the ’Golden Triangle’, Agra is a must visit to absorb the atmosphere and magnificence of the Taj Mahal, the Fort and the other stunning Moghul monuments.

Agra has suffered from a lack of cash injected into its infrastructure. Seen from across the river the view of the Taj seems very romantic until one realises that one is struggling to catch sight of it through a thick mist of pollution.

But the Taj Mahal is well known for its perfection and as one of the wonders of the world this edifice of inlaid white marble doesn’t disappoint. Built by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz who died after giving birth to her fourteenth child in 1631, it has come to symbolise an extraordinary tribute to the power of love. Of course everyone loves the Taj Mahal, as a result of which it has become such a popular destination for locals as well as tourists that one now has to join the crowds to go through airport style security and join queues only to then be hurried past the tomb by strict officials. In the old days one could wander around at any time of day admiring the outside and inside taking in the wonder of it with no-one but the odd sweeper in view.

It seems that Shah Jahan did not spend the remainder of his life broken hearted but embarked on a lifestyle of non-stop drug-taking and sex, and eventually died from too much opium and unhealthy living.

However none of these facts should deter anyone from making the pilgrimage to the Taj Mahal at least once in their life to gaze on it at dawn and dusk.

Fully escorted tour with local English speaking guide.

Scheduled flights from London Heathrow.

Five star accommodation throughout.

All meals and entertainment included.

Gala Dinner with local musicians and artists.

All excursions included.

All overseas transfers included.

FIXED DEPARTURES ON 20th August, 1st and 16th September 2016 10% Discount to Senior Citizens

Info@zigitours.com

Call Toll free

www.zigitours.com

0800 321 3439 100% ATOL PROTECTED

£2,800 GBP

(All Inclusive) No hidden costs

All prices are correct on the date of print. Prices are ‘from’, per person, based on two people sharing a room (unless stated) and are subject to availability. Hotel ratings are based on local standards and may change at any time without prior notice. Inclusive transfers are on shared basis. All offers are subject to availability and can be withdrawn without notice. Flights are based on UK departures from London Heathrow and vary depending on departure date, in economy class and are subject to change. Excursions are as stated, subject to availability and may change at any time without prior notice. Deposit only at time of booking.

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Health & Beauty

Damaged hair can be repaired.

By Jayne Beaumont

A

Photograph © Neville, Nammos Beach

revolutionary in-salon treatment that allows hairdressers to confidently change the colour of your hair without harming it, is now available as an ‘At-Home’ product that continues to enhance the condition of your hair between salon visits.

OLAPLEX No.3 HAIR PERFECTOR has the same active ingredient as both OLAPLEX No.1, the Bond Multiplier and No.2, the Bond Perfector that are used in selective salons in conjunction with treatments involving a chemical process. They help to permanently rebuild the damaged side bonds within the hair that provide its elasticity and strength. Nothing before has been able to repair this breakage that happens especially when colouring, perming or using heated tools on the hair.

Neville Hair and Beauty Salon, the much acclaimed and innovative salon in Pont Street, Knightsbridge introduced OLAPLEX there two years ago, straight from New York. Elena Lavagni, its Owner & CEO said, “It’s changed the way we treat hair. Colour changes can be more dramatic as we now can protect the condition of the hair at the same time.

The hair stays strong and healthy, it’s easier to manage, feels like silk and looks great!”

The inception of OLAPLEX came from an American Beauty industry professional, Dean Cristal.

& BEAUTY

He commissioned two Doctors of Chemistry to develop a product that could counteract the damage caused by chemicals on the hair. They created OLAPLEX – a solution free of sulphates, silicones, parabens, oils and gluten that has never been tested on animals. No wonder it has become a favourite of Hollywood ‘A- listers’ and celebrities around the world.

OLAPLEX No.3 can be used ‘at home’ on normal hair as well as chemically treated hair, simply as a terrific conditioner. Once a week, a small amount – more for longer hair - can be combed through towel-dried hair and left to permeate for at least 10 minutes.

The longer the better and all day for optimum results!

The recommended price of OLAPLEX No.3 is £31.99.

STOP PRESS!

Neville Hair and Beauty Salon, is opening Neville, Mykonos on 30th May 2016. Located at Nammos Beach, along the celebrated shores of Psarou Beach on Mykonos, it will overlook one of the most famous resorts in the Mediterranean.

Guests will be able to spend their days and evenings indulging in bespoke services, catering to their specific needs by an expert team flown in from the UK. ‘On-board’ hairstyling services will also be available for VIP’s and high profile clientele visiting the island by yacht.

“We pride our reputation on customer service, being able to provide for our clients regardless of their location. We are very proud to be opening our first location in Greece. Nammos Beach is magnificent and the atmosphere unparalleled” says Elena Lavagni Owner & CEO of Neville.

A Way to Smooth Summer Legs

Photograph © Darren Harrin

HEALTH

by Jayne Beaumont

A

s the days get longer and warmer, it’s so liberating to cast off jeans and leggings and feel fresh air caressing your legs. However, there are a lot of self-conscious individuals out there who won’t bare their legs for fear of revealing their thread veins or more commonly known as ‘spider’ veins.

