Day 60
Marble Arch - Marylebone - Mile End
Another scorcher of a day as I set off on what promises to be a relatively easy day's travelling - my first stop being just twenty minutes from home on the Central Line, and the one after that within walking distance of the first. The third station is almost as straightforward, though a little further out east, and again on the Central Line.
In fact the only potential downside of all of this is that I might get round so quickly that I decide to attempt the next station on the list as well - but that one is unfortunately not so conveniently situated.
***
***
However, let's not get ahead of ourselves - I start the day at one of London's many well-known historical landmarks: Marble Arch.
Now, somewhere in the back of my mind I have a vague recollection that in a previous post I've already regaled you with a potted history of the arch and its not immediately obvious relationship to Buckingham Palace.
But try as I might, I'm damned if I can find that post. I've tried the obvious places - Hyde Park Corner and Green Park (being the closest to Buckingham Palace) but drawn a blank. So - apologies for the repetition, if there is any, but I'm not going to trawl through every single post in search of a few paragraphs which may in any case be nothing more than figments of my imagination.
Anyway - on with the history.
The white marble monumental arch which now stands at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, Edgware Road and Bayswater Road, was designed in 1827 by the prolific Regency architect John Nash. It was designed for, and originally situated at, the front entrance of Buckingham Palace which in those days was a three winged 'horseshoe' shaped edifice surrounding a court yard open to the front. the Arch was to be the ceremonial entrance to this courtyard.
When Queen Victoria came along, however, and decided to have rather more children than was strictly necessary, together with a huge retinue of courtiers, the palace was deemed to be too 'small' (I know - don't get me started) and so it was decided to fully enclose the courtyard with an additional wing - including the now famous balcony from which the Royal Family occasionally stand and wave at us.
This of course necessitated the relocation of the arch elsewhere (well, it wasn't cheap was it? - they weren't going to go and dump it in a skip just because they'd changed their minds about how they wanted their front door).
In 1851, therefore, the reconstruction of the Arch in its present location was completed and it became a ceremonial entrance to Hyde Park. Not surprisingly perhaps, given its original intended purpose, the only people historically allowed to pass though the arch were members of the Royal Family and their Royal Artillery. What is slightly more surprising is that this is still, technically, the case - though nobody enforces the rule.
The arch has three small rooms contained within it, which until as recently as 1968 were used as a miniature police station (that's a police station which is miniature - not a station for miniature policemen...)
The arch does seem to have a recurring problem fulfilling its intended purpose. Having already been moved once because it was no longer required as an entrance to Buckingham Palace, its use as an entrance to Hyde Park seems equally to have fallen by the wayside, as the widening of Park Lane in the 1960s has left it stranded in the middle of a busy roundabout.
The roundabout does at least have a bit of greenery on it, left over from its excision from the north-east corner of the park, and it also now features some rather striking sculpture.
Firstly, and most obvious as you drive or walk round the Arch, is the figure of a horse's head known as 'Still Water'.
The plaque at its base gives the bare minimum of information - including (confusingly) a different title for the piece: 'Horse At Water'.
In fact, 'Horse At Water' was an earlier, smaller version of the same sculpture, which originally stood here, and has since been moved to a country house in Gloucestershire. (I'm spotting a theme here - can nothing stay put for more than five minutes???)
A little further along, and closer to the fountains which are the other main feature of this roundabout, is a sculpture entitled 'Brothers'.
Again, the informative plaque is not actually all that informative, but the artist's website tells me that 'The position of Brothers at Marble Arch is very significant as this sculpture is a human arch showing the joining of two minds. It is an image of coming together, resolution and peace. But, it also offers a suggestion of symbolic meanings showing the arch as a symbol of connection and resolution. Distances between people that were formerly unbridgeable are now connected in less than a second and Brothers expresses this miraculous element of modernity'... Which works for me.
The fountains are the final point of interest on the roundabout, and are always fun to watch for a few moments on a hot day
And of course, for some, its an opportunity to rest one's weary feet and enjoy a refreshing foot spa...
Just to the north of the roundabout, at the very bottom of Edgware road, is another little traffic island - this time triangular in shape and seemingly unremarkable other than having a trio of recently planted trees growing on it.
If you look closer at the triangular spot delineated by these three trees, however, you'll notice a circular stone plaque set into the pavement, informing you that this was the site of the original Tyburn 'Tree' - which was the euphemistic term for the Tyburn Gallows, probably the most famous site of public execution in the city.
