JE 129

London

Tim

Wednesday, January 24 – Harrow on the Hill

Rock ‘n Roll!

That is the theme for today. Well, at least until tonight (more on that later)…

I’m visiting another auction house in London this morning. This time it’s Christie’s, for a viewing of The Mark Knopfler Guitar Collection. Hopefully you’ve heard of him? If not, he’s best known as the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the band Dire Straits. One of my all-time favorite guitarists, definitely top five.

He’s auctioning off more than 120 of his guitars and amps at the end of the month, and they’re on display for public viewing. Let’s take a look…

The entrance to Christie’s
This guitar caught my eye because of the autographs and the Teenage Cancer Trust logo. This is the UK charity that will benefit from the concert by The Who that I will be attending in March. The signatures on the guitar include Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Sting, Ringo Starr, Bruce Springsteen, and many others. The estimate is £20,000 – £40,000.
This guitar has the highest estimate in the auction: £300,000 – £500,000. It’s a 1959 Gibson Les Paul. Note the original case behind it!
To me though, this is the star of the show. Christie’s must think so too, because it is the only guitar hung on this wall, and it is displayed in its own room!
It’s a 1983 Gibson Les Paul, but that’s not what makes it the star. It’s because it was used to record Money For Nothing and Brothers In Arms. The estimate is £10,000 – £15,000, which seems crazy low to me. It will be interesting to see what the hammer price brings.

Besides being one of my favorite guitarists, Mark Knopfler is also the artist responsible for one of my favorite songs, Brothers In Arms. If you’re not familiar with it, take a listen here.

Here’s a link to the auction information.

Continuing with the Rock ‘n Roll theme, my next stop will be the Hard Rock Cafe, to hopefully take a tour of their vault (of memorabilia).

A quick stop at St. James’s Square on the way to the Hard Rock.
The first Hard Rock Cafe, still in its original location, near Hyde Park Corner.

The vault is located in the basement of the Hard Rock Store, which is next door to the Cafe. I’ve taken the tour previously, but it’s been many years. And I’m in luck! Tours will be offered today, with the first one starting in about 20 minutes. (the tours are free of charge)

What followed proved to be an excellent argument for visiting London in the winter – I was the only one on the tour! And it got even better! My tour guide, Ash, was amazing. He provided me with some great background information on the items in the vault, as well as some wonderful stories from the early days of the cafe. He spent a half hour with just me. Unbelievable. I was so grateful I gave him £20 as we were about to leave the vault. Well, now he felt obliged to spend even more time with me! Brilliant! We talked some more in the vault, and then he took me next door to the Cafe, showing me some more memorabilia there. Finally, after spending a full hour with me, one of the staff from the store came over to the Cafe to grab Ash because he was scheduled to give the next vault tour!

Here are some pictures from the tour…

The items are literally in a vault…
…a very small room packed with many items.
A rare Tim sighting in the Journal! And could I look any more dorky?!? Ash had me replicate a Ringo Starr pose on the bench (legs crossed, peace sign).
The pose (I had my legs crossed the wrong way!)
We’re now over at the Cafe. On Ash’s phone is a picture of John Lennon wearing the item that’s in the display case above.
Above the bar at the Cafe. (I’ll be seeing him play in March!)
Ash showing a picture of Townshend coming back to the Cafe decades later, taking his guitar off the wall, and playing it!

What an experience! Thanks Ash!

My last stop on the Rock ‘n Roll outing will be at Savile Row, to pay homage to the Apple Corp. building were The Beatles played an impromptu rooftop concert.

The photo is taken at an odd angle because the sidewalk and half the road directly across the street were closed due to construction.

For those of you interested in seeing some great footage from the concert and the events leading up to it, I highly recommend the documentary The Beatles: Get Back. Here’s a link to an excerpt from the concert portion of the documentary (runs 4 minutes).

Okay, time to head back to the Hill to attend a production of Jekyll & Hyde by the Harrow School boys. This is a free performance, but tickets were required, which Mary obtained. It was just her and me tonight, as Tony opted to stay home to watch football.

Another excellent performance by the students!

Sidenote: Benedict Cumberbatch is a former Harrow School student. It would have been fun to see him perform during his high school days!

Thursday, January 25 – Harrow on the Hill

I remained on the Hill today to attend a couple Harrow School events this evening. I’m trying to take advantage of all that they’re offering!

The exhibition brought together many items from throughout the world to illustrate remote places and societies. The objects on display were drawn mainly from the Harrow School’s collection. A fun event!

It wasn’t very crowded, which was nice. Wine was even offered!
Chinese Imperial Table Screen, c. late 18th / early 19th century (Qing Dynasty)
The Bodhisattva Guanyin, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
I really liked this early 18th century sketch of the Sphinx. It shows the base buried in sand, and also disproved the 19th century theories that it was Napoleon’s troops who had destroyed its nose by using it as target practice!
Not related to the exhibition, but of course Winston Churchill deserves his place here as arguably the most noteworthy Old Harrovian.

