Talk at the Canal Museum: When London Became an Island

There's an interesting talk tonight at 7:30pm at the London Canal Museum: 

How the book "When London Became an Island" came to be written:  

A talk by Robert Philpotts, author of the book, which is a detailed account of the building of the Regent's Canal.

Robert's first book was on the Grantham Canal. He then wrote about the construction of the Lancaster Canal.

I bought the book as a birthday gift to myself last year, and it's a great read.  There's a companion website here:  www.whenlondonbecame.org.uk.  

I wish I could be at the talk, and I hope they record it as a podcast.  I lost touch with Bob long ago, but I have fond memories of the time we shared a flat in Putney, about 30 years ago.  At that time he was still working as a teacher, but busy cultivating the delightful pointillist drawing technique which has become such a distinctive feature of his books. 

I remember the sweltering summer of 1978 (or was it 1979?  My, how tempus fugits), and how he sat topless in the small back garden at the bottom of the stairs and work on his drawing technique. 

He was a teacher then, and I also remember how the schoolboys' nickname for him - 'spamhead' - followed him home and how we all started using it, which he endured with good humour.  (When my own hair started to fall out a few years later our mutual friends started calling me that too.   Alternatively I was known as 'marblehead'.)

Bob was always very modest, even-tempered and impeccably polite, a good flat-sharer, and great company at parties, a rare combination.  But I never realised he'd end up writing and illustrating such interesting canal history books too.  It's a shame they aren't more widely distributed.  (Sign up here to be notified when Amazon stocks them.)

I wonder if he remembers me, or me taking this photo of him at his drawing table?  Hi, Bob!

Comments

[Sparkle Shirley]

Is it only me that finds this picture very unsettling?