National Portrait Gallery, Ex-Colleague Social, & Sutton Hoo Gallery

Last Friday night, I was back with London Social & Cultural Meetups, who were having a wander around the National Portrait Gallery. Quite a rush to get out, what with getting the blog up to date.. it took half the day. So I didn't have time to eat before meeting them. The bus was a bit tardy - and Lord, it was crammed: and wow, the ignorance of some people; a guy with a crutch, walking stiffly, got on with me, and not ONE of all the kids occupying seats got up to let him sit. To add insult to injury, a couple of teenage girls blithely went and sat in a couple of seats, when they came available - he did manage to get a rear-facing seat at the same time, but I don't blame him for giving them a dirty look..

Anyway, I got to sit soon afterwards, and the crowds had mostly eased by the time I got off. The bus was finishing early, but happily was going far enough for me. Checking, it seemed I'd be as fast walking the last bit as taking a bus for one stop - so I did, stopping briefly to message the organiser, as I'd be a little late. In the end, I was almost the first there.. we waited on the stone seats beside the Henry Irving statue a bit for the others, and headed in.

It's a massive place, of course, and we had to choose what bits to see - so we headed for the 1850-1950 section. Stairs, escalators, and lifts available - we took the escalator, as a compromise. And it did prove fascinating.. it's so much more interesting, in a way, to look at portraits instead of landscapes. At the start of that floor, there's actually a Tudor section - we didn't go in, but did have a quick look at the painting of Sir Thomas More and family:

It's an absolute maze, through which we scattered as the mood took us. We saw a lot of royals - this huge painting, near the entrance, must have been painted around 1911, at the time of the coronation of George V; they made a big deal of it, and with India still part of the Empire at the time, also went on a Durbar - he was the only monarch to appear personally. Here, he's pictured with his wife, Queen Mary (in her trademark tiara and pearls), and their eldest son, the future Edward VIII, and daughter, also called Mary, the future Princess Royal - the last Princess Royal before the current one:

Here, we see the future Edward VIII in uniform, with a portrait from around the same time of Ernest Shackleton (the first of a few Irishmen I found):

Later on, we came across George V's dad, Edward VII:

And here's a more stylised bust of him, younger, wearing "the weight of Empire":

Here's a rather weird statue of George VI, father of Elizabeth II:

A rather more normal image:

In the Contemporary section, which we visited afterwards, we came across a nice family group - him, his wife, the late Queen Mother as she became, and their daughters - the future Elizabeth II seated (no corgis though!) - there's a portrait of George IV behind them:

The young Queen Victoria:

And in a section on Empire, we have her "civilising" one of her African subject leaders:

Here's a nice one of the current King and Queen, in the Contemporary section again (he wasn't yet King at this stage, though):

A photo of the Princess of Wales, taken for her 40th birthday:

And, of course, the most popular of all, enduringly - the King's late ex-wife, an engagement portrait painted when she was still just Lady Diana Spencer. I'd forgotten how controversial it was that she wore trousers! Anyway, when we came to it, two women were actually getting a selfie with it:

As to Irish writers.. here's James Joyce, tucked away under a portrait of Bertrand Russell:

..and Seamus Heaney gets a spot beside Mo Mowlam, in the Northern Ireland section:

As ever, you couldn't get away from politicians. From a wide range of eras.. there's Neville Chamberlain:

Gladstone, with Florence Nightingale demurely averting her gaze:

Disraeli, with social reformer, Octavia Hill looking on:

Lord Balfour:

Of course, you'd have to have one of Churchill:

The Contemporary section, of course, includes more photographs - here are John Major and Tony Blair:

The Iron Lady:

There were Suffragettes - Christabel Pankhurst wanted her portrait to depict her in a dynamic pose. Her sash bears the colours of the Women's Social and Political Union, which she co-founded with her mother, Emmeline:

Emmeline herself appears in a photograph, being arrested:

And here's Josephine Butler, who was instrumental in getting the age of consent for girls raised from 12 to 16:

and here's a picture of Florence Nightingale at work:

Charles Darwin made an appearance:

Charlotte Bronte with Mary Seacole:

Joseph Lister:

And beside him, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first British woman to qualify as a doctor:

Edith Cavell, the famous nurse of WWI, executed as a spy:

A very neat statue of Tim Berners-Lee:

Now, I didn't spend much time in the WWI room - it rather disturbed me. But I did take a photo of Kitchener:

And here's Lawrence of Arabia:

In the room about the Empire, I just thought this frame was spectacular:

There was some interesting stuff about Livingstone:

Including his slave boy:

Lots of writers - here, with Alfred, Lord Tennyson, we have the father of Virginia Woolf:

She, herself, is to be found in the Contemporary section:

Dickens, who pops up everywhere:

William Makepeace Thackeray:

Rudyard Kipling, Henry James:

Back to the war room, where we find Siegfried Sassoon:

And people to do with music - here's Sullivan, of Gilbert and Sullivan! (I couldn't find a portrait of Gilbert):

More in the Contemporary section, as you might expect - this portrait of Sir Paul McCartney is titled "Mike's Brother":

This rather fetching portrait of Sir Elton John is also featured at the exit, juxtaposed with a painting of Elizabeth I on the other side of the doorway, both featuring gold and white!

