The Foreign Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has a very straight forward purpose – to elevate British interests overseas. And so from within its finely manicured walls derives the safeguarding of our national security, the initiating of prosperity through exports, investment and open markets, the promotion of sustainable global progress and a pillar for all British nationals across the globe to lean against through its consular services. Currently at the helm is of this mighty ship is Foreign Secretary, William Hague, who together with the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary, form the ‘Great Offices of State’, the four most venerable appointments in the Cabinet. Situated alongside Downing Street in Whitehall, it is where Britain extends its rather ornate, gilded hands to the world. But through all its pomp and ceremony this George Gilbert Scott building does exactly what it set out to say, – that we are world players and a force to be reckoned with.

The Foreign and India Office 1866

The Foreign Office first came about in 1782 with the alliance of both Southern and Northern Departments of the Secretary of State, then splitting into ‘Foreign’ and ‘Home’ sectors. At the time, the vicinity of Downing Street was not the blue-ribbon enclave that it is today, with a hodgepodge of public houses, livery stables, dressmakers, affordable housing for minor MP’s compressed along narrow alleys, with stories of FO clerks acquiring strawberries via baskets on strings, throwing pennies to street vendors and flirtations with the pretty dressmakers across the way by signalling with mirrors. An underground stream made the area very boggy and unstable with a neighbouring house even falling down, with sections of the FO propped up with wooden supports. The FCO came about in 1968 with the amalgamation of the Commonwealth and Foreign Offices. The building itself presently occupies a space that comprised the old Foreign Office, India Office, Colonial Office and Home Office. The architect George Gilbert Scott  initially lobbied for a gothic theme until the PM at the time, Viscount Palmerston, insisted on a more harmonious design and then opted for the Italianate approach. Over the years, owing to the ever-increasing numbers in personnel, much of the building’s fine effects have either been covered up or removed and by the 1960’s it was in such a state of disrepair that demolition loomed until public outcry enforced the Foreign Office to upgrade as a Grade I listed structure. In 1980 it was subjected to a 17-year £100 million facelift, thus returning it to its former glory and for yet another curtain call.

THE DURBAR COURT

This magnificent court was one of the few sections not designed by George Gilbert Scott, but by Matthew Digby Wyatt. ‘Durber’ means ‘court’ in Indian and is an understated homage to both Italian and Indian techniques, based loosely on Rome’s Palazzo de Cancelleria. Originally intended as an open cortile, the eventual roof takes influence from Wyatt’s work with the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851 and Paddington Station. The real magic becomes clear as your eyes work up the walls with the detail becoming greater the higher you go up.

THE INDIA OFFICE COUNCIL CHAMBER

Also the work of Wyatt, this marvel of a room was designed solely for the Secretary of State for India and meetings regarding the subcontinent up until 1947 when India Office ceased to prevail. The central panel above the fireplace was made by Flemish sculptor Michael Rysbrack in 1730, depicts Britannia receiving gifts from the East, with the figure leading a camel representing the East and the figure with a lion, the West.

THE MUSES’ STAIR

This staircase is roofed with an octagonal glass dome, graced by goddesses of plenty (canephora) and cherubs illustrating the Roman virtues (Auctoritas, Dignitas, Gravitas, Hospitium, Otium, Pietas, Virtus, etc.) Directly beneath hang a pair of portraits of Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie, gifted to the East India Company in gratitude of its benefaction to the Paris Exhibition of 1855.

THE LOCARNO SUITE

Three successive rooms that were designed by Scott as the main area for diplomatic dinners, functions and conferences. First comes the Cabinet Room, followed by the Dining Room and Conference Room, whose gilded ceiling is decorated with circular majolica plaques bearing national emblems of twenty countries (USA, Turkey, Saxony, Switzerland, Sweden & Norway, Spain, Russia, Papal States, Portugal, Prussia, Austria, Belgium, Bavaria, China, Denmark, France, Greece, Holland, Italy and Japan)

GRAND STAIRCASE

The unforseen pivot behind this awe-inspiring staircase is not the exaggerated and bedazzling ceiling, but in fact the highly illustrious Sigismund Goetze murals that literally float off the walls that encircle the staircase. They depict the genesis, guidance, growth and achievement of the British Empire using a restricted palette of yellow ochre, Venetian red , cobalt and flake white. By fighting shy of bolder colours, Goetze had hoped the murals would stand their ground amongst their bold and brassy surroundings, that the feeling of light and air would not interrupt the structure of columns and the narrowness of the walls.

Britannia Pacificatrix – the notion of Britannia’s influence for international peace

Britannia Nutrix – nurturing a resilient nation through the arts of peace (ploughing, music, pottery, wool spinning and reading)

Silence – the three sopra-portas (silence, strength, dulce et decorum est pro patria mori)

Britannia Sponsa – the successive invasions of Britannia over the centuries presided over by the vision of the angel with the grail, a symbol of the Glastonbury legend and founding of Christianity in Britain.

[The Foreign Office can be viewed by the general public each year through Open House London]

TONY CONIGLIARO on the science of good taste

“What is a cocktail?” “Cock-tail is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters—it is vulgarly called bittered sling, and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said, also to be of great use to a democratic candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow any thing else.”

[First ever mention of ‘cocktail’ – The Balance and Columbian Repository publication, Hudson, New York, May13, 1806]

How does one take one’s cocktail? Well, the imbibition stage is rather easy, but to start with, one usually has to get someone else to make it for you. It is the ultimate end of slog ‘pat on back’. A cold beer, as we all know, refreshes most parts, but a cocktail says, “Yes, you are worth it, even if your boss doesn’t realize it yet”. Originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water and bitters, a cocktail today can contain any number of ingredients. So may we sit contentedly toying a maraschino cherry around an old fashioned, I ask you? Heck no, certainly not us Londoners. As with any busy metropolis, you find a constant hunger of wanting more, wanting different, a relentless drive for new and ingenious ways of presenting and viewing things. And what with the growing fascination of molecular gastronomy with chefs across the world, it wasn’t going to be too long before the cocktail world would follow suit. What started off with the lyrical layering of the 90’s favorite Friday night tipple, the B52, has now spawned an industry of cocktail wizards. And steering the rudder through these heady waters is London’s very own mixologist maestro, Tony Conigliaro.

Tony Conigliaro knows his drinks, having shaken, muddled, stirred, built, layered, floated and rolled his way up the ranks of London’s top bars, from the likes of Isola, The Lonsdale, and the Shochu lounge at Roka. He is a self-taught pioneer who was not satisfied with merely doing a good days work. Tony paid close attention to the work of the chefs that surrounded him and slowly began to infuse their tricks into his own repertoire. For anyone who has eaten the food of a molecular gastronomist, you will know that the results are groundbreaking, mindboggling, thought provoking and jaw dropping. And through the investigation to the responsiveness of basic ingredients and experimentation with their density and viscosity comes a wish for greater intensities, varieties of seasoning, taste combinations and approach to presentation. Equipment ranges from blowtorches, vacuum sealers (used to combine, preserve and infuse ingredients, including non-edible matter such as tobacco, leather and perfume) the rotavap (a vacuum rotary distillation setup that allows the extraction of aromas, low temperature reduction of juices and the production of flavored spirits) and such techniques like spherification. (forming a liquid into a sphere, much like caviar or larger like an egg yolk) The input is science, but the outcome is pure poetry. Tony opened his trailblazing Islington ‘Bar with no name’ at 69 Colebrooke Row four years ago, blindsiding all the critics and scooping all of the top honors in one swift swoop. The subtle decor is a gentle nudge to 1950’s Italian film noir. In May 2012, the Sunday Times unabashedly voted it the best bar on earth. Favorable libations include the reinvented Prairie Oyster, (tomato yolk, horseradish vodka, Oloroso Sherry, shallots, pepper sauce, celery salt and micro herbs) Terroir (distilled clay, flint and lichen), Apple and Hay Bellini, (yes, you heard correct) the Smoked Old Fashioned (using essence of tobacco, smoke essence and leather essence) and the No.5 Champagne Cocktail, of which came about at the realization that the process of constructing cocktails is very much parallel to that of perfumery, – both of which revolve around the use of top, mid and base notes with the dissolving sugar cube at the bottom of the champagne flute able to bring the notes of the drink to the top. The concept behind the Smoked Old Fashioned was “to put the idea of the drink inside the drink i.e. to sit down in a big leather sofa with a cigar and smoke-swirling drink”. It is this reason why many bartenders across the globe consider Tony as THE go-to drinks authority. Such was the demand that Tony set up his lab the Drink Factory in Britannia Row as a collective space for learning and sharing knowledge in the craft of cocktails. Interested parties include chefs, chocolatiers, perfumers, designers as well as drinks experts.

