Join Alice Pearson and Laurence Scales as they saddle up for a canter through London’s extraordinary history of the horse
[ID: Black and white photograph of an early 20th Century stables for London bus horses. Men in workwear stand on a cobbled corridor between the stables, where horses are bridled either side, with their heads towards the wall.]
Doors: 7:00pm
Tickets £10 [£7 concession]
For almost ten years, Salon for the City has convened monthly to bring together authors, historians, artists or cultural commentators, talking on themes ranging across culture, literature, history, and beyond - but there is only ever one subject: London.
In this, the 95th iteration of the salon, Household Cavalry Museum director Alice Pearson and science historian Laurence Scales will be delving into the history of a London pervaded by the sights, sounds, and smells of horses…
From the towpath to the taxi, Laurence Scales will celebrate the mark that horses have upon London's architecture, industry and infrastructure - and explore the horse's afterlife beyond the knacker's yard with a horse miscellany, including the horsey origins of the Royal Veterinary College, mountains of manure, the afterlife of the Victorian horse, the recycling of the dead animal - and horsehair tooth brushes..
The Household Cavalry still guards the Queen on ceremonial occasions in London and across the UK. Formed in 1661 under the direct order of King Charles II, Its headquarters - along with its museum and a working stable - sits within Horse Guards in Whitehall one of the city’s most historic buildings. Alice Pearson, the museum’s director, tells tales of its history, the use of the horse in the city’s royal ceremonies, horses' military roles and how they are still employed today in coordination with modern life.
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Laurence Scales is a specialist London guide for scientific and technological history. He has written articles for Londonist, volunteered for the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures, and helped to escort the first horse-drawn boat through London in 60 years while volunteering at the London Canal Museum.
Alice Pearson is director of the Household Cavalry Museum. She was previously the Magna Carta Project Manager at The Honourable Societies of the Inner Temple and Middle Temple.