Rare Victorian pillar box

If you ever wondered why a post box is sometimes called a pillar box, take a walk along Eton High St in Berkshire. There, next to a black and white half-timbered building that dates back at least to 1465, stands a slender Victorian letter box, fluted to look like a Doric column or pillar. This 1856 design was installed just a few years after postage stamps were introduced and is very rare - only a handful have survived. Decorated with the initials of Queen Victoria, it has a vertical slot and is still in use. (Apparently early boxes were painted green to blend in, but people kept walking into them.)

Venice's Festival of the Redeemer

Venice is famous for its carnival and festivals, but the oldest continually celebrated date in the Venetian calendar is the Festa del Redentore - the Feast of the Holy Redeemer - held annually on the third weekend of July.

The festival began in the 16^th century, to mark the end of the terrible plague of 1576, which killed 50,000 people, including the great painter Titian. As a gesture of thanksgiving, the Doge commissioned the architect Palladio to build a church on the Giudecca island. It was consecrated in 1692 and so that the Doge could walk there in procession, a temporary bridge across the canal was made of barges. 

This bridge-building tradition continues today. For several days before the festival, the pontoons are moved into place, and by Friday (above), thousands of people are able to stream across it to the church.

At the same time, hundreds of little craft, often decorated, make their way along the Giudecca canal. By dusk, it is packed with vessels of all kinds, their occupants feasting and celebrating. You can barely glimpse the water between them.

Revellers without a boat pack the rooftops, balconies and pavements overlooking the canal – many enjoying elaborate banquets laid out on picnic tables. Everyone is in holiday mood.

At 2330 comes the moment everyone has been waiting for: fireworks, set off from nearby pontoons, light up the sky. This year they continued for 45 spectacular minutes.

As the boats begin to depart,  many people end their evening by going to the Lido, where they sit on the sand and wait for the dawn. For everyone, it's magical end to an unforgettable occasion.

A tropical retreat on London's Oxford Street

For the second year running, John Lewis has created a public garden on the roof terrace of its flagship Oxford Street store. Last year there were lots of cottage garden plants – this year’s ‘Summer Retreat’ has a distinctly Caribbean feel.

 The first thing you see as you walk out across the grass is a palm tree festooned with signs for Barbados, St Lucia, Jamaica and Tobago, and decorated with realistic-looking parrots.

No beach, but pieces of driftwood, brightly-coloured plants and strategically placed butterflies enhance the tropical mood.

  There are plenty of chairs for relaxing when the sun comes out, and a little balcony provides an unusual view of some London landmarks. Rossopomodoro and Joe and the Juice serve ice cream, Italian food, sandwiches and juices and should you fancy some retail therapy, there are a couple of pop-up shops in beach huts. It’s a great place to escape to - a real treat for shoppers in the know.

The garden is open from noon until close on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - Sunday and on Wednesday from noon until 4pm. Access is by lift or stairs near the 5th floor restaurant. More details at http://www.johnlewis.com/findyoursummer/news-and-events

Ten things you may not know about the Magna Carta

John was a tyrant, John was a tartar
John put his name to the great big charter
Every baron from Thames to Tweed
Followed the road to Runnymede.

(Hugh Chesterman, b. 1884) 

  

Runnymede is currently in the news with celebrations being held to remember the signing of the Magna Carta 800 years ago, on June 15. To mark this anniversary, the British Library has mounted a major exhibition, which includes two surviving copies, two of King John’s teeth – and many interesting facts: 

1. Despite common assumption, King John never signed the charter when he sat down with his Barons. Instead, he affixed his seal – the usual practice for kings at that time. 
2. The provisions in the document lasted just 10 weeks before it was annulled by the Pope, who declared it to be 'base and shameful, null and void".
3. It was revised by later monarchs and entered the statute books in 1297.

4. It was used to draft the 1628 Petition of Right, which limited the authority of Charles I, and was cited against him during his trial the following year. Since then, the law has slowly encroached on royal privilege, and today, no one in the UK is above the law, not even the Queen.

5. It influenced the wording of America’s Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.

6.The slices in the bottom of one of the copies on display at the British Library (below) are not, as urban legend tells, from King John’s knife, stabbed down in anger, but to hold the long-since-lost wax seal.

7.Four manuscripts of the 1215 Magna Carta survive today. One is owned by Lincoln Cathedral, one by Salisbury Cathedral, and two are with the British Library.

8.In 1941 the British Cabinet, seeking ways to persuade the US to enter the war, considered giving Lincoln Cathedral’s one to Washington as a gift.  But the plan foundered when it was realised the ‘bit of parchment, more than 700 years old’ was not theirs to give. 
9 Only three provisions remain in force today: the right of trial by jury, protection for the liberties of the City of London and other cities, boroughs, towns and ports, and the freedom of the Church of England.
10 The British Library occasionally gets letters from drivers asking if the Magna Carta protects their rights to appeal against parking tickets. It doesn't.

The exhibition runs until 1st September, 2015. Entry is £12.

http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta