Talks On The Way

Just to confirm talks this spring (hopefully, it will be warmer by then):

Thursday March 15 6.30pm Kensington Central Library FREE

Aleister Crowley: Life & Legacy     I shall be joined this evening by Gary Lachman.

Bookings here.

Thursday April 5 7.30pm Burgh House, Hampstead for Camden Local History Society (non-members £1 at door)

Tunnels Under Holborn

Bookings here.

Thursday April 12 6.30pm Kensington Central Library FREE

Subterranean City - Underground London in Fact and Folklore

Bookings here.

As usual, at all talks a selection of my books will be for sale at reduced prices. Always signed on request.

The London Mithraeum

To the London Mithraeum last Friday.  Removed from its previous post-war incongruous location at ground level in the heart of the City of London, and unavailable for some years, it has now been returned to its subterranean location on the banks of the now-sunken river Walbrook.  An excellent piece about the reconstruction here.  I've visited many Mithraea over the years, some of the most atmospheric in Rome, at San Clemente for example - see here.

I think the newly-restored London temple has managed to conjure up the numinous atmosphere of the all-male congregation chanting in Latin before the stone image (now in the Museum of London) of the tauroctony very effectively with sensitive lighting, sound and smoke. There is also a very well-displayed array of finds from the site of the new Bloomberg building, beneath which the temple now sits. The guide told me that 80% of what you see is original, the side walls are much higher than I remember them from the original and make it more impressive. Entry is free, but you have to book in advance - see here.

Talks and Walks 2018

It looks as if I shall be quite busy with talks and walks this year. Some are still being finalised, but so far we have:

     Thursday 15 February talk The Underground Folklore of England    Kensington Central Library Lecture Theatre starts 6.30pm

See here for booking.  Only about 20 FREE tickets left from 200. This subject is always popular.


     Thursday 15 March talk Aleister Crowley: Life and Legacy    Kensington Central Library Lecture Theatre starts 6.30pm.  Gary Lachman will also be talking at this event.

See here for booking.  This FREE event is also doing well, about half the places have been booked.

   
Thursday 5 April talk Tunnels Under Holborn    Camden Local History Society Burgh House, Hampstead starts 7.30pm.  See here for booking.  Non-members pay £1 entry.


Also in April there will probably be one of my general Subterranean City talks about underground London. To be confirmed.

Late May a walk with Bill Redwood and others about William Burroughs to coincide with an exhibition about him in central London. To be confirmed

June a walk about Whistler in Chelsea visiting some of his haunts and locations. To be confirmed.

There will probably be more later in the year.

I shall have copies of my books for sale at all events, usually with considerable discounts. Obviously there are more available at the talks as it's uncomfortable carrying large numbers of hardback books around on a walk.

The Fall of the House of Usher

An article in the latest issue of Hastings Town (No.121 February 2018) on the film The Fall of the House of Usher made on location in Hastings between March 1946 and November 1947.  The director was Ivan Barnett and the article provides some useful background information on the director, provided by his son Adrian, a professional photographer.

When I contacted Adrian during the writing of the first edition of Netherwood his father was still alive but very frail (he died in 2013), and my questions  about the film were conveyed to him by his son. The results form one of the sections of the Netherwood book. They also very kindly allowed me to use a number of stills from the film as illustrations.  Many scenes were filmed inside Netherwood (the House of Usher was the exterior of the guesthouse) and most famously Aleister Crowley was present during the filming, as the director confirmed to me (he found the Great Beast 'very polite...pleasant and amenable'). The article repeats the claim that one of his paintings appears in the film, although I've been unable to confirm this, having viewed the film a couple of times. An unusual monument in Beauport Park - now a caravan park - appears in the film and can still be found in situ.

While the article is interesting, there is no indication that the author has read, or even heard of, Netherwood: Last Resort of Aleister Crowley (which does not really surprise me, as it's had no coverage locally, despite some efforts on my part, such as contacting the local newspaper - to no avail - this is definitely one of the plus points of social media and the internet, which enable these traditional gatekeepers to be bypassed). Coincidentally, I watched the Roger Corman Vincent Price 1960 version of Usher last night, before I knew about the recent article.

Also there's no mention that the author of the article has actually seen the film, which I initially saw on a DVD purchased online that had probably been burned on someone's laptop.  More recently the BFI has restored the film and it can be viewed on cheap subscription on their website here.  It looks considerably better, clearer and sharper, and I enjoyed it much more on second viewing in its enhanced format ( a missing reel has been restored to make the running time 70 minutes, rather than the 60 of the DVD).  Vernon Symonds, proprietor of Netherwood and amateur actor (Crowley ended up at Netherwood following an enquiry from one of Symonds' fellow actors) also appears in the film. Recently critical opinion has been brought to bear on it - Jonathan Rigby in the latest edition of his excellent English Gothic (2015) - my British horror film bible - declares it 'a compellingly weird and atmospheric one-off.' Worth checking out.