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theDISCOVER BRITAIN WITH BRITAIN’S BEST GUIDES
COASTING AROUND BRITAIN
The joys and eccentricities of the seaside
Secrets of London’s menswear district
A TOUR AROUND THE GARDEN OF ENGLAND
THE GUIDES’ GUIDE TO MANCHESTER AND YORKSHIRE
SEVEN SURPRISING STORIES – LEGENDS, LIES AND LORE
GUIDEA HISTORY
OF BRITISH GARDENS
from the Romansto the Olympics
DRESSING THE PART
SUMMER 2016
BattlingBishopAuckland
INSIDE
23 July – 2 October 2016
ISS
N: 2
053-0
439
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ENGLAND LONDON WALES NORTHERNIRELAND
SCOTLAND GREEN BADGE
This magazine is produced by the British Guild of Tourist Guides – the nationalassociation for Blue Badge Guides (the highest guiding qualification in Britain.)
Email: [email protected] • www.britainsbestguides.org
Editor: Marc Zakian
Editorial Assistance: Mark King
Publisher:British Guild of Tourist Guides ©2016
Design and print:MYPEC T: +44 113 257 9646
W: www.mypec.co.uk
Display advertising: Blueprint Travel Media T: +44 1743 23 11 35
For our summer edition of The Guide we arecelebrating two great British institutions: seasideand gardens. You are never more than 100 milesfrom the coast on our little island, and ourshorelines have been welcoming holidaymakersfor two centuries. Sophie Campbell exploresthese seaside stories in an article that takes us ona watery wander around the country, on a tourthat peers into everything from piers to pigeons.
We take a look at Britain at her blooming best,with Marc Zakian investigating the history of theEnglish garden. Visiting these great estates to seehow the earth was literally moved so that ouraristocratic class could create pastoral play-grounds is both fascinating and inspiring. A horticultural theme would be incompletewithout a visit to the ‘Garden of England’, andBlue Badge Guide Dawn Blee takes us on a tourof her home county.
As a Londoner, I am inspired by the city’s richgreenscapes – from parks to pavements. One ofmy favourites is the community garden inBonnington Square, Vauxhall, a peaceful islandonly a stone’s throw from the city’s secondbiggest transport hub. Here local residents havejoined together to plant and maintain this lovelycorner, with a community cafe and shop. Alegacy of ‘60s London just waiting for visitors to explore.
But, as you will discover from the pages of thismagazine, so many of the plants associated withbeautiful English gardens that we visit today arenot indigenous at all. We owe a debt to the greatplant hunters of previous centuries who devotedtheir lives to enriching our landscapes. As I learntfrom Andrea Wulf’s excellent book The BrotherGardeners, these specimens began their journeysas tiny plugs on the top deck of a trading ship,often the least valuable cargo on-board.
This summer edition brings a new feature withBlue and Green badge guides around the UKpresenting the places they particularly love. Wekick off with Manchester and Yorkshire.
Our London story features stylish Blue BadgeGuide, Russell Nash and his account of the menswear history of Mayfair and St James as he explores the streets that have dressed kingsand rock stars.
So, if you are inspired by these stories, take atour. Just search www.britainsbestguides.org to find the best local guide.
Philippa Owen, Chair to the British Guild of Tourist Guides
A WARM WELCOME TO ‘THE GUIDE’...
4 What to see this summerBishop Auckland’s Kynren; 1066 and all that;
‘90 Years of Style’ from the Queen’s wardrobe
6 The Guides’ GuideOur guides’ reveal their favourite places in the
unofficial capital of the North
8 Beside the SeasideSophie Campbell on the eccentricities and pleasures
of the British coast
14 Legends, Lies and LoreFact and fiction from British history
16 Gardening HabitsFrom the Romans to the Olympics – Marc Zakian looks at
2,000 years of British horticulture
26 The Guides’ GuideOur guides’ top ten places to visit in Yorkshire
28 Tour de Force Two Blue Badge Guides tell us about their tours: from the
delights of Kentish gardens to the world of London’s menswear
Contents
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Front Cover: The Giant head in the Lost Gardens of Heligan © Shahar Shabtai / Alamy Stock Photo
History, Culture and Events NEWS
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BLUE BADGETOURIST GUIDESBlue Badge Tourist Guides are the official,professional tourist guides of the UnitedKingdom – recognised by the local touristbodies and VisitBritain. The Blue Badge is the UK’s highest guiding qualification,awarded only after extensive training and thorough examination.
There are over 1000 Blue Badge Guides in England, Scotland, Wales and NorthernIreland – each region has its own badge.We guide in all the UK’s major touristattractions, as well as its cities and countryside.
The Blue Badge is the qualification of excellence in heritage guiding.
The British Guild of Tourist Guides is the national association of Britain’s BlueBadge guides. Since its foundation in 1950, the Guild has dedicated itself to raising and maintaining the highest professionalstandards.
Our guides work in the UK’s museums,galleries, churches and lead walking,cycling and driver-guided tours throughoutthe country. Our members work in over 30 different languages. If it can be guided, we will guide it.
To find out more or to book: +44 20 7403 1115 [email protected]
In 2014 Guild guidesworked with over 1.5 million UK visitors
Edina Nagy, Blue Badge Guide,
Hungarian & German
This summer the historic town ofBishop Auckland in north-eastEngland is hosting an epic outdoorshow. Kynren tells the story ofEngland though the eyes of a boy KingArthur, as he encounters 2000 yearsof myth, legend and history, fromRoman times to World War II.
More than 1,000 volunteers in thecast and crew have been trained bythe team behind the stunningchoreography of the London 2012Olympic Opening Ceremony. With anaccompanying cast of animalscomprising performance horses,sheep, pigs, goats, cattle and evenducks, the innovative show expects
to attract nightly audiences of 8,000.Kynren – from the Anglo Saxon
word ‘cynren’ meaning kindred orfamily – combines pyrotechnics,lighting and water effects with asurround-sound music soundtrack,all set against the beautiful backdropof Auckland Castle.
The show runs from July toSeptember. For more information, go to www.kynren.co.uk
For guided tours of the Durham
region, search on
www.britainsbestguides.org
OH! WHATA KNIGHT
from around the UK
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BATTLE OF THELIGHTS BRIGADE
Hastings light show
The exhibition for the annualsummer opening of BuckinghamPalace celebrates ‘90 Years of Style’from HMQ’s Wardrobe.
Described as the largest display ofthe Queen’s dress ever mounted, itincludes over 150 outfits displayed atall three royal residences – thecontent changing for each location.
Buckingham Palace – the settingfor many state and family occasionsduring the Queen’s life – focuses onfashions from the 1920s to the 2010s.
The palace exhibition illustrates theunique requirements of royal couture;from ceremonial and military attire toensembles worn at family weddingsand christenings. It includes outfitsfrom the Queen’s early childhood,her wedding and the coronation, aswell as wardrobes created for royaltours and state visits.
Fashioning a Reign also looks at theQueen’s support of British coutureand millinery, with important worksfrom celebrated designers, including
Sir Norman Hartnell, Sir HardyAmies and Ian Thomas.
