NEIGHBOURHOOD NEWS, INSIGHTS & INVITATIONS FROM THE DOYLE COLLECTION SLICE OF THE CITY ISSUE 13 AUTUMN 2022
Explore our range of Irish family-owned luxury hotels, superbly located in the centre of London, Dublin, Bristol, Washington DC and Cork
Camus famously said “Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is a flower”. Sorry, Albert, but we beg to differ. Autumn is a time when leaves cascade upon forest floors, carpeting them in every shade of umber, when blooms give way to ripening fruit and, best of all, when oysters are at their very finest. We’re always torn between the thrill of the latter end of the racing season (horses, of course) and the Galway International Oyster Festival, so we’ve covered both thoroughbreds and bivalves in this issue. And with Shakespeare’s Globe celebrating its 25th anniversary, we’ve taken a trip round the bard’s London 430 years on…
In a palette of rich, warm, bold shades (silvery greys and soft naturals offsetting exotic golds and spices) the team invested in richly luxurious natural materials flanked with glamorous details. All set around the kind of open fires that see evenings unfold before them under the hum of conversation and the glow of soft lights. With organic polished wood and stone juxtaposed with sumptuous fabrics such as silks, brocades and velvets, there’s an understated sense of glamour, an elevated feeling of a home away from home. Menus have been reimagined, with alfresco terraces adding an even greater sense of space to the already lofty interiors. Come for brunch, stay for cocktails and find yourselves ordering dinner. doylecollection.com/hotels/the-croke-park-hotel
TheDoyleCollection
ON THE COVER
THE CROKE PARK
A LUXURIOUS REBIRTH
The three words historically used to describe The Croke Park have always been location, location, location. And where better for a hotel built in celebration of Irish sporting greatness than joined at the hip with Croke Park Stadium, home to the Gaelic Athletics Association? But The Croke Park has always transcended its sporting connections and served guests well as a hotel perfectly situated for exploring the fair city of Dublin, in a setting that brings warmth to the laid-back luxury you’d expect. This month The Croke Park is fully reopened after a renaissance of its lobby, bar, restaurant and terrace, transformed by The Doyle Collection Chairman, Bernie Gallagher with renowned Dublin architect, Denis Looby. And it’s wonderful.
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Slice of the City is published on behalf of The Doyle Collection by Rivington Bye Ltd. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. All details correct at the time of publication but may change. For all editorial enquiries: enquire@rivingtonbye.com
Illustration from the Coral Room cocktail menu by Steve McCarthy
Ireland is one of the culinary world’s best-kept secrets and its unique palette of flavours - smoky malts of Dublin, mossy, umami flavours of Donegal, wild fruits of Leitrem, botanicals of Wicklow, peppery aromatics of Tipperary - have inspired the latest Cocktail menu from The Bloomsbury’s Coral Room. Launching this autumn and following on from A Sip of England, the menu distils our native flavours into masterful studies of the mixologist’s art. All brought to life through the evocative images of Dublin-born illustrator, Mr Steve McCarthy. Watch this space, as they say. thecoralroom.co.uk
After a summer spent sampling creamy fizz, sherbert martinis, convivial margaritas and delicious jugs of summery vegetation (aka Pimms), there’s something rather pleasing about segueing indoors into the Manhatten-esque glamour of a club-like space with wood panelling, marble-topped bar, deeply upholstered banquettes and some very fine cocktails. With London Cocktail Week celebrated from 12-23 October, we’ll be introducing more specials to the mix but on any given day at The Marylebone’s handsome cocktail bar you really can’t beat a citrussy Vetievesper, a fine, grown-up Savoia Royale or the peaty delights of a Smoke’n’Mirrors. doylecollection.com/hotels/ the-marylebone-hotel/dining/ the-cocktail-bar
3 AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 TEAS
News & Views
doylecollection.com/hotels/ the-kensington-hotel
JO LOVES
One of Britain’s best-known perfumiers, Kensington native Jo Malone marries her unerring nose with entrepreneurial nous of the very highest calibre. And we’re absolutely delighted to be able to announce a collab between her global brand, Jo Loves and The Kensington. Launching later this year –details to follow shortly.
GOD OF PASTRY
You know your pastries are safe in the hands of a Dane - especially the grandson of a Copenhagen baker. The Dupont Circle is thrilled to welcome Claus Olsen, Pastry Chef and Master Chocolatier extraordinaire. Claus’s 30-year career may have launched in Copenhagen but he has baked all over the world, featured in magazines, cookbooks and on TV, delighted royalty and presidents, and comes garlanded with awards. Confections as impeccable as Claus’s need a symphony of balanced bitterness to accompany them. Enter Doyle & Co, The Dupont Circle’s heavenly coffee bar (a paean to the art of roaster and barista) the perfect complement to light, buttery Viennese pastries, Crème Brulee Croissants (stop it!) and Claus’ signature East/West Almond Cake. Savouries will delight those that prefer salt to sweet. Open daily, 7am-2pm. doylecollection.com/hotels/the-dupont-circle-hotel
COME ON IN
Named after Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, our plan isn’t to serve 80 different afternoon teas at The Kensington – even eating three a day (which nobody would recommend) it’d take the guts of a month to try them all. No, this delicious tea will take its inspiration from the journey of Phileas Fogg, and his 20-odd stops in far-flung destinations. For many readers of the 1873 original, places as diverse as Tibet and Salt Lake City would have been unimaginable and our inspiration is the thrill of that 19th-century adventure. the-kensington-hoteldoylecollection.com/hotels/
TASTE OF IRELAND
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Native oysters aren’t just slow to grow, they’re fragile too. In the words of 7th generation Mersea oysterman, Richard Haward, “The first thing a native thinks of doing is dying – it doesn’t like extremes in natural conditions - too much heat, too much cold, too much of anything”.
After a four-month wait there’s an R in the month and it’s the time celebrated by everybody from oyster connoisseurs to the bivalve curious; in British and Irish waters, it’s native oyster season…
Oysters would first have been spotted on UK shores (you’d have to check with a dinosaur to be sure) in Triassic times - about 145 million years ago. And the native oyster’s first meaningful human contact came after the invention of fire.
