Kristine Hughes – Page 3 – Number One London

HORWOOD’S MAP OF REGENCY LONDON

Do you know about Richard Horwood’s map of London? Completed in 1799, it was the most detailed map of the City to date, displaying the footprint of houses, public buildings and parks, even down to contemporary house numbers. A description of the map reads as follows –

Richard Horwood’s PLAN of the Cities of LONDON and WESTMINSTER the Borough of SOUTHWARK, and PARTS adjoining Shewing every HOUSE was produced between 1792 and 1799. It consists of thirty-two printed sheets displaying an area stretching from the middle of Hyde Park in the west to Limehouse in the east and from the southern edge of Islington in the north to the southern fringes of Kennington and Walworth in the south, a zone six miles across and three miles and three furlongs from north to south. Each individual sheet is 19 3/4 inches across and 21 5/8 of an inch high; when assembled, the full map is more than thirteen feet (or four metres) across and over seven feet (2.2 metres) high. Horwood’s was the first map of London to attempt to show every individual property in every street in London, so it’s extremely detailed, even including contemporary house numbers.

Now, you can purchase a copy of the sections of Horwood’s map pertaining to the areas of fashionable London. The two large, blueprint sized sheets (30″ x 44″) show the area from Brompton Row and Southampton Row in the west to Somerset House in the east, and from Bedford Square in the north to Hans Place and Stangate Street in the south.

To order, send $34 via PayPal Friends and Family to london20@aol.com – Price includes the map (two blueprint sized sheets) and shipping. Don’t forget to provide your mailing address when ordering.

A STEP BACK IN TIME: INTERIORS OF THE ROYAL PAVILION AND CARLTON HOUSE

Anyone interested in Regency London will want to know about the work of British photographer Ashley Hicks, the son of Lady Pamela Hicks and the legendary interior designer David Hicks, who was granted ten days to shoot the opulent drawing rooms, halls, and corridors of Buckingham Palace. His photos afterwards appeared in his lavish 2018 book, below.

Hicks also filmed a three part documentary, Buckingham Palace: The Interiors, which likewise features many of his photos. While there have been many documentaries about Buck House, what sets this one apart and above others is Ashley Hicks. You should really watch all three parts of the documentary – Hicks’s insider knowledge and passion for the Palace’s interiors shine through and his narrative is engaging and filled with historical tidbits.

Part III will especially appeal to Regency aficianados (linked below), as it deals with the parts of the Palace interiors that have connections to both the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and to Carlton House. Hicks’s photographs of George IV’s furniture, musical instruments and objet d’art are presented side by side with contemporary drawings of the interiors of both the Pavilion and Carlton House, giving the viewer the opportunity to virtually revisit both buildings, whilst historic anecdotes abound as Hicks provides background to each of the items. Enjoy!

AH, LISBON

Vibrant, historic, unique, diverse – Lisbon. I’ve been twice in the last year, preparing for Number One London’s Peninsular War Tour in May, 2024. It’s a fabulous city, able to wow first time visitors with it’s river, hills, cobblestone streets, old town Alfama and an abundance of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. As to diversity, start with transport – you can easily travel around Lisbon via their iconic trams, in a tuk tuk or by boat. Of course, you can also take a cab or walk, which is the best way to see all the nooks, crannies and history of Lisbon.

Tuk tuks are everywhere and can be booked for a tour in advance or hailed as a taxi. You’ll find tuk tuk ranks dotted around the City.

A ride on one of the iconic Lisbon trams is a must do – but avoid Tram 28 like the plague. The line uses an older, heritage tram and it’s route passes many of the popular sites in the City, two reasons for the journey having become a crowded tourist trap, more often than not operating with standing room only.

You’ll see the decorative tiles Lisbon is known for everywhere, beneath your feet, on buildings and on ceilings. The Arabs brought the tiles to Lisbon from Egypt in the 12th century. You can read more about the tiles here.

If Lisbon’s 25 de Abril Bridge looks familiar, it’s probably because it was designed by the same company that constructed the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. Standing at the southern end of the bridge is the Christ the King (Cristo Rei) monument, inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

Among the UNESCO sites we’ll be visiting during the Peninsular War Tour is the Belem Tower, below.

A 16th century fortification, the Tower has stood through the centuries as a landmark for explorers, navigators and commercial shipping.

Nearby, we’ll find the Monument to the Discoveries, celebrating the 15th and 16th century Portuguese explorers who made Portugal the most powerful seafaring nation of the age.

But there’s more to Lisbon than UNESCO sites, history and monuments. There’s food. And drink. And we’ll be sampling both – there will be tapas!

