Fire! Fire! Explore the 5 days in 1666 when London burned down.

350 years ago London was devastated by the The Great Fire of London. Fires were commonplace in London as the city was full of wooden buildings on narrow streets,  but this one was a disaster of major proportions when 13,200 houses and 87 churches were destroyed and around 100,000 people were made homeless. 

The Museum of London has a great exhibition called Fire! Fire! which takes you through the 5 days of the fire and its aftermath through quotes from those caught up in the fire, original objects, paintings, interactive displays, films and original illustrations, all with the sounds of fire in the background 

Welcome to the exhibition!

It all started early in the morning of 2nd September 1666 when Thomas Farriner, a baker living in Pudding Lane, woke on this Sunday morning to a fire in his downstairs bakery. He escaped with his family and their neighbours helped to try to put the flames out However, London was dry after a period of drought and the winds were picking up from the east so the fire began to spread. 

Samuel Pepys the famous diarist of the age was woken with news of the fire and soon realised it was serious so he went to see the King.  A wonderful timeline takes us through the events of the next 5 days. Pepys had a great deal of foresight and here, in one of the many wonderful quotes that bring this exhibition to life, he warns the King of the dangers ahead. 

Follow the fire hour by hour on the timeline 

Pepys is off to see the King on 2nd September 

Next we see a large block shaped like a loaf  graphically showing the fire spreading through the a map of the city, blotting out in streets and homes as it goes. 

4 days later, the city has burned to its edges 

A small black area on the morning of 2nd September

As the fire takes hold on the 3rd of September we see dramatic painting showing flames engulfing everything, both by unknown artists The sounds effects get loader and the quotes more concerned! 

As the flames gather strength people are grabbing what they can and even treasured items are caught in the fire before they are rescued.

The burnt edges of a family bible.

The main exhibition room is well designed to add to the atmosphere:

Valiant efforts to extinguish the fire ranged from huge fire poles to pull down buildings, fire squirts (like a big metal syringe) , very small buckets filled with water and gunpowder used to create fire breaks to halt the spread of the fire. An interactive game gives you the chance to try these different methods and see which works best. 

Interactive fire fighting game!

Fire buckets far to small for the job

Fire buckets in use, but fairly useless!

Fire pole 

Fire squirt

The King, Charles ll, and his brother were busy helping the fight, having travelled from Whitehall into the scene of the fire - perhaps he had learned from his father's death that he needed to be seen to be involved in the people's problems! 

Luckily, the winds died down, changed direction and the fire-fighting efforts began to pay off and on Wednesday the fire was conquered, with that man Samuel Pepys in the thick of the action again on the Thursday, claiming the last fire!   Embers must have burned for days and can you imagine the smell of charred London? 

About a quarter of London was in ruins after the fire and tens of thousands of people were living in temporary camps, tents and sheds on the hills around the city.  The King sent money to buy them bread but their situation must have been desperate. Thoughts turned to how to rebuild this great city. Firstly however the blame game started and the 'usual suspects' were under suspicion: Catholics, and foreigners, particularly the French and the Dutch. Or was it an act of an angry God?  Sinful Londoners perhaps brought it on themselves? Pie Corner is a memorial to that theory. 

The inevitable crime wave followed and the King intervened to legislate that items stolen should be returned and we can read his proclamation against 'imbezzell'd' goods:

The good news was that surprisingly few people died, officially fewer than 10 but it is thought that others many have died and been buried in burned out buildings as record keeping was not good back then.

We learn about the rebuilding plans, including information that Sir Christopher Wren had, rather amazingly, completed a plan ready to show the King just 6 days after the fire. Now, that seems a bit quick to me or am I being too suspicious?  Much of the planned schemes did not happen as there was not enough money and the decisions took too long, so the new city grew up mostly around the old street layout albeit with wider roads in many places to reduce the fire risk. It took about 40 years for a new, largely brick city to emerge including a brand new St Paul's cathedral thanks to Wren.  London was ready to face its future:

One fun game before you leave, lets you design your own version of London after the Great Fire using a range of wooden blocks:

Build your own London 

For full information about opening hours and ticket prices check the Museum of London's website


Disclosure: as is customary in this industry, I was offered a complimentary ticket to see this exhibition. This has not influenced what I have said and I would happily pay my own money to see this show.  

Sue
www;itsyourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon

Take a peek into the Museum of Crime for some grisly, fascinating history

I'd never heard of the Museum of Crime so was curious when I saw the Museum of London was launching a new exhibition of items from this mysterious museum.  How had we not heard about this museum and why was it only just being opened up to the public?  The chance to see never before seen objects from the famous crimes of history was not to be missed. 

As we entered this scene met us - a classic crime scene!

The Curator, Jackie Keily, explained the history and took us through some of the key exhibits in this  fascinating new show at the Museum of London, one of my favourite London museums.   The Crime Museum, also known as the Black Museum, dates back to 1875, set up by collector Inspector Neame before the Metropolitan Police took it on and until now has only been open to Police Officers and their guests.  Opening up this sensitive material to the public did give the Museum of London staff cause for concern and this sign on the wall as you enter sums up their dilemmas:

The Museum of London focus on social history so wanted to bring out the human stories behind this remarkable and important collection.  They worked closely with the Met Police ethics Panel to help make the right choices to avoid sensationalism but keep the powerfulness of the items to tell the story of crime solving.  The Museum is used for Police training to show new detectives the history and lineage of their work and to examine how crimes have been solved.

One of the earliest sights to greet the visitor is this line of nooses took me aback but learned that each noose had a name and a personal story associated with it. We reminded that hanging was the standard punishment for murder in the UK.   One strange fact here is that nooses were often used more than once - to save on rope perhaps.

Execution boxes contained everything needed  for an execution:  nooses (always packing a spare), a hood, straps and buckles to restrain the prisoner and chalk used to mark the spot where they should stand. Several were kept at Wandsworth Prison and sent out around the country when needed. 

 One of the older items is this gun, used in an attempt on Queen Victoria's life in 1840, which I had not heard about but luckily Edward Oxford missed. He was subsequently found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to Broadmoor. 

We then move onto the main room where an impressive set of 24 panels illustrating individual cases between 1905 and 1975, ending at this date so as to not get too close to those who knew the victims. It also marks 100 years since the Crime Museum was founded.  Each panel tells us about the crime, the victims and how it was solved, we learn about the human impact and the people involved, including the Police who solved the crime.  Although many but not all victims are women, there is only one solo woman criminal here, Ruth Ellis who was hung in 1955 for shooting her violent lover dead in a premeditated crime. Edith Thompson was also hung for murder back in 1923 although her accomplice always claimed she was innocent.

Other famous cases you can learn more about include the Krays, Christie and Crippen, all infamous in the criminal history of the 20th century.  The information panel also show us how developments in police investigation techniques have helped bring criminals to justice and I was surprised to discover that fingerprinting was first used to secure a conviction in 1905 when Alfred Stratton's thumbprint was found on an empty cash box. 


Footprints can also help Police to find a criminal and of course criminals have been trying to evade capture in whatever way they can. One case showed us how one burglar made false feet (in the photo below) to put the Police off his trail, however he was not smart enough to wipe out his own foot prints next to the false ones and was caught!

There are fascinating sections on Weapons, Police Procedures, Terrorism, Abortion - a crime for so many years - Disguised Weapons, Forgery and Espionage.  


The Terrorism section brought the exhibition closer to my life  in 2001 with a replica of the bomb that was detonated outside Television Centre where I was working and was similar to the one which blew up part of Ealing, where I lived at the time.  A chilling moment as was the section on the July 2005 London bombings.  

All the objects and stories have a powerful message and connect us with events, near and back hundreds of years.  The exhibition ends with a Reflection Room, a chance to pause and think through what you've seen and how victims and their families suffer. 

To find out more and book tickets click here.  Please note this exhibition is not advised for under 16 year olds due to the disturbing nature of the some of the exhibits. 

Disclaimer: as is customary for a preview, I was invited by the museum and did not pay for my ticket. 

