Year: 2020

St Andrew’s Church + Goodwin Sands Deal Kent

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date December 29, 2020
6 Comments on St Andrew’s Church + Goodwin Sands Deal Kent

The Memory of the Just is Blessed

Deal on the east coast of Kent is a microcosm of the best of Britishness with a heavy dose of end-of-the-line quirkiness. The winding lanes of the old smuggling quarter are awash with quaint cottages, some called after other places in Britain like Fleet, Mendham, Rutland and Stockport. The cutely named Ticklebelly Alley meanders from the railway station to a quiet Victorian residential enclave adjacent to the old smuggling quarter. Its streets are patriotically named after the Patron Saints of the British Isles: St Andrew’s, St David’s, St George’s and St Patrick’s Road. To the north of St Andrew’s Road at the very top of the area (apropos considering the map of the British Isles) lies a church named after the Patron Saint of Scotland.

The Early English style St Andrew’s Anglo Catholic Church was built in 1850 to the design of Ambrose Poynter on the 0.4 hectare site of a workhouse. Then 15 years later, the chancel was extended and vestries were added in Earlyish English style. Chapels were added in the closing decade of the 19th century. Use of Kentish ragstone with Caen stone dressings throughout suggest a cohesive timelessness. Eight salvaged medieval gargoyles protrude from the sturdy buttressed steeple. Domestic looking dormers in the tiled roof light the aisles. Ambrose Poynter was a pupil of John Nash between 1814 and 1818.

On the Second Sunday Before Lent 2018 Father Paul Blanch, the interim Priest in Charge, preached at St Andrew’s, “Our reasons as to why we choose to be here are not necessarily wrong,” referring to a recently circulated survey asking parishioners to state their reasons for churchgoing. “No, they are important to each of us in different ways. But what is important to us all is that the Church is the sacramental presence of Jesus Christ and when we come together, when we gather, we make Church. We make Jesus present in a special way. We become His body which exists for us and we continue to make Him present for those outside of the Church, as much as for ourselves. As the late Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple said it is the only society that exists for those outside it and our priority as the Church must be the needs of the most vulnerable of God’s world.”

St Andrew’s Church lies just 380 metres inland as the dove would fly from the English Channel coast (and a mere 42 kilometres dove flying from Calais) with its mysterious disappearing and reappearing Goodwin Sands. Anyone for cricket? Yes but only in summer and not just because cricket is a seasonal sport. These 16 kilometre long sandbanks, 10 kilometres out from the coast, were only associated with shipwrecks until some sporting locals started playing cricket matches in the high summers of the 1820s during low tide. The tradition continues two centuries later. Even in the rolling sea billows of midwinter, glimpses can be seen from Deal of Goodwin Sands.

A horsebox is parked along Beach Street between The Bohemian bar and the entrance to Deal Pier. A sign on a kitchen chair on the pavement next to the horsebox reads: “Following on from my previous horsebox exhibition The Rolling Roving Insect Show, this exhibition, my work is all one. My latest work ‘Something About Time’ can be seen within (it has been designed to be viewed singularly / close companions) a single seat is offered and whilst viewing I ask (for it is not mandatory) the observer to read and say out aloud to themselves, ‘Time, is as is, as I am here now.’” Inside the horsebox, an enigmatic hanging ball of silver cord and exquisitely cast silver insects are reflected in a seemingly bottomless well which is really a beer keg filled with water. “My show is all about time,” reasserts artist Jeremy P. Deal of the centuries.

Architecture Luxury People Restaurants

The Hope + Smiths of Smithfield London

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date December 11, 2020
4 Comments on The Hope + Smiths of Smithfield London

Adeste Fideles

People. People like us. People like us like people like us like us. Like.

Tags adeste fideles, gertrude stein paris france, hope pub, lavenders blue, smiths smithfield london, stuart blakley

Architects Architecture Country Houses Design Developers Town Houses

Lee Manor House + Garden Lewisham London

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date December 9, 2020
2 Comments on Lee Manor House + Garden Lewisham London

Banking on Success

Vitruvius’ desirable virtues of “firmness, commodity and delight” spring to mind. “There are so many moments of true quality within and outside this villa,” believes heritage architect John O’Connell. “An inspection of the exterior would suggest that there were once small wings. This is such a clever and compact plan. The vaulted lobby on the first floor is so accomplished and structurally brave. The first floor central room with its closets has a bed alcove.” Lee Manor House and its remaining three hectares of grounds form one of the thrills of southeast London. The house has been repurposed as a crèche, a library and a doctors’ surgery with reception rooms for hire. The garden is open to the public.

In the late 20th century a glass lift was inserted in the middle of the staircase hall. “I used to be disturbed when I saw alterations like this super lift, but now am more understanding,” remarks John. “But one is always encouraged to place the lift on the exterior of an historic building. The best example I know, apart from Montalto in County Down, is Palazzo Spinola di Pellicceria in Genoa. An astounding museum, and a must. Indeed Genoa is a city of palaces and many are accessible. This city is the Liverpool of Italy: rough in parts!” Another successful example is the Office of Public Works’ elegant full height glass and steel shaft abutting the rear of the Irish Architectural Archive on Merrion Square, Dublin.

Architectural historian Dr Roderick O’Donnell summarises, “Stylistically the Manor House is quite conservative – Taylorian rather than Chambersian.” Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner’s entry in their Buildings of England South London, 1983, reads: “The Manor House (Lee Public Library), probably built for Thomas Lucas in 1771 to 1772, by Richard Jupp, is an elegant five by three bay structure of brick on a rusticated stone basement, and with a stone entablature. Projecting taller three bay centre. Four column one storey porch, now glazed; a full height bow in the centre of the garden side. Inside, the original staircase was removed circa 1932, but the large staircase hall still has a screen of columns to the left, and on the landing above a smaller screen carrying groin vaults. Medallions with putti. Pretty plasterwork in other rooms, especially a ceiling of Adamish design in the ground floor room with the bow window.”

At the end of the 18th century the house and estate were sold to Francis Baring, director of the East India Company and founder of Baring’s Bank. The better known architect Sir Robert Taylor designed villas for several of the East India Company directors. “Lee Manor House is extremely well handled,” John remarks, “and exhibits a lovely, almost James Gandon, flow. Moving around, it has at least three lovely elevations. The brickwork is very accomplished but the basement rustication has been crudely handled of late. The original high execution elsewhere displays the architect’s ability to bring a design forward to fruition.”

Marcus Binney provides this summary in Sir Robert Taylor From Rococo to Neoclassicism, 1984, “Taylor’s major contribution to English architecture is his ingenious and original development of the Palladian villa. The first generation of Palladian villas in Britain – Chiswick, Mereworth and Stourhead are three leading examples – had all been based purposely very closely on Palladio’s designs. They were square or rectangular in plan with pedimented porticoes, and a one-three-one arrangement of windows on the principal elevations. Taylor broke with this format. First of all his villas (like his townhouses) were astylar: classical in proportion but without an order; that is, without columns or pilasters and with a simple cornice instead of a full entablature.” Lee Manor House does have Taylorian features such as the semi elliptical full height bay on the garden front but is missing others such as his trademark Venetian window. In that sense, Richard Jupp is even more conservative than Sir Robert Taylor.

Lee Manor House conforms to the House of Raphael formula: a basement carrying a piano nobile with a lower floor of bedrooms under the parapet. “This is very interesting as it sits within the gentleman’s villa format. Pray how did you find it?” enquires John. “Lee Manor House is a very fine villa. On the ground floor, I would expect the large apse or exedra to the saloon contains or contained a fireplace. It reminds me of the first floor back room of Taylor’s 4 Grafton Street in Mayfair. This large apse is of added interest, as it would be taken up by Robert Adam in the arresting hall at Osterley Park, Isleworth, and again by our hero James Wyatt for his first and most daring scheme at Abbey Leix, County Laois, and again at Portman House on Mayfair’s Portman Square. The latter is now a smart club.”

John continues, “Another villa that comes to mind is Asgill House, in Richmond, circa 1770, which is both fine and intact. This villa was restored with the advice of Donald Insall and can be seen from the railway line. One can even go back to Marble Hill House in Twickenham, and on to James Gibbs at the exquisite Petersham Lodge – a knockout villa – which is now the clubhouse for Richmond Park Golf Course. Petersham Lodge is really worth a visit too; even the ‘landscape’ and bevelled edged mirrors over the fireplace are still in position!”

“Finally, there is the equally arresting Parkstead House designed for the 2nd Earl of Bessborough by Sir William Chambers with its very heroic portico. Lord Bessborough was an Anglo Irish peer. This can be visited. Indeed there is a good publication by English Heritage on this very subject. The original wings have vanished but the garden front and saloon are intact. There is mention of the remains of a garden temple in the grounds.” Joan Alcock writes in Sir William Chambers and the Building of Parkstead House Roehampton, 1980, “The design of Parkstead is based on the Palladian villa.” John O’Connell postscripts, “Richard Jupp was chief architect to the East India Company. His successor was Henry Holland. Lee Manor House fits into a form that one can see emerge in the 1770s.”

