it’s probably not the first place you would think of to go to spend the afternoon, with it being a cemetery and all that. but what a beautiful place.
each year the friends of nunhead cemetery hold an open day. this year it was yesterday. they run tours of the magnificent cemetery surround by stalls run by local groups, bug hunts, face painting, badge making, music in the open chapel, furniture making, cakes and tea, furniture making and birds of prey.
so finally the weekend arrives. we missed the opening night due to other commitments, which were no way near as much fun as last night transpired to be, but hey, life goes on. today however, after a super lazy lay in, we trotted down the road to 265 lordship lane. the art house.
i’ve talked about this project both here, here, here, here and here. i shan’t bang on again through fear of boring you, i seem to be quite in love with this project. and this project is far from boring. here are some snaps from the house today. tomorrow 19th may, is the last day the house will be open. so if you can get your backside down there, you will not be disappointed, that is for sure, it is a feast for your eyes.
emmetts is hidden hillside little treasure of a garden. it’s location, sevenoaks in kent and it is the garden of an edwardian estate, previously owned by frederic lubbock. the garden were laid out in the late 19th century and contains many rare and exotic trees and shrubs from all around the world. called emmetts after the local word for ant, which covered the area up until the 1950′s. it has been cared for by the national trust since 1964.
in may the bluebells bloom as it’s quite a spectacular sight. the hillside is covered within an inch of its life with these gorgeous little flowers, and when the sun is shining the fragrance that hangs in the air is somewhat magical.
each year in sunny dulwich, a little festival is thrown. based in various locations throughout dulwich, it’s a big mix of art, creativity, music, open houses, charity, discussions and a family fair thrown in right in the middle. it runs for 9 days and the whole community is asked to join in the fun.
right in the middle of dulwich is the world-famous, dulwich picture gallery. it was founded in 1811 when Sir Francis Bourgeois RA bequeathed his collection of old masters “for the inspection of the public”, and was england’s first public art gallery. so art has always been very much at the core of the community, and very much celebrated in the festivals.
this year however a remarkable project which is running in line with the festivities called “baroque the streets” will change the streets of dulwich into an outdoor art musuem. in collaboration with street art london, and small group of street artists from all over the world have been selected to work on specially commissioned walls all over the area, each and every one inspired by a different painting or artist represented in the picture gallery.
there are dinosaurs roaming the park of crystal palace, ronnie could barely believe his eyes. giants surrounding the lake, frozen in time. these wonderful beasts were unveiled in the park in 1854, and had been commissioned in 1852 following the crystal palace of the great exhibition of 1851 being moved to sydenham hill. they were the very first dinosaur sculptures in the world, pre-dating the publication of charles darwins on the origin of species by six years. they have grade 1 listing, and were designed and sculpted by benjamin waterhouse hawkins in his near by studio in sydenham hill with help from richard owen.
and here they are, aren’t they marvellous