Thanks to the Romans’ penchant for scattering evidence of their lifestyle choices far and wide, we know they too loved an oyster. Shells left behind suggest a penchant for English varieties, and they are known to have fished or gathered oysters in Essex, Kent, Wessex and, indeed, Bolerium (present day Cornwall). They were also found as far North as Hadrian’s Wall so Roman legions likely took a little detour via the oyster beds of Tyne & Wear.
way to September and the arrival of the native oyster season, welcome to our favourite time of year. The life cycle of the native oyster is one of nature’s may ways to remind us that ‘good things come to those who wait’. Four to six years is how long it takes for native oysters to be shuck-ready. And the reason we can only harvest in months with an r? May to August is for the business of procreation, essential to the survival of the species.
While Mesolithic people had rudimentary tools they did not use them on the meaty bivalve. Perhaps they feared shattering the delicate shell, or perhaps they were a gourmand people, embracing the very latest trend that set them head and shoulders above the animal world – cooking with fire. Either way, only the scorched shells remain to tell the tale.
INATIVEGOf,likeus,youfeelafrissonofexcitementwhenAugust gives
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Jonathan Swift famously said ‘He was a bold man that first ate an oyster’ and perhaps the gnarly exterior might have made one nervous about what lay within, but these pristine, beauties just beg to be consumed (don’t swallow, though - terrible waste).
The hardier, gnarlier pacific oysters are named ‘rock’ for a reason - a passing predator (good luck breaking in without an oyster knife) would know nothing of the feast withinthough even the flatter, smoother native oysters are easy to miss.
GALWAY INTERNATIONAL OYSTER & SEAFOOD FESTIVAL
Home to the world’s first and most famous oyster festival Galway is a small city on a coastline that yields a serious annual harvest of some of the very best oysters. It’s also a great destination for a celebration and attracts around 10,000 oyster purveyors, consumers, connoisseurs, and the world’s best shuckers who compete in the annual Oyster Olympics - a fast and furious demonstration of precision and artistry, with awards for speed and for presentation. At the festival you’ll sample the very best of both native and rock oysters grown in Irish waters, accompanied by a pint of creamy Guinness, a champagne flute, a nice mineral-y white, or, controversially, a chilled shiraz. However you take your oysters, we urge you to head to Galway late September and indulge. galwayoysterfestival.com
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Oysters ceased to be a luxury after the departure of the sybaritic Romans and eased back into their former role as an essential part of the sustenance of coast dwellers. But in Medieval and Tudor times they became popular once more and were shipped from sea to fishmonger in every increasing numbers.
Despite such popularity the native population kept pace until a combination of overfishing and industrial pollution put paid to their ubiquity. In 1864 over 700 million oysters were recorded as having been consumed in the capital, and the industry employed over 120,000 people. By 1910, the oyster industry was proclaimed by the British Government the most important in the world. However, the demand proved unsustainable and by 1964 only three million oysters were fished, leading to calls for mass conservation.
Curiously the saving of the native oyster came from an unexpected source: the hardy, fast growing Pacific oyster (often known as ‘rock oysters’). Though they grow wild Pacific oysters are also easy to farm. They mature in just two years and they’re more robust than native varieties – as hardy as their rock-like shells. In addition, they can be eaten year-round. So, if you’re offered oysters in a month without an r – it’ll most likely be Pacific.
OYSTERS AT THE WESTBURY
The larger oysters were mainly eaten cooked, steamed in their own shells or added to meat stews or pies, they were used to plump up sausages and replaced stuffing in roast fowl – with the liqour added to gravy. A particular favourite of Elizabeth I, she introduced a decree that every one of her subjects must eat seafood in place of meat three days a week. Theatregoers, too, would eat them from shellfish stalls, washed down with ale.
Far left Oysters in nets in a Galway Oyster farm. Middle Interior and exterior of a native oyster (top); interior and exterior of a Pacific oyster (below). Above Native oysters from Galway; Shucking oysters
Fresh oysters from Carlingford Lough are one of nature’s treasures. Grown using the traditional ‘Trestle and Bag’ method these oysters are both creamy and sweet, and a guest favourite at The Westbury. Accompanied by shallot mignotte sauce, they are the perfect way to start an evening in The Sidecar, The Gallery or WILDE restaurant. carlingfordoystercompany.ie
While it was feared the rock would rule the waves, the two strains co-exist harmoniously and, in fact, the availability of rock oysters has allowed the native the time it needs to ensure its future survival – simply by helping to meet demand and so diminish overfishing.
Both varieties of oysters have a different density (native varieties tend to be firmer than their farmed cousins) and, naturally, taste. On the west coast of Ireland, native oysters spend their formative years in the bracingly chill clarity of the Atlantic ocean. The water is fabulously clean and gives a wonderfully fresh, light marine flavour, which is prized around the world. Another lauded taste comes from a less mellifluous place, the almost mineral flavour in Cornish River Fal oysters comes from the tin historically mined across the region. Today, some of the world’s the very best oysters come from native beds in Essex, Cornwall, Kent, Dorset, Devon, the West of Scotland and, of course, Ireland.
THRILL OF THE RACE
The island of Ireland breeds 50 thoroughbred horses for every 10,000 people – effortlessly outperforming the rest of the world. We ask the simple question, why?
While temperate is a euphemistic way to describe a country that experiences rain (on the west coast at least) pretty much every day (usually more than once, from mizzle to cats and dogs), it is true that the ‘softness’ of the Irish weather is a powerful ingredient in the secret sauce that produces some of the best runners on the earth.
Let’s start with some statistics. Ireland might only have the 124th largest population (out of 235 countries) in the world, yet our little island is the largest producer of thoroughbreds in the whole of Europe and the third largest on earth.
There are many more numbers in the same vein but that broad brushstrokes sketch of the current state of Irish racing and thoroughbred breeding and the colossal standing of such a tiny island in the global racehorse breeding and training stakes asks more questions than it answers. So, we ask again, why?
The other is the minerals in our soil and sod. Rich in limestone, when frequently watered – as we have established it is –Irish soil feeds thoroughbred bones with calcium, making them strong and the horses among the hardiest in the world without any diminishing of their speed, nimbleness or agility.