And Pastel de Nata. A Portuguese egg custard tart created by 18th century monks who used egg whites for starching clothes. What to do with all the left over egg yolks? Viola. Pastel de Nata. To simply call them custard tarts is to do them a disservice and yet the flavour is elusive and hard to describe, though the likes of Anthony Bourdain and Phil Rosenthal have tried their best to do so. One taste and you, like me and millions of others, will be hooked.

We’d love to show you Lisbon on Number One London’s Peninsular War Tour in May, 2024. You’ll find the complete tour itinerary and further details here.

A TOUR GUIDE IN ENGLAND: DAY 2 – PART 2

After watching the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Diane and I

skirted St. James’s Park and noted all the glorious gardens in full bloom, above and below.

Crossing the Mall, we then walked up the path that runs along Green Park up to Piccadilly, but instead we turned in at Milkmaid’s Passage as short cut through to St. James’s Street.

I wanted to introduce Diane to Boulestin, a favourite restaurant of Victoria’s and

mine in St. James’s Street. In fact, I like it so well that I’ve included it on the itineraries for several upcoming tours as a dinner venue.

The restuarant is a revival of Marcel Boulestin’s pre-war venue in Covent Garden and has achieved the perfect blend of modern chic, French flair and historic touches. Click here to read about the original restaurant, the most expensive in London, and about chef Marcel Boulestin.

In the photo above, you can see the outdoor seating area which is in Pickering Place, which is also adjacent to Berry Brothers and which was also the site of the last public duel in England.

Diane and I each had a bowl of homemade soup and shared a cheese plate afterwards. Delicious!

Afterwards, we detoured through Jermyn Street in order to pay a visit to an old and dear friend.

Then it was on to meet another old friend, antique dealer Mark Sullivan,

whose shop is in Cecil Court.

After pouring Diane and I a glass of wine each, it was at least a half hour of catch up before we got to the business at hand – Artie-facts, the true reason for our visit. As usual, Mark had found me another Wellington for my collection, and what a corker!

As you can see, he’s right at home now and fits beautifully into the collection.

We decided to end the afternoon seeing even more of our pals, so Diane and I headed over to the Regency section at the National Portrait Gallery.

Part Three Coming Soon!

CALKE ABBEY – THE UNSTATELY HOME

The National Trust presents Calke Abbey as an illustration of the English country house in decline. Displays show how house was left when abandoned in the 1920’s and the NT refers to the property as an “unstately home.”

From Wikipedia: “Set in the midst of a landscape park, the National Trust presented Calke Abbey as an illustration of the English country house in decline. A massive amount of remedial work but no restoration has been done and interiors are almost as they were found in 1985 so the decay of the building and its interiors has been halted but not reversed. Before the National Trust work of the late 1980s everything had remained untouched since the 1880s. The Trust manages the surrounding landscape park with an eye to nature conservation. It contains such features as a walled garden, with a flower garden and a former physic garden, now managed as a kitchen garden. Some years after Calke was handed over to the National Trust to settle death duties, an heir was discovered: Andrew Johnson, a distant cousin of the Harpur family. Johnson was a wealthy resident of Vermont and the owner of important stands of timber and of a lumber business, though the popular press in Britain referred to him as a `lumberjack.’ Johnson was given the use of an apartment in the Abbey, which he and his family have used on occasional visits.”

And from The History of the County of Derby, Part 2 (1829) by Stephen Glover: “In this house, although it has never yet been put up, either for use or ornament, is, perhaps, one of the most splendid state beds in the kingdom, presented, on the occasion of her marriage,-by ” Caroline,” queen of George the Second, to Lady Caroline Manners (afterwards Harpur) as one of her bridemaids. This now beautiful seat was, in the memory of persons n6w living, one of the plainest and least ornamental, it is said, almost desolate and ugly, places in the county. The present improvements were all planned and executed by the late Sir Henry Crewe, bart. who devoted a life of retirement to this purpose, affording thereby, for many years, ample employment to the workmen and labourers of the surrounding neighbourhood. The house being ill supplied with water, Sir Henry Crewe, at a great expense, brought it from an excellent spring beyond Ticknall, about a mile and a half, to a covered reservoir in the park, from whence the stables, house, gardens, and dairy, are now fully and amply supplied. The style of architecture is Ionic, highly enriched, with fluted pilasters between the windows, and an elegant balustrade round the whole building, within which is a flat roof covered with lead. The stables are excellent, and stand on an elevated site to the north of the house.”

The Potting Shed at Calke Abbey from natures-desktop.com

All of this sounds vastly intriguing and Victoria and I are loathe to admit that neither of us has yet visited Calke Abbey. Have you? If so, please share your visit with us. And in the meantime, Victoria and I have yet another stop to put on a future itinerary.