But help is at hand with Sclerotherapy and laser treatment that can effectively take away these unsightly spidery maplike blotches! This treatment has become much more accessible and affordable these days. Nevertheless, one has to be careful to use an experienced doctor or a nurse trained in Sclerotherapy.

The process begins with an initial consultation to establish the nature of the veins and your suitability for treatment and to get an idea of the number needed.

One to three treatments of Sclerotherapy and laser are usual with a month between each and a check-up two weeks after every treatment. It’s important to note that the larger varicose veins require a more specialised treatment by a vascular surgeon. They have to be treated separately and before attending to the spider veins.

Prior to any treatment, a pair of compression tights specified at the first visit need to be obtained. These have to be worn for up to a week following each Sclerotherapy session that takes no longer than 45 minutes and is surprisingly painless. No anaesthetic cream is used and the only discomfort can be the occasional feeling of a slight pinprick that is hardly worth mentioning. In fact, you can easily read, text or even nap whilst the doctor is steadily injecting the culprit veins using very fine needles. You can get up and walk out of the clinic as soon as the appointment ends.

An appropriate laser may also be used. A combination of both Sclerotherapy and laser is often applied to achieve optimum results. Laser can be a little uncomfortable and the feeling is often described as similar to an elastic band being snapped against the skin. But it’s not for long!

Following a treatment, there may be some redness and itching for 24-48 hours. However, the appearance of the treated veins will improve as they clear

over the following weeks and you can always contact your practitioner if you are concerned.

It’s important to note that long haul flights, more that 4 hours, have to be avoided during the treatment period.

Additionally, you have to stay out of the sun for 4 -12 weeks depending on your skin’s response. Therefore, consideration has to be given to when is the best time to embark on this venture; ideally, a few months before a holiday in the sun.

It takes several weeks for the treated veins to completely disappear. But once they’ve gone – how thrilling! It must be very satisfying to know you are going to be able to step into a pair of shorts and head for the beach or walk confidently down the street showing off your smooth ‘spiderless’ legs. Then you realise it was certainly worth the time and effort!

Sclerotherapy and Laser Consultant: Dr. A. Hussein, MBBS DHMSA DipDerm FASLMS Medical Director, sk:n London Victoria asif.hussein@me.com

BEAUTY TIP

From the Beauty Editor EXTEND, Lash and Brow Serum from BrowHaus This is a BrowHaus bestseller. It is packaged like mascara but with a very thin brush to apply the serum in the same way as an eyeliner above the eyelash line. For brows, it is applied in the opposite direction to the brow growth. Very easy! It must be applied every night and to see a real difference, it should be used for a couple of months. So perseverance is needed. However, the demand for this product is high and that is a real endorsement.

EXTEND is available at The Wanted Man, 330 King’s Road, SW3.

T: 020 7351 5166 This is a café combined with a brow and waxing salon and is part of the Spa Esprit Group Price : £45

020 7738 2348

June 2016

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

Health & Beauty

online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

N

Meningitis B vaccination:

ews coverage of child deaths from Meningitis B (Men B) sent shockwaves across the country earlier in the year, and the demand to vaccinate children against this dangerous disease has, understandably, never been higher.

Men B is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the UK, and meningococcal meningitis and

protection for your child and peace of mind for you

septicaemia are the leading infectious cause of death for children under five.

Babies are at the highest risk, with 22 cases per 100,000, and this reduces to 5 cases per 100,000 for children aged 1-4*.Vaccination is the only way to prevent Men B, but the NHS only offers this for babies born after 1 July 2015.

So what can parents with older children do to protect them?

Kensington’s Bupa Cromwell Hospital offers appointments for Men B vaccination at short notice and will look after you and your child every step of the way.

As with any paediatric vaccination, appointments can be booked at short notice and there’s a choice of seeing a Consultant Paediatrician, or using the nurse-led Immunisation Clinic.

Rosemary Hackett, Bupa Cromwell’s Paediatrics Manager, comments; ‘Worried parents across London are looking for support and reassurance in

protecting their children from this deadly disease.

‘If your child doesn’t meet the criteria for NHS vaccination, we can help. We have worked hard to secure ongoing supplies of the Men B vaccine for the community, and anyone can vaccinate their child at Bupa Cromwell on a ‘self pay’ basis.’

‘The full course of Men B immunisation includes three injections over a 6 month period, and we will lead you through every stage to provide absolute protection and peace of mind.’

Bupa Cromwell also offers a host of other outpatient clinics for children, covering everything from speech and language therapy to hearing tests and ‘tongue tie’ treatment. Appointments are available six days a week and a fast referral service means that they can often be arranged for the same day.

Diagnostic tests are carried out on site using state-of-the-art facilities, and if, following examination, your child needs to be admitted to the hospital, this can happen straight away.

Bupa Cromwell Hospital is a 5 minute walk from Gloucester Road and Earls Court, or 10 minutes from Kensington High Street. To book an appointment for Men B or any other paediatric vaccination please call 020 7460 5700. * www.meningitis.org.

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Health & Beauty

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020 7738 2348

June 2016

Health & Beauty How far would you go for your Smile?

