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MAGIC AND MYSTERY DINNER WITH THE GEORGIAN DINING ACADEMY

Presents
An Evening of Mystery and Magic
10th December 2015
Arrive at 7pm  – Carriages 11pm

An historic dining experience transporting guests to the Georgian period, an evening engaging in the frivolity, fun and fine dining within a chop house established in 1757. 

In conjunction with Simpson Tavern at 38 ½ Cornhill, London EC3V 9DR, we offer all drinks included, plus a three course supper, entertainment and dashes of history of the City and the Georgians throughout the evening, with music, poetry and song. The rooms are candlelit, so most atmospheric. The Tavern is usually open during the day only, so we are offering an unusual experience in a unique venue.
THE DATE
The Georgian Dining Academy is offering an evening of ‘Magic and Mystery’ on 10th December 2015, starting at 7pm, Carriages at 11pm. Booking through Eventbrite – click here for details.
THE GUESTS
An ideal occasion for the single, couples and tables of six, or groups if required. We can seat up to 70 people. Please note a costume is not required but welcomed and encouraged.  On this festive occasion masks are required to be worn by the guests on arrival.
THE MENU
A festive menu to tempt all, with a warming punch to welcome you, made from a secret recipe created by Miss Kitty Pridden one of the hosts. The menu is pre-order and closely resembles a Georgian feast as we can achieve. We also cater for dietary requirements.



MORE INFORMATION
The Georgian Dining Academy grew out of an idea by Tina Baxter, aka Miss B Takes a Walk, who qualified as a
City of London Guide in 2012. The purpose of the Academy is to create a Georgian, performance style, dining experience in the heart of the City. With the encouragement of Miss Kitty Pridden (also a City Guide of 2012) this novel idea was put into action in 2014. It has proved a successful event which takes place quarterly.




The dates for 2016 have already been agreed with Simpson’s Tavern and will be announced in early 2016.
Plans are afoot for a ‘Club Membership’ package to be released soon. Dates upon application. Further details:


CONTACT:
Miss B Takes A Walk
Current Walks : http://bit.ly/18rCd4a
07963778213

HORSES, HORSES, HORSES…

HORSES, HORSES, HORSES…A VISIT TO THE KENTUCKY HORSE PARK

Outside the Galt House Hotel, you’d know you were in Kentucky even if the surrounding architecture looked like the picture below.
As we drove from Louisville toward Lexington, I regressed a few years back to my horse-crazy days…as a pre-teen and teen, when about the only thing I wanted to do was ride — or even muck out the stalls.  So by the time we arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park, I had become age 13. At least as concerned horses — I doubt I’d ever want to experience high school all over again. Would you??
A bit over an hour from Louisville on the edge of Lexington
is the Kentucky Horse Park, right in the enter of the Bluegrass Region.
Many statues about, these of frolicking colts

Secretariat, 1970-1989
Winner of the 1983 Triple Crown
Above and below, Man O’War

Unnamed prancer

Skeletons of man and horse, paired for eons

How horses began their travel by sea 

Miniature Hackneys
Old Stagecoach

A selection of the many trophies won by the iconic Calumet Farms

A section of the museum was devoted to the Arabian Horse: flourishing today 
all over the world and founding breed of many other contemporary breeds
The three founders of the thoroughbred: The Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian.

Bedouins are famous for the care of their horses

Was this one of your favorites in your teens??
 Oh, Walter Farley, you are in part responsible for my career in writing!!

A Corning Buggy, 1900
Developed in New York in about 1875 for two persons. Often used as a doctor’s country vehuicle.
American Saddlebred

Just so you know, there are many live horses around, not just statues and museum displays.

A picture of my teen favorite, the five-gaited champion Wing Commander;
painting by Gwen Reardon, 1971 

A five-gated statue or more correctly, a statue of a five-gaited horse

My husband was game for a tour of nearby horse farms, and we took off with about 14 companions and our guide, Shawn — he was the best! He explained that the Horse Park and most of the Bluegrass farms had changed from white fences to black.  Why? Because they have to be painted less frequently and save a lot of money. After all, though lots of starry-eyed girls like me would never consider such a thing, breeding and training horses is a business.