The three exhibitions are atHolyrood House, Edinburgh fromApril to October 2016, BuckinghamPalace, London from August toSeptember 2016 and Windsor Castlefrom September to January 2017. For tickets and information visitwww.royalcollection.org.uk
For a guided royal tour or a visit to Windsor Castle visitwww.britainsbestguides.org
Fit for a Queen
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1066 is a key date in this country’s history and this year’s 950thanniversary of the Battle of Hastings will be marked with a series ofspectacular events.
On 10 September, Hastings Pier will stage a laser light show for theopening weekend of an arts festival commemorating the NormanConquest. Simultaneously, lasers will be beamed across the Channeltowards St Valéry – where William’s Norman fleet set sail.
Over the weekend of 15-16 October at Battle Abbey and Battlefieldthere will be a grand re-enactment with more than 600 soldiers clashingin an unforgettable anniversary event. Visitors can also immersethemselves in Norman life by wandering through an authentic market,or watching living history demonstrations including chain mail andweapon production, as well as medieval falconry. The battle betweenNormans and Saxons takes place in the afternoons.
For a Blue Badge guided tour exploring 1066, go to
www.britainsbestguides.org
New
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Salford Central
OLD TRAFFORD
ASHTON CANALWaterways were the arteries ofManchester’s industrial might. Thispicturesque ten-kilometre stretch is part ofthe popular 92-lock Cheshire Ring. JoinGreen Badge Guide Emma Fox for a canalside walking tour though Ancoats – theworld’s first ‘industrial suburb’ – pastManchester City’s home at the EtihadStadium and on to Portland Basin, whereyou can visit the canal museum and relaxat the Bridge View Café. Tue-Sun 10am-4pm tameside.gov.uk
ELIZABETH GASKELL’S HOUSEElizabeth Gaskell chronicled Manchesterlife during the Victorian times. The authorof Cranford and North and South lived withher minister husband and daughters inPlymouth Grove. This grand neoclassicalvilla is now beautifully restored. Join BlueBadge Guide Kate Dibble on a tour of thedrawing room and hear stories of famouspast visitors, including Dickens andCharlotte Brontë. Wed/Thu/Sun 11am-4.30pm elizabethgaskellhouse.co.uk
MANCHESTER ART GALLERYThis superb collection includes work byBritish and European masters. Explore thegallery with Blue Badge Guide JonathanSchofield who will show you excitingmodern works by Hepworth, Freud,Hockney and Bacon and classic paintingsby Gainsborough, Turner, Constable andStubbs; plus the crazed but colourfulcreations of the Pre-Raphaelites, includingJonathan’s favourite, Work by Ford Madox Brown. 10am-5pm manchesterartgallery.org
MANCHESTER CATHEDRALIn 1847 this medieval parish churchbecame the city’s cathedral. Inside is anartistic treasure trove, with wonderfulmisericords (hinged seats) featuringcarved images of comic morality tales –one shows rabbits roasting a human.Former Manchester Bishop JohnMoorhouse was previously Bishop ofMelbourne, spot the kangaroos on histhrone. Not the biggest cathedral inEngland, but one of the most interesting.Discover more cathedral secrets withGreen Badge Guide Andrew Derbyshire. 8.30am-6.30pm, Mon/Fri closes 5.30pmmanchestercathedral.org
MANCHESTER UNITED FC STADIUM, OLD TRAFFORD
The ‘Theatre of Dreams’ is home to a clubwith the largest fanbase in football. You cantake a behind-the-scenes stadium tour,relive the great moments in the museum,eat at the Red Café, shop in the megastore,and reflect at the poignant Munich aircrash memorial. Visit the stadium withGreen Badge Guide Pauline Lloyd, who willshow you United Trinity statue of Best, Lawand Charlton, who she supported in the1960s as a soccer-mad teenager. 9.40am-4.30pm, except match daysmanutd.com
PEOPLE’S HISTORY MUSEUM‘There have always been ideas worthfighting for’ is the ethos of this museum.Marvel at beautiful trade union banners,delve into the archive of the Labour Partyand wonder at the mind of Tom Paine as youstand by the desk where he wrote Rights ofMan. Green Badge Guide Suzanne Hindlewill tell you about the wealth of artefacts ondisplay here and bring alive the history ofRadical Manchester, including exhibits onthe Peterloo Massacre and the Suffragettestruggle led by Manchester-born Emmeline Pankhurst. 10am-5pm phm.org.uk
ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATREIn the 1970s a theatre was built inside themagnificent setting of the former VictorianCotton Exchange. Since then, a generationof great actors has worked here, fromAlbert Finney to Dame Helen Mirren.Attend a theatre workshop, browse thecraft shop or simply pop in for a cup of tea,lunch or pre-performance drink. Let BlueBadge Guide Jean Bailo tell you about theshow-stopping architecture that makesthis a must-see on any visit to the city.10am-7pm, Sun 11am-5pmroyalexchange.co.uk
SCULPTURE HALL CAFÉ IN MANCHESTER TOWN HALL
Cool, traditional comfort in a sumptuousGothic setting. Relax on generousChesterfield upholstery and enjoy localtreats like Lancashire hotpot, Eccles cakesor Vimto, or treat yourself to one of thebest afternoon teas in the city. GreenBadge Guide Anne Beswick’s favouritestatue is of engineer William Fairbairnbecause, as she explains, the importantpeople in Manchester are practical peoplewho get things done. 9am-4pm, Sat/Sun 10am-4pmthetownhallmcr.co.uk
THE PORTICO LIBRARYOpened in 1806 in what was thenManchester’s most fashionable residentialstreet, this subscription library hasattracted membership from the city’s greatand good; from Elizabeth Gaskell to JenniMurray, John Dalton to Eric Cantona. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a superbexhibition space under an inspiring paintedglass dome. Find out more with GreenBadge Guide Peter O’Grady. 9.30am-4.30pm, Sat 11am-3pmtheportico.org.uk
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From canals tocathedrals andtheatres of dreams,our guides tell usabout their favouriteplaces in theunofficial capital of the North
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SPINNINGFIELDS
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NORTHERNQUARTER
Manchester Victoria
Manchester Piccadilly
Manchester Oxford Road
Deansgate
THE GUIDES’ GUIDE TO
MANCHESTERASHTON CANAL
MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL
ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE
ELIZABETH GASKELL’SHOUSE
MANCHESTER TOWN HALL MANCHESTERART GALLERY
PORTICO LIBRARY
To find a qualified, expertand entertaining Manchesterguide visit www.itg.org.uk
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Sophie Campbell explores the joys andeccentricities of the seaside
COASTINGaround
BRITAINEvery year in early summer, the PS Waverley(that’s PS for ‘Paddle Steamer’), edges out ofher berth on the River Clyde where she wasbuilt 70 years ago this year, and sets off on herannual perambulation around the British Isles.
She spends two months working her waydown the west coasts of Scotland and Wales,
then follows England’s south coast eastwards,picking up day passengers as she goes andending up on the Thames in October. Peoplelove her raked funnels and smart paddlewheels and she offers a unique offshoreoverview of one of our greatest guiding assets,the Great British coastline.
The coastal town ofBerwick-upon-Tweed
has switched allegiancebetween Scotland and
England 13 times.
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NORTHERN PLEASURESIn the northwest, the Waverley chunters pastBlackpool, which grew into a holiday resortin the late nineteenth century and gives Parisa run for its money with its 518-foot Tower.
When the Tower opened in 1894 it had acircus, among other things: older residentsremember elephants crossing the prom –trunk to tail – to bathe in the sea each day. Itstill has a (human) circus and its famous andspectacular ballroom.
Further south, just above Liverpool, dawn and dusk are the perfect time to see 100 naked men on a beach; in this case theAntony Gormley’s sculpted figures at Crosby(official title Another Place) planted on thesands, gazing out to sea. After doing theirown perambulation around the world, theyhave come to rest here.
Blackpool Tower
Blackpool Rollercoaster
Anthony Gormley’s sculpted figures, Liverpool
Coastal Whitby is famous for its jet, a semi-precious stonepopularised as jewellery by
Queen Victoria when in mourningfor Albert, and made from
fossilised monkey puzzle trees.
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As Cistercian monasticrules forbade the wearing
of undergarments, themonks on Caldey were
known for their barebottomed piety.
Caldey IslandCistercian Monk
BEACHED WALESThen comes Wales and the dazzlingbeaches of Anglesey, which sodiscreetly hosted the Duke andDuchess of Cambridge during theirearly married life. On the mainlandside of the Menai Strait, separatingisland from mainland, are Edward I’sCaernarfon Castle and, farther east,the magnificent pier at Bangor withits Whistlestop tea room.
Farther south still, way past thePenrhyn Peninsula, beyond theItalianate tumble of Portmeirion andthe coast of Snowdonia, is the bluntfist of Pembrokeshire, our onlycoastal National Park. This is one ofthe loveliest sections of the CoastalPath National Trail, including StDavid’s – its cathedral, the smallestin Britain, was deliberately set low inthe landscape to avoid Vikingmarauders – right round to Tenby,with its Georgian houses perched on
the cliffs. In less squeamish daysthey had their own ‘long
drops’ (latrines)above the sea. You
may see dayboats putteringout to theworkingCistercian
monastery onCaldey Island.
WESTWARD HO!The North Devon fishing village ofIlfracombe is one of Waverley’s ports.Its pregnant Verity statue byBristolian artist Damien Hirst – hehas a restaurant in town – standslooking out to sea, possibly thinkingabout all those Gormleys. Ilfracombesits on the coastal path from
Hartland in the west to Lynmouth inthe east, aka ‘Lorna Doone Country’,on the edge of Exmoor.
The art theme continues inCornwall. The most obvious exampleis St Ives, where the studios of artistBarbara Hepworth and potterBernard Leach make up for theclosure of Tate St Ives until March2017. Rounding the Lizard Peninsula
St David’s Cathedral, the smallest inBritain, was deliberately set low in thelandscape to avoid Viking marauders
Every spring since 1977,Portmeirion has held an
event called ‘Portmeiricon’for fans of the cult 1960’ssupernatural TV series
The Prisoner.
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In 1800, baby Mary Anningsurvived a lightning strike thatkilled three people. After this
miraculous escape sheblossomed, becoming an expert
fossil hunter as a teenager. At thetime, fossils were thought to beshells: the tongue twister ‘she
sells seas shells by the sea shore’may refer to Mary’s activities.
Jurassic Coast
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Sidmouth’s cliffs are packed withsea creatures millennia old
St IvesThe Cobb, Lyme Regis
In Sidmouth, it is de rigueur to play croquet
with a squared, rather thanrounded mallet.
The Knill Monument is aneighteenth-century pyramid on aSt Ives hilltop built in memory offormer mayor John Knill. Every
fifth anniversary of his death (25 July 2016) ten girls dressed in
white dance around it, supervised by two elderly
widows in black.
St Ives in Cornwall isnamed after St Ia, an Irishvirgin who crossed the sea
on a leaf.
Mary Anning
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there are former tin mines and Brunel’sRoyal Albert rail bridge over the Tamarconnecting Cornwall and Devon, andfinally the genteel world of novelistsand fossils (in no way related) on theEnglish Riviera.
Torquay’s biannual Agatha ChristieFestival alternates with AgathaChristie Day each September. And theRegency resort of Sidmouth at thewestern end of Lyme Bay is not onlyfamous for croquet (who knew?), butis the less-publicised end of theJurassic Coast, its cliffs packed with seacreatures millennia old.
At the other end of the bay, Lyme Regis hogs the limelight partly becauseit is wildly romantic: John Galsworthylived here (his house is now open forholiday lets) and the protective curveof the Cobb is forever associated with
his novel The French Lieutenant’sWoman – and, let’s face it, actressMeryl Streep who starred in the filmadaptation. It was also home to MaryAnning, a rare female star in the worldof eighteenth-century naturalphilosophy, whose specimens can beseen on the walls of the NaturalHistory Museum in London, as well asin the delightful Lyme Regis museum.
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The seaside town of Worthing has a pigeon memorial in honour
of the hundreds of homing pigeonsdropped in Nazi-occupied Europe
or sent with troops on secretmissions. The dedication is to the “warrior birds who gave
their lives in active service 1939-45…”
Brighton
BRIGHTON ROCKSOn east to the Solent, the five-milestrip of water separating the mainlandfrom the Isle of Wight: here the eagle-eyed may spot the grounds of Osborne
House at East Cowes. This EnglishHeritage site has Queen Victoria’swheeled bathing machine: shedescended its steps helped by a burlyfemale assistant.
This has its echoes – in a lessgrandiose way – farther east inBrighton, which was famed in its earlydays for the ‘Brighton Dippers’, womenwho plunged reluctant swimmersunder the waves. The town is awonderful example of a Regencyresort, chosen by the rackety PrinceRegent over his father’s more sedatechoice of Weymouth – luckily for us, ashe spent a fortune building theBrighton Pavilion in characteristicallyover-the-top style. 150 years later thetown became infamous for Mods andRockers riots, spawning Quadropheniatours and visits to the cells undertoday’s Town Hall, where rioters were held.
East of here, the coast is undergoinga renaissance, best illustrated by theArt Trail you can follow by foot or by
bike from the Towner Gallery at Eastbourne, with its excellent Store ArtTours, via that temple of Moderne, theDe La Warr Pavilion at Bexhill-on-Sea,to the Jerwood Gallery in Hastings,built to echo the tall, black ‘net shops’for drying fishing nets.
Hastings is home to the largestbeach-based fishing fleet in Europe,stunning Tudor and Regency buildingsand a population of artists andmusicians fleeing high prices inLondon and Brighton.
A SHORE THINGAnd so we reach the corner of England,with the Dungeness power station, theRomney, Hythe and Dymchurch LightRailway and the ‘concrete ears’, oracoustic mirrors – precursors of radar –at Denge. Across the peninsula inNorth Kent are Margate, with its TurnerContemporary art gallery and WayneHemingway’s retro theme park,Dreamland; little Faversham, proudpossessor of a 1300 version of citizen’scharter Magna Carta; and the Isle of
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The Brighton Pavilion has been home to the Town Mayor’sOffice, injured First World War
soldiers including many from theIndian sub-continent, a
Second World War air raid shelter, a pig farm, an annual Children’s
Ball and in the late nineteenthcentury, séances.