[69 Colebrooke Row]

[The Drink Factory]

Tony’s next venture was to team up with his Isola colleague and friend, the chef Bruno Loubet along with the Zetter Hotel group (Mark Sainsbury and Michael Benyan) in transforming 2 Georgian townhouses in Clerkenwell, which was to become known as the Zetter Townhouse. The approach was totally different in the fact that the place pivots entirely around the made up figure of ‘aunt Wilhelmina’, – “a composite of all dotty aunts”. For every detail and nuance it was “what would aunt Wilhelmina want” and so historical imagination and playful narrative has helped create an immersive experience that will hopefully fire up ones imagination, – a progressive trend that is currently proving very popular in London. Lovingly decorated by the brilliant interior designer, Russell Sage, the result is a riotous mish-mash of oddities, colours, fabrics, textures and exuberant taxidermy. It is organized chaos at its finest form. Nevertheless, it’s homey, snug and inviting to the point where you have to keep reminding yourself to not even think about putting your feet up on the coffee table. The foundations of this 13-bedroom townhouse were built around the 7^th Century Priory walls and the food and drink menu gently doffs its cap in homage to both the area’s priory and Dickensian roots. Knowing when to pull back, Tony said he was careful not to overplay the drinks here, basing them largely on 17^th/18^th Century recipes, remedies, tinctures and infusions. You can eat Scotch egg or Beef daube Bourgignon and wash it down with a Flintlock, (Beefeater 24 gin, gunpowder tea tincture, sugar, dandelion, burdock bitters & Fernet Branca) Somerset Sour, (Somerset cider brandy, lemon juice, sugar and Breton cider) or Milk Collins. (Beefeater gin, homemade milk syrup, lemon juice, sugar & soda) The filtered water is even sourced from the very Fleet River beneath ones feet. This is a complete turnabout from 69 Colebrooke Row, in which here it’s the surrounding that does most of the hollering. A man of many appreciations it’s obvious that Tony is sympathetic to subtleties and understands the art of balance, not just in liquid form. Tony, Bruno and the Zetter team have recently trounced again this year, opening up the Grain Store in the newly developed area north of Kings Cross, an energized vegetable and fruit-dominant menu that proves that they are certainly no one-trick ponies.

Nicholas Kurti, the late Oxford physicist first coined the term ‘molecular gastronomy’ in 1992. He once mused that, “I think it is a sad reflection on our civilization that while we can and do measure the temperature in the atmosphere of Venus, we do not know what goes on inside our soufflés.” I can hear many balk at the idea of messing around with food as simply unnecessary and to a degree, simply showing off. However, we are now dawning on a regrettable age where there are no more surprises. We landed man on the moon, he wandered and pondered around for a bit, realized his limitations and imperfections…and  he has returned home. It is now time to reflect and look inwardly. I feel people have to remember that there are miracles to be found close at hand, – you don’t have to reach for the skies to find the stars. We look outward to the big things and forget the importance of looking in and noticing the finer details, understanding the balance in the elements. I applaud the genius of the likes of Tony Conigliaro, simply for the fact that he constantly pushes the boundaries, he dares to be extraordinary and refined no matter how far-fetched or simplistic the idea. Tony sums it up, saying “the more practiced you are, the more you become adept at making beautiful and simple things”. I finish off by asking Tony for his thoughts on the perfect Martini…”definitely stirred and not shaken”, he offers resolutely. Sorry, Mr. Bond. This time you were wrong.

________________________________

This story was made possible by The School of Life, who regularly operate talks and classes with Tony Conigliaro

Alternatively, you can contact 69 Colebrooke Row for their masterclasses directly.

Isabella Plantation in full blooming glory.

Following on from last year’s secret gardens series, ( West, Central & East, North and South regions of London) I have fulfilled a promise to myself by returning to the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park (see ‘West‘ for the previous Isabella story), to see the flirtatious display of Azaleas and Rhododendrons at their blooming best. Not wanting to go overboard, but the colours were so hyperbolically jumping for attention, I likened the experience to walking into a technicolor film. (- for guidance, imagine when Dorothy Gale happened upon Munchkinland in The Wizard of Oz) It’s a rare gem indeed. In case you missed it, the best time of year to see the Isabella Plantation is late April and early May. Enjoy.

Visit Richmond Park

[map]

A visual history of the London Skyline

1550

[Anton van den Wyngaerde]

London Bridge 1554-7

Wyngaerde – West London

Wyngaerde – Central London

Wyngaerde – East London

1569

[Joris Hoefnagel]

Hoefnagel – Fete at Bermondsey – 1569

Hoefnagel – 1572

1616

[Claes van Visscher]

Vesccher – panorama

Vesscher – detail – West London

Vesscher – detail – West/Central London

Vesscher – detail – Central London

Vesscher – detail – Central/East London

Vesscher – detail – East London

1650

[Mattheus Merian]

Merian – Before the Great Fire of London – 1650

Merian – During the Great Fire of London – 1666

1647-77

[Wenceslaus Hollar]

Hollar – 1647

Hollar – detail – 1647

Hollar – Tower of London – date unknown

Hollar – St Paul’s – before and after the Great Fire

Hollar – view of East London before and after the Great Fire

Hollar – view from Milford stairs – 1643

1700

[Frederick de Wit]

Wit – 1700

1774

[Samuel & Nathaniel Buck]

Buck – Westminster – 1774

Buck – Somerset House to Bridewell

Buck – Fleet Ditch to St. Michael’s Church

Buck – Old Street Church to The Tower of London

1806-7

[The Rhinebeck’ Panorama – artist unknown]

The ‘Rhinebeck’ panorama – courtesy of the Museum of London

 

Detail of The Rhinebeck Panorama: 19th century

Detail of The Rhinebeck Panorama: 19th century

Detail of The Rhinebeck Panorama: 19th century

Detail of The Rhinebeck Panorama: 19th century

1865

Thames Embankment construction 1865

1877

[Henry Dawson]

Henry Dawson – 1877

1900

Tower Bridge, circa 1900, shortly after the bridge’s completion

Late 1800’2/early 1900’s

[Monet]

Monet – Thames at Westminster – 1871

Monet – Charing Cross Bridge – 1899

Monet – Parliament – 1904

Monet – London Parliament in Winter – 1904

Monet – Houses of Parliament, Sunset – 1902

Monet – Le Parlement, effet de brouillard – 1904

Monet – Houses of Parliament – 1905

Monet – Waterloo Bridge – 1899

1892

Construction of Tower Bridge – 1892

1930

London Victoria Embankment – 1930

1940

St Paul’s during the Blitz of WWII – 1940

Present Day – 2013

[Stephanie Wolff]

Tower Bridge landscape – © Stephanie Wolff

London Bridge Station – © Stephanie Wolff

Canary Wharf – © Stephanie Wolff

Southwark – © Stephanie Wolff

Tower Bridge portrait – © Stephanie Wolff

Tower of London – © Stephanie Wolff

London’s Bridges – © Stephanie Wolff

London Eye – © Stephanie Wolff

Tower Bridge – © Stephanie Wolff

Monument – © Stephanie Wolff

City of London – © Stephanie Wolff

Central & West London – © Stephanie Wolff

Houses of Parliament – © Stephanie Wolff

St Paul’s – © Stephanie Wolff

(All black & white photographs in the ‘present day’ series by Stephanie Wolff are now available in a limited edition of prints, obtainable on application – contact details here)

