LONDON WALK NO 68 – GROUP 3 – HOLLAND PARK & LEIGHTON HOUSE ORGANISED BY JEAN DYER & MARION CLARKE – 21st August 2014

Twenty of us set off for Charing Cross on a warm morning. Somehow we got on a delayed 9.20am London Bridge train, so we all piled off there, and then got back on the following 9.32am (first time ever we have got on the wrong train!) The carriages were packed, and most had to stand, including a little puffball white dog. Reaching Charing Cross, we went into St.Martin in the Field for our usual morning coffee break. Then back across the road to the No.9 bus stop and our journey to Kensington High Street.

Travelling by bus gave us the opportunity to watch the variety of life passing by, and also some rather interesting stonework at Green Park Station. John Maine’s design used the Portland stone of the walls to explore the natural composition of the rock and to reveal the fossil remains of

marine creatures from 150 million years ago. In contrast to the modern new station exterior, the old main entrance on the opposite side of the road showed wonderful stone carvings.

Outrageous hairstyles seemed to be the order of the day – the first one was blue. Several of us commented on a very attractive Swiss cottage style building complete with cow amidst the modern architecture. Bodo’s

Schloss is an Austrian restaurant.

Leaving the bus at Phillimore Gardens we crossed over and passing the opulent houses, walked up the road and along Duchess of Bedford Walk to the sign Holland House. Here Jean gave us some information on its history. Holland Park is the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s largest park with 22.5 hectares of

gardens, children’s play facilities, sports areas, a cafeteria and large areas of woodland abundant with wildlife. Jean also pointed out the remains of the house although the cherry picker rather got in the way of the photo. Our group photo was taken on the steps in front of the original gates of Holland House, with the open-air Holland Park Theatre behind. The gates were moved from their original position, and the house was virtually demolished in the Blitz in 1940.

In 1959 of the remains of the east wing was converted into a youth hostel and Jean told us how she had in fact stayed there.

Holland House in 1896 and the remains following the Blitz, now Grade 1 listed

The East Wing Youth Hostel

Jean described the various areas available for us to see, and we started along the walkway, with 11 murals painted by Mao Wen Biao. These murals show an imaginary scene from one of the garden parties which used to be held by the Earl of Ilchester in the grounds of Holland House in the 1870s. The costumes were carefully researched and the artist has included portraits of many of the Friends of Holland Park (who commissioned the murals) and their friends, so that each face is of a different and real person.

The garden opposite is the Iris Garden, but it looked very sparse as the full iris show was over. The fountain is called Sibirica, a species of iris and is best viewed at dusk when it is lit.

The nearby Ice House looks like a building that might have been part of the set of the Lord of the Rings movies; beautifully restored it is now an art gallery, providing space for a number of exhibitions during the summer months.

As we walked on towards the Japanese Gardens, we passed a giant chess set, and a wonderful Formal Garden with the statue of Milo of Croton at the centre. This was known as the Portuguese Garden but was changed to the Dutch Garden after soured international relationships. The flowers were stunning (although the tulips were finished) and the beds contained interspersed plastic spheres which looked surprisingly effective. The story of Milo of Croton is quite gruesome –a legendary Olympic athlete, he was one of the greatest Olympic wrestlers of all time, competing in six games between 532 and 516BC and winning five of them. He also had a legendary appetite; according to one ancient statistician he consumed 8.5 litres of wine a day! He died a cruel death when whilst walking in a forest he found a tree partially split open with wedges. As a test of strength he placed his hands in the gap and tried to split the trunk apart. He loosened the wedges but the trunk closed on his hands and he was unable to escape. He then fell prey to wild beasts.

Some of the group took the chance of a sit down. Continuing on towards the Japanese Gardens, Jean mentioned the statue of a man, and how she and Marion had struggled to find it on their first visit. We struggled again …. And then suddenly there it was, looking just like a normal visitor. I had my photo taken with him, although I believe the one of Carole was considerably more interesting, and rather cheeky! Called Walking Man (Lord Holland) by Sean Henry, it is cast in bronze and covered in oil-based paint.

Contained within the park is the beautiful Kyoto Garden; a Japanese garden donated by the Chamber of Commerce of Kyoto. Built in 1991 to celebrate the Japan Festival in London, this beautifully manicured garden takes visitors on a short trip to Japan. In true Japanese style the garden needs to be visited walking clockwise around it.