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And this rare combination is pivotal to the successful breeding of thoroughbreds. Watch a big race and it’s arresting how fast such big beasts move. There are many
Well, climate for one thing. When you research how good the Irish weather is for horse breeding it’s almost universally called ‘temperate’. After a long afternoon cycling the Sky Road in Galway, standing on the pedals to brace yourself into the damp, driving wind, that isn’t what most people’s hair would call it!
As
racing historian Guy Williams once said “There is no finer sight than racehorses at speed. They have been designed and honed and perfected over the last 250 years specifically for that. That one horse can outrun another. Anywhere you go in the world where they have horses, particularly thoroughbreds, within 10 minutes an Irishman will surface. It’s guaranteed.”
That’s quite a number - with a good 8,000 out of a global 20,000 racehorses in existence anywhere having been bred and raised on Irish soil. In addition, when it comes to the value of the horses sold, Ireland ranks as the second highest country on earth outright.
Despite having a population of just 4.5 million, Ireland boasts a ridiculous 50 thoroughbreds per 10,000 people, a number 10 times higher than in Britain, France and even the USA - and Irish racers are exported to around 36 countries all over the world.
There’s more. An incredible 21% of the top flat racehorses in the world in 2017 were all bred in Ireland. Every single one of them. And, in 2016, Irish-trained horses won an extraordinary € 79m in prize money in races in and out of the country.
This page and overleaf: Irish Derby day at the Curragh racecourse
Frankie Dettori treats the crowd to a Flying Dismount after winning the Lonsdale Cup on Stradivarius, the Irish thoroughbred sired by irish champion Sea the Stars.
Chariots are vital to our tale, though, as they featured in the earliest Irish horse races taking place on the Curragh, mentioned in early myths and tales from 110 BC. While there are also mentions of horseracing with riders as opposed to chariots on the Curragh (a 5,000-acre grassy plain in County Kildare, long connected with horseracing and today the location for the Irish National Stud), and the beach in Kerry as long ago as the 7th century. But it wasn’t until 1603 that a Royal Warrant permitting horse racing in Derry elevated the tradition into law – and from then on the number of writings with first-hand accounts show the sport to be widespread and well loved.
The lung capacity is similarly vast – those muscles need oxygen. But it’s the spleen that gives horses the real advantage. The spleen stores red blood cells which can be released into the blood stream precisely at the moment of flight, feeding those muscles with up to 50% more oxygenated blood cells. It acts almost like a transfusion, delivering an energy bolt to power glancing hoofs to even greater speeds.
Vulnerable to wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, bears and many other largish, carnivorous mammals, in the wild horses naturally roam in herds, their eyes are at the sides of their heads to ensure they don’t lose their companions, their rumps are an impressively honed, muscle machine poised for the command to flee. Their lower legs are lean, fine bone supported with enduring tensile tendons and hamstrings, strong and tight to protect when in flight.
Horses are mentioned in some of the earliest historical Irish texts and the same geography and climate that produces such astonishing racehorses has sustained the entire populace as an agricultural nation (and been so catastrophic when impossible). Horses have worked the land, ferried people from place to place and been essential to the ability of communities to sustain ourselves through the ages, since about 2000 BC.
In Irish myth the horse was responsible for drawing the sun across the sky in a chariot to mark each day with its progress
connection, forged over centuries, between wo/man and horse.
siring success, they are no guarantee. Family trees are documented as precisely as Debrett’s – though that mapping of human nobility doesn’t especially hint at a gambling addiction heralding the loss of a long-held family estate, or scandalous elopements segueing into hastily negotiated, more ‘appropriate’ unions; with horses it’s all data and none of the drama.
The sheer power of the haunch is capable of propelling 1150 pounds (around 500 kilos) of pure poetry in the proverbial motion, reaching speeds from standing of up to 45 miles per hour in just 2.5 seconds – taking seven metre strides. Naturally this kind of acceleration puts huge pressure on the front legs, which is when the calcium-fed, uncannily strong bones of an Irish-reared racehorse come into their own. Every sinew of the sleek and shiny steed services this ability to move fast. The horse’s heart has evolved to pump quite a distance, with a resting rate of around 30 bpm, rising to over 200 when in flight .
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reasons for their speed, but key to their shape is that horses are grazers who were historically always prey of open grassland.
Like aristocrats that trace their lineage back through Edward I and William the Conquer via the ‘divine right of kings’ to actual God – every thoroughbred too can be traced back to one of three Arabian stallions from around 1700, Byerly Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin Barb.
In those days Turkish Arab horses were known for both their speed and endurance, and, while English horses were reliable and dependable and perfect in every way for the country squire riding out with the hunt, a lady taking her daily exercise or for drawing a family to market in a carriage or cart, they were not quite fleet of foot enough for the Cavalry’s needs.
Bloodlines are the lifeblood of the sport and key to the breeder’s art. Yet, while they’re an essential framework supporting the stud’s ability to pick a beast with the ancestry to open the possibility of
Breeding, too, had clearly started commercially. In a letter to Charles II in 1673, one Sir William Temple wrote “Horses in Ireland are a drug. We see horses bred of excellent shape, and vigour, and size, so as to reach great prices at home, and encourage strangers to find the market here”. And it was Charles who
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So, while horses are made in Ireland today, they were born in Yorkshire (the cradle of thoroughbreds) where the progeny of these Arab stallions covering English mares to produce a speedier class of horse for the theatre of war were nurtured. While nature and genetics have united to create the finest of thoroughbreds, nurture is also an essential component of the successful creation of a beautiful steed – and there is an alchemy to breeding that almost nobody can Whileexplain.thelimestone-rich soil in Ireland is emphatically essential to the excellence of our racehorses, there is a real heritage in a spirit, a notion, a belief even, of people almost as whisperers, with an instinctive
Early Celtic warriors had a way with chariots, engineering them to be light and durable, enabling said warriors to swiftly settle many parts of Europe. (They also invented the horseshoe, later adopted by the Romans, but that’s another story).
In legend, horses were portrayed as companions of warriors, as vital as the rider and often with mythical status. In Irish myth the horse was responsible for drawing the sun across sky in a chariot, marking each day with its progress.
