Post 15: Eclectic days

Enthusiasm level: Mixed
Progress: Diverting
Quote: “Did Jimi Hendrix really live next door to Handel?”

Samuel Pepys amongst other things was a musician and probably had more in common with Hendrix than you might think.

So it has been a mixed bag of a week here at Handel Hendrix HQ. Activities have ranged from a RIBA Stage E presentation from the architect, which in English means a presentation about the technical aspects of the building design; to some investigations under the floorboards of the 300 year old staircase (we need to make sure they don’t collapse under the weight of Hendrix fans cavorting down them) to a particuarly stimulating discussion about what kind of guide book we might create for the new exhibition – more on that one anon.

The cherry on top of this eclectic week was a meeting, slightly randomly, about Samuel Pepys. There are plans afoot for some kind of Pepys House Museum to be created in Huntingdon and I attended a meeting to share experiences of running personality houses. Naturally the conversation became a little sidetracked by old JH, as it tends to these days. Some of the group were incredulous that he lived in the next door building to Handel. I particuarly enjoyed the thought of Hendrix being discussed alongside Dr Johnson, Siegmund Freud, Sir John Soane, Handel and Pepys, I think he would have been amused too!

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About Sarah Bardwell

Handel & Hendrix in London Trustee and leading the team that is reinstating, in the adjoining building, Jimi Hendrix's London flat to open to the public. Quirky twist of chance meant that baroque legend Handel lived at 25 Brook Street in the 18th century and that rock legend Hendrix lived next door in the 1960s.

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