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London's Round Blue Plaques
By Bruce Burnett As you walk around London, look out for the round blue plaques to be seen on houses in which famous people have lived. Known as "No. 1 London" is the Wellington Museum in Apsley House, 149 Piccadilly at Hyde Park Corner. The house exhibits a collection of Wellington relics, fine paintings, silver, plate and porcelain. Not far away in fashionable Mayfair, a plaque on the wall of 11 Bolton Street records the fact that novelist Fanny Burney lived here from 1818-28. Henry James, the American novelist, had lodgings on the first floor of 3 Bolton Street. In 1886, he moved to 34 De Vere Gardens in Kensington. Elsewhere in Kensington there is a plaque on 39 Harrington Gardens commemorating the fact that the house was designed by W.S. Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan fame. He lived here between 1883 and 1890. American poet, Ezra Pound, rented the first-floor front room at 10 Kensington Church Walk from Mrs. Langley, his "unique and treasured landlady." The room "had a cast-iron fireplace with a hob either side of the bars and a pair of good windows looking south." His bath, which he celebrated in his poem, The Bathtub, was supplied by cans of hot water from the kitchen boiler. Pound lived here from 1909 until his marriage to Dorothy Shakespeare in 1914. Kensington Palace in Kensington Gardens was completed about 1605 for Sir George Coppin. In 1689, King William III and Queen Mary II acquired the house, which was redesigned by Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of London's renowned St. Paul's Cathedral. The royal apartments of the palace are now open to view. The house also has a fine collection of early Georgian and Victorian work, paintings from the Royal Collection, furniture and objets d'art formerly belonging to Queen Victoria and the late Queen Mary (consort of King George V), both of whom were born at the palace. Queen Mary's Gallery, paneled in oak, contains two large gilded mirrors, the only surviving pieces of the original room. The Queen's Bedroom, although badly damaged by German bombs in 1940, still retains its 17th-century floor. The Presence Chamber has a ceiling by Kent and wood decorations by G. Gibbons. The King's Staircase, partly by Wren, has an iron balustrade by J. Tijou and walls painted by Kent representing a gallery. Close by at 18 Stafford Terrace, the Linley Sambourne House contains a unique collection of furniture, paintings and objets d'art, which show the taste of an artist of the late Victorian period. Edward Linley Sambourne (1845-1910) was a leading cartoonist for Punch magazine. Essayist, novelist and poet Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was born at 32 Sheffield Terrace, Kensington. He spent his early years (1879-99) at 11 Warwich Gardens, just south of Kensington High Street. His first book of poems, The Wild Knight (1900) was written here. A stone's throw away is Young Street, where novelist William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-63) lived at No. 13 (now No. 16) from 1846 to 1853. Further west, Chiswick House in Burlington Lane was completed about 1730 and was probably designed by the third Earl of Burlington, who modeled his house on the work of Italian architect, Andrea Palladio. The rich interior and the gardens are the work of William Kent. King Edward VII lived here as Prince of Wales from 1866 to 1879. Within walking distance of Chiswick House is Hogarth's House in Hogarth Lane. The home of 18th-century artist William Hogarth (1697-1764), it contains relics and a permanent exhibition of the artist's engravings. Drop down into Chelsea and you will find Carlyle's House, the 18th-century townhouse where the noted Scottish writer lived from 1834 until his death in 1881. The house remains virtually unaltered and contains personal artifacts, manuscripts and portraits. Carlyle's House is at 24 Cheyne Walk, overlooking the River Thames. Novelist George Eliot's (1819-80 - real name, Mary Ann Evans) last home was at No.4 Cheyne Walk and poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82) lived at No.16 from 1862 to 1882. Novelist and playwright Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) wrote Three Men in a Boat (1889) when he lived just around the corner in Chelsea Gardens. Also in Chelsea was poet and playwright Oscar Wilde's (1854-1900) home at 34 Tite Street from the time of his marriage in 1884 until his disastrous trial and imprisonment in 1895. Most of his principal work was written here. Other houses of literary interest include Dickens House at 48 Doughty Street, where novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870) lived from 1837 to 1839. Dr. Johnson, compiler of the first definitive English dictionary, lived at what is now Dr. Johnson's House in Gough Square (he spelt it "Goff"). The original edition of his dictionary is on display here. The Romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) lived in his beloved rural Hampstead during his prolific period, 1818-20. Keats House in Keats Grove contains many mementoes of the poet's life and work. Hampstead has long become part of London's urban sprawl, but it still manages to retain its quaint village ambience. Bruce Burnett, has won four Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold awards for travel journalism. Read more of Bruce Burnett's travel writing on his websites: http://www.globalramble.com and http://www.bruceburnett.ca/travel.html Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bruce_Burnett
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Chelsea Football Club - The Story Of The Blues
By Nilesh Peshawaria Stamford Bridge Most soccer teams have an emotional link to their home stadium, but the history of few teams and stadiums are as intertwined as that of Chelsea FC and Stamford Bridge, their London home. Built in 1877, Stamford Bridge was an athletics track until 1905 when two brothers (HA and JT Mears) purchased it with the intention of attracting an existing team to play there. When this plan failed, they decided to take the bull by the horns and create their own team – Chelsea FC. And so began 100 years of soccer history with many ups and downs along the way.