30 St Mary Axe: the making of a London icon

Had the sight lines that span across London not been so vigorously put in place by government officials, our present city’s skyline would indeed look very different from what it currently is, and more than likely not for the better. Laws are in effect to prevent the obstruction of key vistas when viewed from high vantage points such as Richmond and Hampstead. The obvious suspects are St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament, both venerated sites of interest in the heart of London that makes our skyline so unique and identifiable. This is also how Canary Wharf can get away with numerous high-rises but not the City of London. 30 St. Mary Axe (originally called the ‘Millennium Tower’) was one such victim with its original plans scuppered for a much smaller and sober rendition. Quite right too. For it’s sizeable enough to be used as a navigational tool around the city, yet not presumptuous enough as to detract from the kaleidoscope of neighbouring landmarks such as the Lloyds Building, Bank of England, Barbican Centre, Leadenhall Market, Monument, Tower of London or even our inviolable St. Paul’s. The site of the former Baltic Exchange that had been destroyed with irreparable damage by a Provisional IRA bomb explosion in 1992 had hoped to arise from the ashes a building that would be the tallest in Europe. Standing at 1,265 ft tall with a profile that was essentially two lopsided ovals joined at one end, it was famously at this juncture (9 September 1996) that Guardian journalist Elizabeth Pickering quoted it as “London’s £550m erotic gherkin”, a name that has stuck, much to the despair of it’s eventual designer, the legendary architect Norman Foster.

Plans for the Millennium Tower fell through mainly due to objections by Heathrow Airport claiming it would disrupt their flight paths, resulting in the withdrawal of backing by English Heritage. The site was then sold to Swiss Re and the task of architectural design to Foster & Partners. Norman Foster and his team have designed some of the most thought-provoking ‘functional’ structures across the world, such as Hearst Tower in New York (a tower block that looks almost eaten into by the wind), the Reichstag restoration in Berlin (a marriage of the old and new Germany, complete with the anti-Nazi graffiti left by the Russian army), the HSBC main building in Hong Kong (a feat that saw premium building materials sourced from all over the globe), and the Millau Viaduct in France (the world’s tallest bridge, which at 343 m comes 19 m higher than the Eiffel Tower). Across London, Foster has extended his prowess with the construction of City Hall, the Millennium Bridge, Stansted Airport, the new Wembley Stadium, the awe-inspiring British Museum’s Great Court roof and, of course, 30 St. Mary Axe. He is a man renowned for his tireless enthusiasm with an endless stream of inspiration and work ethic that developed from his own industrious parents and poor upbringing. Foster decided at an early age that he would also prove himself just as indefatigable but that he would turn it around into something considerable and memorable. He developed a passion for airplanes and models at a young age and remembers his first drawing being that of an airplane and imagining what it was like to be inside the machine, to be in control of the machine, the rising and sinking of the air, the way the wind reacts to the shape of the machine and curves over the engine and most importantly how the rivets bring together the sheets of metal. This is very much how he still today approaches the design of his structures. For anyone who has had the lucky chance of driving across the Millau Viaduct in the South of France, you will almost know what it is to be a bird gliding through the clouds. He takes on the somewhat poetic and spiritual dimension of a building, – i.e. not so much how a building looks, but how it makes you feel.

30 St Mary Axe was completed in 2003, measuring in at 591 ft, more than half its originally-planned height. The building cuts it’s energy use in half through intentional gaps in the floor that provides a natural ventilation system called passive solar design, a giant double-glazing effect that sucks out the warm air in summer and insulates during winter. The glass panelled perimeter are joined together in triangulation (one of the strongest structural shapes known to man that also cuts down on the amount of steel used), that spiral round to the top dome, controlling any wind-excited sways. The shafts also allow for extra light passing through the building, making it a more uplifting experience for the people working inside. 10,000 tonnes of steel and 24,000 sq m of glass was used in its external construction and regardless of its round façade the only round piece of glass to be used is the ‘lens’ that sits at the very top. The interior is surprisingly no-frills and understated. Am I disappointed? Far from it, because the main point about the space is the view it affords and the light to inspire the working minds. Many call Foster the “Mozart of Architects” in the fact that he makes something incredibly complex appear very simple and refined.

Foster was famous for being one of the first to introduce a ‘social utopia’ to the work space, to join the worker and the manager, which up until then had been almost unheard of in the workspace. This radical idea very much stemmed from his progressive education at Yale University and his training by such luminary architects as Paul Rudolph (who studied with Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius at Harvard), Serge Chemayeff and Vincent Scully. Incidentally, it was also the place where he met future collaborators and life-long friends Richard Rogers and Anthony Hunt. Through long road trips across America with Rogers and Hunt, Foster came to idolise the American style of building, and more specifically the skyscraper.

“Architecture for me moves the spirit in all the senses”, offers Foster. When you carefully consider the fact that round buildings usually involve spectators looking to the centre, but 30 St Mary Axe turns everything on its head with the person inside drawn to what’s going on in the world outside. Everything is circumspect, you are given the widest possible point of view, yet when observed externally you remain shielded and the exterior world remains non-the-wiser of what goes on inside, – a double entendre, whether intentional or not. The magnificence of 30 St Mary Axe derives not only from its simplistic aesthetic but also in it its spiritual dimension. I hope in years to come that the authorities at London View Management Framework will deem 30 St Mary Axe a priority in their sightlines of London. Not in the same league as St. Paul’s…but at least with the same respect.

PADDOCK: Cabinet War Room 2

“ A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

[Sir Winston Churchill]

On a quite side street in the leafy heights of Neasden & Dollis Hill that screams suburban mediocrity, there is a door on a most non-descript brick wall that is in fact the entrance to one of WWII’s biggest secrets. For this door leads to what was intended as Churchill’s emergency Cabinet War Rooms during the war in response to the prospect that Whitehall’s war citadel was not immune from a direct hit by Hitler’s Luftwaffe. The site of Chartwell Court, 151 Brook Street was the pioneering communications research station (officially the Post Office Research and Development Station of Dollis Hill) where Tommy Flowers built Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer, before it was moved to Bletchley Park in order to aid break the Enigma code. Its conception came about as a result of the panic caused after the Munich Agreement of 1938. The settlement permitted the Nazi Germany’s annexation of Czechoslovakia’s borders that were inhabited by German speakers. It became know as the failed and final act of appeasement towards Hitler and prompted Neville Chamberlain and the other major powers of Europe to re-evaluate their own defences. It’s a perfect case of cloak and dagger, for until recently, the general public have not known of its existence and more surprisingly, even the government forgot where they had built it.

 