Our guide Shawn, from Unique Horse Farm Tours
Our first stop was Windstar Farm (website here) where more than twenty stallions stand at stud.

This fine barn houses only stallions, in the ultimate equine luxury

Tiznow

I just wasn’t quick enough to catch this fine fellow in time!

This is Pioneer of the Nile, sire of 2015 Triple Crown winner and
 Breeders Cup champ, American Pharaoh.

Each stallion gets his daily exercise and constant coddling.

Afternoon nap

The stalls are spacious and the horses are treated better than lots of humans!

The owner’s lounge

American Pharaoh was bred here.

Significant replays available

Manicured grounds

Passing an old mill

At the second farm, KatieRich, (website here) we mixed with mares, yearlings, and weanlings

Many of the horses in the pastures worse fly-protection gear. They can see though the screen and not be bothered by the pests.

Another pristine facility.

We wished we could get close to this adorable white colt.

The fields were full of mares whose babes had been recently weaned.

Farm

A barn full of yearlings and two-year olds

More nappers

I was in my element

Shawn took us to an old tobacco barn full of the crop, but he said they number of such barns had greatly diminished in the past few years.

Shawn and the nasty weed
It was a perfect day for the horse-loving teen in me!!!

AT AUCTION: SELECTED ITEMS FROM HOOTON PAGNELL HALL

All the magic of an English Country House sale will come to town when Bonhams auctions the selected contents of Hooton Pagnell Hall in London on Tuesday 1 December.

View the video of the history of Hooton Pagnell Hall and it’s collections here. 



Hooton Pagnell Hall is one of Yorkshire’s most important and oldest country houses with a history stretching back to the Doomsday Book. It has been home to the Warde family for more than 300 years. Over the centuries successive generations have added their stamp and the house is a treasure trove of objects.

Now the current owner and ninth generation of the family to live at Hooton Pagnell Hall, Mark Warde-Norbury, has decided to sell a selection of the contents. As he explained to the arts journalist Philippa Stockley writing in the winter edition of Bonhams Magazine: “we have five grand pianos and six grandfather clocks. We have to clear some things out in order to move forward.”
“This sale has everything you’d expect from an English Country House sale”, says Bonhams Director of Valuations, Harvey Cammell. “An important view of Windsor Castle, for example, by the renowned watercolourist Paul Sandby; a gruesome – and still functioning – man trap used in the 19th century to deter poachers; a truly remarkable Pietra Dura marble chest inlaid with exquisite birds and vases of lilies brought back from the Grand Tour; and correspondence from the Lady with the Lamp – Florence Nightingale – and the Iron Duke himself the Duke of Wellington.”

Among the most fascinating items are letters to the explorer and scientist Edward Wilson who reached the South Pole with Captain Scott in 1912 only to die with the rest of the party on the return journey. The owners had a close association with Wilson through his brother who was the Hall’s estate manager. A poignant letter to him from Julia Warde-Aldam wishing him a safe return, sent after his death but before the news of the tragedy was known, is included in the sale together with rare first editions of the polar expeditions of Scott and Shackleton.

Julia Warde-Aldam was also at the center of Hooton Pagnell Hall’s role during World War I when, like so many country houses, it was converted into a hospital and convalescence home. Several items in the sale attest to that melancholy period in the Hall’s history none more so perhaps than the crewel work bedspread made for her by a grateful patient with the words: ‘LOVINLY WORKED FOR MRS WARDE-ALDAM BY LK BEGUN IN 1913 FINISHED IN THE YEAR OF PEACE 1919.’ Mrs Warde-Aldam received many gifts at this time including a large stuffed crocodile.
The sale consists of more than 600 lots. It will be held at Bonhams Knightsbridge on 1 December and available to view there from Saturday 28th November.

Details of items mentioned in the text:
Windsor castle from the Thames with figures in the foreground by Paul Sandby (1730-1809), £40,000-60,000.
An Italian 17th century ebony, pietra dura and specimen marble cabinet, £20,000-30,000.
Warrant document signed by the Duke of Wellington, £200-300.
Handwritten letter from Florence Nightingale, £400-600.
First edition of Scott’s Last Expedition, 2 vol., including correspondence from Edward Wilson, £2,000-3,000.
Scott’s The Voyage of the Discovery, 2 vol., £1,000-1,500.
Ernest Shackleton, The Heart of the Antarctic. Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909, 3 vol., £8,000-12,000.
South Polar Times, vol. 1-2 edited by Shackleton, £5,000-7,000.
A 19th century iron mantrap, with eighteen inch jaws and a tilting footplate, £400-600.
An early 20th century crewel work bedspread, £400-600.