Tags 2nd earl of bessborough, 4 grafton street, abbey leix, architect john oconnell, architectural historian dr roderick odonnell, asgill house, bridget cherry nikolaus pevsner buildings of england south london, chiswick, donald insall, east india company, francis baring, henry holland, house of raphael, irish architectural archive merrion square dublin, is palazzo spinola di pellicceria genoa, james gandon, james gibbs, james wyatt, joan alcock, lavenders blue, lee manor house lewisham london, marble hill house, marcus binney, mereworth, montalto county down, osterley park, parkstead house, petersham lodge, portman house, richard jupp, richmond park golf course, robert adam, sir william chambers, stourhead sir robert taylor, stuart blakley, thomas lucas

Architecture People Town Houses

Origin Gallery Dublin + Noelle Campbell-Sharp

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date December 5, 2020
10 Comments on Origin Gallery Dublin + Noelle Campbell-Sharp

Change of Art

Quite simply there’s nothing as mad as a well spent afternoon in Dublin before or during or after The Races. Sometimes one brings the madness; the party will always follow. Several of her famous original racy set including a former Taoiseach and his sweetie lover have long since kicked their proverbial buckets but Noelle Campbell-Sharp is well and truly alive and very much kicking ass. The Charlie Haughey era is now banked, vaulted and sealed history. Today, Noelle captures the essential present face of a hugely successful Dublin art gallery and wildly far flung County Kerry artists’ retreat. Her face is exquisitely framed by sharp green glasses and fiery red hair complete with a yellow flame curl. Aged 77 now, she would still pass for Vivienne Westwood’s hotter more fun sister. Not many people, back in the day blonde, could outshine Jerry Hall. “I remember that was quite a party!” She’s getting ready for the latest private view in her relocated Origin Gallery. “The key is attracting some of the brightest artists in the world.” Like its forerunner the gallery is behind a Georgian façade in the Irish capital. That’s where the similarity ends. Abruptly. Her new gallery is… drummer boy roll for understatement… calmer. Wedgwood blue ceiling, deep navy carpets, virginal white walls.

As for the original original Origin… oh yes, time to talk about Noelle’s very steamy love affair with Napoleon. Perched above the piano nobile gallery, her just below the nursery floor eaves library was once a full blown homage to the homme. His heraldic birds and heroic bees were sewn into the carpet and painted onto the shutters while spreadeagled eagles boldly crouched on the bookcase columns, spreading their wings ever wider in an ever increasing ever encroaching clockwise span swooping over easy prey… “pray tell us more!”. A double barrelled stripy fabric billowed across the ceiling like the last sails of the French General’s ship. Among the miscellanea on display was an original drawing of the Imperial Arms of France. “What any French museum would give to get their hands on all this!” envied Karl Lagerfeld when he clapped eyes on her loot. A jib door in the trompe l’oeil wall slid through to a very sweet en suite decorated with the naughtiest mural in Dublin if not Ireland. It was enough to make sailors blush, although seemingly not the Napoleonic soldiers engaged in lots of action.

“I’ve totally fallen out with Napoleon. When I was a child I discovered tea chests in an attic brimming with his letters, jewels and toy soldiers. They sparked off my obsession. Actually I still sleep in an attic! I like to surround myself with antiquarian books. I can’t pass them by. William Butler Yeats, Empire Period, Irish folklore … alright maybe I am still just a bit in love…” Noelle is soldiering on with her autobiography. Five chapters completed so far. She counts Karl, Yves Saint Laurent and David Bailey among the many entries in her not so little black book; Robert Maxwell definitely doesn’t appear: he owed her £10 million before he toppled over portside; and with rock band manager, press baroness, socialite, conservationist, arts patron and gallerist filling her résumé, presumably there’s enough material for at least five more chapters?

Noelle’s forever dashing. An ostrich feathered fully plumed hat and sapphire laden museum quality choker necklace was once her fashion du jour. Tomorrow she’s off to Cill Rialaig, the abandoned rural village she transformed into an artists’ retreat with the help of celebrated architect Alfred Cochrane. “It’s on the last road in Ireland. New York is caviar compared to escaping to Kerry!” That doesn’t stop artists coming from far and wide – Argentina, Italy, Russia and so on. “There’s a selection process, but really it’s down to whoever spins the best yarn.” The Emerald Isle’s most recognisable Rolls pulls up on the street outside Origin Gallery. Ms Campbell-Sharp has left the building. Somewhere, across the city, a mad party is about to begin before or during or after The Races.

Tags alfred cochrane architect, charlie haughey, cill rialaig, david bailey, jerry hall, karl lagerfeld, lavenders blue, napolean, noelle campbell sharp, origin gallery dublin, robert maxwell, terry keane, vivienne westwood, yves saint laurent

Architects Architecture Art Design People Town Houses

The Royal Foundation of St Katharine Limehouse London + Langley House Trust Carol Service

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date December 1, 2020
18 Comments on The Royal Foundation of St Katharine Limehouse London + Langley House Trust Carol Service

Surprised by Joy

“The Royal Foundation of St Katharine is a Christian organisation that was established in 1147,” introduces Chaplain Carol Rider. “The original community was next to the Tower of London in St Katharine’s Docks before setting up in Regent’s Park. We’ve been in the East End since the late 18th century. St Katharine’s doesn’t come under the Anglican Diocese: it became a Royal Peculiar when Queen Eleanor recognised it in the 13th century. Since World War II The Queen has been our patron. In fact, all our Patrons have been female royals. The Duchess of Cornwall recently visited us too.” Photos of Camilla add sparkle to the bookshelves of the Lounge.

At the heart of the current St Katharine’s on Butcher Row, Limehouse, rooted in the deep urban fabric is the Master’s House, a handsome tallish squarish brownish brick piece of Georgian London attributed to Thomas Leverton. Note ‘attribution’ only for much of Georgian London was formed not by great architects but by developers. The most extraordinary aspect of the Master’s House is the collection of murals adorning the two principal reception rooms overlooking the garden. Aha! The Queen Matilda Room and the Chapter Room. Such surprise, such joy! A rare explosion of period trompe l’oeil.

Charles Saumarez Smith believes that St Katharine’s has a “very atmospheric post war chapel”. The former Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts London observes, “The chapel was designed by Roderick Enthoven in 1953. He obviously had a sensitivity to historic buildings because he was able to incorporate some of the surviving medieval fittings which came from the Foundation’s original home, including an Italian reredos.” Charles also notes that the carved lettering in the chapel – check out the Welsh slate altar – is by Ralph Beyer, a German sculptor who was an apprentice of Eric Gill.

The Foundation of St Katharine is a joyous blend of ages, from Festival of Britain architecture to medieval statuary. The eclectic yet harmonious group of buildings housing the Foundation encloses a peaceful garden and stylish croquet lawn. The ultimate urban oasis. Cliché perhaps, reality, yes. Above and beyond the entrance gates to St Katharine’s the Docklands Light Rail whizzes by – an ever urgent flash of red and blue. Below, in full view of the travelling tourists and commuters and locals are the Yurt Café and neighbouring converted shipping container studios. Deconstructivism meets urban renewal meets spare space meets hipsterism meets great coffee in a meaningful meanwhile use.

“The Foundation is committed to worship, service and hospitality,” explains Carol. “Some people just book a room and create their own retreat. Guests might join us for our twice daily worship or use the stillness of the chapel at other times of the day. They might sit in the garden in the sun or under the shade of our huge plane tree. They can use our small library with its comfy chairs. Or they might spend time here at St Katharine’s but also venture out to explore London, to visit some of its wonderful architecture, art galleries and theatres.”

At the turn of the 21st century, the Foundation was revitalised. The Victor Churchill Building by Matthew Lloyd Architects added seven bedrooms next to the chapel. Founding Partner Matthew Lloyd states, “This new building sensitively relates to the chapel itself and also to the adjoining 1950s extension on its west side, both in height and materiality.” Jonathan Dinnewell of Smallwood Architects reordered the chapel, increasing natural light into its interior. Following renovations and extensions by PRP Architects, there are now nine meeting rooms from the intimate Queen Philippa Room (maximum two guests) to the Queen Elizabeth Conference Room (maximum 70 guests).

Concerts, residential retreats, supper clubs and reflection days led by the likes of Muthuraj Swamy (author of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s 2019 Lent Book Reconciliation) and Pádraig Ó Tuama (poet, theologian and former leader of the Corrymeela Community, Ireland’s oldest peace and reconciliation organisation) fill the calendar of St Katharine’s. Today, Langley House Trust is recording a Christmas carol service in the chapel.

Dee Spurdle, Head of Fundraising and Communication, relates, “Langley House Trust is a Christian charity which provides accommodation based support to people at risk of offending or who have committed offences.” Chief Executive Tracy Wild, who is speaking at the carol service, adds, “Our vision is of a crime free society where no one is unfairly disadvantaged or excluded because of their past. We’ve been going for 62 years now.” As for the carol service, required to be online this year due to a pandemic: “We’ve gone from 15 carol services to one online. But when there is a blocked road ahead, you need to turn left or right. We are hoping that more people will be able to watch the carol service online. We want to increase awareness of our charity and also encourage churches to watch it.”

The Reverend Andy Rider, National Chaplain of Langley House Trust, reveals, “Langley’s Resident Worship Leader Luke Hamlyn and singer Hannah Ravenor, who also works for Langley as well as being Marketing and Engagement Manager at the charity Clean Sheet, will lead the band in ‘Joy To The World’. They are joined by the band including the violinist from Christ Church Spitalfields, Amy Mulholland. This carol will be a feature of the service amongst lots of others.” As for his message, “I am speaking on Colossians 1 – a very early hymn. Maybe we should call it the first ever Christmas carol!” Another recognised New Testament hymn which would have been sung in Greek is 1 Timothy 3:16, “He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.”

“Contemplation occurs naturally when we behold something of beauty. In the presence of beauty, understanding becomes suspended and analysis futile. Contemplative prayer is the act of beholding Jesus and becoming ‘lost in wonder, love and praise’.” So scribes Andy in his 2009 book Three Holy Habits. The Royal Foundation of St Katharine is the ultimate sanctuary of contemplation in London. There are no equals. And so a golden leaf strewn autumnal afternoon of how it was and how it is and how it will be can sometimes last forever. “You are never more than a moment away from God,” muses Reverend Rider. That moment is now. Enjoy the carol service.

