Boadicea and Her Daughters

Boadicea and Her Daughters is a bronze sculpture statue gleaming at the western side of Westminster Bridge. The artist behind the statue Thomas Thornycroft with some assistance from his son William Hamo Thornycroft. It was conceived from 1856 to 1853 and erected in June 1902.

It can get very busy around Boudicca and is not always bridled with the best things around it. 

The sculpture features Boudica, Queen of the Iceni tribe of Britons, who led a rebellion in bringing down the Romans. She stands valiantly with arms raised and a spear in the right hand as she commands her horses forth. Her two daughters crouch on either side of her. The chariot that they ride on is of a Roman build as scythes are built into the wheels. No armour to speak of, Boudica dons a gown that drapes across her body while her daughters are clothed from the waist down.

The piece was commissioned in the 1850s when Queen Victoria as well as Prince Albert were impressed by an equestrian statue of Queen Victoria shown at the Great Exhibition in 1851. They became very much involved in the project. Albert’s aim was to have the statue erected at Hyde Park of the central arch of Decimus Burtun’s entrance. Thornycroft reflected Queen Victoria in the design of the statue and Albert allowed two horses to be modelled on as the ones for the statue.

A full size model came about in 1885 before the time of death of Thornycroft but there were no funds left for it to be cast in bronze. It was suggested by his son to erect it on the north side of Parliament Hill and yet again, there were no £6,000 in sight to cast the statue in bronze. Following this, a committee was set up to bring up the funds and ultimately raised the required amount in 1898 to which JW Slinger and Sons cast the statue in bronze for £2,000.

It was mounted on a plinth in June 1902. Inscriptions were added later and another inscription of William Cowper’s poem Boadicea an ode was added to another side. In 1958, the statue was listed as Grade II.

 

Star Log Entry 3: Tom the Cat

The first sighting of Tom the cat was actually because of a family friend’s cat Luna, who Ed and I were taking care of. Luna was an indoors cat which I managed to slowly introduce to the outdoors and was keeping a close eye on her so she doesn’t wander very far. On an outing in the communal back garden, Luna was sniffing around and exploring and then I locked eyes with a black and white cat in a neighbour’s cat kennel. I have never seen that cat ever so was surprised that what I assumed was my neighbour’s cat. That was my first sighting of the cat.

Cute overload! It's too much!

One morning, I got up and saw something was not right outside the kitchen window. I saw that very same black and white cat standing on a stool outside the window. It was just the cutest thing! I opened up the window and stroked it through the security bars of the window. Once I found him yet again outside the window so it gave me the thought to go play with him. Luna had actually become accustomed to the outdoors so I had the fullest confidence in her for exploring the outside. On this occasion, I didn’t actually realise she was hissing at Tom to get away from the window and they both proceeded to run away. Luna had vanished by then but Tom recognised me and stopped to approach me. By then, I nicknamed him “Sweetie” as I was yet to ask the neighbour of his name. So that was the first time we became friends.

He would usually let out the most adorable yelp each time he saw me at the window. He would grab hand by two paws and gently bite me sometimes when I stuck my hand out. He would mark himself by arching his back as there were always difficulty reaching through the bars to stroke him.

Meow! (He was actually yawning in this picture)

It was almost a matter of time before Tom popped in and he did! He walked about and had some of Luna’s food which I had to hide each time he came in. Luna did not take to Tom at all and Tom knew it by keeping his distance from her. On one occasion, I had finished bathing myself and Luna took off into the night beforehand. I actually found Tom had snuck in through the opening in the window which would usually only fit Luna through but on this occasion was big enough for him to get through. I guess it was context of the night (usually see him in the day) or that he was startled by the bathroom door opening that got him to quickly run to the kitchen window but did not manage to escape. He didn’t completely run away as Luna was inside as well. I was startled by her myself when I saw her. He just sat there and gave the cutest look to me. Ed opened the window wider and he was off in the night.

On another occasion, he explored the flat and ended up sitting on the sofa by the living room window. Luna was hiding from him behind another sofa. I eventually got her to come out and she sat on my lap as Tom took a look at her and then looked out the window thoughtfully. I wondered what he thought at moment.


Treats galore! Check out who is in the top right corner!

There’s also another neighbourhood cat which Ed had nicknamed Silver. This was another interaction between another cat that I have witnessed with Tom. Their gaze were exchanged and Silver calmly walked away, which was completely new to me.

The weird thing was that when Luna returned to her owner was the time I stopped seeing Tom. Ed joked that Tom couldn’t allow his one true love to escape so followed her back home, which I thought in some regards was true… I would usually shake a bag of treats to train Luna to get used to the outdoors but Tom would also pop up at the sound. I only realised this a few weeks after she left but at this time Tom had gone missing. I knew of this when Ed told me a flat around the corner - not out neighbour's cat! - had a missing poster of a cat similar to Tom. Unfortunately that was the way I learned of his actual name. It was unmistakably him when it came to comparing my photos to the poster and the added fact that it met the description of a black and white cat with a red colour and distinguishing figure around its nose.

Camera shy

Ed and I looked in the communal back garden and became concerned that he may have become injured by huge piles of bricks that had fallen. He wasn’t there either. Sadly, I do not know what has happened to him and Ed did say that he may have gone to cat heaven given his age of 13 years (quite an elderly cat!). I do have such fond and sweet memories of him that I always recount on and I wish him the best happiness for wherever he may be.

Instagram December 2015

Tower Bridge Chimney

A photo posted by The Vinh Hoang (@thevh5) on Nov 30, 2015 at 2:59pm PST

The library of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

A photo posted by The Vinh Hoang (@thevh5) on Dec 11, 2015 at 1:10pm PST

Covent Garden mistletoe-themed Christmas lights

A photo posted by The Vinh Hoang (@thevh5) on Dec 13, 2015 at 9:43am PST

Gibbon's Rent

A photo posted by The Vinh Hoang (@thevh5) on Dec 14, 2015 at 2:26pm PST

Bishopsgate Institute

A photo posted by The Vinh Hoang (@thevh5) on Dec 18, 2015 at 2:06pm PST

The South Bank Lion at Westminster Bridge #Southbank #Lion

A photo posted by The Vinh Hoang (@thevh5) on Dec 21, 2015 at 2:54pm PST

Carnaby Street Christmas lights #Christmas #westend

A photo posted by The Vinh Hoang (@thevh5) on Dec 24, 2015 at 1:32pm PST

Barbara Hepworth's Winged Figure sculpture on the side of John Lewis on Oxford Street #BarbaraHepworth # #London #Art

A photo posted by The Vinh Hoang (@thevh5) on Dec 28, 2015 at 3:42pm PST

Adaptable House (6 Doughty Mews)

The Adaptable House (6 Doughty Mews) is an early 19th century mews house built around the same time Doughty Street was first laid down. The street was a gated residential reserve in between the London boroughs of the City and Westminster. The house was rebuilt in the 20th century possibly as a result of wartime bomb damage.

It was purchased by architects Cany Ash and Robert Sakula of Ash Sakula Architects, transforming the house into more than just a family home. At the time of purchase, it was completely derelict with the ground floor previously used as a printer’s workshop and the upper levels as storerooms. The house was rebuilt with an additional floor, roof garden and a bathroom. Over 30 years of design ideas and changes were made to meet the reflecting uses and demands implementing different strategies such as miniaturisation and spatial illusion.

Ground floor is the garage where it is used concurrently for storage but can be interchanged to become a wider space for recreational activities such as a playroom, party room, small theatre/cinema and events space.


Bathroom

Bathroom

Tree Room



Kitchen

The first floor contains the kitchen, tree room, bathroom and WC. Kitchen features open shelves and a large rack for crockeries above the sink coated in cast iron. Kitchen cupboard are covered in zinc. The tree room is a spare bedroom, which was previously used as an office and playroom. Two doors are used for the room, giving the first floor a circular motion through the kitchen into the tree room and back into the kitchen.

Small Front Bedroom

Large Front Bedroom

 

Fireplace Room

Fireplace Room

Fireplace Room

The second floor was previously the roof to the original two storey house but was extended with an additional floor and roof. The second floor contains the fireplace room, small front bedroom and large bedroom. The fireplace room is currently used as a bedroom and has previously been used as a living room, studio and playroom. The beams in the fireplace room used to hold up the roof doubles up as bookcases. The front small bedroom makes use of the space above the staircase while the large front bedroom used to hold the stairs to the roof bedroom until rearrangements allowed another bedroom.

Roof Bedroom

Roof Garden



Roof Garden

Roof Garden

The roof held the roof garden and the roof bedroom. The roof bedroom can be accessed from the second floor from a steep staircase or a door on the roof. The roof garden can be accessed from a spiral staircase. The roof garden’s table was an old door and the chimney can be used as a barbeque.

From down the road at 29 Doughty Mews comes another Ash Sakula Architects design which was completed in 1996 and won a RIBA award the year after.

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Apps View

Window 8.1 Apps View allows a view of most or all of the apps in a metro-style view allowing quick glance and quick access to apps customised to the way that you want to view it. It comes as a change from the Start Screen as all the apps are on display instead of having to scroll through to get to an app.

Apps View can be accessed by swiping up from the Start Screen if using a touch screen, otherwise clicking the down arrow on the bottom left of the Start Screen will send the Apps View into view. The whole page will display the apps, a drop down next to the main header “Apps” and a search bar on the top right. The search bar will search for the apps dependent on the letters that are gradually typed in.

On default, the Apps View will sort all the apps by name. This can be sorted by name, date installed, most used and category. Clicking on a sub-heading will bring up the full list of categories in which the apps would correspond accordingly to.

Apps can be added on to the Start Screen as well as the desktop which can just take a few seconds to do so. Apps can be added on to the screen by holding down using the touch screen or right clicking on the desired app to be added and then tap on either adding it to the Start Screen or the taskbar in the desktop. This will immediately position it at the end of the Start Screen or if you chose the latter choice it’ll come as the last icon on the taskbar. Other options may come up as well such as Uninstall and Find in Start. The Find in Start view will locate and bring up where the app is on the Start Screen. Multiple apps can be checked to add several apps to taskbar/Start Screen or even to uninstall multiple apps.

Using the Charms bar, the amount of apps shown on the screen can be changed exponentially by going to Settings, then Tiles and then clicking yes to Showing more applications in Apps View. You can even boot it straight to the Apps View screen once the system is booted, which can be changed in the properties found in the taskbar of the desktop.

Launching an app is simple stuff. A simple click or tap would launch the application immediately as oppose to the casual double click of what it was before. Dependent on the app, it will go full screen or launch into the desktop if the app is a legacy program.

Barbara Hepworth - Winged Figure

Barbara Hepworth’s Winged Figure can be found on the Holles Street side of John Lewis running at the junction of Oxford Street. It was installed in 1963. 

Initially, Jacob Epstein was asked to come up with a design for the Portland stone, however he had commitments to other commissions and so was unable to do so. In May 1961, Ralph Brown, Geoffrey Clarke, Barbara Hepworth, Anthony Holloway, Stefan Knapp, William Mitchell and Hans Tisdall were all asked to come up with designs, but their original designs were all not accepted.

Hepworth was asked to design "the idea of common ownership and common interests in a partnership of thousands of workers" and in October 1961 came up Three Forms in Echelon, which was rejected. Her second proposed design an enlargement of her 1957 sculpture Winged Figure I, which was accepted. The sculpture was installed on Sunday 21 April 1963 on a plinth and was later restored in 2013 for its 50th anniversary.

The sculpture stands at 5.8 metres high with a pair of wings and rods criss-corssing through a point met at the middle. In 1962, a wood prototype was created and then an aluminium prototype was created with aluminium sheets and ten stainless steel rods, which were coated with Isopon (polyester resin filler). The aluminium prototype can be found at the Hepworth Museum in Wakefield, Yorkshire.