Chronology of a Smile Makeover in Mallorca

A

smile conveys confidence and professionalism. Would you want to go through life hiding it because of chipped or missing pieces, ugly fillings, or discolored teeth that are unveiled when parting your lips?

Well, you don’t have to be rich to have a Hollywood smile, and you don’t always have to go halfway around the world to solve your dental issues without breaking the bank. In Mallorca you will find excellence in terms of dental care, and at the same time take the opportunity to enjoy a great sunshine break in a beautiful Mediterranean setting.

Leading dental clinic Advance and top travel specialist Indigo Voyages

have joined forces to give you access to premium dental services while enjoying a holiday where all your travel needs will be catered for down to a ‘tee’.

Providing exceptional value for money, they offer comprehensive packages assuring patients a comfortable and relaxing stay, along with the security and peace of mind of the most advanced dental treatments in the world.

Whether you need complex surgery or a cosmetic make-over, you will be provided with a complete travel program and a treatment plan including pre and post procedure accommodation, hotel reservations and transfers, activity and wellness programs.

How does it work?

Contact Indigo Voyages via email or call +34 620 268 998. Your travel specialist will arrange a free skype or phone consultation with dental specialists to discuss your case.

You will be requested to provide any medical reports and examinations you have available, in order for the surgeon to compile a complete visualization of your condition.

In parallel, your travel specialist will provide you with information regarding the travel and accommodation options available to you.

You will then receive an estimate for your dental holiday package, which will include your treatment plan, accommodation, transfers, as well as any

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other additional services you may require during your stay. If you choose to accept the offer, reservations will be made for you.

Depending on the complexity of your treatment, the length of your stay may vary between one and two weeks.

Following treatment, and before you return home with a healthy and confident smile, you will be given a complete medical report.

Follow up care may or may not be necessary depending on your personal case.

The Clinic

Equipped with state-of-the art technology, Advance Dental Institute offers services and procedures that encompass the entire range of dental treatments, from Implant Dentistry, Bone Regeneration to Orthodontics and Cosmetic Dentistry. The clinic is also the only official center of Regenerative Medicine in Mallorca to perform dental treatments with the application of Endoret® PRGF, (Platelet Rich Growth Factor) periodontal laser therapy, and

internationally Certified Member of Digital Smile Design, a revolutionary System that will allow you to see the potential of a beautiful smile before you start treatment. The surgeons are graduates from the prestigious New York University, a leading institute in the field of restorative aesthetic dentistry. Their treatment plans are based on an accurate diagnosis and offer long term success on both the functional and aesthetic level.

Advanced Dental Institute is headed by internationally experienced Dr. Nicholas Aronna Mallia. With a most successful track record of over 3000 implants, Dr Malla is recognised as one of the best in his field. www.clinicadentaladvance.com info@clinicadentaladvance.com T: + 34 871 716 777 Your Travel Partner Indigo Voyages has taken the experience of travel to a whole new level.

With an epic passion for people and places and a keen eye for detail, they curate and fulfill unique, bespoke travel experiences. They have partnered up with handpicked portfolio of exquisite hotels and accomplished providers to offer you the best experience and top-notch customer service. www.indigovoyagescom goindigo@indigovoyages.com Service Line 34 620 268 998 www.best-of-mallorca.com

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Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

quite dizzy, and he had to slow down to try and clear his head. He was passed by a German in a BMW V8 dicing with a works MG driven by Robin Carnegie in the mountains from Aquila, and then the groggy feeling passed and he set off in pursuit. The German was making it very difficult for the MG to pass, which he finally did, and then it was dad’s turn. He was swerving in front of him and shutting the door when he tried to overtake, but then the German completely lost it going into a tight bend

Ecurie Ecosse boys put on the spare and saw what the problem was with the fuel tank. There was a split in the magnesium alloy tank which they tried to close with a copper clout and fill the hole with ‘goo’.

After he set off again, the car suffered from violent oversteer on right-handers, the reason being that the spare was a front wheel, which was a smaller section.

‘The crowds on the hillside slopes were enormous, the gay colours of the girls’ dresses, the men’s shirts and the bright sunshades creating a real holiday

and dad nipped through as the BMW slewed into a ditch. He could not resist giving the other driver a ‘Churchillian’ gesture, as he struggled out of his car.

The petrol vapour got worse and dad’s eyes were smarting as he went over the famous Futa pass, and he performed, what he described as a ‘gilhooley’ in front of several thousand spectators, clouting a wall and buckling a wheel. He managed to get the car to Bologna, where the

atmosphere. Again, the crowds were so dense that the approaches to the Eternal City were most hazardous. My backside was so stiff that the pain had gone long ago, and although I still felt groggy the engine was running sweetly and my spirits were high. I took several slugs from my bottle of glucose, and looked forward to Rome, where I would have some respite, and a cigarette’.

Then, whizzing along between

www.KCWToday.co.uk

Motoring From the Back Seat Part 33

By Don Grant

I

n 1956 dad drove the MG Magnette family saloon alone from London to Italy, where he took the hub caps off, painted numbers on the doors and set off on a thousand mile race, starting in Brescia, tearing down the Adriatic coast through Ravenna, Rimini, Ancona, Pescara then across to Rome, and back up the west side, to Siena, Firenze, Bologna, Modena, Cremona and back to Brescia. It took him 16 hours 57 minutes and 56 seconds and he finished fourth in his class in the MG. He then drove home again.

