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</header> <div id="main" class="wrapper"> <section id="primary" class="site-content"> <div id="content" role="main"> <header class="archive-header"> <h1 class="archive-title"> Monthly Archives: <span>January 2018</span> </h1> </header> <article id="post-7571" class="post-7571 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-london-buildings category-london-streets tag-curzon-street"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"> <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-buildings/crewe-house-curzon-street/" rel="bookmark">Crewe House – Curzon Street</a> </h1> <div class="comments-link"> <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-buildings/crewe-house-curzon-street/#comments">16 Replies</a> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>For today’s post (and the next few weeks), I am returning to the core purpose of the blog, to track down the location of my father’s photos. I am in Curzon Street which leads off from the lower part of Park Lane, opposite Hyde Park.</p> <p>This is Crewe House, Curzon Street in 1953.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-1.jpg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7568 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-1-1024x740.jpg" alt="Crewe House" width="625" height="452" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-1-1024x740.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-1-300x217.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-1-768x555.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-1-624x451.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>And the same building today:<a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-2.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7569 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-2-1024x680.jpg" alt="Crewe House" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-2-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-2-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-2-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-2-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Crewe House is an interesting survivor from the time when large houses would be surrounded by their own grounds. The original building was constructed in the early 18th century, however it has been considerably modified over time.</p> <p>Today, the building is part of the Saudi Arabian Embassy, and this is the reason why my photo is from a different perspective to my father’s photo. When I reached the building, hoping to take a photo from the same viewpoint, I found a group of rather heavily armed police guarding the front of the building roughly where the cart is in the original photo. Suspecting they would not appreciate being photographed, or being asked to move, I walk a short distance further and took today’s photo.</p> <p>The facade of the building looks much the same, although I suspect internally it has been significantly modified. In 1953 it would have been possible to step over the wall into the garden. Today (in addition to the armed police) railings, gates and CCTV protect the building from Curzon Street.</p> <p>The presence of armed police highlighted another aspect of how London has changed. It is only in recent years that it has become almost normal to see armed police walking the street of London. In the 1970s’ 80s and 90s this would have been the exception. If I remember rightly the first time I saw armed police walking openly it was at Heathrow Terminal 4 soon after it opened in 1986. It was a novelty to see this at an airport and would have been highly unusual on the streets. Weapons were obviously available to the police – they were just not so openly visible.</p> <p>Today, whether guarding embassies, high-profile buildings, or just walking in busy parts of London, this is now a common site.</p> <p>A sad comment on the times we live in that police have to be armed in this way.</p> <p>The building was renamed Crewe House in 1899 when it was purchased by the Marquis of Crewe. Before the name Crewe House, it had been owned for a couple of generations of Lord Wharncliffe’s who also gave the house their name when it was named Wharncliffe House – it has this name on the 1895 Ordnance Survey map.</p> <p>One of the Lord Wharncliffe’s (the Right Hon. James Archibald Stuart-Wortley Mackenzie), died in the house aged 69 in 1846 of suppressed gout which I believe was a catch-all for many possible causes which could not have been diagnosed at the time.</p> <p>Curzon Street has a fascinating history and I had been planning to write about the street in today’s post, however a very busy work week has not given me the time for this, so I will save for a future post, however I cannot finish off a post without a map, and the following extract from John Rocque’s survey of London from 1746 shows the area around Crewe House.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-3.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7570 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-3-970x1024.jpg" alt="Crewe House" width="625" height="660" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-3-970x1024.jpg 970w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-3-284x300.jpg 284w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-3-768x810.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wharncliffe-House-3-624x658.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Curzon Street runs along the lower part of the map. Chesterfield House was the large and ornate London home and gardens for Lord Chesterfield. The house was demolished in 1937, although the gardens had been built on in the years before.</p> <p>To the right of Chesterfield House is a rectangle with gardens at the top, the dark hatching for a building and white, open space in front. This is Crewe House, and whilst the house has been modified significantly over the years, the layout of a house with large, enclosed gardens to the front, is the same as today. With the loss of Chesterfield House, it is remarkable that the house and gardens of Crewe House have survived for well over 250 years.</p> <p>Above Crewe House are several enclosed areas, but are shown as blank spaces, apart from one which has a row of buildings along one side. These must have been unbuilt areas of land, marked out ready for development, although the street plan shown in 1746 does not match the street plan of today</p> <p>I will return to Curzon Street, however for the next couple of weeks I have visits to a London pub and a City restaurant planned.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/">alondoninheritance.com</a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-buildings/crewe-house-curzon-street/" data-text="Crewe House - Curzon Street" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-buildings/crewe-house-curzon-street/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li><a href="#" class="sharing-anchor sd-button share-more"><span>More</span></a></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul><div class="sharing-hidden"><div class="inner" style="display: none;width:150px;"><ul style="background-image:none;"><li class="share-bluesky"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-bluesky-7571" class="share-bluesky sd-button" href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-buildings/crewe-house-curzon-street/?share=bluesky" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Bluesky" ><span>Bluesky</span></a></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div></div></div> </div> <footer class="entry-meta"> This entry was posted in <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/category/london-buildings/" rel="category tag">London Buildings</a>, <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/category/london-streets/" rel="category tag">London Streets</a> and tagged <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/tag/curzon-street/" rel="tag">Curzon Street</a> on <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-buildings/crewe-house-curzon-street/" title="8:38 am" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2018-01-28T08:38:23+00:00">January 28, 2018</time></a><span class="by-author"> by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://alondoninheritance.com/author/admin/" title="View all posts by admin" rel="author">admin</a></span></span>. </footer> </article> <article id="post-7535" class="post-7535 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-londonvistas tag-london-war-art tag-waac tag-war-artists tag-war-artists-advisory-committee"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"> <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/londonvistas/london-and-the-war-artists-advisory-committee/" rel="bookmark">London And The War Artists Advisory Committee</a> </h1> <div class="comments-link"> <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/londonvistas/london-and-the-war-artists-advisory-committee/#comments">21 Replies</a> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>The problem with this blog is that I am constantly finding out how much I do not know. When I am researching the background for a new post, I find a new subject which takes me off on a tangent – an example being the subject of today’s post, the War Artists Advisory Committee.</p> <p>Before getting into the detail of the post, I must apologise for the length, the more I looked, the more I found – I hope you will find it interesting.</p> <p>When i was researching my post of a couple of week’s ago on the Temple church, I found some paintings of the damaged church in the Imperial War Museum online archive. I was aware of the work of a number of war artists, but what I did not know about was the organisation that these paintings referenced, and that was the driving force behind the breadth and depth of artistic records from the Second World War.</p> <p>The War Artists Advisory Committee was part of the Ministry of Information and the creation of Sir Kenneth Clark who was already involved with a considerable number of artistic enterprises, including the organisation that would later become the Arts Council.</p> <p>Clark’s plan was that a pictorial record of the war would be produced and as many artists as possible would contribute to the project which would help in keeping artists in employment during the war years. A secondary aim was that by employing a large number of artists, it would save many artists from the fate that befell a generation of artists in the First World War.</p> <p>The Ministry of Information supported the creation of the War Artists Advisory Committee and the Treasury was persuaded to give financial support, however there was a challenge from the armed forces who saw the War Artists Advisory Committee as removing responsibility for war art from the control of the War Office and the Admiralty.</p> <p>A compromise was reached, with four artists being allocated to the War Office and one for the Admiralty, who would also pay their salaries, however the War Artists Advisory Committee would have a say in the selection and direction of their work, and full control of the work produced.</p> <p>The War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC) was given a budget of £5,000 for the first year of operation, and met for the first time on the 23rd November 1939.</p> <p>The WAAC included representatives from all three of the Armed Services and the wartime Ministries that, due to their wartime importance, were to be covered by artists commissioned by the WAAC. Sir Kenneth Clark was the chairman of the WAAC.</p> <p>During the war, the WAAC employed a number of artists on a salaried basis, commissioned artists to provide works on a specific subject, and purchased the work of artists presented to the committee.</p> <p>Over 300 artists would be commissioned by the WAAC. 5,570 works of art would be produced (about half of these works were given to the Imperial War Museum), and the committee’s artists had a global reach, working in all theatres of war.</p> <p>The WAAC commissioned and purchased a range of works covering the impact of the war in London and it is these works which are the theme of today’s post.</p> <p>The work produced would cover a wide range of London related topics, however considering that the WAAC was part of the Ministry of Information, work was not commissioned which would show a negative view of the population’s reaction to the war. There are therefore no artistic records of looting, riots or large numbers of the population leaving stricken areas. Where there was injury or death, it was normally shown in a heroic context.</p> <p>I have chosen a sample of works held by the Imperial War Museum to illustrate the work commissioned by the WAAC across London. These are all © IWM and are reproduced under the IWM’s <a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/corporate/privacy-copyright/licence">non-commercial share and reuse licence</a>. For each picture, I have included the title, IWM reference and embedded in the title and reference a link back to the original IWM work.</p> <p>To research this subject, I have also used the book “The War Artists” by Meirion and Susie Harries published in 1983 by Michael Joseph in association with the Imperial War Museum and the Tate Gallery.</p> <p>So, lets start with:</p> <h1>Roland Vivian Pitchforth</h1> <p>Roland Pitchforth started work with the WAAC at the start, during the so-called phoney war. He had served in the First World War with the Wakefield Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery. As a result of this service and the noise of the guns, Pitchforth was stone deaf which caused some problems for the WAAC when considering which commissions he should be sent on. For example, there was real concern that Pitchforth would be shot by an over enthusiastic sentry as he would not have heard any challenges or commands shouted at him.</p> <p>Despite being deaf, Pitchforth was able to produce a wide range of work for the WAAC, which included initial work across the UK, before being sent further afield to work on board shipping and to the Far East.</p> <p>Below is a range of his London based work, starting with “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21852">Wings for Victory Week: Trafalgar Square, London WC2 (Art.IWM ART LD 2845)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2845.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7525 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2845.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="549" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2845.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2845-300x206.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2845-768x527.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2845-624x428.