They're gonna live forever. Oasis exhibition

Twenty years to the day since Oasis shot to stardom with Supersonic (released the 11th of April, 1994), a free exhibition dedicated to the English rock band opened in Shoreditch. Chasing The Sun: Oasis 1993 - 1997 is taking place at the Londonewcastle Project Space from the 11st until the 22nd of April. 

The showing takes us to their meteoric career through three albums: Definitely Maybe, (What's the Story) Morning Glory, and Be Here Now.

This exhibition includes original pictures taken by Jill Furminovsky, Paul Slattery, Tom Sheehan, Kevin Cummins, and Jamie Fry. The exposition also displays the instruments they played on their first few albums, awards, stage costumes, a Manchester City flag, vintage merchandise or Noel Gallagher’s handwritten lyric sheets.

Ludgate Hill, c. 1920

Ludgate Hill, c. 1920

London Marathon

Photo: The Telegraph / GETTY IMAGES

The Polytechnic Marathon, also known as Poly, was the oldest regular marathon in Europe. It was held in London from 1909 to 1996.  

Inspired by the New York Marathon, the Olympic champion Chris Brasher and the athlete John Disley founded the current London Marathon. Its first edition was celebrated on 29th of March, 1981.

Nowadays it's not just a sport event. The Virgin London Marathon is one of the World Marathon Majors. Giving back, in 2012 it was the largest marathon with 37,227 runners finishing the race and more than 900,000 people have completed it since it was organized for the first time. But it's not only sport and fun because this competition has raised more than £500m for charity so far.

Worcester' and the Cutty Sark, 1953

'Worcester' and the Cutty Sark, 1953 Henry Grant

Oxford against Cambridge

Oxford and Cambridge have been training all year to face each other this weekend and today, at 5.55pm, one of the oldest sporting games in the world was celebrated: the 160th Boat Race.

The race is 6.8 Km long and it took place over the River Thames, from Putney to Mortlake. The itinerary is better known as the Championship Course and it has been used since 1845 with only three exceptions. In 1846, 1856 and 1863 the race was held in the opposite direction. 

This year Oxford University won by 11 lengths, the biggest margin of victory since 1973. With this triumph they achieve their fifth victory in seven years. 

Cambridge had the heaviest crew with 2.6kg per man more than Oxford, but they had the youngest team, 24 against 26 years old. Unfortunately, and besides the two teams had strong squads, the two oar of the Cambridge boat hit the seven oar of the Oxford boat. It was a disaster for Cambridge. The oar number two, Luke Juckett, was devastated.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park opens to the public

After a two-year transformation, at last, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has opened to the public. On Friday, Prince Harry and Mayor Boris Johnson were the guests of the site but it was on Saturday, at 10 am, when Londoners could visit and explore the whole parkland, 560-acres, for the fist time.

Although the north area and the Copper Box Arena opened last year, it was this weekend when the south side and the Ancelor Mittal Orbit, with its 375ft-high, were accessible. 

This is part of the London 2012 Games' planning. A great east London landmark and a reference place for all Londoners.

In June the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre will be open, where the European Hockey Championship will be hosted in 2015. The new roof for the Olympic stadium will be finished to celebrate the Rugby World Cup next year and the last piece of the puzzle will be completed in 2016 with the West Ham stadium opening.

The Coffee Art Project

Coffee and art have a strong bond. Do you know which one is it? 

The Coffee Art Project connects these two concepts with an excellent competition. Different artists created their unique masterpieces with the 'coffee' or 'coffee shop' theme. They could use diverse techniques as painting, photography, design, drawing, sculpture... 

The best artwork will win £1,500 and this work will appear on the labels of Coffee by Tate for 12 months. Another five shortlisted runner-up will receive a prize with value of £250 and also there will be a special London Coffee Festival Visitor Award. All of them will be announced on the 6th of April at London Coffee Festival.

Wych St, c.1890

Wych Street, c.1890

Pancake Day

Are you ready? So grab your frying pan and be prepared for the race because tomorrow, 4th of March, it's Pancake Day. 

Picture: Metro

Also known as Shrove Tuesday, it's always celebrated the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. It's a good opportunity to use eggs, sugar and milk before the 40 days of fasting. This is an important tradition in United Kingdom but in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Canada too.

One of the most important entertainment in Shove Tuesday is the Pancake Races. The tradition say that one woman from Buckinghamshire was so busy doing pancakes in her kitchen that she didn't heard the church bells. When she realised that she was late, she started running to get to the church in time while she was carrying her frying pan and the pancake. Since then, this races are became popular.

