The City of London Arts Festival: Prunella Scales and Brian Patten in 1986
Imagine that you are organizing an annual Arts Festival and for venues you have at your disposal St Paul’s Cathedral, Guildhall, Bishopsgate Hall, Mansion House, Paternoster Square and St Mary le-Bow. Not only those resplendent venues: you can further take your pick of Christopher Wren churches such as St Mary Woolnorth and All Hallows at Tower Hill. You will surely feel blessed!
Photo: Guildhall, bedecked with London Olympics banners in 2012.
Imagine that you are organizing an annual Arts Festival and for venues you have at your disposal St Paul’s Cathedral, Guildhall, Bishopsgate Hall, Mansion House, Paternoster Square and St Mary le-Bow. Not only those resplendent venues: you can further take your pick of Christopher Wren churches such as St Mary Woolnorth and All Hallows at Tower Hill. You will surely feel blessed!
Photo: Guildhall, bedecked with London Olympics banners in 2012.
The prestige of the City of London Arts Festival always attracts a host of top names from the worlds of art, dance, literature, music and theatre. It is poignant to look back forty years to see the list of performers in 1986. The fondly-remembered actress Prunella Scales and the poet Brian Patten were there. Each of them sadly was taken from us last year 2025 at the respective ages of 93 and 79.
Amongst the many literary luminaries taking part in 1986 we can note that Alan Bates and Patrick Garland presented a tribute to the renowned poet Philip Larkin who had passed away the previous year 1985 aged 63.
Amongst the many literary luminaries taking part in 1986 we can note that Alan Bates and Patrick Garland presented a tribute to the renowned poet Philip Larkin who had passed away the previous year 1985 aged 63.
Prunella Scales and her husband Timothy West were frequent performers in the City of London. A lunchtime concert for City workers and tourists took place at Minster Court in 1998 to mark the opening of the London Underwriting Centre in the striking new headquarters sometimes nicknamed Dracula’s Castle or Gotham City. Passers-by today may note in the wide courtyard the statues of the three horses whose names Sterling, Dollar and Yen reflect the financial characteristic of the local businesses and buildings. Timothy West who passed away in 2024 paired with his wife Prunella Scales to make the popular recent television series Great Canal Journeys.
It was in 1967 that Adrian Henri, Roger McGough and Brian Patten burst into mainstream poetry recognition when Penguin published The Mersey Sound anthology of their poems. Twenty years later in 1986 the fame and popularity of ‘the Liverpool Poets’ was such that the City of London invited two of them to recite at the annual Arts Festival.
Writing in his autobiography Said and Done (2005) Roger McGough said of Adrian Henri (1932 – 2000) ‘I never miss him more than when visiting churches and art galleries, where he would be the enthusiastic guide and fount of all the knowledge you needed.'
In contrast to the spiky, witty and bittersweet poetry typically penned by Adrian Henri and Roger McGough, the output from Brian Patten (1946 – 2025) tended towards the soft and lyrical as exemplified by his early-published poem You Come To Me Quiet As Rain Not Yet Fallen. He moved to London, seeking to play down his branding of Liverpool poet. Roger McGough wrote in 2005: 'Brian struck gold in London. To his small flat near Notting Hill Gate came a procession of young women, eager to tame this wild young poet, a burning genius with the looks of a mischievous faun.’
Charles Causley (1917 – 2003) was another leading poet to grace the City of London Arts Festival of 1986. He never disavowed his native Cornwall and was renowned for weaving folklore and legend into his verse.
Writing in his autobiography Said and Done (2005) Roger McGough said of Adrian Henri (1932 – 2000) ‘I never miss him more than when visiting churches and art galleries, where he would be the enthusiastic guide and fount of all the knowledge you needed.'
In contrast to the spiky, witty and bittersweet poetry typically penned by Adrian Henri and Roger McGough, the output from Brian Patten (1946 – 2025) tended towards the soft and lyrical as exemplified by his early-published poem You Come To Me Quiet As Rain Not Yet Fallen. He moved to London, seeking to play down his branding of Liverpool poet. Roger McGough wrote in 2005: 'Brian struck gold in London. To his small flat near Notting Hill Gate came a procession of young women, eager to tame this wild young poet, a burning genius with the looks of a mischievous faun.’
Charles Causley (1917 – 2003) was another leading poet to grace the City of London Arts Festival of 1986. He never disavowed his native Cornwall and was renowned for weaving folklore and legend into his verse.
In our Cray 150 book City of London: Wandering and Wondering the author Jerry Dowlen celebrates his favourite historical, literary and architectural gems in the famous square mile once known as the walled Roman city of Londinium. Soon to come in a new second edition published in early 2026 the book will be available for purchase [Price £4.95] at the Croft Tea Room, 263 High Street, St Mary Cray or by e-mail to [email protected]