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>Wings for Victory Week was held in 1943 to raise money for the construction of aircraft. the event ran across the whole of the country. In the above work, a Lancaster Bomber is on display in Trafalgar Square, there are flags of the allied nations in front of the National Gallery. Note the sign for the Public Shelter in the foreground.</p> <p>Although the next work is located in the outskirts of London, it is an iconic image showing the work of the control room in Uxbridge which had responsibility for analysing all the input from spotters and radar to track enemy aircraft and the coordination the resources needed to attack the enemy.</p> <p>The work is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21843">Group Headquarters, Uxbridge : radiolocation plotters (Art.IWM ART LD 2320)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2320.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7523 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2320.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="581" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2320.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2320-300x218.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2320-768x558.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2320-624x453.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>Pitchforth completed a range of works showing the impact on London when enemy aircraft did get through the defences around London. The first shows demolition workers clearing a bomb site, and is titled: “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21832">Demolition Workers, Oxford Street, London W1 (Art.IWM ART LD 1525)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1525.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7517 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1525.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="600" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1525.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1525-300x225.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1525-768x576.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1525-624x468.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The next work is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21828">Jewin Crescent, London EC1 (Art.IWM ART LD 1202)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1202.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7510 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1202.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="603" height="800" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1202.jpg 603w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1202-226x300.jpg 226w" sizes="(max-width: 603px) 100vw, 603px" /></a></p> <p>Jewin Crescent is one of the many streets that were lost under the development of the Barbican. If you walk past the church of St. Giles Cripplegate, past the City of London School for Girls which is on the right. this brings you to an open space of grass and gardens. This was the location of Jewin Crescent.</p> <p>The following extract from the 1940 edition of Bartholomew’s Atlas of Greater London shows Jewin Crescent on the right hand side, just over half way up the map.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7555 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-2-748x1024.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="625" height="856" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-2-748x1024.jpg 748w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-2-219x300.jpg 219w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-2-768x1052.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-2-624x855.jpg 624w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-2.jpg 1104w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>The next work is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21823">Post Office Buildings (Art.IWM ART LD 939)</a>” and shows a bomb site with steel girders sticking out of the ground.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-939.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7508 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-939.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="586" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-939.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-939-300x220.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-939-768x563.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-939-624x457.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The next work, titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21822">Post Office Buildings : the Telephone Exchange (Art.IWM ART LD 938)</a>” shows the church of Christchurch Greyfriars and the Post Office buildings to the right of King Edward Street.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-938.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7507 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-938.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="584" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-938.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-938-300x219.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-938-768x561.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-938-624x456.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>Pitchforth also produced a series of drawings showing the work of those involved in responding to the impact of bombing. The following drawing titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21818">ARP Practice (Art.IWM ART LD 371)</a>” shows ARP officers in the foreground carrying stretchers to an ambulance, whilst a civilian is being attended to on the ground. In the background, firemen are fighting a fire in the 3rd floor of the buildings.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-371.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7502 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-371.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="587" height="800" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-371.jpg 587w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-371-220x300.jpg 220w" sizes="(max-width: 587px) 100vw, 587px" /></a></p> <p>As well as scenes showing the aftermath of bombing, Pitchforth’s work included many other works showing those involved in the defence of London. The following is an example and is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21815">AFS Practice with a Large Pump : On the banks of the Serpentine, London (Art.IWM ART LD 155)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-155.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7501 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-155.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="589" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-155.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-155-300x221.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-155-768x565.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-155-624x459.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The view is of the Auxiliary Fire Service practising on the side of the Serpentine. A large pump is pushing water through the hoses and I suspect the training is focused on how to keep hold and direct a flow of water under such large pressure.</p> <p>Roland Vivian Pitchforth was employed throughout the war by the WAAC. Rather than taking up individual paid commissions, Pitchfork was a salaried employee which provided him with permanent employment and also helps account for the large number of works he completed for the WAAC.</p> <h1>Anthony Gross</h1> <p>Before the war, Anthony Gross had spent almost 20 years as an artist in France. After his return to England, and at the start of the war he was taken on under the WAAC and soon became a salaried War Office Artist. He spent the first couple of years drawing and painting army life before embarking on a lengthy tour throughout the Middle East.</p> <p>The following work is one that Gross completed of a scene in London and is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/11411">Roof Spotters (Art.IWM ART LD 684)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-684.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7503 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-684.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="499" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-684.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-684-300x187.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-684-768x479.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-684-624x389.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The year is 1940 and the scene is of a couple of roof spotters looking out across London. Their role was to watch for, locate and report enemy aircraft and the impact of bombs across the city. In the foreground is a mapping table and St. Paul’s Cathedral and Tower Bridge can be seen in their field of view.</p> <p>His travel as a war artist in the Middle East was extensive. Starting in Egypt, he then worked through Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran. He was described by other war artists as being exceptionally good company and his travel diaries record a succession of “piss ups” and “beanfeasts”.</p> <h1>Henry Moore</h1> <p>Henry Moore was already an established artist and art teacher at the start of the war. He had served in the First World War and been injured during a gas attack.</p> <p>Whilst not formally employed by the WAAC, a number of his works were purchased and he was commissioned for a number of specific projects.</p> <p>His work was not simply an image of what he saw. Blurring much of the image and lack of detail produced an image that focused the eye on a specific subject. Moore produced a series of works showing Londoners huddled in the Underground stations, and the following is an example. Titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/19450">Women and Children in the Tube (Art.IWM ART LD 759)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-759.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7504 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-759.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="595" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-759.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-759-300x223.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-759-768x571.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-759-624x464.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The women and children in the front of the picture are clearly drawn, however the figures become more ghost like as the view moves to the right.</p> <p>Henry Moore was directly impacted by London bombing. His Hampstead house and studio was badly damaged by a bomb, so much so that he had to move out and relocated to a hamlet in Hertfordshire which would be his home for the rest of his life.</p> <h1>Edmond Xavier Kapp</h1> <p>Edmond Kapp also fought in the First World War. During the conflict he was gassed after which he withdrew from front line fighting and worked in an intelligence role.</p> <p>During the Second World War, Kapp received a number of commissions to provide drawings of people sheltering under London during the blitz. A series of drawings were made in the crypt under the church of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields and the following drawing titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/14555">Ready for Christmas: the Canteen under St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields (Art.IWM ART LD 800)</a>” is an example from the series.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-800.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7505 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-800.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="518" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-800.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-800-300x194.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-800-768x497.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-800-624x404.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The drawing shows the canteen ready for a Christmas celebration, with a couple of figures standing at the bar.</p> <h1>Graham Sutherland</h1> <p>Graham Sutherland was an established pre-war artist, teaching at the Chelsea School of Art. He received his first commission from the WAAC in June 1940 and second set of commissions in August 1940. These were to produce works from around the country rather than in London. It was in January 1941 that he received a salary of £325 to cover six months of work, which ended up covering the City and East End.</p> <p>During this period, he would spend occasional nights in the City, including sleeping in the deck chairs arranged around the Gallery of the Dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. His works from this period are very dramatic views of the devastation he found. An example being the following work titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/25861">The City : A fallen lift shaft (Art.IWM ART LD 893)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-893.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7506 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-893.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="478" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-893.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-893-300x179.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-893-768x459.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-893-624x373.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>Sutherland’s experiences at the time reveal the response of many of the victims of London bombing, often not portrayed in stories of the “blitz spirit”.</p> <p>Sutherland requested a camera so he could quickly take photos of the scenes he wanted to paint. This would avoid spending time at a site drawing or painting as “it is difficult to draw in some places without rousing a sense of resentment in the people”.</p> <p>It was a common experience among many of the war artists concentrating on the impact of London bombing. Those living in the areas they wanted to paint, and had suffered the impact of bombing often complained that war artists were “cashing in” on their misfortunes.</p> <h1>Harold Sandys Williamson</h1> <p>Harold Williamson was a commercial artists who also fought and was wounded in the First World War. He completed a short series of commissions for the WAAC, which included the following “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/38183">An Emergency Telephone Office in the City: January 1941 (Art.IWM ART LD 1189)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1189.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7509 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1189.