Robert the Engine

This is the 0-6-0 saddle tank locomotive, works number 2068, named Robert. It was built in 1933 by the Avonside Engine Company, a builder of industrial locomotives established in Avon Street, Bristol, between 1864 and 1934. It was used at the Lamport Ironstone Mines Railway in Northamptonshire.

"After the railway closed in 1969, Robert worked on a number of heritage railways before being acquired by the London Docklands Development Corporation as an example of a twentieth century industrial steam locomotive and it was displayed at the site of the former Beckton Gas Works, once the largest producer of 'Town Gas' in Europe".

The London Borough of Newham bought Robert in 2000 and they moved the 80-years-old steam-locomotive in front of Stratford Station. Eight years later, it was shunted off to the East Anglian Railway Museum at Chappel and Wakes Colne, near Colchester, where it was cleaned and repainted.

Fetter Lane, c. 1910

Fetter Lane, c. 1910

Walls Ice Cream Vendor, c. 1920

Walls Ice Cream Vendor, c. 1920

The Taste of the Tube

All Londoners are familiar with the London Underground. The delays, the temperature and the smell are the most frequently complains. But there is a 54 years old man, James Wannerton, who has a particular relationship with the Tube and its stations because he is synesthetes.

The synaesthesia, as it is defined by the Oxford dictionary, is a neurological condition in which "the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body".

In other words, James's senses get mixed up and these are some of his experiences.

                  

Tottenham Court Road Station

This picture, taken in Tottenham Court Road Station, represents a small part of one of the 1000 square metres of mosaic designed by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi.

Barges at Surrey Docks; 1933

London docks  (Museum of London Docklands)

The Photographers Gallery presents...

“A picture means I know where I was every minute. That's why I take pictures. It's a visual diary.” Andy Warhol 

Painter, colourist and filmmaker, Andy Warhol (1928-1987) had photography always close to his heart. On the 70th, the artist focused his work , using a Polaroid, in celebrities portraits. Nevertheless, it was in 1976 when Warhol bought a 35mm black and white film. He carried this camera until his death, taking up to 36 frames per day.

So, Warhol invented the Instagram's idea decades ago. Capturing everyday and anytime details, people, street scenes, interiors, landscapes or friends.

An exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery exposes more than 50 Warhol's black-and-white prints from 1976 until 1987. But that's not all.

Throgmorton St, c. 1920

London Ice Sculpting Festival

What can you do on a cold day in London? From Friday 10th until Sunday 12th January, lots of Londoners discovered the amazing things that can be done with a block of ice in The London Ice Sculpting Festival, placed in Canary Wharf.

10 teams and 20 ice sculptors from Africa, Belgium, France, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA competed in 3 different fields:

Freestyle, in which the artists made their free choice of design. The themes "River Life" for the Singles competition and "Fabulous Fashion" for the Doubles.

But the festival was, as well, a perfect occasion to know about the ice's art. There were free master classes to learn how to sculpt polar bears.

Snow Globe over Anteros

Son of Ares and Aphrodite, Anteros was given to his brother Eros as a playmate. In Greek mythology, he was the God of requited love. He punishes those who don't correspond to the love of others, so it is the avenger of Cupid. 

The most important statue of Anteros in the world is located on the top of the Shaftesbury Monument Memorial Fountain in Piccadilly Circus. The landmark, popularly mistaken for Eros, is known as well as The Angel of Christian Charity. The monument, erected in 1892 by Alfred Gilbert, represents the philanthropic works of Lord Shaftesbury with the poor people.

But this monument has a difficult story. The statue was made from aluminium, whilst the fountain is cast in bronze, and it was damaged several times when vandals tried to climb to the God, specially on the lead up to New Years.

Lego Snow Globe

Maybe Winter is coming but Christmas is already here. The light displays are on, most of the Christmas markets will be ready this week (Winter Wonderland will open on Friday) and everything is ready to welcome Santa. 

But Christmas can't be perfect without the master Duncan Titmarsh. Last year we could enjoy with a huge LEGO advent calendar in Covent Garden and two years ago, the world’s tallest LEGO Christmas tree was installed in St Pancras station.

This year, Duncan, using 120,000 bricks, has built a 3 metres tall snow globe filled with 14 of the most iconic buildings in London, including The Shard, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Nelson's Column, The O2, Battersea Power Station, The London Eye, The Gherkin, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Emirates Air Line, St Paul's Cathedral, Tate Modern, and Covent Garden Market.

