Rottnest - West Australia's dream island

                                     

SE coast of Western Australia

Rottnest Island/Wadjemup Full-Day Trip from Perth The sandy beaches and wildlife reserves of Rottnest Island lie just off the coast of Perth. On this 7 hour tour, ride the ferry to Rottnest and take in all the highlights of the car-free island. The guided bus tour drops visitors off en route to landmarks like Lighthouse, Henrietta Rocks and Cathedral Rocks. Then take a train up to Oliver Hill WW2 site.  

Rottnest Island Grand Tour, Lunch and Historical Train Ride Feel Rottnest Island via a half-day guided tour by coach. Get a comprehensive look at its attractions with a historic train ride. Highlights including Kingstown Barracks, Henrietta Rocks, Parker Point and Oliver Hill Battery. A light box lunch is included.

Experience in all the highlights of Rottnest Island in AC comfort on this Rottnest Island Bayseeker Bus Tour. A perfect 2 hour trip for those with only half a day, hop off the ferry in Thomson Bay and jump on the bus. Then enjoy a guided commentary, taking in the old WW2 barracks, seals at Cathedral Rocks, shipwrecks, seasonal pink salt lakes and Wadjemup Lighthouse.

Rottnest Island Historical Train and Tunnel Tour After the sandy beaches and beautiful bays, find out more about the island’s military history on a full-day tour. Savour sensational coastal views on a 40-minute cruise from Hillary’s Boat Harbour. Then ride the train up Oliver Hill and venture into war time tunnels, used in WW2 and still armed with huge 9.2” diameter guns. Then head back to the jetty to catch the return ferry.

Wadjemup Museum is the essential point of the island experience to explore and grasp the local culture and history. See antique artefacts, incredible sculptures and explore the Old Mill and Old Hay Store building. Wadjemup was commandeered by the Dept of Defence as an WW1 internment camp for enemy aliens. The Memorial Stone remnant is a unique relic created by the internees to signify their period of confinement on the island and photos taken by of the internees 

Mother and baby quokka

Spotting native Quokkas Rottnest has the world’s largest quokka population. They are related to kangaroos and wallabies, and to see them in the heat of summer is fun. But it’s quite another to witness them in the cooler months when little joey quokkas take their first hops into the world as protective mothers supervise. At the light house they live at the base of the Hill, offering the perfect respite in clusters of tea trees, home to quokkas. Take in this iconic wildlife moment before climbing up to the highest point of the island. Quokkas are nocturnal creatures; they're much more active at dusk, night or early morning.

Rottnest Island Luxe Seafood Cruise Experience this sea-to-plate 4 hour cruise of the Island. Head out in search of western rock lobster with the crew. The lobster catch will be served for lunch in a 7-course feast that includes fresh local seafood delicacies eg Shark Bay tiger prawns, blue swimmer crab cakes and seared West Australian scallops. Margaret River's Howard Park wines plus local bottled beers accompany the decadent menu.

Wadjemup Museum is the essential point of the island experience to exp-lore and grasp the local culture and history. See antique artefacts, incredible sculptures and explore the Old Mill and Old Hay Store building. Wadjemup was commandeered by the Dept of Defence as an WW1 internment camp for enemy aliens. The Memorial Stone remnant is a unique relic created by the internees to signify their period of confinement on the island and photos taken by of the internees

Segway tourists relaxing and viewing the ocean

Rottnest Coastal Explorer Tour Experience the best of Rottnest Island with a 2-hour tour! The great tour guide will go on a thrilling Rottnest Segway Adventure Tours use self-balancing, two-wheeled transporters that allow relaxed riders to glide smoothly on trails. Discover the unique diversity of the island, from the occasional pink hue of the interior salt lakes to the stunning coastal bays in the north. Start from the base in the Settlement, the 2 hour tour will showcase the island like never before: via the stunning salt lakes and bushland, plus breathtaking northern coastal bays and beaches. It goes inland to colourful salt lakes and woodlands blooming with samphire plant. Then go along the sparkling coast to a range of historic land marks, including the popular, historic Bathurst Lighthouse and North Thomson Colonial Settlement with breathtaking views. Glide along spectacular Thomson Bay, filled with boats and bathers, to the iconic Rottnest pub and The Basin, picturesque swimming spots. 

