Red House Hallways....Welcome

Given that I have always wanted to see much more detail about Red House than I've been able to find in books or on-line, I am going to post lots of pictures of the interior.  Hopefully you won't find them all too boring!  Here are a set focusing on the incredible hallways of this house....Above is the front hallway with the fabulously painted door (detail below and also here) and bench.

This door makes me want to rush home and pick up a paintbrush....

To the right of the door is this easily constructed "boot closet".  The detail below shows the castle turret motif that is central to the stairwell (next post).  This would be so easy to do!

Standing facing the front door one would have this side hallway on your right.  The glass doors are inscribed with the signatures of William Morris's visitors to Red House.  What a great idea!

The back door is also painted.....

And to the right of this door are beautiful hand-painted stained glass windows which I believe were done by Edward Burne-Jones.

Wheel of Fortune modeled by Jane Morris....

another window modeled by Lizzie Siddal....

The third hallway is the kitchen wing....
 And here is another beautiful window painted with Morris's motto, Si je puis, or If I can.

 A plan of house I found on the web.....

The Bench at the Bottom of the Garden, Wimbledon

From Tony Pinkney, Morris Scholar:  "In her 1886 essay 'A Day in Surrey with William Morris' Emma Lazarus is very conscious of being an American in England. She writes: "to American eyes no bit of rural England can be devoid of interest and charm; the most ordinary objects seem under a spell to bewitch us back into the dream-world of a previous existence".

How true this is!!  How do you, the Brits, do it?!  Over a century later, I was pondering this exact question and decided that trees must have something important to do with it.  Americans don't really pay any attention to their trees.   I think the British realize they are the "foundation" upon which the entire landscape builds.

Pilgrimage to Red House

Oh hallowed ground!

From the National Trust website:  "The only house commissioned, created and lived in by William Morris, founder of the Arts & Crafts movement, Red House is a building of extraordinary architectural and social significance. When it was completed in 1860, it was described by Edward Burne-Jones as 'the beautifullest place on earth'. Only recently acquired by the Trust, the house is not fully furnished, but the original features and furniture by Morris and Philip Webb, stained glass and paintings by Burne-Jones, the bold architecture and a garden designed to 'clothe the house', add up to a fascinating and rewarding place to visit."

a counter-clockwise walk around house......

 northside

 the kitchen garden

The British are such masters of the beautiful garden.  Here the most basic raised beds are bordered by simple sticks---nothing fancy but quite easy and beautiful (although I'm left with the nagging thought that if I lined my garden beds with sticks it would just look like I hadn't done my fall clean-up yet.....need that magic British touch!)

Also in the garden, attached to the back of the house, is the site of the old greenhouse that was torn down and replaced by bomb shelters (above) during WW2.  These themselves are now quite rare and being preserved for posterity by the National Trust.

This bench alcove is through the archway you see two pics above.  Again, it is such a simple design you could easily and inexpensively do something similar anywhere you had an alcove.  A plank bench rests on bricks and the tile back and sides are bordered by a piece of molding that was probably added last.  Morris made the tile and they are quite faded, apparently because he used improper glazing.

Tomorrow the interior....even more fabulous!

p.s. another Banksy?

My last Bristol post....is this another Banksy?!?  I don't know but it sure looks like one!  Internet access has become challenging (in a tiny town in Apennines) but last weekend I visited William Morris's Red House and the studio of David Mabb.  I''ll try to get some pics up over next few days.  Ciao bellas!

Cranes & Trains in Bristol's Historic Dockyards

Load not to exceed 3 tons

These cranes seem to date to the fifties

love the rosettes on this big strong masculine crane...

The promenade along Bristol's famous floating harbor, 80 acres of tidal river that was impounded by locks and dams in 1809, preventing ships from falling over at low tide and transforming Bristol into one of the major seaport of Great Britain.  

I wonder what this tank is lined with?  glass?

Brunel and the Industrial Revolution

Big Red Propeller (1843), Isambad Kingdom Brunel

Hel's comment on how you can't understand the Industrial Revolution without understanding Brunel got me thinking about what Morris must have thought of Brunel.  To Morris, Brunel must have been an anathema, an agent of the Revolution (and not the right one) relentlessly driving forward the mechanization and industrialization of England.  Brunel's red propeller reminded me of this painting of artist David Mabb (from a previous post) which captures the irony of Morris's antipathy toward the very forces of industrialization that not only allowed his designs to be mass produced but also greatly expanded the upper class able to afford his luxury goods.

Big Red Propeller (2001), David Mabb

The SS Great Britain, gears all still working, moving, turning....

"bridge to engine room"....check out that awesome speaking tube!

ship's "galley" -- a perfect work triangle

first class family cabin with fake well-behaved children

first class dining room

steerage

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, A Man As Great As His Name

In 2002, a BBC public survey in Great Britain published a list of the 100 Greatest Britons of all time.  Second on the list, after Winston Churchill, was Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a civil engineer and contemporary of William Morris.  Brunel beat out Isaac Newton, William Shakespeare, Lady Diana, indeed even Charles Darwin.  (Irritatingly, William Morris did not make the top 100, a travesty I can't fully grasp.)

