Rotten Row's Tercentenary Bollards and Gas Lamps

A one of The Royal Park's volunteer guides, I will be leading some free tours on Saturday 6th June about The Great Exhibition site in Hyde Park. This is part of the Great Exhibition Road celebrations. Tours start at 2.30pm and 4.15pm, but group size is limited – simply show up on the day and register at our stall outside Imperial College. My colleague Elizabeth will leading the walks at the same times on Sunday 7th. Find out more here. 

On Friday afternoon I went to Hyde Park to check out the route and then headed eastwards towards Knightsbridge along the path between The Serpentine and Rotten Row (Le Route de Roi, / The King's Road).

View across the Great Exhibition to Albert Memorial looking teeny tiny in the distance – join us for one of our regular tours and get up close to the memorial.  

The King's horsey highway is separated from the cyclists and pedestrians by a very long line of bollards interspersed with gas lamps. I went to take a closer at some writing on one of the lamp bases and saw that it had been presented by Cheryl Beth Smith and Jennifer Nicole Smith in 1990. I then noticed that the adjacent bollards had names around the top. When I'd taken the middle snap, above, I hadn't then spotted the names and can now see that it says The Wiltshire (something). Could be a regiment, could be a pub. 

The sponsors' names are arranged in groups/types. The first ones I don't recognise. See above for John Young and Nicholas James. There's also Burchipluma Ind[ustries?], Lady Alexandra (something) and Graham Axford. Thank you all, whoever you are.

Poor Anne has lost her family name so it's hard to ascertain who she was, but I am sure we all know Whitbread the brewer and Hepworth the tailor.

There then follows a series bearing names to do with horses and riding:

The Horsemans Press, The Saddle Association and The Donkey Breeders Association, Blenheim Riding School and Commanche something (forgot to check for other words). Hmm, was this a horsey brand in the 1990s? It got me thinking how marvellous it would be if a group of fearsome be-feathered braves suddenly galloped past!

I did not take a photo of every name as, even by my own standards, that would be bonkers, so on reaching the next gas lamp base (shown above) I walked through to the lake and watched two young girls take turns to make videos of each other posing and pouting and/or looking sweet and carefree whilst wearing what looked like very cheaply-made clothes. One of them was actually wearing a pair of hotel slippers. Are they making memories to show their future grandchildren?! 

Back to the bollards. I decided to look at the next section of bollards and found one with the name Adair on it but the info strip is upside down. This section is opposite the barracks and stables so it's fitting that many of the names reflect this, showing commanders, generals, military services etc. One of the police bands is becoming unattached. 

 

We then move into the world of catering and high street names, some of which no longer exist...

Allied Lyons was formed in the late 1970s when J. Lyons & Co merged with the brewery that owned Ind Coope and Tetley. And then we have Pizzaland – back in the eighties it was either them or PizzaHut who with those horrid thick crusts. I'm much prefer a thin crust and back then I would often enjoy a Pizzaland Platter at lunchtime – half a pizza with salad. 

Chicago Rib Shack is a real blast from the past. Founded in 1982, this was created by Bob Payton, the American hotelier and restaurateur. One of his other eateries used to be at No.7 Hanover Square and whenever I am walking past there I am reminded of The Chicago Pizza Pie Factory (f.1978). I tried eating there a couple of times but found it too cakey. As I've already said, I'm a thin crust girl. 

 

Utility companies, petroleum and oil comes next a well as some we-known names including a series bearing The Post Office (not shown). Marks & Spencer is well-represented – I think I counted six of theirs. There's also quite a few donated by Asda and the The Evening Standard adjacent to one bearing the name of Derek Jameson, tabloid newspaper editor and broadcaster.

At this point, near to the exit for Knightsbridge station, I decided that was enough. It was a hot day so, I went to sit on a bench in the shade for a while to finish my cryptic crossword and do some more people-watching. 

At home, I tried to find more information about this 300 year commemorative effort but, so far, I've only found just one mention which barely skims the subject and The Royal Parks page about Rotten Row doesn't help. 

I've just recalled that I talked about Rotten Row near the Rose Garden on my birthday walk through the parks with friends in August 2023. Yet there's no mention of the sponsor names on this 1990 memorial and none of us at that time noticed the letters around the bollards.  

The 1990 event was a big affair as reported in the press, but I can't properly show you that here because I let my British Newspapers Online account lapse – I can only see these headlines which show that the parade included the largest ever cavalcade of horses, a gala event and carriage rides. I can't get into the info without renewing my subscription, so if you have an account and can supply any further info please do let me know. I'm also keen to see a list of the names involved and to find out how much each bollard/lamp had cost.

I like how this gives us a window into the big cheeses of the 1980s. Next time I am wandering along Rotten Row I will keep my eye open for some bygone brands and there's every chance that I will write another post about this. 

A walk along Kings Road (part 5) leapfrog and Peter Jones

Short and sweet is this section of the walk (see previous posts for parts 1-4)

Walking East, Allister Botwell's "Two Pupils" (2002) can be found in a pedestrian side turn off Kings Road that leads to the new Duke of York Square. The leapfrogging boy and the seated girl are a reference to the Royal Military Asylum which occupied the site 1803–1909 and was opened by the 'Grand Old' Duke of York (the same fella from the nursery rhyme).
And finally we arrive at Peter Jones. Turn into Cadogan Gardens just before the store and admire the gorgeous tiled floor in the entrance there. I suspect all the entrances once had the same or similar designs, only it seems odd for there to have only have ever been this one. The building is not a uniform shape – I love the soft curves, especially at the corner.
That'll do!