The Lord Mayor's Show

The Lord Mayor's Show is a 798 years old parade.

The new Lord Mayor this year is called Fiona Woolf and she is only the second woman to hold the office in nearly 800 years.  

The newly-elected Lord Mayor started the day with a breakfast in Guildhall. The Mayor was escorted, in her coach, to the Mansion House, her future official residence. Fiona watched the show from the terrace and joined them after the flypast executed by the Royal Air Force. 

The parade travelled down Poultry, Cheapside, New Change, St Paul's Churchyard, Ludgate Hill, Fleet Street and The Strand, where Lord Mayor swore her loyalty to the Crown in the Royal Courts of Justice.

The fifth of November

Remember remember the fifth of November. The rhyme tells us it’s important to make the 'gunpowder, treason and plot' stick in our memory, but how much of this grisly tale of rebellion and religion do we really know?

Newham fireworks display (3rd of November, 2013)

In 1605 a group of 14 provincial Catholics tried to kill the King James I of England, who was Protestant, and replaced him with a Catholic one. The 5th of November, Guy Fawkes, one of the conspirators, was arrested when the police found a cache of explosives placed beneath the House of Lords. To celebrate the fact that the King was alive, the people lit bonfires around the city.

Knightsbridge, 1935

Hoardings in Knightsbridge, c. 1935

Abbey Road

Abbey Road, the 11th studio album released by The Beatles, was consider by the critics as the band's best work and one of the best albums of the History. 

But Abbey Road is much more than that. Located in the borough of Camden and the City of Westminster, it is one of the most famous streets in London. The Abbey Road Studios, before known as EMI Studios, has become centre of pilgrimage for the fans of the Beatles.

The Football Map

Both the Football Association and London Underground are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year. The Metropolitan Railway, the oldest of the Underground, opened to the public on January 10, 1863. The FA was formed on October 26, 1863, at the Freemasons’ Tavern, near Holborn tube. 

To commemorate this historic moment, they worked together to create a new Tube map.

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Little Italy, 1890

Eyre St Hill, Little Italy, c. 1890

Rupert Street, 1948

Rupert Street.  on 13th September 1948

Cheapside, 1892

The Small Theatres

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Thanks to "Centre Stage", the report made by the London Assembly, we know that nearly half of the small Londoners' theatres have some financial problems. Because of the politics and the new ways of entertainment, these theatres have an insecure future. 

To show this situation, Transport For London has designed a new alternative map in which they have plotted London’s many small theatres and their closest tube stations.

The map is a great way to know where many interesting places in the city are but, at the same time, it shows two theatrically impoverished areas: the north-west and south.

Al fin solo (Finally Alone)

Are you single or married? Do you have a fiancé? It doesn't matter your status because everyone has "love" problems, either if you are not looking for the real love or you are arguing everyday with your half-orange. But now, there is a man who wants to help us. 

Two hours of learning and a lot of laughing, thanks to Goyo Jiménez and his show "Al fin solo". The comedian, using the same style as "Cavernícola's" play, tries to explain why the heterosexual Human Being fails when trying to have a relationship. Men don't understand women and vice versa but, now, everybody who enjoyed last Thursday with Goyo's show can survive easily in this complicated world.

Mile End, 1920

Trinity Almshouses, Mile End Rd, c. 1920

The Blitz

In the Blitz, during the Second World War, thousands of civilians were killed and more than a million homes in London were destroyed. They seem only numbers but... what happens if we represent this situation on a map?

Bombsight.org mapped every single known bomb of the Blitz, dropped between October 1940 and June 1941. The originals maps are available in the reading rooms at The National Archives. On the website you can also see some testimonials from the BBC's WW2 People's War and photographs of war damage, on loan from the Imperial War Museum.

St Mary's Hospital

We can find this relief in the main entrance of St Mary's Hospital. The centre, situated in Paddington, was founded in 1845 but opened its doors to patients in 1851. It's famous because of two important discoveries: 

C. R. Alder Wright, while he was working at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, was the first person to synthesize diacetylmorphine in 1874. Wright's invention became popular only after it was independently re-synthesized by Felix Hoffmann twenty four years later. That year, Bayer marketed this new medicine under the name "heroin", few days after launching the aspirin. The drug was used as a sedative for coughs and as a substitute for morphine.

Seven Dials, 1900

Seven Dials, c. 1900

The Ghosts Stations

What's happening with this Tube's map? Where are all the stations? Do some names look familiar to you? 

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That is because these stops don't exist anymore. They are ghost stations, maybe because they were old installations, moved to another location or because of the number of passengers was very low.