"I think one of our universal dreams is to move in air and water without the resistance of our human legs. I wanted to evoke this sense of freedom. If the Winged Figure in Oxford Street gives people a sense of being airborne in rain and sunlight and nightlight I will be very happy" - Barbara Hepworth

Star Log Entry 2: West End Christmas lights

It's that season again! West End bring out there Christmas lights in full show - and being me - became snap happy when it comes to exploring them:

Covent Garden

 

New Bond Street

 

 

Carnaby Street

 

Oxford Street

South Molton Street

St Christopher's Place

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Start Screen

The start screen of Windows 8.1 were met with a lukewarm reception with some disappointed by the abandonment of the familiarity of the previous operating systems and with some embracing the new change. The Start Screen brought a colourful screen with new colour schemes and background patterns which could be adapted and personalised to the users' preference. The Start Screen became a hub for just about a lot of things with information gleaned at a glance such as e-mail and news headlines, which I find makes it that much more easier and fluid to use due to less management.

At first glance, the screen shows apps and of any live notifications on apps that have live tiles. An arrow can be seen near the bottom right which is used to access Apps view which shows of all the program/apps listed. Top right of the screen shows:

• Microsoft login name - Can be used to sign out of the account or change the profile picture.
• Power button - Gives options of Sleep, Shutdown and Restart.
• Search button - Search through everything or refine the search to a specific area and even gives an option to search the web.

There are options to customise the app tiles to make it personal to your liking. You can access them by holding down on a app or if you're using a touch screen or right clicking and a tick mark will come up on the highlighted app. By doing this, the following options come up:

• Unpin from Start - removes from the Start Screen but does not uninstall it.
• Unpin from taskbar - unpins it from the taskbar found on the desktop.
• Uninstall - uninstall the app completely from the system.
• Resize - resize the app to Small, Medium, Wide or Large.
• Turn live tile off - turns off the live notification on the display of the tile.

Not all the apps will have the full resize scale and may just have one or two on display such as Internet Explorer only having Small and Medium. Resizing the app to small may not be to everyone's taste either as some app live updates may disappear as a result of it.

Accessing the settings on the charms bar will give you different options:

• Personalise - You can change the background and colour schemes that fits your mood, it especially helped me in seeking new inspirations - makes a nice change!
• Tiles - Show more tiles on the Start Screen so there is more apps in view without having to scroll along the screen for the rest. You can also change the amount in view in Apps view. You can also hide personal info from the live tiles should you wish not to have it displayed in view of the public such as E-mail live notifications.
• Help - Get tips and tricks on using the Start Screen and other aspects of using Windows 8.1

There are also an option to turn off the notifications for a duration of time which can be found at the bottom of Settings in the charms bar. It can be turned off for a duration of 8, 3 or 1 hour. The charms bar is useful for finding out the time and date as it is not found on the Start Screen and can be found on the bottom left of the screen when it comes up. This can be used at any point when using Windows 8.1 to find out the time/date.

If you like organising your apps on the screen, you can group them together and create a group name for them. You can re-arrange the apps by click and drag or hold and drag the app to the desired location. If you want to move a whole group of apps, click or tap the dash found on the bottom right of the screen and drag the group to the desired location.

To name a group, you can right click anywhere in the background and select "Name Groups" or drag up from the bottom of the screen and click customise to bring up a space to fill out the group name.

Apps can be added from the Apps view on to the Start Screen which will be explored in another blog post!

South Bank Lion

The South Bank Lion is a cast of a male lion statue that resides on the north side of the Westminster Bridge. It has a history of moves from different spots near to the banks of the Thames. 

The statue stands at 12 feet high, 13 feet long and weighing in at 13 tonnes. It is made with Coade stone, providing resistant to all forms of atmospheric changes including pollution, which gives it a pristine condition despite being over 150 years old. It was put together from separate parts which were brought together in an iron frame.

It was initially placed on top of the James Goding’s Lion Brewery in 1845. Following the demolishment of the site to make way for the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Festival of Britain. It is said that King George VI saved the statue from demolishment. It was moved and mounted on a plinth outside Waterloo Station. 

Following another run of the mill, Waterloo Station was to be extended, providing a move for the South Bank Lion to his new home. The lion was removed and it was found on the foot of the lion that the sculptor was William Frederick Woodington on 24 May 1837. It was painted red as a symbol of the British Rail. By the power of the English Heritage, the statue was granted a Grade II listing.

Its counterpart is at the Twickenham Stadium’s Rowland Hill Gate, which has a gold leaf coating.

#SouthbankLion