Open House Weekend

This is a great annual event! Open House (www.openhouse.co.uk) is a national event/organisation and lots of lots of houses and buildings open up for visitors, with guided tours and all that kind of thing. Last year we concentrated on the City as well as the small church up the end of our street. This year where explored a few places around Spitalfields, and the chapel round the corner from where we live (which dates back to Norman times). We went to 19 Princelet Street, which needs LOTS of work, and is being run as a museum of migration and diversity (apt for an area that has seen waves of migrants over hundreds of years). The house is Georgian (one of my favourite house periods - aside from drop dead contemporary)and has a synagogue attached. It was a really fascinating building and a complete contrast to no. 13, only a few doors away which has been renovated by the Landmark Trust, and offers accomodation - a lovely building with beautiful fire tiles but it looked bland and dull after seeing no. 19. We headed up to see Spitalfields Christ Church - a Howkmoor building recently renovated which I've always adnired but only from the outside before. It is a beautiful space with a real sense of light and openess but the highlight was seeing a bell-ringing demonstration (its odd but I'm tempted to take up a new hobby!). Next stop was Toynbee Hall - which had beautiful panelling. Yesterday we ended Open House with the Hospital Chapel, originally Norman, with a Victorian aisle added. Its a lovely building (which again I've been past many a time) and it was great to see the inside (again recently partially renovated and restored). One of the best things was seeing the enthusiasm of people for these buildings and for heritage generally. Next year we've promised ourselves to see some more modern buldings though.