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The British Guild of Tourist Guideshas more than 800 guides throughoutthe country. For a seaside tour visitwww.britainsbestguides.org
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway Crowds crabbing at The Whitstable Oyster Festival
The interior of CrossnessPumping Station in Abbey
Wood is decorated with figs:this is a Victorian joke, syrup of
figs being widely used as alaxative at the time.
In Whitstable in Kent, on St James’s Day (25 July) the
clergy and choir of St Peter’schurch gather at Reeves Beach
for the Oyster Ceremony Service,with fishing boats forming a
watery congregation.
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Grain church where Pip met Magwitchin Great Expectations.
Farther into the Thames estuary arelesser known gems – the ruins ofLesnes Abbey, say, or that glory ofVictorian sewage engineering,Crossness Pumping Station – or, on theother side of the Thames, RainhamHall, once the property of an
eighteenth-century merchant andwharf owner.
As we follow the estuary inland topicture-postcard London, we reach theend of Waverley’s voyage: her finalmooring is beside the Tower of Londonnear Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast andMore London: one of the world’s great views.
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FACTS AND
LIELEGEN
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Ink About ItIn 1381 Richard II made
Chelmsford the capital ofEngland – for one week
WHO’S THEDADDY?
The 18 kings of England who ruled from 1066to 1485 fathered more than 40 illegitimate
children. Henry II is out in front with at least 20.Genealogists have calculated that every living
person with English ancestry is descended fromone of these medieval kings.
NUT JOBS During the early 19thcentury hat makers usedmercuric acid to finish offtheir headgear. Workerswere exposed at length tothis toxic chemical, causingthem to twitch, jabber andlurch. Victorians thoughtthey were insane and thephrase mad as a hatterentered the language.
Winston Churchill had a tattoo of an anchor on his arm,while his mother, Lady Randolph, sported a tattoo of asnake around her wrist, which she slyly covered with abracelet when desired.
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FICTION FROM BRITISH HISTORY
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BADGERTADGERVictorian fathers-of-the-bride often gavetheir new son-in-law atie-pin made ofbadger's penis bone toensure a good brood.
WELL,BLOWME!
Eliza Stafford was sent to Leeds prison in 1865 forstealing 2lb of lard – a harsh sentence that turned herinto a folk hero. When 10,000 people gathered to cheerher release, the authorities sneaked her out of a sideentrance. Infuriated, the crowd marched into townchanting ‘Dripping, Dripping’. When the policecharged the protest, a man was trampled, provoking ariot that lasted several days. Locals organised acollection for Eliza, who used the money to open apublic house called the Dripping Pan.
In Newmarket there was once a law againstblowing your nose in public, while ‘personsgoing about the street with a head cold’were subject to a fine. This was not toprevent locals from catching a cold, butrather to protect the valuable race horsesthat lived and were trained in the town.
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Marc Zakian looks at the storyof British horticulture, from theRomans to the Olympics
A POTTED HISTORY OF GARDENS
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The Romans were Britain’s first pleasuregardeners. They settled on this island of fertile
soil and ample rain and filled it with exoticnew species from across their empire
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Lavender is derived fromthe Latin lavare, meaning,
‘to wash’ - the Romans used itto perfume water.
Thegreat British
tradition ofcomplaining about theweather began with the
Romans. According tothe writer Tacitus,
Britain was a countryof ‘frequent rain
and mist.’
Sussex was once home to a magnificent garden. Rich insumptuous flower beds, with vines arching acrosspergolas, fragrant roses, clipped geometric box hedgesand rows of terracotta pots shaded by cypresses.Fishbourne sounds like a perfect English garden, but itwas planted nearly 2000 years ago by the Romans.
The Romans were Britain’s first pleasure gardeners.They settled on this island of fertile soil and ample rainand filled it with exotic new species from across theirempire: juniper and box for hedges; roses, rosemary andlavender to make perfumes and colourful flowers such ascrocus and pansy.
Both men and women worked in Roman gardens.These skilled plantsmen fertilised with manure and lime,killed bugs with vinegar pest spray and fumigated fliesby burning dung pellets. They used pruning hooks, rakes,hoes, shears and sickles – tools that would find a place inany modern gardener’s shed.
Within half a century, the Romans transformed themuddy, monotone Iron Age landscape with dashes ofcolour, a multitude of ornamental gardens and swathes of colourful new trees.
Roman border
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The great monastic ordersexchanged seeds and plants acrossEurope. The cooking pear, knownas a Warden, was imported fromFrance to a Bedfordshire Abbey.There is a story that 12th centuryArchbishop of Canterbury, ThomasBecket, brought a fig tree to Ely,which was planted in an orchardthat stands today.
The most important monasticgarden was the cloister. At itscentre was a lawn, mown to flatperfection. The monks at NorwichAbbey had to hire mole catchers tokeep the grass both holy and un-holy.
SIGN OF THE THYMESMedieval castles contained neitherspace nor place for the verdantarts. But as military fortresses werereplaced by residential palaces,formal gardens became anessential element on thearistocratic estate.
Renaissance inspired gardensduring the Tudor period wereextravagant show pieces;resplendent with sundials, heraldic
BACK TO NATUREThe arrival of the Anglo-Saxonsbrought 400 years of Romano-British horticulture to an end. A garden was a place to grow fruitand vegetables and the new rulingelite had no time for plants theycould not eat or use for cures or crafts.
These practical plantsmen left uslegacy of English names we stilluse today:Teasel – used to ‘tease up’ (raise)the nap on new cloth.Daisy – the ‘day’s eye’ that openswhen the sun rises.Hazel – from the Anglo-Saxon for‘head dress’.Broom Plant – used for sweeping,the origin of the name of thehousehold brush.Fox Glove – from ‘fox’s glove’.Used as a medicinal purge.Cow-slip – possibly from OldEnglish for cow dung, where theplant often grows.
GARDENING HABITSWhile the Anglo-Saxons ploughedfor profit not pleasure, one part ofEngland was, literally, blooming.
By the Middle Ages monasteriescontrolled a quarter of Englishland. Monks were expected togrow all their own food and theirhuge estates extended way beyondthe main buildings – one examplebeing Covent Garden, oncefarming fields for WestminsterAbbey’s convent.
Hatfield House
Michaelmas Daisy
Digitalis (Foxglove)
Garden Cloister at Gresham College
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In England the great gardener of theera was John Tradescant, who waspaid an astonishing £50 a year(£200,000 in modern money) to createthe park at Hatfield House
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The Ark
John Tradescant the Elder
In 1636, Holland was hit by tulipmania. Bulbs were doubling in value
every few days and one particularlyrare tulip climbed to the giddy price of5,500 guilders per bulb. When prices
collapsed, many investors went bankrupt.
beasts, arbours, fountains and artfultopiary – potent symbols of power,status and refined taste.