Nowadays, Ajit Chambers wants to re-open some of them and use them as event spaces or museums.

Thanks to Dylan Maryk, who plotted the exact location of these stations in Google map, we can see, easily, where these stations were located and relevant information, like th1e date and the reason for closure.

It's a boy!

It was yesterday, at 16.24, when the third in line to the UK throne was born. The baby boy weighed 8lb 6oz (around 3.8 kilograms). 

The good news were shared, in the first place, by the Town Crier.

The Casino Theatre

The Casino Theatre on 31st July 1947.
The Prince Edward Theatre on Old Compton Street.

Thomas Becket

Near this spot, in Cheapside, Thomas Becket was born on the 21st of December, 1118 .

The Gaumont Theatre on Haymarket

On 19th October 1949, the Gaumont Theatre was showing Mighty Joe Young.
Today, this building shelters an RBS bank

Monument, 1900

At the foot of the Monument, c.1900

Cock Lane

In the junction between Snow Hill and Cock Lane, a road where the brothels were legal, we can find a terracota’s shopfront dedicated to John J. Royle. 

Born in Manchester in 1850, in the late Victorian epoch, this engineer became famous because of his many inventions: the egg beater, the timed egg boiler, the smokeless fuel irons... but it was the self-pouring teapot (patent no. 6327 of 1886) for which “J.J” became most well known.

Holborn Viaduct. 1910

Saint Bartholomew-the-Less

This palm is situated in the floor of Saint Bartholomew-the-Less. It's in the heart of London, between St Paul, Barbican and Farringdon. St Bartholomew-the-Less, which have this suffix to distinguish it from St Bartholomew the Great, is located in the Henry VIII Gate entrance to St Bartholomew Hospital.

Sigue con Nosotros (He Stays With Us)

Nowadays it’s difficult to walk around the city without listening Spanish speaking, but where was the Spanish community in London yesterday? 

The great comedian Berto Romero was performing, at 8 o’clock, in The Clapham Grand and no one wanted to miss it. One hour and a half of dancing, singing, music and laughs. Lot of laughs.

The show started with an hilarious video about Berto’s previous life. Risto Mejide and Andreu Buenafuente, of course, are some of the famous people who collaborate in it.

The Golden Boy of Pye Corner

In the junction of Cock Lane and Giltspur Street is the figure of the “Golden Boy of Pye Corner”.

This small statue was originally established into the wall of the Fortune of War, a public house in Smithfield. This tavern was famous because of its tenant, Thomas Andrews, who, in 1761, was condemned of sodomy and sentenced to death. The King George III exculpated him. This decision stimulated the first debate about homosexuality in England. In the 19th century, the tavern was the main centre for the resurrectionists. The doctors at St Bartholomew´s Hospital used to go to The Fortune of War to find death bodies to practice their surgeries. The bar was torn down in 1910. 

Meanwhile, Monument, which was enclosed by Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, was built between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the start of the Great Fire of London, The Boy remembers where the Fire was extinguished. In the sculpture we can read:

The Fire started in a bakery at Pudding Lane and finished in Pye Corner. The child is fat to enforce the moral suggesting that another great fire would happen any day soon. 

Biblical Tube

Another curious underground map was created by James Eaglesfield one year ago to connect York and London. James was inspired to design this sketch when he was a volunteer on York Mystery Plays 2012. 

In this sacred map, you can discover biblical places, spiritual connections, holy stations and religious references.

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Questions: 

Can you find Ascension Central, Old Testament Gate, Angel Gabriel, Barabbas-ican, Crucifix-ton, Canada Holy Water, Covent Garden of Eden, Herod Park Corner, Lamb of God North, Cain & Abel, Gad’s Hill, Jonah & The Whale, Lucifer Road or Seven Thunder?

Leadenhall Street, about 1800

Head office of the East India Company,
Leadenhall Street,  London, about 1800

Whitechapel Murders

Tourists maybe don’t know what or where Whitechapel is, but Londoners have knowledge of this district, for sure. Situated in East London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, it is a poor–working class neighbourhood. In its streets you can find a great diversity. Bangladeshis define the 52% of the community total inhabitants. A really particular neighbourhood full of colours, fruit stands, people and life.

But this zone, years ago, it was really famous because of some horrible crimes. Within its boundaries, from 3rd April of 1888 to 13th February of 1891, the Whitechapel murders happened. Eleven unsolved homicides, five of them prostitutes, were attributed to a serial killer known as Jack the Ripper.

It happened more than one century ago, but the mystery is still present.