Financial Times How to Spend It 7.08.2021

KATIE HILLIER RECOMMENDS

The fashion designer finds inspiration for
herself, her work and her home, in Hudson
proper. On her radar: Nina Z (ninaznyc.com) for
vintage clothing and Henry gallery on Warren
Street for antique textiles; Flowerkraut
(flowerkrauthudson.com) for plants; Les
Indiennes (lesindiennes.com) for block-print
fabrics; Naga (nagaantiques.com) for Japanese
screens; and Alder & Co (alderandcoshop.com),
in Germantown, for clothing and homewares.

“IT’S A GREAT PLACE
FOR A SERIOUS CYCLIST.
THERE ARE PLENTY OF
CREATIVE PEOPLE AND
YET NO BOOK PARTIES.

HEAVEN”

Top: the Flowerkraut florist in Hudson.
Centre: British fashion designer Katie
Hillier at home. Above: an 1825 Federal
home in Athens, on the Hudson River

FT.COM/HTSI 51

CLARE DE BOER
RECOMMENDS

The King chef frequents
the Fat Apple Farm Store
(fatapple.farm) in Pine
Plains, Talbott & Arding
(talbottandarding.com)
– “my absolute favourite
shop in Hudson” – for
cheeses and provisions,
Churchtown Dairy’s
farm store (church
towndairy.org) for
“the best raw milk in
the area”, and Fortunes
(fortunesicecream.com)
in Tivoli for its delicious
ice cream.

“WITH THE SIGNS OF OUR
COMMITMENT TO THIS PLACE, I
FEEL LIKE WE HAVE BECOME TRUE
AND TRUSTED MEMBERS OF IT”

This page, clockwise from top
left: Clare de Boer at home with
her chickens. A park on the
Hudson river near Athens.
Produce at Kitty’s Market in
Hudson. Mona Talbott (left) and
Kate Arding outside Talbott and
Arding cheesemongers. The
Rivertown Lodge hotel
(rivertownlodge.com)

