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Intensive care ward opens on rooftop
I was reading Dr Rangan Chattergee’s newsletter this week and discovered a link to this article.
Still in her hospital bed, connected to feeding tubes and life support, Hollie is the first patient to try out the new intensive care rooftop ward at King’s College Hospital in south London.
The first of its kind in the UK, the outdoor ward has enough space for six patients, who can be connected to power and oxygen supplies housed in a waterproof box next to each bed.
I’ve read a lot of articles and book chapters over the years about how beneficial a view of nature is when you’re recovering from an illness. There’s a pretty oft-quoted study showing that even just having a view of a tree from a window helps patients experience fewer complications and need less pain relief.
The idea of taking intensive care patients up onto a rooftop garden is just wonderful. I will be so interested to see how this progresses.
Photos are taken from the BBC article
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Hepworth in Colour
Another good exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery. This time to see Hepworth in Colour.
It isn’t a huge exhibition, but there are some interesting sculptures there, and some interesting drawings which she produced during the early years of the Second World War. Some of the worked backgrounds on the drawings are particularly interesting making use of layering and scraping as a technique.
As is perhaps predictable, I enjoyed the blue pieces the most. My absolute favourite was Sculpture with Colour (Deep Blue and Red), the vibrant blue inside it is just stunning.
In the second room, they set a few of the pieces against a brilliant orange background. It is so striking to look at.
And I couldn’t resist this view from the top of the stairs:
Downstairs, on the second floor, there are some photographs of her and Ben Nicholson’s London studio. They’re a lovely insight into how she worked and are well worth a look if you’re already there for a bit of Barbara Hepworth.
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Consumer Services and Produce Councils
After spending some time looking at both the cooking with leaflets and the going metric ones, I noticed I had quite a few other similar leaflets in my possession, again brought back from my family home. In common with those, they are all issued by various marketing boards or councils.
Some of them even share the same address. For instance, the Mushroom Consumer Service and the British Farm Produce Council were both based out of Agriculture House in Knightsbridge. Others are dotted around a little bit further afield, like the Apple and Pear Development Council in Tunbridge Wells.
But I just have a small snapshot of these leaflets. Whilst my mum was an avid collector of pamphlets, I don’t believe she would have collected absolutely all of the ones available. It makes me wonder just how many other councils, bureaus, and consumer services there were back in the 70s, and possibly beyond. I had never considered the fact that there would need to be a dedicated mushroom consumer service before. Fascinating.
I’ve grouped the leaflets below by their publisher.
British Farm Produce Council, Agriculture House, Knightsbridge
Mushroom Consumer Service, Agriculture House, Knightsbridge
Was there a “Cold meals with mushrooms” guide as well?
The Wine Development Board, 1 Vintner’s Place, London
Metrication Board, 22 Kingsway, London
See the full set of going metric images
The Apple and Pear Development Council, Union House, the Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells
They clearly had the budget to produce a colourful guide!
The Cheese Bureau, 40 Berkeley Square, London
A glossy cover! Big cheese had big money by the looks of it.