There are a number of features in the Kyoto Garden including lanterns, lawns designed to resemble waves, a waterfall and a pond with a turtle-shaped island in the middle. The garden was extended to include the Fukushima Garden. It commemorates the gratitude of the Japanese people for the help provided by Britain following the terrible earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011.

The magnificent peacocks were looking particularly scruffy, with their tail feathers bent and broken. Jan and I were caught deep in serious conversation! As we left the garden, we were greeted by our second stylish haircut, together with matching gloves.

Two more white puffball dogs were also sunning themselves with their owner.

Lunch called and we all piled in to the café and then out into the grounds, under the walnut trees, and amidst the pigeons. Holland Park is the site for a number of statues and sculptures, and we had passed ‘Annunciation’ by Andrew Burton. The two bronze horns, symbolising the dawn of a new era, have been set on a large cog and a mill stone, indicating time and movement.

Leaving the park via Abbotsbury Gate, we made our way to Leighton House, passing a couple of plaques to Marcus Stone, artist, and Michael Powell, film director. Two more blue plaques provoked some conversation over the contrasting acknowledgement – Cetshwayo, King of the Zulus and William Holman Hunt, painter. (This made we wonder what the difference was between artist and painter. As the web description of Marcus Stone is English painter, I think the answer is “Nothing”!) As we continued to walk past the huge houses, the web description of Holland Park was evident.

Holland Park is now one of the most expensive residential

districts in London or anywhere in the world, with large houses regularly listed for sale at over £10 million.

Reaching Leighton House, we paid our entrance fee and split up to view the small but fascinating museum. No photographs were allowed, although as usual a few members of our group disobeyed the signs. All internal photos here are courtesy of Leighton House Museum website.

Frederic Leighton (1830-1896), was one of the most famous British artists of the Victorian age, establishing an international standing and reputation. Leighton was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire to a medical family. His father was a doctor, and his grandfather had been the primary physician to the Russian royal family in St. Petersburg, where he amassed a fortune. Leighton’s career was always cushioned by this family wealth, his father paying him an allowance throughout his life. Leighton never married and rumours of him having a child with one of his models, in addition to the supposition that Leighton may have been homosexual, continue to be debated today. Just before his death from heart failure in 1896, he was ennobled, becoming Frederic, Lord Leighton, Baron of Stretton. He is the only British artist to have been awarded this honour and is buried in St Paul’s Cathedral. Leighton House is a Grade II listed building, noted for its elaborate Orientalist and aesthetic interiors. A primary focus of the house is the Arab Hall, into which were built Lord Leighton's considerable collection of highly decorative, polychrome tiles, mostly from Damascus in Syria dating from the 15th to 17th century. It is the

only purpose-built studio-house open to the public in the United Kingdom. “A Moment of Peril” by Sir Thomas Brock is displayed in the middle of the lawn. As I made my way out into the garden, I got a phone call. Marion was trying to gather us all together for our journey home, but discovered that Irene was missing and then announced that I was on the phone to the police! Confusion reigned, as we discovered that Irene had got locked in the Ladies. “Bit over the top, ringing the police” I heard somebody say – but my call was relating to some vandalism we had experienced at home, so we had a good laugh. Having been rescued, Irene exited the Museum to us all singing -

“Oh dear, what can the matter be. Poor Irene got locked in the lavatory”.

After a nice cup of tea back at Holland House café, we regrouped for our journey home, before retracing our steps back to Kensington High Street. Some of us took the opportunity to check out the Dahlia Gardens before leaving. In 1804 the garden of Holland House saw one of the earliest successful growths of the dahlia in England. Whilst in Madrid, Lady Holland was given either dahlia seeds or roots by botanist Antonio José Cavanilles. She sent them back to England, to Lord Holland's librarian, who successfully raised the plants.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Holland House had the largest private grounds of any house in London, including Buckingham Palace. The Royal Horticultural Society regularly held flower shows there. Reaching the No.9 bus stop, some of us saw the Bus Stop Closed sign, so walked on to the next stop. The slower ones caught the bus at the earlier bus stop, so we all had a laugh about that. A slow journey back to Charing Cross gave us the opportunity to view the transport of the rich and famous (with parking tickets!) outside a restaurant, together with their minders, and the restaurant “guards” who looked like spies! Thank you to Jean and Marion for yet another fun and interesting day in a part of London some of us had not visited before. For my part I hadn’t realised Holland Park was an actual park, nor that it was off South Kensington. So educational this U3A !