London Part Four

Hey everybody 👋

We are just one week away from leaving London so I will try to get up to date on this travel blog. You can expect a few more posts this week. 💌

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July 15th - we headed over to the Garden Museum which was across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament. It was a breezy day with cooler temps which was a nice change. 💨

We walked past the Covid Memorial Wall which was tender reminder of those who were lost. 😷

Saw this cute 'bucket hat brigade' just outside the museum. 🪣

The Garden Museum was ... housed in the deconsecrated church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, the Garden Museum contains the burial place of John Tradescant, an early gardener and plant hunter. To preserve his tomb, the Garden Museum was founded by Rosemary Nicholson, an admirer of Tradescant, in 1977. At the heart of the Museum is a sheltered courtyard garden designed by Dan Pearson as an ‘Eden’ of rare plants.

Unfortunately, the tower was closed. 🛑

The current art exhibit was The Lost Trees by Nancy Cadogan:

In The Lost Trees, Cadogan explores the emotional and environmental significance of trees through the human stories and connections tied to these lost giants. Her paintings serve as memorials and tributes to the trees, whether from private gardens, parks, or hedgerows—each felled for different reasons. These works are uplifting testaments to the enduring legacy of trees and the vital role they play in our lives, and what they do for us.

It was very a unique experience to see these works in a reverent location. ⛪️

The museum included many artifacts and history of English gardening. I loved these Kew Gardens student gardener's clogs from the 1950's. Interesting history from the Calendar Customs website:

Each September the new intake of students beginning the Kew Diploma in Horticulture take part in a race – and as gardeners they wear traditional garb of stout wooden clogs, and horticultural aprons with pockets for tools. Competitors race over a 375 yard flat course, from the Elizabeth Gate to the Orangery roundabout, and back again. ... The origins appear to be lost in the mists of time – but written records go back over 60 years and anecdotal evidence suggests that it started some time before that. Originally the race took place outside visitor opening hours but now anyone can watch as long as they’re inside Kew Gardens. Expect a loud thundering sound as the competitors approach in their wooden footwear!

Of course, there were a selection of trolls. 👹

More images of the amazing space - a wonderful way to use a former church building. 📸

The museum included a section with short videos about gardening in the UK. We learned about the work of home garden expert Beth Chatto and the Crawick Mulitverse installation in Scotland. Might need to put this on our list. 🗺️

We grabbed some bikes and then headed over to the very pretty and much-photographed Elizabeth Street in Belgravia Village district. 🌺🌼🌸

Very impressive hat store. 👒

This was a curious historic sign:

J.DESFORGES

GOLDSMITH AND WORKING JEWELLER

ORNAMENTS IN HAIR PLAIT & MOUNTED ON THE PREMISES

We got back to our house and Louie needed some Louie time. 🐾

The next night, we biked over to Riverside Studios and walked the nearby Hammersmith Bridge across the Thames.

The bridge was closed indefinitely to all motor traffic in April 2019 after cracks were discovered in the bridge's pedestals. ... Further work and intermittent closures continued until April 2025, when the resurfaced wooden roadway was reopened to pedestrians and cyclists. 🚲

We were there for a Pitch Back Playback event. According to Wikipedia:

Pitchblack Playback is a deep listening event founded in 2006 held primarily in London and occasionally in other cities across the world where audiences listen to new, upcoming and classic album releases in the dark. The events are generally held in seated cinema spaces and the audience wear blindfolds in addition to the lights in the room being switched off.

The event was created by London DJ, producer and entrepreneur, Ben Gomori and has been held in cities including New York, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and Los Angeles.

Steve first discovered this event in New Plymouth, New Zealand so were happy to find one in London with one of my favorite albums, Currents by Tame Impala (2015). The Pitchblack Playback founder, Ben Gomori, was at the show and Steve got a chance to talk to him about his experiences.

The sunset behind the bridge was a good one. 📸

Someone local recommended The Wallace Collection. She said it was a private art collection donated to the city in the original townhouse of the family. I didn't look into it any further so was surprised when we got there. It was a massive collection of fine and decorative arts. I suppose this was a town house (vs a country house) instead of a townhouse. Long Focus Post coming soon. 🖼️

The same person recommended Liberty's over Harrod's or Selfridges for old school London retail. We were so intrigued by the building that we made two visits to try to take it all in. Another Focus Post coming soon. 🏛️