The following year, he persuaded Colin Chapman to lend him a Lotus XI 1,100cc open sportsracing two-seater. He picked up the car from Hornsey, loaded it onto a trailer, untested, and set off again for Italy, this time with his chief photographer George Phillips, who would take the same MG and meet up with dad at various control points en route, taking pictures of the race for Autosport, to accompany his report.

This year his number was 337, which was the time in the morning he drove down the starting ramp and off into the dark towards Verona, accelerating through the packed lanes of spectators. Stirling Moss had warned dad about a very tricky railway crossing, where the car would bottom, a few miles out at a place called Pericolo. From the previous year, dad had learnt that the sign actually meant ‘Danger’.

As he wrote later, ‘Down the Adriatic coast the weather was perfect, with a shimmering blue sea alongside. Chief hazards were the crowds, and it was more than a trifle disconcerting travelling at around 120 mph, to approach a solid mass of humanity, and watch them wait until the last possible moment before parting to let one through. In one or two places, with sharp bends, over-enthusiastic Italians even risked giving the car a pat as it went through’.

His seat was unbelievably uncomfortable and his backside was completely numb, but he soon caught and passed some of his main rivals in his class in the form of Oscas. Then, a leak developed somewhere under the bonnet and he was being sprayed with a fine rain of petrol, which made him feel

Cremona and Mantova, the tank burst completely and he was sitting waist deep in petrol. He slammed on the brakes and leapt out of the car, which rolled gently down the road, while he went head-over-heels along the grass verge. A crowd soon approached from nowhere, many of whom were smoking, and he was terified that they would ignite him, as he was soaked to the skin in highoctane benzine, or the car would explode.

Two policemen arrived on motorbikes, who dispersed the onlookers, and, while one kept guard over the Lotus, the other took him to a garage five kilometres away. ‘When the policeman told the garage proprietor of my plight, he wheeled out his Vespa, and was about to race down the road in the face of oncoming cars, before the copper managed to stop him. Thereupon, he rode across the fields to examine the abandoned Lotus. He returned quickly enough, to inform me that he thought that it could be put right, and took me back to the car on his Vespa. The spilled petrol had by now completely evaporated, but there still remained a pint or so in the tank. The engine fired, and slowly I managed to coax the Lotus to his garage’. There he rigged up a jerry-can to feed into the fuel pump, on the bonnet and that took him the final 70 miles to the finish, but he was, by now, outside of the time-limit. He was in agony from petrol burns with a very sore backside, completely knackered and then it started to rain pushrods. After a hot bath at the Gallo Moderne in Brescia, a few glasses of wine and a meal with Phil, he painted dad’s blistered arse with Germolene. It was only then he realised the full extent of the dreadful accident that had happened earlier, when Fon de Portago’s Ferrari had left the road and ploughed into a crowd of spectators, killing six adults and five children, as well as himself and his co-driver, Ed Nelson.

It was the last Mille Miglia ever to run.

He went to bed, and the following morning, after he had written and sent his story, they set off back to England.

It was then that Phil told dad that he had crashed the MG, by running into the back of Harry Mundy’s Standard Vanguard, and had modified the frontal appearance quite considerably. As dad summed it up, ‘one way and another it had been quite a trip!’

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Motoring

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Motoring & Sport Bonhams gears up for Goodwood

By Fahad Redha

Ford every stream

By Fahad Redha

I

n 1966, Ford, out of spite, raced the GT40 at the 24 hours of Le Mans and won. The company had tried to buy Ferrari but were turned down by Enzo himself. So instead, it was decided that they would humiliate him on his home turf. The British built car with a 7 litre engine topped out at 200mph at the Mulsanne straight and would claim the title four years in a row, from 1966 to 1969.

Now, fifty years later, Ford returns to race at Le Mans on the 18th of June with the new 2017 GT. The new car is powered by a 3.5 litre turbocharged V6 and will showcase Ford’s line of ‘ecoboost’ engines that range from a 1.0 litre, 3 cylinder in the Fiesta, to a big truck motor in the American F-Series.

The road going GT, Ford says, is its most advanced production car ever. The car will be in limited production and its desirability allows the company to choose only those worthy to own it.

“From the outset, we developed the all-new Ford GT to return Ford to the world of GT endurance racing,” said Raj Nair, executive vice president, Global Product Development and chief technical officer. “We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made so far, including winning at Laguna Seca and taking second place at Spa. We are looking forward to further pushing the capabilities of this next-generation GT at Le Mans.”

Look out for the new GT on the 18th of June.

Grass, rackets and balls

Lawn tennis and paraphernalia

By Lynne McGowan

A

s the manicured lawns of Wimbledon are being razored down to the last blade and strawberries by the million are being fattened up, now is a good time to take a look at lawn tennis and its disputed historical heritage.

Invented by a ‘brummie’ and a Spaniard, the first game of lawn tennis as we know it was played on a croquet lawn at Edgbaston in 1865. Despite the various claims made for Major Wingfield being the inventor; Harry Gem and Juan Perera were the original twosome who devised a new rackets game of smacking a ball across a net based on pelota (Spanish for ball)or lawn rackets.