The final proposal for an underground, bombproof war headquarters was put forward on October 14^th, 1938. Sir Warren Fisher (Permanent Secretary of the Treasury and the first ever Head of the Home Civil Service), Major General L C Hollis (Secretary to the Chiefs of Staff Committee) and General Sir Hastings Ismay (Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defense) headed the undercover operation of building the two-storey citadel 40 feet below ground. A facsimile of CWR1 in Whitehall, the 37 rooms incorporated a map room, a Cabinet room to seat up to 30 people and ancillary offices. A 5ft layer of concrete formed the protective ‘roof’, making it near impossible to destroy. The entrance was discreetly hidden inside the GPO research station as a decoy to suspicious eyes. Construction amounted to £250,000 and was completed in 18 months. Essential staff instantly manned the site in readiness for the unfolding threats of WWII. The codename ‘Paddock’ was coined by Winston Churchill (who succeeded Chamberlain as Prime Minister on May 10^th 1940), perhaps in reference to the adjacent Willesden Paddocks racing stables on Paddock Road. When the Blitz of London began on September 7^th 1940, Churchill immediately came to inspect Paddock, suggesting that the War Cabinet give it a dry run to ensure the bunker was capable of realizing its purpose, stating, “We must make sure that the centre of Government functions harmoniously and vigorously. This would not be possible under conditions of almost continuous air raids. A movement to Paddock by echelons of the War Cabinet, War Cabinet Secretariat, Chiefs of Staff Committee and Home Forces GHQ must now be planned and may even begin in some minor respects. War Cabinet Ministers should visit their quarters in Paddock and be ready to move there at short notice. They should be encouraged to sleep there if they want quiet nights. All measures should be taken to render habitable both the Citadel and Neville’s Court. Secrecy cannot be expected but publicity must be forbidden.” However, after Paddock hosted its first Cabinet meeting on October 3^rd 1940, Churchill realized how damp and claustrophobic the conditions were inside the bunker. He wrote, “The accommodation at Paddock is quite unsuited to the conditions which have arisen. The War Cabinet cannot live and work there for weeks on end…Paddock should be treated as a last resort.” A second meeting utilized Paddock on March 10^th 1941, but more as a PR stunt to dazzle the Australian Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. The meeting was chaired by Clement Attlee (the Lord Privy Seal and eventual successor as Prime Minister to Churchill), since Churchill had a sudden case of bronchial cold. In June 1941 the Axis alliance turned their attentions toward Russia and it suddenly became apparent that Paddock might not be required at all. The site was reduced to a skeleton of staff. When the German threat of V-weapons became apparent in 1943, Churchill decided to use the purpose-built North Rotunda (‘Anson’) in Westminster instead and had all the best furnishings moved over from Paddock. In 1944 the site had become superfluous and was locked up and left forsaken. The research Station closed in 1974 with the Post Office moving out in 1976 and since the 1980’s the site has been left to the forces of nature. When the land was rebuilt with new housing in 1998, Brent Council made it a requirement to maintain the bunker, to pump out the two feet of water that had seeped in over the years and to make safe and open it up to the public twice a year.

Although the pumps are still in place, a dark, mildewy and dank undercurrent still pervades. The mould and condensation hinders inquisitive fingers and the scarcity of furniture, the disparaged clues of its former life, the deafening drip-dripping from stalactite to stalagmite that penetrates the solitude, the stifling lack of fresh air reminds you of a sadness born of a life unlived, a vision unfulfilled. Such a massive effort was afforded in its undertaking: with blast-proof doors; massive ventilation shafts to combat all the heavy-smoking; a BBC studio and broadcasting room with fitted acoustic tiles; map rooms complete with window views to the army, naval and air forces; a battery storage room with floor tiles to combat corrosion from leaking battery fluid; tiny message and telegraph hatches; and even angled light fittings to highlight the map-room walls, – and for what? You can take it either way: nostalgia and remorse for its unfulfilled role in the war effort: or relief in the knowledge that we didn’t need to use it. Utilizing it would have meant that Hitler was gaining the upper hand. Churchill brought much wisdom and courage to the people of Britain during the darkest days of the war. He once famously said, “ A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” I believe Churchill saw the importance of Paddock for the sole reason that he hoped he would not have to use it, that not using it meant we were not defeated. The fact that Churchill disliked the space inside Paddock is also completely understandable, – it’s not supposed to be a livable or breathable space. Hitler eventually gave up bombing London because Londoners simply got back up, dusted themselves off and started rebuilding again. He could not get the better of the spirit of the British people…which is why the rousing words of Churchill played such an important to his people…as did the idea of Paddock to Churchill.

PADDOCK is open to the public in September each year as part of the Open House Weekend. (2013 dates – September 21st & 22nd)

Deutsche Bank Art Collection

“Art builds. Art questions. Art transcends borders. Art works.”­

(A philosophy by Deutsche Bank)

[Turning the World Upside Down III’, 1996 by Anish Kapoor and ‘Biotin-Maleimide’, 1995 by Damien Hirst]

‘Diversity’, – it’s a word frequently used by Deutsche Bank as a way of analysing and solving problems, to methodically examine from all angles using different mindsets. This, DB hopes, will lead to an acceptance of all views of all ages and cultures on the global stage of business and banking. This also may be the key factor as to why DB started its art programme 30 years ago that now amasses the largest corporate art collection throughout the world. If you imagine the way our brains function, with the left side dealing with logic and the right with emotion, DB understands that to have a well rounded perspective you need to activate both sides of your brain. Since the late 1970’s DB has been cultivating and championing artistic brilliance, of both established and emerging talent, as a way of a) supporting the arts and b) of bringing stimulation, inspiration and enjoyment to both their clients and colleagues. The collection is not, as one might suspect, an investment. There is no storeroom, it’s all out there on the trading floors, offices and meeting rooms that span 70 countries and is accessed daily by over 100,000 employees. Prize pieces of the collection include works by Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, Damien Hirst and Anish Kapoor. I am fortunate enough to be given a private tour of Winchester House in the heart of the City of London by curator Alistair Hicks.

The rules of the selection process are thus laid bare. DB’s intentions are to garner talent that has endurance and a length of life, meaning that new graduates are often over-looked simply due to their fallout rate. Auction houses are not approached because DB want to directly support the artists. Alistair Hicks is the networker of DB’s Art Programme, who scours the galleries and studios of the U.K. for emerging talent. The works are mainly of figurative and abstract content and are considerate in the sense that they are not setting themselves up to offend. “There’s a line that has to be drawn”, claims Alistair, and so for this reason you will not find any suggestive nudes or themes that might be distasteful to certain cultures or beliefs. There are 3-4 annual meetings where the art committee (comprised of departmental executives) decide on around 20 additions to the collection. The average price paid for a piece is £1000 and the average age of an artist is 20 to 35 years. Generally, the pieces are of photographic, print or paper format, of modest size in a way to make it approachable even to the faintest of art lovers. DB rarely commissions work, reasoning that it might impinge on the artistic process. Key factors for approval are the marriage of expressiveness, emotion, innovation and longevity. Ultimately, and quite understandably, the budget for art purchasing is the first thing to be cut when DB revenue is down.

Guided through the conference rooms and upper floor offices (that take on the names of the presiding artist), the sounds are hushed and the décor sober. The annunciation comes from the art itself, softly spoken, yet very much in evidence. I almost miss the Francis Bacon…but not quite. However, it’s when you get to the 2 main entrance halls that reduces you to a state of fixated awe. In the Great Winchester Street entrance you are confronted by Anish Kapoor’s ‘Turning the World Upside Down III’, an enormous inverted sphere inside a sphere that gives the viewer a reflection of himself and surroundings upside down when viewed face on. In other words, walking past it every morning, employees are forced to see themselves from a different perspective. On the far wall hangs ‘Biotin-Maleimide’, one of Damien Hirst’s ubiquitous Spot Paintings. Crossing the foyer to the London Wall access we are confronted by Keith Tyson’s mind-blowing polyptych, ‘12 Harmonics’, a series of 12 paintings specially commissioned by DB. Each panel is loosely based on a number from 1-12, and using symbols and symmetry explores ideas, theories and varied concepts of our world. On introducing his work to 400 employees, says Alistair, “Keith explained that the 12 pieces explain how parallel systems work in the world”, a theory that can be applied to all walks of life. Like all great art, the audience has their own personal response to these panels in accordance to how you view the world. Alternately, you can walk past this piece on 100 occasions and see something different every time. The overall experience is quite intense, a feeling that you do not get in a normal art gallery. It feels half way between you happening upon someone’s personal home collection to a gallery space that caters for one viewer at a time. A privileged experience indeed. And beside each piece comes a mini bio about the artist. Staff and investors are frequently invited on guided tours of the DB art collection as well as artist studio visits, so there’s an educational element for a better understanding of the arts with its varied levels of communication that will hopefully reflect in business terms. All London employees are also given ‘culture cards’ that gives free access to most major art galleries.

