Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Royal Holloway college?

 Sorry...just realised that was a picture of Ian Holloway...bit slow.

 My mum used to be a secretary at Holloway Sanitorium which was designed by the same guy. That building was left to rot for years after Thatcher decided the community could look after all the patients and I think it ended up being turned into a very posh, sort of gated community.

Hi Neil, & Camel.

Yes - it goes by the name of "Royal Holloway & New Bedford College".

See this, from Mr Wiki.....


"Royal Holloway College, a women-only college, was founded by the Victorian entrepreneur Thomas Holloway in 1879 on the Mount Lee Estate in Egham. The founding of the college was brought about after Holloway, seeking to fulfil a philanthropic gesture, began a public debate through The Builder regarding 'How best to spend a quarter of a million or more', at which point his wife proposed to build a college especially for women. Holloway later increased his original sum of money to half a million, and today, the campus is still best known for its original 600-bed building, known as the Founder's Building, designed by William Henry Crossland and inspired by the Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley, France. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner called the original college building "the most ebullient Victorian building in the Home Counties", and noted that together with its sister building the Holloway Sanatorium, it represents "the summit of High Victorian design". The Founder's Building, which is now Grade I listed, was officially opened in 1886 by Queen Victoria who allowed the use of "Royal" in the college's name. Founder's has been described by The Times as "one of Britain’s most remarkable university buildings", largely due to its elaborate architecture, and according to The Sunday Times it "makes the college instantly recognisable".

I am not certain, but I assume the "main" building is the part referered to as "Founders".

Note reference to Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, who was the chap who painstakingly wrote about every building of note in every County of England in what became the standard work known simply as "Pevsner".  

What a truly spectacular building!

I would imagine that internally, it is not so good. These sort of buildings don't generally convert to modern day usage very well, what with the need for plentiful toilets, private bathrooms & showers, air-con, power points etc.

Anyway, it made my day to discover such a treasure, lurking just outside London, right on the A30, but suitably tree-screened. Even the gardens are magnificent, with hundreds of tree specimens.

In the 2nd photo, the A30 Trunk Road can just be seen bottom right - & you can see how well screened the Building is from the road by those beautiful trees.

See also how well the bulding "sits" in that spectacularly wooded Surrey countryside.  For reference, I doubt Heathrow Airport is more than 5 miles distant.  

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Neil referred to the nearby Holloway Sanitorium, & correctly noted it had been converted to domestic dwellings. As the College Building article stated, the Sanitorium was designed by the same man, Mr Holloway. 

Note, in picture #3, the boundary wall. There used to be loads of these Victorian instituations, & they all had those forbidding high walls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holloway_Sanatorium

Click to see full-size image.

[TightEnd]

Have you been to Ham House?

Not too far from you




the gardens are something else

by the by, the view to Ham House from between the Ham and Richmond Gates in Richmond Park is unbeatable

[Tal]

Another Victorian Holloway is, in a way, closer to my heart:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Holloway



Quite a place. Five executions were held there (Ruth Ellis perhaps the most famous).

[tikay]

For those that have a life, & are not addicted to our Sports Betting Board, you may have missed this.

Truly, the funniest thing I've seen in years.

WARNING - contains rude words.



 

[tikay]

Another Victorian Holloway is, in a way, closer to my heart:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Holloway



Quite a place. Five executions were held there (Ruth Ellis perhaps the most famous).

Odd that the name "Holloway" crops up again, but no connection.

The scariest "Institution" I ever recall was in Hanwell, West London, in fact parts of it still remain, & it still cares for the mentally ill I believe.

But times were very different then, & the place rejoiced in the worst name you could ever imagine - Hanwell Lunatic Asylum - later changed to Hanwell Insane Asylum.

I doubt a patient ever came out of those places.

As kids, we called such places, without a hint of embarrassment, sarcasm or irony, loonybins.


Nice buildings, mind. The Victorians could build stuff proper good.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Have you been to Ham House?

Not too far from you




the gardens are something else

by the by, the view to Ham House from between the Ham and Richmond Gates in Richmond Park is unbeatable

Yes, many times.

Stunning.

And we have Richmond Park & Bushy Park, almost adhacent, & quite amazingly beautiful, with Deer & all sorts.

So much grandeur & beauty, right on our doorsteps.

