Category: Culture

The Royal Opera House (ROH), situated in London’s Covent Garden district, began life as the Theatre Royal in 1732 and has only specialised in opera and ballet since 1946. It had previously hosted a range of artistic genres, including pantomime, the last of which was staged just before WW2. It is now the home of the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies, with the Royal Ballet School next-door and connected by the Bridge of Aspiration.

The ROH saw the first public piano performance in 1767, the first use of limelight (invented by Sir Goldsworthy Gurney) in 1837 and the first complete performance of Wagner’s ‘Der Ring des Nibelung’ in 1892, conducted by Gustav Mahler on his only visit to London. By that time the name had changed to the Royal Italian Opera House, but the Wagner/Mahler event prompted the owners to drop the word ‘Italian’ in acknowledgement of all the French and German composers then gaining popularity.

The building itself has been destroyed by fire twice, in 1808 and 1856. Following remodelling works in 1996-9, only the façade, foyer and 2,268-seater auditorium are left from the 1858 reconstruction designed by Sir Edward Middleton Barry (1830-80), along with the statues and frieze salvaged from the 1809 building designed by Sir Robert Smirke (1780-1867).

(Image: Norio Nakayama at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Genuine Chippendale furniture fetches top prices at auction because it was Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) who turned this household essential into an art form. Yorkshire-born, he was brought up among carpenters, honing his skill in York before moving to London, where he found a burgeoning market for his products. He responded with an ingenious new marketing ploy ~ an illustrated catalogue.

‘The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director’ was first published in 1754 with several later editions to meet increasing demand. Not only did it include 160 of Chippendale’s drawings of the pieces he could supply, but it also promised that he could combine and tweak designs if a customer wanted a bespoke service. The gentry flocked to his establishment in St. Martin’s Lane, London’s centre for cabinet-makers and upholsterers.

The downside of publishing his catalogue was that others tried to imitate the Chippendale style, but antiques experts can tell the difference in, for example, the quality of the mahogany used and the sheer skill of the ornate carving. Chippendale employed up to 50 assistants in order to focus on sales. He also went into partnership with two financiers since handling money was not his forte. His son took over the business in 1776 and it eventually closed in 1804.

(Top image: picryl.com / Public domain)

Ralph (pronounced ‘Raif’) Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was born in Gloucestershire and wrote his first song at age 6. His father was a vicar, his great-uncle was Charles Darwin and his grandfather was Josiah Wedgwood III, Darwin’s brother-in-law. Coming from such a high-achieving family, it is unsurprising that Vaughan Williams took time to consolidate his skills before setting his music before the public. When he did, it received enthusiastic acclaim and he was credited with giving English classical music a renewed international status.

He lived through two World Wars, lying about his age in order to serve in the first one. His most famous piece, ‘A Lark Ascending’, was completed in 1914 but had to wait several years before being performed. His influences were many and varied, from traditional English folk songs which he collected himself, to orchestration techniques from French composer Maurice Ravel, from whom he had lessons in his mid-30s.

He wrote nine operas with nine different styles and tones. The seventh, ‘Sinfonia Antarctica’ (1952), was based on his music for the film ‘Scott of the Antarctic’ (1948) and includes a wind machine. He also wrote chamber music, operas and music for ballet, choirs and church. He is said to have refused a knighthood.

(Top image of the Ralph Vaughan Williams statue outside Dorking Halls Theatre: mira66 at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

Gone are the days when an advertisement was brief and to the point, consisting only of text giving the product name, manufacturer, uses and price. Today’s multi-billion-pound advertising industry uses every type of available media and images are key. Adverts are inescapable and all businesses and charities regard advertising as an essential part of their marketing.

The first television advert in the UK, for a toothpaste, aired in 1955 in England. There was an outcry against this perceived attempt to fire up unfettered consumerism, which turned out to be prophetic. When people excitedly await the launch of the Christmas TV adverts for certain shops and then debate their merits on social media for days afterwards, it is a sign of how advertising has come to be an integral part of the culture.

The first media adverts featured their own jingles. Then advertising agencies began to create customised lyrics to existing tunes and finally they used original old songs. The music is as important as the camera-work in forming the illusion. Memorable adverts tend to be the witty ones, such as the Smash Martians, the R.White’s ‘secret lemonade drinker’, or even the Benson & Hedges claim that ‘happiness is a cigar called Hamlet‘:

(Top image [cropped]: Peter Blanchard at Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0)

When steam trains were the new, exciting mode of transport around the country, they drew great admiration and interest. Those people intrigued by numbers and with time to spare were able to take this interest further, since every locomotive bore its own number and sometimes a name. Collecting these identifiers in a record book became known as the hobby of ‘train spotting‘.

It began in the 1920s, but really picked up steam after WW2. Ian Allan, OBE (1922-2015) was working in the office of Southern Railways and was dealing with so many requests for locomotive information that he decided to put it all in a booklet, ‘ABC Southern Locomotives‘, in 1942. Its success inspired him to form Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., which went on to specialise in various types of transport publications for enthusiasts.

In the 1960s there was another surge of popularity as steam was being replaced by diesel and electric, and people wanted to catch as many sightings of the old engines as possible before they disappeared. Spotting requires patience and spotters equip themselves accordingly. Adult spotters have tended to be regarded as ‘anoraks’ (loner experts) but there is currently an app to facilitate a new train spotting community.