The thoroughbred horse might be reared for almost mythical speed (and endurance, of course) but the origins of today’s runners and beautiful brood mares or stallion sires are a little more parochial than their beauty might suggest.
SHERGAR
YEATS
While Irish horses have proved so vital to the global sport, the industry only exists because the people love to watch racing.
Horse Racing Ireland is the governing body for racing responsible for year-round meets with 24 racecourses all over the Republic and two in the North.
Whether you’re a fan or fancy a flutter, you just can’t beat a day at the races. National Hunt races are run all year, and the flat racing season runs from late March to late November. For details visit goracing.ie or ask the concierge at The Westbury, The Croke Park or The River Lee and they’ll point you in the right direction.
We’re no experts – just enthusiasts – and we thought it’d be easy to find the best five Irish horses of all time. Not so! Though there’s a ‘Timeform’ rating for every great horse, not every expert believes an algorithm is the final arbiter of greatness! So, consequently, no two lists are the same. We thought we’d play it safe and instead of a top five, we’ve chosen five of the best! And they are (in no particular order), drumroll…
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RUNNERS AND RIDERS
As the only horse to top every list we could find, Arkle was the single name we could not have left out. A steeplechaser, Arkle was born in 1957, trained by Tom Dreaper and captured the public imagination like no other. While he won some of the toughest races, including the Irish Grand National, the King George V Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup three times, it was his consistency that stands out – out of 35 races he won 27 and never once finished out of the places.
The only mare in our list and the most successful in the history of National Hunt Racing, Dawn Run was born in 1978 and remains the only horse to have won the Champion Hurdle, Gold Cup double. Trained by Paddy Mullins, Dawn Run started out on the flat but shifted to hurdles in her second season, winning eight of her nine races. But it was in Steeplechase that she had her greatest triumphs and is one of just four mares to have won the Gold Cup.
While Shergar never got to fulfill his potential, he is probably the best-known racehorse on the planet, sadly for reasons other than racing. Born in 1978, Shergar started to attract attention in 1980 but it was in ‘81 that he won the Epsom Derby by an astonishing 10 lengths – a feat never repeated. He won five of six races that year and also led the field in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes by four lengths. He was retired to stud in ‘82, when early in 1983 he was kidnapped and never seen again.
Every year in Ireland over 1.3 million people spend a day at one or other of the 350 race meetings, taking in over 2,000 races between them. More than 100,000 attend the Punchestown Festival (in April) and the Galway Races (July) but the biggest draw for the great and the good – the most glamorous of race days is The Curragh Irish Derby Festival – a three-day event culminating in the famous Irish Derby with all the hats, spats and thrills of the turf to enjoy. The Listowel Harvest Festival features both Flat Racing and National Hunt in a seven-day extravaganza built around the Kerry National Chase handicap – each day is a big family event with as many as 2,000 spectators every day.
DAWN RUN
Named not for WB but his brother, the Irish artist and Olympic medallist John Butler Yeats, this dark bay thoroughbred was born in April 2001 and trained by Irish legend Aidan O’Brien. Yeats was a star from the start and won an impressive 14 out of his 22 races in total. His greatest achievement was in winning the Ascot Gold Cup an unprecedented four times in a row, a feat never emulated before or since, and followed by his retirement to stud in 2009.
introduced the King’s Plate Races, a 4-mile dash testing both speed and strength (the horses ran with a considerable weight load of 12 stone or 76 kilos). The Down Royal Corporation of Horse Breeders studbook to breed racehorses was established in 1685 and with it the almost mythical quest for the perfectly bred horse.
SEA THE STARS
ARKLE
Horse racing comes in two types, Flat racing and National Hunt). The clue for both is in the name – Flat Racing is all about speed, pure and simple and National Hunt evolved from hunting, features jumps, and is today divided into three categories – Steeplechase (various fences), Hurdle (yep, hurdles) and Point to Point (Steeplechase over farmland rather than the manicured racecourse, mainly organised by local hunts and so forth).
Born April 2006 and trained by John Oxx, Sea the Stars won just about everything in his day and is a fixture in many of the greatest European horses’ lists, too. He only raced for two seasons, but Sea the Stars won the 2000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby, the Eclipse Stakes, the International Stakes, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe all in the same season (as a three-yearold), bagging every major horse award in Europe as a result. Retired to stud in 2009.
Sea The Stars ridden by Mick Kinane wins the Tattersalls Millions Irish Champion Stakes during the Irish Champion Stakes Day at Leopardstown Racecourse, Dublin.
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It took a move to London to show Shakespeare that all the world really is a stage
While
2. ST GARDEN,ALDERMANBURYMARYLOVELANE
It is unclear precisely when Shakespeare arrived but his first mention among his peers (in the 1592 writings of Robert Greene) gifted him the sticky soubriquet ‘The Upstart Crow’ and a reputation for brash confidence that did not sit well with the established writing community – who felt, in the main, that the son of a market town glovemaker without university education had no business sweeping in and taking over the London stage.
A tiny park, once the grounds surrounding a small parish church in St Paul’s which dated from 1181 (it was destroyed by the great fire, rebuilt then demolished once again in the blitz). Buried in its grounds lie two of Shakespeare’s players, Henry Condell and John Hemings. thewithmonumentintogiftingandfoliosworksgatheringquitehavelivesunrememberedTodayfortheirorworks,theytogethercreatedalegacybyShakespeare’stogetherintoafterhisdeathpublishingthem,hisbrilliancefuturegenerationsperpetuity.Theiristoppedahandsomebustofbardhimself.
17
JUST WILLIAM
The earliest record of Shakespeare living in London is a little less impressive yet still dramatic – in 1596 he was shamed in St Helen Bishopsgate parish records for tax evasion. While that’s all a bit shabby it shows he was making enough money for the local bean counters to wish to chase him up on it, and it is estimated around this time he would have had several plays on at once. So, in which locations were his plays performed, which were his watering holes and where did he lay his hat? We put together some of the pieces.
Stratford Upon Avon is legendary for being the birth and resting place of one William Shakespeare, to succeed in the wider world he needed to move himself to a place where “many wearing rapiers are afraid of goosequills and dare scarce come thither” (Hamlet Act II, Scene II). To London it was then.
