Art and craft in Bloomsbury

On my way from Covent Garden to Cockpit Open Studios on Thursday, I took one of my ‘follow my nose’ detours and turned off Theobald’s Road into Old Gloucester Street, tempted at first by the elegant 'Art Deco' façade of Faraday House but also keen to re-investigate the interesting back streets in this zone, because ever time I find something new to me.

Faraday House, built as an electrical engineering college – I love the chunky geometric letterform here which looks to me to be a 1980's NeoDeco addition (any info welcome) - note also, the FH within the railings. 

I was about to use the path by the playground into Boswell Street but, as I stopped to take a photo of the delightful cornerstone there, I recalled another typographic gem in this vicinity – the lovely metalwork in the alley that leads to the rear of number 27 showing that British Monomarks, a mail handling service, was established in 1925.

Gorgeous Jazz Age letterform

As I turned back and exited the alley I noticed an A-board in the street advertising a gallery and cafe that is open until 2.30pm. Ooh a gallery. I didn’t know there was one there at all.  I assumed this was a new venture. 

It was gone 3pm and I misunderstood the information on the sign, thinking that it was closed, especially as the doorways looks like it leads to offices/flats, so I wandered up and down looking at the outside of the building thinking it odd that I couldn’t see inside due to the high set schoolroom windows. Hmm. To hell with it! I decided to enter anyway and investigate. 

Well, knock me down with a feather – look at this:

What an amazing space! The wooden floor in the main room is wonderfully creaky. I was flabbergasted to discover from the lady at the reception desk that there has been a gallery here since 1979 yet, despite wandering past here many times, I’d never noticed it because it still looks like an ecclesiastic educational facility from the outside and I just assumed that the artworks depicted were by the pupils at an art class. 

The back room gives access to the residential spaces beyond.  I love that asymmetric pitched roof.

Then for a wander through the residential developments beyond – a complete contrast to the well-to-do Georgian era town houses in the area. I love the mix of different architectural styles, the murals and the hexagonal paving stones. 

At the end of Orde Hall Street I encountered a big gap in the streetscape where a large chunk of Great Ormond Street Hospital is being rebuilt. I checked the street view on my phone – the 3rd pic below is a screen grab showing what was there before:

And so to the Cockpit studios in Cockpit Yard off Northington Street where over 150 people beaver about being crafty.  

I chatted with many of the artists and especially enjoyed finding out about mosaics, metalwork, woodcarving, embroidery, weaving, basketry, tailoring and ceramics, making the decision to swerve the many many talented jewellers! 

The studios will be open all weekend. More info here.  

Next weekend, 13-15 June, I’ll be visiting Cockpit’s south London studios in Deptford – hope to see you there. 

Mr Cranston's Waverley Temperance Hotels – a link between Edinburgh and London

I've just returned from a long weekend in Edinburgh. Lots of walking. Lots to see. And, of course, I took lots of photos. 

As I was walking back towards the Old Town along Spring Gardens last Friday I noticed a ghostsign on the side of a building overlooking the railway line, the largest visible words 'WAVERLEY HOTELS'. 

Although I'd spotted lots of old hand-painted signs across the city I'd decided to restrict myself to just looking at them. But this sign was so huge and inviting – I had to try and get closer!

This end wall sits a little over a metre from the viaduct that carries the tracks and with my back pressed against the railway wall I managed to take a couple of oblique upwards shots but my old phone isn't really the best device for taking pics like this. 

I have today tried find a better quality image, because surely someone must have got there first, but I can't find reference of it anywhere which is probably because trees obliterate the sign for most of the year.

I have therefore done my best to enhance and stretch one of my dodgy pics in order to read the content:

CRANSTON'S

WAVERLEY

Temperance

HOTELS

EDINBURGH

Princes Street

AND

Waterloo Place

GLASGOW

WAVERLEY

182(?) Sauchiehall Street

LONDON

WAVERLEY

37 Kings St, Cheapside

(CRA.... ALL.... NO... S)

(Bottom left)

FOR TEA

DINNER 2/-

ROOM 1/-

(Bottom right)

PRIVATE PARLOURS 3/-

SERVICE 1/-

STOCK ROOMS From 2/-

(and two more lines full length across the bottom edge that I can't decipher)

The London Waverley hotel at the corner of Cheapside is no longer there but it reminded me that I'd found this ad in a 1935 Ward Lock London guidebook for three Temperance hotels near the British Museum, one of which was called The Waverley. You'll can still find it today at 130-134 Southampton Row, near Russell Square, though no longer part of the temperance movement, ditto The Ivanhoe and The Kenilworth which sit opposite each other at the junction of Gt Russell St and Gower Street the former since rebranded The Bloomsbury Street Hotel.

