London Calling

Transiting through Singapore is always hot and steamy, and apparently rather blurry.

In London there was a bit of a disaster as there was a substation fire at Heathrow, so we were diverted to Gatwick and none of the bags kept up with the switch, so all remained in Singapore. We had already booked a place to stay in Chiswick, as there was a requirement to visit Fuller's (we are travelling with the Belco Brewing Collective), so we got a train out there and dumped the bags before setting out to see the area.

Having already been to the tour of Fuller's Brewery and needing a little walkabout after sitting on a plane for hours, I left them to it and went to visit a few arty places. First stop was Chiswick House; a Grade I-listed 18th-century dwelling and pavilion, available for hire as a venue for events and film and television projects (notably Bridgerton, The Great and The Apprentice).

There are currently many renovations - the kitchen garden will reopen to the public in March 2026 and the house in May, later that year. I couldn't go into the house (built between 1726 and 1729; one of the earliest and most important neo-Palladian villas in England created by architect and designer William Kent and his friend and patron, Richard Boyle, the third Earl of Burlington) but I could wander about the gardens. 

My next cultural activity was Hogarth's House, which was very informative, and about which I will write a separate post. 

And then I meandered along the river until I came to the home of the William Morris Society in the Coach House of at Kelmscott House, Hammersmith, which Morris used as his early factory after buying the property in 1878. It is only open 1-4pm, Thursday-Sunday and when we passed it on our Thames Path walk, it wasn't open, so I was very pleased to be able to duck into it this time.  

The William Morris Society was founded in 1955 to share knowledge of the life and works of William Morris amongst members and the wider public. After Morris died, Kelmscott House passed through a few owners until Helena Stephenson moved in and, as a Morris fan, built up a large collection of his work. In 1970 she bequeathed the house to the William Morris Society who took over the basement and former factory space to open it as a museum.

Bust of Mrs Marion Helena Stephenson by Elizabeth Carver, and cotton 'Vine' curtains

The current exhibition is about the society's benefactor and how she arranged to gift the house to them. Helena's collection reflected her appreciation for the preservation of the past and the perpetuation of the legacies of those who came before, foreseeing the value these objects would hold in the future.

St James Wallpaper (1881) printed on distemper

Stained Glass Quarries designed by Philip Webb (1861)

'Bird' was designed specifically for the drawing room at Kelmscott House. Upon visiting Kelmscott House in 1877, Morris wrote that it 'might be made very beautiful by a touch of my art,' and began studying birds as inspiration for his next design. This design was then produced as a double-woven wool textile depicting scrolling foliage with two garden birds, one placed above another on a dark blue background. The tapestry was produced on a hand-driven jacquard loom. 

'Bird' design by William Morris

Downstairs is the library space with books of patterns and fabrics, and here is the library's greatest treasure: the 200-year-old printing press that was used to print the Kelmscott Press edition of Chaucer, Morris's last great creation. A video shows how the printing press would have been used, and some examples of their printed works are on display. 

I met up with the rest of our group, and we walked back to our accommodation through the rain for a nap. I love how London is full of sculpture on every corner including this piece, commissioned by the London City Council in 1958, designed to compensate the people of Hammersmith for the enlargement of the Great West Road. 

Dr Karel Vogel arrived in Britain from Prague in 1938. His pre-war work was conventionally classical, but like other artists of the time he began experimenting with industrial materials. The Leaning Woman, a semi-nude idealised figure nearly twice life size, was cast in concrete around a metal armature. Her arms rest lightly on an absent surface, and her weight is cantilevered from the base. From this angle it looks as though she is clinging to a lamppost which may lessen the effect somewhat. Her floating appearance is meant to link her surroundings 'in neo-classical calm with the swiftness of the fast modern world'. It was one of Vogel's final works and took a year to complete. 

The Leaning Woman by Dr Karel Vogel (1959)

In the evening, we stirred ourselves to walk out to the pub for a pint and then back to bed ready for the next day. 

Christ Church Turnham Green

The next morning involved a taxi all the way back to Gatwick to collect our bags, which had now arrived, and then rushing back to London St Pancras International Station to take our seats on the Eurostar to Ghent. We were not travelling first class, so we did not get to experience the lounge, but how great are those lamps?