In 1872, the regency midlands town of Leamington Spa hosted the world’s first lawn tennis club with a printed set of rules and laws outlining all aspects of the game from court markings to the exact size of the balls, made from white indiarubber of course.

The making of tennis balls these days

is a complex procedure with components coming from 11 countries as far away as New Zealand who supply the superior wool for the felt weaving done in Stroud.

Slazenger, the official ball supplier for Wimbledon say their balls travel over 50,000 miles before they bounce off the synthetic strings of Mr Murray’s carbon

There was a time when Ferrari 250 GTOs were just knackered old race cars with little value. Today, £10m would be a bargain for them. A man at the Classic Car Show last year remarked to me that he once owned a 300SL Gullwing that he sold then for £30,000. Now, its value is well into six figures. And there are few better places to get your hands on cars like these then Bonhams Auction. On the 24th of June many of the world’s greatest and rarest cars will go under the hammer during the Bonhams Festival of Speed Sale at Goodwood. These include everything from old Aston Martin race cars to newer supercars.

Ferraris will be among the highlights including a 275 GTB and a 365 GTB4

fibre racket.

Many believe the rackets game of tennis evolved from 12th century French monks batting a ball back and forth with their hands and later gloves. In fact the word tennis derives from the French verb tenir to hold, to take or to receive.

Real tennis or royal racket tennis was played in the 16th century with King Henry V111 championing the sport and creating a court at Hampton Court, no less, in 1528. Players would have used a long handled, wooden tear dropshaped racket made from ash for easy bending and durability with stretched strings made of intestinal gut providing maximum tension.

One theory is the word racket comes from the Arabic rakhat meaning hand, on the other hand, it could come from the Flemish raketsen meaning to strike back. Other mysterious tennis terms such as ‘deuce’ also have origins from the french a deux le jeu meaning ‘to both is the game’ ie both have equal scores.

And as for the unlikely tennis term ‘love’ meaning zero, many theories are banded about such as Flemish word lof meaning honour and the French word l’oeuf meaning an egg-shaped 0, the French very sensibly stick to zero and not love. Considering the noble etiquette of lawn tennis I prefer the Oxford English Dictionary’s suggestion that it is sheer love of the game that keeps a scoreless player on the court, based on the colloquial phrase for ‘love’ in a

Daytona. “Supremely vigorous car with a fiery temperament,” was how the former was described upon its launch. The car offered here is one of just 48 built in right-hand drive and is expected to fetch between £1.6-1.9m. The Daytona, named for the marque’s 1,2,3 finish at the American track in 1967, is hailed as one of the all-time greatest cars ever to wear the prancing horse. The 1972 model is estimated at £620,000-680,000.

BMW’s first supercar, the M1, showed the world what German engineering and Italian style looked like. In its day the M1 was seen as a more user friendly supercar being easy to drive and live with compared to contemporary Italian models. This 1981 car is being offered at an estimate of £280,000-320,000.

“The Festival of Speed is the highlight of the UK summer motoring calendar,” Tim Schofield, Bonhams UK Head of Motoring, said. “Each year Bonhams continue to offer a wealth of exciting, rare, and often record breaking motor cars, and this year is set to be no exception.”

competition meaning ‘without stakes being wagered’. The illogical scoring 15, 30, 40, appears to be based on the clock face and then modified from 45 to 40 to make the scoring work easier after deuce, such peculiar and eccentric terms for tennis continue to baffle and amuse.

At a time when the ladies wore ankle length ‘tennis whites’ complete with corsets and huge hats there was no such thing as any prize money; the silver salver or cup sufficed until 1968 when the men received £2000 and the ladies £800. Of all the major global ‘Grand Slams’ Wimbledon is the only one to be played on the green stuff persisting doggedly in the historical legacy from 1877 and hosted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in true English style.

May April/May 2016 2011

Sport London’s top running clubs Photograph © Dan Acton

By Sasha Fedorenko

I

f you are looking for a social hub or place to get fit, but are not sure where to start then perhaps you should consider joining a running club.

There is nothing more motivating than being fit for summer days.

Running clubs can not only bring major improvements to your health and performance but also create strong friendships and unforgettable memories.

KCW Today has assembled a list of London’s top running clubs to help you put your feet on the healthy path.

The Parkrun organises free weekly 5k runs every Saturday at 9:00. The runs take place in bucolic parkland surroundings complete with fitness coaches encouraging people of every ability free of charge. There are over 90,000 ‘parkrunners’ including Junior Parkrun, a 2 km run on a Sunday at 9:00.

You can register here www.parkrun.org. uk/register/ this way you become an official member and receive a unique athlete number where you can track your fitness results and information about you past performances.

The Sweatshop:

This running community believes that ‘you don’t need athletic powers.’ The runs take place in Clapham, Fulham Broadway, Holloway Road, Notting Hill Gate, Rathbone Place, Stratford, Teddington and Trump Street. A 5km walk/run made for beginners, with those at the front of the group aiming for a faster 6.15 minute per mile pace. A longer 8km run for a more experienced runner. All abilities and ages welcome.