Bye for now
Sue
@itsyourlondon
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk 

It's a bumper season for exhibitions in London

There are always great exhibitions worth visiting in London, often at smaller, less well known museums.  However, sometimes blockbuster shows hit town at the same time and this is one of those times. Londoners and visitors are frantically trying to get their hands on much sought after tickets for this spring's top shows.  I've been away from London for 2 months on my volunteering trip to Africa (read more here) so I was really keen to catch up.

In London right now we have  'David Bowie is' at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 'Manet: Portraying Life' at  the Royal Academy and  'Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum' at the British Museum. Then there is 'Becoming Picasso: Paris 1901' at the Courtauld, 'Light Show' at the Hayward Gallery, 'Lichtenstein: A Retrospective' at the Tate Modern, 'Michael Caine: 80th Anniversary Exhibition' at the Museum of London, 'Treasures of the Royal Courts' at the V&A and many more......

I've been busy working my way through this impressive list so here's my quick tour for you to enjoy.

 
My favourite was the Bowie show which I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did, not being sure it would live up to the hype around it. It was huge fun with brilliant staging, lots of good information and range of items to appeal to different visitors from videos to costumes to information about the context he was working in and was influencing. You are given high quality earphones that pick up the really interesting commentary and great music (of course!) as you move between rooms. The final room has a huge video wall where you can watch him singing 'Heroes'  at Live Aid in 1985 alongside a much more recent version. The song lifts the room and is a wonderful musical experience.  The title of the show is right - David Bowie is .... He is so many things and the exhibition follows his many ch-changes and showcases his immense creativity.








 

The British Museum hits back with its own blockbuster looking at the lost worlds of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The exhibition takes you through the everyday lives and the extraordinary events that overtook the citizens of these two towns in AD 79.  Rooms are laid out in the plan of a house with many artifacts -even a baby's cot - mosaics and paintings. We explore the towns, the reasons for the eruptions and the final crushing impact.  You do get an insight into the last hours of these towns and the finality of the end through the contorted figures of the dying. 

 

Manet's paintings are beautifully shown at the Royal Academy. The show focuses on his portraiture, ranging from figures of the day including his wife, to scenes of everyday life. We learn through a detailed timeline, what happened in his life. There were some truly beautiful paintings here including the one on the poster, although it was strange that one of his most famous A Bar at the Folies-Bergere is hanging just a mile or so away at the Courtauld Gallery.

 Picasso's early works are on show at the Courtauld Gallery. They hold regular special exhibitions which they house in just 2 room which gives these exhibitions real focus and they are really manageable!  Tho'   small, there are plenty of great works to see and it is amazing to know that these paintings where shown when he was just 19 years old. You can see hints of where his work will head to but the paintings at this early stage of his career are  masterpieces in their own right. I really enjoyed one of his brash self portraits full of energy and confidence.  He reinvents styles of major names such as Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. The second room is more sombre, following the death of a close friend and this work is from the beginning of the Blue Period. Sadly one of the paintings here will leave the UK at the end of the show, his Child with a Dove could not be kept in the UK. 

The Light Show at the Hayward Gallery is a completely different experience as you have to get right into the exhibits - either by entering pitch black rooms or wearing foot covers to walk into another room or by taking your shoes off completely for a different room. In one room you see light as a solid beam you can break into with your hand, in others you see a bright single light as you enter but you eye adjusts and absorbs the  colour so  it becomes paler until you leave and re-enter and it is bright again. Other pieces show the beauty of light through constantly moving LEDs or reflecting light on mirrors to give as sense of infinity. Each room shows the work of a different artist so it's an endlessly engaging show which I really enjoyed.








Just one more to tell you about as I was less keen on the Treasures of the Royal Court and have not yet got to see the Lichtenstein as it's been quite a job to see this lot! The Michael Caine exhibition at the Museum of London was a small, fun exploration of his long career through film, quotes and photos.  As you can see from this quote there is a sense of fun in the show and the photos are mostly iconic shots of London born Michael. The films are clips from his famous movies such as Alfie and The Italian Job alongside TV interviews from when his was a new star to more recent reflective interviews on his long career.  It was fascinating to hear how he felt being the first east London actor with a proper London accent who broke into the big league of movies - at the time posh actors were imitating London voices if the parts required!

There are plenty more shows to in London, just never enough time to see them all!

Bye for now.
Sue
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon