An artist from Nigeria at a gallery in London

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BACK IN 2023, we were in Hastings, and saw an exhibition of works by artist Nengi Omuku. She was born in Nigeria in 1987, and received artistic education (BA and MA degrees) at London’s Slade School of Art. She lives and works between London and Lagos (Nigeria). After seeing the exhibition in Hastings, I wrote about it here: https://adam-yamey-writes.com/2023/10/18/wild-silk-beside-the-east-sussex-sea-shore/ .

Today, 23 May 2026, we saw another exhibition of her art, which is being held at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in Heddon Street, London W1 until 30 May 2026. Like the work she exhibited in Hastings, this show is a collection of her paintings on sanyan – a hand spun cloth that has been made by the Yoruba people since long before their lands were colonised by Europeans. Nengi takes a great interest in the production of this traditional textile. The subject matter on the paintings in the London show the artist’s exploration of the “politics of green spaces in urban centres”. She is particularly concerned with the insufficient quantity of green spaces in Lagos. Examination of aerial views of the city confirm her anxiety: large areas of the city are devoid of green spaces. Statistically, as far as this is concerned Lagos has not much less green space than Manhattan, but considerably less than Central London, and far less than Greater London.

The paintings, which depict different urban scenes, are delicately painted in slightly muted colours. Close examination of the pictures reveals the details of the cloth upon which paint has been applied. It was a small exhibition, but well worth seeing.

A viaduct in Hampstead and an abandoned building project

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WHEN STROLLING ON Hampstead Heath, you might come across a series of ponds. These are known as the Hampstead Ponds. An elegant brick viaduct crosses one of these ponds quite picturesquely. It seems to be a connection between two points of no special significance. In my book “Beneath a Wide Sky: Hampstead and its Environs”, I mention the history of the viaduct as follows:

“The Hampstead Ponds, now three in number, are fed by streams that rise near the Vale of Health, which is northwest of the uppermost pond, the Mixed Bathing Pond. The latter flows into the second pond and then down into the first, the lowest. These streams, along with those that flow into the Highgate Ponds, are sources of the water that flows in the now subterranean River Fleet, which empties into the Thames under Blackfriars Bridge.  Northeast of the upper pond, that which is used by swimmers, is Viaduct Pond. This is so named because it is traversed by a brick viaduct, built between 1844 and 1847. This structure was to have been the grand entrance to an estate of residential villas that Sir Thomas Maryon-Wilson had hoped to build on the Heath but was prevented by local opposition.”

Luckily, Sir Thomas was prevented from constructing homes on Hampstead Heath, because if he had done so, a valuable outdoor amenity, part of the Heath, would have disappeared. Equally luckily, his viaduct has remained, making it a surprisingly beautiful feature within a largely wooded area.

If you wish to know more about Hampstead past and present, please see: https://www.amazon.co.uk/BENEATH-WIDE-SKY-HAMPSTEAD-ENVIRONS/dp/B09R2WRK92/

The barons or Barrons buried in a village in Cambridgeshire

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COMBERTON IS A DELIGHTFUL small village not far from Cambridge. A graveyard surrounds its parish church of St Mary, which stands south of the village. While looking around the graves in the churchyard, I came across a stone with the following inscription carved in it:

“In memory of the Barrons of the Manor of Birdlines 1400 – 1805, over 60 of whom lie buried here. Six within the church. R.I.P.”

I wondered about the Manor of Birdlines, and resorted to the Internet. After the Norman Conquest, Comberton was divided into three manors. One of these was Birdlines (also spelled as ‘Berdlines’, ‘Birdling’, and ‘Burdelins’). By 1300, the manor became owned by the Chambers family of Epping, following a marriage, Then, in 1514, the manor was sold to the Bishop of Winchester. Thus, it became part of the Savoy Hospital Estates, which were established by King Edward VI’s charter. The manor’s lands were allotted to London’s St Thomas Hospital, and its governors became titular Lords of the Manor. They continued in this role until 1974. All this information and much more can be found at https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol5/pp175-189 .

The memorial to the Barrons of Birdline

There is a Birdline manor house in Comberton. It was built in the eighteenth century on the site of an earlier one. What puzzled me was why the “Barrons of Birdline” continued to be buried in Comberton’s churchyard and church until 1805. I cannot explain that yet,  but I wondered if, after that date, the “Barrons” no longer lived in the village. Or was the word ‘Barron’ on the memorial a family name, rather than a misspelling of the word ‘Baron’, which I had assumed when seeing it? A little more research revealed that there was a Barron family in Comberton. A website (https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/G3LT-KYN/richard-barron-1560-1618) gives the following information:

“When Richard Barron was born about 1560, in Comberton, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom, his father, Thomas Barron Snr, was 21 and his mother, Jeane Bonner, was 21. He had at least 1 son with Margaret Meads Feato BRUMSTED. He died in April 1618, in Comberton, Cambridgeshire, England, at the age of 59.”

Having discovered this, I now favour the idea that the monument commemorates not the barons of Birdline but members of the Barron family, who lived in the manor.

A club in Bangalore (India) and a long memory

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AT PRESENT I am editing my latest book about India. It will be called “ROAD TO HEAVEN -A Passage through India ” The book, a travelogue, will include something about the ‘elite’ clubs of India.

Here is a short excerpt from a chapter that will describe the Bangalore Club, where we stay often.:

“My wife and I find that we are respected by the staff, many of whom have known us for many years. Some of the older staff, who have long since retired remembered Lopa from when she was a child in the 1960s. One such old retainer, whom I never met was Mr Santabarbara. One afternoon in the 1970s, Lopa and her family were entertaining Jonathan Grey, a visitor from England, at the Club. Jonathan’s father, Mr Peter Grey, had been a colleague of my father-in-law in India, and had been a corporate member of the Club in the early 1950s. When Santabarbara saw Jonathan, he looked at him, and with tears in his eyes, slowly said:

“Grey Sahib’s son.”

He had never met Jonathan, and had not seen his father for at least 20 years. We visit the Club regularly, but get the similarly warm recognition from the older members of staff. Our daughter who has been going to the Club since she was about 8 months old is still known as ‘baby’ by the long-established members of the Club’s staff. As far as the Club’s staff are concerned, whether they be humble gardeners of senior stewards, decency pays dividends, and costs nothing.”

The rent is only one red rose per year

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THE PARISH CHURCH at Long Melford in Suffolk is both enormous and elegant: a fine example of mediaeval gothic architecture. I  have visited the church many times, and every visit, I spot something I had not noticed before.

 

This May (2026), I saw the funerary monument commemorating Sir William Clopton (1383-1446). Within this memorial there is an effigy depicting Sir William lying on a pillow with his hands together as if he was praying.

 

A single red rose had been placed on the stone effigy.  In 1436, Sir William granted land for a market and a guildhall to the town of Hadleigh. The rent he charged for this land was one red rose per annum. And since then, the Mayor of Hadleigh places one red rose on the tomb of Sir William once every year. A notice by the tomb suggests that this is considered to be the oldest known rent anywhere in the UK.

 

Another interesting item in the church is a small carved stone bas-relief depicting the Adoration of the Magi. It is believed to have been carved in about 1350, roughly 150 years before the present church was constructed.  The carving might have been part of an alabaster altar that was destroyed during the Reformation.  The carved panel is remarkably similar to one that can be found in Paderborn Cathedral in Germany.

 

There are plenty of other fascinating artefacts to be seen in Long Melford’s Holy Trinity Church including stained glass windows that were not destroyed during the Reformation. However, I will end here by encouraging you to visit this marvellous church and discover things for yourself.

Walls covered with flowers in a Cambridge art gallery

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I WAS UNCERTAIN about visiting the current exhibition at Kettles Yard in Cambridge. Called “Handpicked: Painting Flowers from 1900 to Today”, it is showing until 6 September 2026. Having seen its name, I assumed that the show would have little to interest me. How wrong I was.

 

The exhibition is a collection of images of flowers, mostly paintings. But they are not any old floral paintings but works by great artists, for example: Vanessa Bell, Chris Ofili, Eric Ravilious, Henri Rousseau, David Bomberg, Eduoard Vuillard, Lubaina Hamid, … and many more. In addition to works by well-known artists, there were many competently executed, attractive works by amateur local artists.

 

Each of the works by the professional artists were well labelled with short explanatory notes. The pictures were beautifully displayed. It was interesting to read what had inspired the artists to choose flowers as subject matter. In many cases, it was not simply the beauty of the flora, but some deeper messages that the artists wanted to convey.

 

I am very glad I viewed this exhibition, which I was at first hesitant about visiting because of its title. If you are in Cambridge or nearby, this is a show not to be missed.

An artist from the Amazonian rainforest in Cambridge

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FRANK BOWLING WAS born in Guyana (formerly British Guiana) in 1934. He came to England in 1953. He studied art at Chelsea College of Art,  then at The Royal College of Art. He is the first ‘black’ artist to have been made a member of the Royal Academy of Arts (in 2005). Until 17 January 2027, there is a small exhibition of Bowling’s work at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

 

Displayed in a circular room, there are about 10 works to be seen. Almost all of them are large images tending towards abstraction,  but some with figurative details. Some of the images have patches of three-dimensional accumulation of paint, sometimes with fragments of material attached. All the works are gloriously colourful. One of them is an impressionist map of the continent where Bowling was born: South America.

 

The little exhibition is a good example of the idea that ‘small is beautiful’, but most of the exhibits are far from being small.  I  am pleased that I have seen this show.

A question of taste: fast food or …

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NEAR OUR HOME, we are spoiled for choice as afar as purchasing food is concerned.

In a few days time, a branch of the Whole Foods retailing chain is opening in our neighbourhood. As I understand it, the company believes that it is promoting ‘healthy eating’.

The new store is next door to a branch of a ‘fast food’ chain , which offers quite different fare from that which is sold by Whole Foods.

In which store would you choose to spend your money? The choice is yours. It is a question of taste.