The Ghost in the Painting, Rugby Museum

The Ghost in the Painting: "The Ghost in the Painting
The Roses Match



Photo: World Rugby Museum
The most famous rugby painting of them all belongs to Yorkshire RFU and hangs on the wall of the President's Suite in the West Stand of Twickenham Stadium.

The painting depicts a late 19th century tussle between two of England’s fiercest historic rivals, Lancashire and Yorkshire. At the time of the painting, these two counties dominated English rugby, and their players the English national team."

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Twickenham Rugby, The World Rugby Museum and Stadium Tours

The World Rugby Museum is the ultimate visitor experience for the world rugby enthusiast.

              

Twickenham is the home of England rugby and also the World Rugby Museum, the finest collection of rugby memorabilia in the world. The Museum opened in 1996 and takes visitors through the history of the sport from its origins to the present day.

More than just a collection of interesting artefacts, the World Rugby Museum is an inspirational journey through the history of the ultimate team game.

View the Museum Site      Whats On    Six Nations

Tunnels Under the Thames -Greenwich Foot Tunnel 1902  No 6 Greenwich Foot Tunnel.


The Greenwich foot tunnel is a pedestrian tunnel crossing beneath the River Thames in East London, linking Greenwich (Royal Borough of Greenwich) in the south with the Isle of Dogs (London Borough of Tower Hamlets) to the north. The tunnel is currently undergoing refurbishment and the works were due to be complete by June 2011, but delays mean that they are now scheduled to be complete some time in 2012.

Wikipedia

The tunnel was designed by civil engineer Sir Alexander Binnie for London County Council, and was constructed by contractor John Cochrane & Co; the project started in June 1899 and the tunnel was opened on 4 August 1902. The tunnel replaced an expensive and sometimes unreliable ferry service, and was intended to allow workers living on the south side of the Thames to reach their workplaces in the London docks and shipyards then situated in or near the Isle of Dogs. Its creation owed much to the efforts of working-class politician Will Crooks who had worked in the docks and, after chairing the LCC's Bridges Committee responsible for the tunnel, would later serve as Labour MP for nearby Woolwich.

Tunnel entrance, south side

The entrance shafts at both ends lie beneath glazed domes, with lifts (installed in 1904, upgraded in 1992) and spiral staircases allowing pedestrians to reach the sloping, tile-lined tunnel at the bottom. The cast-iron tunnel itself is 370.2 m (1,217 ft) long and 15.2 m (50 ft) deep^] and has an internal diameter of about 9 feet (2.7 m). Its cast-iron rings are lined with concrete which has been surfaced with some 200,000 white glazed tiles. The northern end was damaged by bombs during World War II and the repairs included a thick steel and concrete inner lining that reduces the diameter substantially for a short distance.

The Thomas Cubitt Bar and Restaurant.

Welcome to The Thomas Cubitt, one of Belgravia’s most celebrated pubs, honouring London’s legendary master builder.  The Thomas Cubitt has established itself as a local institution and destination venue in the capital’s most distinguished neighbourhood.

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Today's Blue Plaque- Thomas Cubitt
CUBITT, Thomas (1788-1855)

THOMAS CUBITT 1788-1855 Master Builder lived here 3 Lyall Street, Belgravia, SW1X 8DW


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Thomas Cubitt (1788–1855), born Buxton, Norfolk, was the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century, and also carried out several projects in other parts of England.

The son of a Norfolk carpenter, he journeyed to India as ship's carpenter from which he earned sufficient funds to start his own building firm in 1810 on Gray's Inn Road, London where he was one of the first builders to have a 'modern' system of employing all the trades under his own management.

Belgrave Square is one of the grandest and largest 19th century squares in London, England. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and was laid out by the property contractor Thomas Cubitt for the 2nd Earl Grosvenor, later the 1st Marquess of Westminster, in the 1820s. Most of the houses were occupied by 1840. The square takes its name from one of the Duke of Westminster's subsidiary titles, Viscount Belgrave. The village of Belgrave, Cheshire is two miles (3 km) from the Grosvenor family's main country seat of Eaton Hall.

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The New Routemaster Bus Starts Running Today! The Number 38

The launch of the new bus, which will run between Victoria Station in central London and Hackney in the east

In total, eight buses with an open "hop-on, hop-off" platform at the rear, costing £11.37m, will run on route 38.

The first of the new buses, complete with conductor, is expected to begin its journey at about 11:00 GMT.

Route record 38/N38 

Victoria - Piccadilly Circus - Holborn - Islington - Kingsland - Hackney - Clapton 
Victoria Station Bus Station - Wilton Road - Victoria Street - Grosvenor Gardens - Grosvenor Place - Hyde Park Corner Station - Piccadilly - Green Park Station - Piccadilly - Piccadilly Circus Station - Shaftesbury Avenue - Charing Cross Road - Tottenham Court Road Station - New Oxford Street - Bloomsbury Way - Vernon Place (for Holborn Station) - Theobald's Road - Clerkenwell Road - Rosebery Avenue - St John Street - Angel Station - Islington High Street - Upper Street - Islington Green - Essex Road -Essex Road Station - Essex Road - Balls Pond Road - Dalston Junction Station - Dalston Lane - Graham Road - Hackney Central Station - Mare Street - Amhurst Road - Hackney Downs Station - Dalston Lane - Lower Clapton Road - Clapton Pond

