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Another batch of views from Tom that do not necessarily reflect the views of DaC THE WORLD ACCORDING TO TOM WHITBREAD |
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Do you look but not see?We’ve
all done the knowledge; I did it well over 30 years ago - before
Tottenham Court Road was one way and a little after the horses
stopped pulling the Hansoms! But in all the years I have
travelled around the capital, there are numerous places I’ve
passed and taken very little interest in, just that I know their
location for any prospective passenger. There are museums,
parks, art galleries, canals and rivers containing many
interesting things to see, view and photograph. But most taxi
drivers just look at the outside of a building and dismiss it as
bus drivers would a ‘request’ stop! Just last week my wife asked me what Holland Park was like as a friend had said it was beautiful inside and I had to admit after the 30 odd years of passing it, I did not have a clue. So on a very warm Wednesday three weeks ago, I polished up my Freedom Pass, kindly supplied by the Mayor of London that allows me to travel speedily across London on the underground or a little slower on the bus. It enables my wife and I to get from Dalston to Holland Park in less than 30 minutes. We left the station and crossed Holland Park Avenue, where we were able to look at the wonderful architecture of the houses in Holland Park itself and feel a little envious of those that lived in these splendid properties. It was only 100 yards to the entrance of Holland Park itself, situated inside the large white wall on the left of Holland Park. As you pass through the entrance, there is a nice covered seating area overlooking some flowerbeds and a wooded area. You then climb steps up to a path that leads through a little wooded area to the statue of Lord Henry Holland set in the middle of Lord Holland’s Pond. At this location you have the choice of a few paths; we chose the one leading to Holland House, which was built around 1605. The last person to own the house and estate before the old LCC purchased it in 1952 for the general public, was the 6th Earl of Ilchester. In front of Holland House is the open air theatre; as you pass this you go into the Portuguese Garden with its beautifully set out flowerbeds encircled by small bushes, in the centre there is the beautiful sculpture of Milo of Croton. Milo was a legendary Olympic Athlete in the 6th century, he died after trying to split open an oak tree but got his hands stuck and was devoured by wild beasts. Well, it sounds logical to me! As we continued our walk, we passed a large chess board set into the gardens with a game being played by two children. Then onto the Iris garden with its lovely ornamental fountain in which the pigeons were cooling themselves off! On through the covered walkway with its wonderful wall paintings into the Orangery - now a café with an open air seating area. Close by is a fenced-in children’s playground and drinking fountain with a few drinking bowls for dogs exercising their owners! Passing a large cricket/football field and other games areas, you are now at the back of the Commonwealth Institute in Kensington High Street. If you then swing off to the west, you head towards the tennis courts going through and underneath trees in blossom and beautiful flowers, passing by sculptures - one of which is Dhuruva Mistry’s Walking Man. This leads onto the |
 two enclosures, which have peacocks and peahens; you are up close to these birds, so you have the added attraction of being able to feed them - if you have the appropriate food. Strolling past those colourful peacocks, you pass more sculptures and then enter the Kyoto Japanese Garden. This area is so peaceful and picturesque, it really gives you a feeling of calm as you wander around. As you walk alongside the pond you can see some very large Koi Carp. These add to the tranquillity of the area. In the background is a large waterfall, which cascades over large rocks and settles into a still pool under a walkover that you use to continue your amble. In this area there are various Japanese articles for you to gaze on or information plaques to read. Then it’s on to view the conservation area and pond or sit in the shady edge of the woodland. It was at this point that we came across three parks policemen on patrol. This was a sight I had not seen for a very long while due to my living in Dalston! We then completed the circle back to the original point of entrance by way of another woodland path; on the way we just had a sit down to inhale the air and forget the hustle and bustle of the pedestrians and traffic just hundreds of yards away. If you have not been inside Holland Park and would like to view some scenes first, you can do so by going to my Facebook page and viewing the 143 photographs that I took on the day! To get to my Facebook page, search for Thomas Whitbread - it is the one with the Dial-a-Dream logo as a profile picture, you can also view some other days out that you may like to view whilst looking at the photos. There are over one thousand! You may even want to be a friend of mine on Facebook and get further information about hidden treasures. Hopefully, I will be travelling around London in the future months and viewing behind the façade of many buildings or open areas. Then I hope to put the photographs onto Facebook so you will be able to see a place before you decide to go yourself. So far there are photographs of Holland Park, London and Whipsnade Zoos and some older ones of Singapore. To
slim or not to slim… |
I checked a few
of the other charities and realised that before realising a
child’s dream in 2008, volunteers had to raise £284,708 just for
wages and salaries for their workers! This is when some of these
children only have weeks or months to live, so money needs to be
available immediately and a time when every penny is precious to
them. Other similar charities have very similar figures for wages and salaries, I can be proud that for the 20 years we have been realising the dreams for children with life threatening diseases, not one of my committee have been offered or requested a working wage, all of our hard earned cash donated by volunteers goes directly to the children. On more than one occasion my committee has even turned down expenses they have personally paid out. But back to the diet, the group belongs to the rather larger organisation Slimming World, which allows you to eat nearly all the food you like, the difference is the way you prepare it. The lady in charge, Debbie, had prepared meat balls as a main course and a massive glass bowl of trifle for dessert to demonstrate you can still have enjoyment whilst eating. Debbie informs me that if anyone would like to join their group, they have men and women of all shapes and sizes so anyone can join without feeling embarrassed. They meet at the Methodist Hall (the newer one) in Cann Hall Road, Leytonstone on a Wednesday evening at 5.15pm and 7pm. You can call in just to see if it would suit you, or you can phone Debbie on 020 8558 6671. Debbie also runs a session at St Katherine Cree Church, 86 Leadenhall St EC3 on Tuesdays between 12.00 and 2pm, then on Thursdays at The Dutch Church, 2 Austin Friars EC2 between 12.00 and 2pm. If you would like to join Debbie’s Slimming World or help her raise money for Dial-a-Dream, pop along. You can donate to Dial-a-Dream at www.bit.ly/dialadream. When you join you get a plastic card, which you bring along and it goes into a computer connected to a set of scales. It records your personal record of weight loss. They will also advise you on how to lose weight and you can purchase weight losing cookery books, there is also a prize for each class at Cann Hall Road for the biggest loser (weight wise). They will not try and embarrass you if you gain a little weight one week, because everyone has a party, wedding or retirement party to go to now and again. And speaking of Dial-a-Dream, we are asking if you know of a child who has a life threatening illness and is in need of a dream wish to give them the will to fight and say Let Me, Live Another Day. Please contact me by email at tom@dialadream.org with details so we can contact the parents. We have two rules. One is that you do not mention it to the child just in case a problem arises and two, it must be the child’s dream not a parent or guardian’s wish. The child must be between 4 and 18 years old. I am trying to build up a photograph history of Dial-a-Dream on Facebook, if you would like to view some of the photographs just type into the Facebook search Dial-a-Dream. If you are going away on holiday, have a good rest and even better weather… Tom Whitbread |
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