But who was Mr Cranston? Well, it turns out we have another link between Edinburgh and London because Abney Park's website makes good mention of Robert Cranston within this entry for Elizabeth Elliott Scott who worked at one his hotels in Lawrence Lane, Cheapside – it includes a marvellous 151 advertisement for Cranston's hotels 

As for the Waverley Hotel in Edinburgh – on Monday, with time spare before my train back to London, I'd stood opposite the building and wondered whether I should go for a look inside to see if there was anything left of its Victorian interior. Having not started this research until today, I had not at that time made the connection to the Temperance movement and simply thought that t was named after Edinburgh's Waverley railway station. I instead sat on a bench in the sunshine and did a bit of people watching. Having googled the hotel's history, I can now see that I would have been disappointed –the hotel's fancy, albeit grubby, façade belies its interior which has been stripped of all historical decoration, making it almost indiscernible from many other hotels of this ilk.

Robert Cranston is buried in Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh.

Almost forgot – the sign is painted on the side of a Victorian social housing block at 10 Brand Place which retains its access from the street via an open staircase, very similar in design to the developments erected by Sidney Waterlow and his IIDC friends in London.  

Theobald's Road ghostsign – a family business?

On the East-facing wall at the corner of King's Mews on the side of No.12 Theobald's Road, there are remnants of a painted advertisement.

It's clear that this wall was once completely slathered in lettering, but thus far, all I have managed to decipher is the word FAMILY (at the extreme left, directly above the horizontal) followed by another word starting with a small cap S. The sign is tough one to photograph. It's not always visible, by which I mean, on most days it's barely noticeable at all. I have tried messing about in Photoshop but no matter which way I blast it, I can't make it any clearer: 

I had an idea that the old postal directories might help and give me a 'ping' moment. But I am still flummoxed. Also, signs on walls do not necessarily advertise the services available in that particular property and I think this might be an example of an adjacent business paying to advertise on this prime site. 

To illustrate my point, I'm here including three excerpts that show this stretch of Theobald's Road in 1899, 1915 and 1939:

Perhaps this was an ad for one the many solicitors along that terrace who specialised in family law? Or the sign could well have advertised the corner shop opposite; the 1915 confectioner or the 1939 Italian refreshment rooms? By the way, look how many businesses are listed with offices at No.12 in 1939.

Another idea is that this advertisement directed the reader to a business at the other end of Kings Mews in Northington Street, previously Little James Street. Again, I'm showing listings for 1899, 1915 and 1939:

As you can see, this back street has been an ever-changing mix of small shops, tradesmen and manufactories. I can get lost in listings like this especially when I see names or businesses that I recognise from elsewhere, and I particularly like how in this 40-year period we see horse-powered transport and coach-building evolve into the era of motor cars. 

If you do manage to decipher anything else on that wall, please do let me know.

Northington Street is still today an interesting little street. The motor garages and public houses are still evident albeit converted for residential use and Cockpit Yard is today Cockpit Studios, a hub for designer makers. Well worth a detour if you are visiting the nearby Charles Dickens Museum. 

The Imperial Hotel Russell Square – James Bond-tastic

There's a 1960's era hotel facing Russell Square that I absolutely Love love love. I've been concerned about it for decades now. It's in that 'too new to be treasured, not old enough to be saved' zone especially as many people jump on the bandwagon about on about awful it is and how it replaced a huge bit of Edwardian OTT. Indeed that 'To The Turkish Baths' sign in the pavement harks back to that long-gone previous building. Oh yawn. People just don't use their eyes! 

Well, I love it. Check out the extended orange letters (Microgramma? Eurostile?) the vertical stripes of gold mosaic interspersed with fine pebbled concrete, the windows that let in extra light due to being angled, how the design continues through the drive-way and into the courtyard at the rear which leads to a fountain in the same design and an enclosed area containing elements saved from the old hotel.

Bloomsbury has a few other hotels like this, but The Imperial is the King of them all. Yet trying to find info online about this 1960's James Bond gem is proving to be an uphill struggle. I can't even find the name of architect. Instead, all I find is moans and groans and violins about what's gone before. 

Last year, June 2022, when I checked in on the building, there was no sign of the statues said to be saved from the old building and arranged around a wall at the rear. However, the galleon weather vane, the clock and bells were still there, and the sign for the closed casino. I took some photos and a uniformed man came out and told me to stop. I'd assumed the hotel was empty but it seems it was being used as temporary homes for Ukranian refugees. That's nice.

Earlier this month, Dec2023, I was ambling past when I noticed that new hoardings were around the hotel at ground level announcing renovations were underway, to be revealed in Spring 2025. Eek! That's a long way off and who knows what blandification could occur here seeing as what happened behind Debenhams when a totally unique car park from this era was completely destroyed. Where is façadism when you really need it?

I raced round the the back of The Imperial and found the main building was fenced off and looked to be empty. The pic above right shows a small grey quadrant at the bottom left. I'm sad to report that was where the fountain was. And here's how it looked in June:

And looking back out to the street, towards Russell Square:

Some lovely, simple but effective, blue tiles are visible just above that traffic cone. They arestill there. I say are in the sense of three weeks ago. I hope they get saved or, at least, repurposed:

I need to find out what's happening at this site. I really hope they are going to make something of this zigzag magnificence rather than just destroy it and replace it with another faceless, uninteresting glass blob. OK, so people might miss the old Gothic pile, but there are plenty of similar hotels of that era still standing, and at least here the old fusty spires were replaced with something innovative and of it's time. And groovy too. There really is nothing comparable I can think of, except perhaps the Seifert towers and the Hilton Hotel.

Do let me know if you have any further info.

Hidden London tours of Kingsway Tram Tunnel

Two weeks ago I finally visited the disused tram tunnel underneath Holborn Kingsway, a subterranean passage that was built for public transport just below street level, linking North and South London via Bloomsbury and The Embankment. 

We met our guides at the top of the one in ten access slope at the junction of Southampton Row and Theobald's Road here. Note the impressive railings and lamp standards that protect the entrance. I'm simply going to show you some of my photos. 

The base of the central lamp directly above the tunnel entrance bears the cartouche LCC, London County Council 

Looking down at the rails. In some places you can see clear to the void below and we were advised not to let anything drop down there, because they wouldn't be able to get it back. Some old posters which I think were real as there are also hints of posters and signage installed more recently being as this tunnel has often been used as filming location.

My two photos show the steps leading up to the exit that was almost opposite Holborn tube station. The archive image is the other exit near Bush House and shows that in order to get to the tram platforms you had to play with the traffic at ground level

Ooh look, more wood blocks! And a lovely pattern of rails, and a modern Fire Exit sign, though I'm sure not quite as attractive as the ones of 100 years ago would have been. 

The large panels within the pic on the left are metal and these would have been used for advertising posters. They are still in amazingly good condition. I like abstract patterns made by colourful wires on sooty walls. 

There might be trams in Croydon, and I am sure that I heard about a decade ago, a proposal for trams to be reintroduced to Oxford Street etc, but, for many reasons, there are no plans to bring them back to this old subway. Today, most of this underground space is used by Camden Council to store redundant street furniture.

Rad blocks, barriers, lamp standards, and all sorts being stored here. 

I spotted some attractively-arranged storage in some of the recesses along the access slope. They look like little art installations. Surely this isn't an accident?! I think the curators probably use those two chairs and were off having a tea break when we were there!  

The southern section under Aldwych is still a functioning underpass, used by small vehicles rather than public transport, and headed northwards only. Access is from Lancaster Place at the northern end of Waterloo Bridge. Many years ago, when I had my little Fiat Panda, I used to love whizzing through there like I was in the Monaco Grand Prix, down the slope, swing to the right, swing to the left, emerging into Kingsway triumphant just before Portugal Street. And then sitting in traffic (of which I was part!). 

Pat and Kat were our guides on the day and their enthusiasm shone through. It's a really good tour, albeit a bit expensive, but you're only going to do it once. Find out lots more by experiencing the tour yourself through London Transport Museum's website here, where you'll also find archive images and more information.

Basement art

A few months ago I went to The London Art Fair in the basement of Victoria House. That's the enormous building that looms over the eastern side of Bloomsbury Square, home to All Star Lanes, The Bloomsbury Ballroom, The Museums Archive and Libraries Council, and a company that sells beauty products and other life-enhancing things
The art show was really good – a diverse range at diverse prices.
I am looking forward to the next show.

I was also fascinated by the structure and layout of the basement area itself, especially the inside/outside spaces with white ceramic brick tiles and some columns which reminded me of Dougal's sugar heap in the Magic Roundabout.

Views from the roof of Senate House

As promised in last Tuesday's post (4th July 2017), here are some pics I took from the roof of Senate House in Bloomsbury.
These views in all directions clearly show how central the site is and how it's said that one evil man thought it would be a good place for his HQ had he won the war.

You will recall that for five days in June we had a heat wave with clear blue skies. And then on the sixth day when I went to this event the sky greyed and rain was forecast. Oh well, can't have everything.

Reformation – an exhibition at Senate House Library

If you are in Bloomsbury between now and 15th December do make a detour into the 1937 Art Deco magnificence of Senate House on Malet street to see this small but marvellous exhibition about The Reformation hosted by Senate House Library.

The two pics at the centre show a marvellous book about the library and a tote bag, both available there. The middle two pics on the bottom row show library rooms and the the one bottom left is of the stairwell (see more below).

