'Pictures At An Exhibition'

Day 26

 

Crystal Palace - Custom House For Excel - Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich - Cyprus

 

Looking back over the last few posts on this blog, I do seem to have visited a disproportionate number of museums/exhibitions/historical dioramas on my way round the 'C's. What is it about this particular letter that encourages such an air of retrospection? I have no idea - but it continues today with three out of the four stations having connections to some exhibition or other, and the first of them being linked with the greatest exhibition of them all - The Great Exhibition of 1851.

They are also - praise be! - the last four stations in the 'C' section (not to be confused with the obstetric procedure of the same name). They do seem to have gone on forever, don't they. And I realise that any celebration must be short-lived, when I look at how many letters, and stations, I still have to visit. But for now at least, I'm pleased to chalk up another little mile-stone.

***

A tube strike on the Central Line today means that I'll have to get the District Line from Ealing instead. this isn't a huge problem as although the Central Line is generally the quicker of the two, on this occasion I'm going to have to change two or three times whichever Line I start off on, so it won't make much difference to my journey time.

 

Of the other people travelling on the train with me this morning, one immediately catches my eye (and raises a smile) as I appreciate a what seems to be a sense of humour similar to my own.

 

On the face of it, the person in question is as wildly different from me as you could imagine. Whereas I am relatively unadventurous in my attire and personal adornment, this twenty-something chap is decorated with several tattoos, various piercings, torn black drainpipe jeans, black hoodie, and a beard (as the writers of Blackadder would have it) you could lose a badger in. In other words, a typical example of what in my mind I would label 'Glastonbury Fodder'.

 

What catches my eye though is the tattoo, or rather tattoos, on the first two fingers of each hand.

 

Most of you will be familiar with, and possibly irritated by, the habit some people have of indicating mild sarcasm by the use of the hand gestures known as 'air quotes' - the representation of quotation marks in mid air by the flexing of the first two fingers of each hand.

 

Well, my travelling companion has taken it one step further by actually having quotation marks tattooed on the fingers in question, so that his 'air quotes' are clearly visible in black ink. Even better, he could, if he chooses, use just one of the fingers at a time, and thus indicate an apostrophe. Perhaps he plans to add a semi-colon or an exclamation mark to the other fingers to enable him to fully punctuate his speech.

 

Well, it appealed to my sense of humour...

 

***

Crystal Palace



Crystal Palace is my first port of call today and perhaps as a nod to the original structure of that name (more of which anon) the station has a certain grandeur to it, with tall arches dominating the platforms in a building which is clearly a period piece.

 

It sits right at the entrance to Crystal Palace Park, and it's into this park that I immediately turn on my arrival.

 

Although the park, and the area surrounding it, have long been known as Crystal Palace - the glass and cast-iron extravaganza that was the original 'Crystal Palace' building is no more, having burned down in 1936, and in fact it was actually first erected in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition in 1851. It was only moved here in 1854.

 

The 'Great Exhibition Of The Works Of Industry Of All Nations' (to give it its full title) was the brainchild of Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert and housed some 100,000 exhibits - from printing presses and calculating machines to 'Defensive Umbrellas' and expanding hearses. It made a huge profit, and this money went on to be used to build the various museums in South Kensington which were a project close to Albert's heart. the Albert Memorial opposite the Royal Albert Hall even has his figure holding a copy of the Great Exhibition catalogue on his knee.

 

The Crystal Palace was designed by Joseph Paxton, and was a pretty impressive feat of engineering, being a modular construction which could be erected (and later removed) in a relatively short space of time. The construction in Hyde Park took just nine months. Following the exhibition it was simply taken down and rebuilt on what was then known as Penge Common, but which is now the Crystal Palace Park.

 

Although the Palace is long gone, there remain in this park a number of curiosities which make it well worth a visit.

 

First up is the Athletics Track in the Crystal Palace Sports Centre, which was the location for the scene in The Italian Job that has spawned more dodgy Michael Caine impressions than any other. The landscape has changed somewhat since the total destruction of a small white van prompted Mr Caine to expound: "you're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" but I take a picture anyway.

My name... is NOT 'Michael Caine'...

 

A little further round there's a lake, around which, in a kind of suburban Jurassic Park, lurk several large sculptures of dinosaurs.

Jurassic Park?

 

Made of brick and concrete around an iron frame, the sculptures predate Charles Darwin's Origin Of Species... by about six years, and although rather inaccurate compared with what we know today, at the time they would have represented a controversial and radical view of world history.



Labyrinthodon



Plesiosaurus and Ichthyosaurus



 

Teleosaurus



Iguanadon



Megalosaurus



Megaloceros



 

 



Guy The Gorilla

Further round still is a statue of Guy The Gorilla. I'm not sure what the link with Crystal Palace Park is, but David Wynne's statue of one of London Zoo's most famous former residents is certainly popular with the numerous kids playing around it as I walk past today.

 

Crossing the park I pass an ornate bell in a covered timber structure. There doesn't seem to be any indication of why it is here, but I later discover it is apparently a memorial to the merchant seamen who lost there lives in WW2.

 

I'm all for memorials, but I do think it would be useful to tell people what exactly it is you're commemorating...

 

Memorial Bell

On the northern side of the park is a maze, which I judge from the semi-panicked cries of parents telling their kids to "stop running and stay exactly where you are", must be rather a good one. It is in fact one of the largest mazes in the country and was, among other things, the location of a scout rally in 1909 at which a few daring girls approached Sir Robert Baden-Powell and asked him if he could set up 'something for the girls'. He went on to create the Girl Guide movement the following year.

