Around Town Online: November 2015

November's an odd month in London. The weather can be bright, sunny and crisp, or grey, foggy and cold. There is still much to be enjoyed, though and it can be a fantastic time to see the capital. There's a small lull as the summer tourists melt away and the students go back to college, but the Christmas shoppers haven't yet arrived. There are still big openings of major exhibitions, quirky festivals and, of course, there's Bonfire Night. This year, as an added extra, the autumn leaves are late, so we have nature's fireworks to look forward to as well.

Most of this month's post will be devoted to a reader's question, but if you're planning to be in London in November, here are some of the things I'll be enjoying most this month.

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Samuel Pepys, John Hayls, 1666 (c) National Portrait Gallery, London[/caption]

Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire and Revolution is the exhibition I've been waiting for all year. It's exactly 350 years since the Great Plague, which diarist Samuel Pepys wrote about in heartbreaking detail. He was forced to stay in the City due to work commitments, but he sent his household to Greenwich to enjoy what was then 'country air' until the disease had passed.

It's appropriate, then, that the exhibition is being held at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. It promises a major display of Pepys memorabilia, items to do with the plague and, perhaps most poignant of all, the Great Fire of London, which occurred just a year after disease swept London, in 1666.

Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire and Revolution opens at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, on 20th November 2015 and runs to 28th March 2016.

I can't wait to see the exhibition, as I've already seen a fantastic book written to coincide with it, and if half the items discussed in the book turn up in the display, we'll be in for a real treat. Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire and Revolution is an illustrated collection of entertaining essays by experts in their own fields on aspects of the exhibition, and every time I open it there's something new to be gleaned. Published by Thames & Hudson at £29.95, it's a must for every Pepys fan. It will be available from the Museum shop when the exhibition opens.

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Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution, edited by Margarette Lincoln[/caption]

If, by the way, you are a fan of this most eclectic of individuals, you can subscribe, free, to his diary online, where every day you will be emailed what he wrote on the same day in, currently, 1662. I have been a subscriber for several years, and can assure you that whether he's snarking about a work rival, confessing his passion for a lady he saw in the street or fretting about invasion by the Dutch,  it's something to look forward to every morning.

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Guitar, Italian, 17 century, (c) Horniman Museum and Garden, Dani Tagen[/caption]

Pepys was crazy about music. He variously had a lute, flageolot, recorder, spinet, viol, violin and something called a theorbro, and he even wrote his own compositions. Staying in Greenwich, between 12th and 14th November, the International Early Music Festival is an extraordinary cavalcade of similarly ancient instruments. You can meet their makers, take masterclasses and attend concerts, all in the fabulous 18th C. surroundings of the Old Royal Naval College.

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Mrs Moll Davies, actress, and mistress of Charles II, was a rival, both in love and work, of the famous Nell Gwyn. Theater-loving Pepys thought she was great. His wife was less keen. © The Trustees of the Weston Park Foundation, UK[/caption]

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Elena Maximova and Bryan Hymel in Carmen, (c) ROH Photography by Catherine Ashmore[/caption]

One of the classiest nights you can experience anywhere has to be a night at the opera - and one of the classiest operas in London just now is the Royal Opera House's production of Carmen. The theatre itself makes a great visit - backstage tours regularly top 'things to do lists'  - so it's worth arriving a little early and taking a look around. Go right to the top of the foyer, where you can walk along an open-sided loggia, with views of Covent Garden market on one side and the costume department on the other.

What I particularly like about this production is that it takes Bizet's classic right back to its roots. Francesca Zambello's Carmen is not set in outer space, a Russian gulag, a circus or 1950s high school. It's set in 1870s Seville, just as it should be. With such a traditional setting, the performances have to be wonderful - and they are. Bryan Hymel's Don Jose has 'sucker' written all over him from the moment he steps on stage. He doesn't stand a chance against Elena Maximova's Carmen, glowing with sweat and seduction. Easily the biggest round, however, went to Nicole Carr as the sweetest, most vulnerable Micaela I have ever seen. Conductor Daniel Oren's tempi take a bit of getting used to, but even they make you listen to the music afresh. It's a wonderful experience, and running to the end of November.

Carmen, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

A few weeks ago I received a challenge from Amy:

"I would like to know what is housed in the buildings that are part of the Tower Bridge.   Could you do an article on that?"

Well, it took a little while to find the right people to ask but Amy, here's what I found.

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Tower Pier is another classic place to view the Bridge[/caption]

By the end of the 19th Century, there was so much going on south of the river that London's existing bridges were bursting at the seams. A new crossing was needed, nearer the docks, but there was another problem—the Thames itself was just as busy as the roads.

A competition was held. It attracted over fifty entries, some nuttier than others, but eventually Sir Horace Jones's design was approved. Building began in 1887 and the bridge was opened in 1894. 

Even today there is a strict hierarchy over who has precedence. Everything gives way to the river—by law if a ship wants to pass through, the traffic stops. Although these days 24 hours' notice is required, it can still catch people out, as President Bill Clinton found out during a state visit. His limousine crossed the bridge just fine, but the rest of his cavalcade was left the other side as the bridge lifted. In the ensuing security meltdown, presumably someone was fired for not checking the bridge lift timetables.