The exhibition is not advertised outside but is well signposted once you enter the main building by following the motifs designed to resemble smashed stained glass and cracked stone which lead up to the 4th floor.
I was lucky when I visited for a preview of this exhibition to gain access to the roof of the tallest part and the pic at bottom right (above) shows a view from the top of the stairwell looking down approx 60metres and would have been quite dangerous for the maintenance men changing the lightbulbs etc – a potentially deadly drop. Luckily the stairs are caged on all sides now. I will post some views from the roof next week.
Anyway... where was I?
Yes, the exhibition – it's free!

A wonderful choice of exhibits are on view – fascinating old books, drawings and manuscripts, plus a very good interactive touch screen

Charles Holden's Art Deco Senate House was London's first skyscraper and is worth a visit in itself. This is where George Orwell found his inspiration for Nineteen Eighty-Four and Room 101.
I'd also recommend Yannick's Bloomsbury Art Deco walk which includes Senate House

Jane's Advent Calendar – 22nd December

An old vitreous enamel road sign in Bloomsbury.
See yesterday and Sunday 20th for two more 22s

Jane's Advent Calendar – 11th December

Hand-painted tea rooms sign at 11 Museum Street, St Giles, Bloomsbury, March 2008 

October 2015

A mystery tour in Holborn – Incredible Midtown: The Game‏ – until Friday Dec 11th

I just found this is a fun way to explore what I still prefer to call the Holborn area.

Bloomsbury details

Until this Friday 11th Dec...
Put your detective skills to the test and unravel a series of fiendish clues and perplexing puzzles and immerse yourself in three centuries of London history on the mystery tour Incredible Midtown: The Game‏ devised by live-action experience maestros Secret Studio.  
Teams of friends and strangers will form groups of ten and collaborate to uncover the drama and fascinating past of this ever-intriguing area during a puzzle-based adventure game. Actors bring real and fictional fully-interactive characters to life (or death!). Expects ghosts, pubs, rock stars, and lots of fascinating historical facts.
Takes approx 90 minutes. The Game Tickets are £12 per person. Book here.

I have written about the rebranding of Bloomsbury as Midtown before here and here.

The Foundling Museum

The Foundling Museum sits tucked away on the north side of leafy Brunswick Square Gardens in Bloomsbury.
Hidden within you will find many time-absorbing items of interest. As well as artefacts illustrating the moving stories of orphaned and abandoned children, you'll see artworks by Hogarth, Gainsborough and Reynolds, and a huge collection of manuscripts, recordings and books relating to Handel, including his will and the manuscript of The Messiah.

And, as shown above, in the reception area there is a small gift shop. Take time to check out the truly unique jewellery made from clay pipes (plug! plug!*).
There is also a very good cafe there.

*see other outlets here

Bloomsbury Festival, 22–25 October 2015

A creative explosion of performance, arts, music and heritage events held in the streets, parks, museums, galleries, laboratories and public and private buildings of one of London’s most vibrant cultural quarters. 
Read all about it here.
On Friday 23 October, Store Street will be taken over by artists and pyrotechnic gurus pa-BOOM for a spectacular launch evening*. I notice that the image on the page that talks about this particular event looks to be by the same artists who filled the garden in front of Tate Modern as part of the Thames Festival back 2009 (when it used to be good):

Pics: Jane Amelia Parker 2009

*It seems odd to me that the launch evening is happening on what appears top be the second day, but what do I know...?!  

Accentuate the positive – three more nice things along the No.19 bus route

 Faces in Clerkenwell Road

 George at St George's, Bloomsbury

Screens on Battersea Bridge

Three nice things – a series by Jane's London

An Art Deco Walk in Bloomsbury

Here are some pictures I took whilst enjoying Art Deco In Bloomsbury (Architecture In The Machine Age) walking tour last Saturday afternoon.
Yannick is a delightful, enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide brimming with info. Recommended.

Yeah yeah... I know a lot of these things aren't Art Deco but they are on the route.

Bloomsbury Festival – last day today

Today is the last day of the excellent (8th) Bloomsbury Festival.
Yesterday afternoon I went to the festival in Russell Square (London's largest). There is so much to see and do in the square as the event includes some fabulous information and educational tents where you can learn about mathematics, the body, drawing, dancing, science, ecology, recycling andplenty more. Plus the usual live music performances, craft stalls, a book tent and of course, a beer tent.
You have until 5.30pm to get there... take a brolly just incase. It's not muddy, there are paths plus extra temporary plastic paths joining the tents which are carpeted inside... the organisers seem to have thought of everything, though I hope those carpets get cleaned and reused to keep inline with the ethos of the event.
Here are some of the pics I took yesterday which include a rather interesting 'female' tree. Is it just me who notices these things?