IS IT JANUARY YET?!

Each year, it seems as though time speeds up at the end of September. Before we know it, Halloween is upon us and before you know it, we’re shopping for Thanksgiving turkeys and then its on to Christmas shopping, tree buying and decorating and suddenly it’s New Years Eve. Caught up in the warp speed of time myself, I’m not trying to rush things further, but really – is it January yet? There are so many good things coming to telly that it’s hard to be patient.

Of course, topping the list as my personal favourite is the Sherlock Christmas Special. Not only will Sherlock, John, Mrs. Hudson and Mary return, but they’ll be in Victorian London – Huzza! The holiday special, The Abominable Bride, will air on Friday, January 1, 2016 in both the US and the UK – Happy New Year, indeed.

From an October 24, 2015 RadioTimes article:

Sherlock creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have a history of taking the titles of original Arthur Conan Doyle stories and putting a spin on them. A Study in Scarlet became A Study in Pink, The Sign of Four became The Sign of Three and the Empty House became The Empty Hearse. Meanwhile, they’ve also given cheeky nods to cases that are mentioned in passing by the original Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson but were never actually written, such as the giant rat of Sumatra and the Aluminium Crutch.
What they haven’t done is put the two together – until now…
As Mark Gatiss told us when he revealed the title of the Victorian-themed Sherlock special, The Abominable Bride, at London ComicCon on Saturday, it’s inspired by Holmes’s throwaway reference to the case of “Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife”.
The mention comes during the Sherlock Holmes short story The Musgrave Ritual, which begins with Holmes sorting through some old case files with Watson.
“Here’s the record of the Tarleton murders and the case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife,” says the detective.
And that’s pretty much that, meaning that we know almost nothing about Ricoletti and his wife – beyond the fact that he had a club foot and she was, apparently, abominable.

It looks fabulous, as you’ll see for yourself by watching the official trailer here.  So nice to know that the game will soon be afoot once more.

Next up is the final season of Downton Abbey airing in the US on Sunday, January 4, 2016. As the photo above demonstrates, everyone’s got their coats on, but where are they all going? It appears that we’ll have to wait and see.

You’ll find a fabulous five minute long video compilation of the best of the past five seasons ending with a teaser for the final season here.

The cast members become emotional as they discuss filming the final scenes in this clip.

If you need to need to be reminded of why we love the Dowager Countess, watch this. 

PBS offers a slideshow of photos highlighting scenes from the final season here.

And if you can bear it, watch the Downton Abbey Final Episode Trailer here.

Finally, Ricky Gervais will return as host of the 73rd Annual Golden Globes on January 10, 2016 which, depending on your personal preference, can either be a good thing or a bad thing. As Variety reported:

“We’re excited to have Ricky Gervais back to host the most enjoyable awards show of the season in his own inimitable way,” said NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt in a statement. “Disarming and surprising, Ricky is ready to honor — and send up — the best work of the year in film and television. Fasten your seats belts.”
Gervais, who hosted the Globes for three consecutive years from 2010-2012, will take over for co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who also saw a three-year stint.
The Emmy-winning star of “The Office” and Netflix’s “Derek” had previously sworn off hosting the Globes again after his controversial jokes, which included a dig at Jodie Foster’s sexuality, raised a few eyebrows at the Beverly Hilton ceremony.
“Actors aren’t just loved here in Hollywood, they are loved the world over,” he said in 2012, holding one of his trademark pints of beer. “You could be a little Asian child with no possessions and no m
oney. But you could see a picture of Angelina Jolie and you’d think, ‘Mummy!’”
Gervais later responded to the backlash by saying, “I’ve told my agent to never let me be persuaded to do it again though. It’s like a parachute jump.”
But his final hosting stint drew mostly positive reviews and nearly 17 million viewers, which NBC noted in its press release.