Register here for free to be added to the weekly run list: http://runhub.sweatshop. co.uk/community/sweatshop-runningcommunity/register

Putney Running Club:

Welcomes runners of all abilities and all age groups to join for free. The weekly runs vary between 4 to 10 miles depending on which group you’d like to run with. Apart from Putney (SW15 1NH), the club organises regular trips

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk to take part in runs all over the world.

To see the upcoming events, visit the website: www.putneyrunningclub.com/

Nike+ Run Club:

offers a variety of different running classes so whether you are doing your first mile or your 100th marathon, they have a place for you. There are also women-only runs, 5-10 social groups runs, speed runs, sessions for complete beginners, strength training and highintensity interval workouts for runners.

The sessions start at Niketown in Oxford Circus, Covent Garden, King’s Road, Westfield Stratford and finish at White City. Sign up here for free at your local area: https://www.nike.com/eventsregistration/

Adidas 26s:

The runs take place at the London Marathon Store, E1 6DB. The 26s club is aimed at experienced runners that train for a marathon (26.2 miles). There is also a beginners 5k runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (13:00 and 18:30) as well as 10k runs on Thursday (18:30).

To register for free, visit this website: http://runhub.sweatshop.co.uk/adidas26rs/

Run Dem Crew:

Perfect for all levels and open to all.

The sessions cost £5 and take place on Monday 19:00 (Gymbox Bank) EC3V 9AY, Wednesday 19:00 (Gymbox Old Street) EC1V 9NP, and Saturday (Gymbox Stratford) E20 1GL, 10:00.

The runs available for the beginners (less than 10k) to the elite athlete level (marathon distance). To join, visit this website: http://www.rundemcrew.com/ groups

Chelsea Running Club:

The sessions are on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from Chelsea Fire Station, SW3 5UF at 7:15. The Monday run is for beginners, Tuesday is a full body workout and Wednesday session if for long-distance runners (10-15k). To find out more information visit this link: http://www.chelsearunningclub.co.uk/ about-us.php.

Wheelchair Racing:

takes place every Sunday at White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre, N22 5QW. All ages and abilities are welcome.

Participants will be trained to improve their pushing ability and coached to train for the Marathon or a Mini Marathon.

For more information contact: Vanessa Daobry: 020 8489 1627.

London Adrenaline Rush:

The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, E20 2ST offers a challenging run with obstacles. The sessions are divided into 5k and 10k runs, the earliest sessions start 9:30 and last for two hours. To book the assault course visit here: http:// www.theadrenalinerush.com/locations/ london/.

Sports Fixtures Euro 2016 Until July 10

Sporting Calendar

Motorsport

June 18-19 BTCC Croft June 19 Baku Grand Prix June 30 WRC Poland July 1 WRX Sweden July 3 Austrian Grand Prix July 10 British Grand Prix

Lord’s Cricket

June 9-13 England v Sri Lanka June 16 Middlesex v Sussex Sharks

21 June MCC Universities Challenge Final June 23 Middlesex v Somerset June 25 Eton v Harrow June 26-29 Middlesex v Lancashire

Athletics Courtesy of BBC Sport

IAAF Diamond League June 16 Stockholm Olympic Stadium June 23 Madrid June 26 Sao Bernardo, Brazil

Golf Courtesy of BBC Sport

USPGA Tour June 15-19 Blythefield Country Club, US June 16-19 Oakmont CC, US June 22-26 Pinnacle CC, US PGA European Tour June 23-26 Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof, Germany 23 June-26 June Congressional G & CC, US 24 June-26 June University Ridge GC, US 29 June-3 July Columbia Edgewater Country Club, US 30 June-3 July Le Golf National, France 30 June-3 July Montreux G & CC, US 30 June-30 July Firestone CC, US

Tennis in May Courtesy of BBC Sport

13 June-19 June The Queen’s Club, London, England 13 June-19 June Halle, Germany 13 June-19 June Birmingham, England 13 June-19 June Mallorca, Spain 19 June-25 June Nottingham, England 19 June-25 June Eastbourne, England 27 June-10 July Wimbledon, London, England

Horse Racing Ascot June 14-18 The Royal Meeting Kempton Park June 22, 29 AWT-Evening Newmarket June 17 The CorrsNewmarket Nights June 18 Summer Saturday Sports Day June 23 Summer Meeting June 24 Will Young, Newmarket Nights June 25 Animal Health Trust Charity Raceday July 7-9 The Moët & Chandon July Festival Sandown July 1 Ladies’ Day Windsor June 13, 20 Monday Night Racing June 25

Best of British Festival Gentlemen’s Day June 26 Best of British Festival Family Fun Day June 27 Best of British Festival Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Night Guards Polo Until June 19 Bentley Motors Royal Windsor Cup June 18 Guards La Aguada Youth Day Until June 26 Archie David Cup 2016 June 21- July 3 Coworth Park Challenge Trophy June 23- July 10 Phoenician Cup June 28-July 10 Roberts Cup June 28-July 16 Indian Empire Shield Tuesdays, Thursday, Saturdays and Sundays throughout June Chukkas

Marathons in the UK

June 18 South Downs Marathon Chichester, West Sussex June 18 Malvern Midsummer Marathon Malvern, Worcestershire June 19 Cheltenham Circular Challenge Cheltenham, Gloucestershire June 26 Colworth Marathon Challenge Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire June 26 North Devon Marathon Woolacombe Bay, Devon marathonrunnersdiary. com Compiled by Fahad Redha

Photograph © Neier

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Crossword & Charity Across

This is the forty seventh Wolfe Cryptic Crossword Clive Jennings by email was last month’s winner; congratulations. I hope you enjoyed last month’s edition.

