MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS HAMPSTEAD...

 This was an eclectic Hampstead visit, and unfortunately photography wasn't allowed at all the sites we visited.

We started our day by having a look at the Magdala pub; named for the British victory in the 1868 Battle of Magdala.  It's where, in 1955, Ruth Ellis (the last woman to be hanged in Britain) shot her faithless lover, David Blakely, dead.  

The 1985 film Dance With A Stranger, starring Miranda Richardson as Ruth, and Rupert Everett as Blakely, remains one of my favourite films of all time.

These are supposed to be the original bullet holes, but doubt surrounds that.  Reports suggest that they were drilled into the wall by the brother of a rather inventive landlady in the 1990s, to make the venue more appealing to macabre sightseers.

This Snappy Snaps shop is where George Michael crashed his car whilst under the influence in 2010.  At the time, some wag wrote "Wham" on the wall!

We made our way to St John-at-Hampstead, a Church of England parish church.  The current version of the church dates back to 1747, and there are some notable burials in the churchyard.

This is the tomb of John Harrison (1693-1776), the clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer.

In the famous Only Fools And Horses "Time On Our Hands" episode, Del-Boy and Rodney auction one of Harrison's fictional timepieces for £6.2m. 

John Constable (1776-1837) was a Suffolk-born landscape painter in the Romantic tradition.

Here's a PDF of my favourite painting of his: Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, 1831.

Photo: Tate Britain.

The Flask is a well-known Hampstead pub, but we didn't stop for a pint.

We made our way to beautiful and imposing Burgh House, built during the reign of Queen Anne, in 1704.  It's been used as a museum since 1979.

During its lifespan it's been under various ownership including: Rudyard Kipling's daughter, Elsie Bambridge; The Royal East Middlesex Militia (where it was utilised as an officers' mess); a community centre (which housed a Citizen's Advice Bureau) and it has also stood unoccupied.

This is the beautiful panelled library, which can be hired for events.

We stumbled upon this art exhibition, entitled Finding Joy in a Landscape... 

Artist Lancelot Ribeiro spent his childhood in Goa, India, and his work is also inspired by his visits to abstract geological sites in North America and the glacial landscapes of Northern England.

Ribeiro's work represents his fascination with the world around him...

The Peggy Jay Gallery shows a variety of works for sale...

Walking up the stairs, with their cough-candy-twist balusters...

View down the upstairs hallway...

I'm quite sorry that the lovely colours of this rainbow veil got bleached out by the invading brilliant sunshine...

The SuperDean wandering around, and there is plenty of art to peruse up here, too...

Half-a-pithos...

Inspiration for a poem I am currently working on, and will post in due course...

Room view...

The dress is the first object I use in my poem, which tells a strange tale, including details of the bridegroom who produces this dress for his intended...

Two pictures, and you don't have to use every object in the room...

I use just the top picture- my second choice- as she's the mother of my heroine.  My poem tells a rather shady story...

Big, solid chair and a hand-held lamp...

I think this is a lamp- well, it is in my poem!  It's the third object I utilise.

Bauhaus chair and stacking table nest; my fourth and fifth objects, which feature when the psychiatrist comes to visit...

 

The protagonist in my poem goes quite mad and ends up regularly speaking to my sixth choice- this penguin!

I like the wording here, which serves as an intro to an exhibition here at Burgh House.

Nudes and some kind of viewing contraption in the room next door.

The painting is part of Claudia Piscitelli's We Are All Gods, which is about playfully reimagining gods and goddesses of classical myth on Hampstead Heath.

We headed off onto the Heath as we had a little time to kill before our next venture...

2 Willow Road was the home of Hungarian-born modernist architect Erno Goldfinger (1902-1987) and was completed in 1939.  The building of this home gave rise to local controversy, apparently including objections by James Bond author Ian Fleming, a nearby resident.  

It is said that Fleming named his protagonist Auric Goldfinger after him, but this has been disputed.  It's also been mentioned that Fleming heard the name whilst he was playing golf and simply liked it, thinking it would make for an attractive villain.  

Erno Goldfinger designed both the brutalist Balfron Tower (1967) in Poplar, East London, and its improvement, the Trellick Tower (1972) in North Kensigton.

Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in there.  

It is a very Art Deco-inspired home and quite minimalist, with some great works of art on display including: Eduardo Paolozzi; Henry Moore; Marcel Duchamp and an eye-watering Op Art piece by Bridget Riley.  

Could I live there?  It's a big fat no from me, although I can appreciate its artistry and historical value.

On a different day we took a wander to Poplar which, in E14, is not far away from me.  Here, in all its brutalist splendour, is the Balfron Tower.

The lift shaft sits in the separate tower, which apparently also contains rubbish chutes and laundry rooms.  Could I live here?  Yes, probably.  It's an urban girl's dream!

I have plans to return to Hampstead.

Until then,

TTFN

Miss Elaineous

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