The name Tyburn was that of the village which originally stood at this location, and the gallows was unusual tin that it was able to execute several victims simultaneously. Forget any ideas you might have from the word game 'Hangman' of an inverted L-shape with a single noose hanging from it. This was a triangular frame laid flat atop three upright posts - with enough dangle room (as recorded on at least one occasion) for eight convicts to be hanged along each side of the triangle.
Which gives a rather more sinister significance to the fact that three new trees, in just such a triangular arrangement, have recently been planted here......
***
And so on to the next station on the list.
As is often the way of things in this city, the station I'm about to visit shares its name not only with a major thoroughfare, but also with the surrounding area. Sometimes this is a gradual process (and very much 'unofficial') as the local inhabitants use the station name as a kind of shorthand. In other cases the area name is official, and - in the case of Marylebone - has its origins in the local parish.
Marylebone is an area roughly bounded by four major roads - Great Portland St to the east, Oxford St to the south, Edgware Rd to the west and, of course, Marylebone Rd to the north. Marble Arch is therefore pretty much at the South Western apex of the area and it's only a - 10-15 minute walk through the elegant Regency streets to reach Marylebone Station.
Along the way I notice what seems to be a more than usual concentration of commemorative Blue Plaques, and - perhaps because being in a more central location makes me feel more 'touristy' than I usually do - I have to resist the urge to photograph every single one of them.
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| Marble Arch - the station |
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| Marble Arch - the arch |
But try as I might, I'm damned if I can find that post. I've tried the obvious places - Hyde Park Corner and Green Park (being the closest to Buckingham Palace) but drawn a blank. So - apologies for the repetition, if there is any, but I'm not going to trawl through every single post in search of a few paragraphs which may in any case be nothing more than figments of my imagination.
Anyway - on with the history.
The white marble monumental arch which now stands at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, Edgware Road and Bayswater Road, was designed in 1827 by the prolific Regency architect John Nash. It was designed for, and originally situated at, the front entrance of Buckingham Palace which in those days was a three winged 'horseshoe' shaped edifice surrounding a court yard open to the front. the Arch was to be the ceremonial entrance to this courtyard.
 |
| One of the ornamental gates in the arch. |
This of course necessitated the relocation of the arch elsewhere (well, it wasn't cheap was it? - they weren't going to go and dump it in a skip just because they'd changed their minds about how they wanted their front door).
 |
| Some of the decorative ornamentation. |
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| One of the doorways leading to the former 'police station' |
The arch has three small rooms contained within it, which until as recently as 1968 were used as a miniature police station (that's a police station which is miniature - not a station for miniature policemen...)
The arch does seem to have a recurring problem fulfilling its intended purpose. Having already been moved once because it was no longer required as an entrance to Buckingham Palace, its use as an entrance to Hyde Park seems equally to have fallen by the wayside, as the widening of Park Lane in the 1960s has left it stranded in the middle of a busy roundabout.
The roundabout does at least have a bit of greenery on it, left over from its excision from the north-east corner of the park, and it also now features some rather striking sculpture.
 |
| Horse At Water |
The plaque at its base gives the bare minimum of information - including (confusingly) a different title for the piece: 'Horse At Water'.
 |
| Artist information on the plinth. |
 |
| Brothers |
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| More info |
Again, the informative plaque is not actually all that informative, but the artist's website tells me that 'The position of Brothers at Marble Arch is very significant as this sculpture is a human arch showing the joining of two minds. It is an image of coming together, resolution and peace. But, it also offers a suggestion of symbolic meanings showing the arch as a symbol of connection and resolution. Distances between people that were formerly unbridgeable are now connected in less than a second and Brothers expresses this miraculous element of modernity'... Which works for me.
The fountains are the final point of interest on the roundabout, and are always fun to watch for a few moments on a hot day
 |
| Fountains by Marble Arch |
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| You put your left foot in... |
And of course, for some, its an opportunity to rest one's weary feet and enjoy a refreshing foot spa...
Just to the north of the roundabout, at the very bottom of Edgware road, is another little traffic island - this time triangular in shape and seemingly unremarkable other than having a trio of recently planted trees growing on it.
If you look closer at the triangular spot delineated by these three trees, however, you'll notice a circular stone plaque set into the pavement, informing you that this was the site of the original Tyburn 'Tree' - which was the euphemistic term for the Tyburn Gallows, probably the most famous site of public execution in the city.
 |
| Tyburn 'Tree' |
 |
| The 'Tyburn Tree' |
Which gives a rather more sinister significance to the fact that three new trees, in just such a triangular arrangement, have recently been planted here......
***
And so on to the next station on the list.
As is often the way of things in this city, the station I'm about to visit shares its name not only with a major thoroughfare, but also with the surrounding area. Sometimes this is a gradual process (and very much 'unofficial') as the local inhabitants use the station name as a kind of shorthand. In other cases the area name is official, and - in the case of Marylebone - has its origins in the local parish.
Marylebone is an area roughly bounded by four major roads - Great Portland St to the east, Oxford St to the south, Edgware Rd to the west and, of course, Marylebone Rd to the north. Marble Arch is therefore pretty much at the South Western apex of the area and it's only a - 10-15 minute walk through the elegant Regency streets to reach Marylebone Station.
Along the way I notice what seems to be a more than usual concentration of commemorative Blue Plaques, and - perhaps because being in a more central location makes me feel more 'touristy' than I usually do - I have to resist the urge to photograph every single one of them.
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| Elizabeth Garrett Anderson's House |
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| Blue Plaque |
On the other hand, one or two names catch my eye as worth a mention.
The first of these is Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, who - as the plaque proclaims - was the first woman to qualify as a doctor in Britain. Not only that, however, she was also a suffragette, the first female doctor of medicine in France, the founder of a hospital staffed by women, the fist female mayor and magistrate in Britain, the first woman to be elected to a school board and the first dean of a medical school.
Not bad, given that this was in the late 19th Century, when a woman's place was still very firmly 'in the home'.
Another woman - though very much more recently - whose name rings a distinct bell with me, is the founder of the world famous theatre school, Sylvia Young. Housed currently in a converted church, the school lists among its alumni such well-known names as Billie Piper, Keeley Hawes, Amy Winehouse, Rita Ora, and EastEnders actors Nick Berry and Adam Woodyatt.
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| Sylvia Young school |
Having begun with '10p a lesson' classes at her daughter's primary school, Sylvia Young went on to found her theatre school in 1972 with part-time evening classes. This became full-time in 1981.
A little further on, and I find another Blue Plaque, featuring another successful woman, and another theatre connection: Emma Cons, founder of the Old Vic theatre.
She lived during the same period as Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, and was equally vehement in her fight for women's suffrage.
She founded the Old Vic as the 'Royal Victoria Coffee And Music Hall' - offering cheap entertainment, including Shakespeare and Opera, to the working class people of the area.
Emma Cons had help running the theatres from her niece - Lilian Baylis - who would eventually go on to be one of the great theatrical producers of the early 20th Century, running both the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres.
Finally I reach Marylebone Road, and the station itself.
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| Marylebone Railway Station |
Being a mainline station as well as an underground station, I have to go inside for the 'official' photo of the tube station entrance.
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| Marylebone Tube Station |
But other than a few shops and cafés, the interior has little of interest - it's a station much like any other, this time being the terminus of trains mainly heading north-west along the A40 corridor towards Oxford and the Midlands.
As such, it's one of the least busy London terminals, which has attracted film and TV companies to use it as a 'stand-in' for some of the other, more crowded stations. It has made appearances in the film Paddington (standing in for the real Paddington Station), Spooks (ditto), Upstairs Downstairs (standing in for Charing Cross), the film The Ipcress File, and even an episode of Magnum P.I.
In 1964, however, it played host to the cast and crew of one film which starred four of the most well-known male performers on the planet - The Beatles.
Several scenes for the film A Hard Day's Night were shot here, including the arrival of the 'fab four' at the station entrance:
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| A Hard Day's Night |
Today's arrivals aren't quite so frenetic...
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| A Not Quite So Hard Day's Late Morning... |
***
I head back south into the heart of the Marylebone area.
I'm heading back towards Oxford Street and the Central Line to take me on to my next destination, but along the way I plan to visit a museum I've often heard of but have yet to experience.
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| Porcelain |
I first came across The Wallace Collection - a collection of various objets d'art, paintings and weaponry - while I was at drama school, rehearsing a restoration comedy. It was mentioned in passing as somewhere to visit in order to view the sort of thing a well-to-do family of the time might own.
Needless to say neither I nor any of the rest of the cast ever got round to visiting the collection, and so it's been lurking there, at the back of my mind, for years.
The collection is housed in Hertford House, Manchester Square. This was the London home of the Marquesses of Hertford - the Seymour-Conway family - and it was the 4th Marquess, Captain Richard Seymour-Conway, who was the first serious collector in the family.