52 FT.COM/HTSI

Recently the couple moved from the centre of Hudson to MICHAEL LINDSAY-HOGG
a house at the base of the mountain where Olana, Frederic RECOMMENDS
Church’s famous gothic mansion, sits; Hillier now shares
its majestic 19th-century Hudson River School view of An avid collector of unusual
the Catskills. They try to live as lightly as possible on the items, the director, memoirist
land: they renovated with local materials, are growing and painter likens Hudson’s
vegetables for the first time, and have plans to put in solar antique stores to those in Palm
panels. Still, Hillier finds herself heading to Warren Springs – eclectic but with
Street, the town’s main drag, every day. “I crave the village quality; Regan & Smith
community, which is so important here. There’s a really (reganandsmith.com) and
solid support network between local businesses and I’m Furlong on Warren Street are
surrounded by artisans and makers, creatives and artists, favourites. He takes his coffee
which I love and am inspired by.” On weekends, designers at Supernatural at 527 Warren
Olympia Le-Tan and Jonathan Saunders might come up Street, roots around in the
from the city to visit Hillier’s favourite swimming hole, under-the-radar record shop
located down a pathway behind the car park of Gracie’s John Doe (johndoehudson.
Luncheonette (“the best doughnuts,” Hillier confirms). com), loves the arthouse
“I am as connected to what’s happening in the world here cinema Time & Space Limited
as I was when I was in the city,” she says. “Perhaps (timeandspace.org), which
that’s because of social media. But here I also actively also sells books, and extols
participate in what’s happening.” the hats and clothing of
Bosnian-born milliner-
O thers, like chef Clare de Boer, designer Behida Dolic
were weekenders who set (behidadolic.com).
down deeper roots during
the pandemic. A co-owner of Right: director,
King, one of Manhattan’s memoirist and painter
hottest restaurants, de Boer, Michael Lindsay-Hogg
her husband Luke Sherwin in his studio. Below
and their baby holed right: John Doe
themselves up in the house Record Shop on
they bought in nearby Dover Warren Street, Hudson
Plains. “Watching the
seasons change in this landscape changed my cooking,” residents commit to working alongside the community to
she says. “In the beginning, I would bring food up from the create a [tax-based] solution to help local residents stay in
city. By the end, I was growing all my own here and bringing their community, and to create a positive alliance between
it down to the restaurant.” The couple bought a farm so the old and new,” says Vidor. But she sees how many
they can grow produce to host community dinners, and newcomers are socially committed to the spirit of sharing
have plans to open a restaurant in the area. their fortune, resulting in some interesting philanthropic
Part of what has changed for de Boer is her relationship initiatives. Among them are The Spark of Hudson, which
to the community of full-time residents, many of them of offers free courses and pilots a small but significant
an older generation – hunters, birders, farmers – who universal-basic-income programme; and Basilica Hudson,
have a profound connection to, and knowledge of, the an arts and event centre with largely free programming
land. “You have limited exposure to a place as a weekender geared toward supporting creative enterprises in the
– the community of full-timers is a bit of a secret club,” community. (On a smaller scale, when Samuel’s Sweet
she explains. “But slowly, with the signs of our Shop – a long-time local favourite of the scene in nearby
commitment to this place and its future, I feel like we Rhinebeck – was in danger of going under, one of the
have become true and trusted members of it.” investors who stepped in was actor Paul Rudd, another
Others have uprooted their lives entirely to commit to sometime Hudson Valley habitué.)
life here. The polymath music, film and theatre director,
memoirist and painter Michael Lindsay-Hogg left a life in Vidor’s optimism remains cautious, though. She has
California for Hudson – one of quite a few who made the recently witnessed a handful of private jets landing in the
cross-country move, according to Vidor. “We started to tiny local airport. It reminds her, she says, of her years
come to Hudson in 2005 when my stepdaughter was a living in Aspen, as that Rocky Mountain town was
student at Bard, and liked it a lot; but didn’t think about it transforming from a local hub into an “international
a lot,” Lindsay-Hogg says. But at home in Los Angeles, destination”. There’s concern that a similar fate might
with the wildfires that raged to the north affecting the air await the Hudson Valley. But, for now, it’s still in an
quality and crime levels spiking, his mind changed. “I unexpected sweet spot, with the kind of idiosyncratic
thought, hmm – what if we found a place [there]?” originality both in the diversity of its businesses and its
He and his family drove almost 2,900 miles from LA’s communities that many neighbourhoods in New York
Los Feliz neighbourhood to a Hudson house bought City have long since lost, or can only aspire to.
online, sight unseen. He couldn’t be happier about his
new life. “In LA, you’re 40 minutes by car to the dentist,
20 minutes to the gym,” he says. In Hudson, he has all he
needs and enjoys within walking distance. “And with
everything closed last year, for exercise I could just go out
and walk the steep hills near our house. Until you’ve been
around bad air, you don’t know what a difference clean air
makes. In Hudson, a small city, the air is fresh, and in just
a few miles, you’re in the country, and it’s even more so.”
Perhaps predictably, the boom is not all idyllic news.
Rising values come with rising taxes – a burden for many
long-time residents, some of whom are being pushed out.
Nearly one-quarter of the city of Hudson’s population
lives below the poverty line. “It is crucial that the new

FT.COM/HTSI 53





FT FEMALE FORCES: SERIES ONE

MEET THE WOMEN
LEADING THE WAY

Discover the women reimagining gender roles in creative fields,
with our new multimedia series FT Female Forces.
Inspiring chefs, sommeliers, artists, philanthropists and
entrepreneurs tell their stories in illuminating films and interviews.
Whether by action or example, their work is leading the way for
future generations.