I had never heard of him!  But here is his bridge, The Clifton Suspension Bridge, still in active use in Bristol.  When it was built (started in 1831, eventually finished in 1864) it had the longest span of any bridge in the world, spanning over 700 ft (210 m) across the river Avon.

Brunel also designed and built the first commercial steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Western, which was also the first ship to hold the Blue Riband (which I wrote about a few days ago in this post).  This wooden ship had a paddle wheel but Brunel was convinced that a propeller-driven ship would be more efficient and, for an encore, designed a ground-breaking six-bladed propeller for the 322-foot Great Britain which is now preserved as a ship musuem in Bristol's famous floating harbor.  "Great Britain is considered the first modern ship, being built of metal rather than wood, powered by an engine rather than wind or oars, and driven by propeller rather than paddle wheel. She was the first iron-hulled, propeller-driven ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean."

Here are some pictures from the incredibly awesome SS Great Britain ship/museum I visited yesterday.   I was only sorry I didn't have little kids with me to share the experience.

The ship is "moored" in an antique dry dock blocked off from river by the original caisson (pic below).  To prevent corrosion of the iron hull, the conservators came upon the unique solution of sealing the boat off at the water line with a transparent barrier that has a few inches of water floating on its surface.  This allows them to keep the humidity at a non-corrosive 20% while providing a spectacular setting from which to experience the ship, both above and below waterline.  You can see how cool it is walking "underwater" around the ship's hull, with the sunlight rippling through the water overhead.

Right third of the original and leaky caisson, that blocks off the water from the river, along with ship's anchor.

The six-bladed propeller and "balanced" rudder, famous engineering innovations.

Looking toward the bow from the back of deck --- many skylights let sunlight into the ship's interior.  In my next post, I'll put up some interior pictures.

My first in situ Banksy!

I'm in Bristol, England, for a few days, the home of the anonymous and very famous street artist Banksy---remember him from this post?  While out to dinner last night I asked my local hosts if they knew where any "Banksys" were.   Not three blocks from the restaurant was the one above (complete with subsequent paint ball splatters.....don't these graffiti guys have any respect!?!).   As I was crossing the street to get a closer look, a driver barreling down the hill at excessive speeds no doubt had to lighten pressure on the accelerator for a millisecond to avoid mowing us down.  As the disaffected youth flew by he leaned out of window and yelled "c#nt!!".   Normally my first thought would be "asshole!" but in this case it was "Wow, thank you for enhancing my artistic experience."

SS United States -- Saved from the Scrapyard!!!

This is me and my sibs sailing to Europe in 1968 on the fastest ocean liner of all time, the SS United States.  The SS United States was a luxury passenger liner built in 1952 both to capture the trans-Atlantic speed record for the U.S. (which it did on her maiden voyage) and to serve as an easily convertible troop carrier if war broke out with Russia (Cold War).  The SS United States operated continuously in trans-Atlantic passenger service until 1969 when she went to the shipyard for overhaul and never returned to service.  Airline travel had become cheaper and faster.  Returning from Europe in the summer of 1969, we were among the last passengers ever to sail on this beauty.

Since 1996, the SS United States has been docked at Pier 82 on the Delaware River in Philadelphia and just this past March narrowly escaped the scrapyard, due primarily to the more than twenty year effort of the SS United States Conservancy.   This national nonprofit organization has fought to preserve America’s national and legendary flagship while advocating for a dignified future for this historic ship.  A few days ago they announced the exciting news that Philadelphia philanthropist H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest has pledged up to $5.8 million to the Conservancy, funds that "will be used to purchase the vessel from its current owner, Norwegian Cruise Line/Genting Hong Kong and maintain the ship in its current berth for up to 20 months while redevelopment plans are solidified." 

On her maiden voyage, the SS United States broke the record for fastest trans-Atlantic crossing by a passenger liner, capturing the "Blue Riband", going from New York Harbor to Cornwall, UK, in 3 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes at an average speed of 35.59 knots (40.96 mph; our trip took five days).   On her return voyage she broke the west-bound record, a speed record she still holds. 

From wikipedia:

"She is widely considered the greatest ocean liner ever built. She was also a secret weapon during the Cold War, able to be converted to a troop ship capable of carrying an army division 10,000 miles without refueling or replenishment. The ship became an icon of her era, transporting four American presidents and other heads of state, military and business leaders, and countless celebrities. She also brought many immigrants to America."  

I can still remember vividly my trips on the liner---the movies, the bingo games, the pool, the fancy dinner tables, everybody getting sea-sick as we skirted a huge storm, walking up and down the gangplanks, arriving in Le Harve and New York, peering into the first class sections of the ship!  When I get on a plane for Europe later today, with the cramped seats and unappetizing food, I will think back with nostalgia on my first European adventure, happy knowing I might get another chance to walk around this great ship someday soon! 

tied up in Philly...

today....(Photo by Patrick Murphy)