Hot Property

Readers who are curious about the interior redevelopment of St. Pancras hotel (the best piece of Victorian Gothic in London?), should refer to this link, which I only just discovered (although it appeared in May):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2010/may/03/st-pancras-chambers-flats#/?picture=362135666&index=0

The Ideal Woman (2)

We continue our exploration of the ideal woman under the helpful guidance of the Viscount Mountmorres, who, at the very least, possessed an impecable moustache.

For my part, I think the first requirement in woman in true womanliness ... That outrage on human nature which seeks to cover its defective womanhood under an ill and grotesque copy of man's trappings in speech, manner, thought, and appearance, is fortunately an abomination rarely met with in life, being rather the creature of modern imagination.

Thank heavens for that, sir.

Detestable as is the blue-stocking, I am almost inclined to think the vapidity some times met with worse. There is scarcely any charm, to my mind, greater than a truly beautiful mind, bright in expression, quick of comprehension; a mind that keeps its owner apace with the times, enables her to shine - always without effort - in any company ... If a woman be blessed with such a mind, and have at the same time escaped conceit and self-consciousness, she is always an agreeable companion; and were more women agreeable companions there would be fewer unhappy homes.

So, make an effort, girls.

My ideal is she whose moods are variable as an April day, full of sunshine and gladness, yet capable of deep distress; bringing light and gaiety and warm laughter in her train, but at the same time with a fount of tears for the sorrowing and sad or in the presence of suffering ... 

A fun time to be had be all, if you bag a Viscount, plainly.

I always think it is this very combination, this mixture of bright levity and true depth of feeling, which many Englishmen have found so lovable in our transatlantic cousins, in whose blood it has been innoculated by generationd which have known the wild, glad freedom, yet serious responsibilities and trials, or building up a new country.

Well, that's one theory, I suppose. But, strangely, he agrees with Mr. Frankfort Moore, right at the end:

Let a woman who would merit and gain a man's love and lasting respect not seek after effect, let her think nothing of being ideal, but live her own life according to her own natural instincts, and she will come as near to perfection as she was meant to be. Let her once endeavour to be perfect and that moment she will fall back into the outer darkness of unloved woman.

So, for all you unloved woman out there, the Viscount's message is, ladies, don't try too hard.

I will spare you the full thoughts of the Hon. Stuart Erskine, who ends the piece, except for this gem:

There are two kinds of ideal womankind - the useful, and the purely (and merely) ornamental.

This post is dedicated to all the useful ladies out there.

The Ideal Woman

In 1897, The Lady's Realm (a popular magazine of the day) asked some minor male celebrities to define 'an ideal woman'. Here's some edited highlights. We begin with little-remembered author and poet Frank Frankfort Moore, who waxes poetical:

She is easy to live with. She is worth dying for. She is the high light in the charcoal drawing of humanity, man being the charcoal. She is the skylight in the edifice of human life. She has no history. She has no story. She is the plectrum that makes music with the haert-strings of a man. She is the key by which he is kept constantly in tune. She is the rhythm which transforms the prose of life into poetry.

But then gets a little more prosaic:

She wears a reasonable hat at matinées ... She knows sixteen ways of arranging flowers on the dinner-table. She abhors coloured paper-shades on the candles. She knows how to choose a juicy joint of beef. She laughs when the fishmonger gives her hints about turbot. 

Then a bit moralising:

She knows there is no difference between the woman who calls herself smart and the woman whom respectable people called vulgar.

Then frankly mysterious:

She makes an honest attempt to understand cats, and cats understand her.

But then he pulls it back for all the women out there:

She knows that every real woman is the Ideal Woman, the fact being that every idea of the Ideal Woman is wholly dependent on the idealist, and every woman who is idolised is idealised.

Ah, Frank, I bet you were a devil with the ladeez, my friend.

For any female readers who only know fifteen ways of arranging flowers on the dinner table, or just can't get their head round cats, don't despair, there's more on 'Ideal Women' to follow ... watch this space ...

The Cathedral

Here's a quote from Building News in 1875, considering Victorian Gothic as a form of architecture:

"Railway termini and hotels are to the nineteenth century what monasteries and cathedrals were to the thirteenth century. They are truly the only real representative kind of building we possess. Our churches, scholastic establishments, and domestic structures are more or less copies of mediaeval buildings."

Well, can you guess where I went on my holidays?

This interior was constructed in the 1870s and is the best example of high Victorian Gothic I've happened upon (although I don't get out much) ...

I particularly like the placement of this exit sign ...

The answer is here.

London Parks and Goat Carriages

Browsing an article by 'Meath' about London's parks, 'The Possibilities of Metropolitan Parks', which appeared in The New Review of 1894.

The most interesting information is the sizes of parks in the metropolis (I have re-ordered to show the largest to smallest, sizes in acres, nothing listed smaller than 10 acres) ...

Epping Forest 5348
Richmond Park 2358
Wimbledon Common 1412
Bushey Park 994
Hampton Court Park 752
Hampstead Heath 505
Regent's Park 473
Hyde Park 361
Hackney Marshes 345
Kensington Gardens 275
Blackheath Park 267
Kew Gardens 246
Victoria Park 244
Clapham Common 220
Battersea Park 198
Wormwood Scrubs 193
Greenwich Park 185
Wandsworth Common 183
Tooting Bec Common 144
Finsbury Park 115
Peckham Rye 113
Petersham Park 111
Barnes Common 100
Plumstead Common 100
St. James's Park 93
West Ham Park 80
Brockwell Park 78
Dulwich Park 72
Highgate Woods 70
Streatham Common 66
Southwark Park 63
Tooting Graveney Common 63
Bostall Woods 61
Bostall Heath 55
Green Park 54
Clissold Park 53
Ealing Common and Greens 50
Ladywell Recreation Ground 47
Hilly Fields 45
Hackney Downs 41
Ravenscourt Park 32
Kilburn Park 30
Waterlow Park 30
Highbury Fields 27
London Fields 26
South Mill Field 26
Acton Recreation Ground 25
Paddington Recreation Ground 25
Ealing Lammas Land 24
North Mill Field 23
Little Scrubs 22
South Hackney Common 20
Kennington Park 19
Sydenham Recreation Ground 17
Eelbrook Common 14
Myatts' Fields 14
Thames Embankment Gardens 14 
Acton Green 12
Back Common 12
Maryon Park 12
Kew Green 11
Victoria Park Cemetery 11
Richmond Green 10
Royal Victoria Gardens 10

I wonder if all these spaces remain? I recognise most of them, but some are small suburban parks beyond my knowledge. Any modern list of London parks out there?

Other fascinating facts from 1894, "London County Council spends £5,000 a year in providing music in the parks under its control, and has engaged the services of 92 bandsmen, four conductors, a librarian, and attendants, under the control of a musical director" ... I wonder how this compares to modern spend on music festivals etc?

The author presses for electric lighting ("It is impossible for any respectable man or woman to venture to cross Hyde Park of an evening, or at night, without risk of robbery or outrage") and also suggests "I cannot see why goat carriages for children should not be found in our London parks as well as in the Champs Elysées" (an innovation I do not believe was ever introducted ... yes, goat carriages, that's carriages drawn by goats).