I visited Windsor Great Park at the weekend, too. Did you ever hear a more grand name for a park?

Windsor Great Park.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Great_Park

[Karabiner]

The Royal Holloway University is near Reading I believe.

Is that the building in the photos?

I'd never heard of it until my niece Yuval, who I sort of introduced you to, won a music scholarship there a couple of years ago.

[tikay]

The Royal Holloway University is near Reading I believe.

Is that the building in the photos?

I'd never heard of it until my niece Yuval, who I sort of introduced you to, won a music scholarship there a couple of years ago.

Well sort of, yes, it's between Windsor & Heathrow, in Egham, probably 10 or 15 miles from Reading.

Yes, that is the Founders Buiding, essentially the Student Accommodation, or Halls of Residence as I believe posh people call them.

It is an all-Female affair, & includes Music amongst it's specialities, so yes, it is likely Yuval studied there.

She would have been in good company judging by the list of "notable alumni" included here....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Holloway,_University_of_London

What is Yuval doing at the moment, & where, if I may ask?

[Karabiner]

The Royal Holloway University is near Reading I believe.

Is that the building in the photos?

I'd never heard of it until my niece Yuval, who I sort of introduced you to, won a music scholarship there a couple of years ago.

Well sort of, yes, it's between Windsor & Heathrow, in Egham, probably 10 or 15 miles from Reading.

Yes, that is the Founders Buiding, essentially the Student Accommodation, or Halls of Residence as I believe posh people call them.

It is an all-Female affair, & includes Music amongst it's specialities, so yes, it is likely Yuval studied there.

She would have been in good company judging by the list of "notable alumni" included here....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Holloway,_University_of_London

What is Yuval doing at the moment, & where, if I may ask?

She didn't like living in suburbia so left RH after a couple of semesters (I think that's the correct word and not a horrible Americanism) and is still continuing her course at another college within London University, living back at home in Edgware and getting her tuition at The Royal College of Music.

It's her 20th birthday next month and we always have a chat around then so I'm looking forward to an update as I've not had one for a while.

[Tal]

Semesters?

We had terms. I hope with the utmost sincerity that the institution in the capital of these fair Isles uses identical nomenclature to the Noble Sisters.

[Karabiner]

Semesters?

We had terms. I hope with the utmost sincerity that the institution in the capital of these fair Isles uses identical nomenclature to the Noble Sisters.

Thank you Tal I knew it sounded wrong, we had terms at school too.

My University was Haight-Ashbury in 1967 and the memory is less than 20/20....

[Tal]

No problem.

That's as normal as Oxbridge gets, I'm afraid.

The terms in Cambridge are called Michaelmas, Lent and Easter. At the other place, they are called Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity.

Weirdos.

[Claw75]

Morning Tikay

Don't know if you're familiar with the new Placebo track but I think you'll like where it is coming from.  I'd never seen the video until just now so I could post the song for you, but it's very good also.

[tikay]

Morning Tikay

Don't know if you're familiar with the new Placebo track but I think you'll like where it is coming from.  I'd never seen the video until just now so I could post the song for you, but it's very good also.

Thanks Claire.

Umm, why will I like where it is coming from? I'm not disputing that, but I can't really work out what the lyrics mean. Nice tune though......

I tried to bone up on it by reading reviewws, but only got more confused. Try getting your head round this review of it....

http://nerdgasmpodcast.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/my-review-of-too-many-friends-by-placebo/

I got the impression that the author of the review is taking life a little bit too seriously, just as some recreationals get a little bit too heavy with poker theory.

I got this part though, I think....

The distaste towards social networks and the idea of computers taking over society continues with “the applications are to blame/for my sorrow and my pain/ a feeling so alone” which I feel references the fact that we, as a society are letting these networks and Internet take over our lives because of our easy access to pages such as Facebook and Twitter which have become a modern addiction

My music tastes are very basic - I like a nice tune, I like to understand the meaning but if the tune is nice (as in say, REM stuff) I'm not fussed if I can't get the meaning.

Nice & simple does me, which is why The Beatles made such an impression on me. "I wanna hold your hand" says everything.

And when she kissed me, I felt happy, insiiiiiide.....

Here's a more recent example, which I rather like. I can understand it, hear the words, & it is catchy. Perfect.

Hope you are well. Not forgotten your PM, am a bit behind, & trying to catch up.