Watch FT Female Forces now at
channels.ft.com/howtospendit

Supported by

TECHNOPOLIS

LESS WITH THE LAUNDRY GADGETS

Once upon a time laundry Stellar fun conventional telescopes. And it goes
technology was all “Persil washes
whiter”. But when we discuss it Serious astronomy made brilliantly without saying that you can save and
now, it’s in the light of overuse of simple – and more
water and power, of unnecessarily share everything you view – or have as
reducing the life of clothing, and WORDS BY JONATHAN MARGOLIS
of releasing microplastics into the many as nine other people viewing live
environment. Textile washing is said to
account for 35 per cent of microplastics in on their own tablets and phones.
the oceans, while a third of clothing’s Yeti-like
carbon footprint comes from swishing it around But Unistellar’s eVscope eQuinox has
in a water-greedy machine for hours.
three other, well, stellar features. Firstly,
One way to avoid over-laundering is to
use a hand steamer – many have become the software will compensate for light
available but this new British cleaning appliance
uses plain water and detergent in wonderfully pollution from human sources, or from
miserly amounts. W’air adopts hydrodynamic
technology developed over six years to clean the the Moon, which, when big and boisterous,
areas of clothing that actually need cleaning,
using just a few ccs of water, carefully formulated can mess with the view from more distant
detergents and barely any heat. You can
spot-clean specific stains – including heavy When I wrote about upscale objects. This is a huge plus. Secondly,
ones such as blood and ink – by applying the amateur astronomy in
machine’s neat probe directly to fabric. And How To Spend It 15 years from the accompanying app, you can
by holding the probe a little further away, you ago it was a hobby that,
can refresh clothes between washes or, adding if done wholeheartedly, point the motorised telescope at any one
a cold-water hand rinse afterwards, deep required an investment of tens to hundreds
clean anything from denims to delicates. of thousands of pounds, an intimidating of 5,400 pre-programmed celestial bodies.
W’air, £159, justwairit.com level of learning, and a willingness to do
all-nighters outside. Also, crucially, it Just touch where you want to go, and it
YOUR PORTABLE TENNIS COACH was hopeless to even try in light-polluted
For more of cities and suburbs. obligingly whirs into the exact position,
The beauty of artificial intelligence is its very Jonathan’s reviews,
genuine stupidity, which manifests as infinite But this powerful new reflector as well as giving you information on
patience. And so it is with SwingVision, an AI visit ft.com/htsi telescope from a Marseille company changes
tennis coaching app from Melbourne endorsed all that and makes serious astronomy what you are observing. Such automated
by Andy Roddick and Tennis Australia, which @thefuturecritic brilliantly simple. Apart from the 114mm-
diameter mirror reflector that does the telescopes have been around for a
manages to be wholly non- magnifying, it is wholly electronic and you
judgemental. Which in my case is don’t even peer directly into it; a phone or decade, but the app for this one is
essential or I’d never play again. tablet serves in place of an eyepiece.
in a different league.
The app works with recent model Superb, sharp, colourful live images
iPhones, but is a little easier to use from light years away appearing, in my Both these features lead to
with an iPad Pro. You set up your case, on an 11in iPad Pro’s eye-crossingly
device on a tripod (you need to sharp screen, is a revelation. You can easily the killer for me: you can do your
source that separately) and leave see galaxies and nebulae invisible to a lot of
it trained on you from behind. It stargazing from indoors for sessions
then records and applies machine
learning to analyse in real time a of up to 12 hours per charge. Set
range of data about your game from
stroke type to ball speed, spin, the eQuinox up on a balcony, rooftop
shot placement, contact, rally length, footwork,
posture and positioning. The system will also send or in a garden and it will transmit
key points to your Apple Watch. Magnificent
software/hardware combo. Love it all. all it sees wirelessly to you from
SwingVision, free, Pro from $75pa, swing.tennis
up to 10m away.
CHILL OUT
If you’ve seen the whole of DETAILS
From the same Oregon textile laboratory Netflix these past 18 months,
responsible for the superb heat-retaining what better show to watch Unistellar eVscope
Columbia Black Dot jacket we featured eQuinox €2,799
last winter comes this T-shirt, which has
an almost inexplicable cooling effect. in bed than one that’s been on plus €59 shipping,
Because it’s an outdoorsy brand, Columbia since the Big Bang? unistellaroptics.com
recommends the Zero Ice Cirro-Cool for
hiking or running in hot, humid conditions,
but I’ve found it equally comfortable to
wear in bed on hotter nights.

The surprising thing about these shirts is
that, while you might think they are cotton, the
fabric is almost entirely polyester, 57 per cent
of it recycled – which you would expect
might make it about as comfortable to
wear as a plastic bag.

However, the multipatented
build of the fibres along with
printed-on coatings lowers the
temperature when it encounters
moisture, be that from sweat or air
humidity. “When sweating heavily, the
evaporative cooling energy of Omni-
Freeze Zero Ice is equivalent to melting
over 100 ice cubes,” says Columbia.
Columbia Zero Ice Cirro-Cool, £22.50,
columbiasportswear.co.uk

FT.COM/HTSI 57

TRAVELISTA

Left: Château de la
Messardière in the St
Tropez hills and, below,
one of its suite pools