[Francis Bacon ‘Study for a Pope Innocent X’, 1989]

[Jorma Puranen, ‘Icy Prospects #18’, 2005]

[Jorma Puranen, ‘Icy Prospects #27’, 2005]

 

[Caro Niederer, ‘Shella and Manda Beach’, 2005]

[Caro Niederer, ‘Shella and Manda Beach’, 2005]

[Anish Kapoor ‘Wounds and Absent objects’, 1998]

[Wang Taocheng, ‘My History’, 2008]

[Ralf Peters ‘Indoors’, 2003]

[Anish Kapoor ‘Turning the World Upside Down III’ 1996]

[Anish Kapoor ‘Turning the World Upside Down III’ 1996]

[Anish Kapoor ‘Turning the World Upside Down III’ 1996]

[Damien Hirst ‘Biotin-Maleimide’, 1995]

[Keith Tyson ’12 Harmonics’, 2011. Image © John Wildgoose]

In an age were banks are crumbling left, right and centre, Deutsche Bank has proved both stalwart and ever productive, and one of the few Banks to still be showing a considerable profit (except for a slight wobble in 2008). In 2012, DB was named ‘Best Global Investment Bank’ in the annual Euromoney Awards, with the International Financing Review acknowledging DB as both ‘Equity House of the Year’ and ‘Bond House of the Year’. This success has come mainly from its break as a German-centric organisation in the last 5 years, with investments growing more towards the global market. But still, these are difficult times and one could question if an office would really miss that nice painting on the wall. Many banks have in fact had to divest their art collections in recent years to help combat their own economic crisis. On September 15^th 2008, the day that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, the artist Damien Hirst raised £111,000,000 at Sotheby’s in a direct auction of his works. Weeks later, however, the contemporary art index fell 20% and works by Hirst were failing to sell in the US. Has modern art seen its day as a form of investment? 

[Keith Tyson ’12 Harmonics’, 2011. Image © John Wildgoose]

Whatever the argument, DB has never seen art purchasing from this angle. For them, it’s a mind-release from the stats and numerical spaghetti-junction of investment banking. Alistair finishes by saying, “we’re very lucky that the concept was actually designed back in the 70’s and it was designed as much for the difficult times as good times. The idea was to make the art a small but integral part of the company’s DNA and because of that we do not spend extravagantly. It’s very cost effective, – if you’d given the job of making the walls for the last 30 years to a designer, decorator or architect it would have cost 20 times as much.” We should also remember that Art always has the last laugh. In archaeological terms, the things we create determine best how we are remembered. You can tell so much about the attitudes of an era from the clothes, implements, wall markings and art that we create, more so than written historical documents because they speak our needs in expressionistic and emotional terms. Deutsche Bank has shown humanity in their valiant support for the arts, and a wish for longevity that I hope will in time reflect back on them. 

– For more reading on DB’s Art Collection

– An explanation on the ’12 Harmonics’ by Keith Tyson

N.B. Viewing the collection is by appointment only and can be arranged through the Contemporary Art Society. A large selection of DB’s art can also be viewed each year at the Frieze Art Fair.

 

 

 

BOMPAS & PARR: An earnest discourse with Sam Bompas on all things wobbly.

[Harry Parr, left, Sam Bompas, right]

It was the red velvet bow tie that caught my eye first…then the huge fluffy winter coat…then the electric green Turnbull & Asser socks…then the sharp, windswept slant of a blonde quiff…then the perfect pouty lips. There was nothing else for it, – I simply had to say hello. For Sam Bompas, – jellymonger, architectural foodsmith, cuisine conjuror, and one half of Bompas & Parr, – is one of those people that you just don’t easily forget. His natty mien, as he himself proclaims, is ‘Vincent Price on ether’ due to his penchant for fluorescent slime green. A lasting ramification from his mother’s fancy dress parties that now blurs the line between work and play for both Sam and his partner Harry Parr. Placed together as children in Eton’s school orchestra and reciprocal in their apparent lack of skill (Sam on the violin, Harry on the cello.), a friendship arose that grew beyond their school days when one night Harry cooked a feast of sorts that culminated in a show-stopping jelly…thus beginning the adventures of ‘Bompas &Parr’.

[mercedes drive thru]

How one could feasibly believe there was a niche in the market for jelly is beyond anyone, but ‘niche’ is indeed what they have found. Their first venture saw a table full of architectural jelly shapes concluding with an unintentional food fight, that has followed up with glow-in-the-dark gin & tonic jelly,  ‘Absinthe Jelly Ronson’ created specially for DJ Mark Ronson’s  birthday bash, aphrodisiac jellies in the form of boobs , ‘flaming jelly’ and even an entire Christmas dinner jelly. Sam recalls, “with a distinctly misguided spirit of adventure, we once created an entire Christmas dinner in one tall and very wobbly striped jelly. There were layers of sprouts, parsnips, potatoes, stuffing, bread sauce and, of course, turkey consommé studded with artfully positioned mini sausages and bacon rashers…(with) foothills made of champagne, burgundy, port and sherry.” It’s this principal guideline of humour, precariousness and escapade that permeates through all of Sam & Harry’s work. Since setting up business together in 2007, Sam and Harry have ventured with Alcoholic Architecture with a breathable gin & tonic, an Architectural Punchbowl where they flooded a Robert Adam building with 4 tonnes of Courvoisier Punch enough for 25,000 people, Scratch & Sniff Cinema where key moments of the Peter Greenaway film ‘The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover’ were accentuated with such aromas as rotting meat and dusty books, flavour-changing chewing gum, levitating plates of strawberries, a five tonne chocolate waterfall and the roof of Selfridges that was transformed into a green lake complete with boats and a waterfall to row through. (umbrellas were kindly provided in full knowledge of how easy it is to row a boat and hold the implement at the same time) The following year saw the exact same roof converted into a mini golf course with punters having to cautiously monoeuver around a setting of giant cakes. In the last 3 consecutive years Sam and Harry have also found the time to churn out their illustrious and eye-popping books ‘Jelly’ (includes both a wedding and funeral jelly), ‘Cocktails’ (ether cocktail and the “blisteringly expensive” Royal Usquebaugh) and the latest ‘Feasting’ (caped turkey and glitter ham!), – all focussing on the creative and spectacular side of cooking and entertaining.

[chocolate waterfall]

While Sam seems content in imagining up the fantastical narrative side of things and deliberating the audience reaction, it comes down to Harry and his architectural learning to look at the plausibility and technicalities of each project, which is what makes the whole operation sound. They function together like shadow and light, a yin to the other’s yang, creating a perfection in balance. Sam recalls, “our best ideas come out of Harry and I having a massive argument. I hate what Harry comes out with and he thinks half of what I say is rubbish, but what we get at the end is better than anything either of us could come up with on our own.”

[the truvia voyage of discovery]

When you stand back from it all you have to admit that it is the kind of job you can only dream of, I mean, hands up who didn’t want to be Willy Wonka when they were growing up? To have taken a bonkers idea to such extraordinary heights and make it financially viable is simply unheard of. When the famed Victorian chef Alexis Soyer took over Gore House (now the Royal Albert Hall) in 1850 for his pop-up dining experience, ‘Soyer’s Universal Symposium of All Nations’ to coincide with the 1851 Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace, so extravagant was the undertaking that they were forced to close the doors at the end of the exhibition with a loss of £7000. The Standard reported on Monday April 28^th, 1851, – “You enter the doorway, and stand in the Vestibule de la Fille de L’Orage, you read, ‘Soyer’s Symposium’, struck by arrows of lightning from a hand clenched convulsively over the head.  From this you pass into L’atelier de Michel Ange, the walls of which are covered with the existent marvels of architectural and engineering art – the Pyramids, the Palace of Westminster, St. Paul’s, Pompey’s Pillar, the Tubular Bridge, and the like, shouldering each other with amusing defiance of time and concord.  Turning to the right, the visitor finds himself in what once was the Blessington Library, but now La Salle du Parnasse in plainer and less metaphorical English, a spacious dining-room, brilliantly fitted with mirrors, marble consoles, and Grecian vases, the prevailing characteristic of white and gold being extremely effective, and affording a delicate contrast to the ‘Salle des Noces de Danaë, the speciality of which is the Alhambra spirit of the ceiling, displayed in its gorgeous varieties of colour, while gem-like tears cover the pale green walls, dropping, as it were, from the heavily gilt cornice.  The eight globes of silvered glass which are to hang here will produce an ensemble, when reflecting the floods of gas with which the salle will be charged of which, we can form but little conception….the ante-chambers of the mansion of which is striped and starred a la Jonathan.. La Cabinet de la Pompadour – embellished with  flutings of white and pink, and a triumphant arch of roses and foliage; La Foret Peruvienne, the colour of which is blue.. La Chambre ardents d’Apollon a circular apartment, intended for the Ghebirs, who can, if they like, before they eat their curried spiders, prostrate themselves before the before the brazen sun which fills half the plafond with its circumference..Grotte des Neiges Eternelles encrusted with sparkling pendents…Vintage Palazzo, Italian Saloon enclosed in a trellised gallery overhung with vine leaves, through which the eye looks upon the plains of Lombardy, the fastnesses of Calabris, and the ruins of Campagns…Bourdoir de la Valliere, enter the state bed-chamber, papered with zig-zag stripes and diagonal bands of black velvet and silver lace… Pagode du Cheval de Bronze, Chinese hall, tea-chest, crimson curtains, statuettes of Fo and Buddha, fat-bodied bronzes and lantern.”