The centrepiece was the knotgarden, with its interwoven designmarked out by box, ivy, rosemary andthyme. As nobles paraded around theknots, their clothes would brushagainst the plants, sending outperfumed odours – an Elizabethan airfreshener, much needed at a timebathing had fallen out of fashion.
THE POWER OF FLOWERS The early 1600s saw the rise of the‘florist’. These were not shop keepers,but skilled experts who cultivatedplants for their beauty. They developedmany of today’s popular flowers, such
as carnations and anemones. Flowerfrenzies made the florists fortunes,with crazes at various times for tulips, carnations, dahlias and hybridtea roses.
In England the great gardener of theera was John Tradescant, who was paidan astonishing £50 a year (£200,000 inmodern money) to create the park atHatfield House.
Tradescant was Britain’s first planthunter, travelling into Arctic Russiaand down to Algiers in North Africa,where he avoided capture by Barbarypirates. He kept his botanic andnatural history collection in a largehouse in Lambeth named The Ark.When he opened it to the public –charging 6d to view – it becameEngland’s first public museum.
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Lamport Hall & Gardens
01604 [email protected]
www.lamporthall.co.ukLamport HallLamport, Northampton NN6 9HD
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Beautiful gardens, contemporary art gallery, café & restaurant, shop and plant centre
Group rates& tours available
18th Century Gardener
Levens Hall
The Ha-Ha was atransformative innovation in
gardening. This waterless boundary ditchseparating the private part of the estate
from the long landscape was introducedinto England by the architect John
Vanbrugh. Unnoticed until the lastinstance, they were greeted by
promenaders with a startled cry of ‘Ha-Ha!’, giving the feature
its name.
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GET IN LINEThe guiding principle of the English17th century garden was symmetryand order. Classical facades of greatpalaces were matched by geometricformal landscaping, featuring ornatecarpets of floral designs, walls ofclipped hedges, carefully-colouredgravel paths, and rows of statues and fountains.
Ham House in London was the firstestate where house and garden wereconceived together. It was the vision ofElisabeth, Duchess of Lauderdale, aneducated and shrewd woman whosomehow maintained friendships withboth Oliver Cromwell and his exiledenemy, the future King Charles II.
When Charles was restored to thethrone, he granted the duchess apension of £800 (£10m in modernmoney) that she used to remodel her estate.
The main feature of Ham Housegarden is a series of eight large plats orlawns. To modern eyes these seemrather plain, but lawns were cut byhand and a park on this scale couldonly be maintained by a small army of gardeners.
Only a solitary formal 17th centurygarden has survived changinghorticultural fashions. Levens Hall inCumbria was laid out in 1692 –through fate and a lack of money,some 300 years later the originalgarden still remains.
Levens Hall inCumbria was laid out
in 1692 – through fateand a lack of money,some 300 years later
the original gardenstill remains
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Great valuegroup dealsThe seaside city of Sunderland can offer agreat variety of free and discounted groupdestinations, many with free coach parking.
Visit top museums, get up close to wildlife,see the best ‘West End’ shows or take inaward winning beaches... all within easyreach of the A1 and A19.
For more information on these attractions and to find out what other things you can see and do
in Sunderland visit
www.seeitdoitsunderland.co.uk/groups
@SeeitDoitSund/seeitdoitsunderland
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The 1st Earl ofHarcourt demolished
an ancient village to createa more picturesque view at
his Nuneham Park estate. Oncompleting the work in 1777,the Earl went for a strollaround his new grounds,forgot about the oldvillage well, fell into itand was drowned.
Blenheim Palace
Victoria Park, East London
THE MEN WHO MOVEDMOUNTAINSIn the 1700s the clipped order of thegreat English garden was swept away.
Two northerners were the principalprotagonists in these changes: William Kent, a carpenter’s son from Bridlington in Yorkshire and Lancelot Brown, a village boy fromNorthumberland, son of an estate rentcollector and a chambermaid. Both leftschool by 16; both went on to be fetedby kings, dukes and aristocrats.
Kent was an ebullient, portlyYorkshireman who revolutionisedgarden architecture. Taking his cue
from pastoral paintings, he created the‘English landscape garden’, doingaway with the formality of theregimented European parks that haddominated the previous century.
At London’s Chiswick House, Kentripped out the formal groves, replacingthem with a grand lawn, a windingriver, a ’ruin’ and ‘rustic forest’. AtStowe, he used hundreds of labourersto create a ‘classical’ landscape of lakes,hills and temples and a Wiltshire ‘River Styx’.
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown workedon a similarly epic scale. Nothingstood in his way. The nickname camefrom his custom of viewing an estate,announcing that it had ‘capability’ forimprovement and then persuading theowner to move lawns, mature treesand even entire villages.
At Longleat, Brown transformed acanal into a stream; at ChatsworthHouse, he flattened hills to create aview of the river; at Blenheim Palace,he dammed a waterway to flood thevalley and create a lake that covered
Vanbrugh’s great stone bridge; atMilton, a village of worker’s cottageswas demolished to free thepanorama – the reluctant inhabitantstransplanted to new dwellings.
PARK LIFEThe 1800s was the era of the publicpark. Gardens were seen as a moralisingforce that would improve the mannersof the lower classes and discouragedrunkenness and social unrest.
In 1835, when London’s Regent’sPark stopped charging an admissionfee – imposed to keep out the lowerclasses – it became the country’s firstpublic park. Others followed, includingVictoria Park, built to reduce the deathrate in London’s East End.
In Merseyside, Birkenhead Parkopened in 1847. The first civic park inthe world, it offered sports grounds,boating lakes and bandstands, with
‘Capability’ Brown
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In 1895, Kew employed its firstwomen gardeners. They had a
special uniform includingcompany regulation bloomers.Their appearance drew curious
and astonished crowds.
Kew Gardens, lady gardeners
Paxtonadvertised his
success in inducingthe giant waterlily to
grow and flower byposing his daughteron one of the giant leaves.
visitors forbidden from gambling or swearing. The municipalpark boom led to the creation of 27,000 public parks in Britain.
Birkenhead Park was designed by Joseph Paxton – a farmer’sson with little schooling who became a celebrated gardener,engineer, publisher and parliamentarian.
Paxton began work as a garden boy, but was soon put incharge of the Duke of Devonshire’s estate at ChatsworthHouse where he designed and built glasshouses. This led to acommission to design the Crystal Palace for Britain’s GreatExhibition of 1851 – a remarkable 20-acre glasshouseconstructed from 4,500 tons of iron and 293,000 panes of glass.Yet it took 2,000 men just eight months to build.
SOW TO BEDVictorian gardeners were swept up in the bedding craze; afashion followed for flower beds featuring flamboyant designsof vibrant squares, lozenges, swirls and curls. Patriotic schemesin red, white and blue were especially popular.
Known as carpet beds, they were filled with geranium,hollyhocks, chrysanthemum, dahlias, hyacinths, irises andpeonies – flashes of colour that lit up residential back yardsand suburban streets.
