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20 The Barons

Chopping up Eels

Given current London property prices, I wonder what it might cost today to buy an entire island in the middle of the Thames. At the end of the 1800s, such a prospect was not so remote, and all for less than £7,000. An 1899 newspaper article recalls the lively auction of Eel Pie Island, the historic Twickenham isd located a short walk from the luxury apartments at 20 The Barons. I love the touch of wit on the subject of eels:

“Pall Mall Gazette, Friday 18 August 1899

EEL PIE ISLAND AT AUCTION
HECKLING THE AUCTIONEER

Eel Pie Island, off Twickenham, at one time beloved of anglers, and in a collateral way sacred to the memory of Pope, Horace Walpole, and other distinguished men, was at Tokenhouse-yard yesterday successfully got rid of to a number of purchasers by Mr. W.B. Mason, of Windsor. Some time ago, this freehold property was put up en bloc at the Mart, but there was no bidding. Afterwards it was resolved to cut up the estate into little pieces, which is in the fitness of things with a concern identified with eels.

There was a roomful of people when the auctioneer mounted the rostrum. Mr. Mason did not waste any time in historical description. He referred all and every to the printed particulars, invitingly headed: “Free Conveyances! Payment by Instalments! No Burdensome Restrictions!” Then there followed the information that Eel Pie Island occupies a unique position, commanding most extensive and charming views of sylvan beauty, including the far-famed Richmond Hill, and “being in the immediate vicinity of several well-known riverside mansions, the grounds of which are maintained in princely style, is eminently attractive for residential purposes.” The property, it was further said, was within five minutes of Twickenham Station, and was, therefore, readily accessible from London. Nothing was said about Twickenham Ferry, as it might occur to a man at midnight. But the audience knew all about it.

The auctioneer was considerably heckled to commence with. What about the drainage? asked an intending purchaser. Well, said Mr. Mason, curtly, “Earth closets or cess-pools; houseboats have earth closets and take them ashore.” Another question: “What about the land tax?” “We never paid it,” responded the auctioneer. “But I know,” retorted the inquirer, “that you have paid it for thirty years.” “Have you collected it?” “Yes I have,” was the answer, and the laugh was for the moment turned against the auctioneer, who subsequently had his revenge in knocking down a plot to the collector.

Mr. Mason first of all put up the estate in one lot. There was no bidder. Then he offered Eel Pie Hotel, which, he said, was doing £100 per week in the summer months, and might make much better profits under different management. From £2,000 the bidding rose to £3,200, at which price it was knocked down to Mr. Edwin Stephens, of the Drayton Court Hotel, Ealing. This gentleman subsequently secured for £1,250 a plot of the island having a frontage to the Thames of 280ft, and an average depth of 100ft. This section of the property, as most river men know, is well adorned with well-grown trees. The other plots offered fetched from £104 to £136. The total amount realised was £6,290.”

Chopping up Eels

20 Walks From 20 The Barons: Bridges & Ferries: No 2

This walk begins at the Hammertons Ferry Landing, on the Twickenham bank of the Thames below Orleans House Gardens. It is a continuation of the Bridges and Ferries Walk from St Margarets Station to Ham House Ferry Landing, which you can find in Blog 23. Both also work as self-contained walks, offering insights into the historic area around the luxury apartments at 20 The Barons.

Today, the Hammertons Ferry offers a cheap way to cross the Thames between Orleans House and Ham House, creating a link between Twickenham and Ham. It is maintaining a long tradition, with the service first recorded by the Privy Council in 1652 when it prohibited its running after sundown. In Charles Dickens’ Little Dorrit (1857), Arthur Clennam uses the Twickenham Ferry to visit Ham: “He crossed the river by the ferry, and strolled along a footpath through some meadows.” The boat is also celebrated in Twickenham Ferry, a ‘river ditty’ of 1878:

“The ferryman’s slim, and the ferryman’s young,
And he’s just a soft twang in the turn of his tongue,
And he’s fresh as a pippin and brown as a berry,
And ’tis but a penny to Twickenham Town.”

We follow the path away from the river towards St Margarets, then turn left on to Riverside. This takes us through Orlean House Gardens towards Twickenham, with the Thames to our left. The view from here was described by Colen Campbell in 1710:

“Here is an admirable prospect of the most charming part of the Thames, where the eye is entertained by a Thousand Beauties not to be conceived but from this station.”

Orleans House takes its name from Louis Phillipe, Duc d’Orleans, later King of the French, who rented it for his family from 1815 to 1817. The house was built in 1710, as Twickenham became a fashionable location for country villas. Much of the original house has been destroyed, but the surviving buildings include the baroque Octagon, an ornate banqueting hall that was visited by George I in 1724. The house has a fascinating history, and is now home to the Orleans House Gallery.