[feast book launch]

The theatrical immersion of Soyer strikes very similar to the heart of what Sam and Harry are trying to achieve. However, they take it one step further in the fact that the audience has to participate and becomes part of the experience. For example, with the chocolate waterfall, one had to walk the rickety bridge over the cascading chocolate, without doing an Augustus Gloop, in order to bottle your own prize, and with the Truvia lake on top of Selfridges one had to row through a waterfall and completely drench oneself in order to reach the cocktail bar. The pioneering Soyer went on to introduce gas ovens and portable cookers that enabled the setting up of soup kitchens in the Irish Great Famine (1845-52) and hospital catering during the Crimean War. He cooked flamboyant feasts for Royalty and High Society, yet died a penniless man. He lived beyond his years and beyond his purse strings. In short, he had the vision but not the sense to go with it. This is why I think Sam and Harry have got it right. They have a strong team, friends and family that are always ready to muck in and backers that believe they can go all the way. Besides…it is their time. And with my own Willy Wonka dreams firmly dashed, I can only comfort myself in the knowledge that two people out there actually made the realization come true, are having their cake (or should I say jelly) and eating it too.

[cocktails book launch]

I managed to corner Sam to explain himself…

Your work encompasses so many extraordinary skills and feats, just how would you coin your job description – food magicians, sensatory chefs perhaps? We’re not exactly precious about labels and definitions. Over the last year we’ve exhibited at the Garage Centre of Contemporary Culture, built a cake based crazy golf course on the roof of Selfridges, published a book on feasting and fabricated cooking equipment from the dawn of time. The most important thing is doing epically brilliant work. These days there are no boundaries to creativity. It can make for a confusing and furious life though. We’re quite competitive this means all cooks, architects, designers, artists, photographer, art directors and curators are potential rivals. At the moment it takes so long to explain the sorts of things we do that at parties I just say I’m an accountant.

What’s a normal day on the plate of Sam? Is it glow-in-the-dark jelly for breakfast, popping candy for lunch, breathable gin and tonic as an aperitif before donut burgers for dinner? Do you have any particular favourite restaurants in London? For the most part our noses are two the grindstone. A great shame as this means Topps Pizza, and the local news agent (for beers) benefit most from our business. Hardly fine dining but it keeps us buzzed on a sugar, fat, salt high. Given the chance we escape to the Boot and Flogger, the UK’s only venue allowed to serve alcohol without license. The owner is a freeman of the city and Vintner so gets a special dispensation. Or we go for meat at Hawksmoor; their dishes are savage. On grand occasions, high days and celebrations Viajante holds the key. Nuno Mendes is the master.

When planning events, where’s your starting point, – the ingredient, the narrative, or the location? Projects involve joining up a whole constellation of ideas, locations, ingredients, skills and resources. The trick is to try to conceive something that you don’t totally know how to do. That way you learn on the way and get another tool for the box. The more tools in the box the better.

The spaces you and Harry create often render the audience to regress to childhood delight, a playground for adults of sorts. Would this be intentional on your part? We don’t go for childishness but do rather encourage visitors to lose their inhibition. The best installations will induce the sensual pleasure of childhood enhanced with the learning that comes with age. So you may be boating across a lake of alcoholic punch (Architectural Punch Bowl) but this experience is further enchanted by the months of research, design, collaboration with engineers, architects, mixologists and so forth that support the project.

Does it bother you that people constantly compare you and Harry to Willy Wonka and Heston Blumenthal? It can take quite a long time to explain what we do so it can be handy for people to use references. It’s cool if they want to do this. After all both Heston Blumenthal and Willl Wonka have been hugely inspirational and guiding stars.  Harry is actually at Dinner in the Manderin Oriental right now. He’s been taken for his 30^th Birthday.

What do your friends and family reckon on your work? At first they probably though it was absurd, but they’ve all been valiant in providing support. Our parents have been staunch allies when we chucked in proper jobs to work with jelly. At the Jelly Banquet (one of the first events we did) Harry’s parents were the first on site fixing up the 10m self-wobbling jelly table while mine were the last off site. At the time we hadn’t realised that 2000 people jelly wrestling and having a jelly fight would cause such a mess! We are hugely grateful.

You didn’t train as a chef, so how do you get your knowledge and expertise? Do you seek advice from other chefs? Do they ever turn their nose up at your food designs? We’ve now worked in the food industry longer than any other industry. Is that a qualification? In all fairness we don’t set ourselves up in competition to chefs. On many occasions we have been lucky enough to work alongside and learn from some of our culinary heroes. It was pretty wild doing the dessert course for a dinner the mighty Fergus Henderson was cooking for the Oxford Food Symposium some years back. We ended up realising the Great Fire of London in jelly spread across 6 tables.

You’ve certainly found your niche, but before things became big, did you have your doubts? The key is to just plug away.

You’ve moved away from jelly more recently, any plans of it making a comeback or have you taken it as far as it can go? What other tricks have you got planned for the future? The jelly is still a strong theme. Each week we work on several jelly commissions and the strange thing is there’s still more to explore with the medium. Probably my favourite project this year was jelly based setting Brunel’s SS Great Britain in a fruity gel matrix. The lime jelly measured the length of two Olympic swimming pools and weighed 55 tonnes. I guess it’s a world record. And the future? Next year’s pretty busy. We’re fairly well booked up. First up is an ice project with scanLAB who voyaged to the Arctic to survey the disappearing iceflows. Check out their release attached. We’ll be providing visitors to their show at the Architecture Association with Talisker based lollies. They’ll be exact scale replicas of the ice flows they scanned so you can run your tongue over the grooves of the disappearing forms of Arctic ice.

Your parents took you to Dennis Severs’ House as a young child, – was your childhood quite progressive and was there a big encouragement in your creative growth? My mother’s an art teacher and father is a wonderful storyteller. Beyond that they were determined to let me make my own choices (and mistakes) in life.

You often cite the innovative chef Alexis Soyer as a great influence. What mainly attracts you to him and do you often look to the past for ideas? Soyer is an absolute hero of ours. The Victorian equivalent of Jamie Oliver, a showman with great swagger and panache but with a big enough heart to try to solve the Irish Potato Famine. We look to the past as history is a great editor. If something is still being printed or documented 200 years down the line it’s probably pretty good. There’s an added bonus too. If you look to the past for ideas no-one’s alive to accuse you of ripping of their work. Being dead, they can’t punch you out at the next soiree. That said there’s no point slavishly copying. You’ve got to find your own way to make it special. At least if you are looking at projects that are hundreds of years old they aren’t all over the internet which is where everyone else is looking. We spend a good deal of time tearing through the archives of the London Library. There’s a great wealth of forgotten knowledge that can be used to re-enchant what people put in their mouths. Every so often we’ll run to ground an obscure menu, ancient food treatise or most recently a Memoir of a Stomach that will serve as inspiration for a future project.