Please let me have any comments or suggestions you may have. Remember, even if you haven’t totally finished the whole crossword still send in your grids either by post to Wolfe, at Kensington,Chelsea and Westminster Today, 80-100 Gwynne Road London SW11 3UW, or scan it in and send by email to wolfe@kcwtoday. co.uk. as the first correct or substantially correct answer picked at random will win a prize of a bottle of Champagne kindly donated by: Lea and Sandeman. www.leaandsandeman.co.uk/Fine-Wine.

106 Kensington Church St, London W8 4BH. T: 020 7221 1982. Contact Sandor.

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8 Bonsai cultivated a country. (6) 9 A botanical welcome in the Pacific. (3) 10 In the beginning West Ham is my fancy (4) 11 Fine Totems recarved regularly. (10) 12 Specify a member of Lloyds. (4) 13 Handle excercise for flu. (6) 16 Cloudburst when fine feathers drop. (8) 17 Boxers alternative dress. (1-6) 18 Confirm content all right to aggravate.

(7) 22 Sir Pig he maybe an Italian composer.

(8) 25 Mother or father made by average middle earth tree. (6) 26 In what direction you hear a small dam.

(4) 27 Make dull carrier support your last box.

(10) 30 Where to put the coin in a casino. (4) 31 Tree sounding like a cockney tiller. (3) 32 Set up reportedly where you may keep a nag. (6)

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CHARITY CORNER

Contact the Elderly:

Tea Parties for Pensioners Contact the Elderly is a national charity helping to prevent loneliness and isolation in old age through the simple act of holding monthly tea parties.

Although continually growing, Contact the Elderly is still in need of assistance. A car and a couple of hours per month is all that is needed to help a senior citizen socialise; if that isn’t reward enough, tea and cake will also be provided.

The charity specifically helps people over 75 who live alone, and struggle in their local community to make new friendships. Voluntary drivers pick up an elderly guest from their home, driving them to the host’s house, where the tea party takes place. Although the host’s house changes each month, drivers stay the same: friendships are created throughout age groups, people are provided with the support networks they need and everyone involved has an event to look forward to each month.

Contact the Elderly has over 630 groups throughout England, Scotland and Wales, over 5000 elderly guests

1 Backflow created a howler. (4) 2 Bet before Etna explodes. (4) 3 Saint and father made most distant. (8) 4 Hogarth’s marriage depicted the French way. (1,2,4) 5 Condolence was back making a rough cutter. (6) 6 Few serve in mixed pig illness. (5,5) 7 Each shortly left maladies causing gloom.

(6)

and over 8800 voluntary workers.

This successful charity (winner of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Awards 2012) is looking to expand, aiming to double the number of guests it helps by 2021, but is relying on additional volunteers.

Izzy Wise, the charity’s North London development officer explains “our volunteers genuinely get as much out of the experience as our older guests” she continues, outlining that the charity is looking for volunteers who are “interested in giving back to their community.” Westminster residents interested in volunteering as a driver for Contact the Elderly can call Izzy Wise on 0208 445 1333 or email izzy.wise@ contact-the-elderly.org.uk

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degree. (7) 23 Perhaps envy the Spanish fair way. (6) 24 Small furry animal reportedly sent for this and that. (6) 28 Part of skullcap service in church. (4) 29 Cut back a thousand for a test. (4)

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June 2016

Chess & Bridge CHESS

By Barry Martin

The First World Champion to Play a Game of Chess Electronically

I

n September 1999 I was invited by English Heritage to unveil a Blue Plaque honouring the great British chess player, Howard Staunton, at 117, Landsdowne Road, Notting Hill, W11.

Whilst preparing my speech for the occasion, my research uncovered more unique events about him whilst he was chess editor of The Illustrated London News, (1840’s-1874). A particularly important, and as it now appears world shattering event in 1845, (two years after he became de facto World Champion in 1843), in which he was the prime mover, was brought back to mind with the recent announcements of the forthcoming World Championship in November this year. It states that this world match is to be played over 12 rounds in New York ,”..and is expected to attract a global online and TV audience of more than one billion fans!”

This latter fact is preceded by Staunton’s actions in April, 1845 when he played the first ever game of sport electronically! He played a nine hour game of chess using the recently installed Electric Telegraph on the South Western railway between London and Portsmouth. The certainty and instant rapidity of this communication system excited Staunton and his colleagues, with Staunton and Kennedy in Portsmouth as black, and Evans, Perigal and Walker in London. I said in my speech, Surely Staunton should be considered as the father of all sports and games played electronically and on the internet today!

It is historically important that this event took place, and it was the sport of chess that led the way. Politicians and historians of modern technology please note!’