 

I don't go into the maze as I have to move on, but I do take a moment to photograph the 'Escape Gate', which seems to me to defeat the object of a maze...

Missing the point, surely?

 

TV Transmitter Tower

I move on to the last of the Park's features - the TV Transmitters. They were built in the days of analogue TV back in the 1950s, but continue to broadcast even in today's digital age.

 

But it's time to move on - I'm sure there's more to see here, and I could spend a whole day exploring, but I've got three more 'C's to tick off by the end of the day and time and Tubes wait for no man...

 

 

***

Conveniently, the last three stations are all on the DLR network. Inconveniently, the first and third are on one branch, while the second is on a completely different branch and south of the river.

 

Still, this DLR odyssey shouldn't take me too long to travel between them all if all runs smoothly.

 

Custom House

The first of the three remaining stations has the rather ponderous name of 'Custom House for ExCeL' - the ExCel in question being an exhibition centre (continuing the 'exhibition theme' of today's travels.)

 

The curiously capitalised 'ExCeL' is an acronym which stands for Exhibition Centre London, and thus causes anguished pangs for those of us who have a horror of tautology.

 

Hearing the ExCeL referred to as either the ExCeL Centre (the second 'centre' is redundant) or worse, the ExCeL Exhibition Centre (i.e. the 'Exhibition Centre London Exhibition Centre'...erm, what?!?) is bad enough - but when I look up and see that even the building's owners have fallen into the tautological trap and put up a sign saying 'ExCeL London', I have an almost irresistible urge to start pulling my hair out and to sit gibbering in a corner.

 

The Exhibition Centre London London Exhibition Centre...

The station and the exhibition centre are linked by a covered walkway, and there's a large terrace overlooking Royal Victoria Square, where visitors to the centre and local workers can spend a pleasant lunch-hour.

 

It's not the prettiest building I've ever seen - but I don't suppose many exhibition centres have any aspirations in that direction - it's what's going on inside that's more important.

 

Today it's a convention for Jehovah's Witnesses, which not even for the sake of travelogue vérité, am I prepared to subject myself to (I'm not a believer, but even if I were, I think I'd be put off by the narrow-minded vitriol of many of the world's religions. In my opinion a 'christ' is for life, not just for dogmas...)

 

So instead I spend a few minutes walking around the square and down to the dockside. This is the Royal Victoria Dock and has been regenerated in much the same way as the other London docks - creating a welcoming waterside area while maintaining a visible link to its history as a working dock. Cranes still stand by the water, and in front of the ExCeL there is a memorial sculpture of dockers at work called, I understand, 'Landed'.

 

'Landed' - Dockers at work

Underneath the arches...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I take a few photos, but it's not long before I decide to move on and head south across the river to Greenwich, and the next station.

 

***

Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich - another mouthful of a station name - is one of two DLR stations in central Greenwich (the other being Greenwich itself) and is tucked away down a little pedestrian arcade.

 

Cutty Sark

I do wonder whether this penchant for naming DLR stations after the nearest big tourist attraction should be extended to the rest of the network. I'm sure the thousands of bemused tourists struggling to find their way around the Capital would find their lives much easier if the tube map included such stations as, for example, 'Charing Cross for Trafalgar Square', 'Green Park for Buckingham Palace', 'Oxford Street for overpriced tat...' and so on.

 

I walk the two minutes round the corner from the station to the Cutty Sark herself and after a few moments taking photos from outside, decide to pay my £13.50 to have a proper look round the ship.

Cutty Sark

 

Up the rigging

The Cutty Sark has for many years been a museum-ship and the recent restoration following a severe fire in 2007 has allowed the authorities to create a fully enclosed exhibition area inside, around and even below the hull of the vessel - although some areas work better than others.

 

Figurehead of the 'Cutty Sark'

Originally built in 1869, the Cutty Sark was a 'clipper' - one of the fast ships that bought goods (in this case tea and later wool) from China and the southern hemisphere - and was in service until 1922 when she was bought for use as a training ship. This continued (first in Falmouth and later in Greenhithe) until she was finally decommissioned and moved to dry-dock in Greenwich.

 

Lower Deck

Porthole view

Now restored to full 'multi-media visitor experience' glory, I'm somewhat disappointed with the lower decks. There are video displays, interactive screens, plastic 'ship's biscuits', and cuddly-toy rats under the tea-crates, all lovingly encased in Perspex to protect what remains of the original ship. It all feels rather sterile and plastic.

 

 

 

Once you get up top however, the ship comes alive. Miles of rigging criss-cross above your head and the wood of the deck and the cabins is a welcome change from the Perspex down below.

Rigging

 

Cutty Sark Bell

More Rigging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A View From The Bridge

Don't fancy his job much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's a lot of rope

It is an impressive ship, and an interesting half-hour's diversion - but I soon tire of the hordes of tourists blocking the gangways and ignoring the signs requesting 'please do not climb'. So I call it a day and get the DLR northwards once more.

 

Signal Flags

Figureheads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

And so to the final station of the day, and the final 'C'.

 

Sadly, Cyprus station is a bit of an anti-climax. It's two stops from the end of the Beckton branch of the DLR, and lies to the north of the Royal Albert Dock. Unfortunately the University of East London blocks the path to the Dockside and all I can see looking south is concrete buildings.


Cyprus

Heading north from the station up East Ham Manor Way there's a medical centre and a newsagents but little else.

It seems a shame to end on such a disappointing note, but them's the breaks. All I can do is celebrate the end of another section, and look forward to the much shorter list of 'D's.