The Streaming Premier of Langley House Trust National Carol Service 2020 is on Sunday 13 December at 4pm and 8pm https://www.langleyhousetrust.org

Architects Architecture Country Houses Design Luxury People Restaurants

Bibendum Oyster Bar + Restaurant South Kensington London

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date November 18, 2020
10 Comments on Bibendum Oyster Bar + Restaurant South Kensington London

Le Confinement Est Fini

Go on, flick through the pages of 1990s House and Garden magazines and eventually you’ll come across a double page spread of the last and late Knight of Glin; his wife Madam FitzGerald, Min Hogg’s second best friend; and their eldest daughter Catherine, the garden designer, all tucking into fruits de mer at Bibendum Oyster Bar. Desmond has his starched linen napkin tucked right into his shirt collar. Standards, and all that. Did they gasp at the carpaccio of Scottish scallop and smoked pike roe? Or what about the black tiger prawns? Even more aptly, did they devour Irish oysters washed down with some dry and aromatic Viognier? “Our shells clacked on the plates,” wrote Seamus Heaney in his poem Oysters, “They lay on their bed of ice.”

All that was then and all this is now. Brill on the bone and crab quiche and other brilliant things are served up… and suddenly… with a showering of ado and a flowering of aplomb the Honourable Ola de la Fontaine rocks up totally on form sporting an emblazoned sports jacket. How terribly happening. Blazing blazers are a thing at Bibendum. For a moment, there’s some momentous momentary recall of a nebulous first floor restaurant lunch in May 2003 just when this place was ablaze with blazers. Ola’s now in top gear as always, revving it up, formulating plans and solving equations. She might resemble Charlotte Rampling’s younger much better looking sister, but Ola is more than a mere actress: she’s a qualified connoisseur of fabulousness with a diploma in decadence, a bachelor in brilliance and a masters in magnificence. And she just so happens to be South Ken’s top perfumier.

What Ola wants Ola gets: Gillardeau oysters. “Draycott Avenue and all around here has such a local vibe,” she shares. “Everybody knows everyone. Thank you for asking.” It helps of course that her local is double Michelin starred. Lunch is dreamy – “Laying down a perfect memory,” to quote Seamus Heaney again in his poem Oysters. Sometimes it just feels like Bibendum has been the fulcrum, the axis, the crucible of South Kensington life for at least the last two decades. Michelin building turned Michelin restaurant. Now that’s not so much a lost story arc as a full 360 degree circle. It’s all about Head Chef Claude Bosi’s 2020 French cuisine living up to building designer François Espinasse’s 1905 French architecture. “Did you know,” seeks Ola, “that the 18th century diarist Samuel Pepys fed his cat Hodge with oysters?”

“Terence Conran who currently owns Bibendum took full control of the interiors,” completes Ola. “The Michelin man stained glass windows upstairs inspired the design of the snug chairs, the wall lights, the butter dishes, the salt and pepper pots, so much!” No fewer than 34 vibrant external tile panels depict car racing at its most glamourous early 20th century prime. This is Art Nouveau meets Art Deco meets art on a plate meets art on a date. But did Desmond FitzGerald all those years ago, tucking into his seafood, realise he was sitting in a former tyre fitting bay? Who knows. All that was then and all that will be is yet to come. Now for the new normalcy: an alfresco vernissage, the unveiling of the Koestler Awards 2020 for arts in criminal justice settings, is on standby at Southbank. Vroom vroom, time to get that car and burn some rubber!

Tags bibendum oyster bar restaurant south kensington london, catherine fitzgerald garden designer, charlotte rampling, chef claude bosi, desmond fitzgerald knight of glin, draycott avenue, koest, koestler awards, lavenders blue, michelin building, min hogg, ola de la fontaine, olda madam fitzgerald, samuel pepys, seamus heaney, stuart blakley, terence conran

Architecture Art Design Hotels People Restaurants Town Houses

Littlehampton West Sussex + Two

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date November 12, 2020
11 Comments on Littlehampton West Sussex + Two

The Roman Riviera

Photography is playing with light. Writing is playing with words. High 10! Here goes. Littlehampton as you’ve never seen or read about it before. England’s most haunted town. Riddled! Yes, it’s completely overrun with ghosts and ghouls and spooks and spirits and things that go bump in the night! And that’s not just reports from the manager about upstairs antics at the Arun View. The riverside pub has one first floor guest bedroom and another three on the second floor. Access is cosily squeezed behind the bar itself and up the narrow stairs. The ground floor bar and terrace are where it all happens during Thursday afterhours. Locals and blow-ins groove the night away to the Willie Austen Band.

Beside Arun View is The Steam Packet. Littlehampton Ghost Tour guide Heather Robins notes, “For more than 150 years The Steam Packet pub has stood on the River Road, Littlehampton, just by the historic footbridge across the Arun. The pub was named after the steamboat service that ran from Littlehampton to Honfleur in Normandy from 1863 to 1882.”

In the town centre, a sign on one of its windows competitively proclaims The Dolphin to be “The most haunted pub in Littlehampton”. Heather elaborates, “A pub of this name has been on this site since 1736. The Dolphin has the largest and deepest cellars of the three connected pubs and was used, not only by smugglers, but also as a mortuary for the victims of World War II bombings in Pier Road, when a row of houses was flattened, inflicting many casualties.” The Crown is just about the only pub that hasn’t had recent sightings according to the guide, “Although smugglers’ tunnels linked The Crown to The Dolphin and The White Hart, the current manager has no knowledge of less earthbound spirits inhabiting this establishment.”

As for The White Hart on Surrey Street, she comments, ““Back in the 1700s, this pub was the first Dolphin on Surrey Street. After an argument, the landlord’s brother opened a second pub called The Dolphin, which is now on the corner of Surrey Street and High Street. This original Dolphin has changed its name several times over the centuries. It may have been The White Swan, which led to The Cob and Pen, before becoming The White Hart. In the present bar, you can see a capped off glass opening to the well and tunnels.”

“Smuggling in the 18th and 19th centuries was common practice – a black economy that played a major role in everyday life, employing more than 40,000 people,” suggests Heather. “The smugglers of Kent and Sussex were the leaders in the field and it is no surprise that Littlehampton, with its gently sloping shoreline, was an active smuggling centre. Free from rocky headlands, it was easy to load and unload shallow boats and smuggle goods across the Downs or up the River Arun and on to London via the Wey and Arun Canal that linked to the Thames. Customs records from 1736 show that 229 smuggling boats were confiscated on the Sussex coast, with 200,000 gallons of brandy seized.”

Famously, Lord Byron holidayed in Littlehampton in his 18th summer. He stayed at The Dolphin in 1806 although whether or not he had ghostly experiences goes unrecorded. There’s still plenty of action in the town for the living though. Littlehampton Arts Trail is in its eighth year. The Trail features 16 venues matching artists with conducive environments. Beach Road Gallery has a joint show of Trevor Fryer and Pete Beal’s landscape photography. More photography art, this time by Shirley Bloomfield-Davies, is on show at Mewsbrook Park Café. Local Rad Radburn’s fine art is displayed at Arcade Lounge Pizza Bar and Grill.

Ah, Arcade Lounge. Such a find! A little piece of East Berlin in West Sussex. Owner Saty Dhsingh, who comes from nearby Worthing-on -Sea relates, “For Arcade Lounge, I wanted it to be something different. A small bit of Brighton! I have got lots of finds from car boot sales. My father made the benches from pieces I got from Oktoberfest. As for the Arts Trail, there are actually four art galleries in the town centre as well as all the other venues.” Littlehampton Fish and Chips – the best in town – is another Dhsingh family business.

“You can enjoy homemade pizzas, burgers and tapas here,” confirms Saty, soaking in the rays in the adjoining courtyard. “We’re in the trendiest suntrap in Littlehampton. Arcade Lounge is all about unwinding and relaxing. Littlehampton has a lot of character. The combination of beach and river and friendly people is what makes it really unique. Nearby historic Arundel is another great town to visit.” Blame the unseasonably sunny weather. Maybe it’s all those shady verandahs. Or the bohemian atmosphere. Or the locals’ fascinating tales. Alright, possibly it’s down to the non London measures of Pinot. But there’s something of Savannah, Georgia, in the air. Littlehampton. Beyond chilled.

Design

East Beach + Huts Littlehampton West Sussex

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date November 4, 2020
5 Comments on East Beach + Huts Littlehampton West Sussex

End of the Line One of America’s leading intellectuals Marilynne Robinson states in her 2011 collection of essays Absence of Mind, “Anyone’s sensory experience of the world is circumstantial and cultural, qualified by context and perspective, a fact which again suggests that the mind’s awareness of itself is of a kind with its awareness of physical reality.” And so an experience of Littlehampton graduates from tinted monochrome to full technicolour.

Tags lavenders blue, littlehampton east beach west sussex, marilynne robinsob absence of mind, stuart blakley

Architects Architecture Town Houses

St Catherine of Alexandria’s Church + St Mary the Virgin’s Church Littlehampton West Sussex

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 30, 2020
4 Comments on St Catherine of Alexandria’s Church + St Mary the Virgin’s Church Littlehampton West Sussex

Larks Ascending

Both are named after female Christian saints. Both are Grade II Listed. They are separated by a 300 metre distance as the dove flies. They are separated by more or less six decades of history. One is built of rubblestone with ashlar dressings. The other is built of purplish brick with sharp stone dressings. Elizabeth Williamson, Tim Hudson, Jeremy Musson and Ian Nairn record in The Buildings of England Sussex West, 2019, “Littlehampton is pleasant, but, like most West Sussex seaside towns, disjointed. The joy of it is in the landscape of river and beach.” Between said port and resort lie the Roman Catholic Church of St Catherine of Alexandria and the Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin, two of Littlehampton’s rather discrete charms.

St Catherine’s was founded by Minna, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, in memory of her husband Henry, the 14th Duke, who had died in 1860. It is one of five churches founded by the Dowager to commemorate the Five Holy Wounds. Architectural historian Dr Roderick O’Donnell explains, “St Catherine’s was designed by Matthew Ellison Hadfield and is one of the most prominent Roman Catholic churches on the south coast. Augustus Welby Pugin compliments the architect in 1843 and 1850.” The architectural style is, of course, Gothic Revival.

The church forms a very attractive pairing with its priest’s house by the same architect. The modulations of the slate roofs are particularly remarkable, from a stonking big bellcote to a thoroughly traceried gablet of timber framed trefoils and quatrefoils. Later additions include St Joseph’s Chapel and a sanctuary extension, both carried out by Pugin and Pugin, the practice established by Augustus Welby Pugin and continued by his descendants. St Catherine’s Church and Presbytery retain their architectural integrity, providing a dignified focal point to the mainly residential suburb of Beach Road.

Further inland on Church Street is the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin. Originally a Georgian Gothick church designed by George Draper in 1826, architect William Randoll Blacking transformed the building in the 1930s. The result is a robust piece of loosely Tudor Revival architecture: a simple, bold, geometric composition. Various elements of earlier incarnations have been retained in the structure, such as stained glass from the 14th and 19th centuries, but the overall effect is a solid and coherent piece of early 20th century ecclesiastical architecture. A striking copper roof, hidden at ground level by a parapet, highlights its cruciform shape from a dove’s eye view. St Mary’s Cemetery drapes a welcome green apron around the church.

Tags augustus welby pugin, buildings of england sussex west, dr roderick o’donnell, elizabeth williamson, george draper, henry 14th duke, ian nairn, jeremy musson, matthew ellison hadfield, minna dowager duchess of norfolk, st catherine alexandria church, st josephs chapel, st mary virgin church littlehampton, tim hudson, william randoll blacking

Architecture Hotels Luxury People Restaurants

Littlehampton West Sussex + River Arun

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 27, 2020
10 Comments on Littlehampton West Sussex + River Arun

She Walks in Beauty

Like a Byronic “night of cloudless climes and starry skies” Littlehampton is an ironic sleepless beauty of brightness and darkness imbued with nameless grace. “We are not self made,” says Sierra Leonean Lebanese model Yasmin Jamaal. “We are life made. What we do with our life experiences creates the person we are.” Yasmin tells us, “As a believer, I would say God does not give you a burden you cannot carry and angels really do exist in human form.” In the words of Lindy Guinness, the last Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, “How very charming!”

Tags lavenders blue, lindy guinness marchioness of dufferin and ava, littlehampton west sussex, lord byron, model yasmin jamaal, stuart blakley

Architecture Luxury People Town Houses

Littlehampton West Sussex + One

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 24, 2020
14 Comments on Littlehampton West Sussex + One

As Forcefully Uplifting as the Countermelodic Opening Bars of Allegro Energico 1st Movement Symphony 1 by Victor Hely-Hitchinson and It’s Not Even Christmas Yet

It’s the town on everyone’s luscious lips. Londoner Astrid Bray says “you bring the party with you”. Everything is very grand and very mad. “It’s all about the third fermentation” notes Jan Konetzki Director of Wine at Four Seasons London. Global Director of Rare Champagne Parisienne Maud Rabin observes “everybody is saying c’est la vie: this is destiny. Always in a positive way”. Every frame is a still life drama. And like Montenegro’s Kotor, the Christmas decs are perennial. We’re only getting started.

Tags kotor montenegro, lavenders blue, littlehampton west sussex, stuart blakley, victor hely hitchinson allegro energico

Architecture People

Bishop of London + Fulham Palace London

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 24, 2020
2 Comments on Bishop of London + Fulham Palace London

The Forgiveness of Things

“The Bishop of London lived at Fulham for almost 1,300 years,” explains the current Bishop, “but by 1973 times had changed and it was no longer appropriate or convenient for the Bishop to live in a Palace. The Church Commission initially let the site on a long lease to Hammersmith and Fulham Council. Today, Fulham Palace Trust manages the site.”

The Bishop adds, “I live in a more modest house close to St Paul’s Cathedral, the mother church of the Diocese of London. However, I watch the work of Fulham Palace Trust with interest and admiration as it restores the Palace and garden to reveal its long and fascinating history. The work to ensure that this beautiful historic site is accessible to Londoners and visitors from further afield is very important to me, as we all search for meaning and belonging in a rapidly changing world.”

The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dame Sarah Mullaly is the first female Bishop of London. She left her previous post as Chief Nursing Officer of England in 2004 to pursue full time ministry. Her take on this is: “I am often asked what it has been like to have had two careers, first in the National Health Service and now in the Church. I prefer to think that I have always had one vocation: to follow Jesus Christ, to know him and to make him known, always seeking to live with compassion in the service of others, whether as a nurse, a priest or a bishop.”

Bishop Sarah is also a Lord Spiritual in the House of Lords and a Member of the Privy Council. She concludes, “The Trust’s 2017 to 2019 restoration has transformed the iconic Tudor court buildings into a new museum, repaired the 15th century brickwork, reintroduced historic species of plants in the garden and opened up the site with new and improved paths.”

Tags bishop of london, chief nursing officer of england, dame sarah mullaly, fulham palace london, lavenders blue, lord spiritual, privy council, st pauls cathedral, stuart blakley

Design Fashion Luxury Restaurants

Daphne’s Restaurant + Bamford Haybarn South Kensington London

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 16, 2020
10 Comments on Daphne’s Restaurant + Bamford Haybarn South Kensington London

Everyone Likes It Hot

Macaronis and cheese anyone? That’ll be our movie. Moving on, we’ve got the hottest table in the coolest restaurant on the hottest day of the year. More Sahara than Siberia. Hot in the city. While the Christian name “Daphne” is most recognisable as Tony Curtis’ alter ego in Some Like It Hot, “Daphne’s” belongs to Princess Diana’s fav Italian local. Founded in 1964 by theatre agent Daphne Rye, just when nearby King’s Road was gearing up to the era, Daphne’s has since become a South Ken institution.

The restaurant is in cool company. Bamford Haybarn, one of Lady Bamford’s forays into retail and a shrine to sensational scent, is three doors down. Joseph and Chanel, shops not people, hang out in this Draycott Avenue ‘hood. Serena Armstrong-Jones, Countess of Snowdon, had a charming eponymous gift shop on Walton Street back in the day when she was Serena Linley. Her shop has come and gone. As for fashion, Isabel Marant flies the flag on Walton Street these days. Daylesford on Sloane Avenue is another of Lady Bamford’s organic outlets. Its canopy announces an all embracing offer: “farmshop, café, bar, butcher, bakery, cheese, fish, larder, wine, home store”.

Under current owner restaurateur Richard Caring’s watchful eye, Daphne’s was given the full Martin Brudnizki treatment half a century after it first opened. The Swedish interior architect puts it succinctly: “Minimalism, maximalism, modernism, classicism – I’ve done them all. For me they are the four pillars of design. I take a bit of each and mix them in different strengths depending on the client.” Dublin born designer David Collins, who died prematurely in 2013, transformed a swathe of hospitality interiors in London. A fresh eclectic glamour upped the stakes and steaks at The Wolseley restaurant for starters and Artesian Bar at The Langham Hotel for nightcaps. Martin Brudnizki upholds that tradition, from giving minimalism a Scandi twist at Aquavit restaurant to maxing out maximalism at Annabel’s club.

Daphne’s interior floats somewhere between minimalism and maximalism, blending modernism with classicism. A vivid palette of pinks, yellows, greens and oranges recalls the hues of sun drenched Verona gardens and rooftops. The conservatory dining room is a light confection of bevelled mirrors, linen awnings, 1950s Murano chandeliers, modern European art and a baroque style green marble fireplace.

Effortlessly sophisticated, Daphne’s is neither the place to try out macaroni cheese nor entry level wine. Lunch is Pinot Grigio di Lenardo Friuli 2018 (grape expectations); scallops with chilli and garlic (park those kisses); ravioli with buffalo ricotta and asparagus (so this season); Wedgwood strawberry cheesecake (china town). And selection of Italian cheese (please).

Architects Architecture Art Design People

St Mary’s Cathedral + Crypt Hamburg

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 9, 2020
4 Comments on St Mary’s Cathedral + Crypt Hamburg

Domkirche St Marien Kindertagesheim

In the second half of the 19th century, the population of Hamburg increased to include an influx of Roman Catholics, thanks to industrialisation and port expansion. Paderborn based architect Arnold Güldenpfennig was commissioned to design a new Roman Catholic parish church in the red brick neo Romanesque vein. The Church of St Mary was consecrated by Bernhard Höting, Bishop of Osnabrüch, on 28 June 1893. A dramatic pair of twin spires pierce the sky over the St Georg quarter. A century or so later, on 7 January 1995, the Archdiocese of Hamburg was reinstated and Pope John Paul II elevated the Church of St Mary to cathedral status.

Ludwig Averkamp was the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hamburg (1995 to 2002) of the 20th and 21st centuries. The cathedral underwent a significant rebuilding project (2007 to 2008) before being reopened by the then Archbishop of Hamburg, Werner Thissen (2003 to 2014). Since 2015, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hamburg has been Stefan Hesse. Aged 54, he is the youngest archbishop in Germany and is known for his forthright messages. He recently gave his slant on the immigration debate: “Racism and xenophobia are in contradiction to the message of Jesus.”

Hamburg based Architektur + Stadtplanung Ewers Dörnen restored the main building and added a single storey with basement extension to the southeast. A glazed cloister enclosing a garden leads to stairs descending into a crypt. A vaulted chapel opens into the columbarium. The pebble floored, gold ceilinged, geometric metal walled, exposed bricked space was designed by Klodwig + Partners of Münster. It is an extraordinary interior of great tranquillity.

Another 21st century intervention is Architektur + Stadtplanung Ewers Dörnen’s minimalist altar which is fashioned from a single sandy limestone block to represent unity. The table surface rests on three supports representing the Trinity. The limestone, all 3.5 tonnes of it, came from Vilhonneur in France. The post war stained glass windows were created by Johannes Schreiter. Inspired by the Old Testament book of Isaiah, the artist’s abstract compositions in colours ranging from white and pale grey to yellow and brown to tones of blue reflects messages from the prophet.

The Munich art school Mayer’sche Hofkunstanstalt was commissioned in the 1940s to create a mosaic over the apse. The glittering ceiling is based on the apse mosaic of Santa Maria Maggiore Church in Rome, created by Jacopo Torritti in 1295. Hanging in front of the apse is Heinz Gerhard-Bücker’s 1993 cross of 4,000 year old moor oak. On the front is a gilded Corpus Christi; on the back, a gilded lamb. St Mary’s Cathedral is a striking amalgamation of sturdy 19th century architecture and even sturdier 21st century architecture with sturdy 20th century design thrown in for good measure.

Parish Priest Monsignor Peter Mies greets visitors to the cathedral: “A warm welcome to St Marien Dom – how good that you’re here! The St Georg district is one of the Hanseatic City’s most vibrant quarters. It’s an area of the city offering light and shade: original restaurants, creative advertising agencies and a teeming multicultural backcloth are as much part of this as homelessness, prostitution and social tensions. Amidst all this stands St Marien Dom, the cathedral church of the Archbishopric of Hamburg. That the Dom should be located precisely here is a helpful sign; so too is its close proximity to all sorts and conditions of people cherishing such a variety of hopes and cares, life plans and world views. It’s precisely for them that St Marien Dom aims to be here, as an oasis offering calm, culture and fruitful encounters.

The radiant power of St Marien Dom extends far beyond its precincts. As the seat of the Bishop it is of significance throughout the Archbishopric of Hamburg, covering not just the Hanseatic City, but also Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg. Roman Catholics may form a minority here, constituting around 10 percent of the population. Yet with their numerous institutions and the dedication of many full time and honorary staff, they play a crucial part in the life of northern Germany – in just the same way as the Dom stands for the area. Whatever may have brought you to us: you are most warmly welcome!”

Next door is a multidenominational Christian giftshop called Geistreich. It sells a pack of three napkin designs, each one embellished with the music to several verses of “Geh Aus Mein Herz” (“Go Out My Heart”). It is a congregation exhausting 14 verses in length. The words by Paul Gerhardt (1607 to 1676) were later set to a melody by Augustin Harder (1775 to 1813). A sacred summer song, Geh Aus Mein Herz forms part of the Lutheran hymnal.

Architects Architecture Art Town Houses

Brahms Kontor Hamburg + Brick Expressionism

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 6, 2020
5 Comments on Brahms Kontor Hamburg + Brick Expressionism

Copper Bottom

Hamburg is a city of brick buildings. Reddish, purplish, brownish. Bäckerbreitergang in Neustadt is one of the earliest examples. This red brick half timbered terrace of houses along a narrow cobblestone street is a survival from 1780 (nos. 49 and 50) and the early 19th century (nos. 51 to 58). But really brick came into its own in the opening decades of the 20th century when Expressionism swept across the city. The Brahms Kontor office building on Johannes Brahms Platz opposite Gorch Fock Wall is a brick’s throw from Bäckerbreitergang. The top two storeys of this 11 storey great purple brick pile are stepped back – Hamburgers love a good ziggurat (think Steigenberger Hotel). Architects Werner Lundt and Georg Kallmorgen’s original 1904 building was enlarged by Ferdinand Sckopp and Willhelm Vortmann in the 1920s and 1930s. Brahms Kontor is a commercial triumph of classical modernity. Six copper male nudes protruding from the side elevation considerably liven up the architecture. The Broscheks Building, now the Marriott Renaissance Hotel, is another fine example of Expressionism. In a similar purple brick to Brahms Kontor, only gilt tipped in places, it was designed by Fritz Höger in 1925.

Tags backerbreitergang neustadt, brahms kontor hamburg, brick expressionism, broscheks building, ferdinand sckopp, fritz hoger, georg kallmorgen, gorch fock wall, johannes brahms platz, lavenders blue, marriott renaissance hotel, steigenberger hotel, stuart blakley, werner lundt, willhelm vortmann

Architects Architecture

St Nikolai Church + Monument Hamburg

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 6, 2020
No Comments on St Nikolai Church + Monument Hamburg

Steeplechasing

This site hasn’t been blessed with much luck. The medieval church was destroyed by the Great Fire of Hamburg in 1874. One of the old church’s ministers had been Johannes Bugenhagen, a chum of Martin Luther. Its Gothic Revival replacement, designed by the English architect Sir George Gilbert Scott Senior, didn’t fare much better. Once one of the tallest buildings in the world, the church was blown apart by British bombing during World War II. The tower and parts of the external walls have been retained as a monument. In 2005, a glass lift was installed in the tower to whisk visitors up to experience sweeping views of the city. The charred steeple and nave bared to the sky make for dramatic architectural scenery.

Tags george gilbert scott senior, great fire hamburg, johannes bugenhagen, lavenders blue, martin luther, st nikolai church, stuart blakley

Architecture Hotels Luxury

Steigenberger Hotel Hamburg + Lavender’s Blue

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 4, 2020
No Comments on Steigenberger Hotel Hamburg + Lavender’s Blue

Business Suits

We’ve one in every port. Favourite hotel. Sharp suited no nonsense take no prisoners shoot ‘em professional corporate types. That’s us. Does Steigenberger fit our bill in Hamburg? Will GMP Architects Wolfgang Haux and Volkwin Marg’s overhauled pyramidal zigguratish brick mountain be rare enough among the hot Hamburgers or is its reputation overcooked? Thankfully Steigenberger sails through and surpasses our expectations. Knock ’em dead.

Hotels Luxury People Restaurants

Petite Tortue Hamburg + Pascal Bechét

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 2, 2020
30 Comments on Petite Tortue Hamburg + Pascal Bechét

Untold Story

Well of course we would end up at the launch of a smart French brasserie. On a rainy windswept evening, there is nowhere better to be in Germany than Petit Tortue on Neuer Wall. We’re the toast of town, the icing on the gâteau. Fresh meat among the Hamburgers so to speak. Tchin-tchin! The little sister of Hotel Tortue, the brasserie shares the same tortoise inspiration. “It’s about taking life at a relaxed pace,” owner Pascal Bechét tells us over a leisurely flow of tartines à la Française, plats simples, petits plaisirs savoureux, petits plaisirs doux and Perrier-Jouët. If this is relaxed, we’re liking it. Very Paris, very Hamburg, very us.

“There are about 10 French restaurants in Hamburg,” confirms Monsieur Bechét. “But none as close to the canals as this one.” C’est merveilleuse but we want to know more about la tortue. “Oh là là! When Hamburg was a département of Paris in the early 19th century, none other than Napoléon stayed in this historic quarter. He and his companions brought with them the idea of that world famous savoir vivre. The delightful art of living without hurrying. And which creature is extraordinarily good at this? Et voilà! La tortue. It reminds us to take our time, especially when we don’t have any.” La nuit ne fait que commencer.

Tags hotel tortue, lavenders blue, napoleon, pascal bechet, perrier jouet, petit tortue neuer wall hamburg, stuart blakley

Architecture Art Design Fashion Luxury Town Houses

Neuer Wall + Alster Arcades Hamburg

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 2, 2020
No Comments on Neuer Wall + Alster Arcades Hamburg

They Do It Better Here

Neuer Wall is one of the classiest streets in Germany’s second largest city. This being Hamburg, it runs parallel with two canals. Neuer Wall is designer store heaven. To name a few: Acne Studios, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce + Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Mahlberg, Isabel Marant, Jil Sander, Dorothy Schumacher, Louise Vuitton. Occupying the majority of the southernmost urban block on the far side from Alsterfleet Canal is a development that celebrates all that is good about German town planning.

The blur of old and new architecture, public and private space, external and semi enclosed is so well handled in the rebuilding of Görtz Palais and what lies beyond. In a highly complex case of town planning par excellence, the central archway of the rebuilt Görtz Palais leads through to a sloping corridor lined with shop windows which in turn opens into an arcade with arches on one side open to Bleichenfleet Canal. Steps lead onto a series of interlinking courtyards: Stadthof, Treppenhof and Bleichenhof, all wrapped in an abundance of ceramic tiled walls. An archway reveals the best open space of all: the courtyard of Hotel Tortue. Piped classical music adds another thrill to the experience. They do it better here.

Luxury

St Georg Hamburg + Lange Reihe

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date October 1, 2020
No Comments on St Georg Hamburg + Lange Reihe

Sekt + The City

This is what Saturday mornings are all about. Sipping Speicherstadt coffee at a pavement table outside Café Blanco watching the oh so chilled locals stroll by down Lange Reihe. “Moin moin!” This is what Saturday afternoons are all about. Sipping Sekt at a pavement table outside Ghruëberg watching the oh so chilled locals stroll by up Lange Reihe. “Moin moin!” The only beings in a rush are the red squirrels overhead. St Georg. The ‘hood that’s so cool it has its own bubbly.

Tags cafe blanco, ghrueberg, lange reihe, lavenders blue, speicherstadt, st georg hamburg, stuart blakley

Architecture Luxury

The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date September 30, 2020

Up On Reflection

“For my tastes, when you take the location, the Elbe and the Alster together, it is Germany’s most beautiful city.” Karl Lagerfeld

The late fashion designer, who was born in Hamburg in 1933, mentions its two main rivers but Hamburg is practically an archipelago of urban islands; there’s so much water everywhere, loveliness bathed in constant reflection. The River Elbe flows right to the North Sea while the River Alster bursts into two gorgeous lakes, the Binnen (Inner) and Aussenalster (Outer). Elegant canals shoot out in all directions. There are quite a few attractive geysers too. Hamburg is good for record busting. It has more bridges than Amsterdam, London and Venice combined. Hamburg is the largest port in Germany, the second busiest in Europe and the third largest in the world. Oh, and it has more millionaires per square metre than anywhere else in Germany.