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="321" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1189.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1189-300x120.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1189-768x308.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1189-624x250.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The image shows on the left an exterior view of a couple of figures looking over a bomb site, and on the right is a public telephone office with temporary booths set up in the foreground. Temporary telephone services were setup across the city where services into offices, warehouses and homes had been destroyed.</p> <h1>Dennis Flanders</h1> <p>Denis Flanders was an east London artist and draughtsman who used his skills during the war as part of the School of Military Engineering and later when he would create models of landscapes based on aerial reconnoissance photos.</p> <p>The WAAC purchased a number of his works, showing bomb damaged buildings across the country, including Exeter, Canterbury and London.</p> <p>His skill as a draughtsman is clear when looking at these drawings of the interiors of bombed buildings. The following is “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/9353">The Church Of St Anne and St Agnes : Gresham Street, EC2 1941 (Art.IWM ART LD 1233)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1233.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7534 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1233.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="764" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1233.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1233-300x287.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1233-768x733.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1233-624x596.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>These drawings are excellent, not just by showing the damage to these buildings, but also the level of architectural detail.</p> <p>The following is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/9354">St Stephens, Walbrook, 1941 (Art.IWM ART LD 1381)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1381.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7515 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1381.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="669" height="800" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1381.jpg 669w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1381-251x300.jpg 251w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1381-624x746.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 669px) 100vw, 669px" /></a></p> <p>As well as detailed studies of the interiors of bombed buildings, Flanders also produced view of bombed streets and buildings, again with an attention to detail. The following is of “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/9355">London : Clearance of debris between Gresham Street and St Paul’s, 1941 (Art.IWM ART LD 2214)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2214.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7522 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2214.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="635" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2214.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2214-300x238.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2214-768x610.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2214-624x495.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The picture shows the level of damage between Gresham Street and St. Paul’s Cathedral. The church in front of the cathedral is St. Vedast, Foster Lane.</p> <p>Flander’s life’s work was drawing the landscape and ancient buildings of Britain. He would cover the country by train in search of new subjects. Many of these drawings were finally published in a book “Britannia” in 1984. The subtitle to the book is “<span class="main-heading">Being a Selection of the Work of Dennis Flanders Who for Half a Century has Observed, Drawn and Loved the Landscape and Architecture of the British Isles” – that’s a rather good summary for a life’s work.</span></p> <h1>Leonard Henry Rosoman</h1> <p>Leonard Rosoman was teaching life classes at the Reimann School in London in 1939. He joined the Auxiliary Fire Service during the war and his experience during the blitz provided him with the source material for a number of his works.</p> <p>His most well known work is the following, “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/23296">A House Collapsing on Two Firemen, Shoe Lane, London, EC4 (Art.IWM ART LD 1353)</a>” The wall collapse happened in front of Rosoman and the two firemen underneath the collapsing wall are his colleagues. As an example of the challenges of accurate source data, the book “The War Artists” states that both firemen were killed whereas Rosoman’s obituary states that one of the firemen was the novelist and travel writer William Sansom (a friend of Rosoman), and the other, unnamed fireman, died in the collapse. It was this fireman that had just taken over the hose from Rosoman. The event would go on to haunt Rosoman for the rest of his life.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1353.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-7511 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1353.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="670" height="800" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1353.jpg 670w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1353-251x300.jpg 251w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1353-624x745.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px" /></a></p> <p>No matter which of the sources are correct, the painting depicts a scene that Rosoman experienced and graphically portrays the very real dangers faced by the firefighters on a daily basis.</p> <p>As well as his work during the blitz, Rosoman was recruited by the war office to illustrate fire fighting books. When Rosoman painted the above picture he was not employed by the WAAC. The painting was purchased by the WAAC in August 1941 following an exhibition of work by Firemen Artists and Civil Defence Artists. Later in the war he was employed by the WAAC when he would spend some considerable time with the British Pacific Fleet, painting the shipping and ships crew.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">The following photo (<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205198090">© IWM D 2617</a>) shows Leonard Rosoman (sitting on the right) and the next artist, Bernard Hailstone (sitting on the left) on the rubble of a bomb site somewhere in London in 1940.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IWM-D-2617.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-7540 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IWM-D-2617.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="533" height="800" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IWM-D-2617.jpg 533w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IWM-D-2617-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px" /></a></p> <h1>Bernard Hailstone</h1> <p>Bernard Hailstone was also a member of the Auxiliary Fire Service and would have experienced the same death and destruction as Rosoman.</p> <p>The following is an example of his work and is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/11882">An Evening in the City : April 1941 (Art.IWM ART LD 1354</a>)”. The painting shows the final damping down of a fire in the rubble of an earlier raid. The church in the background is St. James Garlickhythe.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1354.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7512 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1354.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="640" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1354.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1354-300x240.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1354-768x614.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1354-624x499.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>After his work in the Auxiliary Fire Service, the WAAC commissioned Hailstone to travel with elements of the Merchant Navy Service and he toured the world working on this subject until the end of the war.</p> <p>His post war career saw Hailstone become a very successful portrait painter. His work included subjects such as Winston Churchill and Laurence Olivier.</p> <h1>Ernest Boye Uden</h1> <p>Ernest Boye Uden was a commercial artist living in Greenwich at the outbreak of war. From 1941 onwards he was an artist for the National Fire Service and his work covers many scenes from across London during the blitz.</p> <p>The following painting is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/26690">NFS Relief Crews Arriving at Millbank, London, May 1941 (Art.IWM ART LD 1359)</a>” The location is at what is now the roundabout at the end of Lambeth Bridge, looking along Millbank to the Victoria Tower of the Palace of Westminster.</p> <p><a style="font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent; font-size: 1rem;" href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1359.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-7542 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1359.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="540" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1359.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1359-300x203.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1359-768x518.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1359-624x421.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>In the next painting by Uden, we are close to the River Thames and a fire crew are moving their equipment to a fire on the right as indicated by the billowing smoke. The painting is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/26689">A Large Fire near the Thames, October 1940 (Art.IWM ART LD 1358)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1358.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7514 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1358.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="563" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1358.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1358-300x211.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1358-768x540.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1358-624x439.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>After the war, Uden taught at the Reigate School of Art and continued his work as a commercial artist.</p> <h1>Henry Samuel Merritt</h1> <p>Merritt was commissioned to record the ruins of London after bombing raids. The following image shows the devastation to the south of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/19086">St Nicholas Cole Abbey : Queen Victoria Street, EC4 (Art.IWM ART LD 1509)</a>” and shows the ruins of the church of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey on the left.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1509.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7516 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1509.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="687" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1509.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1509-300x258.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1509-768x660.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1509-624x536.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The illustration is very similar to a photo that my father took of the church and area to the south of the cathedral, however by the time my father has taken the following photo in 1947 the remains of the badly damaged buildings seen in front of the cathedral in Uden’s picture had been cleared (see my post on the church <a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/thebombedcity/st-nicholas-cole-abbey-a-bombed-church-and-film-location/">here</a>).</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7543 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-1-1024x651.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="625" height="397" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-1.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-1-300x191.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-1-768x488.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/War-Artists-1-624x397.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Merritt’s wartime work was very different to the country and coastal scenes that were his typical subject matter.</p> <h1>Paul Nash</h1> <p>Paul Nash had been a War Artist during the First World War and had created a series of works that uniquely captured the horror of the battlefields. Although he was chronically ill with bronchial asthma he took up an artist position with the Air Ministry at the start of the Second World War (the Air Ministry wanted to run their own separate scheme outside the WAAC), however Nash was later recruited as a salaried artist into the WAAC.</p> <p>His modernist style was often viewed as not suitable to depict the events of war, however the works he did create provide a very unique viewpoint of events during the war, which included the following titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/20102">Battle of Britain (Art.IWM ART LD 1550)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1550.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7518 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1550.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="537" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1550.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1550-300x201.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1550-768x516.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1550-624x419.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>Although not strictly a London scene, the viewpoint is from above London with the River Thames winding towards the estuary and the sea. Barrage balloons protecting the city can be seen at lower left and the trails of dogs fights run across the sky. To the upper right a formation of planes can be seen, possibly a formation of bombers making their way to the city. There is also the trail of dark smoke coming from a stricken plane as it crashes into the water.</p> <p>The painting captures so much about the Battle of Britain and the raids on the city.</p> <p>Nash would die soon after the war in July 1946, however his work from both the First and Second World Wars capture the horror and scale of these conflicts.</p> <h1>Louisa Puller</h1> <p>Louisa Puller was an artist who worked for the project funded by the Pilgrim Trust to Record the Changing Face of Britain, a project to record the rapidly changing countryside and urban landscapes of Britain in the 1940s.