Shirley Bassey, Lulu, Dusty Springfield I recognised - Tom Jones, not so much!

For dancers, they had Darcy Bussell..

and Margot Fonteyn:

We came across Germaine Greer:

There was Sir David Attenborough:

..and for actors, you had Dame Maureen Lipman:

and the last Irishman of the day, Andrew Scott!

Anna Wintour made an appearance:

..and after all that, we were portrait-ed out - but I would definitely recommend this gallery, and would love a return visit; it's larger than you might expect - and we headed in the direction, as suggested by our organiser, of The Horse and Guardsman, as I, for one, wanted food. En route, we came across a pro-Palestinian protest - a day early, surely! or are they doing Fridays now as well..?

Anyway, she knew the back way in, so we skirted the protest and secured a table big enough for us all.

..right under this rather intimidating painting:

Also saw our last portrait of the day!

I ordered the steak & ale pie, another ordered fish n chips - and wouldn't you know it, they both came.. lukewarm. She sent hers back and got a refund - I was simply too hungry, so I ate mine as it was - but it was definitely lukewarm. Still tasty, mind.. Anyway, we had a nice chat before making our ways home.

Now, given how long the Friday blog turned out to be.. it's no wonder I haven't had time to finish it till now! Especially with having to be out early every day since.. on Saturday, we had my monthly ex-colleagues' meeting, now regularly at The Phoenix - only James could make it this time, though! Ivan was busy, Martin never got back to me, and this was the only weekend James could make. So.. anyway, we had a great catch up - he had the fish n chips as usual, I thought I'd have steak this time. And I have to say, it was one of the better steaks I've had. The waiter cum magician was there as usual, but didn't perform for us today - I did catch an act he performed for a little girl though, literally pulling cards out of a wall. I tell you, that man is talented.. Great to meet my ex-colleague again, hope we can get the others together soon too..

On Sunday, I actually got to meet London Museums A-Z at last - they're off to Sutton Hoo on the 16th (a trip I can't make - more on that later), and prior to that, were visiting the Sutton Hoo gallery in the British Museum. So anyway, there I was, warning them direly about queues, and how long it can take. And checking the weather forecast, which promised dryness. And what happened? It ^&^*% rained on me as I walked to the museum - where there was no queue. Unheard of. I ask you.. Must be a summer phenomenon. Well, I was now extremely early for the admission ticket I'd got, to let me in the main entrance - they all sold out for the day, actually: but they didn't seem to mind that I was early, let me straight in. Five minutes in the bag queue, and I was inside - where, being peckish, I took the opportunity to have one of their excellent ham & cheese baguettes in the "North" cafe - the one near the Montague Place (back) entrance:

Some enterprising organising on the part of the day's organiser meant I actually found her - and was the first to do so, the others arriving in due course. Now, I read somewhere that this was a friendly group.. and do you know, they really are! More than most, to be fair: going on this event, anyway. And we had a fine old chat until we decided to head off for the specific gallery.

Now, when I mentioned to James on Saturday that I was going to this, he absolutely exploded with enthusiasm - I never knew he knew so much about it. One thing that he mentioned is that, before this intricate work was found, nobody really thought the people of the area were capable of such a thing. And for sure, you can see the quality of the workmanship in the various items of jewellery, not to mention the decorated swords and such, in the exhibition:

I was stunned by the amount of glass:

and a wooden bucket - like the horns, used for drinking:

Not to mention these engraved silver dishes, which would have been very valuable:

As one tour guide was telling a group to the side, this was akin to the burial of a pharaoh - which I think describes it quite well! all the grave goods that would have been useful in the afterlife.

Now, one of the problems with the British Museum is that everything you've come to see is going to be so close to something else you might be interested in, likely with some connection to what you actually came for.. same period, same idea.. and so I ended up wandering over into the Irish and Viking bits:

..which were accompanied by extracts from Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf:

And wow, here's a necklace and a half:

Now, even when we were done with that room, there was more.. we ended up trailing along after a museum tour guide, whom I, at least, joined when she was talking about the Lewis chessmen:

King and Queen - I believe the Queen is the one resting her head in her hand!

The bishops demonstrate the new fashion for wearing the mitre with the points to the front and rear, rather than the side:

And these wildly staring fellows have got to be based on berserkers:

And then she took us to chat about some mediaeval panels - sometimes disagreeing with the printed labels, she gave a most interesting talk!

So - a really fascinating visit! Afterwards, to Penderel's Oak - where I had my usual chicken katsu, and we watched the start of the Women's football final. However, for the end of it, we decamped to The Ship, where we watched a tense match culminate in a win for England on penalties. Ah, I remember when something similar happened with Ireland.. a long time ago now..

Very unusual taps:

Some more drinking, and a very sociable night! Must seek to add this group to my schedule more.. watch this space. Anyway, they have an event WhatsApp group, and an overall Meetup group WhatsApp that you can join after you attend an event - looking forward to whatever I can squeeze in with them next!

It truly is a miracle that I finally have this blog done for the weekend.. more to follow though..