MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS THE MANOLO BLAHNIK AT THE WALLACE COLLECTION...

The Wallace Collection sits in the former townhouse of of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford.  It was established in 1897 from the private collection created by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800-1870).  He left both the collection and the house to his illegitimate son, Sir Richard Wallace (1818-1890) and his widow then bequeathed the entire collection to the nation.
It is a very important collection of French 18th century decorative arts- many of them purchased after the end of the French Revolution in revolutionary sales (the selling of property confiscated from the monarchy, the Catholic Church and suspected counter-revolutionaries.)
The museum contains around 5,500 objects, and opened to the public in 1900.  It does not try and replicate the house to its state when Sir Richard and Lady Wallace lived there.  I've been here a few times before, and entrace is free.

Hertford House, in Manchester Square, London, is home to the Wallace Collection.  It sits not far behind Bond Street Tube station.

In 1872 Sir Richard Wallace presented 50 examples of this model of a drinking fountain to the city of Paris.  This later cast was given to the Wallace Collection by the London Borough of Shoreditch in 1959.

The grand staircase inside...

The first room you enter on the ground floor, with a relaxing, plush seating area...

Mirror and candelabra, amongst other things... 

A regal fireplace which is quite simplistic in comparison to some of the other offerings in this building...

China collection...

This marble statue (c.1871) is called Love Triumphant, and sits inside a beautiful tiled alcove.

Armoury...

Down the barrel of a gun...

Suits of armour...

Balcony of the first floor, taken on the staircase...

Vain Old Tart in her correct environment (surrounded by opulence, that is!)

Paintings mounted upon plush wallpaper...

These rooms look more 'stately'...

...And perhaps more masculine?  They are how I envision traditional gentlemen's clubs to look.

Fruity cabinet.  As always in these kind of galleries, I didn't take a picture of every single object or record every name, as I would have been here for an age and-a-half...

A long gallery...

...And another...

The stripy wallpaper is more subtle...

...As opposed to the jacquard wallpaper in some of the other rooms...

Modern staircase at the back of the house...

Downstairs again, to the rooms at the back of the house.  This airy, bow-windowed room is elegantly sumptuous, and was my favourite room in the house.💜

Reflections of splendour...

More ostentatious decoration, but is it wrong that textured wallpaper always reminds me of an Indian restaurant?!

The Rainbow Landscape (c.1636) by Peter Paul Rubens.
I took this photo as this was the most eye-catching painting I saw.

Now on to An Enquiring Mind:  Manolo Blahnik at the Wallace Collection, which runs until September 1st.

These 'flower' boots look a bit lost when photographed against the opulent background of the static collection...

My favourites in the whole collection are the shoes at the top of the glass dome...

All of the pieces were personally chosen by the man himself...

The shoes are dotted around the first floor of the museum.... 

I have to say, it's a luxurious collaboration which is really effective!

Some of the shoes are too over-the-top for me...

But I do hope to own (at least) one of his more simplistic pieces one day (maybe I can start by trawling eBay...)

Manuel 'Manolo' Blahnik Rodriguez, CBE, is a Spanish designer who was born in 1942...

I'm not a massive boot fan (I prefer strappy high heeled sandals) but I adore these sparkly delights...

These pictures are not too bad, especially as the use of a flash was forbidden...

I'm just happy that I was allowed to take photos at all- some establishments are way too precious about such things...

Manolo Blahnik has boutiques all over the world...

...But his flagship store is in Old Church Street, Chelsea, London.

As you can probably imagine, this exhibition is the main reason why I came into central London on this day...

Manolo Blahnik now resides in Bath (which I visited earlier this year).

Pretty daisy boots.  As with the Wallace Collection, I didn't hone in on all the given names in the shoe exhibition, or when they were produced, or for which season's collection.  Come and see for yourselves!

One of my favourite parts had to be this artistic display of Manolo Blahnik's sketches.

With this part of a very productive morning over, I then made my way up Oxford Street and continued my day.

TTFN

The Miss Elaineous

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TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by VIRGINIA WOOLF

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE

BY VIRGINIA WOOLF

THE BLURB:-

This simple and haunting story captures the transience of life life and its surrounding emotions.

To the Lighthouse is the most autobiographical of Virginia Woolf's novels. It is based on her own early experiences, and while it touches on childhood and children's perceptions and desires, it is at its most trenchant when exploring adult relationships, marriage and the changing class-structure in the period spanning the Great War.

THE REALITY:-

I bought this as I saw the Godrevy Lighthouse, in St Ives Bay, Cornwall, when I visited there in May. Virginia Woolf's family had a summer house in the area, which she used to visit as a child, and the lighthouse inspired this novel (even though she set her story in Scotland).

In that respect, I was disappointed. The lighthouse does not seem to feature in any extreme detail- rather as a backdrop for the events which take place. And not a lot of events do take place- this wasn't a story as such, as it seemed to centre around a couple of days of activities involving a house filled with a large family and its intellectual and artistic guests, followed by a bleak period which we don't really read about, and in which there are three significant deaths and then- FINALLY!- a trip to the lighthouse. But again, it's more about the journey than the destination.

Virginia Woolf was considered groundbreaking in that she writes with a style known as 'stream of consciousness'- where she gets into the heart and soul of individual's emotions and writes from more than one person's perspective. I found it an interesting way to write and the jist of the novel certainly moved me. We also learned about the life and times of most of these characters and got into the nitty-gritty of their feelings. It's an effective way to write, but I did find that the story ran on a bit because of this. This book was a bit like a drug in that I kind of didn't want to like it as it was too over-emotional and psychological but I couldn't help but want to find out what the conclusion was. And the conclusion was- nothing much but, at the same time, a very lot. Confused? As I said before, there wasn't much of a story here- more a turn of events- but the feelings some of the characters have to deal with (and with love and loss, that is somewhat dark) all kind of came to an ending which felt rather sad to me. This is not a novel that seems to have a lot of winners. Maybe we can leave that to the only hopeful duo; the next generation: James and Cam.

This was only 154 pages long but it did take me some time to read- partially because I've been busy, partially because it required concentration (it wasn't a 'light' read) as it flip-flopped between characters a lot and partially as I kind of dreaded picking it up- yet at the same time wanted to finish it. Largely autobiographical (another reason why I wanted to give it a go) this was certainly a breathtaking piece of work. But I kind of found it hard work at the same time; albeit of the compelling sort.

I'd give this author another go as I'm curious as to whether she adopts this style of prose for all her novels, but ideally I'd like to read something with more of a storyline.

MISS ELAINEOUS PEEPS INTO THE PET CEMETERY...

This wasn't a visit as such, as I didn't get to enter and walk around, so I'm calling it a peep.

The Pet Cemetary sits behind Victoria Gate Lodge in Hyde Park and was opened in 1881.  Mr Winbridge was the gatekeeper and he began burying dogs in the garden, starting with a Maltese Terrier called Cherry, who died of old age.  Cherry's owners were friends of the gatekeeper, and used to visit the park frequently, so they thought it was a fitting tribute to bury her right here.
The second dog to be interred here was Prince, who was owned by Sarah Fairbrother, an actress who called herself Louisa and who was married (illegally) to HRH Prince George of Cambridge.  Prince's grave has no dates on it, but it is known that he was killed under the wheels of a carriage; trampled to death by horses.  This fate was common for dogs in Victorian times.
From then on a trend was started, and the cemetery became the place for the fashionable members of society who lived near the park to bury their much-loved pets.  Mr Winbridge carried out the interments  (usually alone, as the owners were often too distressed to attend), placing the deceased animals in canvas bags, which he then sewed up, before burying them.
George Orwell called this cemetery 'perhaps the most horrible spectacle in London'.  Perhaps he was referring to the fact that, in times of often extreme poverty, these animals led comparatively unbelievably pampered lives.  But maybe spare a thought for Balu (son of Fritz) who was 'Poisoned by a cruel Swiss' in 1899.  Yes, his human parents may have been wealthy Victorians, but his epitaph suggests a less than pleasant ending.
Mr Winbridge gave over much of his garden and by the time the cemetery closed, in 1903, 300 animals were buried here.

I managed to get a few photos by poking my camera through the railings which look onto Bayswater Road, but it wasn't possible for me to get inside the garden which is, after all, private property.  Perhaps I should come back in the winter when there's less foliage to thwart me!

The large grave in the centre was the only grave where I could make out the inscription.  I think this dog was called Wilkie (emphasis on the word 'think'- it was too far away for even my laser-tweaked eyeballs to make out) and his neighbour to the left was either Witt- or Mutt.  Let's hope that for his sake it was the former... 

Some of the animals had 'human' names- such as Maudie, Dolly, Paul and Dick, and some pet names; such as Tippo, Butcha, Moussoo and Chips.  But I pity the poor, wee blighter who was called Scum...

There are cats in here as well as dogs.  There are also several birds and at least one monkey.

I've read about (and seen a photo on the internet of) one cat's grave.  It's marked with his name- Ginger Blyth- and states that he's 'A King of Pussies'.  Hmmm.  Maybe that's a moniker which hasn't aged well...😉

This place is very rarely open, but I'll keep frequenting the Royal Parks website in the hope that one of their guided tours pop up....

I walked round Victoria Gate Lodge, and these are the attractive flower beds at the side.  I was looking to find a sneaky way into the cemetery- but scaling these railings was a definite no! 

I didn't take a photo of Victoria Gate Lodge as to do so would have meant risking life and limb by stepping into the road, so I snapped neighbouring Buckhill Gate Lodge instead.  I think it makes for an enchanting little picture- it looks like it should be made of gingerbread! 😃

The view back down the steps onto Bayswater Road.  I like the fact that they've kept traditional red telephone boxes in this area.

I then skimmed along the side of Hyde Park as I made my way further west to Notting Hill.  Looking into the park you can see The Fountains, with the Pump House to the left.  There are lots of interesting things to see in this park, but it's vast- I've managed to get lost inside it before (twice, if I recall correctly).  It would have been when I was living in Hammersmith and decided to make my home from the west end, traversing the park diagonally.  Let's just say that I ended up taking the scenic route...  

Somewhere along the road are underground public conveniences, which I took advantage of.  This ominous venereal disease warning was on the wall of the ladies' toilet cubicle-  how nice!

Cafe Diana is in Notting Hill, and opened in 1989.  Dedicated to Princess Diana, she was, apparently a frequent visitor and supporter of this establishment...

You can see photos of the lady herself adorning the walls...

It's a traditional cafe and takeaway, and I'd intended to eat here- but it was a muggy, clammy day and I simply wasn't hungry, so I took a couple of snaps through the windows then hopped on the Tube and made my way home.

Maybe some other time!

TTFN

The Miss Elaineous

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