Introduction:
On the 1st October
2015 the Dull Men of Great Britain was published by Ebury Press, this book
celebrates the ordinary and routine things that everyday folk do. It details a diverse collection of men and
their mundane and unglamorous activities.
Although proclaiming dullness from every page the book is also an
extraordinary insight into the force behind the collector and unusual activity
that drives many a person’s life.
The author of the book and Assistant
Vice President of the Dull Man’s Club is Leland Carlson. With the book being grabbed off the
proverbial book shelve by every aspirant Dull Man in Britain, Leland organised
its launch at Stanfords in London on Wednesday 4th November where a
gathering of the people detailed in the book was to take place. Three of these people are part of a Mountain
Measuring team named G&J Surveys, and two of us planned on attending the
book launch at Stanfords.
London:
Capital of our land and
one of the most extraordinary cities in the world, London cannot be described
as being Dull, but when one scratches below its exciting surface mundane things
can be found in all their everyday glory.
With the book launch
scheduled for 6.30pm – 8.00pm at Stanfords and an after launch party organised
at Villandry, an upscale Edwardian dining establishment situated in Waterloo
Place, I considered my day in this cultural city. Should I scratch below its surface and spend
my day investigating its everyday occurrence’s and immerse myself in its
underbelly of routine, or should I attempt to be exciting and immerse myself in
its culture and history, I’m afraid my status of being a Dull Man lapsed for
six hours as I opted for the latter.
I cannot bring anything
new to say about London as it has no doubt been said a thousand times before,
but I can briefly describe my cultural and historical trip around its wide and boisterous
streets.
With six hours to
immerse myself in this city’s heritage before an evening train back to the
dimmed lights of Worcester I planned on visiting three culturally magnificent places
and take a walking tour between each, soaking in the splendour of London’s
streets.
My entrance and exit
point was Paddington and a tube on the Bakerloo Line took me conveniently to Piccadilly
which is only four minutes’ walk from the eloquent dining at the Villandry, I
visited its lower floor to acquaint myself with its surrounds and the way back
to the tube for later in the evening.
The Villandry, a splendid upscale Edwardian restaurant and the setting for our after launch party |
My next port of call was
the National Gallery which is a magnificent art museum founded in 1824 and is
positioned looking out over the expanse of Trafalgar Square. As I wandered haphazardly around the 2,300
paintings housed in the gallery I wondered if focus was required, as I only had
six hours before my Dull persona had to be routinely ignited and these hours of
lax cultural excitement should be savoured and made the most of. As one glaringly powerful painting merged
into the next I decided to concentrate on two High Renaissance iconic figures;
Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The
former’s exquisite use of shadowed intimacy is impressive whilst the latter’s
unfinished work left me wondering what all the fuss was about.
Having partly cultured
myself out on the bombardment of colour and opulence in the National Gallery I
wandered around the corner and visited the National Portrait Gallery. This was the first portrait gallery in the
world when opened in 1856 and houses a variety of portraits of historically important
and famous British people, no Dullness here then.
I found that haphazardness
worked well in the National Portrait Gallery as its confines are on a smaller
scale than those of the National Gallery, and I wandered happily around enjoying
one stunning portrait after another. One
stood out above all others but I’m afraid I did not note the artist /
photographers name or that of their subject, my lack of need to note such
detail was a sign that my Dull persona was struggling to the fore as only four hours
remained until the book launch appointment at Stanfords.
One of the perquisites
of being Dull is routine, and my routine dictates that when visiting places I
need to know where each is positioned and the approximate time between them so
I can allow sufficient time to then investigate, and as I left the National
Portrait Gallery I walked toward Long Acre Street to stare longingly at the
shop that is Stanfords. This is one of
my favourite shops in the whole world and I make an effort to visit each time I
am in London, to stare at its inner marvels is a joy to succumb to.
Stanfords is a must visit for travel and map enthusiasts |
However, Stanfords was
just a tease for now, as I continued walking down the length of Long Acre
Street and turned left onto Drury Lane and then continued on Museum Street
toward the British Museum. The British
Museum houses a collection dedicated to human history, art and culture and when
founded in 1753 it was the first national public museum in the world. With limited time I definitely needed to focus
on what to see and the museum’s ‘Don’t Miss’ tour around 12 of its highlights
was the ideal way to explore this magnificent museum.
Great Court at the British Museum |
I was transported back
in time to the Lewis Chessmen, metalwork from Iran, The Royal Game of Ur, the
beautifully detailed and almost translucent Portland Vase, Samurai armour from
Japan, Ceramic tomb figures from the Tang dynasty, an Ivory pendant mask from
Africa, an Easter Island statue, the seminal Rosetta Stone, the beautifully carved
Assyrian Lion Hunt and the controversial Parthenon sculptures. The only one of the twelve I did not see was
the Horse from the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos as the room that housed this
antiquity was closed. As I had visited
the sight of this Ancient Wonder of the World it was a disappointment not to see
one of its artefacts.
Part of the Assyrian Lion Hunt frieze |
The Portland Vase |
Another segment from the Assyrian Lion Hunt frieze |
My Dull persona was now
revved up and ready to ignite as not seeing this horse I reminisced on my visit
to the site of the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos which is in modern day Bodrum, Turkey,
this was the fifth site out of the seven that constitute the wonders of the
ancient world that I had visited, nothing like a good bit of Dull collectors
instinct to kick in mid-afternoon in the British Museum.
By now I was well and
truly all cultured out and needed to be brought down to earth as this display
of cultural overload needed to end before Dullness could manifest itself, and
the gentle surrounds of Covent Garden was an ideal balance between culture and
Dullness and one that led neatly to the front door of Stanfords.
The Book Launch:
Stanfords was established
in 1853 and its present store first opened its doors in January 1901, it is the
leading specialist retailer of maps and travel books in the country, and I love
it. As I wandered around its many
shelves of maps and books and more maps and more books I eventually ventured
down to its basement level where the book launch was just about to gear itself
into start mode. Wine was being poured,
name tags were allotted, THE BOOK was on display and Leland’s casual and
appealing voice was gently resounding around the room.
Leland Carlson - Assistant Vice President of the Dull Men's Club |
One by one more Dull Men
arrived, there was Nick West the Beer Can Obsessive, Jeremy Burton the Country
Counter, Gwyn Headley the Folly Fan and a certain John Barnard the Mountain
Measurer. It was good to see John and I
realised that as a combined force of two out of the three Dullest Mountain
Measurers in the land we were unequalled in the room as all others were
singularly Dull, except for Richard and Dick Fryer the Military Vehicle
Restorers whose twosome still could not compete with our threesome.
Gwyn and Yvonne Headley - Folly Fan |
Deborah and Nick West - Beer Can Obsessive |
John Barnard - Mountain Measurer |
As the room filled with
guests and German camera crews Leland took to the stage of opening proceedings
with a jovial rendition of life as a Dull Man, he touched upon the humorous
side of all things Dull and gave a perfectly rounded introductory dialogue to
why we were all there and who we all were.
Shortly afterward I had
the pleasure to meet Kevin Beresford of the Roundabout Appreciation Society, Tim
Barker a collector of Toy Soldiers, Tony Cooke the World War 1 Buff, Patrick
Cook the Bakelite Buff and Jude Currie who at the tender age of 13 is the Tax
Disc Fanatic, also present was John Potter the Rail Timetable Compiler. My cultural overload had now been replaced by
Dull Men overload. I also chatted with
Dr Coulson from Middlesex University who wrote the Foreward to the Dull Men of
Great Britain book, I think our conversation went well but I did not hang
around to receive his assessment of my tendency to obsess or my fledgling
parody of being Dull.
Kevin Beresford - Roundabout Appreciation Society |
Patrick Cook - Bakelite Buff |
Jude Currie - Tax Disc Fanatic |
As more wine was
consumed and the conversation verged on being interesting it was time to head
toward the after book launch party which Leland had organised at Villandry,
this was no more than fifteen minutes’ walk and was conveniently placed a
further four minutes’ walk from Piccadilly tube which was my exit point for
Paddington Station.
The Villandry proved a
delightful ending point for this part of my Dull journey as the surrounds were
pleasant, the company was fulfilling and the food especially scrumptious. I headed off into the darkened streets of
London having paid my thanks to Leland for his invitation to attend and his
hospitality on the day.
Wandering to the tube I
watched as a myriad of people passed me, all going places and doing things, I struck
up conversation with a woman on the tube who was a born and bred Londoner, it
was good to put conversation to a face that otherwise would have merged into
the many thousand who pass through one’s life without a hello or a goodbye, as
she got off at Baker Street we said our goodbye’s and I watched as another
person who haphazardly enters one’s life for a fleeting few minutes disappeared
into the darkness of obscurity. My day’s
journey ended in Worcester, where it had begun, with a warm embrace and a
contented sleep.
3 comments:
Did you get to the cafe at the top of the Portrait Gallery? M
Hi Myrddyn. Good to meet you last week. Please can you e-mail me Hi res copies of the photos of Deb & I that you took on the night? Thanks, Nick West (beercan obsessive) nicquest_uk@hotmail.com
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