The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew were the cornerstoneof the Victorian plant boom. Much of this was the legacy of theadventurer, landowner and botanist Joseph Banks who sailedwith Captain Cook on the Endeavour – the most daring voyageof discovery of modern times. Celebrated as a hero on hisreturn in 1771, he brought back 1,300 new species of plants.
Banks built a hothouse at Kew for specimens that hadsuffered during the long sea voyages – ‘our Kew Hospital’, ashe called it. Whenever a consignment arrived, he instructedthe head gardener not to move anything before he became‘acquainted with the plants’.
Fortunes could be made by discovering new flora forcultivation. Explorers crossed the planet in search of newplants and many notable names were drowned, killed by bearsor cut down by malaria or yellow fever in pursuit of novelty orthe rarest of blooms.
But the risks were worth it. Newcomers included magnoliaand hydrangea from Asia, pelargonium from South Africa andthe strange monkey puzzle tree from Chile that sold for £5 – asmuch as a Victorian maid’s annual salary.
BACK TO THE FUCHSIAAs the Industrial Revolution progressed, cities grew ever largerand more polluted. People lamented the loss of the rural idyll,a bygone bucolic world of the farm or cottage garden with oldfashioned borders of mixed shrubs and herbs.
Gertrude Jekyll turned this nostalgia into a new style ofEnglish garden. Born into London gentry, Jekyll was aboisterous lady with her hair in a bun who started work as anartist – but in her 40s failing eyesight led to her to gardendesign. She established a partnership with the architect EdwinLutyens and together they created some 400 gardens.
Jekyll rejected patterned carpet beds, preferring a series ofgarden ‘rooms’. She reintroduced the herbaceous border,planting hardy flowers in drifts and sweeping groups withrestricted colour palates.
Her most celebrated project is Hestercombe in Somerset. It’sextraordinary to consider that she never actually visited thegarden, but drafted her designs with an artist’s eye and sentthem off to be planted. Jekyll’s ideas have endured and herinfluence is as powerful today as it was during her lifetime.
Gardeners who went to war
Hestercombe Edwardian formal gardens
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CUT DOWN IN THEIR PRIMEThe outbreak of the First World War had a devastating effecton British gardens. The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwallare testimony to this crisis. Before the war, the houseemployed 22 gardeners, only eight of them survived the warto return to work. The gardens declined and became ‘lost’.
Life at Heligan was interrupted again during the SecondWorld War, when it became a billet for American soldiers –one of many thousands of gardens and parkscommandeered for the war effort. London’s Hyde Park wasdug up for vegetable allotments as the country was urged to‘Dig for Victory’. The public grew some three million tons offood to feed the war-torn nation.
GROUNDS FOR HOPE?From post-war to post-crash austerity, in recent timesopportunities for new public parks and gardens might haveappeared limited. But as our cities grow, green space hasbecome an increasingly essential part of our local andnational heritage.
In 2001, a derelict and polluted clay pit in Cornwall wasredeveloped. Domed biomes with microclimates were builtwhere visitors can experience a tropical rainforest and aMediterranean garden. Outside is a plant collection where
this year they have planted 40 redwood trees to establish afuture forest.
Since it opened, 15 million people have visited the EdenProject. Like the great Victorian public education institutions,it tells the story of botany, science and nature – but throughthe modern perspective of energy conservation and climate change.
And to the east of London, an even more challengingproject emerged as part of the 2012 Olympic & ParalympicGames. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is Britain’s largestand most ambitious urban green space of modern times –transforming a polluted, toxic, post-industrial wasteland intoa sustainable and environmentally green public amenity.
At its heart is a 240-acre park, the largest in Europe for 150years. Planted with 6,700 mature trees and 3,000 wetlandplants (to help clean the polluted River Lea), the park reflectsthe historic traditions of English garden design with itssweeping landscape vistas and Jekyll-esque drifts of planting.The ecology responds to the challenges of climate warmingand flood risk; it is both inspired by the past and looking tothe future.
Blue Badge Guides offer specialist garden tours acrossthe UK. To find a guide visit www.britainsbestguides.orgor phone us on +44 20 7403 1115.
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The Eden Project Olympic Park and velodrome
The Mud Maid, Heligan
HUDDERSFIELD
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Yorkshire Dales National Park
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FOUNTAINS ABBEY 800 years of history set in idyllicsurroundings. In 1132 thirteen monksfounded what became one of the richestand grandest abbeys in Europe. Join BlueBadge Guide Nick Smith as he brings thestories of this intriguing ruin to life.Explore the ancient mill that once powered the stone masons’ workshop and the sawmill – it was even used forgenerating electricity. Apr-Sep 10.00am to 4.00pm, closed Fri.Nov-Jan fountainsabbey.org.uk
NYM RAILWAY All Aboard! Travel back in time on theNorth York Moors Heritage Railway.Reopened by enthusiasts in 1973, the 18mile route carries more passengers thanany other UK heritage line, with trainsrunning every hour in summer. Chuff yourway through the countryside of the NorthYork Moors in vintage carriages pulled bymighty steam engines. Blue Badge GuideSarah Cowling suggests a stop off en routeto visit the charming village of Goathland,familiar to Muggles and man asHogsmeade in the Harry Potter films.Timetables vary throughout the year.nymr.co.uk
STAITHES With its higgledy-piggledy cottages andwinding streets, the old fishing village ofStaithes has an air of a place lost in time. It is a stunning location for photographers,artists and art lovers. Blue Badge GuideTim Barber loves bringing families here for fossil hunting, crabbing and exploringrock pools.