Our walk continues along Riverside. You will pass Lebanon Park road on your right, before coming to the White Swan Inn at the junction with Ferry Road. Originally called The Swan, this seventeenth-century inn was the first home of Twickenham Yacht Club – hence the swan emblem on the club’s burgee. It is a beautiful place to stop for a pint of Naked Ladies (named after the statues in York House Gardens). Nearby is the yacht club’s current home, the York House boathouse where they moved in 1924.

Continuing along Riverside, past Sion Road, we are walking through York House Gardens, remnants of another of Twickenham’s great estates. Turn left into the Italian Gardens, where you will find the aforementioned statues at the Italian Fountain. The naked ladies were installed before the First World War by the last private owner of York House, the Indian industrialist Sir Ratan Tata.

Follow the path down to the riverside, then along the Thames to Champions Wharf. This area has been enlivened by a play beach with a Viking longship and a traditional Victorian water taxi called a wherry. Beyond it, turn right up Church Lane to discover St Mary’s, built on the site of an 11th-century church and incorporating a 15th-century tower. Look for the brass to Richard Burton, the king’s cook, dated 1443. In the crypt, Sir William Berkeley is entombed in “lead exactly fitted to the shape of the body.” Also commemorated here are the poet Alexander Pope, beneath a stone slab engraved with a P; actress Kitty Clive; and tea merchant Thomas Twining.

Return to the river by walking back along Church Lane, which bears right to join with The Embankment. The Twickenham Museum is an excellent repository of local history, and well worth a visit. Church Wharf at the bottom of Church Lane was once flanked by warehouses and workshops supplied by river barges. You can pause for refreshments at the Barmy Arms public house, once the Queen’s Head, which dates back to the 1600s.

Running alongside Eel Pie Island, The Embankment was the bustling heart of medieval Twickenham. It is a wonderful area to explore. The street names celebrate the riverside tradition, as you pass Flood Lane, Bell Lane and Water Lane before arriving at Wharf Lane. Here, opposite the west tip of Eel Pie Island, Twickenham’s Town Wharf was once surrounded by busy industries.

If you have time, you might like to cross the footbridge to Eel Pie Island. Originally called the Parish Ait, then Twickenham Ait, Eel Pie Island appears on Moses Glover’s famous map of 1635, with a note that it “hath bin a boulding (bowling) alley.” It has a history as a place of lively, often illicit, entertainment. There was an inn there since 1737, first The Ship then The White Cross. The Island Hotel, built in 1830, became popular with pleasure steamers and boating parties, but was in decline until legendary jazz and r’n’b concerts saw a revival in the Fifties. In 1970, the hotel was refused a licence, and it burned down the following year.

Returning along The Embankment, you can retrace your steps to Hammertons Ferry, and then walk across marvellous Marble Hill Park to return to St Margarets.
20 Walks From 20 The Barons: Bridges & Ferries: No 2

Unusual Accommodation #1: Aircraft

Much as he adores haunting the corridors of the apartments at 20TheBarons, and whiling away his days with the best of brandy and cigars, The Baron is often to be found researching inspirational places to stay around the world. Succumbing to nostalgia about his flying days, he was delighted to discover a number of aircraft that have been decommissioned and opened their passenger doors to guests.

In the Netherlands, the remarkable Airplane Suite at Teuge (near Apeldoorn) is a converted, Soviet-made 1960 Ilyushin II-18. She was once used to ferry East German politicians about, and then flew from 1964 to 1986 as a commercial airliner with East German airline Interflug. After unification, she was converted into a restaurant, before being transported in 2007 to become a Dutch hotel. The Ilyushin is now a luxury suite for two, 40 metres long, with luxury worthy of 20TheBarons: flat screen TVs, blue-ray DVD, Jacuzzi, shower, infrared sauna and air conditioning. http://www.unusualhotelsoftheworld.com/

If you prefer the rotary wing to the fixed, you might consider Helicopter Cottage at Winvian, Morris (near Litchfield), Connecticut, USA. The designer cottage is built around a 1968 Sikorsky Sea King Pelican HH3F helicopter, still in her original US coastguard livery. The chopper was rescued from Arizona, when her own rescuing days were over, and her rotor blades are embedded in the cottage like a giant ceiling fan. Inside the helicopter is a bar and lounge area with flat screen TV, and the cottage luxuries include wood-burner, Jacuzzi and steam shower.
http://www.winvian.com/cottages/helicopter/

At Costa Verde, Costa Rica, you can discover the 727 Fuselage Home, converted from a 1965 Boeing 727 passenger airliner that flew with South Africa Air and Columbia’s Avianca. Salvaged from San José airport, she has been converted into a two-bedroom apartment that is suspended 50 feet above the Manuel Antonio jungle. This has air conditioning, hand-carved teak furnishings and a deck set into one wing. A flight of fancy, indeed, if you can shake off the feeling that she has just crash-landed in the trees. https://www.costaverde.com/727.htm

