Playtime at Buckingham Palace

 

With Prince George having just celebrated his first birthday, it’s fitting that this year’s summer exhibition in the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace is all about royal childhood.

The display covers 250 years and nine generations. There are well-loved toys, treasured family gifts, outfits and books that give an unprecedented glimpse into life as a young member of the royal family. Previously unseen happy family photographs and home movies, some shot by the Queen herself, provide the background.

There's an interesting collection of school work (left). The oldest item is the handwriting book of the future George IV, dating from 1767, when he was five. You can compare its copperplate formality to the colourful work in Prince William’s geography exercise book (centre), done at a similar same age in 1987. There are also drawings by an 8-year-old Prince Charles (top), an impressive blue glazed bowl made by Prince Harry when he was 11, and some of the Queen’s books and learning games. 

The royal family kept records of their children's growth and development.  A “progress book” sheds light on Queen Victoria’s behaviour in the schoolroom. Comments range from “Good” to “Very thoughtless and Foolish” and “Very Impertinent”. Her lessons would have included embroidery and knitting – on display is a beautiful pink and cream woollen blanket she later crafted for her great granddaughter, Princess Alice. Beside it is the modern alpaca baby blanket given to Prince George last year by President and Mrs Obama.

Of the clothing on display, most was made for special occasions, and carefully looked after.  

 These velvet walking suits date from around 1868 and were worn by the future King George V. The christening gown in which Prince George was seen last year is on show, along with the easel carrying the announcement of his birth.

  In common with all youngsters, royal children enjoyed dressing up.

This Turkish-style suit worn by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, from around 1845 is in front of a fairy costume, decorated with sequins and tinsel, that belonged to Princess Anne. 

Playthings are an essential part of childhood, and the Palace ballroom is given over to an impressive four-metre-high display of toys. There are rocking horses, train sets, a miniature caravan presented to Prince Charles and Princess Anne in 1955, a donkey-drawn barouche used by Queen Victoria’s grandchildren and, for a young Prince Andrew, a little replica of the DBS used by James Bond in Goldfinger and Thunderball. It has rotating number plates, a pop-up bullet-proof shield, working smoke screen and electric water jets hidden in the rear reflectors.

Proof that these toys were used and enjoyed comes from the many film clips and photos showing young royals at play and with their parents.  In one, Prince Philip is joining in his children's fun, pedalling hard on a little tricycle, alongside Princess Anne on her bike, closely followed by Prince Charles on an orange toy tractor.  It’s a reminder that although Buckingham Palace is the setting for the Queen's official work, it’s also a family home, and has been since bought by George III in 1762.

Royal Childhood is part of a visit to the summer opening of Buckingham Palace, which runs until September 28, 2014.

www.royalcollection.org.uk

Yellow Book garden visiting

 One of the best things about going to Yellow Book gardens (which open to raise money for charity under the National Gardens Scheme) is the way they are brimming with inspiration. Last weekend I went up to Hertfordshire to see what Tom Stuart-Smith had created at his family home at Serge Hill, and came away with many photographs and notes of the eye-catching plant combinations – and a euphorbia I had coveted since seeing it at Hidcote. 

In his Barn Garden (left) he uses elements from the Daily Telegraph garden he created for Chelsea.The lime green of the euphorbia contrasts beautifully with a deep pink astrantia. 

  I loved the way the colours of these delphiniums and cranesbill geraniums play against each other.

This striking vista was created by hornbeam hedges - but would be too much work for me.

  This Sunday, June 29, the excitement moves to our part of London. Some neighbours, Chris and Miranda, are opening their garden  at 208 Walm Lane, NW2 3BP from 2pm to 6pm. It’s a tranquil oasis with island beds, deeply planted borders and a mini-woodland area with rhododendrons, ferns and hostas. Admission £3.50, children free. http://www.thegardennw2.co.uk/page2.htm

Then on Sunday, July 13 we have three local openings, with a combined entry ticket of £7.

 -- Jim and Elayne’s garden at 58a Teignmouth Rd, NW2 4DX, has evolved over the past eight years to become a haven for bees and wildflowers. There’s a lily pond with frogs and newts and a large pergola covered with wisteria, climbing roses and clematis.The garden was recently filmed for a future television series and has wheelchair access. http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/find-a-garden/garden.aspx?id=22805

-- Helen’s garden at 121 Anson Rd, NW2 4AH, open from 2pm – 5.30pm, is a lush country-style creation brimming with colour and year-round interest and surrounded by mature trees and shrubs. There are more details at http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/find-a-garden/garden.aspx?id=21189

-- The third garden, at 27 Menelik Road, is also open from 2pm to 5.30 pm. It has an Oriental corner with 'cha shit su' (tea house), large twisted robinia, pagoda and cloud pruned trees. The piazza is enclosed by formal bay trees, lush hostas and banana plant. http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/find-a-garden/garden.aspx?id=25276

Happy garden visiting!

