Some cultural outings

Henley Arts Trail

Saturday 5 May

Bit of a misnomer, as about half the venues were in Twyford. We started by slogging up Remenham Hill (a curious decision; I blame Ruth) to visit Allan Henderson’s studio. Pleasant enough exhibition in the garage and back patio of one of the houses in Remenham Terrace. Slogged all the way back down the hill and decided we were ready for lunch. I actually don’t think we ended up seeing anything else, even though there were things in the town centre we could have visited. We remain officially crap at arts/heritage/open house events.

Re-opening of the Reading Abbey ruins

Saturday 16 June

The Abbey Ruins re-opened in June after being closed for renovations for nine years. Ruth and I hadn’t really planned in advance to go but on the day decided we’d wander down. As it was a good while since I’d been into the ruins, it was tricky to get a sense of exactly where the money had gone – but the stonework certainly looked very clean. I assume it was spent gluing loose bits back on, propping up any wobbly areas etc.

The Abbey was founded in the twelfth century by Henry I. Some time later, in 2009, it was closed because of safety concerns over falling masonry. The renovation was funded jointly by the council and by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. There were plenty of people milling around, plus the usual Morris and clog dancers.

People milling, plus a spot of clog-dancing

Genesis Inc.

Saturday 7 July

Play at the Hampstead Theatre. About the privatization of human reproduction. Entertaining. We went to the matinée performance. The theatre was pretty full, substantially with older people, though the numbers dwindled a bit after the interval – the whole row to my right evidently decided it wasn’t to their taste, and one of the women in front of us piped up to her companions that she hadn’t really liked the giant talking ovaries. Ruth and I quite enjoyed it though. Here's an interview with the writer Jemma Kennedy, who apparently wrote the play following her own experiences of having her eggs frozen. It was my first visit to the Hampstead Theatre – lovely building.

Tom Allen

Friday 27 July

Part of the Milton Keynes International Festival in Campbell Park. Ruth and I had seen and liked Tom Allen when we saw him as part of a group of acts at South Street a few years ago. This set was part of Allen's first solo tour. We had a quick dinner at Revolución de Cuba beforehand. By the time we’d managed to locate the Spiegeltent, it was pretty packed and we had to squeeze onto the end of a row at a rather awkward angle to the stage. But still. It was funny.

Open House London

Saturday 22 September

Well, did we do better than last year’s crap attempt? Kind of. Not really.

We started off by making our way up to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead to visit the UCL Pathology Museum. Very interesting, and gross in equal measure. After a tour of frankly alarming tumours and enormously distended colons I was left feeling slightly queasy. Interesting little exhibition though, tucked away on an upper floor of the hospital. Unlike the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, which Ruth and I visited a few years ago, the UCL Pathology Museum isn’t as a rule open to the general public. We got access on a strictly-timed hour-long slot, but frankly by the end of the hour I’d had enough of contemplating all the awful things that can happen to the body and was eager to escape back into the open air.

Entrance to Acland Burghley School

As a second venue, I decided I wanted to visit Acland Burghley School, apparently an important example of 1960s comprehensive school design in the Brutalist style. Persuaded Ruth to walk, though unfortunately by the time we reached the school it was raining. Acland Burghley was awarded a Grade II listing in 2018, as well as celebrating its 50th birthday. Just like me, except for the listing part. Like many buildings of its ilk, it doesn't look much from the outside but has some lovely spaces inside.

Ruth inside the school hall