Hampton's musical influences
This pastoral riverside scene is of the River Thames at Hampton – once in Middlesex, now part of the London Borough of Richmond.
In the centre is the tower of the 19th century St Mary’s Parish church – but more interesting than that (at least for me) is the handsome houseboat below.
This is the Astoria, built in 1911 for the music hall impresario Fred Karno (1866-1941), whose ‘army’ of comedians included Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Will Hay. Karno, inventor of the ‘custard pie in the face’ gag, spent some £7,000 (around £650,000 in today’s money) on his floating palace, which could even accommodate a 90-piece ballroom orchestra – but in due course his wealth ran out, to the point of bankruptcy.
Many years down the line, the houseboat was bought and restored by David Gilmour, the legendary Pink Floyd musician. He converted it into a state of the art recording studio which he still uses today.
With thanks to my Flickr friend Vince An Skeusenner, whose own closer image of the Astoria inspired me to take my own photograph.
Hampton's musical influences
This pastoral riverside scene is of the River Thames at Hampton – once in Middlesex, now part of the London Borough of Richmond.
In the centre is the tower of the 19th century St Mary’s Parish church – but more interesting than that (at least for me) is the handsome houseboat below.
This is the Astoria, built in 1911 for the music hall impresario Fred Karno (1866-1941), whose ‘army’ of comedians included Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Will Hay. Karno, inventor of the ‘custard pie in the face’ gag, spent some £7,000 (around £650,000 in today’s money) on his floating palace, which could even accommodate a 90-piece ballroom orchestra – but in due course his wealth ran out, to the point of bankruptcy.
Many years down the line, the houseboat was bought and restored by David Gilmour, the legendary Pink Floyd musician. He converted it into a state of the art recording studio which he still uses today.
With thanks to my Flickr friend Vince An Skeusenner, whose own closer image of the Astoria inspired me to take my own photograph.