Discover the unique diversity of the island, from the occasional pink hue of the interior salt lakes to the stunning coastal bays in the north.  Start from the base in the Settlement, the 2 hour tour will showcase the island like never before: via the stunning salt lakes and bushland, plus breathtaking northern coastal bays and beaches. It goes inland to colourful salt lakes and woodlands blooming with samphire. Then go along the sparkling coast to a range of historic land marks, including the popular, historic Bathurst Lighthouse and North Thomson Colonial Settlement with breathtaking views. Glide along spectacular Thomson Bay, filled with boats and bathers, to the iconic Rottnest pub and The Basin is a very picturesque swimming spots. And although the Segway take the physical effort out of hiking and bicycling, refreshments are offered in Geordie Bay. 

Bathurst Lighthouse

with breaktaking views

To stay on the island overnight, find Samphire Rottnest Hotel which has 80 spacious rooms that were designed to maximise the natural surroundings. Enjoy the simple, modern outdoors from the comforts of the room, marvel at the island from a private balcony or deck, and focus on expansive views across the bay. Then venture outside and roam across native landscaping. The room with 4 bunk beds offers the fairest price.

Samphire Hotel balcony

overlooking the ocean

Located at one of the southern-most tips of the island, Little Salmon Bay is one of the more popular bays on Rottnest. Its naturally-sheltered location makes for calm, clear waters, perfect for families looking for a relaxing swimming experience. It’s an excellent spot for snorkelling and exploring under the waves where the water never gets too deep, so it’s perfect for families.—and be on the lookout for glimpses of starfish and crayfish. Follow the Little Salmon Bay snorkel trail to discover more about the island's sea life. 

Remembering WW1 in Queensland

ANZAC Day dawn service, 2022

    

After years of pandemic lockdowns, crowds were again free to at­t­end Anzac Day dawn services & ex-servicemen marches on 25th April 2022. And thousands did!! 

But ANZAC/Australian & New Zealand Army Corps Day may have ch­anged over the decades; critical debate and political controversies are being raised now. The divisiveness is about the compulsion to be pa­t­riotic and stand by the historical massacres at any cost. Many think we sh­ould commemorate Armistice Day instead, when world peace was dec­lared at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month. Note however that Remembrance Day never had the nation-building dimension in Australia that Anzac Day has.

The memorials erected in or after WW1 became Austr­al­ia’s first monum­ents, recording the devastating impact of WW1 on a young na­tion. Australia lost 60,000 from only 4 million people. Even before the war ended, memorials became a vis­ible expression of national grief. To those who created them, they were as sacred as grave sites i.e graves for the Austral­ians whose bodies still lay in European and Midd­le Eastern battle­fields. Brit­ish policy decreed its bodies were to be bur­ied where they fell and never taken home.

The Melbourne Shrine was very big and impressive, taking years to complete, and it wasn't officially dedicated until 11th Nov 1934 by the Duke of Gloucester. 300,000 people met to watch that 1934 event, and there was a commitment that the shrine would al­ways have an unimpeded and uninterrupted view from the city.

What about Queensland?  The most prominent building is the circular Shrine of Remembrance and the Eternal Flame which stands proudly and solemnly at the top of the Gardens. It is 10 metres in diameter and consists of a Grecian Doric circular colonnade of 18 columns representing the year of peace, 1918. Written around the top of the structure are the names of the major battles in which Australian units figured prominently such as ANZAC, Cocos Isupoli and Villers-Bretonneux.

Shrine of Remembrance in Anzac Square, Brisbane

Boonah War Memorial (pop 2000) was in a town in South Qld where the foundation stone was laid in May 1920; it was unveiled in July 1920 as part of the visit to Boonah by the Prince of Wales-later King Edward VIII. The marble and granite memor­ial was designed/made by Ipswich masonry firm Williams & Co, honouring local men who served in WW1.

The £600 cost was raised by public subs­crip­­t­ions, organised by a mem­orial committee. Memorial Park in Boonah was enclosed by a brick and wrought iron fence, with wrought iron gates at the front and rear cor­ners, flanked by pillars with ball fin­ials. A central con­crete path led to the memor­ial which was surround­ed by tier­ed garden beds. A flagstaff was located on the south western side. The specifically des­igned memorial park and fence were opened on Anzac Day 1922 by war hero-politician Capt Arnold Wienholt.

ANZAC Day Service, Boonah Memorial, 1924.
State Library Qld.

Australian war memorials were distinctive in that they commemorated the dead lads AND also the survivors. Australians were proud that their first great nat­ional army, unlike other battling armies, was composed ent­ir­ely of vol­unt­eers, men worthy of honour. Many memorials honoured those who served from a local area, providing valuable evidence of community in­volvement in the war. [In my generation, conscription for the Vietnam War was hated].

WW1 soldier statue, 

Boonah Qld

Australian war memorials also displayed imperial loy­al­ty; the skills of local stonemasons, metalworkers and architects. In Queensland, the soldier statue (above) was the pop­ul­ar choice of memorial, whereas the obelisk (below) prevailed in the south­ern states, ? because of Queensland's larger working-class pop­ulace. The soldier embod­ied the ANZAC Spirit and the qualities of the ideal Austr­alian man: loyalty, courage, youth, informal­ity.

Immediately following the 1918 Armistice, a grateful Com­mon­wealth Gov­ern­ment brought captured machine guns to Aust­ralia, and distributed them to towns and cities. A local display of captured weapon­s was esp­ecial­ly import­ant for this young country, far removed from the Europ­ean battle fields. It was also a nation that had suffered the highest per capita casualty rate of any combatant nation in WW1! After a long public debate, the State War Trophy Committee dec­ided that troph­ies would be allocated on the basis of population, rather than on enlist­ments. For Queensland, this meant that only lar­g­er towns could apply for larger, more valuable guns. Note the Commit­tee believed Boon­ah’s popul­ation to be too small to apply.

Trophy gun from WW1, 

Boonah Memorial park

Great War guns trad­ed on the open market would have been a controver­s­ial process back then, when emotions were still raw and when the dist­rib­ution of war trophies was strictly controlled by State and Commonw­ealth agencies. Thus Boonah be­came the only Australian town ever to buy a privat­ely-owned trophy gun on behalf of community.

The Boona memorial was made of coarse marble, a pedestal surm­ounted by an obelisk and a digger statue, and sitting on a marble base. The columns were surmounted by four marble corner urns, and in the centre of the columns see the marble plates with the names of the 374 local men who served in WW1. The 69 locals who died were named on the front and the rear recorded the names of nurses and chaplains. Projecting from the centre of the pedestal was the tapered marble ob­el­isk, 6 m high. Surmounting the obelisk was the digger stat­ue, the Australian soldier standing at ease with his head bow­ed and his hands resting on his reversed rifle. Queensland War Mem­or­ials provided evid­ence of an era widesp read Australian patriotism & nationalism in WW1.

Boonah Memorial park

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Hester Bateman's neo-classical silver art

Bateman home and workshop
107 Bunhill Row Islington, London

Wo­men had long operated successful businesses in the early English gold­smith­ing trade. But Hester Needham (1708–94) came from a poor family with no for­mal education. At 24, she married John Bateman who worked in gold and silver eg watch chains. He died in 1760, then Hes­ter took over.

Bateman's house was in Bunhill Row Islington, the ground floor forming the workshop as was typical with Georgian bus­inesses. Bateman never re­­­married and took over John’s silver­smithing workshop, init­ially as­sist­ed by two sons, Jonathan and Peter, and an apprentice. Bunhill Row is now a Grade II Listed Building. 

  
In 1761 she regist­ered her own mark at Goldsmiths’ Hall London and over 26 years, she registered more marks. British hall­marks were a safeguard for purchasers of silver articles for hund­reds of years, and is still an important form of con­sum­er pro­tection. Examine Hester’s HB hallmark. 

check the hallmarks on Hester Bateman art objects: 

her initials, date, silver standard

By the C18th the term goldsmith was applied to an artist admit­ted to full memb­er­ship of The Goldsmiths’ Co. Yet the term was also applied to a wide range of roles related to the precious met­als industry, from refining and casting.. to being a plate worker. By the mid C18th the term goldsmith implied a retailer, while the term silver­smith referred to a manufacturer or artisan. Docu­ments relating to the Bate­man enterprise generally referred to Bateman as a gold­sm­ith.

In any case, by the later C18th the maker’s mark didn’t always signify the artist who made the object; it may have been the patron or retail­er. As the bus­­in­ess owner, Bateman was responsible to the Assay Office, the organisation ens­ur­ing that all legal require­ments had been complied with. Thus during the first period (1761-74) of the Bateman enterprise, little Bateman work was known, ? because the shop was busy with work commissioned by other silversmiths.

But from 1774 on, Bateman began purchasing pre-prepared light weight sheet silver from the Birmingham manufacturer Boulton & Foth­ergill, and focused on assem­b­ling, decorating and finishing works for sale. She took full advantage of new mechanised mass-production tech­nol­ogies eg the introduct­ion of steam-powered rolling machines to create much thinner gauge sheet sil­ver than available before. It also reflected the emergence of a new branch for silver, that of low-level mass production, which enabled Bateman and others to compete success­fully with the new Shef­field plate trade. Sheffield plate ref­erred to a technique developed in the 1740s of plating/fusing a copper alloy ingot with a thin sheet of silver to produce flatware and tablewares looking like sterling silver, but cheaper.

Note her broad range of dom­estic silver of elegant simplicity i.e wares for the table, including cutlery, salvers, cruet stands, jugs, salts cellars, mustard pots, tankards, tea and coffee services, civic and church pl­ate. The speeding up of the Indus­t­rial Rev­olution saw many families leaving the land and migrating to the cities for work, promp­ting a general inc­r­ease in education and wealth through­out soc­iety. And a rising middle class with strong social aspir­at­ions. The wide output of domestic wares by the Bateman workshop re­f­l­ected the so­c­ial change and Bateman’s servicing of a growing middle-class market

Despite tea having arrived in Europe earlier, by the late C18th it was still very exp­ensive. So the lady of the house pres­ided over the prep­ar­at­ion and serving of tea each aft­er­­noon, a desirable social ritual.

Bate­man understood that her workshop had to produce all the tea ser­v­ices elements: tea kettle on stand/samovar; teapot on a footed salver; milk jug; sugar bowl; sugar tongs; tea­spoons and lemon strain­er. The cups and saucers in tea serv­ices were preferably Chinese porcelain.

                                            

Bateman. Georgian silver cream jug, London, 1779.

pear shaped, pedestal foot, chased rural design,11.8cm high 

Antiques Atlas    

                      

Bateman. George III silver sugar basket, London, 1779.

Urn-shape, swing handle, vertical piercing alternating with bands of pierced cornflower, 

pier­c­ed cornflower footband, swing handle, crest eng­raved, cobalt blue liner.           

Afternoon tea prompted very changes for women of social standing. When her shop became successful, she specialised in tableware i.e table ut­en­sils for holding, serving and hand­l­ing food and drink. Working with grace­ful and refined shapes, her tableware includ­ed many types of cont­ain­ers, spoons and forks/flatware, knives and a range of accessories.

Bateman. Silver jug 1783

Waisted upper section with beaded rim, a domed lid with urn finial, 

mounted with fruitwood handle, applied bands of beading and circul­ar foot, 30 cm high 

Hester’s designs were increasingly influenced by late C18th Neo-class­ical taste, made famous by architect Robert Ad­am. Her designs ref­lected fashionable - oval, classical vase and helmet shapes, brig­ht punching, en­graving and pierced decoration of fol­iage, fes­t­oons, med­allions and shells. Many works were edged with fine bead­ing and surmounted with urn fin­ials. Machine piercing helped her produce large numbers of objects at fair prices and ensured rapid sales.

After retir­ing in 1790, the business was continued by her sons, Jon­a­than and Peter who’d serv­ed apprenticeships and were fully qu­al­ified silver­sm­iths. They continued a succ­ess­ful fam­ily ent­er­p­r­ise in central London, supp­lying elegant tableware to the middle classes. The sons were lat­er suc­ceeded by other family memb­ers who ran the bus­in­ess: daughter­-in-law Ann, Jonathan's wid­ow (worked 1748–1813), grand­­son William (worked 1774–1850) and great-grandson William Jnr (worked 1839-43).

Conclusion
I saw my first Hester Bateman silver at London Silver Vaults, showing all the best Hug­uenot and early C18th British silversmiths in London. I fell in love. 

Read Philippa Glanville & Jennifer Goldsborough, Women Sil­ver­smiths 1685–1845 (Thames & Hudson, London, 1990). I found at least 3 other famous female silversmiths in London in Hes­t­er’s era, but she stood out because of her 1] use of modern mech­an­ised pro­­d­uc­t­ion, 2] stunning out­put and 3] financial success! She antic­ip­at­ed soc­iety’s chan­ging expect­­at­ions and responded well. Renowned for her ornamental silver­ware and flatware, she is now seen as one of England’s most succ­essful late C18th silver­smiths. 

Peter, Ann and Jonathan's son William Bateman, London

Sterling Silver Tea & Coffee Sets, 1815

gallery_xv

renewed National Portrait Gallery, London.

 National Portrait Gallery entrance

The National Portrait Gallery in London first opened in 1856, featuring just 42 portraits. Then in 1896 it moved to the site of the St Martin's Church burial ground which later became Martin’s Workhouse. But even since 1896, there was damage. In Nov 1941, two bombs fell on the gallery: one demol­ished a staircase; the second fell in the courtyard outside the Director’s flat.

Planning permission was granted by Westminster City Council to launch the best redev­elopment project in the Gall­ery’s long history, the Ins­pir­ing People Project. The refurb­ishment was designed by Jamie Fobert Architects in partner­ship with Purcell. £31.5 million had already been raised out of the £35.5 million target, so the work commenced on time in 2020.

National Portrait Gallery, display area

The new entrance and forecourt on the Gallery's North Façade created a more welcoming entrance and relieved the existing congestion. Three windows were altered to form doorways leading to a new, open entrance hall, which linked with the Ond­aatje Wing Main Hall and better connected the building. The forecourt was to be a great civic space for both the public and for Gallery visitors.

The East Wing of the Gallery, part of the historical 1896 building, was re-opened to the public in 2023. This included converting the office space back into impressive top-lit galleries on the first floor. The ground floor and basement levels were re-done, providing a flexible space with its own dedic­ated entrance and the extension of the vaulted Portrait Café. The project improved the quality of education at the Gallery via a much-improved Learning Centre.

Today, the gallery has 11,000+ works in its collection. So the project had to improve accessibility to the entire collection as well as upgrading the gallery spaces, while celebrating the existing architecture and decorative feat­ures. Maintaining a chron­ological approach, this project displayed works that were rel­ev­ant to a wider range of aud­iences and presented missing or hidden stories from British history. Set amongst the Gal­lery’s best-loved paintings were more works from the collection of 250,000 photos, from 1840 to now.

For the first 100+ years of its existence, The National Por­t­rait Gallery in London had no contemporary collection at all. Al­th­ough the total display space remains about the same, contemp­or­ary and C20th portraits, which were often displaced or moved be­cause of temp­orary exhibitions in the past, will be more consistently displayed in the future.

This redevelopment will better display contemporary works. So I have created links to some of my favourites: royalty, East End of London, and Cecil Beaton. Nonetheless I have selected five of the old favourites that visitors to the Portrait Gallery have loved the most. 

Chandos Portrait of William Shakespeare

The Chandos Portrait of William Shakespeare (1600-10) was named after the Dukes of Chandos who used to own the painting. It is the only artwork considered by ex­perts to have been painted of the playwright during his lifetime. It was the first painting donated to London’s National Portrait Gallery when it was founded in 1856.

Queen Elizabeth I

unknown artist

Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558-1603), daughter of King Henry VIII, nearly didn’t become Queen at all. But when she did, she rallied her troops to fight off the Spanish Armada. She ruled for 44 years, never married, and fixed viewers on this painting with an authoritarian stare and her masculine-style doublet. This portrait (c1575) was painted by an unknown English artist.

Lord Byron (1788-1824) was painted by Thomas Phillips in c1835, presumably based on a painting done in Byron’s lifetime. The Rom­an­tic poet/politician travelled the world, became a Greek national hero after fighting the Ottoman Empire, had affairs with many women, died at just 36 and was famously summed up by lover Lady Caroline Lamb as “mad, bad and dangerous to know”. Byron sat for this portrait wearing Albanian dress, the portrait being recom­mended by his contemporaries for its likeness.

                                                  

Lord Byron by Peter Phillips

self-portrait of Sir Anthony van Dyck

The self-portrait of Sir Anthony van Dyck c1640, one of just three by the Flemish artist, was saved for the nation in 2014. The att­ent­ion to detail brought a piercing realism to his face, a cont­rast to the broader strokes on his dress. This disparity suggested eit­h­er that the painting was unfinished, or that Van Dyck was exper­imenting with his use of paint in this informal work.

The portrait of Thomas Carlyle was painted by Sir John Everett Mil­l­ais 1877. Carlyle was one of the great C19th intellects whose his­t­ory and philosophy were very influential. His harsh crit­ic­isms and uncertain temper became legendary. This recog­nised lit­erary leader eulogised heroes and strong govern­ments, mis­trusted technological progress and analysed the class struggle brill­iantly. Carlyle was a co-founder of the National Portrait Gallery. Exas­per­ated by the con­t­inued denial of women’s right to vote, suff­ragettes at­tack­ed museums and galleries in order to draw attention to their cause. In July 1914 his portrait was attacked with a meat cleaver by suff­ragette Anne Hunt. She was sentenced to six months in gaol, but was released early.

Thomas Carlyle, by Sir John Everett Mil­l­ais 1877

Alongside the architectural works, Inspiring People is the Gallery’s most extensive programme of activities to engage people onsite, online and across the UK. It is being achieved by building on exist­ing partnerships in locations from Plymouth, Belfast, Sheffield and Southampton.

The National Portrait Gallery had to remain closed during this major redevelopment project, re-opening in 2023.