Open House London 2008: part 3

After visiting the Steiner House, I wandered off to church, All Saints Margaret Street. Having been disappointed by the lack of expected craziness at St Martin's Gospel Oak the day before, All Saints proved to be exactly what I was after in a "crazy" Victorian church. Even starting from the gothic exterior, with its dramatic spire and pretty red-and-black patterned brickwork, nothing really prepares you for the visual feast that awaits you inside. Every inch of space is covered in decoration and colour, from the almost Moorish design of the baptistry, to the enormous tile murals on the lower walls, to the intricately painted patterns high over the arches, to the brightly painted parade of saints over the altar — even the floor is brightly patterned.

It's beautiful, and easy to see why John Betjeman loved it so much, and why Ian Nairn compared it to an orgasm in his book, Nairn's London (cover image), because it could "only be understood in terms of compelling, overwhelming passion." Unfortunately, it's also very dark inside, due to a combination of dark walls and dim lights, so it took a long time for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, and for me to figure out the best settings on my camera to get any pictures at all. You'd really need a tripod to get anything good, though. Maybe I should go back with one. More photos here.

My final Open House visit of this year was to Wilton's Music Hall, and although it was a bit of a trek to get there, it was worth it. It's famously shabby and rundown — in fact, parts of the building are still derelict and off-limits, but I liked the bits I got to see, even if the walls were peeling paint and the stairs were uneven. Actually, that was what I liked about it, and I suspect most of the other people felt the same way, judging by how crowded the cafe was. There's something funny about seeing so many people quite happily sitting down to tea and cake in a place that they would usually find rather abhorrent — how many people do you know whose idea of fun is to take tea in a semi-derelict slum building?

Unfortunately, it was yet another place that was extremely dimly-lit, which made for a wonderfully evocative atmosphere, but yet more mostly awful photos. I got some nice ones of the walls outside, though, which are in a beautiful state of decay — a wonderful contrast of colours and textures. If you like that sort of thing, which I obviously do! More Wilton's photos here.

All of this year's Open House photos can be seen here. The whole set of photos from 2005-2008 can be seen here.

As usual, there were loads of places that I wanted to see and didn't manage to get to, and although I tell myself I'll make the effort to ensure I do get to them next year, I know I probably won't. But that's the great thing about Open House: there's so much to see that it doesn't really matter too much if you miss something. There's always something else. Which is worth reminding yourself of in other situations, too, isn't it?