(Image: Robin Webster at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The legend of Lady Godiva, or Godgifu (?-1067) is perhaps the female equivalent of Robin Hood‘s heroics, in that she is credited with championing the poor and, by a courageous deed, winning the reduction of their tax burden. In her case, the supposed tyrant was her own husband, Leofric, Earl of Mercia (?-1057).

The couple are known to have lived in the 11th century and in 1043 founded St. Mary’s monastery in Coventry on the site of a former nunnery. There are suggestions that this was not a new monastery but that they lavished gold and silver treasures upon it. Leofric was in fact extremely generous with gifts of land to the monks, who became very wealthy.

Nevertheless, two hundred years later, Roger of Wendover (?-1236) saw fit to create the story of Lady Godiva pleading with him to have pity on the peasants. He agreed to drop all taxes except those on horses, but only if she rode naked on horseback through the town. Defiantly, she accepted the challenge but ordered that no-one should watch, though her long hair partially saved her blushes. Of course, there is always one who disobeys; hence ‘Peeping Tom’ was struck blind for giving in to temptation.

(Image: Clard at pixabay.com)

Known as ‘the morris’ to its devotees, morris dancing is a traditional fund-raising attraction for village fêtes. Its precise origin is unknown but it certainly has a medieval, if not pagan, flavour. Morris dancing was first documented in 1448 and Shakespeare includes a reference to it in ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’ (1623) with: “As fit as … a pancake for Shrove Tuesday, a morris for May-day …”, indicating that it was by then an essential element of the 1st May celebration.

There are several types of morris dancing, with the most famous costume being all-white, adorned with ribbons, bells, hankies and flowers on the hats. The dancers have sticks or swords which they hold aloft, dance around or tap together. Accompanying musicians range from a single fiddler or piper to a full band.

Some morris ‘sides’ (troupes) wear multi-coloured or mainly black ribboned costumes with black masks or black, grey, green or red face paint and many have a mixture of white and black clothing. Some sides do not have bells and some perform fire dances which are more energetic and involve whooping and shouting. What they all have in common is their entertainment value, as in this battle of the beer trays:

(Top image: Robin Webster at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Mrs. Mary Tealby (1801-65, née Bates) was born in Cambridgeshire but on moving to her mother’s Holloway home in 1860, she was so upset at seeing emaciated dogs roaming the London streets that she began to take them in. She found some local stables and named her project ‘The Temporary Home for Lost and Starving Dogs’. This was the founding of what became known as ‘Battersea Dogs Home‘, or ‘Battersea Dogs and Cats Home‘ since 2002.

Mary did not live to see it relocate to Battersea in south-west London, adjacent to Battersea Power Station, in 1871 but she would doubtless have been thrilled to know that well over three million dogs and cats would benefit from her  efforts. Battersea Dogs Home is so famous it has entered everyday language as the go-to place for stray dogs. Its fame has been increased by the TV programme ‘For the Love of Dogs’, which shows the progress of particular dogs.

Although the Home has taken cats since 1883, this is not so well-known. However, cats are re-homed in an average of twenty-two days, as opposed to thirty days for dogs. The Home has its own veterinarians, groomers and behaviour specialists, so each animal receives professional care.

(Image: Jim O’Donnell at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The national flower of England is the rose ~ the Tudor rose ~ which derives from the Wars of the Roses in 1455-85, where both sides had a rose as their symbol.

The national flower of Scotland is the thistle, as its prickly presence on Scottish coastlines is said to have saved the Scots from night-time attacks by the Vikings! The heather is also considered to be a Scottish symbol as, like the thistle, it is perfectly suited to the wet, rugged landscape and grows very happily there.

The national flower of Northern Ireland is the flax, chosen to be a reminder of the part played by agricultural crops in its history. The logo for the Northern Ireland Assembly consists of six flax plants, one for each county. The shamrock is better known as an Irish symbol, but it is the national flower for Ireland, rather than Northern Ireland.

The national flower of Wales is the daffodil, or ‘cenhinen Pedr’ in Welsh, which literally translates to ‘leek of Peter’. This may explain why the daffodil took over from the leek, though both are still used. Indeed, on St. David’s Day the Welsh Regiment always eat raw leeks, wherever they are in the world.

(Image of rose: blairwang at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

The full English breakfast was first concocted centuries ago in the country houses, where it was considered proper to send the gentry off in the morning with a hearty meal of home-produced ingredients. Not for them the porridge or bread-and-dripping of the lower classes. During the Industrial Revolution the full, or at least half, English breakfast made its way onto the tables of many more households and by the mid-1900s they were the most popular menu item in transport cafés.

The classic recipe comprises sausages, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs, black pudding and bread, all fried in oil (though the eggs may be scrambled or poached instead) plus baked beans. Along with this is the ubiquitous cup of tea and, if desired, toast or bread-and-butter. The meal is topped off with tomato ketchup or HP brown sauce. This little lot is around 800 calories, 60g fat and 4g salt.

There are modern versions of the ‘fry-up’ ~ the slimmers’, the vegetarian and the vegan, but they are obviously quite different. Many people just have the eggs, bacon and tomatoes. There are, of course, variations according to location, whether that is by nation, county or each individual café. This one includes hash browns and bubble-and-squeak:-

(Top image: Phil Campbell at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)