</p> <p>The WAAC also purchased some of Puller’s work, one of which was “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/22234">St Paul’s Cathedral : seen from Chiswell Street, near Moorgate Street,London (Art.IWM ART LD 1692)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1692.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7519 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1692.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="629" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1692.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1692-300x236.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1692-768x604.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1692-624x491.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The view shows the devastation caused by the raids of 1940/41 across the City and are in stark contrast to her work for the Recording Britain project which documented the rural side of the country as shown, for example, in the following work from 1942 of a livestock market in Cross Hayes, Malmesbury (<span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">© Victoria and Albert Museum, London)</span>:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2015HK5714_2500.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7545 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2015HK5714_2500-1024x768.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="625" height="469" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2015HK5714_2500-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2015HK5714_2500-300x225.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2015HK5714_2500-768x576.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2015HK5714_2500-624x468.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <h1>Duncan James Corrows Grant</h1> <p>Duncan Grant was a member of the Bloomsbury Group of artists and lived at 21 Fitzroy Square. During the war he was commissioned by the WAAC to produce two paintings, one of which is “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/11219">St Paul’s 1941 (Art.IWM ART LD 1844)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1844.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7520 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1844.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="536" height="800" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1844.jpg 536w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1844-201x300.jpg 201w" sizes="(max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px" /></a></p> <p>The painting is from the south of St. Paul’s and again shows the church of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey. The wooden fencing is alongside Queen Victoria Street and the remains of the cellars that were under buildings that once stood on the southern side of Queen Victoria Street are in the foreground of the picture.</p> <h1>Henry Rushbury</h1> <p>Henry Rushbury had been a First World War artist and was employed by the WAAC for the duration of the Second World War. He was known for his ability to record busy scenes and the majority of his work appears to have been munitions factories and shipbuilding. As an example of how the WAAC worked, Rushbury was commissioned by the WAAC for 100 guineas to complete three large drawings of shipbuilding on the Clyde.</p> <p>He also produced some London based work, which included the following titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/23521">Warships Week, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2, 1942 (Art.IWM ART LD 1929)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1929.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7521 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1929.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="551" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1929.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1929-300x207.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1929-768x529.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1929-624x430.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The scene shows Trafalgar Square decorated with flags, including naval signal flags with a mock-up of part of a war ship in the centre of the square. Warship Week was an event organised by Narional Savings to raise money to fund the build of warships and associated naval craft.</p> <h1>John Edgar Platt</h1> <p>John Edgar Platt was an art teacher before the war, and worked on a number of commercial projects which included the design of posters for the London Underground.</p> <p>During the early years of the Second World War, a number of his works were purchased by the WAAC and in 1943 he received a contract to produce paintings of river and coastal based transport. This commission was only made possible when a representative from the Ministry of War Transport joined the WAAC in 1943 and persuaded the Treasury to provide the funding for two artists to work on transport based subjects.</p> <p>The following work is an example of his depiction of River Thames traffic and is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21938">War-time traffic on the river Thames: War-supplies at Paul’s Wharf (Art.IWM ART LD 2640)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2640.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7524 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2640.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="622" height="800" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2640.jpg 622w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2640-233x300.jpg 233w" sizes="(max-width: 622px) 100vw, 622px" /></a></p> <p>Note the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral which is just visible in the gap between the buildings on the far side of the river.</p> <h1>William Lionel Clause</h1> <p>Although William Lionel Clause lived in London, he was mainly a landscape artist. Rather than works covering bomb sites, ruins, military equipment etc. his work for the WAAC always included people as the main subject. The following being an example “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/5138">Civil Defence Day – 15th November 1942 : At the south door of St Paul’s Cathedral. The march past of representatives of all Civil Defence Services. (Art.IWM ART LD 2864)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2864.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7526 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2864.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="499" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2864.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2864-300x187.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2864-768x479.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-2864-624x389.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The street edge in the foreground has the standard wooden fencing used across the City to fence of the street from the remains of building basements and cellars. In the background a couple of barrage balloons can be seen in the sky.</p> <p>His work for the WAAC were his last main commissions as he died soon after in 1946.</p> <h1>Ian Strang</h1> <p>Ian Strang’s work consisted mainly of drawings and etchings as he was an accomplished draughtsman. He had served in the First World War and produced a number of works during this period.</p> <p>Although not directly employed by the WAAC in the Second World War, a number of his works were purchased by the WAAC. These consisted of detailed drawings of bomb sites in London. The title of the first drawing by Strang is “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/25786">Cassell’s Tower and the Spire of St Bride’s, Fleet Street, London, EC4 (Art.IWM ART LD 3782)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3782.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7527 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3782.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="658" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3782.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3782-300x247.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3782-768x632.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3782-624x513.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The view is looking across ruins of bombed building towards the spire of St. Bride’s Church. In common with other wartime works, barrage balloons can be seen in the sky.</p> <p>The next drawing is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/25789">St Michael Paternoster Royal, College Hill, London, EC4 (Art.IWM ART LD 3785)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3785.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7528 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3785.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="636" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3785.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3785-300x239.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3785-768x611.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-3785-624x496.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>A railway viaduct runs along the left of the picture and from this descend a couple of large pipes that then run along the ground in the direction of the church. These were probably put in place to replace underground services that were damaged, or could have been pipes leading up from the river which carried water to a number of temporary reservoirs put in place across the City to provide emergency suppliers of water for fire fighting.</p> <p>The next drawing is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/25790">Ruins in Cripplegate, London, EC1 (Art.IWM ART LD 5305)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5305.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7530 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5305.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="563" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5305.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5305-300x211.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5305-768x540.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5305-624x439.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>The steps, now without a destination, are all that remain of the building that once stood on the site.</p> <h1>Frederick T.W. Cook</h1> <p>Frederick Cook sold a couple of works to the WAAC. In the following painting the main theme of the work is easy to miss at first glance, however look above the right hand tower of Tower Bridge and a Flying Bomb can be seen, the orange flame from the missile running back across the top of the bridge. Search lights are scanning the sky and one appears to have found its target. The painting is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/5500">A Flying-bomb over Tower Bridge (Art.IWM ART LD 4719)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-4719.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7529 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-4719.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="632" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-4719.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-4719-300x237.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-4719-768x607.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-4719-624x493.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <h1>C. Eliot Hodgkin</h1> <p>Eliot Hodgkin worked for the Ministry of Information during the war, and although he do not work directly for the WAAC, he was making paintings of bomb sites, mainly focusing on the plants that were colonising these sites in the later years of the war. He was offered a commission in 1945 and delivered two paintings to the WAAC, one of which was accepted so this is Hodgkin’s only work within the scope of the WAAC. Although it is basically a view of another bomb site, the difference is the focus on the plants growing in the foreground.</p> <p>The work is titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/13274">The Haberdashers’ Hall, 8th May 1945 (Art.IWM ART LD 5311)</a>” and shows the ruins of the Haberdashers Hall with examples of the plants that had swiftly colonised the City bomb sites in the foreground.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5311.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7532 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5311.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="620" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5311.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5311-300x233.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5311-768x595.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-5311-624x484.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <h1>Ethel Gabain</h1> <p>Ethel Gabain was a French / British artist who spent much of her life in Hampstead. Gabain was one of the first artists commissioned by the WAAC in early 1940 and she worked across the country, mainly focusing on detailed portraits of people.</p> <p>The WAAC commissioned a series of paintings of women who had taken over the jobs of the men who had been called up to the services. Her work also included women employed in many of the auxiliary services and the following is an example, titled “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/10178">Sandbag Filling, Islington Borough Council (Art.IWM ART LD 1443)</a>”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1443.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7549 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1443.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="671" height="800" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1443.jpg 671w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1443-252x300.jpg 252w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-1443-624x744.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 671px) 100vw, 671px" /></a></p> <p>The final work by the WAAC in today’s post is the following by Gabain. One her commissions by the WAAC was a series of five lithographs on the theme of Children in Wartime. Although in Southend rather than London, this scene of children being evacuated by train would have been a common site in London – my father was one of those evacuated at the start of the war, but he quickly returned after only a few weeks away.</p> <p>The title of the work is “<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/10173">The Evacuation of Children from Southend, Sunday 2nd June 1940</a><br /> by Ethel Gabain. (Art.IWM ART LD 264)”</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-264.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7550 size-full" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-264.jpg" alt="War Artists Advisory Committee" width="800" height="493" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-264.jpg 800w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-264-300x185.