TRAVEL NEWS village of the same name. A sister to the Parioli, and pretty much zero truck with Above: Le Moulin
supercool Les Roches Rouges on Cap cobblestones and monuments. But the word de Lourmarin is in
Feel the yearn Esterel, housed in an 18th-century olive-oil is very positive, from superlative eating an old olive-oil mill
mill, it has just 25 rooms, remade (“under- (thanks to a partnership with Marigold, long
Time to start south of France made”, and beautifully so, might be more a favourite of expats and Roman chefs/food
dreaming, and dining with giraffes accurate) with natural tones and spare editors alike) to a terrace garden and sleek,
furnishings by Marine Delaloy and Paula midcentury-inflected rooms. Meanwhile, in
WORDS BY MARIA SHOLLENBARGER Alvarez de Toledo of Paris-based Jaune. A September, W Hotels will make its first foray
casual bistro is similarly sleek, while the into Italy in an ice-pink palazzo on the other
flagstone terrace, shaded by limes, delivers side of the Villa Borghese. The pinnacle of
the old-world Provence feels. airelles.com, chic once upon an early-’90s time, the W
from €1,150; beaumier.com, from £111 brand had lost much of its cachet. Marriott,
its parent company, hopes to totally reboot it
in the Eternal City, with Sicilian superchef
Ciccio Sultano overseeing culinary offerings,
a rooftop bar with 360-degree views, and
decor that channels ebullient Man from
U.N.C.L.E. style. thehoxton.com, from €160;
wrome.com, opens in September, from €400

I ’m writing this at a time when it feels TALL STORY IN WITH THE INN CROWD BERRIMA VAULT
possible that a late-summer, quarantine- HOUSE, NEW
free holiday in southern Europe may yet Nairobi’s Giraffe Manor is already the stuff And, for the 2022 wishlist, a new address SOUTH WALES
emerge as an undertaking somewhat of bucket lists and social-media saturation in Australia: a sweet little restaurant-inn-
less difficult to execute than a K2 ascent (witness the 74,000 #giraffemanor posts members’ club in the historic town of
on Instagram). It’s a very private hotel, and Berrima, in New South Wales’ Southern
Highlands – all bucolic rolling hills and chic
or polar expedition. Just in time to fuel that the experience of sharing breakfast with farm shops. Built in 1844, Berrima Vault
House has been restored by a team of
optimism, two buzzy names in French its population of leggy ruminants (known culinary and hospitality consultants led
by sometime Soho House Group creative
hospitality have planted flags in opposite to reach their heads through the breakfast- director, Dan Flower; Ali Hillman, who
oversaw Paul Allen’s public-
corners of Provence. In the hills outside room windows to inspect what’s on offer) art programme at Microsoft,
has curated the art. Along with
St Tropez, the Airelles group (which has has historically been the members’ spaces, there’s
a series of indoor and outdoor
resorts and chalets in Gordes, the Val YOU’LL BE limited to guests. But working areas, dining venues
d’Isère and Courchevel, as well as the SOCIALISING last week its owners, The and bars, a rambling rose
only hotel in the grounds of Versailles) WITH LEGGY Safari Collection, opened garden, and The Courthope
has commandeered the historic Château RUMINANTS The Retreat at Giraffe residence, whose very pretty
de la Messardière. After a two-year NEXT TO THE Manor – a sprawling ensuite bedrooms afford guests
renovation, the 25-acre, 103-room INFINITY POOL multipurpose complex on access to all members’ facilities.
berrimavaulthouse.com, from
property reopened last month with a the same sanctuary, with AU$600 (about £325)

Above: a room at Valmont Spa, a raft of tailored experiences extensive wellness facilities, a restaurant and @mariashollenbarger
The Hoxton Rome.
Below: W Rome’s – from perfume-making workshops to rooftop bar-garden, and day rooms for TSC
Giardino Clandestino
restaurant guided cycling expeditions – and Matsuhisa guests. The giraffes won’t be breakfasting here,

Saint-Tropez, Nobu Matsuhisa’s pop-up, in but you’re likely to socialise with them next to

residence until October. To the northwest, in the 21m infinity pool. thesafaricollection.com,

the Vaucluse, Le Moulin de Lourmarin has day rooms from $800, day passes from $250 PHOTOGRAPHS: ABBIE MELLE. GAËLLE RAPP TRONQUIT

just opened in the absurdly picturesque

PRETTY IN ICE PINK

Italy’s tourism numbers haven’t come close

to recovering to pre-pandemic levels (some

would say a good thing); but development is

moving apace. Ennismore’s Hoxton group,

which nails it style-wise at locations from

Amsterdam’s Herengracht to Paris’s 2nd

arrondissement, chose the unorthodox

Roman neighbourhood of Salario for

The Hoxton Rome, its first Italian digs GIRAFFE
MANOR WITH
– belle époque houses, adjacent to swanky ITS RESIDENT