The Story Of The Blues
Chelsea Football Club was officially formed on March 14 1905 in The Rising Sun public house opposite the main entrance to the current stadium. A few weeks later, the team joined the Second Division of the growing Soccer League, and they played their first game (against Stockport County) on May 29, 1905. A long, uneventful period followed and it was not until 1955 that Chelsea won their first league title. Initially nicknamed “The Pensioners” after the nearby Royal Hospital (home of army pensioners), an early manager thought it gave the wrong impression – and ever since, Chelsea have been known as “The Blues”. The swinging 60s made Chelsea the fashionable heart of London, but the success of the surrounding area was not duplicated on the field at Stamford Bridge. The team did become known off the pitch for their fashionable clothes, accessories, and celebrity lifestyles and the club enjoyed a certain celebrity in the media during this period. The trophy cabinet however remained largely empty, and although Chelsea came close with an FA Cup final loss in 1967, the only major success of the decade was winning their first League Cup in 1965.
Things Can Only Get Better
Matters did not improve during the 1970s and 80s, with the team dipping in and out of the Second Division and serious financial difficulties leading to the sale of star players. At the club’s lowest financial point, the Mears family were forced to sell the club to new owner Ken Bates for a price of $2 USD (yes two dollars!). The passionate supporters of Chelsea stayed loyal however, and some of the players from this troubled era ranked among the best in England. Notable among the players of this period are the team’s famous goalkeeper Peter Bonetti, who played for the team 729 times between 1959 and 1979, and striker Peter Osgood who scored 150 goals in 380 appearances between 1964 and 1979.
Although Jimmy Greaves became better known for his later career at Tottenham Hotspur, he started playing soccer at Chelsea, scoring in his debut game (a feat he repeated with every team he subsequently played for). In 1960, aged 20, Greaves became the youngest player ever to score 100 English league goals, and his 1960-61 tally of 41 league goals remains a record at Chelsea to this very day.
Turning Point
The 1990s saw Chelsea slowly but surely establish themselves as a major force in English and European soccer as Ken Bates funded the purchase of several world-class players including Dutch superstar Ruud Gullit (from Sampdoria) and goal-scoring supremo Mark Hughes (from Manchester United). With Gullit in his first season as player-manager, Chelsea won their first trophy for 26 years when they beat Middlesborough to win the FA Cup in 1997.
The shock departure of Gullit in 1998 led to the appointment of another player-manager, the Italian striker Gianluca Vialli, and the development of the squad continued to bring some success with an FA Cup win in 2000, shortly followed by Vialli’s dismissal. Consequently, his successor, Claudio Ranieri, was in charge of a squad that many commentators felt was of good quality and depth, but under performing, when the turning point in Chelsea’s fortunes occurred.
The new dawn for Chelsea broke when the club was purchased by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2003. He immediately opened his sizeable check book to the club management, who spent over $150 million on an injection of new talent including Claude Makélélé, Glen Johnson, Joe Cole and Damien Duff.
Unfortunately, the investment produced no trophies, and new manager José Mourinho was drafted in from Portugal for the 2004 season. Mourinho made an immediate impression, not only on the Chelsea team but on English soccer in general, and his drive and ambition combined with Ambramovich’s fortune have transformed the fortunes of Chelsea.
Chelsea Today
Today, Chelsea boasts an amazing array of top players: Echoing the early popularity of Peter Bonetti, goalkeeper Petr Cech is rated by many as the #1 ‘keeper in the Premiership and one of the best in the world. Still aged only 23, he made his debut in his native Czech Republic when he was only 19. Captain John Terry is respected as one of the most tenacious defenders in the Premiership and his dedication and consistency earned him the PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) Player of the Year award. At only 24, Chelsea hopes he will be around to carry on the good work for a few years yet.
In the midfield, Frank Lampard is a massive favourite with the fans. A tireless midfielder of great stamina, Lampard plays 90 minutes of end-to-end soccer every game and opposition teams know he can pop up anywhere on the pitch at any time, moving the ball up field from defence one moment, then scoring goals – 13 of them last season – the next. Although Lampard has been with Chelsea since 2001, it is only in the last two seasons that he has really developed into a world-class player – a change that manager José Mourinho can take credit for. While vice-captain Lampard narrowly missed out on the PFA Player of the Year award, he has had the satisfaction of being Chelsea’s own Player of the Year for 2004 and 2005.
A Record Breaking Season
Hardly surprising then that 2005 saw Chelsea win only their second-ever League title, a mere 50 years after winning their first! But this was just one element of what was the most successful year in Chelsea’s history, with them also winning the League Cup and breaking a number of records for a 38 game season:
- Highest points total for a Premiership season (95)
- Most wins (29)
- Fewest goals against (15)
- Most games with no goals against (25)
While it will be very difficult for Chelsea – or any other team – to produce a season that can rival 2004-5 in terms of trophy wins and records, there can be no mistaking the intention of the club’s owners, management team and players to stay at the very top of the English Premiership for as long as possible, and they have started this year with the kind of passion and success that is likely to lead to another great season for fans of “The Blues”.
A Force To Be Reckoned With
No matter how unsuccessful the team has been in the past, Chelsea has always enjoyed the loyal support of local fans, but the recent success of the team means that today Chelsea is an internationally recognized soccer team and a major business with many facets.
The Chelsea FC online megastore now ships Chelsea-related soccer apparel, leisurewear, souvenirs, books and videos around the world. Their multi-lingual ordering hotline is just one indication of how internationally successful the Chelsea “brand” has become.
The club’s sponsorship deal with Samsung is even bigger than Manchester United’s Vodaphone deal, bringing additional income to a club that is already generously funded by its owner and benefactor. Indeed, some commentators are now expressing concern that perhaps the Chelsea squad is too dominant, that perhaps the team is too well funded. But after so many years in the doldrums, you can be sure that today’s Chelsea fans are delighted they have “The Blues”.
About The Author
Nilesh Peshawaria is a freelance writer providing tips and information for consumers purchasing various soccer gear, soccer apparel including replica jerseys, and soccer goalkeeper equipment.
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Visiting London: Kensington Palace and the Glorious Revolution
By Peter West At some time, no doubt, upon our travels together, we will pass by this royal palace, where once upon a time a prince and princess used to live in happier days - namely the current heir to the throne and the now deceased Lady Diana, who became the Princess of Wales. So you may ask, what on earth could be the direct connection between this Royal Palace and a revolution that was known as “Glorious”? Why glorious anyway, you may well ask? Well, there we are - the story gets longer and longer, and eventually disappears into the mists of time. This royal palace, although nowadays no longer a principal royal residence, is still used by certain members of the royal family even after the recent death of the queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, the death of the Princess of Wales on 31st August 1997, and the departure of HRH Prince Charles, following the separation of the couple in 1992. The idea of this palace came about with accession of the Prince of Orange, the Dutch Stadtholder, as our William III, who was the son of the eldest daughter, Mary, of the executed (yes executed, in 1646) King of Great Britain, King Charles I. Interestingly, William III was married to an English Princess, also called Mary, who was a daughter of Charles II’s brother the Duke of York, who himself became a King, namely James II. So reader, if you are thinking “but this makes them cousins”, then you are quite correct. It was the very abdication of James II and the act of fleeing from Great Britain that brought his daughter back home as a Queen in her own right. So again reader, if you have perceived another apparent inconsistency, then you are right again: we did have two monarchs reigning in their own right at the same time! In fact the only time in British History. Thank God they were married - otherwise we would have another revolution and perhaps not such a glorious one. (Remember King Stephen and Matilda in the 11th century? Perhaps you don’t…) Well, why was this revolution so glorious? The new King William III was invited to invade by the nobility, and this invasion and accession was entirely peaceful, as a result of the defection of most of the English army officers, including and especially one John Churchill. This change of leadership in our country lead to our war with France over the question the Spanish succession. This culminated in the Battle of Blenheim, hence Blenheim Palace being gifted, by the next Monarch, Queen Anne, to the newly created 1st Duke of Marlborough, the one and same John Churchill who had changed his allegiance from James II!! So leadership in those was still as much in the hands of the monarch as Parliament. Incidentally it was from the need and struggle to finance this war that the Bank of England was created. Then, as today, banks seem to have far more to do with lending money than being the keepers of funds. But we digress from our original enquiries. Why was this Palace in Kensington created when there were already perfectly acceptable ones in Westminster? Well there you are, the story becomes ever more unpredictable. Would you believe it the answer is pollution – yes, pollution. Am I being serious, am I being truthful? No, really I am! There was a very great pollution problem back in those old times 300 years ago. even before the days of the Industrial Revolution. Not from vehicles and modern machines, of course, but in those days every house had quite a number of fires. In fact, open fires were everywhere, causing far dirtier combustion than today’s relatively clean power machines. So even in those days there was intensive smog in the areas around Westminster, and Kensington was regarded as a country area with wonderful fresh air. In fact the Duke of Nottingham’s house, which is what this was before its purchase in 1689, was probably fairly isolated, before the Court Circle of Ministers, advisers and supporters began building their dwellings around the new royal palace. You maybe surprised to know that the designer of St Paul’s Cathedral was also asked to carry out much modification to the new palace, and this is still in evidence today. So in the middle of his 35-year (1675-1710) supervision of the rebuilding of the Cathedral, this great architect (not that he would have been known as that in the 17th century) was asked to effectively engineer a new royal residence. Wouldn’t be possible in today’s world of Euro laws trying to enforce 35 hour weeks, would it? So now you are in the know, to a certain extent, about how the Glorious Revolution is connected to Kensington Palace, why the Glorious Revolution was thought to be so, and why Kensington Palace is situated where it is and why it was created in the first place. And if a Blue Badge Guide had not told you these things, would you have been thinking about them as you slid past Kensington Palace? Possibly like may of today’s young, you would only have thought of Kensington Palace in connection with our sad modern Princess of Wales and the carpet of flowers as far as the eyes could see, all around the Palace, in the days leading up to her funeral. © Peter West Tours 2006 Peter West is a registered London Blue Badge Guide who specializes in made-to-measure sightseeing tours around London, as well as longer trips around England, Ireland, France and anywhere else in Europe. Please visit his website http://www.peterwesttours.com/ to contact him. 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London, England - A Brief History 1529AD To The Present
By Jon Michael Since its founding as little more than a Roman fort, London slowly prospered and expanded. Such is its resilience, it survived the Norman invasion, the Dark Ages and the Black Death in the following 1,500 years. It's greatest period of prosperity started during the time of Henry VIII, in the sixteenth century, who -- despite his shortcomings as a loyal husband -- did lay the foundations for massive global expansion in Britain's influence and empire. A fortunate by-product of Henry's split with the Roman Catholic Church was the arrival in England of Protestant Huguenot refugees, from the nearby continent of Europe. England has always benefited from the skills of its immigrants and none more so than from the Huguenots, who brought with them their secret skills in silk weaving. Silk cloth was a highly prized product and proved to be a massive boost for the trade and wealth of the country -- and London, in particular. The increasing population and wealth lead to a great deal of new building. Being an island gave Britain an extra layer of protection from invasion. So London was able to expand well beyond the confines of the original walled city without fear, and this it did. Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII, sought to curb this expansion without effect. Indeed her own encouragement to empire building in the form of Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake, only gave new impetus to London's wealth and power. Due to the restrictions on building new property, many of the existing properties were bizarrely extended upwards, with floors which jettied beyond the original walls. This lead to situations where the upper floors of houses almost touched, forming archways over the streets, with the occupants able to lean out of the upper floor windows and shake hands with the people opposite! After the civil war and the execution of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell eventually relinquished his position as Lord Protector and England once more had a monarch, in the person of Charles II. During his reign, there was a dramatic flowering of science, lead by Sir Isaac Newton. London also experienced the Great Fire of London, in 1666, which destroyed most of the wooden buildings in the old city of London. It also, conveniently, destroyed the last vestiges of the plague, which had decimated the area the previous year. Sir Christopher Wren, who designed and built St Paul's Cathedral, drew up a grand design for the replacement of the whole area, to avoid the unsanitary conditions that had lead to the plague. However, such a dramatic transformation would require wholesale acquisition of the land in the area and, due to the difficulty in tracing all the various owners, time ran out and new buildings were put up. These were of more fireproof materials, mainly brick, but still following the higgledy piggledy lines of the old city. Thus the organic charm of the old city of London was not swept away by Wren's grand vision, and still survives to delight visitors in the 21st century. Until the seventeenth century, London had grown on east-west lines, along the River Thames, using the river itself as the main highway. What minor inconvenience the River Thames presented to north-south travel was overcome by the provision of ferries, both in the London Bridge area and up river at Putney. However, as London expanded to the north and south, the need for swift transport across the river became apparent and this period was the start of the building of London's many bridges. During the Georgian period, London -- by then the center of a growing worldwide empire -- expanded even more dramatically, with many of the fine and sought after terraces so admired today, being built very rapidly. As the latest in technology -- the railway -- developed, there was pressure to keep these away from the center of London. This is why present day London is ringed with railway termini, which originally stopped at the then edge of the city. With no major railway line cutting right through the city, it was left to the ingenuity of engineers to provide an alternative. This they did by digging a cutting to take the railway, which was then covered over and built on. Thus was created the world's first underground (or subway) railway. This technique of "cut and cover" as it was known, proved such a success other lines were created in the same fashion. When the railways reached the outer areas of London, they were permitted to rise to ground level, which was considerably cheaper. This, in turn, led to the springing up of new suburbs, clustered around the new railway lines, which offered fast, comfortable and safe transport into the center of London. Finally, "the commuter" was born. The most popular suburbs were to the west of London, as they were downwind from the smoke and pollution arising from the city. In the 1930s many cleaner, new "high tech" industries -- many American owned, such as Gillette and Firestone -- sprang up along The Great West Road, originally the old coaching road to Bath, the ancient Roman city in the far west. Also at this time, several movie studios were built in the western suburbs of London. World War two came right to the center of London with almost nightly raids by heavy bombers of the Nazi Luftwaffe. These were targetted mainly on the east of London, where the mighty Pool of London docks and factories were situated. Many of these devices were incendiary bombs, designed to maximize damage by starting massive fires. There is a famous picture of St Paul's Cathedral, surrounded on all sides by raging infernos, yet unscathed and defiant against the very worst that could be thrown at London. Rebuilding and expansion after the war, lead to the creation of the Green Belt: a notional belt of undeveloped land surrounding London to limit further expansion. With it's "green lungs" -- the massive parks right at its center -- the green belt sourrounding it, plus the thousands of trees within, London, despite being one of the largest cities in the world, still retains a village feel, with each former village, now swallowed up by the great metropolis, still retaining much of their own particular character and charm. In the 1950s the pollution, particularly from thousands of household coal fires, coupled with London's famous autumnal fogs, combined to create "smog". The government brought in a Clean Air Act, to force the use of processed coal -- called smokeless fuel -- which cleared up the smog. In the 21st century of its existence, London is not resting on its laurels and is, right now, busy re-inventing itself. It already boasts the world's busiest airport, to the west and is hard at work regenerating the eastern area of London ready to stage the Olympic Games in 2012. Copyright 2006 Jon Michael and LondonVacationSecrets.com Jon Michael is a lifelong resident of London, England and his hobby is discovering the hidden stories about this fascinating world class city. Add to all that the daily honing of his knowledge of London as a taxi cab driver and you need look no further for information on the real London. Check out Jon's website right now at: http://www.LondonVacationSecrets.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Michael
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