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Monthly Archives: September 2005

St. George’s Hanover Square

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In Regency romance lore, St. George’s Hanover Square is the church where many society couples married during the Regency. Located in Mayfair, it’s a lovely “little” church (little compared to something like St Paul’s Cathedral!) which looks a bit like St. Martin-in-the-Fields. You can still see St. George’s Hanover Square today. Here are some photos I took last time I toured Mayfair. (They were doing some repair work at the time, as you can see!) There’s isn’t a huge amount of Regency Mayfair still standing (St James’s is much better preserved) — Almack’s is gone, and so much else — but there are some gems left (like this one!) Here are a couple more pictures:

I do love taking pictures of churches and cathedrals — they photograph so well!

If anyone wants to see more pictures of Regency London, let us know! (There’s a lot more where these came from . . .)

Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER — Signet Regency, November 2005

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Travel for fun and research!

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At the Beau Monde conference in Reno (which, BTW, was well-organized, informative, and lots of fun!), I did a short workshop on getting the most out of your travel for research, which seems to fit in with what current discussions on favorite museums. A few of my tips (strictly basics, but things which I wish other people had told me before I went stomping off across England the first time!) are:
1) Do all the research you can on the sites you plan to visit before you even leave home–the Internet is God’s gift to travelers!
2) Try to visit sites at “off” times, and always make a note of what time of year you are there, what the weather and surroundings are like
3) Take advantage of a good guide or docent–smother them with questions! I found that the vast majority LOVE to talk in-depth about the site and want to answer questions (even the weird ones we writers always have)
4) Don’t be afraid to explore (except where there are No Admittance signs, natch!)
5) Wear comfy shoes and leave heavy bags behind (load up at the gift shop AFTER the tour)
6) Take a camera or small notebook (a little tape recorder, if you have it)
7) Always buy guidebooks! (And, if you’re me, tea towels and figurines and magnets and other useless things)
8) Organize your info as soon as you get back to the hotel, then it’s ready to be input when you get home–label photos
9) Write off all your expenses (my CPA’s eyes light up when he sees I’ve been on a trip)

Author Diane Perkins also has an article posted online about research and travel (http://www.wetnoodleposse.com/Sept_2005/writerslife.html) that I enjoyed.

And all of this talk about museums and sites has me longing to go back to England ASAP! I have never been to the Herschel Museum, but it is now definitely on my list, and I second the Geffrye Museum. Two places I like that are a bit off the beaten path (and, strangely, they both have to do with music) are Finchcocks Living Museum of Music and the Handel House Museum

Finchcocks is in Goudhurst, Kent, a Georgian manor built in 1725. It is now owned by pianist Richard Burnett and his wife, and is a museum containing over 100 historical instruments (mostly pianos, clavichords, harpsichords, etc), the oldest dating from the early 1600s. They also have an extensive collection on eighteenth century pleasure gardens, such as Ranelagh and Vauxhall. There is a great staff there, who will happily play demonstrations on the instruments. Great fun.

The Handel House is at 25 Brook Street, Mayfair in London. It was (you guessed it) the home of Handel for over 30 years, and they have many of his possessions and original manuscripts (including one for a portion of Messiah), as well as beautifully restored Georgian rooms. The museum has expanded into the house next door, as well, and this has an exhibit on Georgian life in London that is not to be missed. On an interesting sidenote, this home was also the residence of Jimi Hendrix for a time in the 1960s, and they have a small exhibit of some of his items, which makes a fun contrast to all the Georgianness. 🙂

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Another place–Genesee Country Village and Museum

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In reading the last post about favorite places, I thought of how long it has been since I have gone to a magical spot just for me. I love historic places, and they are great food for the muse.

I’ve been to a few places in the past that I loved. Here is one: The Genesee Country Village and Museum. It is a living history museum in Mumford, N.Y., just 20 miles from Rochester, and its focus is the 19th century.

url: http://www.gcv.org/index.shtml

More than a historic village, it has activities, classes, scheduled events, gardens, a nature center, an art gallery, and a carriage museum. But in my particular experience, the stand-out event was the day I attended a reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg.

The Union troops mustered in the town square. It was a hot July weekend, and I remember with a little of the thrill I felt then when the sky rumbled overhead. The men cheered–and soon we were standing in a pouring torrent.

I took shelter on the front porch of one of the houses with other visitors and waited for the event to start. We heard the approach of the confederate troops from the edge of town and the distant sount of musket fire…the battle grew closer, and then the union troops were retreating through the town in front of us, in the pouring rain and the fog of black powder smoke, the soldiers nothing but hazy figures, running, reloading, firing, calling out, falling–and of course as they do in reinactments, getting up and running again–but I ignored that part. It felt eerily as though I were really there in Gettysburg.

It did not pour on any of the days of battle (July 1-4, 1863) but it was overcast with some thunder and light rain. But something about the scene that day seemed so utterly real to me. It is something the hazy photographs I took do not quite bring back, but the memory of the feeling I had is more than enough.

Has anyone else had such a transporting moment? I wonder how many of us are historical site buffs who read and write Regencies? I’d be willing to bet most of us are…

Laurie

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One of my favorite places–William Herschel Museum, Bath

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I find a lot of people don’t know about this museum in Bath, so naturally whenever I get the opportunity I spread the word. It’s the home of the astronomer William Herschel, and where he discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 (I mean, through a telescope. He didn’t find a major planet lying around among the old newspapers, which is the sort of thing, on a less celestial scale, that happens in my house). Herschel’s story is fascinating. He was a refugee from Hanover and a musician (you can buy recordings of his works), and traveled around England for a time as an itinerant music teacher before settling in Bath. There, one of his pupils paid him with a telescope, and he figured out he could make a better one. So he did. His sister Caroline joined him in England and was also an astronomer, and after the discovery of Uranus many famous names flocked to his observatory at 19 New King St. Eventually King George III invited him to move near Windsor to continue his work there.
The house is gorgeous and intimate–on a much smaller and modest scale than the houses of the Royal Crescent, for instance, and beautifully restored (I kidnapped a pic of the music room–note the “wall to wall” carpeting–actually long strips of carpet, and the intricate wallpaper) and full of Herschel’s books, furniture, and telescopes. His laboratory still features the cracked flagstones from a mishap of 1781. There’s also a charming garden, with a replica of his telescope.
I only discovered this museum the last time I visited Bath and I’ve been in love with it ever since.
Anyone else care to share their favorite place?
Janet

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End of Summer

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It is early morning. My kids go back to school today.

The backpacks are packed, every item that can bear a name tag has one, and the pencils are sharpened. At least, half of them are. Suddenly I couldn’t remember whether the teachers liked to have the pencils pre-sharpened. Then I pictured the other children happily taking turns at the sharpener and my own children miserable at being left out. So I decided to do half and half. Yes, I know I overanalyze everything! It’s part of being a writer and a mother.

It’s been a tough summer for writing. I’ve hired a babysitter for a few afternoons here and there, but frankly, I’ve had trouble getting my head into the game. I feel guilty writing during the summer, as if by having my children romp for a few hours with the sweet teenager who lives next door I am depriving them of something vital that only I can give. In my saner moments I realize this is nonsense; we’ve had all sorts of fun time together this summer, from blueberry picking to craft projects to a vacation in Maine.

Yesterday, a couple other mothers and I took our children for a last fling at a park. The kids waded around the stream below a sunlit waterfall, catching crayfish, frogs and minnows, while the other mothers and I talked about all our mingled feelings: joy, regret, guilt. We weren’t sure (at least I wasn’t) whether we’d be dancing or crying when the bus pulled up.

Part of me can’t wait for the quiet house, for more time for my writing. And part of me feels terribly guilty about feeling that way. What sort of awful mother am I? I remind myself that it’s important to find balance: time to be with my little ones, but also time to nurture myself and my own creativity. My children look to me as a role model. I don’t want them to see a cranky martyr; I don’t want to pass on the burden of guilt. I want them to see a woman passionate about them and about her work, too. One who takes risks and doesn’t limit herself to a single role in life.

So to any mothers sending their children back to school, remember it’s OK to do the happy dance in your bathrobe as the bus pulls away. It’s also OK to shed a few (buckets of) tears.

I expect I’ll do both. Then I’ll get back to writing.

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