From the Chairman:

I write this Newsletter on the Queen’s 80th birthday. Congratulations to her and thanks for a job well done and still being done. So much of what makes London special derives directly or indirectly from the Crown that those of us who live and work in the capital inevitably mark these royal anniversaries with particular interest. I looked back to see what the London Society was doing 80 years ago. The major event was a dinner addressed by Lord Crawford in which he noted that, among other characteristics, London was one of the best-humoured capitals in the world. I hope that remains so. Of the Society Lord Crawford said that it did not exist for self-congratulation or self-complacency but to combat the new forces, the new dangers that threatened London.

If you want to help and encourage your committee to live up to these commitments of long standing please turn up at our Annual General Meeting which will be on Thursday 22 June at 6.00 for 6.30 pm. The venue is Wilton’s Music Hall. This is the world’s oldest surviving grand music hall, built in 1858 by John Wilton behind his pub, The Prince of Denmark. Now Wilton’s is being rescued from dereliction and there will be an opportunity to look at the building and hear something of its history as well as to review the work of the Society and enjoy a convivial social occasion. Wilton’s lies between The Highway and Cable Street, about 10 minutes walk from Tower Hill Station. I look forward to seeing many of you there. The event is open to all at no cost, but please let us know if you wish to come so that we can cater for the right number. For further information on the venue and detailed directions on how to get there please look at www.wiltons.org.uk.

Our AGM will take place during Architecture Week, first started in 1997 by the Arts Council and the Royal Institute of British Architects and now an annual event. London links this every two years to the London Architecture Biennale and this year there are events spread over ten days from 16 to 25 June. There is a huge programme centred on the Smithfield area. On Saturday 17 June a herd of sheep will be driven from Borough Market in Southwark across the Millennium Bridge to Smithfield to recreate the atmosphere of Bartholomew Fair. Other events include the Prince’s Foundation Extreme Shopping Race and a competition to design new public conveniences for Southwark. On Thursday 22 June SAVE Britain’s Heritage will have its annual bookfair at The Gallery in Cowcross Street (where we have had our recent lectures) and there will be a London Society stall; do call in if you have a spare moment before our AGM. Full information on the biennale is on www.architectureweek.org.uk.

The other Society annual springtime event is our Banister Fletcher Lecture. This will be on Thursday 8 June at Gresham College at Barnard’s Inn in Holborn, close to Chancery Lane Station; again we will have an opportunity to look at one of London’s lesser known historic buildings. Our lecturer will be Elizabeth Williamson, architectural editor of the Victoria County History, and the title of the lecture is From World’s End to Westminster: along the river with the Victoria County History. The VCH was established in 1899 and works all over England on a county by county basis. Old Middlesex was completed some years ago and the VCH’s current research is into the history of inner London. A volume on Chelsea was published in 2004 and work is now in progress on Westminster. The VCH is based in London University where Elizabeth Williamson also holds the post of Reader in Architectural History. Before taking up her present job she was Deputy Editor of Pevsner’s Buildings of England series, revising several county volumes and writing the book on London Docklands in 1996. She is also currently a Commissioner of English Heritage.

This is the time of year also to draw members’ attention to the annual Open Garden Squares Weekend. This will be on 10 and 11 June and offers the opportunity to visit squares not usually open to the public as well as to participate in special events at some of the more accessible open spaces. New attractions this year include free sponsored wine tastings in some squares and a conducted bicycle ride for the energetic who wish to cover more ground than is possible on foot or by public transport. Full details are available from the London Parks and Gardens Trust via a dedicated website at www.opensquares.org. One garden not readily accessible to the public is that at Buckingham Palace, but the Queen’s regular garden parties mean that many people connected with charitable organisations have an opportunity to visit. The London Society is fortunate that we are usually able to send members who have not previously been to represent us there and we congratulate Una Billinghurst, Carol Robertson, and Lawrence and Mary Blackmore who were successful in our ballot for the invitations allocated to us.

One square long open to the public has been Lincoln’s Inn Fields, now cared for by Camden Borough Council under powers granted to the London County Council in 1898. At the end of February the Society was asked by Sir John Soane’s Museum to support objections to a clause in a private bill promoted by Camden Council which would have enabled significant parts of the fields to be enclosed for quite long periods for the purposes of corporate entertainment. The Society petitioned the House of Lords and I found myself making a brief statement to the five members of their Private Bill Committee explaining why the Society had a special regard and affection for Lincoln's Inn Fields. I’m pleased to say that their Lordships recognised the weight of objections and rejected this controversial clause. Nevertheless they accepted that holding events in such places was a method of raising money for maintenance and improvements and they urged the council to establish regular contact with those who lived and worked near the fields to try to mobilise assistance for very constricted council budgets.

80 years ago Lord Crawford said that Londoners are good-humoured. There is an exhibition to celebrate this aspect of metropolitan character currently at the Museum of London: Satirical London - 300 years of irreverent images. The classics such as Hogarth, Gillray and Rowlandson are there, with many others, with items ranging from the politically offensive to the more gentle mockery of the comic aspects of human nature.

With best wishes,
Frank Kelsall

TheLondonSociety

From the Chairman:

The
London
Society