GIRAFFES

58 FT.COM/HTSI



7-12 SEPTEMBER 2021

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FOOD & DRINK

DRINKING Right: Josh Niland with a groper.
Below: drunken bass groper,
The vegan cru mushrooms and condiments.
Bottom centre: Spanish
Alice Lascelles finds wines to pair mackerel curry with fried bread
with plant-based menus
ILLUSTRATIONS: WILLIAM LUZ. PHOTOGRAPHS: ROB PALMER (4) FROM TAKE ONE FISH BY JOSH NILAND (HARDIE GRANT, £26) EATING turducken of yellowfin tuna inside cod inside trout). But
New York chef Daniel Humm caused a stir by Niland’s own admission, the recipes were just a
recently when he announced his plan to A new “gesture” alongside the heart of that book – its
eliminate (virtually) all animal products from gospel of fish “exhaustive” rundown of his philosophy.
the menu at his three-star restaurant Eleven
Madison Park. “The way we have sourced our Josh Niland’s first scale-to-tail credo made “I wanted this new book to feel more joyful,” Niland
food... is not sustainable. This is just a fact.” major culinary waves. Now he’s offering a says, “to make it feel a little bit dirty and delicious: burnt
second testament, he tells Ajesh Patalay edges, crispy things, drips – things that don’t really come to
Humm is the latest in a growing line mind when we talk about fish.” The very appealing range of
of Michelin-starred chefs to champion I t doesn’t surprise me to learn that Josh Niland’s father, recipes and cooking methods, chosen to complement the
plant-based cooking. But what does his once an accountant, is now a minister. There are flavour and texture of particular species and cuts, includes
decision mean for the wine list? Many wines aspects of a higher calling to what the Australian chef fish cooked Peking-style, Gai Yang-style, salt-pastry baked,
are “fined” (ie, clarified) with egg white or is doing, too. One might even call him a prophet of a drunken, curried, schnitzeled as well as in a Scotch egg,
fish-derived isinglass, so don’t pass the vegan radical new gospel of fish. As chef owner of the Sydney banh mi sandwich, Merguez sausage, lasagne, kofta and
test. If every dish on a menu is vegan, should restaurant Saint Peter and retail space Fish Butchery tacos al pastor. “With everything from the smoked snapper
the wine list be vegan, too? And what are (“a gleaming, fish-focused hybrid of an Apple store and quiche to the John Dory tagine, I am trying to take big-ticket
the implications of an entirely plant-based a Damien Hirst installation”, according to Melbourne items that excite ordinary people and build a fish around it,
menu for food and wine matching – an art restaurant critic Pat Nourse), Niland has revolutionised the so it conjures deliciousness,” he says. The John Dory tagine,
that’s traditionally been heavily reliant on way we think about fish with his scale-to-tail approach to which I tried, is a triumph: rich, spicy, the perfect vehicle
meat, seafood and cheese? cooking, where almost every part of the fish is used. for this deep, savoury fish. I also grilled the heads and collars
His methods are sustainable, maximising the yield of each as per Niland’s instructions. They tasted insanely good.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Eleven Madison’s fish from a standard 40-50 per cent up to 90. And delicious
wine director Watson Brown says they’re too. Among the most in-demand dishes at Saint Peter are the DESPITE ITS APPEAL TO THE HOME COOK, this book is also
not ready to jettison the 5,000-strong cellar terrines (made from fish heads) and eye chips (deep-fried squarely aimed at the industry, offering up what Niland calls
at Eleven Madison Park just yet. “We are fish and squid eyes). Niland also creates mortadella out of “provocations” to do better. As fish is porous, packing on ice
offering an entirely plant-based menu, milt (testes), skewers of heart, spleen and intercostal meat, and spraying with water (either as part of processing, or just
and black pudding dark with fish blood. His other innovations to make fish look nicer) can lead to waterlogged flesh and
but veganism is a label that implies more include dry-ageing and fish charcuterie. And he isn’t shy soggy skin – and reduces shelf-life and flavour. But dry-
than we are practising,” he says. But about calling out bad practice in the industry, such as the handling methods (where the fish doesn’t touch water once
thanks to the rise of sustainable and use of water and ice to process and store fish. out of the sea) would “put a big handbrake on the whole
low-intervention winemaking, he adds, This month sees the release of his system”, says Niland. Given current practices, what does
more fine wines than ever are now vegan second book, Take One Fish, which Niland suggest the average punter do? “Ask your monger to
by default, even if they don’t advertise feels like the slightly more accessible scale and gut the fish, take out any bones you don’t want, but
themselves as such. He singles out Pierre New Testament to his Old Testament not to wash it. You’ll have sediment, scale and a little bit of
and Jean Gonon in the Northern Rhône, debut, The Whole Fish Cookbook. That blood, but that’s nothing you can’t handle with paper towels.”
Domaine Tempier in Provence, and Pierre book from 2019, which Jamie Oliver
Cotton in Beaujolais as good examples. called a “mind-blowing masterpiece”, This summer Niland opened his third venue in Sydney
contained plenty of recipes called Charcoal Fish, based on the grilled-chicken-shop
Determining whether a wine is vegan or (including a Satanic-looking
not can be complicated. For most vegans, it model. He sees it as the ideal way to
simply boils down to whether the fining agent THE GRILLED COLLARS showcase the diverse applications of
is animal-derived or not. (Many natural wines AND HEADS TASTED one fish, in this case Murray cod, for
aren’t fined at all, and so are automatically INSANELY GOOD the everyman customer. The menu
vegan.) But there are some who refuse wine includes whole rotisserie cod with
sealed with beeswax or labelled with animal Left: half-split chips, grilled collars with fermented
glue as well. Biodynamic winemaking – which coral trout cocktail tamarind hot sauce, gravy made from
calls for soil preparations using cow horn with syracuse the heads, frames and fins, even caramel
– can also present a problem. potatoes ice cream using rendered cod fat.