1. CURTAIN THEATRE, SHOREDITCH Named ‘The Theatre’ and built in 1576 by impresario James Burbage, father of Shakespeare’s lifelong leading man Robert, the original site in Curtain Road was London’s first purpose-built theatre designed specifically for professional actors to perform to paying audiences – a new concept in its day. Upon falling out with the landowner, Burbage simply upped every stick, hauled timber across river and rebuilt it on the Southbank as The Globe, leaving Curtain Road with nothing but a green plaque.
3. SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL, LONDON BRIDGE
Set in a dissolved 13thcentury PlayhouseMonastery,DominicanTheTheatre was established by James Burbage to offer an exclusive venue to more discerning theatre goers. It was set indoors and played host to around 500 seated guests who paid up to eight times as much as they would at public theatres of the day. William Shakespeare (who much preferred these more elegant theatres) and his (well, James I’s) King’s Men Players provided the entertainment, while the need for candlelight during performances meant the introduction of an interval or two in order for spent candles to be replaced. Long gone today, the site is commemorated by Playhouse Yard, close to Apothecaries Hall, by Blackfriars Bridge.
The Cockpit pub is set on the site of the only property known to have been bought by Shakespeare during his years in the Capital. Quite the magnate in Stratford Upon Avon – on his return in around 1611 Shakespeare took posession of the market town’s largest house and the landlord-ship of many more. Curiously it seems he never lived in the Blackfriars property, but perhaps rented it to fellow scribes or players, or simply used it as an investment.
6. THE GEORGE INN, BOROUGH
4. PLAYHOUSE THEATRE, BLACKFRIARS
These days we see movie classifications to prevent exposure to content considered inappropriate, but there is no such regulation in the theatre. Which was very much not the case in Shakespearian times. St John’s Gate was home to the Master of the Revels (slightly confusingly named – the fun police might have been a better title), the man responsible for licensing or censoring plays for the stage. Edmund Tilney was the main man in post and while he was happy to license most of his plays, Richard II was heavily censored on Elizabeth I’s orders.
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In Shakespeare’s time Southwark Cathedral (which now displays an albaster statue to the bard), was the parish church of St Saviour’s and St Mary Overie (‘over the water’). Set as it was in a lively district close to the Capital’s theatres, it was de facto a thespians’ church. Sadly, we know Shakespeare visited as his younger brother Edmund, an actor who had followed his elder sibling to London, succumbed to ill health at just 27. He was buried in the cathedral at some expense, including a ‘forenoon knell of the great bell’.
7. ST JOHN’S GATE, CLERKENWELL
Today the last remaining galleried coaching inn in London, The George (formerly ‘& Dragon’) shows us today precisely how plays were more usually conducted before the advent of the purpose-built theatre. Players would be in the employ of the pub and gather in the courtyard on a central stage. The audience, often a little the worse for wear, would stand around them taking in the entertainment, with the grander among them paying a premium to take their places far above in the gallery.
5. THE COCKPIT PUB, BLACKFRIARS
9. THE ROSE THEATRE, BANKSIDE
8. THE BOAR’S HEAD, EASTCHEAP
With its landlady Mistress Quickly and its caravan of clowns (it was after all the legendary watering hole of Sir John Falstaff, serial character in the Henry histories, IV parts 1 and 2, and V, and his merry band), the real Boar’s Head was first destroyed in the Great Fire of London before being rebuilt, only to be demolished again in 1830. The pub’s post-fire sign was retrieved and is displayed today at The Globe.
St John’s Gate was home to the Master of the Revels, the man responsible for licensing or censoring plays for the stage
CLERKENWELL.ORG.UKTHEATRE;GLOBETHEHAYTER,DAVIDSIMONETTI;DAVIDE
Once Burbage and the Bard had hauled the dismantled Curtain Theatre from the City of London to the easier environs of Bankside – The Globe was born. Shakespeare found the crowds rowdy and was irritated by the shenanigans that naturally occurred in such a tight-packed space. When out of humour it is said he called The Globe the ‘mean wooden O’.
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He premiered play after play there but during a performance of Henry the Eighth a cannon misfired setting the thatched roof alight and razing the entire theatre to the ground. In the melee the only reported injury was a man forced to put out his burning breeches with his beer. Rebuilt with a tiled roof the Globe rose from the ashes for about twenty years more, before being shut by the Puritans and demolished in 1644 to make way for tenements.
10. THE GLOBE THEATRE, BANKSIDE
Known today as ‘Shakespeare’s Globe’ the theatre offers all the upsides of its time with few of the downs (the stench of several hundred folk, months after their annual bath, the petty criminals, the watered-down beer and the risk of infectious disease). Indeed, today a visit to Shakespeare’s Globe makes for the most visceral, authentic theatrical experience.
The origins of the modern Globe tell a tale of passion, tenacity and the refusal to accept no for an answer. Sam Wannamaker visited London to see the site of the original Globe only to find nothing but a plaque. To the eternal gratitude of anybody that has ever ducked an arc of water hurled by Caliban, say, from the stage or sipped wine in the galleries above, Sam turned his extraordinary energy to securing land, funding and planning permission. And his vision opened its doors 25 years ago today.
Bankside featured the nefarious delights of beer gardens, stew houses (brothels) and popular bear baiting. And while the righteous Bishops of the region saw no contradiction in leasing land to such businesses of ‘ill repute’ they were considered beyond the pale north of the river in the square mile. With its rather fast and louche reputation, theatre was seen less as educational and more as entertainment of the kind quite likely to compromise society’s morals, and always best enjoyed outside the walls of the City of London. The Rose was the first purpose-built theatre to open on Bankside and its site, after a prolonged 1989 tussle between thespians such as Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Lord Olivier and developers is preserved to this day.