Tags alster, assusenalster, binnen, elbe, hamburg germany, karl lagerfeld, lavenders blue, stuart blakley

Design Fashion Luxury People

Mary Martin London + Silhouette

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date September 29, 2020
15 Comments on Mary Martin London + Silhouette

She Who Dares Wins

Fashion over adversity. This season is all about silhouette. Nobody – and we mean nobody – does silhouette better than Mary Martin London. Especially when montaged against the shape of history. This lady’s for turning – heads. Form doesn’t always follow function when it’s following a flight of fancy. Headdresses are a necessary accessory when it comes to haute – and we mean haute – couture. University of fashion.

Tags lavenders blue, mary martin london, mml, return collection, silhouette, stuart blakley

Architects Architecture Art People Town Houses

The Cathedral + Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury Kent

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date September 23, 2020
18 Comments on The Cathedral + Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury Kent

All That is Good

The Reverend Andy Rider is Stepney Dean of Mission and Area Dean of Tower Hamlets. He is also Chaplain at Langley House Trust, a charity that helps ex offenders. Previously, Andy was Rector of Christ Church Spitalfields for 17 years. It is one of East London’s most prominent places of worship. During his time at Christ Church, in between priestly duties, he oversaw the revivification of the historic ecclesiastical property portfolio of the parish. In particular, the Grade I listed crypt was given a new lease of life as a café, community and church space. For the first time in its history, every cubic metre of Nicholas Hawksmoor’s architectural masterpiece was put to active use. Not to mention airspace: the church band has been known to play on the roof of the nave. Reverend Rider is also a published writer of books on Christian living. So who better to talk to about Canterbury?

“What makes Canterbury special to the Anglican Church? Well, it has been the home of the Archbishop for years,” he confirms. “His leadership of not just the Church of England but also the Anglican Communion ensures that Canterbury is in the heart and prayers of pretty much every Anglican believer. Although we are seeing a rise in pilgrimage, Canterbury is probably for most a virtual pilgrimage from time to time. It was key to the spread of the Gospel north through Great Britain, meeting the Celtic Christians who were bringing the Gospel south from such places as Iona and Lindisfarne.”

The earliest remnants in Canterbury of this ancient advancement of Christianity are found at St Augustine’s Abbey, just beyond the city walls. “Augustine… built a monastery not far from the city to the eastward, in which, by his advice, Ethelbert erected from the foundation the church of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, and enriched it with divers [sic] gifts; wherein the bodies of the same Augustine, and of all of the Bishops of Canterbury, and of the Kings of Kent, might be buried.” So records The Venerable Bede circa 730.

Augustine was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in 597. His mission to convert the Kentish King Ethelbert to Christianity was immediately successful (the Frankish Queen Bertha was already a Christian). The royal couple provided land for the abbey which would become a centre of spiritual and cultural activity for almost a millennium. That is, until the dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII. St Augustine’s was dissolved in 1538 and transformed into a palace. Anne of Cleves, Henry’s fourth wife, stayed one night on her way from Deal to London. In a gorgeous story arc, the site would later become a missionary college for 99 years, opening in 1848. Acclaimed Gothic Revival architect William Butterworth built the split flint faced and red roofed St Augustine’s College amidst the ruins. A freestone library was erected over the abbot’s hall foundations. The King’s School now occupies the intact buildings.

If Kent is the Garden of England, Canterbury is the Temple. The walled city and its environs really don’t disappoint. Charles Dickens was a fan. The former Old King’s School Shop, dated 1647, a teetering tiered tower of architectural Jenga jettying over Palace Street commemorates the writer with an 1849 quote across its façade, “… a very old house bulging out over the road… leaning forward, trying to see who was passing on the narrow pavement below…” The Chaucer Bookshop on Beer Cart Lane is called after the most famous Canterbury literary connection. Street names – The Dane John Mound, Orange Street, Lady Wootton’s Green – suggest intriguing times of old.

The tight urban fabric of the city knits so tightly round the cathedral that it can only be entered through the Precincts which in turn can only be entered via four gates: Christ Church, Mint Yard, Postern and Quenin. Stretching the material metaphor, the cathedral itself is a multilayered multicoloured multitextured fabric of utter fabulousness. Benedictine cloisters; Romanesque crypts; Perpendicular nave; Gothic quire; Middle Age pulpitum crossing; Arts and Crafts stained glass; even a 12th century martyrdom: Canterbury Cathedral has it all. Statues of The Queen and Prince Philip are incorporated into the west front. But the best statue award must go to the tomb of Edward Plantagenet the Black Prince who died in 1376. The Prince’s canine companion is immortalised in marble, resting at his master’s feet.

The grandest house in the Cathedral Precincts is, predictably, the Archbishop’s Palace. Archbishop Lanfranc built a large palace to the northwest of the cathedral in circa 1086 which was remodelled throughout medieval times. Archbishops of Canterbury ignored this residence until Archbishop Frederick Temple’s succession in 1896. He sold the Archbishop’s Palace in Addington, Surrey, and ordered the rebuilding of a palace on the historic Canterbury site. William Douglas Caröe, a prolific designer of churches, was commissioned. The architect’s T shaped knapped flint and random stone dressed with Bath stone building is summed up in John Newman’s Pevsner Guide to Northeast and East Kent, 2013, “scrupulously retained medieval features woven into a rambling, fancifully detailed Free Tudor mansion completed in 1901.”

And so to the Mother Church of the Worldwide Anglican Communion and Seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury on the 15th Sunday after Trinity. The organ thunders with visceral fervour while five clergy take their seats around the Anglican Communion table. The Dean, The Very Reverend Dr Robert Willis, welcomes the congregation to the service which is The Oratory Mass set by Matthew Martin. The north side of the girls’ choir sings The Motet, a 14th century Eucharistic hymn set to music by Edward Elgar. Their angelic voices reverberate across the nave and down the centuries. Prayers are offered up for the Apostolic Church of South Sudan, Archbishop Justin, Bishop Tim of Lambeth and Bishop Rose of Dover.

It’s the last warm day of summer and soft sun streams across the hard stone floor. Pure fragrant blended incense fills the atmosphere. Vice Dean, The Reverend Andrew Dodd, preaches on the parable of the vineyard labourers’ wages and Jonah’s grumbling at God changing His mind. Unfairness is the theme. He reflects on the American Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who recently died. “She was an unlikely hero. ‘RBG’ as she was known as confronted discrimination and injustice in an extremely sensitive climate.” The Vice Dean concludes, “In God’s economy everyone is of immeasurable divine value.” The service ends with the Dismissal and the congregation pour out into a blaze of sunshine.

Andy’s spiritual journey began a long way from Canterbury or even East London. “I was sent to church as a child by non church going parents. The local church had a serious Sunday school, which I left at about age 12 when I fell out with the leader. Seven years later and having had a few scrapes with the law, gaining a criminal record, I met a couple of Christians who spoke to me about forgiveness and God’s will for our lives. This, along with my work with mentally disabled folks got me asking all sorts of questions about life and humanity. Then, playing music in a band with a Christian I began to see who God might be and who He might want me to be. So one night on an overnight bus to Blackpool on the way to some massage training – I wanted to be an osteopath – I gave my life to Jesus in Digbeth Bus Station.”

“I was ordained in 1990,” Andy relates. His first Curacy brought him south to Chatham in Kent. “I next led the All Souls Clubhouse church and community centre in London’s West End for a decade. The Bishop of London then asked me to consider the Spitalfields post. He said it needed a ‘big man’ to do the job… I sensed God’s call in his invitation and without seeing inside the church building or rectory, I accepted the post in 2003.” Under Andy’s leadership, the congregation greatly grew exponentially in numbers and strength. Ministry in the community is especially important at Christ Church: looking upwards and looking outwards.

“My new role,” Andy explains, “as Dean of Mission is principally helping churches to explore and step further into church health, growth and mission. Working with the Bishop of Stepney across three London Boroughs and some 60 churches, we need to halt the decline in Church of England attendance and – to quote a song lyric – ‘Turn this ship around’! This needs strategy, structural changes, leadership development and a new hunger across the church.” The Reverend Rider gives personal advice in his 2018 book Life is For Giving: “Your current reality will shape you for whatever is next – because God meets us where we are and wastes nothing. Your task is to read and explore your present reality, and so to see it as God sees it.”

Turn of last century author Frank William Boreham wrote over 40 books on Christianity with charming titles such as A Bunch of Everlastings, A Handful of Stars, Mountains in the Mist, Shadows on the Wall, Wisps of Wildfire. In 1948 he published My Pilgrimage An Autobiography. The author includes his testimony: “Only once in the history of this little world did a man, crucified at 33, find that He had brought His tremendous life work to absolute perfection. ‘It is finished!’ He cried. No broken column marks His sepulchre. And yet even He spoke frequently of the sublime tasks that awaited Him in the world to which He journeyed. Other people may do as they will; but, for myself, I am going to rest all my insufficiency and inefficiency on His finished and perfect Saviourhood leaving Him to complete my incompleteness in the world in which He reigns supreme.”

In his autobiography he recalls his mother telling him about her first visit as a teenager to Canterbury Cathedral. Frank’s mother arranged to go with her cousin but she didn’t turn up. An elderly gentleman approached her: “Excuse me but whilst I was chatting with the friend who has just left me, I could not help noticing that you were eagerly watching for somebody who, evidently, has not arrived. Were you thinking of inspecting the Cathedral? I wonder if you would very kindly allow me to show you round. I am deeply attached to the place and happen to know something of its story.”

Frank’s mother acquiesced and was soon taken by the stranger’s silver tongued eloquence. The teenager was treated to an exhaustive tour of the cathedral and its history, travelling back in time from Huguenot refugees to Geoffrey Chaucer to St Thomas Becket and ending with St Augustine. Or should that be beginning? As the tour drew to a close, the stranger said, “It would be very interesting to me if we might exchange cards.” Frank’s mother didn’t have one but she accepted the stranger’s card without a second glance or first for that matter. Only on the train home to Tunbridge Wells did she look at it. The card read “Charles Dickens”.

