Kristine Hughes – Page 56 – Number One London

A PINTEREST POST

Here’s another great photo I found on Pinterest recently of the swans at the Bishop’s Palace in Wells, who ring a bell when they want to be fed. The things one learns on Pinterest!

From the Bishop’s Palace website, where you’ll also see a live streaming “Swan Cam”:

The Bishop’s Palace is world famous for its swans who ring a bell alongside the gatehouse when they want food. The swans are trained to pull on a rope which sounds the bell ringing and sends the Palace Caretakers, Paul and Carol Arblaster running to fetch some bread and open the window to feed them. Perhaps you will be lucky enough to see them do this when you visit!

Swans at the Palace were first taught to ring a bell for food by the daughter of Bishop Hervey in the 1870s and the tradition continues to this day. Bread is tied in clumps to the rope attracting the swans to nibble at it and pull it off, when they do this the bell rings. Gradually less and less bread is tied onto the rope as they begin to understand that by pulling the rope and hearing the bell means food will soon follow.

Rest assured, the swans and ducks all get a lot of attention from tourists and staff around The Bishop’s Palace should Paul and Carol be away from the bell so they don’t go hungry, they also feed off the moat silt bed and surrounding environment.

You can watch a YouTube video of the swans ringing the bell here.

IN THE GARDEN WITH KRISTINE

You may remember a previous post I did about the burrowing owl who had taken up residence on our front porch a few years ago, which you can read here.

This year, a pair of Northern Mockingbirds took up residence and constructed a nest in the shrubbery beside our driveway. Hubby and I kept an eye on the pair, fascinated as they built the nest and, soon after, deposited three, small, blue, speckled eggs within.

Every so often, we’d stand on tiptoe and peer down into the nest to see if any progress had been made. Before long, Hubby reported that two of the eggs had hatched. Did I want to go see the babies? No, I told him. I didn’t want to do anything that might spook the parents away from the nest.

Next day, Hubby reported that he thought one of the babies had died. This did prompt me to peek into the nest. One of the babies – pink and featherless, was moving slightly. The second bird simply lay there in the nest, unmoving.

Hhhhmmm. I told Hubby to leave the nest alone; that maybe something was wrong with the baby bird and that the parents would deal with it as nature dictated, but that we shouldn’t interfere with it.

Two days later, I dared to peek at the nest again and this is what I saw – two healthy baby birds. Now with feathers. And hungry, opened mouths. The bird we’d thought was ill or dead had apparently simply been sleeping. Joy!

We continued to peek at the babies over the next few days, until one day I looked, only to find that there was just one baby bird in the nest. Had the second fallen out? Fallen victim to prey? Panic set in until a movement caught my eye and I realized that the second bird had already left the nest and was sitting on a branch within the shrubbery.

By the time we checked in the next day, the babies were both venturing out of the nest, and out of the shrubbery, ready to greet the big, wide world as their parents watched from the telephone wire above.

Spring has indeed sprung – enjoy!

AND FROM ELSEWHERE ON THE WEB . . . . .

Here’s another round-up of interesting posts we’ve found from elsewhere on the web – enjoy!

Author Susanna Ives – 1819 Play Bills from the Theatre Royal
Ian Visits – The secret tube ticket that only works at one stop.
Shannon Selin – Imagining the Bounds of History – Napoleon’s Mother, Letizia Bonaparte
The Telegraph – Lollipop lady’s garden shed named national treasure
London Small Historic Houses – Bricks: The Building Blocks of London
Historical Hussies – Regency Pistols and Duels
The Week – The Fascinating Linguistic Legacy of the Crimean War

The Duke of Wellington Tour – Video Highlights – Part Four – St. James's Street

ST. JAMES’S STREET, LONDON

Kristine and Victoria have a very special day planned for Sunday, September 7th – a walking tour of the St. James’s area of London. Below you’ll find highlights of just a few of the places we’ll be visiting as we take a meandering walk, during which you’ll hear tales about gentlemen’s clubs and famed personalities who frequented the area. Hear tales of bawdy houses, royal chapels, and courtesans. Explore hidden alleys and tucked away streets. Discover their connections to duels, downfalls, and dandies before we quench our thirst at some of London’s most historic and atmospheric pubs. The day also includes time to stop for snacks, lunch, and a bit of shopping.

We’ll leave our hotel, the Grosvenor, at Victoria Station and walk up to Buckingham Palace

From there, we’ll take a peek into St. James’s and Green Park before turning down The Mall to pass Clarence House and take a short cut up to St. James’s Palace and St. James’s Street. Click here to watch a video of a stroll down the Street .