At Jumbo Stay, Arlanda (near Stockholm), Sweden, is to be found a splendid 1976 Jumbo Jet 747-200. Originally built for Singapore Airlines, she served with Pan Am before ending her airborne days with Sweden’s Transjet. The aircraft was rescued, converted, then opened in 2008 as a 25-room hotel. Choosing your room is rather like booking a flight: select from a budget dormitory, economy twin or three-bed combo with shared bathroom; upgrade to en-suite; or treat yourself to business class in the cockpit with panoramic windscreen view. Facilities include flat screen TV and wireless internet, while the most intriguing sounding room is the Black Box suite, where the black box recorder used to be kept!  http://www.jumbostay.com/

The Plane Motel at Woodlyn Park, Waitomo Caves (near Hamilton), New Zealand, is a hulking 1950s Bristol Type 170 Freighter. Wearing camouflage livery, she was one of the last planes out of Vietnam. The Bristol has been converted into two self-contained apartments, one in the tail, one in the cockpit, each of which can accommodate up to four people. http://www.woodlynpark.co.nz/planemotel.html

The Baron didn’t happen upon any aircraft hotels in Britain. Can anyone can enlighten him? However, if you simply want the very best in first class serviced apartments in London (Twickenham), where you can relax with your head in the clouds, he would invite you to land at 20TheBarons.

See also:
http://www.unusualhotelsoftheworld.com/
www.20thebarons.co.uk

Unusual Accommodation #1: Aircraft

The Untimely Death of Miss Rita Foy

April 1st is the anniversary of the tragic death in 1930 of 20-year-old actress Miss Nita Foy, at Twickenham Film Studios. The inquest into her death was reported in the Gloucester Citizen, 5 April 1930, in an article that raises more questions than answers. Despite the verdict, other accounts reveal that the coroner was quite critical of the director and studio manager. The details of the brandy, the mice and the director overrun with thousands of chorus girls convey the almost circus-like chaos of a film studio in the Thirties. They also add to the pathos of the young
actress’s untimely death.

Gloucester Citizen, 5 April 1930

A SHEET OF FLAME

YOUNG ACTRESS’S DEATH

TRAGEDY IN A FILM STUDIO

A verdict of accidental death “without any rider or censure” was returned at the inquest at Richmond (Surrey) Coroner’s Court today on Miss Anita Fay Tipping, the young London actress, whose stage name was Nita Foy, and who was found with her crinoline dress in flames at Twickenham film studios last Tuesday. Her dress caught fire in a dressing room while she was waiting her call before the camera.

Mr. Ernest Edelston, uncle of Miss Tipping, said her father and mother lived in America. When he and his wife heard she was in hospital, Mrs Edelston went immediately to see her. She said: “Don’t worry, auntie.” She died half an hour after speaking those words.

PUT DRESSING GOWN AROUND HER

Mr. Donald Esmé Clayton Calthrop, the actor, said Miss Tipping looked tired when she came along from the Piccadilly Theatre, and he took her along to his room at the Studio for a brandy and soda. He was going to call out to the property master for a siphon of soda, when there was a flash behind him.

Turning, he saw Miss Tipping was a sheet of flame. He looked round to see what he could do. “I think one’s brain stops at these moments, and I took off my dressing gown to put it around it.” He noticed her skirt was still burning, and he yelled out in the passage. There was the usual form of guard surrounding the radiator in the room, said Mr. Calthrop. Miss Tipping was wearing a gauzy kind of material which he believed was known as tulle. In bending down, owing to the length of the dress, the material must have brushed across the radiator.

MIGHT HAVE BEEN PREVENTED

Answering Mr. Joseph Owen, an inspector of factories, who asked, “Would the accident, in your opinion, have been prevented if there had been a fairly substantial fireguard in front of the radiator, not too close to the filament?” Mr Calthrop said, “Oh, yes, I should say so.”

Mr. George Samuelson, a director of the picture, said when he heard screaming it flashed through his mind that some white mice, which they had there, had got loose, and that that was why the girls were screaming.

Asked if he took any steps to see that there was no other chance of a girl being burnt, Mr. Samuelson said, “No, I thought that was for the studio. It was absolutely outside my province.” He said sometimes he had 3,000 girls to look after, and that there were people whose duty it was to do that.

Mr. James Carter, manager of the studio, said in future they would have special guards made.