Tags all souls clubhouse church, anne of cleves, archbishop frederick, archbishop lanfranc, archbishop’s palace, area dean of tower hamlets, beer cart lane, bishop of stepney, bishop rose of dover, bishop tim of lambeth, canterbury cathedral, chaplain langley house trust, charles dickens, chaucer bookshop, christ church, dane john mound, deal town, edward plantagenet black prince, frank william boreham my pilgrimage an autobiography, frankish queen bertha, geoffrey chaucer, iona, john newman pevsner guide to west kent, kentish king ethelbert, king henry viii, lady woottons green, lavenders blue, life is for giving, lindisfarne, mint yard, orange street, postern, quenin, rector of christ church spitalfields, reverend andy rider, st augustines abbey kent, st thomas becket, stepney dean of mission, stuart blakley, william butterworth king’s school, william douglas caroe

Architecture Town Houses

Mall House + Wreight’s House The Mall Faversham Kent

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date September 22, 2020
No Comments on Mall House + Wreight’s House The Mall Faversham Kent

Wild and Precious Lives

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your wild and precious life?” asks the Pulitzer prize winning American poet Mary Oliver in The Summer Day. Visit Faversham for seven minutes on this summer day comes our immediate response. The timing isn’t entirely of our making: it springs forth from the gap between the train from London Victoria to Faversham and the onward leg to Canterbury East. “Take us to church” we paraphrase chanteuse Sinead O’Connor for we are Eucharist bound at Canterbury Cathedral. But first there’s a mall to behold.

Mall rhymes with hall if you’re American and means your local shopping centre. Aurally, in the States it’s interchangeable with the term for a gangster’s girlfriend. Mall sounds like the French word for ill if you’re English. For Londoners, Mall has a Pall. Mall if you’re Kentish must surely be associated with the loveliest street in Faversham. Only 340 metres long, The Mall in Faversham is full of visual delights. It’s unusual to find architectural beauty abutting a railway station. But here we have Mall House and Wreight’s House for all to see, two Georgian gems on the right side of the tracks separated by the two metre wide Ticklebelly Alley and 70 or so years of history. They may both be red brick dormered slate roofed sash windowed houses with fanlighted columned entrances but the former is mid 18th century and the latter early 19th century.

“I shall never finish answering this question,” says Jo Bailey Wells Bishop of Dorking in the Foreword to Reverend Andy Rider’s book Life is For Giving. The Bishop is responding to Mary Oliver’s poetic enquiry. “Every day presents challenge and opportunity which call for some adjustment (or at least tweaking) of whatever plan I held. At least for me, that’s the way life retains its wild and precious character, its flexibility and grace.” The Summer Day includes the lines, “I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed.” Paying attention, falling down, kneeling, we continue our wild and precious lives unabated. Lunch in Frog and Scot, Deal – another town with a Ticklebelly Alley, will follow Eucharist.

Tags canterbury cathedral eucharist, frog and scot deal, jo bailey wells bishop of dorking, lavenders blue, mall faversham kent, mall house, pall mall, poet mary oliver summer day, reverend andy rider life is for giving, sinéad o’connor, stuart blakley, ticklebelly alley, wreight’s house

Design

Deal Town Kent + Seaside

Yeah Ok

It’s that whatever attitude that keeps us in Deal. London? Later babes. Maybe. Boho anyone?

Tags bohemian bar, deal town kent, lady dalziel douglas, lavenders blue, stuart blakle

Architects Architecture Art Design Fashion Luxury People

Mary Martin London + The Return Fashion Shoot

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date September 11, 2020
21 Comments on Mary Martin London + The Return Fashion Shoot

Cinematographic Lives

No justice no fashion. How many people does it take to do a Mary Martin London fashion shoot? Counting. A host. A fashion designer. A fashion photographer. A fashion photographer’s assistant. A set photographer. A videographer. A lighting technician. A stylist. Two makeup artists. Two hairdressers. One headdress stylist. Four models. A ballerina. A chauffeur. A muse. That’ll be 20. Oh plus five security. Make that 25. Big wigs plus fashion’s finest. Everyone authentically leading their best London lives up a level. Forgetting fiction, correcting the truth. A September Sunday. No just as fashion.

On location at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Westminster. By 9am the collective creative energy is palpable. Ballerina Omozefe is practising her moves while classical music reverberates off the marble Durbar Court. “I’m dazzled by this space. It’s amazing!” She shares, “I started learning ballet aged four. I’m five foot six inches but I’ve an unusually long inside leg measurement of 33 inches. Resilience is so important for the amount of training you need to do to be successful. You need the ability to endure pain. It’s constant training – like being an athlete. Odette and Odile in Swan Lake is every ballet dancer’s dream role!”

“This is like a film set! The lighting is lovely!” exclaims leading photographer Monika Schaible upon seeing the Grand Staircase. More exclamations follow when half Lebanese half Sierra Leonean model Yasmin Jamaal surprises in a regal black and crimson extravaganza. “TC! Totally couture!” Yasmin responds, “I feel like a queen.” Cecil Beaton said of Tallulah Bankhead, “Her entrance is always dramatic.” Yasmin, anyone? Not content with setting the catwalks alight, Yasmin has hit the silver screen. She appears in the new James Bond film No Time To Die. Her summary is: “It’s a really exciting movie. There are a lot of stunts. Working with Daniel Craig was so interesting.”

Leila Samati is another international model. Originally from the Algarve in Portugal, she came to study International Business in London. “My favourite models are Naomi Campbell and Adriana Lima who modelled for Victoria’s Secret.” Leila can add the “super” prefix to her job title: she’s been crowned Miss World, Miss Africa Great Britain and Miss Guinea-Bissau. “Mary’s dresses have amazing details,” she observes. “You can tell the hard work that goes into pieces she produces. They’re so elegant.”

The third female model on today’s shoot is Londoner Kiki Busari. “This is my first shoot with Mary. She’s so creative. I’m loving the whole period theme. It’s like an historic costume drama!” Kiki adds, “Mary is the hardest working designer I know.” She can’t wait to show her young sons Saint and Angel the stills. Freelance stylist Joel Kerroy is here “to make everyone and everything camera ready”. When not perfecting shoots, Joel puts together look books for the likes of Jeff Banks and Burberry. He thinks, “Mary’s clothes are so elegant and extravagant. They’re eleganza!”

Fellow Londoner Hassan Reese is the male model. At 6 foot four inches he is a body double for runner Usain Bolt. It’s really a cast of Hassan that is used for the athlete’s body in Madame Tussaud. He also owns Dam Model Management. “I love modelling Mary’s clothes.” He last starred in her Blood Sweat and Tears Collection show. Mary collaborated with headdress creator Elisha Griffith. Her company is Blossom Concepts. “Mary has taught me so much,” she relates. “With no Notting Hill Carnival this year I’ve enjoyed learning new skills.”

Mary reveals, “The Georgian fashion shoot that my muse Stuart Blakley modelled in last year filled me with inspiration for the period theme. The Return Collection is Marie Antoinette meets tribal meets avant garde.” Unbelievably the outfits showcasing the collection at this shoot were all designed and made by the fashion artist in just under three weeks. By early afternoon, the shoot is in full swing. There’s nowhere grander or more entrenched with story than the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and there are no grander clothes more entrenched with story than Mary Martin London.

Memorable fashion moments are fleetingly created and permanently captured. Omozefe’s tippy toed croisé, plié and grand jeté. Yasmin working a dress of straw. Leila balancing a gargantuan Georgian wig on her head. Hassan strutting his stuff. Kiki taking a selfie with a Victorian bust. And the final memorable scene: the alternative royal family proudly descending the Grand Staircase illuminated by late afternoon sunlight. It’s as if Armand Constant Milicourt-Lefebre’s portraits of Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie have sprung to life and – joined by two Dauphines – been augmented by greater beauty, exquisiteness, relevance, and contemporaneity. High above in the golden coffered dome an inscription glitters: “Praise Thee O God Yea Let All The People Praise Thee O Let The Nations Rejoice And Be Glad”. Far below, everyone is present. Everyone is on point. Everyone is in awe. By 5pm it’s a wrap. Time to party.

“What an anointing to be filled with God’s joy!” rejoices Mary. “It gives me great pleasure to create. It’s emotional. I’ve done fashion shows and shoots all over the world. I’ve been to Ghana, South Africa, south of France, you name it, I’ve been to a lot of places. I express myself in my clothes with my moods: happy, sad, crazy, kooky, whatever it is you know I just express it on my clothes. It’s just a natural thing for me. A lot of people seem to love the eccentric clothes I make and you know I love showing the clothes and I love the catwalk. But I’ve never shown at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before. What a privilege. This is a first! It’s all exciting for me! I’m on point!” Cecil Beaton said of Tallulah Bankhead, “Her vitality is dynamic; she can sustain fever pitch ad finitum.” Mary, anyone? At the wrap party everyone agrees this is the start of something big. Really big. First comes the Black History Month exhibition in Foreign and Commonwealth Office. And there’s more, much more to come. Justice fashion.

Architects Architecture Country Houses Restaurants

The Auld Bank Coffeeshop + Crossroads Gortin Tyrone

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date September 5, 2020
5 Comments on The Auld Bank Coffeeshop + Crossroads Gortin Tyrone

Steeped in Resonance and Nuance

It’s the most architecturally satisfying aesthetically appetising crossroads in County Tyrone. To the northeast, a coffeeshop. To the southeast, a church. To the southwest, a school, To the northwest, a country house. All oozing rural charm. Welcome to Gortin. The ‘t’ is pronounced “ch”. The main approach to the crossroads could hardly be more dramatic. An inland corniche snakes through the purple heather topped Sperrin Mountains in a downward spiral (Gortin Lakes on one side, Gortin Forest on the other) before plummeting into the valley of the Owenkillew River to arrive at the crossroads. Time to go for a wee dander. If the crossroads is considered the western end and St Patrick’s Catholic Church accessed off Chapel Lane the eastern end, that means Gortin High Street is the princely length of 585 metres long.

The Auld Bank Coffeeshop is a single storey dropping to two storeys to the rear three bay building facing the high street. “Auld” meaning “old” is pronounced “owl”. Its rough cut stone and brick quoined exterior is more associated with east of the River Bann villages such as Hillsborough and Moira. Ulster Bank closed its branch in 2015 and the building owner, Blakiston Houston Estates Company, converted it into a coffeeshop. A very popular one at that, serving the best panini west of the Bann. The bank was built in 1845 with a gabled porch added in 1980. In true late 20th century style, the fanlight and sidelights surrounding the entrance door have a post modern feel to them. The interior has been opened up; simple ceiling mouldings provide an unpretentious backdrop to the café.

Alastair Rowan sums up St Patrick’s Church of Ireland, Parish of Lower Badoney, in his 1979 Buildings of North West Ulster (sponsored by Lord Dunleath’s Charitable Trust), “1856 by Joseph Welland, replaced the first Lower Badoney church of 1730. A standard stone built hall with short sanctuary, end porch, and bellcote. Short paired lancets, seven down each side, with quarry glass, and a nice braced truss roof inside, high and a little richer than usual.” A sprawling underdeveloped graveyard drapes a green apron around the entrance front.

Dr Rowan goes on to explain the church architect’s credentials, “The Church of Ireland had from 1843 one architect, Joseph Welland, who catered for all its needs. His qualifications were impeccable. Welland, a relative of the Bishop of Down, had trained in Dublin in the office of John Bowden, through whom in 1826 he obtained the appointment of architect to the Board of First Fruits in the Tuam Division. In 1839, when the Irish Ecclesiastical Commission replaced the old Board of First Fruits, Welland was appointed one of its four architects (although the older William Farrell seems to have retained responsibility for the North), and in 1843 on the reorganisation of the Commission he became the sole architect.”

Beltrim National School is a long single storey white rendered with slate roof building looking across the road to the cemetery. A juxtaposed case of early life meets everlasting life. To either extremity of the façade is an entrance (one for boys, one for girls) separated by six tall windows. Both entrance doors are painted farm shed red with a school name plus date plaque (1899). Completely symmetrical, the former school turned youth club portrays provincial architectural perfection. So contained, so uncontrived.

There’s nothing castellated about Beltrim Castle. Alright, remnants of an early 17th century bawn are integrated in the garden wall. Tyrone people call country houses “castles”. Locals refer to nearby Baronscourt (firmly in the country house category) as “the castle”. Alastair Rowan believes the current appearance of Beltrim Castle dates from the 1820s and notes its overhanging eaves. The house is incredibly attractive in an understated Ulster way. The five bay entrance front has a fanlight over its entrance door as big and grand as one on any Dublin townhouse. To the rear, Beltrim Castle’s return wing is nearly as long as Gortin High Street or at least a terrace lining it. The estate is privately owned by the Blakiston Houstons but the gardens are occasionally open to the public.

Tags alastair rowan, architect joseph welland, auld bank coffeeshop, beltrim castle, beltrim national school, buildings of north west ulster, gortin tyrone, john bowden, lavenders blue, lord dunleath, owenkillew river, river bann, st patricks church, stuart blakley, william farrell architect

Architecture Developers Luxury People Restaurants

Fordwich Arms + Fordwich Town Hall Kent

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date August 31, 2020
19 Comments on Fordwich Arms + Fordwich Town Hall Kent

Correct London Grammar

There’s nothing wrong with a pint of cider and scampi fries in your local. But we’d prefer the pescatarian tasting menu with Berry Brothers and Rudd of St James’s wine thank you. Fordwich, eight kilometres north of Pett Bottom in Kent, is apparently England’s smallest town. Fordwich Arms is a gorgeous 1930s mock Tudor brick without half timber building. It looks like one of Walter George Tarrant’s houses on St George’s Hill Estate, Weybridge, Surrey. A curvilinear gable over the entrance is a welcome whimsical touch. The pub is opposite the 1540s real Tudor brick with half timber Fordwich Town Hall, apparently England’s smallest and oldest town hall in use. The Norman Church of St Mary behind the pub walled garden complements this tranquil grouping.

We’re lunching in the dining room accessed through the main bar. Cast iron framed windows are open to the walled garden on one side and the riverside terrace on the other. In good ol’ Tudorbethan style, the room is linen fold panelled with a stone fireplace. Fashionable visible bulb lights are the only wall decoration. The dining room is simply furnished: Ercol chairs and matching table tops balanced on cast iron legs on a timber floor. No boozer clut here: not a Toby jug or faded photograph of the high street in sight.

The unmistakeable cosmopolitan air (and not just us) is no coincidence. Londoners run the show. Chef Patron Daniel Smith worked for Jason Atherton’s group and then The Clove Club. His wife, Pastry Chef Owner Natasha, worked at Chapter One in Locksbottom, Kent, and latterly at Rocket events company in London. The Smiths are joined by Sommelier Guy Palmer-Brown. They’re all the same age and ridiculously young: 28 years old. Fordwich Arms is celebrating its second birthday. Daniel recalls his 17th birthday dinner at The Fact Duck in Bray, Berkshire, as being a directional moment towards his chosen career.

The serving staff possess encyclopaedic knowledge of each course and micro course. It’s the catering version of old masters dealing – they’re heavy on provenance. Just as well the pub backs onto the Great Stour River and the north and east coasts of Kent are five kilometres and 17 kilometres respectively away as all the savoury courses are a hymn to seafood. Getting even more local, their bread and butter is churned on site. A kitchen favourite is soda bread (very Northern Irish!) but we’re served rosemary focaccia with garlic cloves as well as wheaten bread made from the Chef’s mother’s recipe. Mrs Smith senior is from County Wexford.

After a trio of prettily colour coordinated amuse bouches come five fishy dishes which stretch that provenance the full length of this island. Confit chalk stream trout, oyster, pea and gooseberry sets the pace. Isle of Wight tomato, lemon verbena and Cornish caviar gathers knots. Roasted Orkney scallop, brown butter, applied and spiced scallop sauce makes waves. South coast brill and warm tartare sauce is a splash of panache. Line caught hake, celeriac, young leek and Madeira completes the culinary coastal voyage. Hit after hit of retronasal olfaction and satisfaction. Local and national produce; capital style and British brilliance. The plates themselves have varying textures and tonality – very Michelin. The Merchant’s White is just what a lover should be: rich and full bodied.

Top London chefs love their signature dishes (think County Antrim born Clare Smyth and her potato) and Daniel is no exception. While he manages to sneak in a perfectly formed potato mound side dish, it’s the Snickers bar pudding that’s his pièce de résistance. Delicately deconstructed then rigorously reconstructed as a sponge log with its skin of hard chocolate removed and ingredients (peanuts and caramel) placed on top, it’s gastronomy’s answer to the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Gold leaf is a nice reference to chocolate box wrapping.

The primacy effect (start of a meal) and regency effect (end of a meal) tend to stick in our minds. Not so, this lunch. Every morsel is memorable. We’ve eulogised for seven paragraphs now on the glories of Fordwich Arms; the Michelin Guide (the pub gobbled up a star almost instantly) is more succinct: “High quality cooking, worth a stop!” It’s a long stop for us: we reluctantly depart at 4.30pm as our car pulls up outside. A golden retriever keeps watch at the entrance. There mightn’t be a beer stained carpet but Fordwich Arms has kept one pub tradition going: it’s dog friendly.

Tags berry brothers rudd, chef jason atherton, clare smyth, clove club, daniel smith, fat duck restaurant, fordwich arms kent, fordwich town hall, guy palmer brown, lavenders blue, london grammar, natasha smith, pompidou centre, snickers bar, st georges hill weybridge, st mary church, stuart blakley, walter george tarrant

Architecture Restaurants

Harbour Arm + Lighthouse Margate Kent

Post author By Lavender's Blue
Post date August 30, 2020
No Comments on Harbour Arm + Lighthouse Margate Kent

The Peerage

At 275 metres long, there’s plenty of room to hang out on Margate’s early 19th century stone harbour pier “The Arm” in Dive, Grub Hub and Sargasso on a sunny Saturday evening under the watchful glow of the 1955 lighthouse.

Tags dive, grub hub, lavenders blue, lighthouse, margate harbour arm, sargasso, stuart blakley

Architecture

Margate Kent +

Trinity Square And More

“If our myths and truths are only another exotic blossoming, the free play of possibility, then they are fully as real and as worthy of respect as anything else.” The Death of Adam, Marilynne Robinson

Margate is a town of firsts. The first Georgian square built at a seaside resort (Cecil Square). The world’s first sea bathing hospital. First for beach donkeys. First for deckchairs. The originality stretches into the naming of its spaces and places. Buenos Ayres is the earliest major terrace (Georgian although much Victorianised) between the Royal Sea Bathing Hospital and Old Town. A meandering dander down Canterbury Road onto Marine Terrace offers up Artisans and Adventurers (décor and jewellery shop); Handsome Freaks (clothes shop); The Happy Dolphin (guest house); The Mechanical Elephant (Wetherspoon pub); Ruskin de la Mer (souvenirs and beachwear); and Sunset Rock Shop (sweetshop).

“It all comes down to the mystery of the relationship between the mind and the cosmos.” The Death of Adam, Marilynne Robinson

Tags buenos ayres, cecil square, death of adam, handsome freaks, happy dolphin, lavenders blue, margate kent, marilynne robinson, marine terrace, mechanical elephant, royal sea bathing hospital, ruskin de la mer, stuart blakley, sunset rock, trinity square

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: