Appledore to Dungeness by rail

Photos taken by me on Saturday 24th November on an excursion train down the line from Appledore to Dungeness nuclear power station in Kent.  Weather suitably dismal.  Top: original route map; second:  passing ruin; third: view across the shingle to Dungeness nuclear power station in the rain and mist from the train (it wasn't possible to get off as there are no platforms, only facilities for loading the nuclear flasks) see here and here; fourth: Brookland Halt disused station, for more information see here and here; bottom: Lydd Town railway station disused since 1971, more information here and here.  The level crossing gates situated just before this station had to be manually opened and closed before the train could proceed.

Swans Down

To Koko in Camden Town last week, at the suggestion of Haunted Shoreline, to witness Swans in concert.  This was my fourth encounter (for the first, see post for May 2010) and many years had passed between this and the previous occasion, when I thought they were a bit restrained, with too many acoustic guitars in evidence.  No fear of that tonight, as I'd heard that they'd returned to being loud again, a statement that had me going to this gig with some trepidation, as I knew from experience what that would entail.

After a relatively restrained start the volume increased rapidly until after about half an hour I decided it was time for the ear plugs - even with them in it still seemed incredibly loud.  I had gone to one of the My Bloody Valentine reunion shows at the Roundhouse where staff were handing out earplugs but I soon took mine out as I couldn't hear the music properly - Swans were definitely a whole lot more than 1 louder.

This was sound that pummels you into submission, ritualised violence, that actually results in a kind of tranquility after a while; fortunately most of the noise was in the lower registers with no sudden squalls of ear-splitting feedback, so it could be coped with, just about.  The set length was also challenging, the kind of time taken by Bruce Springsteen or Led Zeppelin at Earls Court, clocking in at almost three hours, with one central 'song' lasting an entire hour it seemed.  A thrilling section marked a return to the Swans of old with one crashing chord being repeatedly played in unison, Michael Gira leaping like Pete Townshend across the stage and then running back to starting position to do it again - this went on for at least 10 minutes, probably a lot longer.

Nice to see a younger crowd than that which attends most shows I go to these days and I was also amused to hear Gira refer at the end to their first London concert supporting The Fall at Heaven (where I was one of the few who dared leave the upstairs bar to see them), remarking,'I sure made a lot of use of the glory holes there that night' - what could he mean?  There's a suitably pretentious review here and more straightforward ones here and here.

Paul Klee

Looking at the Tate site I see that the wish I expressed in an earlier entry this year - for a major London retrospective of the work of Paul Klee - will indeed be coming true in 2013.  Details here.  The painting above is called Walpurgisnacht.

Bologna

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Bologna, a city of elegant arcades, fascinating shops, great restaurants and some wonderful frescoed churches.  Inside the complex of medieval religious buildings of Santo Stefano, the earliest dating back to the fifth century, I found this odd picture; it was outside a chapel commemorating airmen, with photographs (many in uniform) covering the walls.

Another accidental discovery was the Oratory of St Cecilia.  Her recumbent statue by Stefano Maderno in the Basilica di S. Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome is wonderfully evocative and there is a painting of it in the oratory - the frescoes of her life, together with SS Valerian and Tibertius are equally beautiful.

St Emilion

Another place visited this summer was St Emilion, a beautiful town with steep cobbled streets, albeit almost completely turned over to 'wine tourism'.  There are some vast wine 'caves' to explore beneath the streets and the amazing Monolithic Cathedral, also mostly underground and held up by huge metal supports.  My photos.

Montaigne's Tower

In August I had the opportunity to visit Montaigne's Tower near Bordeaux.  At the time I was reading How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakwell an excellent introduction to his life and work.  Also bought a bottle of Montaigne wine as the estate also contains a vineyard.  Photos by me.

Events in Hastings

There are some interesting events taking place in Hastings over the next couple of weeks - frustratingly I won't be able to go to any of them.  This weekend sees the first Ingrid Pitt Queen of Horror Festival (I think this is the official site).  There are some impressive guests including James Herbert, who I have to confess was a writer I read far too much as a teenager and the gorgeous Madeline Smith.

Less well publicised is the Black Huts Festival run by a local publisher and featuring Iain Sinclair who remains one of my favourite writers, many of his chums will be there as well.  I sometimes feel that there are too many events down here, but the most irritating thing is that the few I really want to go to nearly always take place when I have other commitments.

Bun Ceremony Under Threat

The latest Folklore Society newsletter contains some bad news regarding one of London's most unusual and interesting annual commemorations, which takes place every Good Friday at the Widow's Son pub in Bromley-by-Bow.  On this occasion a sailor from the Royal Navy places a bun in a net above the bar containing the buns from previous ceremonies; it commemorates the hot cross buns a widow is said to have baked every year in a cottage on that spot in the hope that her son would return home from sea, sadly he never did.  The legend can be found in my Folklore of London book amongst other places and there is an earlier post devoted to it.

It now appears that the pub has been bought by a property developer who wants to turn most of the building into the inevitable apartments ('luxury' no doubt).  The local newspaper covered it here.  It would be a very sad thing to see yet another pub-related piece of folklore vanish - when I was writing my folklore book I was dismayed to discover how many pubs had totally disappeared, been converted to flats or had stopped ceremonies and commemorations that in some cases went back many years.

Easy Money?

An interesting post in Robert Fripp's online diary, wherein he outlines his present financial situation and muses on the lot of the modern musician trying to earn a crust.  It seems that today everyone is trying to exploit the internship/work-for-nothing trend, including touring musicians who don't want to pay their backing groups (see the link in the diary entry).  Fripp is someone I've long admired, one of the most creative, innovative and talented musicians to have emerged from the world of 'rock'.  I've particularly enjoyed attending some of his 'soundscape/Frippertronics' performances (usually free), an especially memorable one was held in the foyer of the Queen Elizabeth Hall a few years ago.

Kingsway Tram Tunnel and Crossrail

Recent developments at Kingsway, former tunnel in central London originally built to be used by trams carrying passengers from Holborn to Waterloo bridge and providing a link between the north and south London tram networks.  Opening in 1906, it served stations at Holborn and Aldwych and was enlarged to accommodate double-decker trams in 1929; it closed in 1952.  The southern end was converted into the busy Strand underpass, which opened in 1964.  The northern section has been mostly abandoned, being used as a store by Camden council and occasionally by the odd film-crew and art installation.  Now it's been reported that Crossrail is using the northern entrance to construct  a grout shaft 8 metres deep and 5 metres wide.  To minimise ground settlement during tunnelling activity these shafts allow grout to be pumped deep into the earth to stabilise it and protect nearby buildings from any potential ground movement.  Tunnel boring machines Phyllis and Ada are due to pass beneath this area in 2013. According to Keith Sibley, Crossrail Area Director West: 'The Kingsway Tram Tunnel has played a fascinating and unique role in London's transport history.  Now it will play a vital part in helping prepare the ground for the city's most ambitious transport project to date.  As the tunnel is a Grade II listed structure, crossrail will return the Camden section to its prior condition when the works are completed.'

Talking of Crossrail, you may be interested to learn that there will be tours this weekend (22nd and 23rd September) of Bond Street Crossrail station (although it looks from the text as if you won't actually be going into the construction area).  Details here (scroll down to Westminster).  I hope to go on Saturday morning, but if the queues are impossible I won't be hanging around.