The London Daily Newsletter Wednesday 1 March

The month of March is named after Mars. In the early Roman calendar this was the first month of the year and marked the start of the war season. Mars was the god of war, and as such one of the most important gods in the Roman pantheon. Mars was a member of the archaic Capitoline Triad, but was later replaced by Minerva. Mars was the son of Juno. He was often identified with the Greed god Ares. Mars was one of the few gods to which a bull could be sacrifices. A special priest was appointed to the worship of Mars, the Flamen Martialis. There was a Temple of Mars in the Campus Martius, and Augustus had a Temple of Mars Ultor, Mars the Avenger, built in the Forum of Augustus to celebrate the defeat of Julius Caesar’s assassins. Additionally, on the anniversary of the foundation of the temple of Juno Lucina on the Esquiline, Roman matrons held a festival known as the Matronalia on 1 March.

Scala Theatre
Scala Theatre was a theatre in London, sited on Charlotte Street, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772, and was demolished in 1969, after being destroyed by fire.

The theatre began on this site as The New Rooms where concerts were performed, in Charlotte Street, in 1772, under the management of Francis Pasquali. Popularity, and royal patronage led to the building’s enlargement by James Wyatt, and its renaming as the King’s Concert Rooms (1780–1786). It then became Rooms for Concerts of Ancient Music and Hyde’s Rooms (1786–1802, managed by The Directors of Concerts and Ancient Music). In 1802, a private theatre club, managed by Captain Caulfield, the “Pic-Nics” occupied the building and named it the Cognoscenti Theatre (1802–1808). It became the New Theatre (1808–1815, under Saunders and Mr J. Paul) and was extended and fitted out as a public theatre with a portico entrance, on Tottenham Street. It continued under a succession of managers as the unsuccessful Regency Theatre (1815–1820), falling into decline. The theatre then reopened as the West London Theatre (1820–1831, under Brunton), Queen’s Theatre (1831–1833, 1835–1837, and again 1839-1865), and Fitzroy Theatre (1833–1835 and 1837–1839). The lessee of the theatre from 1843 to 1869 was a scenic artist, Charles James James, and the theatre became the home of lurid melodrama, being nicknamed The Dusthole. In 1865, the theatre was renovated and named the ’Prince of Wales Royal Theatre’ and this continued until its demolition in 1903. The same year, in partnership with Henry Byron, Effie Marie Wilton assumed the management of the theatre, having secured as a leading actor Squire Bancroft. The house soon became noted for the successful domestic drama-comedies by Thomas William Robertson, including his series of groundbreaking realist plays. In 1903, Dr. Edmund Distin Maddick bought the property, and adjoining properties, and enlarged the site. The main entrance was now situated on Charlotte Street, and the old portico, on Tottenham Street became the stage door. The new theatre, designed by Frank Verity, opened in 1905, as The Scala Theatre, seating 1,139 and boasting a large stage. The new venture was not particularly successful, however, and became a cinema from 1911–1918, run by Charles Urban. In 1918, F. J. Nettlefold took over and ran the premises as a theatre again. It became known as the New Scala in 1923, with D.A. Abrahams as licensee for both staging plays and showing films, becoming owner in 1925. Amateur productions and pantomime were performed, and for a while the theatre became home to the Gang Show. During World War II, it again housed professional theatre, reverting to the Scala Theatre. After the war, under the management of Prince Littler, amateur productions returned, with Peter Pan being the annual pantomime. This continued until 1969 when, after a fire, it was demolished for the building of offices, known as Scala House. In 1964, the theatre was used by The Beatles for the concert sequences in the film A Hard Day’s Night. Today it is the site of an apartment block.

TUM Book Club: Tube Mapper Project
Photographer Luke Agbaimoni created the Tube Mapper project allowing him to be creative, fitting photography around his lifestyle and adding stations on his daily commute.

The Underground is the backbone of the city of London, a part of our identity. It’s a network of shared experiences and visual memories, and most Londoners and visitors to the city will at some point have an interaction with the London Underground tube and train network. Photographer Luke Agbaimoni gave up city-scape night photography after the birth of his first child, but creating the Tube Mapper project allowed him to continue being creative, fitting photography around his new lifestyle and adding stations on his daily commute. His memorable photographs consider such themes as symmetry, reflections, tunnels and escalators, as well as simply pointing out and appreciating the way the light falls on a platform in an evening sunset. This book reveals the London every commuter knows in a unique, vibrant and arresting style.

Entrance to the Fleet River, c. 1750

Samuel Scott

Video: You Can’t Always Get What You Wanstead
Jago Hazzard went to the far reaches of the Central Line