VIEW FROM THE TOP
With its expansive, Scandinavian-style terrace, complete with retractable blinds, plush sofas, large screen TV, and the romance of an open fire, The Marylebone Suite offers a wonderful view of the London skyline as well as a place to truly relax and unwind, morning, noon and night. doylecollection.com/hotels/the-marylebone-hotel
For 20 years, Ballet Black has been one of the most pioneering and influential organisations in British ballet. This Black History Month, the company celebrates
Say It Loud, by founder Cassa Pancho, alongside a new work by choreographer Gregory Maqoma, titled Black Sun Say It Loud/Black Sun Ballet Black at the Royal Opera House 19th-23rd October blackhistorymonth.org.uk
Events & Happenings
Right The Royal Shakespeare Company turns Hayao Miyazaki’s theatricalextraordinarymasterpieceanimatedintoanmulti-mediaeventatTheBarbican.
modern/maria-bartuszovatate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-
PLASTER MASTER
The Kensington
celebrates the written and spoken word in its endless variety. You read that book that changed your world - learn how it changed the worlds of other folks, too.
BLACK AND PROUD
Get your hands on some history plucked from the banks of the Thames as part of this celebration of London’s great river. With help from an experienced mudlark, you can find artefacts dating back as far as the Romans! After you’re cleaned up, check out some of the festival’s unique art projects, including ‘Climate Grief Karaoke’ and ‘Choreographies of Care’. Totally Thames 2022 1st to 30th September thamesfestivaltrust.org
Tate FromModern20thSeptember
Top Finding ancient artefacts on the banks of the Thames in the company of an experienced mudlark at Totally Thames.
CAPITAL LETTERS
REMEMBER, REMEMBER
It may be early for London’s most famous fireworks display but the city parks host an explosion of delights to mark the 1605 gunpowder plot,
Step out of your hotel and into our pick of this month’s most captivating events
When Slovak artist Maria Bartuszová sat down to play with her daughter one day in the mid-1960s she wasn’t planning on developing a new sculptural technique. But what she learned while pouring plaster into rubber balloons became the basis for decades of fascinating abstract shapework. These distinctive, fragile forms must be seen to be believed - find them at Tate Modern this Autumn.
London Literature Festival Southbank Centre 20th-30th October southbankcentre.co.uk
The Bloomsbury
Maria Bartuszová
Top right Kofi Ansah ‘Indigo’ Couture 1997 - Narh & Linda from Africa Fashion at the V&A.
MUDLARKING AROUND
that milestone with the autobiographical performance
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Reading is generally a solitary activity, but the world of literature is rich with collaboration and community. Those communities come to life at events like the London Literature festival, which
October is black history month in the UK and, while Londoners are proud of our multicultural heritage the capital’s wealth has been built on colonial exploitation including the profits of the transatlantic slave trade. It’s a simple truth that too often goes unacknowledged. Join this insightful tour by Black Rooted and learn the hidden story of one of Britain’s first slave traders.
Frieze 12thRegent’sLondonParkto16thOctober
FRIEZE FRAME
City Of London: Slave Trade Money Trail Tour
Diwali has brought colour to the capital to mark the famed festival of lights. With
LIGHTS IN THE DARKNESS
While social media periodically pops with the fancy threads of the Sapeurs, 21st century dandies of the Congo, the continents’ fast-growing fashion industry is today worth over $15bn and is well overdue the V&A treatment. The situation now remedied, visitors to Africa Fashion will be richly rewarded with divine textiles and fascinating fashions from mid-20th century to the present day. It’s a must see.
Every October for 20 years
Starts at Bank Station 1st to 29th October blackhistorymonth.org.uk
Hayao Miyazaki’s animated masterpiece in this stage collaboration with Studio Ghibli. Featuring groundbreaking puppetry and a reorchestration of Joe
BLOOD MONEY
our annual Guy Fawkes night.
FASHION AFRICA
The premise of Frieze London is a simple one: to showcase the work of the world’s most exciting contemporary artists, from well-established to newly emergent. The works themselves are far from simple - with art in every medium from over 160 galleries on display, the canvases, sculptures and performances of Frieze present more diverse ways of seeing the world than one pair of eyes might grant in a lifetime.
Until 16th April 2023 fashionvam.ac.uk/exhibitions/africa-
frieze.com/fairs/frieze-london
On or around 5th November displays-londonbest-bonfire-night-fireworks-do/whats-on/special-events/visitlondon.com/things-to-
Guy Fawkes Firework Displays Parks across London
LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR
Riverside Battersea, leafy Wimbledon and the heights of Alexandra Palace are some of the big ones but there are epic firework displays all over the capital - just make sure to book ahead and practise your whoops and cheers.
My Neighbour Totoro RSC at The Barbican From 8th October totororsc.org.uk/my-neighbour-
The Marylebone
The creators of Matilda: The Musical have turned their talents to adapting
Hisaishi’s captivating score, it’s sure to be a ride for the imagination.
Lawrence Abu Hamdan: 45th
Afrika 9thVariousEyelocationsto17thNovember afrika-eye-festival-p2345233visitbristol.co.uk/whats-on/
Right Seán Keating’s ‘Allegories of Change’ at the National Gallery of Ireland.
Top The 2022 Dublin Fringe Festival line up.
Leach, he was first inspired to become an actor at the Bristol Hippodrome. Cary Grant Comes Home is a festival of film and discussion that celebrates the incredible story of the West
VariousFestival venues 18th to 20th November carycomeshome.co.uk
last year’s event taking place primarily via streaming, this year’s return to in-person celebration will be particularly poignant. Light a candle, enjoy live music and dance, and witness Trafalgar square illuminated by the spectacular light show.
Diwali in London Trafalgar Square 23rd to 27th October diwaliinlondon.com
THE EYES HAVE IT
Bristol
SpikeParallelIsland Gallery 8th October 2022 – 15th January 2023
abu-hamdanspikeisland.org.uk/lawrence-
Where would you find the only library in the USA with no books? On the QuebecVermont border - the Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the 45th parallel, its shelves in Canada and its reading room in the USA. This uniquely international site, with the black line of the border marked across its floors, serves as the setting for Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s striking new film about the absurdity and violence of borders, commissioned by Bristol’s pioneering Spike Island Gallery.
He’s known for The Philadelphia Story, but Hollywood star Cary Grant’s story actually began in a very different city. Born and raised in Bristol as Archie
Country boy who became a silver screen icon.
Cary Grant Comes Home
BORDERING ON THE ABSURD
More than just a film festival, Afrika Eye is a celebration of the incredible things people of African heritage are creating across the world, every single day. Film, music, dance, photography, and delicious flavours are all to be sampled through the Taste of Afrika event - lots to look out for!
SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST
Far Right Bristol-born Cary Grant alights from a Bristol Freighter G-AGVC aircraft in Los Angeles, 1947. Cary Grant Comes Home Festival, Bristol.
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keatings-allegories-changeand-artists/exhibitions/nationalgallery.ie/art-
Joyce’s Women
The Westbury
A 1.3km long light and sound installation that sees the National Botanic Gardens opened at night for the first time for a riotous, multidisciplinary ‘Pop-wake’. A halfhour sonic experience exploring climate justice and the body, designed to be listened to while bathing at home. Discover all this and much more at Dublin Fringe, the annual explosion of independent art that engulfs the city in September.
A PIRATE’S LIFE
Blood, Blackbeard & StartsBuccaneersatThe Golden Guinea Tuesdays
17th September to 15th October on/joyces-women/abbeytheatre.ie/whats-
Dublin Fringe Festival
While its famously catchy overture could even be accused of over-exposure, Rossini’s thrilling final opera William Tell has not been performed in Dublin for nearly 150 years. If you don’t know the story of the Swiss freedom fighter, the love affair
William Tell Irish National Opera: Gaiety Theatre 8th to 12th November william-tell/gaietytheatre.ie/events/
IRELAND AND THE BLACK ATLANTIC
between his comrade and a Habsburg princess, and one of the most important apples in fiction, this Irish National Opera production is the perfect opportunity to discover it.
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Until 27th November
in surprising ways across the Atlantic, from the slave revolts in Haiti to the Irish revolution.
UntilMuseum30th October revolutionary-routesdublin.epicchq.com/
Revolutionary Routes: Ireland & the Black Atlantic EPIC: The Irish Emigration
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST
National Gallery of Ireland
Six figures feature in Seán Keating’s 1924 painting An Allegory. None of them look at or interact with each other and yet between them they tell the story of a nation at war with itself. This is the lasting power of the work of an artist who, as this National Gallery exhibition contends, was one of the most important chroniclers of a disruptive period of Irish history.
Various Venues 10th to 25th September fringefest.com/festival
Avast ye, landlubbers! Think you know a thing or two about pirates? Think again! Using newly discovered evidence about the West Country origins of Edward Teach, better known as the dread pirate Blackbeard, Show of Strength Theatre Company bring a grim history to life on this Theatre Walk around Bristol Docks. Join them, if you dare!
NovemberSeptember,throughoutOctoberand booze-and-buccaneersuk/productions/blood-showofstrength.org.
A hundred years on from the publication of Ulysses, one of Ireland’s greatest contemporary writers looks at the life of its most famous novelist, in a new play highlighting women with important connections to the life of James Joyce. From the pen of Edna O’Brien, celebrated as the writer who broke the silence on women’s experiences in repressive 1960s Ireland, Joyce’s Women is sure to be an audacious, relatable and moving portrayal.
THE DUBLIN DIFFERENCE
A THOUSAND WORDS
DO TELL
intertwining of experiences that gives history its texture. In a pioneering exhibition the Irish Emigration Museum explores how the stories of the Irish and African diasporas meet
Abbey Theatre
The Croke Park
Keating’s Allegories of Change
No place or journey can be fully captured in a single story. There is always another side, another voice – it’s the
CAMERA LUCIDA
After four years of refurbishment, the National Air and Space Museum is ready to relaunch, with 23 new exhibitions designed to propel your imagination into the stratosphere. From Wright to Armstrong and beyond, this new and improved version of the world’s most popular museum will show you that when it comes to human curiosity, the sky is really not the limit.
To walk the streets of Dublin is to witness a marvellous mixture of architectural styles, from the historic to the cutting edge. If you’ve ever wondered what the extraordinary buildings of this city look like from the inside, Open House Dublin is for you, with over 100 free events taking place in unique and fascinating structures across the capital, this is the place to learn how a city is made.
PRESENCE OF THE PAST
Gaelic Irish, Norse Ostmen, Catholic Old English, Protestant New English, Georgian & Victorian Imperials, United Irish, Irish Nationalists, Irish Unionists - over the centuries, dozens of groups and factions have left their mark on the history and politics of Dublin. With such a rich and complex past, there’s always more to learn about the Irish capital, and the Dublin Festival of History delivers a selection of engaging events to facilitate that learning.
dxfest.com
Open House Dublin Various Venues
recreate one of the bard’s great works, after one of them drinks five shots of some potent liquor. Merriment abounds! And brave (or foolhardy) is the audience member who attempts to go
26th September to 16th October dublinfestivalofhistory.ie
National Air & Space Museum Fall 2022 (re-opening dates to be confirmed) about-transformationhttps://airandspace.si.edu/
It’s rare that any festival can boast a selection of venues as diverse as the content of its programme, but Dublin Book Festival gives it a good go! Head to Dublin Port, the Botanic Gardens, the Science Gallery, or any bookshop or library in the city and you’ll likely run into an acclaimed writer or two sharing their perspectives and their stories.
Top Hanging aeroplanes as the National Air & Space museum, Washington prepares to open.
Dublin Festival of History
BOOK ME IN
Above Right The iconic squash goes ballistic at Washington’s Pumpkin Palooza.
Film doesn’t just tell stories - it seeks, unearths and discovers them too. Double Exposure is a unique film festival dedicated to the reporters, journalists
14th to 16th October ohd2022.wpengine.com
Double Exposure Investigative Film 13thBurkeFestivalTheatreto16thOctober
Dublin Book Festival Various venues
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
ALL THE WORLD’S A BAR
The humble shot (though it be but little it is fierce) is a truism the players of the Drunk Shakespeare Society know well. The pitch is simple: five actors
The Dupont Circle
Right The popular Guiness Jazz Festival kicks off all over Cork in October.
and filmmakers who explore the potential of film as a tool in investigation and advocacy. Speaking truth to power is one way to trigger change but revealing truth to the people can be just as effective, as the films and symposia of DX show.
WE HAVE LIFTOFF
Various venues
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9th to 13th November dublinbookfestival.com
How much entertainment can be derived from the humble pumpkin? Quite a bit, it would seem. With costume competitions, scavenger hunts, a famed ‘pick-yourown’ pumpkin patch and more, PumpkinPalooza in Alethia Tanner Park shows that the iconic squash more than deserves its reputation as the face of Fall.
Our lives revolve around food
Meat and Potatoes
KEEPING MUM
KITH AND (PUMP)KIN
Crawford Art Gallery
Leslie has everything figured out for her girlfriend’s birthday: a dinner party with friends, then a long-planned proposal. But when both women’s mothers arrive unexpectedly things get a bit trickier… Dolores Mannion’s new play is a touching tale of coming out, of mothers and daughters, and of healing through accepting each other.
FESTIVAL OF FOLK
Alethia Tanner Park
Until 6th November
The River Lee
15thCorkAbandonedArtsTheatreto19thand22nd to 26th November corkartstheatre.com
potatoescrawfordartgallery.ie/meat-and-
image KeoghClare
Fiddle, whistle, harp and bodhrán - the sound of Irish folk is known across the world. The music is still regularly played in Cork pubs year-round but the Cork Folk Festival is a highlight in the calendar for musiclovers, bringing Ireland’s finest traditional musicians to Cork’s most picturesque locations. Cork Folk Festival
ALL THAT JAZZ
Various venues 29th September to 2nd October corkfolkfestival.com
Various Octobervenues–dates TBC guinnessjazzfestival.com
October – check the date nomabid.org/pumpkinpalooza
FEAST FOR THE EYES
Pumpkin Palooza
Until 1st October drunkshakespeare.com
Guinness Cork Jazz Festival
measure for measure with Macbeth or Mercutio… Drunk Shakespeare Sage Theatre
Ella Fitzgerald. Dizzy Gillespie. Herbie Hancock. Just some of the famous names who have graced the stages of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival since its foundation by a hotel manager in 1978. After a triumphant post-covid return last year, we can expect
in so many ways, beyond just sustaining ourselves. Foods define cultures, create economies, and inspire the artistic imagination. This Crawford Art Gallery exhibition showcases food-focused art of all flavours from the last 400 years. Look your fill - and make sure you book somewhere for lunch afterwards…
exciting things from this year’s instalment, as it brings the world’s greatest to the streets and venues of Cork - along with thousands of fans.
head for the river, wander the banks and enjoy a quick bite before your visit to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Try the nearby Coxes Yard or the theatre café for cracking sustenance. coxsyard.com. rsc.org.uk
1:15 THE PLAY’S THE THING
OR ANNE HATHAWAY’S COTTAGE & A RIVER TRIP
DUBLIN C.1890
6:30 TO DINE, PERCHANCE TO DRINK
bridge, as well as three-masted ship (and emigration museum) the Jeanie Johnston
The Woodsman (a 15th-century inn) serves some of the best food in Stratford Upon Avon but is very busy and needs booking well ahead thewoodsmanrestaurant. co.uk. We’re also rather fond of Loxley’s, a family-run restaurant and bar serving very tasty food from their cosy place in Sheep Street. loxleysrestaurant.co.uk
& NORTHNOWWALLQUAY,
The house where the bard was born was bought for posterity in 1846 by the Shakespeare Birthday Trust and is well worth a visit. shakespeare.org.uk
The 1018-seater Royal Shakespeare Theatre has been by the river for 150 years (open daily plus Thursday and Saturday for matinees) and is the perfect place to see the bard performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. (The smaller, more intimate Swan Theatre is closed for refurbishment until 2023). rsc.org.uk
Awake when “The morning steals upon the night, melting the darkness”, then get thee to the train.
7.30 RISE & SHINE
James Joyce’s Eveline’s planned 1904 journey, with her sailor lover to Buenos Aires, became a circular one as she found she was unable to tear herself away. “She stood among the swaying crowd in the station at the North Wall. He held her hand and she knew that he was speaking to her, saying something about the passage over and over again.”
You’re in Stratford, you’ve been up since sunrise, you need coffee. Our favourite is Box Brownie on Henley Street - made with locally roasted beans and milk from Sid’s nearby farm. boxbrowniecoffee.com
Today the place is unrecognisable from its earliest incarnation with towering commercial buildings from all the ages. Victorian red brick warehouses (many refurbished) sit cheek by jowl with corporate HQs and contemporary icons including the futuristic Convention Centre - like a glass tin can set in concrete (it’s carbon neutral, you know) and the harp-like Samuel Beckett
The last train back leaves Stratford at 9.35pm (arriving in Marylebone 11.57), so don’t be late or you’ll turn into a very irritated pumpkin. chilternrailways.co.uk
Nothing beats a chance to walk in the footsteps (wear flats, it’s cobbled) of the greatest writer on earth. For Stratford Upon Avon simply take the train from Marylebone Station.
24 HOURS IN SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTHPLACE, STRATFORD UPON AVON
9:00 CARRIAGES
11:00 CAFFEINE FIX
Unusually for a rebooted docks, Dublin remains a working port with nearly nine million tonnes of goods delivered in the first quarter of 2022 alone. Ferries of all sizes dock here with over 1.7 million arriving every year. At today’s North Wall Eveline would have had more company than she could have ever imagined.
NORTH WALL QUAY, DUBLIN 2020
Alternatively, a 20-minute footpath away, Anne Hathaway’s cottage was a sizeable farmhouse and her home until she married William. It’s a beautifully preserved house with exquisite garden. shakespeare. org.uk. Then maybe a lazy trip on the Avon (there are vintage cruisers, row boats, punts and electric launches to choose from). avon-boating.co.uk
You simply cannot travel to Stratford without taking in a play. And if you are going by train it will have to be a matinée. (If you prefer to drive, you can stay for the evening performance, but parking can be tricky).
11:30 SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTHPLACE
28 THEN
It was Sir William Bligh (of HMS Bounty fame) that first demanded a North Wall in Dublin’s hazardous harbour back in 1800. It took 25 years to complete its bleak majesty, from where millions would flee from and arrive into the island of Ireland. Shipping shifted from the unprotected South wall to the new North, warehouses arose and the cargo shifted to largely commercial.
12:00 TO THE RIVER (AND A LIGHT BITE)