“You can very quickly disappear down Having seen a recipe for charcoal-
the rabbit hole,” admits David Havlik, head grilled flounder in his book, I ask what
sommelier at London’s top vegan restaurant the cod version tastes like. “It’s as close
Gauthier Soho, where the wine list is 100 per to roast pork as you’ll get,” Niland says.
cent vegan. As a rule, wines that are lighter “When I run the blade over the fish, you
on oak and lower in alcohol tend to pair can hear how crisp and crackling it is. We
better with plant-based dishes, he says. age the fish for six days before putting it
“I love the Bourgogne Blanc 2019 from on the rotisserie, so as well as the snap
Fanny Sabre – it’s fantastic with our truffle and crunch from the skin, you get
tortellini. For more spicy dishes I like the dripping fat from the flesh, which is
Gewürztraminer Turckheim 2015 from Alsace’s more savoury from ageing.” He hopes to
Domaine Zind Humbrecht, which is beautifully export the concept to London, the US, the world. I reckon
light and fresh, but also has lots of ageing the world would be fine with that.
potential.” His go-to supplier for vegan wine is
natural-wine specialist Les Caves de Pyrene. @ajesh34

Less than two per cent of the UK
population currently identifies as vegan. But
numbers quadrupled between 2014 and 2019.
And retailers are taking note: Marks &
Spencer has pledged to make its entire wine
range vegan-friendly by 2022. With buying
power like that behind the movement, vegan

wine could soon be the norm.

@alicelascelles

From top: Domaine de la Cadette Chablis 2019, £28.90,
lescaves.co.uk. Fanny Sabre 2019, £32, dynamicvines.
com. Zind-Humbrecht Turckheim 2015, sohowine.co.uk

FT.COM/HTSI 61

HOW I SPEND IT

romps through the decadence of Regency society enjoyed by

its author, Pierce Egan, and, now much-celebrated, illustrators

George and Isaac Robert Cruikshank. Bawdy satire it may

be, but “Tom & Jerry” is also refreshingly anomalous for

the period in its depiction of both London’s upper crust

and those less frequently recorded by history, the

unromanticised urban poor, Lascars, black Londoners and

women of miscellaneous virtue. And if the adventures of our

heroes “for whom the bottle was not suffered to stand still”

don’t tempt, then the indecorous

I’M CAPTIVATED illustrations certainly will.
BY PICTURES OF High above my many

dictionaries and “encyclopedias

GRAMOPHONE of”, dedicated to tracking the
BUSKERS AND sprawl of London across space
SHEEP GRAZING and time, sits Liza Picard’s four
excellent histories. Restoration

BY THE London is probably my favourite,
SERPENTINE but each book is equally powered
by the brawn of her research and

eloquent brassiness on the page.

Another set I’m fond of is a more worthy 1920s trilogy

entitled Wonderful London, edited by St John Adcock, and

bearing the modest subtitle “The World’s Greatest City

Described by its Best Writers and Pictured by its Finest

Photographers”. Grandiosity aside, it’s hard not to be

captivated by the eerily empty streets of the interwar years

and moved by portraits of a now-disappeared London:

gramophone buskers, sheep grazing by the Serpentine, “A

Customer and the Cat’s-Meat Man” (in which, for the

removal of doubt, the customer appears to be the cat).

B ooks about London, they’re the only thing Sometimes the sprawl isn’t what the writer is after,
I collect. This long-lived dalliance began,
somewhat unsuccessfully, in 1994 with the EIMEAR McBRIDE though, which leads enticingly off into unending books
purchase of a black-and-white A-Z. For the next ON on specific boroughs, periods, communities and transport
15 years or so it slowly turned red with Biro’d-in systems. So, this end of my shelf holds anything from a 1929
routes but, eventually, wore right down to
flitters in the bottom of my bag. The day it had to be replaced LITERARY copy of Stephen Graham’s sympathetic study of homelessness
with a new-fangled coloured one was sad because it was how and dispossession, London Nights, to Sukhdev Sandhu’s 2007
I’d first come to know London: just walking it, long before journey across the city in Night Haunts, Arthur Ransome’s
having any real sense of its layers, how very far back it went or
how much it would change in the years to come. LONDON Bohemia in London, Rachel Kolsky’s Jewish London, and
Siobhan Wall’s Quiet London to David Gentleman’s lovely
It helps that I’m not fussy, and pretty cheap – the most watercolours in 2012’s London, You’re Beautiful.
I’ve ever spent is £50. And everyone’s welcome in my utterly
undiscerning, thoroughly inexhaustive collection. The prim I unearth most of them in indie and second-hand
1961 edition of The Ladybird Book of London (“Birdcage
Walk – what a jolly name for a street!”) slides in easily ILLUSTRATION BY EMILIE SETO bookshops, sometimes online. But pre-pandemic I discovered
alongside a 1963 edition of Michael Harrison’s po-faced a local charity shop with a seemingly ever-renewing supply of
moans in London by Gaslight – “The Salvation Army’s
motto, ‘Blood and Fire’, meant something then”. And it’s oddities and I was hooked. Then, one Saturday afternoon, the
perfectly appropriate for a first edition of that infamous
groin-itcher, Boswell’s London Journal to lean against Tom elderly till volunteer revealed it was, in fact, his own collection
Quinn’s kitsch London’s Strangest Tales, with its vignettes
about Gropec*** Lane and Mr Crapper’s Bottom Slapper. Ackroyd’s weighty London: The Biography that, over 800 being decanted onto the shelves. While ready enough to let it

That said, however scattergun my approach, I’ve still pages, drags the city from the Upper Jurassic seabed beneath go, he was still pleased to see his lifetime’s worth of not very
managed to wedge in a few of the classics. There’s Peter
Waterloo to the pinnacle of Canary Wharf. There’s an old, valuable but very much valued collecting being kept, largely,

coffee-ringed copy of Ian Nairn’s Nairn’s London, bulging together. And I like that, the thought of being the next

with his evocative ponderings on architecture, pubs and custodian, of adding to it as and when I can then one day

markets. But my favourite of these unavoidables is a very passing it on again. That’s very London I think because as his,

battered, water-spotted 1870 edition of 1821’s Life in London: and now my, 1908 edition of EV Lucas’s AWanderer in London

or, The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorne, Esq, and says, “Indeed, to a book on London – to a thousand books on

his Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom, in their Rambles and London – there is no end.”

Sprees through the Metropolis. Nominally a work of fiction, this Eimear McBride’s Something Out of Place: Women and Disgust

19th-century bestseller is a thinly veiled portrait of various is published by Wellcome Collection at £9.99 on 12 August

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