Monthly Archives: February 2020
Use your grey matter
Just when you think you have seen it all and been asked every motoring question imaginable along comes one out of the blue. Filling up at the end of the day a young man asks “how do I fill up my car”. I then have to show him how to select the fuel; unhook the nozzle; insert the said nozzle into the car; pull the trigger; and what to say to the cashier. Oh! And “Don’t forget to lock your doors if you want to come back to your vehicle”.
Mary Ward House in Euston
Running parallel to Euston Road, Tavistock Place is used by cabbies heading west towards Euston Station or Tottenham Court Road. Camden Council in an effort to protect the many cyclists using the route has constructed dedicated cycle lanes. The result of which has been to narrow the road producing a perpetual traffic jam, soon to get worse with the advent of HS2.
While sitting stationary you get to notice on the north side of Tavistock Place the stunning Grade I listed 1898 building – Mary Ward House. But who was Mary Ward, and what was her ‘House’ for?
Mary Ward was known in her lifetime as Mrs Humphry Ward, a prolific Victorian novelist, who died in March 1920, at the age of 68. Her novels are not much read now but were successful in their time and tackled the social subjects and issues of faith and doubt that were beloved of the Victorians.
She was also a noted philanthropist and socialist, she helped open up university education to women. She promoted the education of the working classes through the ‘settlement’ movement (which settled students in working-class areas where they worked among the poor). Curiously, she also became a leader of the anti-suffragist movement, campaigning against giving women the vote.
One of her most inspired initiatives was founding Passmore Edwards House in Tavistock Place. This building, funded by publisher and philanthropist John Passmore Edwards, was part of the University Hall Settlement.
Passmore Edwards House had the first properly equipped classrooms for children with disabilities and was also home to a centre where children could come to play in a safe, warm, bully-free environment. A hall, gym, library, and other communal rooms were provided, and there were also residential rooms for those living in the settlement.
Gustav Holst was for a while the settlement’s director of music.
The building’s young architects, Dunbar Smith and Cecil Brewer, themselves lived in the settlement, so knew the background to the settlement movement and grasped the building’s purpose and potential.
They would go on to design the Welsh National Museum in Cardiff, they proved a good choice. The style the adopted for the building was that fruitful blend of Arts and Crafts with Art Nouveau that proved successful in London buildings for education and the arts at around this time. They brought together segmental arches, a variety of window shapes, fine stone detailing, and other features to make an arresting façade. The lettering over the entrances is also delightful.
In 1921, a year after Mary Ward died; the house was renamed in her honour. There is more information about this building and its current use here.
Picture of Mary Ward House by Mike Quinn
A version of this post was published by CabbieBlog on 1st February 2013
London in Quotations: Peter Shaffer
If London is a watercolor, New York is an oil painting.
Peter Shaffer (1926-2016)
London Trivia: A sparkling idea
On 9 February 1792 German-Swiss entrepreneur Johann Jakob Schweppe arrived in London to set up his first Seltzer water factory at 141 Drury Lane. Despite an unpromising start with his Swiss partners pulling out, Johann Schweppe persevered, his Soda Water became the colloquial term for sparkling water within a decade cementing his business name in the popular lexicon and creating the worldwide brand.
On 9 February 1996 an IRA 500kg bomb in a truck exploded at South Quay, Canary Wharf at 7pm, killing two and injuring 39, causing over £100 million damage
In 1992 driving a Porsche 911 a driver clocked up 147 mph, the highest speed recorded by the police on the M25 needless to say he got banned
The oldest surviving Blue Plaque is Napoleon III staying at 1c King Street in 1848 it’s the only one installed during a candidate’s lifetime
On 9 February 1915 Only Fools and Horses actor Lennard Pearce, who played Grandad in the TV show, was born in Paddington
The Connaught Hotel was called The Coburg, but like the Royal Family changed its name during World War I to avoid anti-German sentiment
In 1851 Britain’s greatest painter J. M. W. Turner bequeathed the contents of his studio to the nation the Tate holds 39,389 pieces
In 1912 the first Royal Variety Show took place at the Palace Theatre. Queen Mary was shocked by male impersonator Vesta Tilley
Only 14 men have run each and every one of the 34 London Marathons, one is former head teacher Mike Peace his best time is 2:37.12 in 1991
Over 47 million litres water are pumped from the Underground each day, enough to fill a 25m swimming pool every quarter of an hour
The man appointed by Charles II to put out the Great Fire of London was his brother the Duke of York – after whom New York was named
The statues of Livingstone and Shackleton outside the Royal Geographical Society have given rise to cabbies calling it “Hot and Cold Corner”
Trivial Matter: London in 140 characters is taken from the daily Twitter feed @cabbieblog.
A guide to the symbols used here and source material can be found on the Trivial Matter page.
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