Crossing the Thames

London’s bridges, old and new, are celebrated in a new art exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands. Using works from the museum’s collections – and with loans from contemporary artists – Bridge features paintings, prints, drawings, photographs and film, some of which have never been on public display before.

Among them is a print by Piranesi (left), dating from 1766, of the original Blackfriars Bridge under construction. There's also a chance, for the first month, to see a rare and fragile photograph by William Henry Fox Talbot of the original Hungerford Bridge in 1845, the year it was completed.

Of especial interest is a visualisation of Thomas Heatherwick’s proposed Garden Bridge which would link the South Bank and Temple. (The design has now gone to a planning committee. Fingers crossed it goes ahead.)

 Exhibition curator Francis Marshall (above, with the Garden Bridge) says to cross the Thames by bridge is to really see the city. “The bridges give a view of the capital impossible to appreciate from its jumbled medieval street plan.  Most of the time we are in a maze of streets and the city reveals itself in fragments. But on a bridge, iconic views of St Paul’s Cathedral and the Palace of Westminster become possible.”

Should the exhibition inspire you to find out more, the museum’s 3^rd floor tells the story of London’s bridges in depth with a lively introduction by Time Team presenter Tony Robinson. You can learn about the wooden bridge built by the Romans shortly after they invaded in AD31 (just to the east of today’s London Bridge), see a model of the first stone bridge, completed in 1209 and lined with buildings, including a chapel, and get an insight into the feat of Victorian engineering that is Tower Bridge, currently celebrating its 120^th anniversary.

The week before the exhibition opened, the museum, with historian Dan Cruickshank, hosted a river trip on a Thames Clipper that gave a detailed look at some of the bridges.  See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to1FivkbQ54

Bridge runs until November 2 and entry to both the exhibition and the Museum is free. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/bridge

London's rooftop garden (re)treat

John Lewis is marking its 150th anniversary with a present to customers - the department store has created a public garden on its roof. There, surrounded by colour and scent, shoppers can escape the bustle of Oxford St and enjoy a bite to eat along with a tea, juice or coffee. Peek over the beautifully-planted containers, and there’s a sweeping view across the city rooftops.

The garden was created by Tony Woods, RHS Young Garden Designer of the year 2013. It’s a mixture of traditional and contemporary. Old favourites such as roses and lavender mix with blocks of textural grasses and wild flowers, and the nectar-rich planting has lured in bees, adding their gentle buzz to this urban oasis.

Features include a gazebo with a planted roof, greenhouse, living wall, lawn, and some eyecatching chairs for relaxing.

I’ve been there a couple of times now, and judging by comments in the visitors’ book,  the project has legions of fans. Please John Lewis, can you make it a regular summer feature?

The Roof Garden is accessible through the shop (stairs from the 4th floor) and is open daily 10am – 4pm (Sunday 11.30am - 4pm) until the end of August.
http://www.johnlewis.com/our-shops/oxford-street/oxford-street-roof-garden

Outdoor begonia trial

I’m trialling two outdoor begonias from the Dutch company, Beekenkamp – Waterfall and Beauvilia, which is new this year. The good-sized plugs arrived like this in the post today, with care instructions,  and looked reasonably happy (below) after their journey.

The growers promise guaranteed  ‘exuberant’ flowering in all kinds of weather conditions well into late autumn, so it will be interesting to see how they fare in a London garden. Having potted the plugs up, I’m playing safe and will keep them indoors on the kitchen bench for a few days until the current cold snap ends. Then it’s out on to the terrace, and I’ll be reporting back on their progress.

The Beekenkamp begonia collection is available on the internet from www.bloomingrand.com and in the UK from Squires, Frosts and Alton Garden Centres and the RHS Plant Centres at Wisley and Harlow Carr.  

London's changing skyline

There’s an explosion in the number of tall buildings in London.  You may not be so aware of them at ground level, but looking across to the City from the dome of St Pauls the other day - a climb of 528 steps - the change was very evident. And these buildings are just the start - more than 230 towers of over 20 storeys across the capital are in the pipeline. An exhibition at the New London Architecture centre (until 12.6.2014 at the Building Centre, Store St, London WC1E 7BTL) looks at their impact and the planning system.

When St Paul’s was built after the Great Fire of 1666 it was the tallest building in London. At the height of the Blitz in 1940, it still towered over the city and Herbert Mason’s iconic photo of the dome emerging from the surrounding fires and smoke became an image of survival. Ten sight lines to St Paul’s from around the capital enjoy legal protection. With such development afoot, how much longer can these last?