CASTLE HOWARD One of England’s greatest stately homes, ithas been home to the Howard family forthe last three hundred years. The houseshot to international fame as the mainlocation in the TV series BridesheadRevisited. Blue Badge Guide Kirsty Wardleloves taking people to this baroquemansion and recommends the trip acrossthe Great Lake on The Dame – the Howardfamily’s boat. Daily 10.30-4.00pm castlehoward.co.uk
YORK MINSTER The Minster is the highlight of any visit toYork. Taking four centuries to build, it isone of the greatest Gothic churches inEurope, housing some of the finestmedieval stained glass in the world. Visitwith Blue Badge Guide David Holt, who willshow you secrets of the undercroft andremains of a Roman fort, before taking youup the steps of the central tower forpanoramic views of York. 9.00am-5.00pm. Sun from 12.45pmyorkminster.org
YORKSHIRE SCULPTURE PARK Set in beautiful countryside, it is home tothe largest open-air collection of bronzesculptures in the world. Blue Badge GuideMichele Thompson always shows visitors
Antony Gormley’s looming treetop bodycastOne & Other. She particularly recommendsthis year’s special exhibition, a UK first forAmerican artist KAWS and his cartooninspired works. Daily 10.00am-5.00pm ysp.co.uk
THE DEEP, HULL2017 will be Hull’s year, as it becomes theUK City of Culture. The Deep is the city’sspectacular award-winning aquarium withover 3,500 fish and underwater creatures,including sharks and rays, that takesvisitors through four billion years of oceanhistory. Blue Badge Sarah Milne-Day is abig fan of the penguins and the slimeexhibition, but always finishes her visitswith the exciting lift ride. Daily 10-6pm thedeep.co.uk
AYSGARTH FALLSWith three flights of spectacular waterfallstumbling over limestone ledges, this isBlue Badge Guide Tess Pike’s favouritedestination in the Yorkshire Dales. Shedescribes it as an oasis of tranquillity,featuring a combination of riverside walksand a wheelchair and pushchair friendlywoodland path – a perfect place to takevisitors. All nicely rounded off with a visit tothe tearoom for delicious fresh scones andtraditional Yorkshire tea. Daily 10am-5pm in summer seasonyorkshiredales.org.uk
BRONTË PARSONAGE MUSEUM, HAWORTH
One of the great English literary shrines,the parsonage is at the heart of the Brontëstory. There are activities for families andchildren, and the dressing-up box is a mustfor everyone. Blue Badge Guide JohnnieBriggs’ favourite area is the dining room,where the sisters met to discuss theirwriting. From 2016 until 2020, theparsonage is staging special bi-centenaryevents. Daily 10-5pm bronte.org.uk
ABBEYDALE INDUSTRIAL HAMLET
Once the steel capital of the world,Sheffield’s metalworking story is told atAbbeydale. Join Blue Badge Guide LauraRhodes as she uncovers the fascinatingindustrial history of this restored 18thcentury water-powered mill that onceforged metal for the local agriculturalindustries. Find out about the early steel-makers and watch blacksmiths in the craft workshops. Open Mon-Thurs 10am-4pm, Sun-Thurs11am-4.45pm, closed Fri/Sat simt.co.uk
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From abbeys toaquatic centres,our Yorkshireguides reveal theirfavourite places to visit in ‘God’s own County’
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BRONTE PARSONAGEMUSEUM, HAWORTH
YORKSHIRESCULPTURE PARK
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YORK
SHEFFIELD
THIRSK
MIDDLESBROUGH
WHITBY
SCARBOROUGH
HULL
POCKLINGTON
North York MoorsNational Park
BARNSLEY
SELBY
GOOLE
HORNSEA
DRIFFIELD
BRIDLINGTON
MALTON
PICKERING
FILEY
GOATHLAND
STAITHES
GUISBOROUGH
1RIPON
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HARROGATE
DONCASTER
PONTEFRACT
BEVERLEY
LEEDS
ROTHERHAM
WAKEFIELD
THE GUIDES’ GUIDE TO
YORKSHIRECASTLE HOWARD
ABBEYDALE INDUSTRIAL HAMLET
NYM RAILWAY
THE DEEP
YORK MINSTER
FOUNTAINS ABBEY
STAITHES
Find an expert Yorkshire guideat www.itg.org.uk orwww.britainsbestguides.org
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AROUND THE GARDEN OF ENGLAND
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Dawn Bleetells us abouther favouriteKentishgardens
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Up a bottleneck country road into a tiny picture postcardvillage near Canterbury is Dawn Blee’s favourite garden:“Chilham Castle is Kent’s best kept secret,” she says. “It’s alandscape painter’s dream, with a ruined fortress, topiary,terraces and a view through the trees to the village pub,church and square.
“It’s all very ‘English’, but there’s a story that Chilham wasbuilt by elephants. The owner made his fortune in the EastIndia Company and shipped two beasts back to England todo the heavy lifting on the estate. Apparently they areburied among the parterres.”
Dawn is a green-fingered enthusiast. On moving to theKent village of Weald she converted an old tennis court into a chicken run and filled her garden with hardyrhododendron and azalea: “We live on a greenstone ridgeand the only things that grow really well here are stones.”
After qualifying as a South-East England Blue BadgeTourist Guide and winning the coveted Guide of the Yearprize, Dawn started running garden tours. Where better todo this than in the county known as ‘garden of England’?
“It was Henry VIII who brought pleasure gardens to Kent,”she says. “In the 1530s the king stayed in hunting lodges inthe local area, hoping to bump into Anne Boleyn. He set uphouse at Penshurst Place, where he ordered a garden to be built.
“Penshurst retains many features Henry would recognise:a knot garden, rose beds, shaded glades and secret rooms –perfect for courtly courting. The current owner, Lord De
L’Isle, has extended the garden, replanting a patriotic unionflag of red roses, blue lavender and white alyssum, and insummer an amazing maize maze.
“Hever Castle is just down the road from Penshurst. Oncethe Boleyn family home, during Anne’s time it had no greatgarden. But in 1903, William Waldorf Astor bought thecastle. The American wanted somewhere to keep hiscollection of classical statues, so he built lakeside gardensfilled with over a million pounds’ worth of plants – creatinga little bit of Italy in the middle of the Weald.
“Knowle is another of Kent’s Tudor palaces. Its 1000-acredeer park is a story of changing fortunes. Three centuriesago the second Duke sold off all its trees to pay off hisgambling debts. The woods were regrown, but in 1987 the‘Great Storm’ devastated the trees for a second time.Undaunted, the present owners planted some 200,000saplings that are slowly maturing into new woodland.
“Knowle will forever be associated with the writer andgarden designer Vita Sackville-West. The young heiress hada passion for plants, but her family forbade her fromentering the walled garden.
“Vita was denied her inheritance and Knowle passed toher male cousin. She eventually settled in Sissinghurst,where she and her husband created one of the most famousgardens in England.
“Sissinghurst is divided into a series of ‘garden rooms’,each with its own character. I am always struck by the waythe plants are mixed with different shapes and forms. It all
South View Penshurst Place
Hever Castle GardensHever Castle Gardens
Sissinghurst
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Aerial view of Lullingstone Castle30
Derek Jarman's House, Dungeness
“People are amazed thatanybody would or could make a garden here. It’s terrible terrain for domestic plants and flowers”
Lullingstone Castle is a newcomer toKent’s collection of castle gardens. Itwas inspired by Tom Hart Dyke’skidnapping in the Panamanian jungle
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seems so natural, but we know that Vita would climb up theold castle tower to study the landscape and plan her gardenin three dimensions.
“The white garden is Vita’s most famous creation. Itspearlescent flowers are outlined by blue leaves, in theevening it becomes a translucent paradise, sweet with scent.
“Vita wrote a gardening diary in the Observer newspaper,bringing her and Sissinghurst’s garden national acclaim. Herearthy, aristocratic style promoted one wit to describe her as:‘Lady Chatterley above the waist, gamekeeper below’. Sinceher death the landscape has been preserved as a floralshrine to its creator – like Monet’s garden beyond the Kentcoastline in Giverny.
“Lullingstone Castle is a newcomer to Kent’s collection ofcastle gardens. It was inspired by Tom Hart Dyke’skidnapping in the Panamanian jungle. Held for nine monthsand threatened with death, he kept himself sane bydesigning a walled garden in the shape of a globe. On hisrelease, he returned to his ancestral family home where herealised his project.
“Away from its castles and palaces, Kent has many finedomestic gardens. One of its most celebrated sits under theshadow of a nuclear power station on a windy pebble beachat Dungeness.
“Its creator was the film-maker and artist, Derek Jarman.In the 1990s he set up home in a wooden beach housecalled Prospect Cottage and started experimenting with‘extreme gardening’. With no soil, no boundaries and nohedges, the plants growing among the shingle are shapedby the sea winds. Jarman added garden sculptures with theflotsam and jetsam that washed up on the beach.
“People are amazed that anybody would or could make agarden here. It’s terrible terrain for domestic plants andflowers. But it is testimony to the Kentish passion for plantingthat there are gardens wherever you go in the county.”
World Garden, Lullingstone Castle Pine Tree, Lullingstone Castle
For a garden tour with Dawn Blee visitwww.southeasttourguides.co.uk
www.museumofroyalworcester.org ‘Royal Worcester’ and the C crown device are registered by and used under kind permission from Portmeirion Group UK Ltd to whom all rights are reserved.
Your party will be transported back to the start of manufacturing in to learn about the workers, famous customers and a world class industry. Skilled craftsmen regularly work in the galleries and special talks and demonstrations are available for groups.
MUSEUM OF ROYAL WORCESTER Severn Street, Worcester : :
OPEN MONDAY TO SATURDAY March to October: am – pm November to February: am – pmClosed Sundays, Christmas Day and Boxing Day
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Russell Nash takes uson a tour of London’smenswear district
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DRESSINGTHE PART
Russell Nash is no stranger to dressing up. After training atthe Sylvia Young theatre school – alma mater of severalEastEnders cast members – he worked as an actor for twodecades. Now a Blue Badge Guide, Russell needs to benoticed, so he has taken up the tradition of being a‘modern gentleman’, and has created a bespoke tour tomatch his sartorial style.
“London’s menswear district covers about 20 roadseither side of Piccadilly; at its heart is Jermyn Street, theonly road in the world exclusively dedicated to men’sfashion,” Russell explains. It is the home of the made-to-measure shirt, most famously tailored at Turnbull andAsser, who make James Bond’s shirts for the 007 films.
“Watching over Jermyn Street is the statue of ‘Beau’Brummell. The Regency trend-setter changed men’sclothing for ever. In the early 1800s Brummell rejected thefoppish fashion for brocades and breeches and styledhimself as a dandy. Wearing a simple dark jacket andtrousers, he popularised the men’s suit.
“During the early 1900s, King Edward VII wasconsidered the smartest man in Britain. As Prince of Wales,‘Bertie’ believed it his duty to show off the best of Britishtailoring. A rather vain man, in his 30s he started losing hishair and so began sporting homburg hats. To accommo-date his bulging waistline he wore plus fours and would
leave the bottom button of his waistcoat undone – somepeople say he started this fashion.
“Edward’s grandson Edward VIII was regarded as ‘thebest-dressed Englishman of the 20th century’. He likedclothes and they suited him. His informal fashions weremuch less ‘buttoned up’ than the rest of the royal familyand his elegance was mimicked by Hollywood stars suchas Fred Astaire and Cary Grant – soon the whole worldwas dressing like the king. When Edward died in 1972, theauction of his wardrobe was one of the fashion events ofthe era.
“Both king Edwards were customers of Mayfair’s streetof suits, Savile Row. Bertie was the star client for thestreet’s original tailor, Henry Poole, who made his name byclothing the high society of Victorian Britain – fromDickens to Disraeli. Two centuries later, Henry Pooleremains at the heart of ‘the row’, providing exclusivelybespoke menswear tailoring from its reassuringly old-school, wood-panelled shop.
“By the 1960s, aristocrats’ sons were set against wearing‘daddy’s clothes’. Savile Row was in trouble and one mansaved it from extinction, Tommy Nutter. The Rock and Rollsuitmaker dressed three of the Beatles on the iconic AbbeyRoad album front cover (not George, who wore denims).Elton John toured the world in Nutter suits and the
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“London’s mensweardistrict covers about
20 roads either side ofPiccadilly; at its heart isJermyn Street, the only
road in the worldexclusively dedicated
to men’s fashion”
Hen
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Tai
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Jaggers wore the tailor’s clothes at their wedding.“Nutter trained the first black tailor to open a shop on
Savile Row, Ozwald Boateng. The son of Ghanaianimmigrants, Boateng’s trademark style is bright colours – hismother dressed him up in a purple suit when he was a boy –and an Edwardian cut. Boateng has brought fashion brandmarketing to Savile Row by encouraging actors and celebritiesto wear his suits and has designed clothes for film and TVshows The Matrix, Miami Vice and Tomorrow Never Dies.
“The James Bond films have become a menswear shoot-out. American designer Tom Ford has paid for the rights todress 007. But I am a purist, and much prefer the relaxedsartorial style of ‘M’ played by Ralph Fiennes, whose single-breasted suits are cut by Timothy Everest – another TommyNutter protégé.
“Richard James ruffled a few Savile Row collars when heopened on Savile Row in the 1990s – his background is infashion, not tailoring. James pioneered the ‘new bespokemovement’ of suitmakers on ‘the row’, and is credited with
starting the current men’s trend for skinny suits and tight-fit jackets.
“This year, Kathryn Sargent became the first woman toopen a shop on Savile Row. Though there have been femaleapprentices on the street for a long time, traditionally thefittings have been done by the gentleman tailors who makethe suits. It will be interesting to see how traditionalists of thisbastion of masculinity react to change.”
So does Russell shop on Savile Row? “Ten years ago Itreated myself to a made-to-measure herringbone jacket fromGieves and Hawkes. It’s expensive, but worth every penny.You can pay nearly as much for an off-the-peg designer suit,which has no individuality.
“Dressing well is cool again. Look at all the big namerappers, at Eric Clapton, or Dave Vanian from The Damned.They are rockers in three-piece suits, Beau Brummels withtattoos. The first album I ever bought was by Adam Ant, theoriginal Dandy Highwayman. Now Dandyism is back infashion. We should celebrate it.”
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For a tour with Russell visitwww.guiderussell.co.uk
Sean Connery
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35
Why just see Stonehenge... when you can experience it?
Walk this unique landscape with a local Blue Badgeguide, leading you and your friends towards special access
into the stone circle after normal closure to the public.
A few dates are still available from June to September.
Visit the Stonehenge Special Access page onwww.stonehenge-tours.com
www.stonehenge-tours.com00 44 7775 [email protected]
StonehengeExperience
S E E A L L O F L O N D O N .A T O N C E .T H E O N L Y P L A C E T O V I E W I T A L L I S F R O M T H E T O P O F T H E S H A R D .
E x p e r i e n c e L o n d o n ’ s h i g h e s t v i e w i n g p l a t f o r m w i t h s t u n n i n g p a n o r a m i c v i e w s s t r e t c h i n g u p t o 4 0 m i l e s .P r i v a t e g u i d e d t o u r s , C h a m p a g n e p a c k a g e sa n d g o o d y b a g s a v a i l a b l e f o r g r o u p b o o k i n g s .
F o r s p e c i a l c o a c h g r o u p s o f f e r s , p l e a s e c o n t a c t :r e s e r v a t i o n s @ t h e v i e w f r o m t h e s h a r d . c o m+ 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 3 4 3 7 3 2 2 4
B o o k n o w a t t h e v i e w f r o m t h e s h a r d . c o m
# S H A R D V I E WL O N D O N B R I D G E