He died without a legitimate heir, and so the collection passed into the hands of his illegitimate son, Richard Wallace - hence the collection's subsequent name.
Sir Richard, as he later became, continued his father's work, and the entire collection was bequeathed to the nation by his widow in 1897.
It's certainly an impressive collection. The house is very large and the collection fills every last nook and cranny, often to the extent that you feel somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer finery of everything around you.
I do find my interest waning after a while, however. For those who are into in this sort of thing I'm sure it's fascinating and every item will be an important and valuable example of its kind. For me, there's only so much gilt-covered bits of porcelain or pieces of furniture I really need to see in one lifetime.
On the other hand, the collection of weaponry is fascinating - if only to show off the extent of human ingenuity in finding different ways to maim and kill each other.
Finally, I leave the collection and head southwards toward Oxford Street and Bond Street tube station, from where I get the train to Mile End.
***
Mile End is, as the name might suggest, originally the name of a milestone marking the distance from the City of London (in this case measured from Aldgate).
It's rather a marked contrast to the opulence of the Wallace Collection, but none the less colourful for all that.
The main landmark near the station is The Green Bridge, which crosses the main A11 road and links the two halves of the Mile End Park. Although its yellow underside has apparently given rise to another name - the Banana Bridge - the official name derives from the idea of local architect Piers Gough to have trees and grass on top of the bridge as well as at either end of it.
The park itself was created from bombed out industrial land following WWII and contains various different areas including an ecology park, a play area, an arts park and the aforementioned bridge.
In 1381, during the Peasants' Revolt, this area also saw some 60,000 'Men Of Essex' camping here before meeting up with the Kentish rebels the following day and putting their grievances to King Richard II.
The western boundary of the park is marked by the Regent's Canal. You might be forgiven for missing the canal entirely, since it seems to have camouflaged itself in the colour of the park next door.
And that's about it for Mile End, and indeed for my travels today.
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| Clock in Billiard Room |
Needless to say neither I nor any of the rest of the cast ever got round to visiting the collection, and so it's been lurking there, at the back of my mind, for years.
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| Marquetry |
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| The Landing |
The collection is housed in Hertford House, Manchester Square. This was the London home of the Marquesses of Hertford - the Seymour-Conway family - and it was the 4th Marquess, Captain Richard Seymour-Conway, who was the first serious collector in the family.
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| Large Drawing Room |
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| Rembrandt Self-Portrait |
He died without a legitimate heir, and so the collection passed into the hands of his illegitimate son, Richard Wallace - hence the collection's subsequent name.
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| Great Gallery |
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| Snuff Boxes |
Sir Richard, as he later became, continued his father's work, and the entire collection was bequeathed to the nation by his widow in 1897.
It's certainly an impressive collection. The house is very large and the collection fills every last nook and cranny, often to the extent that you feel somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer finery of everything around you.
I do find my interest waning after a while, however. For those who are into in this sort of thing I'm sure it's fascinating and every item will be an important and valuable example of its kind. For me, there's only so much gilt-covered bits of porcelain or pieces of furniture I really need to see in one lifetime.
On the other hand, the collection of weaponry is fascinating - if only to show off the extent of human ingenuity in finding different ways to maim and kill each other.
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| Asian Daggers |
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| German Armour |
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| Daggers & Crossbow |
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| Cannon |
Finally, I leave the collection and head southwards toward Oxford Street and Bond Street tube station, from where I get the train to Mile End.
***
Mile End is, as the name might suggest, originally the name of a milestone marking the distance from the City of London (in this case measured from Aldgate).
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| Mile End |
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| Who needs Google Maps... |
The main landmark near the station is The Green Bridge, which crosses the main A11 road and links the two halves of the Mile End Park. Although its yellow underside has apparently given rise to another name - the Banana Bridge - the official name derives from the idea of local architect Piers Gough to have trees and grass on top of the bridge as well as at either end of it.
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| The Green Bridge |
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| Art Pavilion |
The western boundary of the park is marked by the Regent's Canal. You might be forgiven for missing the canal entirely, since it seems to have camouflaged itself in the colour of the park next door.
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| Regent's Canal |
And that's about it for Mile End, and indeed for my travels today.
I've decided to quit while I'm ahead rather than trying to squeeze another station in and not giving it its due time and consideration - so Mill Hill East will have to wait till next time.
Until then... ta-ta for now!
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