I would add to the latter the organiser’s of World Chess, FIDE, and the makers of chess programs etc. This action by Staunton as a World Champion is a first ever in the world’s history to my knowledge, and if anyone has details of any earlier World Champions playing a sport electronically, prior to Staunton’s April 1845 date, please do contact me via KCWToday’s office In lieu of such information being

forthcoming in the near future, I propose that Howard Staunton should not only be revered as Britain’s greatest and strongest chess player we have ever seen, but should be considered as the world’s global godfather of electronically played games and sports now and in the future.

Staunton’s desire to put science into the curriculum for schools in the nineteenth century, where there was none before, is further evidence, if evidence was needed, of his forward thinking. Perhaps the 25th May, this year, the 188th birthday anniversary celebration for Simpson’sin-the-Strand’s inception as a coffee house and chess divan, and Staunton’s home from home, could also coincide with the world’s acknowledgement of Staunton’s unique position in the history, development and formulation of the electronic age and how games (particularly chess) have been used to test and extend the electronic frontiers for man,including the use of algorithms, electronic programs and sophisticated robotics in recent times, to name but a few.

Several other recent events have catapulted expectancy and chess fever to new heights, at both international and local levels. The World Chess Championship between the World champion, Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin has now been firmly set to be played in New York City, 11- 30 November, 2016. Bill de Blasio, New York’s mayor has said, ‘I and all New Yorkers welcome the World Chess Championship back to New York City. What better place to be than the City where the parks are often populated by chess enthusiasts!’ Surely, a curious downbeat comment at the end of his statement? Meanwhile, the greatest World Champion the world has witnessed, and exponent of chess, Garry Kasparov, has re-emerged at the world’s highest level of chess play by participating in the Ultimate Blitz Challenge, St. Louis, 2016, held at the close of the U.S Chess Championships.

Included were the two silver medallists from the latter, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So. They finished the Blitz tournament first and second respectively, with Kasparov third, and Caruana fourth.

Despite Kasparov’s rustyness he had a plus score against Nakamura, of 3.5-2.5, but 2-4 pts. against So, with several lost games caused by careless, rusty blunders.

At the local level and closer to home, GM Julian Hodgeson came out fighting on board one, to lead the Chelsea Arts Club triumph in the Hamilton Russell League’s Blitz tournament, held at the RAC club, Pall Mall. The CAC tied equally for first place with the MCC and RAC clubs, which calls for congratulations to the former, given the large numbers of good players the latter two clubs can call upon! The following puzzle is taken from Garry Kasparov versus Hikaru Nakamura, The Ultimate

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today

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online: www.KCWToday.co.uk

Blitz Challenge, St. Louis, 28-29th.April, 2016. White has just moved, 43.Nf5,...., and now Black thought he had a chance to gain the advantage and take the attack to White. What was it, and how did White refute the attack, and cleverly turn the odds around in his favour?

Answer upside down to right

Answer: 43. Nf5,Qg5+! 44.Kh2,Nf4, threatening mate on g2! 45.g3,Nh5.

46.f4!, driving Black’s Queen away, Qd8, and now White play’s 47. Qd5+, and Black has to take, Qxd5, and White’s knight delivers the coup de grace with, 48.Ne7+, forking beautifully Black’s King and Queen ! 48......Kf7. 49. Nxd5! 1-0.

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Monthly Bridge Tip for Intermediates with Andrew Robson

Against a trump contract the best opening leads are side-suit singletons or sequences of two or more touching high cards in a suit (lead the top card). Generally the singleton is a more dynamic choice, but when the sequence is ace-king, the latter choice is preferable.

Why? Leading ace from ace-king retains the lead after dummy is revealed (assuming no one is void). In control, you can now decide what to do next, based on what you see in dummy and how partner signals. You can continue with the king (and perhaps a third round); switch to the singleton; or even switch to a third suit. All your options are open.

Lead your singleton, however, and you could easily find yourself losing the lead, and with it the initiative. Declarer may well draw your trumps, discard losers on a trick source, and Dealer North

North-South Vulnerable

(1) Playing Transfer bidding, the bidding can go 1NT-2♦-2♥-3♦-3♥-P. A good advertisement for Transfers, as the filthy game is avoided

West led ♦4 and declarer surveyed the mediocre dummy. With four obvious losers (three spades and ♥A) as soon as he lost the lead, he needed to risk the club finesse. He won ♦Q, and played ♣3 to ♣4 and ♣Q. When ♣Q won, he cashed ♣A discarding ♠2, and led ♥10, losing to West’s ♥A. West cashed ♠AK (although had he had the courage to lead a low spade, his partner could have won ♠Q and played a second diamond for him to trump); he then led ♠4 to ♠Q. Declarer trumped, drew the remaining trumps, and cashed his diamonds. Ten tricks and game made.

West should have led ♠A - implying ♠K – at Trick One. East would have encouraged by playing ♠9, so West would continue with ♠K and ♠4 to East’s ♠Q. West’s ♥A would take the setting trick.

ANDREW’S TIP: Defending a trump contract, lead ace from ace-king in preference to any alternative opening lead - including a singleton.

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June April/May 2016 2011

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