Off the wall, and in the garden of a library now

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THE MAUGHAN Library in London’s Chancery Lane is now part of King’s College London. It occupies a mainly nineteenth century building that was (until 1997) the Public Records Office. In 2001, the college acquired the building from the Crown Estate and renovated its interior. The garden facing the main façade of the library is on land part of which was once owned by Clifford’s Inn – a former Inn of Chancery. The garden was designed by George Carter. It contains two sculptures, one portrays Confucius, and the other, a semi-abstract, is by Dorothy Brook.

Near these sculptures and attached to the wall of an out-house (a bicycle shed), there are some bas-reliefs depicting the continents. They have the titles: “America”, “Australasia”, “Europe”, “Africa”, “Canada” (not a continent), and “India” (which is not a continent, but a sub-continent).  Made in plasterwork, they were removed from the north wall of Dunstan House, a publisher’s office building, in Fetter Lane, which was constructed in 1886, and demolished in 1976.

The rectangular plaques are nineteenth-century plasterworks. They have been attributed to the artist Walter Crane (1845-1915).  In the 1870s, Crane:

“… became increasingly involved in the decorative arts, designing textiles, stained glass, tiles, wallpapers and plasterwork. In 1884 he was a founder member of the Art Workers’ Guild and, four years later, founded the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, of which he served as President for many years. In 1898, he was appointed Principal of the Royal College of Art.” (https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/walter-crane/).

I had not known about these bas-reliefs until 25 July 2026, when I visited an art installation curated by Artangel (https://www.artangel.org.uk/) within the library. This organisation chooses unusual venues for their artistic events, and a darkened room in the library filled with metal shelving was certainly a curious place for a show. Normally, entry to the library and its grounds is restricted to members of Kings College and other people who have been given special permission, but because of the Artangel event, I was able to enter, and discover yet another of London’s many delightful surprises.

Never mind the weather. Have food and drink outdoors

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DURING THE COVID19 pandemic, meeting indoors was neither allowed nor encouraged in the UK. Eventually, restaurants, cafés, and pubs began providing outdoor seating areas – something that was relatively rare before the pandemic.

The plants surround an outdoor seating area at the Mall Tavern

Long after the worst of the pandemic was over, people continued to drink and eat outdoors, even in bad weather. Many hospitality establishments offer facilities for customers to eat and drink ‘alfresco’.

For example, since the pandemic years, a local pub, The Mall Tavern, in Notting Hill Gate has been occupying a bit of the road and pavement outside it, and has been placing benches and tables there.

They are still in place and very popular with customers.

Impossible staircases and wells in India

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THERE ARE MANY stepwells in India. For those, who have never seen any of them, a stepwell is, putting it simply, an enclosure built around a deep well. Its walls have sets of staircases, often geometrically arranged with landings at regular intervals. The steps allow people to access the water, whose level varies according to the season. In rainy periods, the water level is high, but in other periods, it is far below ground level, and people use the steps to reach the it.

Whenever I see a stepwell, and I have seen many of them during travels in India, I think of the creations – optical illusions – of the Dutch graphic artist MC Escher (1898-1972). He produced images in two dimensions of subjects that cannot possibly exist in three dimensions. Several of his pictures include interconnecting staircases, which unlike those seen in stepwells, could not be constructed in three dimensional reality.

As far as I can establish, Escher never travelled to India. I always wonder if Escher’s staircase images were influenced by having seen drawings or photographs of stepwells in the Indian Subcontinent. It would be interesting to know if he did see pictures of these interesting water sources.

A scooter on a wall in central India

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Here is another extract – a ‘taster’ – from my forthcoming book “ROAD TO HEAVEN – a passage through India”, which has reached the final editing stage. This sample relates to Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh, a state in central India

+ + + + + + +

Maheshwar is a 58-mile drive south of Indore, a journey that took us about 2 ½ hours. Much of the way was through hilly countryside. In places the road goes through rock faced cuttings. Every now and then we saw distant high peaks, that looked bluish in the heat haze. During our journey, we passed pedestrians carrying bags and bedding rolls on their backs. These people walking in the hot sunshine were pilgrims, about whom I will tell you more soon. Occasionally, we had to slow down when we met flocks of goats and herds of cattle being led along the road – a common sight on country roads, including motorways, in India.

When we arrived in Maheshwar, our driver had difficulty both navigating and negotiating the maze of narrow, winding lanes in the lower, newer districts of the small town. Eventually, we drove up the steep, straight road leading to the main gateway in the walls that surround Maheshwar Fort. Traffic is not generally allowed into the heart of the fort, but as our accommodation, at Laboo’z Café and Lodge, was in the traffic-restricted zone, a barrier was lifted to allow us through. Nestling within a corner of the fort’s walls, Laboo’z is an attractive café with outdoor tables and chairs. An old motorbike is attached high up on the tall stone wall facing the seating area. Below it, there is a sign that reads: “Labooz’s Scooter”. The cafe was established in 2002 by Richard Holkar, a scion of the Holkar family that once ruled the Kingdom of Indore. Richard is the son of Yeshwant Rao Holkar II (reigned 1926-1948), who commissioned, and had built, a Modernist style palace in Indore, which was designed by the German architect Eckhart Muthesius (1904-1989).The palace, Manik Bagh, still exists. Stripped of its Modernist furnishings and sculptures by Constantin Brancusi, it now houses governmental offices. When Richard and his half-sister were children, they used to be ferried around Maheshwar on the bike now adorning the cafe. The driver who took them on the motorbike was tall (‘lambu’ in Hindustani). Over the years, he became known affectionately by the nickname ‘Labboo’. The scooter on the wall commemorates him.

There is much more to art in London than the National Gallery, the Royal Academy, the Tate, the Courtauld, etc.

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THE NATIONAL GALLERY, the Tate Galleries (Britain and Modern), the Wallace Collection, Kenwood House, The Courtauld, the Royal Academy, the Barbican Gallery, the Hayward Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Dulwich Art Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum are all well-known places in London where art lovers can view fine pictures and other artworks. However, these are only the tip of the iceberg. London has a huge number of less well-known places where great art can be enjoyed.

By Paulo Nimer Pjota

First, there are the commercial art galleries, many of them, but not all, in Mayfair. Among those which I visit often are Thaddeus Ropac, Annely Juda Fine Art, Pace, David Zwirner, Waddington Custot, White Cube (both in Mayfair and Bermondsey), Beers London (near the Barbican), Lisson Gallery, Gagosian, Richard Greene, Grosvenor, Hause & Wirth, Victoria Miro, and Goodmans. There are others, but those listed are the ones I visit most. At these locations, modern and contemporary art can be viewed and, if you have plenty of spare cash, purchased.

Other interesting places to view art of all types and from all eras are the auction houses. Christies, Sotheby’s, Bonhams, and Phillips, all in Mayfair, hold exhibitions of art works that are going to be auctioned. Many of these pieces have been offered for sale by private collectors or their descendants, and have never been seen by the public. Seeing them prior to the auction is a precious experience because many of them will return to private collectors after the auction, and will once again be hidden from general view.

Another place that deserves visitors is the South London Gallery in Peckham Road, London SE5 8UH. Part of the former Camberwell School of Art, it has an annex nearby in a former fire station. Today, 24 July 2026, we visited an exhibition, “Encantados”, which was a collection of paintings by the Brazilian artist Paulo Nimer Pjota, who was born in 1988.

Pjota’s intricately executed, colourful paintings hang in the gallery’s large rectangular space. The wall space between, above, and below the paintings contain drawings, which were specially executed for the show by the artist. Thus, the whole room, paintings and walls, has been transformed into an artwork. The large paintings are populated with depictions of mythical creatures and fantastic plant forms. Although occasionally weird, the paintings are generally joyous, and uplifting to behold. The exhibition continues until 23 August 2026, and should not be missed.

By confining oneself to the best-known venues listed in the first paragraph, one will certainly see great art, but will miss hidden gems such as the pictures I saw today at the South London Gallery.

Forget Frida but do not miss Julio at London’s Tate Modern

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LONG QUEUES OF people were waiting to have their bags checked at the main entrance to London’s Tate Modern Museum. Most of them had booked tickets to see the poorly reviewed Frida Kahlo exhibition, which I have been told by a reliable source is very disappointing. This is a pity because elsewhere in the Tate Modern, there is an exhibition that is very well worth viewing.

The exhibition, which is in the Blavatnik Building, is of works by the Argentine artist Julio Le Parc, who was born in Palmira (Argentina) in 1928, and moved to France in 1958. He died in Paris in May 2026.  Parc specialised in kinetic and ‘op art’, and the exhibition is filled with his dazzling works. As the Tate’s website explained, Parc believed that the viewer was part of an artwork. He felt that a piece was incomplete until the viewer engages with it, either by stepping into it or, simply, encountering it. And everything at the Tate’s exhibition is visually engaging and highly absorbing. The website (https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/julio-le-parc/julio-le-parc) added:

“From 1959, Le Parc used light as a sculptural medium. He used it systematically, exploring ways of creating reflection, refraction and vibration. In his ‘Continual Light Mobiles’, opaque, reflective or translucent forms sway in response to slight breezes, reflecting light from spotlights or natural light sources to create ever-changing reflections.”

These fascinating works need to be seen rather than be described in words. The website also noted:

“Le Parc wanted to make viewers feel active, with their acts of looking and experiencing bringing each artwork to life; to make more democratic art that everyone can easily enjoy.”

And seeing his works was enjoyable. Although ingeniously conceived, Parc’s works did not seem to have the profundity often associated with other artists’ creations. They had been created to give the viewer pleasure and to lighten his or her life. Instead of being a ‘deeply meaningful’ experience, Parc’s work is both full of fun and visually intriguing.

Without reading other people’s minds, I guess that seeing this exhibition would give most of those queueing for Frida a far better time than trudging around the crowded rooms in which Kahlo and her works are on show.