Tell me about the dynamics of the way you and Harry work together? Since Harry studied architecture, does he concern himself with structural soundness and you with the visual soundness, or do you mix roles around a bit? The best analogy is probably restaurant based. I do the front of house work while Harry is the powerhouse in the kitchen with all the heat and sweat that entails.

Your first event apparently ended in a massive food fight. Is this true? The Jelly Banquet descended into an all out jelly fight. The greatest London has ever known. It took a solid five hours to clean up and stained an entire lawn red for weeks.

Choose 5 people, living or dead, that you would love to cook a feast for.

Ivan Day – the brilliant food historian (alive)

Vincent Price – horror actor and connoisseur (dead)

Josephine Baker – rights activist, spy, banana dancer (dead)

P.T. Barnum – showman, mermaid importer (dead)

Aleister Crowley – mountaineer, Satanist, mixologist (dead)

What 5 household items prove indispensable to the world of Bompas & Parr? Gaffer tape, bin bags, ultrasonic oscillators (used in fish ponds), gelatine, pigs heads.(actually easy to find just ask your butcher)

What has been yours and Harry’s happiest moment so far? Building Alcoholic Architecture a breathable cloud of G&T that intoxicated through the lungs and eyeballs. It was just me, Harry, lovely Robin from Robin Collective and our girlfriends giving it the final paint job yet the results were felt around the world. You never got a hangover either from alcohol by eyeball.

How would you spice up the Christmas celebrations? All our secret tips and tricks are outlined in great detail in Feasting with Bompas & Parr.

Do you have an exciting recipe for a Christmas jelly you could give me?

For sure:

Hippocras Christmas Pudding Jelly

There is real scope to bring back the jelly as a Christmas dessert and alternative to heavy Christmas puddings. Stomachs need to be respected – indeed, the Victorians often referred to them as amiable gentlemen – and a light jelly makes a spectacular and much more manageable alternative. We’ll demonstrate that you can ditch the Christmas pudding but lose none of the traditions. For this jelly, we use a recipe once enjoyed by Henry VIII and which the notorious serial killer Gilles de Rais called ‘Jelly Hippocras‘. As with traditional Christmas pudding, it’s important that 13 ingredients are used to represent Jesus and his disciples. Interestingly, Christmas puddings were banned by the Puritans in 1664 for being lewd. If they had seen the wobble on this Christmas pudding, they’d have been even more shocked. The golden age of jelly and the origins of Modern Christmas both come from the same period: the Victorians are responsible for both. Christmas trees were not popularized until 1848, when the Royal Family were pictured standing in front of one. At this date, jelly was considered a fine centrepiece and was often laid along the table for the entirety of the meal. Sadly, jellies no longer take centre stage at Christmas, though they continue to play important supporting rolls. We’re all familiar with cranberry and red-currant jelly. And jams and preserves, close relatives to jellies, come in to their own at this time of year, as fresh fruit is in short supply. The Victorians set lots of small keepsakes within their Christmas puddings, which were used to foretell the future. If you set items in the jelly, you can do the same. If you discover a ring, the next year brings true love; coins bring wealth; and thimbles are the booby prize. If you get this in your pudding, you remain single forever!

To make the Hippocras

Hippocras improves with resting, but if you don’t plan a meal a month in advance it will still be just fine. This recipe give you more than you will need for a Christmas pudding for four, so you can serve the rest at drinks parties around the festive period.

3 bottles red wine

200g/7oz/1cup sugar

1  cinnamon stick

2 tsp ground gigner

1 tsp grated nutmeg

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp crushed cardammon seeds

10 black peppercorns pinchr

All you have to do is add everything to a large stock pot and place heat gently for 1 hour. At this point, it can be strained and stored in sterilized bottles as necessary. Traditionally, the wine would steep in the spices for a week or more before being strained.

To make the Christmas Pudding Jelly

5 leaves of gelatine

500ml/18fl oz/generous 2 cups hippocras

2 tsp rasins

2 tsp candied citrus peel

1 ring

1 small coin

1 thimble

Cut the leaf gelatine into a heatproof bowl with a pair of scissors. Add 100ml/3½fl oz/scant ½ cup of  hippocras to cover the gelatine. Leave the gelatine to soften for 10 minutes. Bring a pan of water to the boil and place the bowl of softened gelatine on top of the pan. Once the gelatine has totally melted, add the rest of the hippocras to the mixture before passing the lot through a sieve (strainer) and back into a bowl. Place the bowl with the cooling jelly over a larger bowl filled with ice. Now stir until the mixture starts to thicken. At this point, you can add the raisins, candied peel and metal! You need to stir the jelly to the point that you can get all your objects evenly distributed but not so much that the jelly is excessively lumpy. It still has to be able to fill all the contours of your mould (or pudding basin). When the jelly is just right, encourage it into a mould and place in the refrigerator to finish setting. All that’s now left is to unmould the jelly and discover who is going to be unlucky in love for the rest of their life. If you’re going all out, garnish the jelly with holy and pour over 1 tablespoon of rum before igniting the jelly. Happy Christmas!

Lastly, your fantasy party – what, where, who and why? At the moment it is probably this fellow: ‘Horses up the Skyscraper’ (1903): The millionaire C. K. Billings held a feast for the Equestrian club of New York at the top of a skyscraper. Billings brought 32 horses up to Louis Sherry’s restaurant in the lift. Guests ate on horseback, ripping into pheasant in feed bags and drinking champagne from rubber casks.

Party on!

Now Available at most good bookshops:

WISHING YOU ALL AN AMAZING CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR!

Secret Gardens and Hideaways of South London

North and South: the great divide of our ‘united kingdom’. Southerners just love to compartmentalize Northerners as uncouth hard nuts who drink too much, whereas Northerners love to pigeonhole Southerners as softies who don’t drink enough. This North & South stereotyping also translates to London where the choice is simple, you’re either one or the other, but definitely not both. It’s an intrinsic and deep-rooted sense of right and wrong, of heaven and hell, where for one, the other simply has nothing to offer, – “not my scene”, “nothing to do”, “dangerous on the streets at night”, “can’t understand their incoherent claptrap”, etc, etc. As you all know, I am a bit of a ‘London whore’, – I’ll go anywhere as long as the money’s right. However, having spent 90% of my life residing above the northern shores of the Thames I can only fairly concede that I am firmly in the North camp. This is not to say that I am quick to dismiss what the South has to offer, on the contrary, on contemplating this last instalment of my Secret Gardens and Hideaways of London, I very much revelled in the idea of getting lost around Borough and Bermondsey. And what else could I expect? For every quaint corner of Clapham, Putney, Dulwich and Greenwich there’s the divergent Tooting, Peckham, Lewisham or Plumstead Common. But maybe these polar vibes are exactly what makes South London so exciting and unique to itself. Up until a while back, South of the river was regarded as outside the city limits. No buildings of great note were built here. The fact that Renzo Piano decided to plant his Shard in the heart of Southwark more recently has indicated that the tide has indeed turned. And so for my last green jaunt of London, here goes the South…

SURREY DOCKS FARM

This working city farm stands intrepidly in the shadows of Canary Wharf and other structural monsters of the Isle of Dog’s Quarterdeck. It gives families the chance to appreciate and observe non-caged animals at close hand. There are educational possibilities concerning not only farming but about food production, animal welfare, cooking and nutrition. The farm’s Café is fronted by Craig Morris, who creates a daily specials board loosely based around the produce of the farm and neighbouring markets. However, don’t be surprised if one of the stray chickens ends up as a luncheon companion. It’s all part of the fun.

