Month: January 2016

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The real Samuel Pepys

Pepys image for ATOC - web

There is only one way to arrive at Greenwich and that is by boat. (In fact if you’re coming from the centre of town this is the quickest way to travel) but the main reason for travelling by river is that it allows you to pretend you are in fact royalty visiting your Palaces in Greenwich.

My journey to Greenwich today was unfortunately not as a queen visiting her riverside palace but as an intrepid London explorer ticking off another gallery. I went to see the current Samuel Pepys exhibition at the National Maritime Museum.

I’m currently writing a tour of The City of London for kids and Samuel Pepys has featured strongly in my research as he’s diaries paint him as such a colourful character. He will obviously need to be slightly censored for younger ears.

The exhibition was excellent. There seems to be a fashion currently to curate exhibitions in themes (colours, cities, etc) which I often find quite confusing. Luckily, this exhibition was curated by good old fashioned chronology spanning from the death of Charles I in 1649 to Pepys death in 1701.

There were a huge amount of varied items used to tell the story. I saw the gloves Charles I wore to his execution (lent by the Archbishop of Canterbury) a court dress with a gorgeous lace scarf (lent by the Montegu family), the original transcript of Pepys diary (lent by Cambridge university).

The items of historical value were all enclosed, so no need to constantly try to stop small sticky fingers touching things. That’s not to say there was nothing to play with, there were interactive maps of Pepys London, and an amazing map showing how the fire cut through the city in 1666. The most interesting and gruesome exhibit was a timeline of plague deaths by month through 1664 & 5. The level of those dying culminating in September with over 20 thousand depths. For the first time I could begin to visualise the massive volume of Londoners who were simply wiped out by plague.

I visited at a quiet time but the interactive elements of the exhibition made the whole experience very noisy and evocative of London during Pepys time.

There were a few surprising facts about the man (which I’m sure most people already knew). (1) He only wrote the diary for 9 years – the way it was sold to me a school was a lifelong magnum opus. (2) Pepys lived much longer then his wife, poor long suffering Elizabeth died when she was only 29 years and Samuel went on to out live her for 34 years, never remarrying (maybe it really was love) (3) He was genuinely famous in his lifetime, I’d thought that he was posthumously well known because of his diaries but it turns out he was THE restoration man about town.

The exhibition is on until the end of March and I’d recommend a trip. Small people would also enjoy it and I’m sure they’d approve of arriving by boat.

If you want to listen to the curators check out this Londonist Podcast.

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Shoes, Pleasure and Pain

Credit : V&A
Credit : V&A

There is no question that the V&A is stunning. The Cromwell Rd facade could rival a Byzantine church for stature and the courtyard is elegant but welcoming and feels comfortable for young and old. I’ve conduced substantial research and believe the cafe to be the most beautiful place to drink coffee in any museum.

So, I was very excited to be finally visiting the Shoes Pleasure and Pain exhibition which has been on my list since it opened in June.

I was disappointed.

The exhibition it’s self was great. So, let’s start with the pleasure. The content was very interesting and well curated. Shoes from all eras (ancient Egypt to 21st Century) were displayed in themes alongside each other. Heels, wedges and flats all appeared frequently, showing that as humans we are united by footwear with little changing through time or across cultures.

Now, the pain. I visited at a quiet time on a cold Thursday January morning. The museum was not busy and this exhibition is at the end of it’s run. However, I was jostled as I moved through and had to constantly juggle my viewing. I felt as though I was constantly in someone’s way and became frustrated by other visitors. I remembered the old days when i’d use the buggy to cleverly create space. It was a real relief to get the second part of the exhibition, which was upstairs in a more spacious part of the gallery.

The space was very hot. As I said it was very cold the day we visited but I’d almost broken out into a small sweat by the time we left the exhibition. I just can’t imagine how hot is must have been when the space was full at the height of summer.

Ultimately, the space was too small for this exhibition. The way the shoes were displayed made them impossible to view by more than one visitor at a time and the volume of visitors simply created the effect of a sauna. Next time I’m taking a buggy (without baby obviously) and a fan. 

 

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A new appreciation for TfL

 

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So it’s back to work after two weeks of family and gluttony.

I spent much of the Christmas period away from London, visiting family in various parts of the county. The iPad seat holder was a revelation but I think even the kids became bored by the third showing of Frozen in two days.

Never ending sky in East Yorks.
Never ending sky in East Yorks.

We started our journey going up north to the extreme flatlands of East Yorkshire. This is a place where the smallest of bumps is called a hill and there seems to be an almost uninterrupted stunning view of the sky.

From there we journeyed down to the Home Counties staying in a chocolate box Buckinghamshire village where you expect Miss Marple to appear at any moment.

We had a couple of trips to the park and the local market town but our contact with the outside world was limited as most places were closed.

What struck me was how isolated I’d be if I lived in either place. I don’t drive and so was totally reliant on others for transport for four days. Both villages we stayed in are quite well served by buses (two an hour) but this service all but shuts down over the festive period.

For the first time in my life I felt a real appreciation for London Transport. I can jump on a bus, train or tube and travel to any part of the capital and feel a real sense of freedom. I also find that it’s easier to transport kids on public transport as the boredom factor can be alleviated, sometimes just by looking at the people your travelling with.

I know that travelling through this city can be stressful and a right pain in the arse but it’s so much better that being completely reliant on others or totally stuck in the same place with little kids for four days. So, I’ve resolved to stop complaining about the tube and embrace my commute. I’ll use it as a learning opportunity not just reading and listening to music but looking at the people around me. Who knows maybe I’ll even strike up a conversation?