Diplomatic entourage or not, the timetables are very useful for anyone who wants to see the bridge in action. Although there's nothing to match being on the boat going underneath, another good vantage point is next-door London Bridge. Night time is particularly lovely as, after many years of renovation the scaffolding is finally gone and the bridge now lights up beautifully.

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David Duffy presses the button for the bridge to lift as the ship approaches[/caption]

I always assumed the engineer in charge of 'driving' the lifts did so from one of the fancy windows in the towers themselves. I was completely wrong. Instead it's from one of two unassuming, shed-like buildings at the base, where I met Technical Officer David Duffy.

"I have the best job—and the worst," he says. The 'best' bit involves being in charge of making one of the world's greatest buildings open and close at the press of a few buttons, getting down and dirty with the machinery and maintaining the original Victorian engines, which although no longer used, are lovingly preserved as part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition.

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Turnstiles were provided so pedestrians caught unawares when the bridge lifted could return to safety[/caption]

The less-fun bits are the boring maintenance jobs, the overnight shifts and  early mornings. The bridge must be available to lift at any time of the day or night. Even this has its advantages. Duffy waxes lyrical about exceptional sunrises and snowy mornings with not a single footprint to spoil the blanket of white across the bridge.

The operation remains much the same as when the bridge first opened. Warnings are given to vehicles and pedestrians and a barrier brought down to prevent accidents. Duffy watches the vessel approach, both on screens and, like his forebears, out of the window, lifting the bridge at exactly the right moment.

The bridge only lifts fully for one person—Her Majesty the Queen. It was last raised to its full extent when the Royal barge Gloriana passed through for the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012. David Duffy remembers the moment with pride, as with another event that year, footballer David Beckham's arrival by speedboat, complete with flaming torch, to the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, cleverly filmed separately to ensure he actually got there on time...

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Victorian mod cons![/caption]

After today's rather more regular bridge lift, we make our way across to the cabin on the south side to see some of the original workings. The now-retired levers in the station on the South Bank did the same job as the green buttons on the North; they just required a little more elbow grease.

Victorian crews were on hand 24 hours a day, keeping lookout for ships requiring passage. They were not allowed to leave their posts for any reason, hence the innocent-looking white 'chair' doubling as a rest room. Thankfully today's facilities are rather less basic.

From there, it's down to the business: end of the bridge. The way down is pretty narrow - and very steep:

When you arrive at the bottom, a surprise awaits. The bridge is lifted using gigantic 'bascules'—effectively counterweights that help the 'arms' lift. When the bridge is in the air, those counterweights have to go somewhere, and that 'somewhere' is enormous 'bascule chambers' underneath the road.

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David Duffy stands in the massive South Bascule Chamber under Tower Bridge[/caption]

If you're thinking the 'steps' up the side  look rather auditorium-like, you'd be correct. Last month the space was host to its first-ever concert. Sadly I couldn't get a ticket despite offering to sell all my grandparents in a job lot. I'm assured it will happen again, but it can't be a regular thing for the simple reason  the bridge must be ready to open at short notice and nobody would want to be inside a bascule chamber when that happens!

However, I suspect, Amy,  that you were really asking about what's inside the two great towers of the bridge itself?

They are actually open to the public —and were always designed to be. An upper walkway, high above the road, was created so as not to inconvenience pedestrians while the bridge was open. The original wooden steps to the walkway remain, as do some atmospheric gas lamps, with rest-platforms at a couple of points on the way up.

The walkway was a complete flop. It was open to the elements, cold and blustery, and took so long to climb up the steps that most pedestrians preferred to just wait for the bridge to reopen.  The walkway was closed after a few years and remained so for decades.

Recently, however, it's discovered a second life. Cleaned up, encased in glass, and even sporting glass panels in the floor, it's become a must-see visitor attraction, with displays, talks and an extraordinary view in both directions.

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The Tower of London and the City from an unusual angle.[/caption]

The exhibitions in the towers are only part of the experience though. Many visitors completely miss the engine rooms because it involves going out of the bridge, and going down steps, and they mistakenly think the tour is finished.

Follow the stone steps down under the South tower; you'll find a white-tiled arch. Go in there to see some of the original machines.

If I didn't know they were the real thing, I'd have thought they were a film set for some science fiction steampunk movie.

Furnaces glow, with dials and cogs the size of a small car.

Everything was created to look wonderful, from oil-filled, glass vials

 to the iron wheels that did the heavy lifting.

Image Sandra Lawrence

Beautifully lit, the machinery is both fascinating and awe-inspiring.

There are few things that genuinely deserve the accolade 'iconic,' but I'd argue Tower Bridge is one. I urge you to take a turn around the towers next time you're in town. There are also occasional 'engineering' tours, taking in some of the more difficult-to-get-to areas not usually open to the public (for example those extraordinary bascule chambers)— look out on the website for news of those—and any forthcoming concerts in the bowels of the earth...

Tower Bridge Exhibition, Bridge Street, London.

Folks, if, like Amy, you have a question about London, do let me know in the comments section and I'll do my best to answer it, however obscure, small or silly-sounding it might be. In the meanwhile look out for the latest print-version of Around Town in this month's edition of British Heritage, and next month's bumper December edition here, online...

Happy November!

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The back of two enormous furnaces that originally powered the bridge lifts. Go see, you won't regret it.[/caption]