[map]

LASSCO – BRUNSWICK HOUSE

This lone Georgian mansion stands forsaken amidst the spaghetti junction mayhem of Vauxhall. The architectural salvage company Lassco shares the premises with the Brunswick House Café, where you can sit amongst the random hodgepodge of splendid antiques while perusing the concise yet rather sumptuous menu. The standards for food and cocktails are very high here, in spite of the decors undisciplined manner. It’s idiosyncratic, unique and cool without trying too hard. Jackson Boxer started the café slowly in 2010 with only £1000 saved in tips. He only recently managed to buy a proper oven for the kitchen, showing that he is less concerned for big corporate ideas and targets and more about doing it with thought and care.

[map]

BONNINGTON SQUARE GARDENS

The Bonnington Square community has evolved from being a bombsite during WWII to a derelict playground and squat during the 70’sand 80’s, to the co-operative housing and gardens that it is now. The ‘Pleasure Garden and Paradise Project’ has brought local residents together to lay claim to the wasteland to stop developers from buying it. The gardens and square sidewalks are lovingly maintained, with shrubs and tropical plants climbing even higher than the houses themselves. The gardens are an homage to the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens that used to reside 100m north from here some 300 years ago. The community spirit really comes alive at the Bonnington Café that is run by a worldwide co-operative of chefs that offers great homely and cheap food. If you’re lucky, there could be an impromptu performance on the piano. This square is so off the radar, but you’ll be glad you made the effort.

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RED CROSS GARDEN

This newly restored community garden has been preserved to its Victorian glory with the help of Heritage Lottery funding. Originally conceived in 1888 on the site of a derelict paper factory it was celebrated many a concert and fete in its heyday.  The park reopened in 2005.

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URBAN PHYSIC GARDEN

It’s essentially a pop-up physic garden that grows and distributes medicinal plants to community spaces all around the neighbourhood. There are lunchtime talks where guests are invited to listen and have lunch at the onsite café, -‘Rambulance’.

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MALTBY/DRUID STREET

The arches of Maltby and Druid Street have become a popular jaunt for the locals of Southwark who have in recent years become bothered by the hoards of tourists at Borough Market. The queues at Monmouth Coffee are so diabolical these days that you need to arrive even before the early birds. Personally, I blame Jamie Oliver zipping around on his Vespa plucking the most superlative selection of vegetables, for the ruination of one of London’s finest secrets, but hey, that’s how it goes these days. One step better is Maltby and Druid Street that serves as the source warehouse for most of Borough market. Not a market in the traditional sense, but more a collective of producers keen to connect directly with their consumer. For this is where Monmouth roast their beans, where St. John bakes its legendary bakery goods (you haven’t lived until you’ve tried one of their custard donuts, seriously), where you can sample the Neal’s Yard entire range of cheeses as well as the freshest oyster stalls and home-smoked salmon. I only hope Jamie doesn’t find out.

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ELTHAM PALACE

Lauded as an art deco masterpiece of modern design, Eltham Palace was designed by Swedish designer Rolf Engstromer for Stephen and Virginia Courtauld in the 1930’s. Highlights include the Great Hall, the dramatic Entrance Hall and the main bedroom, complete with an en-suite gold bathroom. But for me the true majesty remains in the surrounding gardens that have a whimsical and fairy-tale quality that will stay with you for a long time yet.

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See other secret gardens:

Central & East London

North London

West London

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AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW: Steve Wheen’s (aka the pothole gardener)

‘LITTLE BOOK OF LITTLE GARDENS’

Secret Gardens and Hideaways of Central & East London

“A brilliant morning shines on the old city. Its antiquities and ruins are surpassingly beautiful, with a lusty ivy gleaming in the sun, and the rich trees waving in the balmy air. Changes of glorious light from moving boughs, songs of birds, scents from gardens, woods, and fields – or, rather, from the one great garden of the whole cultivated island in its yielding time – penetrate into the Cathedral, subdue its earthy odour, and preach the Resurrection and the Life. The cold stone tombs of centuries ago grow warm; and flecks of brightness dart into the sternest marble corners of the building, fluttering there like wings.”

(The Mystery of Edwin Drood, by Charles Dickens)

St Dunstan-in-the-East

Situated half way between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, this parish church was mostly destroyed by Hitler’s Luftwaffe during the Blitz of WWII and now serves as a public garden. Only the bell tower, designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1695, survives intact. Following the War the Anglican Church decided not to rebuild St Dunstan’s, with the City of London Corporation opening it to the public in 1971. Melancholic and romantic in equal measures it just goes to prove that not everything has to be saved.

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St Mary’s Secret Garden

This horticultural venture in Hackney incorporates four distinct zones – a natural woodland area complete with beehives, a food growing area, a herb garden and a herbaceous border. The garden encourages locals of all ages to use the space as a learning facility and to ultimately strengthen the community spirit as well. (more on st. mary’s secret garden)

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St Alphage Gardens

This garden surrounds a section of the old London Wall on the edge of the Barbican Centre. Originally part of the northern section of the Roman Fort (built in AD 120) it decomposed and was rebuilt during the Saxon era. A great stop when exploring the rest of London Wall. (more on London Wall)

 

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Barber Surgeon’s Hall Gardens

Abutting the Museum of London, this stretch of green contains a medieval tower section of the London Wall. If you look closely you can observe how this tower was even used as a home at one point with evidence of modern bricks, stairs to a second floor and the outline of a fireplace. At the end of the garden you will find the enchanting herb garden of Barber-Surgeon’s Hall. (more on London Wall)

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Postman’s Park

A short walk from St Paul’s Cathedral, this former burial ground has been resurrected as a memorial garden to Heroic Self Sacrifice, in recognition of ordinary people who died saving the lives of others. Each dedication tile pulls the heartstrings, thus transporting the space into a deeply contemplative one. (more on Postman’s Park)

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Camley Street Natural Park

Hard to believe you’re a stones throw away from Kings Cross rail terminal here. Camley Street Natural Park is two acres of idiosyncratic land sitting snugly on the banks of the Regent’s Canal. Arising in 1984 from it’s former life as a coal yard it progressively kick-started the regeneration of the whole area. The space offers peace and quite primarily, but also an education and a way of engaging Londoners with wildlife in how we can help nurture and protect it amongst the bustle of city life.

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The Phoenix Garden

This most unforthcoming haven is located amongst the shadows of St Giles-in-the-Fields parish church behind the junction of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross. (It’s okay…I didn’t even know about it’s exsistence till now either!) A community garden built in 1984 on the site of an old car park, that is now maintained by locals using sustainable methods that try to encourage a safe habitat for as many species as possible with the hardiest of plants.

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Inns of Court

The white-collar associations for barristers in England and Wales comprising of Gray’s Inn, Lincoln’s Inn, Inner & Middle Temple. Situated in close proximity of each other between Temple and Chancery Lane tube stations, each Inn of Court provides a self-contained area for barristers to train and practice, providing professional accommodation, library & dining facilities with an adjoined church or chapel. The gardens within these courts are manicured to perfection, have an air of studious and dignified hush, and more importantly are also open to the public.

 

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Victoria Embankment Gardens

Immediately behind the Savoy, this well hidden green sanctuary serves well as a refuge from the hurly burly of Trafalgar Square and the Strand. It also houses a most grandiose display of memorials.

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Mount Street Gardens

Originally the burial ground of St George’s of Hanover Square until the 1854 Act of Parliament proscribed interment within central London, this space has since been redeveloped from its workhouse roots into an oasis of calm and colour. And should the plushness of Mount Street’s boutiques or the drinks bill at Scott’s, Harry’s Bar, Le Caprice or the Connaught prove too much…then you’ll know where to catch your breath. (or call the bank manager)

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Kensington Palace Orangery Gardens

When Queen Anne succeeded the throne from William of Orange in 1702 she took it upon herself to restore to glory the somewhat dilapidated gardens at Kensington, with an ‘orangery’/conservatory completed in 1704 as a summer supper house and a destination for entertaining, of which it still remains today. The gardens are surrounded by a charming tunnel of vines, and provide respite from the hordes herding themselves to and from Kensington Palace.

 

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