The Untimely Death of Miss Rita Foy

The House of Temperley

Just along the street from our luxury serviced apartments here at 20 The Barons, it is a joy to behold Twickenham Studios once again thriving at the heart of the British film industry. Millions of pounds have been spent in the last two years re-establishing the theatres and stages as a world-leading facility. Equipment has been installed that boggles The Baron’s mind:  48-speaker Dolby Atmos sound system, AMS Neve DFC Gemini mixing console with 900-path capacity, super-fast Sohonet Broadband and ISDN, with full FTP accessibility…

 

It is all a world away from the silent movie studios established on an old skating rink that began Twickenham’s extraordinary history on the same spot just over one hundred years ago. The Baron was both excited and amused when his historical research revealed an advertisement for the first film that was ever made here. The House Of Temperley (1913) was directed by Harold M. Shaw and starred Charles Maude, Ben Webster and Lillian Logan. Even then, there was a sprinkling of stardust, as the screenplay was based on a book by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle. And the advertisement in the Yorkshire Evening Post of Monday 17 November 1913 does not hold back on the superlatives:

 

THE HOUSE OF TEMPERLEY

BY

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.

Adapted from “RODNEY STONE.”

Produced by the London Film Company.

THE FINEST FILM EVER SHOWN.

First Press Notices:—

“Infinitely better than my own play.” SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

“A triumph all round. It will stir the blood of the most sluggish… Makes us long for more.” EVENING NEWS, London.

“The large audience sat spell-bound. Nothing quite like it has ever been seen on the Cinema.” THE STAR.

“Heralds an important new epoch in The British Cinematograph Industry.” STANDARD.

Admission, 6d. and 1/-. Continuous Performance, 1 to 10.30 p.m.

PATRONS ARE REQUESTED TO COME EARLY.

 

The advert captures a moment in history, and it is humbling to think back to a time – eight months before the outbreak of the First World War – when flickering and silent black-and-white images held the country’s theatre-goers in thrall. We take our technological marvels a little for granted these days. But, one hundred years on, it is a privilege to see cutting-edge movies still being shot on the Twickenham stages and edited in the cutting rooms. It represents both the continuation of a special heritage at the heart of St Margarets, and a modern creative hub that continues to attract to the area talent and technical know-how that is the envy of the world.

The House of Temperley

Twickenham Studios At Oscars Time

Twickenham Studios at Oscars Time

The Baron finds it rather wonderful having a film studio as a neighbour, particularly when it’s one of the world’s great film studios, and especially when it’s Oscars season.  There’s something soul-stirring about watching the ceremony while recalling the many previous winners who have employed the technological wonders that continue to prosper on your doorstep. Twickenham Studios has operated in the same location at The Barons, just across from St Margarets railway station, for over 100 years. It has a golden history that stretches from the silent screen through to today’s digital blockbusters, and its stages and theatres have played host to stars ranging from Ellen Terry and Ivor Novello, through The Beatles and Catherine Deneuve, to Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman. Many of the world’s great directors have chosen Twickenham Studios as their place of work, including Richard Lester, Richard Attenborough, Roman Polanski, Karel Reisz, Ridley Scott, Stephen Spielberg and David Lynch. They come for the technical expertise, the London location and the intimate atmosphere of a boutique studio, although David Lynch suggested in an interview with Time Out that there might have been other attractions: “During post-production of The Elephant Man I moved to Twickenham and I would go to the local Peking Chinese restaurants. I was in seventh heaven every time I had the crispy-fried seaweed: one bite of that and you leave your body.” Like all film studios, Twickenham has had its share of ups and downs, but it has always evolved and adapted to retain and regain its place at the forefront of television and film-making technology. Today, it is once again a thriving business with three sound-proofed stages. Stage One is 7,500 square feet and includes a water-tank; Stage Two measures 2,000 square feet and can be joined with Stage Three into an L-shaped set; and Stage Three, at 5,551 square feet, has played host to Polanksi’s Repulsion, Reisz’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Spielberg’s War Horse. In addition, there is a labyrinth of dressing rooms and star apartments, wardrobe and art departments, and suites of offices. Then there are Twickenham’s award-winning post-production facilities. Theatre 1, fitted with the latest Dolby Atmos equipment, is one of the world’s leading dubbing theatres. Theatre 2 can create a sound mix for the IMAX experience, and be combined with Theatre 1. Meanwhile, Theatre 3 is both where the actors re-record their dialogue or ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement), and where the Foley team create and record sound effects ranging from the quietest detail to the loudest explosion. Alongside, there are 40 custom-built, air-conditioned editing suites. Recently, the theatres have been used for Mandela – Long Walk to Freedom, Monuments Men and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. So, as Eddie Redmayne polishes his well-deserved Academy Award (and we recall his scenes in My Week With Marilyn shot at Twickenham!), The Baron glances out of his window at the latest comings and goings of technicians and equipment, directors and artists. And he feels that sense of wonder and of wondering. What’s the film? Who are the stars? What are they building in there? And will we be celebrating another piece of home-grown cinema history at next year’s Oscars?