Clapton - Hackney - Kingsland - Islington - Holborn - Piccadilly Circus - Victoria 
Clapton Pond - Lower Clapton Road - Mare Street (for Hackney Downs Station) - Hackney Central Station - Graham Road - Dalston Lane - Dalston Junction Station - Balls Pond Road - Essex Road - Essex Road Station - Essex Road - Islington Green - Upper Street - Islington High Street - Angel Station - St John Street - Rosebery Avenue - Clerkenwell Road - Theobald's Road - Vernon Place (for Holborn Station) - Bloomsbury Way - New Oxford Street - Shaftesbury Avenue - Piccadilly Circus Station - Piccadilly - Green Park Station - Piccadilly - Duke of Wellington Place (for Hyde Park Corner Station) - Grosvenor Place - Lower Grosvenor Place - Buckingham Palace Road - Terminus Place - Victoria Station Bus Station

Rose Barton- Westminster-Illustrated London


On our travels today we happened to see a book with Illustrated London Pictures by Rose Barton. So we bought it! Antiques shops in Hungerford well worth a visit! (Now part of Our collection).

Rose Mary Barton R.W.S. (21 April 1856–1929) was an Anglo-Irish artist, a watercolourist who painted landscape, street scenes, gardens, child portraiture and illustrations of the townscape of Britain and Ireland.Barton exhibited with a number of different painting societies, most notably the Watercolour Society of Ireland (WCSI), the Royal Academy (RA), the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA), the Society of Women Artists and the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS). She became a full member of the RWS in 1911. Her paintings are in public collections of Irish painting in both Ireland and Britain, including theNational Gallery of Ireland and Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane in Dublin, and the Ulster Museum in Belfast.

Tunnels under the Thames Waterloo and City 1898

London has twenty tunnels under the River Thames making it one of the most tunnelled cities in the world.  Lets take a look at how they developed over the years. No 5 Waterloo and City built in 1898

Wikipedia

The Waterloo & City line is a short underground railway line in London, opened on 11 July 1898. It has only two stations, Waterloo and Bank (formerly called "City", as it is within the City of London). The line passes under the River Thames.

It exists almost exclusively to serve commuters between Waterloo mainline station and the City of London, and does not operate late in the evening or on Sundays (the only time the line has operated on Sundays was between 1943 and 1947)  By far the shortest line on the London Underground, at 2.37 km (1.47 miles) it takes only four minutes to travel from end to end. It was the second electric tube railway to open in London, after the City and South London Railway (now part of the Northern line). Despite its age, it was only recently added to the London Underground network, being transferred from British Rail ownership in 1994.

Science Museum Lates the Science of Surgery

Be a cut above the rest at this month's Lates	Share this
29.2.12   18.45-22.00 An evening dedicated to the Science of Surgery. This month at Lates we’re exploring the mysterious world of surgery from multiple and perhaps unexpected viewpoints with Imperial College London’s Department of Surgery and Cancer. There’ll be live demonstrations, a chance for you to have a go at operating and all the usual events with a surgical twist. If that's not enough, you can also enjoy the usual Lates favourites Silent Disco, Punk Science and Speed Dating. And as a special offer just for Lates, tickets for our Hidden Heroes exhibition will be £3 instead of £6 all night. Click here for more information Join our social media communities See you on Wednesday!

Live Performance at The V&A. A Regal Concert

Maslenitsa Russian Sun Festival Trafalgar Square.
A celebration of the end of winter chills and the start of Spring, of warmth, 
of hope, of growth. Not surprisingly, it is a particularly big deal in Russia!

Sunday 26th February, Trafalgar Square, 1:30pm to 6:30pm

Free public event

1. Family

Maslenitsa is traditionally a family event, and its London cousin will be no different, with a children's marquee programme featuring exclusive performances by the award winning Theatre Chudaki, a presentation of Maslenitsa traditions, with audience interaction, performances of traditional songs by children's groups and plenty of competitions, games and fun.

2. Music

No celebration would be complete without music and the richness and diversity of Russia's musical heritage will laid out in a buzzing programme, direct from Russia of dance, theatre and folk, pop and jazz music.

3. Food

Sample your way around a marketplace of authentic Russian dishes, ranging from the staples of beef stroganoff and borscht (beetroot soup) to such regional delicacies as pelmeni (Russian-style pasta), traditional Russian pastries (bubliki and vatrushki) and, of course, the quintessential Maslenitsa delicacy: blini (pancakes).

4. Crafts

Trafalgar Square will be transformed into a bustling bazaar exhibiting and selling original Russian Art, handicrafts and souvenirs, ranging from the traditional to the contemporary.

5. Spring Salutation

Tell winter where to get off and say "Zdravstvui Maslenitsa!" to Spring as only the Russians can! Russian people love to party so grab a drink and a blini and join in the fun. You won't be disapointed.

Last Year

The Big EGG Hunt!

Join the Hunt!

This Easter get ready for the most eggstraordinary event in the history of London – The Big Egg Hunt! We’ve hidden over 200 very special eggs across the streets of the capital, and now the hunt is on. How many can you find? You’ll have to look hard though – some of them are hidden in eggsceptional places!

These magnificent eggs have been created by leading artists, designers, architects and jewellers. Grab one of our 12 zone maps and get searching, as the more eggs you find, the more chance you stand of winning a fabulous prize: The Diamond Jubilee Egg! We’re also giving you the chance to be the proud owner of one of these unique pieces of art through our eggsclusive auctions, and there’s lots of great egg goodies to buy at The Big Egg Shop at Selfridges.

So come on London, get cracking and join the hunt!  More info and Join in the Hunt

The Heart of The Great Alone, Scott, Shackleton and Antarctic Photography


Book Tickets Here

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