A hair-raising discovery in rural Italy

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WHILE HAVING MY hair trimmed recently by an Albanian barber, who came to London from Prishtina in Kosovo, I  recalled a visit to a barbershop in rural Italy.

Before and after

It was in the 1980s and I was driving through northern Italy on my way to visiting my sister, who lived further south. I decided that I  should have my hair tidied up before I  saw her, and stopped my hired car outside a hair cutting establishment in a small village.

I entered the parrucchiere and was summoned to a chair by one of the barbers. He began cutting my hair, and then stopped suddenly.  Throwing his hands up above his head, he exclaimed operatically:

“Forfore!”,

Which is the Italian  word for ‘dandruff’.

Hearing this, other customers sitting in the shop, awaiting their turn, looked alarmed, and covered their heads with their hands.

Without asking me, the barber applied a lotion to my head. Whatever it was, it felt as if it was boring its way into my skull. This medication added an extra 5000 lire (£4 at the time, but about £10 in today’s  money) to my bill (those were the days before Italy adopted the Euro).

Well, I am pleased to report that today my barber from Kosovo did not feel it necessary to throw up his hands and exclaim in  Albanian:

“zbokth!”

Getting a lift up at Leicester Square

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ALDOUS HUXLEY published his novel “Point Counter Point” in 1928.

In the first chapter of the book, Walter takes an Underground train from Chalk Farm station to Leicester Square station. When he arrives there:

“He stepped out on to the platform and made his way towards the lifts.”

When I read the word ‘lifts’ (elevators in US English), I was puzzled.

I have been using Leicester Square Station since the early 1960s, and never noticed lifts from the platform to street level. As long as I can remember, passengers use escalators, not lifts. Had Huxley got it wrong – unlikely – or were there once lifts at the station?

Out of curiosity, I consulted that font of all knowledge Wikipedia. From their article about the station (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester_Square_tube_station), I learned that it had lifts at the time when Huxley wrote his novel. In the 1930s when the usage of the station began to increase significantly, it was rebuilt to accommodate escalators, which replaced the lifts. As for the now unnecessary, Wikipedia revealed:

“ The redundant lifts were removed but the lift shaft remains in use as a ventilation shaft hidden behind a small door on the first landing of the Cranbourn Street entrance stairs. The redeveloped station opened in 1935.”

So, as the saying goes, ‘there you have it’. Until the 1930s, lifts operated at Leicester Square Station. I would have been unlikely to know that has I not started reading “Point Counter Point”.

Hop-on hop-off but better keep off: sightseeing in London

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VISITORS TO LONDON are offered tickets to travel on buses that follow various routes that connect places that the companies operating them, like Big Bus and Toot Bus, consider to be of interest to tourists. Once a ticket has been purchased, the holder can get on the open-topped double-decker bus at one stop along its route, and disembark at another, and continue doing so all day. However, the ticket holder can only use the buses of the company that issued the ticket. Using Big Bus as an example, the price per adult ranges from £49.99 for a 24-hour ticket to as much as £69.99 for a 48-hour ticket, which includes a boat trip and walking tours. Children’s tickets are £10 cheaper than those for adults.

What these companies offer is without doubt helpful for minimally adventurous tourists. But the users of this service are confined to travelling along the few routes on offer, and must wait until one of their company’s vehicles arrives.

The hop-on hop-off companies provide travel within the Transport For London (‘TFL’) zones 1 and 2. An adult 24-hour TFL travel card, which gives unlimited use of all Tube, DLR, Elizabeth line and London Overground services within these zones costs £16.60, and £29.80 for zones 1 to 8 inclusive, which covers most of London. With a TFL travel card, the tourist can hop on and off as many bus and tube trains as he or she wants within the validity of the travel card. The zone 1 and 2 card costs one third of the price of the cheapest adult Big Bus ticket, and allows the traveller much greater flexibility.

Using a TFL travel card means that you are on your own, without a guide. But that hardly matters as there are good travel apps to help you find your way from A to B. And if you select bus routes carefully, you can get to see much of London from a regular TFL bus route. For example, the number 148 will carry you alongside Hyde Park, down Park Lane, past Hyde Park Corner and Buckingham Palace, to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, and across the Thames on Westminster Bridge. Further along this route, you will reach the Imperial War Museum. Another route, number 9, runs past the Design Museum, Kensington Palace, the Royal Albert Hall, Knightsbridge (near Harrods), Green Park, Hyde Park Corner, the Royal Academy, Piccadilly Circus, Regents Street, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery, and Aldwych (where you can catch one of several buses to St Paul’s Cathedral). And this is only two of many bus routes that link places that many tourists wish to visit. In addition to the buses, the TFL travel card holder can cover great distances quite rapidly using the tube trains.

With a little bit of ingenuity and a TFL travel card, a visitor to London can get a far more interesting experience of London, its sights, and its people, than if he or she opts for the relatively inflexible, far costlier hop-on hop-off buses,