A walk along Kings Road (part 4) Santander vs modern

And so the walk continues east.
See my previous posts for earlier sections of this road.

These days Kings Road have devolved into just another bland high street with all the same brands and labels as every other major shopping thoroughfare in the UK. 

But you can still spot hints of its past in the architecture.

Top: almost opposite Wrights Dairy is an ornate grade II listed Victorian building with a bowed window, an iron balcony above the ground floor, Corinthian columns and shell motifs. This used to be the Markham Arms public house. It closed down in the early 1990s and is now a branch of Santander. Compare this ornate structure with the blandness that is Kings Mall a hundred metres further on. Progress? I think not.
Middle: At no.72, in a prime position on the corner of Lincoln Street facing Duke of York Square, is the Grade II listed 19th Century building that used to be The Colville Tavern and Wine Stores. At the top of some of the dividing Doric pilasters there are male and female (royal?) faces. I seem to recall this being home to a clothes shop in the early 80's but I might be mistaken. It's certainly a clothes shop now.
Bottom: The Sidney Smith Buildings run from No.50 down to No. 34 on the corner of Cadogan Gardens. But who was Sidney Smith?!  Look up to see the lovely Victorian moulded date and street name sign signs at the very top.  

Lots more info about the changing face of the Kings Road can be found here.

And here (I particularly like this one)

And this one too.

A walk along Kings Road (part 3) – A convoluted statue and Wright's Dairy

This continues on from here

Has anyone ever really taken a good look at that bizarre bit of street sculpture outside French Connection on the corner of Markham Square in Kings Road? I looked for an info plaque when I was there but couldn't find anything. 

This is what I see: A woman sitting back on one foot with one knee raised, with some kind of fish-shaped thing on her lap and a strange inverted L-shaped instrument over her right shoulder. Hmmm... let's think... is she playing a cello or some kind of musical instrument? 

I am stumped.  

I tried for 40 minutes to find some information about it, searching online using words such as sculpture, street art, public, French Connection, Kings Road, bronze, woman, kneeling, Markham Square, etc., and I have come up with nothing. If I knew the artist it might help. Other people are also intrigued.
UPDATE: I asked for ideas and thanks to some feedback in the comments section below I now know it to be 'Bronze man and Eagle' by Richard Bently Claughton, commissioned by Barclays Bank and unveiled in April 1966.

Diagonally opposite is the old Wright's Dairy building with its magnificent terracotta cow's head on the angled third floor corner. Archive pics* show that the Wrights were "cow keepers and dairy farmers" and "Acknowledged to be the Finest Dairy in the District". Nothing like a bit of self promo eh; they may well have been the only dairy in the area!

Old Church Street, Google Streetview, 20th July 2015.
Note also the painted tiles with rural depictions

But I think these pics show their extensive premises further west, in what is now Old Church Street where a subsequent owner used to keep 50 cows. The same cow's head can be seen on the front of the building (see pic right) and there is another one on the front of another building that faces the end of the alley where the red car is parked.
So, back to the building at the Sloane Street end of Kings Road shown in the pics above... having just spent the a further fruitless 25 minutes on this second research mission, I am again stumped. Without access to archive business listings for the street, and/or until someone tells me otherwise, I am going to make an educated guess and say that it was a shop selling the milk and dairy products that were produced at Wright's farm a mile way to the west in [Old] Church Street.
What do you think?
All feedback welcome.

*Credt archive pics: Exciting Postcards 

A walk along Kings Road (part 2) – The Chelsea Potter, RSoles and The Pheasantry/PizzaExp

This continues from my post on July 24th

An Art Nouveau-esque typeface on the optician's sign uses a cut of Arnold Böcklin by Otto Weisert harking back to the 1960s when this kind of retro look was very 'in'. Think Biba.
Next, The Chelsea Potter's ornate railings and pub sign.
On the next row, hints of the road's distant history can be glimpsed when looking at the lovely old house, home to RSoles boots and shoe shop. Note the  quirky cyclist art for sale above the ground floor. Possibly sold by the time you read this as I took these pics in March.
And then we have the splendid Grade II listed Georgian frontage of The Pheasantry, so called because in and around 1865 George Samuel was breeding pheasants, cattle and foxes at this site. Three plaques on the building show that the site was occupied by Amédée Joubert & Sons (1880-1914) who seemed to be masters of a multitude of trades including upholstery, cabinet making, wood carving and gilding. They also manufactured bedding and furniture and imported and restored tapestries and carpets. It would have been during this period that the triumphural entrance, the courtyard and architectural mouldings and details were added. AJ&S produced and sold not only full size items but miniatures for dolls' houses.
After 1914 the building became the home of a dance studio/ ballet academy, and was used as studio space by artists. In the mid 1930s the basement was turned into The Pheasantry Club and for decades was a popular haunt of artists, actors, writers and the like. It closed in 1966; the basement became a nightclub and the upper floors were converted into apartments.
It has been a branch of Pizza Express for as long as I can recall (date to be checked).
I can't find any info as to who the two people depicted in the roundel on the main gate are (shown in the pics bottom right). Possibly it's Monsieur Joubert and his wife? ... any ideas?