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-264-768x473.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Art.IWM-ART-LD-264-624x385.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p> <p>Gabain produced a significant number of works for the WAAC during the war years, with a total of 38 being purchased. This level of output was completed despite poor health, and having to travel the country in search of her subjects.</p> <p>The War Artists Advisory Committee managed to last through the war, despite financial challenges from the Treasury and continued competition from the Armed Forces who believed they should own the responsibility for the art produced by their own part of the forces.</p> <p>The War Artists Advisory Committee continued to the end of 1945, however with the end of the Ministry of Information, there was no home for the WAAC and the committee was dissolved after 197 meetings. Administration of the collection produced for the WAAC passed to the Imperial War Museum.</p> <p>The War Artists Advisory Committee was responsible for producing a considerable body of work, documenting nearly all aspects of the war.</p> <p>I hope that this sample of works covering London has illustrated the work of the WAAC and the considerable talents of the artists working for the committee.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/">alondoninheritance.com</a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://alondoninheritance.com/londonvistas/london-and-the-war-artists-advisory-committee/" data-text="London And The War Artists Advisory Committee" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://alondoninheritance.com/londonvistas/london-and-the-war-artists-advisory-committee/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li><a href="#" class="sharing-anchor sd-button share-more"><span>More</span></a></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul><div class="sharing-hidden"><div class="inner" style="display: none;width:150px;"><ul style="background-image:none;"><li class="share-bluesky"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-bluesky-7535" class="share-bluesky sd-button" href="https://alondoninheritance.com/londonvistas/london-and-the-war-artists-advisory-committee/?share=bluesky" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Bluesky" ><span>Bluesky</span></a></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div></div></div> </div> <footer class="entry-meta"> This entry was posted in <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/category/londonvistas/" rel="category tag">London Vistas</a> and tagged <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/tag/london-war-art/" rel="tag">London War Art</a>, <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/tag/waac/" rel="tag">WAAC</a>, <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/tag/war-artists/" rel="tag">War Artists</a>, <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/tag/war-artists-advisory-committee/" rel="tag">War Artists Advisory Committee</a> on <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/londonvistas/london-and-the-war-artists-advisory-committee/" title="8:31 am" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2018-01-21T08:31:03+00:00">January 21, 2018</time></a><span class="by-author"> by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://alondoninheritance.com/author/admin/" title="View all posts by admin" rel="author">admin</a></span></span>. </footer> </article> <article id="post-7486" class="post-7486 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-london-streets tag-globe-road tag-mile-end-road tag-stepney-green tag-strange-london"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"> <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-streets/xx-place-londons-strangest-street-name/" rel="bookmark">XX Place – London’s Strangest Street Name?</a> </h1> <div class="comments-link"> <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-streets/xx-place-londons-strangest-street-name/#comments">31 Replies</a> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>I came across XX Place in the book “Curious London” purchased by my father in 1951. The book was written by Hugh Pearman, a London taxi-driver who described the book as:</p> <p><em>“This little book is the result of the accumulated knowledge gathered during the years that I have been a London taxi-driver and it is my earnest hope that my readers will enjoy this guide to Curious London as much as I have enjoyed compiling it. It deals not with the London that most tourists visit, but with, as its name implies the unusual, the quaint and the curious.”</em></p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-6.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7483 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-6-700x1024.jpg" alt="XX Place" width="625" height="914" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-6-700x1024.jpg 700w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-6-205x300.jpg 205w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-6-768x1124.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-6-624x913.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>The book takes each of the (at the time) twenty nine boroughs and cities that made up the county of London and identifies six curious features of each.</p> <p>I was browsing through the book and a small photo of a street sign with the unusual name of XX Place, E1 stood out on the page covering Stepney. The description in the book reads:</p> <p><em>“Half hidden in Globe Road is a little turning with the oddest of all odd names, XX Place, so called, it is believed, because it was built to house their workers, by the owners of the huge brewery in whose shadow it stands. lending colour to that belief are the two little beer barrels, carved in stone, high up in the wall of one of the cottages”.</em></p> <p>It was such an unusual name that I thought it would be interesting to see what I could find of XX Place, a search that took me via the Tower Hamlets Archives to standing in Globe Road opposite the entrance to the street that was demolished in the 1950s.</p> <p>The book stated that XX Place was a turning off Globe Road in Stepney, it was therefore easy to find on the 1895 Ordnance Survey Map.</p> <p>In the extract below, Mile End Road is running along the lower part of the map. Globe Road is the street that runs from above the word “Tramway” in Mile End Road, northwards.</p> <p>Follow Globe Road and on the left, running back down towards Mile End Road is clearly marked XX Place.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-5.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7482 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-5-1024x646.jpg" alt="XX Place" width="625" height="394" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-5-1024x646.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-5-300x189.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-5-768x484.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-5-624x394.jpg 624w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-5.jpg 1289w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>To try and find some history on XX Place I carried out an online search on the Tower Hamlets Archives, and armed with a couple of reference numbers visited the archives on a Saturday morning. (The Tower Hamlets Archives are a wonderful resource, and the staff very knowledgeable and helpful).</p> <p>My first source at the archives was a small booklet published in 2001 by Ron Osborne titled XX Place. The booklet provided a description of XX Place.</p> <p>It was built in 1842 for locally employed workers. It was only a short street of 10 small terrace houses running along one side of the street. It was about 10 feet wide and the majority of those living in the street were employed at the nearby Charringtons Brewery.</p> <p>The local name for the street was either 2X Place, or, as known by older locals, Double X Place,</p> <p>On the side of the street opposite to the terrace houses was a Stepney Borough Council paving depot where cobble and kerb stones were stored.</p> <p>The houses were small – two rooms upstairs and a living room and kitchen downstairs. The front door opened directly into the living room, there was no passage between the front door and the rooms of the house.</p> <p>Each house had a very small backyard.</p> <p>Along with the booklet, the archives also had some other single page references to XX Place. One of these was composed of notes that confirmed the above and also included the recollection of a local to XX Place, that a friend who was one of eight children lived with their parents in one of the houses, so a family of ten lived in one of these small houses – a common situation across much of east London.</p> <p>There was a corner shop at the junction of XX Place and Globe Road. In the 1920s this was classed as a “rag shop”, then a Doctor had it as a surgery before moving to the corner of Alderney Road, it then became a baby dress shop and finally a radio shop where people would take their wireless batteries to be charged.</p> <p>The following photo shows XX Place, with the photo matching the description of the street. Note the street name plaque at the upper right.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/120583.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7477 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/120583-1024x751.jpg" alt="XX Place" width="625" height="458" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/120583-1024x751.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/120583-300x220.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/120583-768x564.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/120583-624x458.jpg 624w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/120583.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Image credit: <a href="https://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk/">London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, catalogue ref: SC_PHL_01_406_F8775 </a></p> <p>Tower Hamlets Archives also had a book which described a visit to XX Place, and unfortunately not being able to resist collecting London books I found a copy of the book on Abebooks. The book is A Londoner’s Own London by Charles G. Harper and published in 1927.</p> <p>Charles G. Harper was a typical travel writer of the time. People who could enhance his visits and stories always seemed to be there at the right time, and the writing displays a somewhat condescending attitude to many of the people he meets. However if you cut through this, Harper does provide some accurate descriptions, and his record of a visit to XX Place is as follows:</p> <p><em>“Among the streets of London is ‘XX Place’. It is in a sense an unknown quantity because the London Post Office Directory has no mention of it, although the Post Office Guide notes its existence. A policeman at Aldgate knew it; ‘It’s not worth going to look at’ he said.</em></p> <p><em>But I prefer to see for myself; so I got on a tramcar.</em></p> <p><em>Put me off at Globe Road, I said; I want to find XX Place. I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of it.</em></p> <p><em>Oh ! yes, I have, said the conductor to my surprise. I used to be an insurance agent, and I got some proposals from the people living there, and when I sent the papers in to the office, they wrote and told me there wasn’t any such place…..Thought I was having ’em on, I suppose, as you might say….So I took the Superintendent there, and showed him.</em></p> <p><em>I can explain it, said I; the Post Office Directory ignores XX Place; and of course, when the insurance people looked for and didn’t find it, they naturally thought there was not and could not be, a street with a name like that.</em></p> <p><em>It was a summer’s evening when I happened upon XX Place. Oh ! yes, there is such a street; I have not imagined it.</em></p> <p><em>XX Place is a little by-way out of Globe Road which turns out of Mile End Road at Stepney Green railway-station. There is a public house, the Globe at the other corner. There would probably be another pub at the first named corner, except that the station is there. indeed, it is likely that one was disestablished to make way for the station.</em></p> <p><em>But however that may be, there is a public house on the farther side of Stepney Green Station. It is the ‘Black Boy’. There were two policemen at the corner of XX Place at the time of my advent. The westering sun shone in my eyes, as I looked about me and could not read the name plate on the corner house.</em></p> <p><em>Where is XX Place, I asked.</em></p> <p><em>You’re looking at it, said one of the constables.</em></p> <p><em>i looked at little more, and perceived a, well, cul-de-sac if you like; a short street with little four roomed houses on the right, the dead wall of one of the Stepney Borough Council’s yards on the left, and at the end another dead wall.</em></p> <p><em>What sort of people live there?, I asked one of the constables.</em></p> <p><em>I don’t know. he answered, rather loftily, I never speak to them.</em></p> <p><em>I will, I made reply, caustically; do you think it’s safe? If you hear me presently call for help, come to the rescue. The constable turned away daunted. Such is the effect of a sub-acid humour.</em></p> <p><em>So I made the acquaintance of the people of XX Place myself. Approaching one, who was drinking, he poured some of it out of a jug into a glass and offered it to me. With my customary bonhomie, I accepted, and found it to be ale; the product, probably of either the neighbouring brewery of Charrington, or of the equally neighbouring Mann, Crossman and Co.</em></p> <p><em>The natives of XX Place are not less urbane than those of Grosvenor Place; and perhaps a little more human. They are likeable folk. It is, you may be surprised to learn, as much de riguer in XX Place to wear a collar (and not merely a neckcloth) as it is in the West End.</em></p> <p><em>They are rather proud of the implied distinction conferred upon them in living there, but they have their conventions. You must, if you please, style it ‘Double X Place’; or they will not be pleased.</em></p> <p><em>Amiably they do the honours, pointing out the tablet set in the front on the middle house, which displays the semblance of the projecting half of a barrel, surmounting the inscription ‘1823. I.S., J.S.’ It appears that those initials stand for members of the Stayner family, who built it. There is a considerable Stayner estate in the neighbourhood, and the inhabitants render their rents to a firm of solicitors. The little houses were formerly let at five shillings weekly; but now at ten shillings.</em></p> <p><em>Nothing seems to have survived to account for the naming of XX Place; but the evidence of the barrel on the tablet hints obviously at some connection with a brewery which produces ale of that double X quality. </em></p> <p><em>The sole grievance of the denizens of XX Place appears to be that the former right of way through to the ‘Black Boy’ inn has been abolished. I advised them to bear up against this adversity; and pointed out that the ‘Globe’ in the other direction was no greater distance. But you have to cross the road to reach that. Nothing, therefore, short of the reopening of the former footpath, will appease them; and as that appears to be unlikely, I am afraid the grievance of XX Place will not merely go unredressed, but will remain a sorrow until the memory of its sometime existence is forgotten.”</em></p> <p>Harper included his own drawings in the book. The following drawing shows the entrance to XX Place from Glove Road with the shop on the corner:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-8.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7485 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-8-1024x832.jpg" alt="XX Place" width="625" height="508" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-8-1024x832.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-8-300x244.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-8-768x624.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-8-624x507.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>The following drawing by Harper shows the tablet mentioned in his text with the barrel. The 2001 booklet by Ron Osborne mentions that the tablet is still to be found, although in a very sorry state. I walked the area that was once XX Place but could not find any hint of the tablet, so not sure if it has been removed since 2001, or if I was looking in the wrong place. I would be interested in any information as to the location or fate of the tablet.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-7.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7484 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-7-1024x925.jpg" alt="XX Place" width="625" height="565" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-7-1024x925.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-7-300x271.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-7-768x694.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-7-624x564.jpg 624w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-7.jpg 1816w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Harper’s text mentions the Black Boy pub. If you go back to the 1895 map and follow XX Place down, there is a long building that runs down to Mile End Road and is labelled PH. This is the Black Boy pub and it was obviously an easy walk for the inhabitants of XX Place down to their local pub.</p> <p>The right of way to the Black Boy was closed up at the beginning of the 20th century. There is a letter in the East London Observer on the 28th November 1903 referring to the closing up of XX Place. This was probably down to the redevelopment of this corner of Mile End Road and Globe Road associated with the coming of the railway. The 1895 map does not show Stepney Green station which is on the left hand corner of Mile End Road and Globe Road. The station was opened in 1902 by the Whitechapel and Bow railway.</p> <p>The main reason that XX Place appeared in newspapers seems to be not for any newsworthy event in the street, rather the strangeness of the name. A typical example is an article in the London Daily News on the 6th August 1904 titled “Stepney’s Nature Study”. The article traces a number of street names in Stepney that have an animal as part of the name, and then goes on to say:</p> <p><em>“In addition, some curious names are to be found, for there is an Elbow Lane, a Frying Pan Alley, and Shoulder of Mutton Alley, but none of these are so curious as XX Place in Mile End.”</em></p> <p>XX Place was also mentioned in the Shoreditch Observer on the 3rd June 1899 as the most curiously named street in London. It also names a couple of other street names which would have been contenders if the names had not been changed: <em>“Hocum Pocum Lane in Hither Green and Kicking Boy Alley have been altered”</em>.</p> <p>XX Place was demolished around 1957/58 as part of the London County Council slum clearance programme. The site was then occupied by a council run laundry, including a later self-service launderette which closed in 1975. There then followed a period of temporary use until the area was cleared in 1989 to make way for the Stocks Court student accommodation block which now occupies much of the length of Globe Road which included the entrance to XX Place.</p> <p>After visiting the Tower Hamlets Archive I walked along Mile End Road to Globe Road. This is Stocks Court. The junction of XX Place and Globe Road was to the left of the bus stop, roughly where the tree is located.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7478 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-1-1024x769.jpg" alt="XX Place" width="625" height="469" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-1-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-1-768x577.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-1-624x469.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>I walked around the back of Stocks Court trying to find the tablet which Ron Osborne had mentioned was still to be found in 2001, but could not find any evidence of the tablet’s survival.</p> <p>This is the view looking back towards the rear of Stocks Court. XX Place would have run roughly down the centre of the photo. To the right would have been the rear entrance to the Black Boy pub. I suspect there would have been many late night, drunken walks from pub back to house in the area covered by this photo, and probably explains why the residents objected to the blocking up of XX Place as they lost a short and safe route between house and pub and now had to risk crossing a road.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7479 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-2-1024x769.jpg" alt="XX Place" width="625" height="469" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-2-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-2-768x577.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-2-624x469.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Returning to Mile End Road, this is the building that was once the Black Boy pub, until closure in 1996. The original pub on this site dates back to the 18th century, however the current building was a 1904 rebuild of the pub during the redevelopment of the area when Stepney Green station arrived (which is just to the right of the photo).</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-4.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7481 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-4-1024x761.jpg" alt="XX Place" width="625" height="464" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-4-1024x761.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-4-300x223.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-4-768x571.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-4-624x464.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Stepney Green station on the corner of Mile End Road and Globe Road:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-9.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7493 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-9-1024x769.jpg" alt="XX Place" width="625" height="469" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-9-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-9-300x225.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-9-768x577.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-9-624x469.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>I walked around the area once occupied by XX Place, and the surrounding streets in the hope of finding the tablet with the barrel that was once to be found in the terrace in XX Place and recorded as still being seen, although in a poor state in 2001 by Ron Osborne.</p> <p>Although I was unable to find the tablet, I did find a rather nice London County Council “Stop” sign at the entrance to the car park for Withy House, an LCC built housing block on Globe Road.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-3.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7480 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-3-1024x745.jpg" alt="XX Place" width="625" height="455" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-3-1024x745.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-3-300x218.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-3-768x559.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XX-Place-3-624x454.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>I am not sure if XX Place is London’s strangest street name, however it is one of the more unusual.</p> <p>Although the street was demolished in the 1950s, the name can still be found locally with the XX Place Health Centre on the Mile End hospital site in Bancroft Road. As mentioned earlier in this post, a Doctor had a surgery on the corner of XX Place before moving to the corner of Alderney Road.</p> <p>Alderney Road was almost directly opposite XX Place and leads through to Bancroft Road opposite the Mile End Hospital site. Perhaps the current health centre can trace its root back to the doctor’s surgery at XX Place, hence the retention of the name.</p> <p>I would be really interested if anyone knows the location of, or what happened to the XX Place tablet. It would be the last physical link with this unusual Stepney street.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/">alondoninheritance.com</a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-streets/xx-place-londons-strangest-street-name/" data-text="XX Place - London's Strangest Street Name?" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-streets/xx-place-londons-strangest-street-name/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li><a href="#" class="sharing-anchor sd-button share-more"><span>More</span></a></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul><div class="sharing-hidden"><div class="inner" style="display: none;width:150px;"><ul style="background-image:none;"><li class="share-bluesky"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-bluesky-7486" class="share-bluesky sd-button" href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-streets/xx-place-londons-strangest-street-name/?share=bluesky" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Bluesky" ><span>Bluesky</span></a></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div></div></div> </div> <footer class="entry-meta"> This entry was posted in <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/category/london-streets/" rel="category tag">London Streets</a> and tagged <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/tag/globe-road/" rel="tag">Globe Road</a>, <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/tag/mile-end-road/" rel="tag">Mile End Road</a>, <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/tag/stepney-green/" rel="tag">Stepney Green</a>, <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/tag/strange-london/" rel="tag">Strange London</a> on <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-streets/xx-place-londons-strangest-street-name/" title="7:56 am" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2018-01-14T07:56:49+00:00">January 14, 2018</time></a><span class="by-author"> by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://alondoninheritance.com/author/admin/" title="View all posts by admin" rel="author">admin</a></span></span>. </footer> </article> <article id="post-7465" class="post-7465 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-london-photography tag-christmas tag-christmas-lights tag-city-of-london"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"> <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-photography/the-city-at-christmas/" rel="bookmark">The City At Christmas</a> </h1> <div class="comments-link"> <a href="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-photography/the-city-at-christmas/#comments">33 Replies</a> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>For fifty one weeks of the year, the City of London is busy. During the working week, the City is full of office workers, the pubs and restaurants are busy in the day and evening, and building sites are covered by workers in hi-vis jackets. During the weekend the City still does not sleep. Roads will be closed for roadworks, or to allow cranes to block the road as they lift equipment into construction sites. Hi-vis jackets continue to be a common site across the weekend as building work does not stop.</p> <p>There is one week in the year when all this stops. Between Christmas and the New Year the City turns into a rather magical place. The number of office workers is considerably reduced and almost all the construction sites are closed for the week. The City takes on a very different appearance, much quieter, less traffic, the cranes are still and there are very few walkers along the City streets.</p> <p>At the end of 2017, between Christmas and New Year I took a walk through the City. I waited until late afternoon as the City looked better after dark than on a grey December day.</p> <p>I took the underground to Tower Hill and then followed a random route to Blackfriars. Along this route I found streets where on a late afternoon / early evening I could stand for twenty minutes and not see another person (this could also have been longer but after twenty minutes I was getting bored and cold).</p> <p>Leaving Tower Hill station, I walked up Coopers Row and passed one of the entrances to Fenchurch Street Station with only a solitary passenger making their way up to the platforms:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7420 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-1-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-1-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-1-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-1-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-1-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>In Crutched Friars, underneath the rail tracks leading into Fenchurch Street Station is the Cheshire Cheese. A warm, welcoming glow coming from the pub, but few customers at this time of year:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7421 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-2-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-2-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-2-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-2-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-2-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>I walked up Lloyd’s Avenue, along Fenchurch Street to the junction with Leadenhall Street. The Aldgate Pump is on the corner and along Leadenhall Street is the Leadenhall Building (perhaps better known as the Cheesegrater):</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-3.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7422 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-3-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-3-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-3-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-3-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-3-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>There is a common scene in the entrance foyers to many of the office buildings. A solitary security guard sits behind the reception desk and decorated Christmas Trees celebrate the season, but with very few people around to admire them – they will probably have been removed by the time the City returns to life after New Year’s Day.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-4.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7423 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-4-688x1024.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="930" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-4-688x1024.jpg 688w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-4-201x300.jpg 201w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-4-768x1144.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-4-624x929.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Just off Leadenhall Street is Creechurch Lane. The church of St. Katherine Cree is on the corner, and part of the church is on the right of the photo below looking down Creechurch Lane. Despite the City’s 2,000 year history, the noise, traffic, construction work and numbers of people often make it hard to reconcile the City streets with that long period of time, however at this time of year, and along such a street, it is possible to feel the history of the City.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-5.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7424 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-5-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-5-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-5-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-5-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-5-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>At the base of the Leadenhall Building. All the escalators were running, but at this time of year there were no passengers for them to take up into the building.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-6.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7425 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-6-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-6-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-6-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-6-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-6-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>The Gherkin, or officially, 30 St. Mary Axe:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-7.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7426 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-7-680x1024.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="941" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-7-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-7-199x300.jpg 199w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-7-768x1156.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-7-624x940.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>At the base of The Scalpel – work having ceased on the construction of one of the City’s latest towers until the new year:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-8.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7427 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-8-680x1024.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="941" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-8-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-8-199x300.jpg 199w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-8-768x1156.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-8-624x940.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>From Leadenhall Street, I walked up St. Mary Axe:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-9.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7428 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-9-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-9-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-9-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-9-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-9-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Among the increasing number of glass and steel towers, there are still historic buildings to be found. This is the church of St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-10.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7429 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-10-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-10-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-10-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-10-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-10-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Opposite the church is the base of the Gherkin:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-11.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7430 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-11-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-11-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-11-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-11-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-11-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>And here it is possible to appreciate the multi-dimensional nature of the City. An entrance to a recently built underground car park is next to a church which was originally established here in the 13th century, whilst the City’s original tall tower, the NatWest Tower, now Tower 42 stands in the background with the frame of a new building to the left.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-12.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7431 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-12-680x1024.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="941" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-12-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-12-199x300.jpg 199w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-12-768x1156.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-12-624x940.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>There are so many take away food outlets across the City, but at this time of the year, many are closed, or close early:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-13.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7432 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-13-1024x667.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="407" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-13-1024x667.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-13-300x195.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-13-768x500.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-13-624x406.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Leaving St. Mary Axe I turned into Camomile Street to find more building sites, although they were quiet and empty. Only a few security staff taking an occasional walk around the site:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-14.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7433 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-14-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-14-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-14-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-14-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-14-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Leaving Camomile Street I turned into Bishopsgate. One of the narrow streets leading off from Bishopsgate is Alderman’s Walk, silent on a December evening with no footsteps echoing off the walls.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-15.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7434 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-15-680x1024.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="941" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-15-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-15-199x300.jpg 199w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-15-768x1156.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-15-624x940.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>My next stop was Liverpool Street Station. Outside the station was the busiest street that I would see during the evening with plenty of taxis waiting for passengers:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-16.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7435 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-16-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-16-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-16-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-16-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-16-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>The concourse of the station was the quietest I have seen for many years. A reduced service during the Christmas / New Year period was serving a reduced number of passengers.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-17.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7436 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-17-1024x675.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="412" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-17-1024x675.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-17-300x198.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-17-768x506.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-17-624x411.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Outside Liverpool Street Station, the construction site for the Elizabeth Line / Crossrail was closed, also part of the construction break between Christmas and the New Year.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-18.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7437 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-18-1024x674.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="411" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-18-1024x674.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-18-300x197.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-18-768x506.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-18-624x411.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>One of the entrances to Liverpool Street underground station on the right and Liverpool Street station in the background.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-19.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7438 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-19-1024x671.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="410" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-19-1024x671.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-19-300x197.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-19-768x503.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-19-624x409.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Walking along Old Broad Street, this was the view along New Broad Street:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-20.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7439 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-20-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-20-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-20-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-20-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-20-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>The entrance to Tower 42 in Old Broad Street (although I still think of this building as the NatWest Tower):</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-21.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7440 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-21-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-21-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-21-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-21-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-21-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>There has been building work around the base of the tower, however the walkways that lead from Old Broad Street, round the base of the tower to Bishopsgate are now open and a number of businesses targeting the local working population have now taken up residence:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-22.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7441 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-22-1024x673.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="411" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-22-1024x673.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-22-300x197.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-22-768x505.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-22-624x410.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Leaving Bishopsgate, i then walked down Threadneedle Street. Normally these streets would be busy, but this was the view down Finch Lane from Threadneedle Street:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-23.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7442 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-23-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-23-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-23-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-23-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-23-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>I then walked round the back of the Royal Exchange towards Cornhill:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-24.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7443 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-24-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-24-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-24-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-24-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-24-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>The Cornhill pump:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-25.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7444 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-25-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-25-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-25-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-25-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-25-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>There are many narrow lanes and alleys running south from Cornhill. These follow an old street plan and were often the location for the City’s original coffee houses. This one is Change Alley:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-26.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7445 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-26-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-26-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-26-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-26-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-26-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>At the Bank junction of Threadneedle Street and Cornhill looking back at the Royal Exchange. The towers of the City form a menacing backdrop to the low-rise buildings around this usually busy junction.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-27.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7446 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-27-1024x668.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="408" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-27-1024x668.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-27-300x196.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-27-768x501.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-27-624x407.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>A quiet entrance to the Bank underground station:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-28.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7447 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-28-680x1024.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="941" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-28-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-28-199x300.jpg 199w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-28-768x1156.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-28-624x940.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Leaving the Bank junction, I walked up Cheapside. All still relatively quiet, the pavements were getting busier as I left the central area of the City. The church of St. Mary-le-Bow always looks magnificent after dark:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-29.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7448 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-29-680x1024.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="941" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-29-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-29-199x300.jpg 199w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-29-768x1156.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-29-624x940.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>The Plane tree that stands at the site of St. Peter Cheap (one of the churches destroyed during the Great Fire, but not rebuilt) has been decorated for Christmas:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-30.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7449 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-30-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-30-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-30-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-30-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-30-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>I turned off Cheapside and walked down Wood Street. Many of the office buildings looked as if everyone had suddenly just got up and left. This office still had football playing on the ceiling mounted screens:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-31.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7450 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-31-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-31-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-31-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-31-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-31-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>From Wood Street I turned into Gresham Street and this is the view looking down to the church of St. Lawrence Jewry:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-33.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7452 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-33-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-33-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-33-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-33-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-33-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>And from Gresham Street I turned up Noble Street to see the remains of Roman and later buildings that run along the side of the street:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-34.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7453 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-34-680x1024.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="941" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-34-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-34-199x300.jpg 199w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-34-768x1156.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-34-624x940.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>At the top of Noble Street is London Wall. It was easy to take a casual wander across the road, unlike most days when there is usually plenty of traffic.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-35.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7454 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-35-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-35-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-35-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-35-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-35-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>From London Wall, I walked up Aldersgate Street, then turned into Long Lane to head towards Smithfield. This is East Passage that runs parallel to Long Lane and Middle Street, between the backs of the buildings that face onto these two streets. Another place where I stood for some time without seeing another person.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-36.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7455 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-36-680x1024.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="941" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-36-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-36-199x300.jpg 199w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-36-768x1156.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-36-624x940.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Back into Long Lane and this is the junction with Lindsey Street. The Smithfield market buildings are on the left and one of the new ticket halls for the Crossrail Farringdon Station is on the right:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-37.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7456 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-37-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-37-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-37-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-37-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-37-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>The Crossrail / Elizabeth Line ticket hall for Farringdon Station. This is planned to open in a year’s time in December 2018 and will probably be the catalyst for significant development in the area. For now, all is quiet.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-38.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7457 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-38-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-38-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-38-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-38-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-38-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>from Long Lane I walked up Rising Sun Court into Cloth Fair. The Rising Sun pub was open and looking very inviting on a cold December evening:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-39.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7458 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-39-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-39-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-39-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-39-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-39-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Into West Smithfield and the view across to the market buildings:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-40.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7459 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-40-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-40-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-40-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-40-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-40-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>From West Smithfield I walked under the gatehouse into the alley leading to the church of St. Bartholomew the Great. Again one of the places where the past feels almost tangible (despite one of the towers of the Barbican in the background). Whilst I was here, one person did walk across the graveyard and then along the alley – the noise of their footsteps, echoing of the buildings was surprisingly loud and emphasised the lack of other sounds in the alley.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-41.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7460 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-41-680x1024.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="941" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-41-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-41-199x300.jpg 199w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-41-768x1156.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-41-624x940.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>The central square at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-42.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7461 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-42-1024x670.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="409" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-42-1024x670.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-42-300x196.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-42-768x503.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-42-624x409.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>From West Smithfield, I walked along Giltspur Street, turning left into Newgate Street then down into Paternoster Square. The Temple Bar gateway looks very good after dark.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-43.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7462 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-43-1024x671.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="410" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-43-1024x671.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-43-300x196.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-43-768x503.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-43-624x409.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Walking around St. Paul’s Cathedral. This is a view from the south:</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-44.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7463 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-44-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-44-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-44-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-44-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-44-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>From St. Paul’s it was then down to Queen Victoria Street to my destination of Blackfriars underground station, although before reaching the station I had a much needed stop off at the Blackfriar.</p> <p><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-45.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-7464 size-large" src="http://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-45-1024x680.jpg" alt="Christmas in the City" width="625" height="415" srcset="https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-45-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-45-300x199.jpg 300w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-45-768x510.jpg 768w, https://alondoninheritance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/City-at-Christmas-45-624x414.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p>Photographing London over the Christmas to New Year period can be a bit of a cliché, however I really do find that walking the City at this time of year, without the noise, construction work, traffic and crowds does help to bring the history of the City to life – so many of the normal distractions have been removed.</p> <p>Standing in places such as Creechurch Lane, East Passage and the entrance alley to St. Bartholomew the Great feel like standing in places unchanged for hundreds of years.</p> <p>The City pubs are also much quieter in the evenings at this time of year and there is nothing better than walking into a warm, inviting pub from a cold street – which is exactly where I finished.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://alondoninheritance.com/">alondoninheritance.com</a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://alondoninheritance.com/london-photography/the-city-at-christmas/" data-text="The City At Christmas" 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class="widget-title">Blogroll</h3> <ul class='xoxo blogroll'> <li><a href="https://bugwomanlondon.com/">Bug Woman – Adventures in London</a></li> <li><a href="https://cabbieblog.com/">Cabbie Blog</a></li> <li><a href="https://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/">diamond geezer</a></li> <li><a href="http://dirtymodernscoundrel.blogspot.com/">Dirty Modern Scoundrel</a></li> <li><a href="https://flickeringlamps.com/">Flickering Lamps</a></li> <li><a href="https://greenwichindustrialhistory.blogspot.com/">Greenwich Industrial History</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/">Ian Visits</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.londonhistorians.org/">London Historians</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.londonhistorians.org/">London Topographical Society</a></li> <li><a href="https://naturegirlblogdotcom.wordpress.com/">naturegirl</a></li> <li><a href="https://spitalfieldslife.com/">Spitalfields Life</a></li> </ul> </aside> </div> </div> <footer id="colophon" role="contentinfo"> <div 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