Arriving at St. James’s Street, we’ll steep ourselves in Georgian and Regency history as we stroll past the shopfronts of such venerable institutions as Lock’s Hatters and Berry Brothers and Rudd. We’ll pass the iconic and fabled gentlemen’s clubs – Brooks’s Club, Boodles and, of course, White’s, where we’ll stroll by the famous bow window, where Brummell held court.

At the top of the Street, we’ll arrive at Piccadilly, where we’ll have plenty of time to see the Royal Academy (formerly Burlington House) and explore Hatchard’s Bookstore (above) and Fortnum and Mason. We’ll stop for tea at Richoux Tea Rooms, a favourite haunt of Victoria and Kristine’s.

Afterwards, we’ll cross the street in order to see the Burlington Arcade, the longest covered shopping street in the world. The Burlington Arcade (above) was built from designs by Ware for Lord George Cavendish in 1815, and is ‘famous,’ as Leigh Hunt tells us, ‘for small shops and tall beadles.’ What’s a beadle, you ask? Click here to find out. For more on Piccadilly and it’s environs, see my prior post here. More soon!

JOIN US IN SEPTEMBER!

For complete itinerary and details of The Duke of Wellington Tour, click here.

The Duke of Wellington Tour – Video Highlights – Part Three

THE GRENADIER PUB, LONDON

After our visit to Horse Guards, we’ll be rounding out the day with a private dinner at The Grenadier Pub, one of London’s historic pubs. This is another stop I try to make whenever I’m in London and I’ve been there with, among others, Victoria, my daughter, Brooke, with authors Diane Gaston, Sue Ellen Welfonder, and Carrie Bebris and even by myself.

The Grenadier is a tad hard to find first time out, tucked away as it is behind Wilton Crescent on Wilton Row, or Wilton Mews, in Belgravia. You can see how it’s situated on the street at right in the photo of the Row below.

Here’s the Row on a map of London.

It’s within walking distance of Apsley House and legend has it that the Pub was used as a mess by soldiers in the Duke of Wellington’s regiment, although a pub in some form has stood on the spot since 1720.

Supposedly, there’s a blocked up entrance to a tunnel in the basement of the Pub that connects it to Apsley House. Keeping in mind that Wellington rarely fraternized with his soldiers – apart from his ADC’s and a very few fellow officers – and that Wellington regularly traveled round London on horseback, in full view of all and sundry and wasn’t the least concerned about hiding his movements – I put the story of the tunnel on the side of legend, rather than fact.

The Grenadier’s military connection is not in doubt. Until 1834, Old Barrack Yard, the remnants of which run along the side of the Grenadier Pub, once formed the access road to Knightsbridge Foot Barracks, located on the site now occupied by St. Paul’s Church, Wilton Place. When the Guards moved to their current home at Wellington Barracks in Birdcage Walk, the land was donated by the owner, the Duke of Westminster, to the Diocese of London.

Today, the Grenadier is awash in historic military decor and Napoleonic atmosphere, with much of the memorabilia focused upon Guards history.

In addition, the Wellington connection is reinforced at the Grenadier through portraits of the Duke, like the one below over the fireplace, as well as the story that the mounting block outside the side entrance of the Pub (below, left) was placed there for Wellington’s use. Which begs the question – did he use the block in order to mount his horse before riding it down the basement stairs and then home through the tunnel?

Bringing the history of the Grenadier closer to the present, legend also has it that The Grenadier was a regular haunt for Burt Bacharach in the 60’s and that he wrote the score for What’s New Pussycat when he stayed across the road in 10 Wilton Row. Madonna and Prince William are reputed to frequent the Pub, which is said to serve the best “secret recipe” Bloody Mary’s in London.

You’ll agree that The Grenadier was a “must do” for the Duke of Wellington Tour and Victoria and I look forward to the private dinner our tour group is slated to enjoy here. Not to mention the cocktails . . . . .

. . . . . . . And the ghost. The Grenadier is commonly known as one of the most haunted places in London, so I could hardly keep it a secret. The Pub is sup
posedly haunted by the ghost of a soldier who was beaten to death for cheating at cards in the Pub. If you’re interested in learning more about the haunted history of the Pub, here’s a video about it from the television series Great British Ghosts, which also happens to have some great footage of the interior of the Pub, its decor and atmosphere. Not mention the cellars.

Personally, I’ve never seen a ghost inside the Grenadier. Rather, I saw them (yes, plural) around the corner in Old Barrack Yard, above. You can read all about my ghostly encounter in a prior post here.

Oh, one more thing . . . . . . . I should mention that ghost sightings are most frequent in the month of September.

COMPLETE ITINERARY AND DETAILS FOR

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TOUR IN SEPTEMBER 2014

CAN BE FOUND HERE.