Join us at the Alexandra Palace, perched high on a hill
overlooking north London. Ally Pally's once grand buildings are a little
battered these days but still dramatic, the terrace offers panoramic views over
London, and the 196 acres of park host all kinds of activities.
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| Terrace |
Key meeting points for the day:
11am: Meet at the east end of the terrace, outside the BBC
studios. It still has the old transmitter mast on top so you can't miss it.
There should be enough shelter under the colonnade if it's raining.
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| Lakeside cafe |
1 pm: Meet
to share sketchbooks and experiences down by the boating lake, outside the cafe
if it is fine, inside if it is wet.
3.30 pm: Finish back up at the main
building to share sketchbooks and take group photos, on the corner terrace outside
the Phoenix pub and restaurant if it is fine, inside if it is wet.
Background
Alexandra Palace was built in 1873, as a place of public
entertainment. It opened on Queen Victoria's birthday with great celebrations,
but just 16 days later caught fire and burned down. The replacement building,
which opened two years later, lasted somewhat longer, but in 1980 it caught
fire again; people came out to watch the blaze from vantage points right across
north London.
In its day, Ally Pally has served many purposes. An early
airship was built and flew from there. In the first world war it was used first
as a refugee camp, and then as an internment camp for enemy civilians. Then, in
the 1930s, the BBC studios were the site of the world's first regular, high
definition, public television broadcasts.
Nowadays most of the building has been repaired, but
restoration work is still going on to the Victorian theatre and the original
BBC studios. It hosts regular exhibitions and concerts. Our sketchcrawl will
coincide with the Country Living Spring Fair, so it will be busy. The Great
Hall with its splendid organ will be in use for the event; you won't be able to
draw in there without buying a ticket, but if you are tall enough, you can see
the organ through the round windows in the external doors!
Things to Draw
The building itself is huge and theatrical, with polychrome
brickwork and lots of arches. The surrounding terrace gives long views out
across London.
In the grounds you will find a rose garden, a lake with some
particularly bonkers boats, a tree top climbing facility, pitch and put, a
skate park and children's playgrounds.
The area known as the Grove has an ancient oak and some
wooden sculptures.
If it's wet: One of my favourite bits of the Palace is the
palm court, just inside the main entrance, with potted palms, pyramids and
sphinxes. If we can't go in through the main door because of the event, we
should be able to get to the palm court by going through the pub, which has
seating in the court.
The Palace is also home to an ice rink, which has spectator
seating. This is open to the public. There is a charge of £1.50, but it does
include a cup of tea or coffee. I have been assured that they don't mind if we
draw the skaters.
The Lakeside cafe has glass sides, so you could hole up
there and draw the lake and boats in one direction, the treetop walkway in the
other.
There's also a garden centre in the grounds, which has a
particularly fine collection of Ali Baba pots; you could draw those under
cover.
Refreshments
As well as the Phoenix bar/restaurant in the main building,
there are other cafes scattered around the grounds. There's the cafe by the
Lake, a good, rather more genteel cafe in the garden centre and a little
Italian cafe and sandwich bar in the Grove. There's also a fine Victorian pub
opposite Alexandra Palace Station, which I'm told is rather good. There are
plenty of toilets.
Transport
Alexandra Palace Station (Zone 3) is on the rail line from
Moorgate to Letchworth, Hertford and Welwyn Garden City (passing through
Highbury and Finsbury Park on the way). It's quite a stiff walk up to the Palace
from the Station, but you could always hop on the W3 bus.
The W3 bus runs right through the park, up to the Palace
itself, and links it to the tube at Finsbury Park (Victoria Line) and Wood
Green (Piccadilly).
This is one of the few London venues where it might make
sense to come by car. There are huge car parks (1,500 free parking places,
according to the website).
The Alexandra Palace website has lots more information:
http://www.alexandrapalace.com/
The day will be run by Elizabeth Blunt and Daniel Lloyd-Morgan
