A lot of hot air
The good old British weather notoriously affects many of London’s sporting and recreational events. The tennis at Wimbledon just about kept to schedule this year despite some very variable conditions and, of course, the mudbaths at music festivals have become legendary.
This summer has been very mixed with the odd sunny, warm day interspersed with windy and rainy periods, leading to disappointments and cancellations.
And so it was with this year’s Lord Mayor’s Balloon Festival which was scheduled for July 7. Rain and gusty winds led to rescheduling for Sunday, July 21 and even then, a reserve date of July 28 was provisionally set.
The Hot Air Balloon Regatta was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, and bad weather in 2022 and 2023 saw further cancellations. meaning this would be the first successful regatta in five years.
Around 50 brightly coloured balloons take to the sky when the festival can actually take place with the stunning London backdrop of skyscrapers and historic buildings providing perfect Instagram photo opportunities! The planned route this year takes in Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and the London Eye.
Apart from being a great visual spectacle, the extravaganza is all about raising awareness of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, a charity initiative that has already raised some £250,000 (€297,000) for good causes.
Deeply Dippy
The ever-popular diplodocus from the central hall of London’s Natural History Museum, Dippy, has left the capital – for now at least! Dippy is now visiting Coventry and will be there for another two years with visits to other places on the cards too. This has been replaced by the huge skeleton of a blue whale.
However, Dippy fans have been delighted that a full-size bronze cast has been constructed and placed in the newly opened gardens of the famous Kensington museum. Local schoolchildren were called in to name this one and have come up with the name ‘Fern’. Even better news for prehistoric lovers, Fern is accompanied by a second bronze dinosaur, a Hypsilophodon, which was native to Britain.
The gardens are a new feature for the museum and include ancient rocks, a nature discovery garden, and an evolution area. There is even a large slab of Lewisian gneiss, from the Scottish Isle of Barra, believed to be the oldest rock in the United Kingdom.
The wildlife areas in the transformed grounds of the Victoria museum include ponds with frogs, newts, dragonflies and ducks.
Museum Director Doug Gurr said: “We are incredibly excited for visitors to get lost in the nature and the story of our planet, stretching back 2.7 billion years, as they explore our completely transformed gardens this summer.
“Beneath the graceful gaze of our newest dinosaur, Fern, two immersive outdoor galleries are already teeming with wildlife. It’s the perfect place for all to connect with and learn about the nature on our doorsteps.
“We know that for people and the planet to thrive, we must act to support urban nature recovery. As well as a new way for visitors to engage with the museum, our reimagined gardens will play a vital role in understanding how nature in our towns and cities is responding to a changing planet and how we can better safeguard it.”
A network of 25 scientific sensors will collect environmental and acoustic data from insects and birds to allow scientists to analyse how the natural world is changing and adapting.
The famous gothic edifice housing the museum was opened on April 18, 1881, as a ‘cathedral to nature’ by the visionary Victorian scientist, Sir Richard Owen. 2023 saw its best year yet with 5.68 million visitors.
The Greatest Show on Earth
2017 saw the release of the blockbuster, biographical musical drama The Greatest Showman. It was a heavily fictionalised story of the life of P.T. Barnum, starring Hugh Jackman and very unusually was premiered aboard RMS Queen Mary 2.
Earning some $435 million (€398 million) worldwide, it was the fifth highest grossing musical film of all time and now Simon Hammerstein (grandson of songwriter, Oscar Hammerstein) is hoping to repeat the success with a huge live show in West London.
A 700-seat big-top theatre is being built in Earl’s Court for the new show which will be called Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular. Acrobats, jugglers, dancers, musicians and actors will bring the production to life at the Empress Museum on September 23.
Hammerstein, speaking to The Times, said: “We are not doing a dramatic musical version of the film but will be taking these songs, reordering them, bringing in new characters and setting the show today.” Roll up, roll up!
Fit for a King
The newly elected Labour government means a new State Opening of Parliament. As with so much in the UK, this event is steeped in history, pomp and ceremony with some slightly strange quirks!
The streets are closed to traffic and the usual array of protesters are out and about as the King and Queen travel to the Palace of Westminster. The Imperial State Crown, one of the most valuable Crown Jewels, has its own carriage and private escort. It weighs just over one kilo and has nearly 3,000 precious gems, including 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and five rubies.
The King’s bodyguards, the Yeoman of the Guard (Beefeaters), carry out a ceremonial search of Parliament’s cellars after that dastardly Guy Fawkes plot centuries ago while highly trained police marksmen can be seen on the roofs of Buckingham Palace and other buildings en route. The security precautions for clear and present dangers today being so obviously necessary.
The King and Queen travel to Parliament in the glittering Diamond Jubilee State Coach. Whilst this looks to be from another age, it has actually only been in use since 2014 and has air-conditioning, hydraulic suspension and electric windows.
Perhaps the greatest oddity is the hostage-taking! A Member of Parliament is ‘held hostage’ at Buckingham Palace when the monarch leaves for the official opening. The thinking behind this goes back to the time of Charles I who was always at odds with MPs and the hostage is taken to guarantee the safe return of the King. The hostage this year was Samantha Dixon, the Labour MP for Chester North and Neston.
A little piece of history was made this year too when Queen Camilla celebrated her 77th birthday on the day of the State Opening.
Richard Lamberth leads parallel lives with homes and business interests in London and Portugal. He provides consultancy services to leading businesses in insurance and financial services, property and media sectors. He has four sons, two dogs and enjoys a busy family life. He likes swimming, keeping fit and an outdoor life.
londoncalling@portugalresident.com