Following the exhibition, I walked a couple of buildings over to watch the Singing Prizes competition in the Speech Room. For this event a total of 40 boys in three categories performed with the goal of being judged the best in their respective category (junior, intermediate, senior). The adjudicator was James Gilchrist, a tenor specializing in recital and oratorio singing.

The Speech Room prior to the start of the competition

So, there are 40 singers, and after each round of competition Mr. Gilchrist would give a short critique of each one and announce the winner. This is going to take a little while! But it’s not like I have to get up and go to work tomorrow!

The choice of songs was from composers I pretty much expected: Mozart, Schubert, Handel, etc. However, there were a few that went with selections from musicals like South Pacific and Man of La Mancha. One even choose Elton John’s Your Song. Again, amazing performances by the boys. But I have to say that to me the most outstanding performer of the night was the pianist (a member of the Harrow School staff) who accompanied each of the 40 students. Wow!

Friday, January 26 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m traveling to Dulwich (the ‘w’ is silent) in the South of London today to view an exhibition of paintings by Peter Paul Rubens at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Getting there took about an hour, using both the Underground and National Rail lines. It’s a beautiful day, so I’m also going to take a walking tour of the area, using the book that Tony lent to me.

The entry to the Rubens exhibit required a timed ticket (£15; can you believe I’m actually paying for something?!); I set mine up for mid-afternoon to allow me to take the walking tour first. Here are some of the sights along the way…

Dulwich College, founded in 1619. These buildings are from the 19th century. We’ll see the original college buildings later in the walk. This is now a boarding school for middle and high school age boys.
Dulwich College.

A funny story behind this picture. I entered through an open gate into the grounds of the college. Well, it turns out visitors aren’t allowed on the grounds, and one of the staff happened to come by after I took the picture. He was very nice about it, and we ended up talking for a few minutes. What really peaked my interest was his mentioning that the college has in its possession one of the boats from Shackleton’s exploration of Antarctica. He wasn’t sure if it was open for public viewing, but I’m absolutely going to follow up on that. Watch this space…

Dulwich Toll Gate (£1.20). This is the only toll gate left in London and raises thousands of pounds per year for the College estate. Fortunately pedestrians are exempt from the toll!
Not many animals pass through the gate anymore!
The Parish Church of Saint Stephen (c. 1868)
Enjoying the sunny day!
I’m now in the Sydenham Hill Woods nature reserve.
Cool fence!
Dulwich Park boating lake. Not very busy this time of year. Obviously the geese like it though!
College Lodge (c. 1889)
Old Dulwich College
19th century grammar school

An enjoyable walk in a picturesque village. I think I may have to come back here, especially if the Shackleton boat is available for viewing. Now, on to the Picture Gallery…

The Dulwich Picture Gallery is the first public picture gallery in England (early 19th century)
A walk around the permanent collection before entering the Rubens exhibit.
I like this Canaletto depicting the Thames in 1750, with London in the distance.
Rembrandt’s Girl at a Window (c. 1645). Wow!
Marchesa Maria Serra Pallavicino (c. 1606)
The Virgin in Adoration before the Christ Child (c. 1616-1619)
After viewing this 2nd century sculpture, Rubens reused this pose in several of his works.
Diana Returning from the Hunt (c. 1623)

Saturday, January 27 – Harrow on the Hill

A minor disappointment today. St, Mary’s church here on the Hill was planning on holding a fundraiser they called Spire Cafe Winter Warmer. Running from 11am to 6pm, on sale were to be “Hot filled rolls, homemade soup and cakes, mugs of hot spiced-apple juice, plus stacks of scones, fresh from the oven.” Yum! There was also going to be a talk inside the Church, Treasures of St Mary’s, given a couple times throughout the day. Well, I walked up there mid-afternoon only to find a note inside the church stating that the event was cancelled due to an illness. Bummer! Hopefully it will be rescheduled.

So, plan B for lunch turned out to be making a run to the aforementioned favorite – Wenzel’s.

Tuna salad baguette and a loaf of bread (£6.45)

I spent the rest of the day loafing (no pun intended!) around and working on this long overdue journal entry!

A couple random vehicle sightings…

I like this vintage Land Rover that is parked in the neighborhood.
EV charging on the Hill!

6 thoughts on “JE 129”

    1. Thanks for the note Kari. I really liked Dulwich too. In fact, I’m definitely going back in March because this morning I booked a tour of the Shackleton boat.

      Reply

  3. Tim great photos, by the way you look great @ Hard Rock cafe. How beautiful is the the Harrow’s Speech room specially the vaults and the roof. I like your visit to Dulwich, the college, the town, the park and the cat!. Take care.

    Reply

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