Fruity Clothing

I applaud the re-use of old shop signage.

The Calder Bookshop

Just opposite the Young Vic is the Calder Bookshop, one of the independent bookshops that London supports. As ever, the independent bookshop has to provide more to survive, and the Calder has poetry readings, books signings and its own theatre. As I have just bought myself an eBook reader, I think the future of bookshops will be interesting; I'd like to think that rediscovering the joy of reading - especially classics which are free - may well start a resurgence in book buying. Who knows.

What IS your darkest desire?

Passing by the Young Vic (up the road from the Old Vic) I saw this poster for Faust, music by Nick Cave. What could be bad? sounds like real fun, I'm going to try to get to see it.

The Iron Man

You might not need to be told this is an Anthony Gormley scupture, although it is substantially different from a lot of his work. From a distance it looks like a man, close up it looks like a city. The man's a genius. It's in Shoe Lane, in the city.


See where on the London Daily Photo Map
For the first 200 Map places, click here.

A bit of Royal London

Homoeopathy has always aroused strong feelings, for and against. In England there has been the extra dimension of royal approval - the old Queen Mum was a Homoeopath, and all her family since, hence the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital in Queens Square. However, given all the fuss around homoeopathy they have just announced they are changing their name to the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine. I'll leave you to make up your own minds on the subject, chances are whichever side of the fence you are on, your mind is already made up.

Close to Clerkenwell

Clerkenwell Close has a long history, the more recent part in the 19th Century included being a department store. Doesn't the idea of carving "Stationery Department" in stone say something about the expectations of the people who built this? It's trendy workshops now.

How many pennies in 50p?

Very quietly, a revolution has taken place in the City. It used to be the case that the City Public Lavatories were all free, clean and free, and I think that was something to be proud of. Not so any more. They have introduced charges to the busiest ones (=the ones they can get away with stiffing the tourists, around St Pauls and the Tower of London) and it is not clear if they will introduce them to the rest, such as this one in Smithfield. So now, it costs 50p to spend a penny. The expression comes from the old Public Lavatories that used to be coin operated, they cost 1d - old penny - or less than 0.5p now.

Meeting Place

Back in the seventies, BT went around ripping out loads of telephone boxes. However, in Smithfield Meat Market in the heart of the City I assume that the noise and bustle of the market meant that the boxes were still needed. Whatever the reason, there are rather more in here than you might expect.

Charterhouse

Charterhouse is an amazingly well hidden corner of London that few venture into, especially considering how stuffed it is with history. Charterhouse (from the Chartreuse monks) history stretches back to the 14th century, and this site saw the birth of one of England's oldest Public Schools (those are the private ones) and the deaths of thousands - it was the largest plague pit in London. There are other Tudor houses in London, but I'd venture few in such a secluded spot.

See where on the London Daily Photo Map
For the first 200 Map places, click here.

Victorian Values

The Grade II Listed Art Nouveau Fox & Anchor in Charterhouse Street in the City could be considered the archetypal Victorian pub. Recently restored to a state where it might get George Orwell's approbation (in The Moon Under Water), I like that you can stay there, too, making it seem more like a real Inn.

Care Free Day

One of the interesting developments of recent years is the revival of local fêtes and festivals in London districts, often accompanied and marked by a "Car-Free Day" when people can roam happily and safely on streets otherwise occupied by traffic. This photo of an elegant Triumph Mayflower was taken at my local festival.

It's funny how wedded people are to the car as personal transport, and yet how much they enjoy the occasional day they leave them behind. Now I'd agree that there are times when you have to use the car, but so often it is quicker, easier and better for all if you hop on a bike, or walk, or take public transport.

Takeoff

I was outside London today, fulfilling a lifetime ambition to fly in a glider. Considering that I've been thinking about this for over 40 years, I'm very happy to report it lived up to expectations.

Courtesy of a birthday present from Mrs Ham, I spent the day at the club flying. From the height of 2,500 feet I could see London, that's my excuse for posting this. I will be back, but probably not until I have the time to devote to it.

(For those interested, this is the moment of takeoff. While it looks calm, the winch is pulling the plane with a 0-60 acceleration of about 2 seconds, and it is just about to head up into the skies at a 45 degree angle)

The Old Sessions House

The Old Sessions House in Clerkenwell Green is a magnificent building. Now a conference centre. from when it was built in 1780 until 1920 it was the busiest court in the country - The Middlesex Sessions.

London's Elephants - No 37 38 in a series

Today's pachyderm present comes courtesy of Andreas, a gonna-be-cabbie, LDP visitor, contributor and all round good guy. This pub is in Highgate, and I wondered at first when I saw the name if they were confused with their animals. But then, I read a review and decided that they were just being honest.

Cheers, Andreas!!

The elephants series is here.

The Dogs of Alcibiades

This is one of a pair of dogs donated to Victoria Park 1912 by Lady Aignarth. Local children were told by their parents that they commemorated a dog who drowned saving a little girl from drowning in the boating lake. You can read more reminiscences on Barryoneoff's site.

Grimshaws

I assume this recently installed design of London's forms of transport (Zeppelins? Really?) from a firm of architects that specialise in that area is as a riposte to a recent defacing. Fair enough.

I get a kick out of you

I had to show you something from this high-kicking demonstration of Tai-Kwondo skill, at Sunday's Thames Festival. Their skill was awesome, but I did discover one of their tricks... .lots of painkiller spray afterwards!!

The Thames Festival

The Thames Festival was held this weekend, and thousands flocked to have fun by the River. While it was as commercial as ever, at least this year there seemed more effort had been paid to finding arts and crafts, which was nice.

Wood Street Wonder

If you find yourself in Wood Street in the City, you will see this tower in the middle of the road. It's not immediately obvious what it is doing there. Appropriately enough for this week it is all that's left from St Alban's 17th Century Wren Church after the blitz in 1940.

Into the Black

It seemed like serendipity, seeing a blind man outside Dans le Noir. This restaurant (One in London and Paris) has a heady fin de siecle atmosphere about it - you eat in the pitch black. Of course then the most talented waiters are going to be the blind.... and yes that was exactly what this guy was. Is it very, very bad of me that I can only think of Young Frankenstein?

Stand Out from the Herd

Isn't it fantastic how residents of big cities almost pride themselves on ignoring the strange and fantastical. Cow walking along with a placard? None of my business.....

The reappearance of the cow-muter is part of the Friends of the Earth continuing campaign to make people realise the potential impact to the rainforest from the continued grubbing up of the land to grow cattle feed to sell to our farmers. Whatever your views on specific green causes, it has to be plain nuts to swap the rainforest for acres of soy, just to get a cheap burger or two.

Turned out this was part of a video they were making (online here, sign the petition here), I'm never afraid to ask.

Nostalgia

I visited the Air Museum on a day when they were having a vintage bus extravaganza. Seeing these buses put a smile on everyone's face. I have to say. However, I think the efforts by our current mayor to reintroduce a modern Routemaster is deeply flawed, and I'm not the only one.

Halifax W0148

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the London Blitz, which has been the subject of many events and commemorations. If you want to get a sense of what was happening in the air, or if you just want a good day out, the RAF Museum in Hendon is a pretty good place to go. This is a Halifax bomber, pretty much in the state it was found at the bottom of a Norwegian lake in 1973. In the words of the RAF " This haunting relic reminds one that war is not a glorious business as it sits between the other immaculate and historic exhibits."

London's Skyride

This Sunday was London's Skyride - a day when 85,000 cyclists of all ages and abilities took advantage of the closed roads to see London's sights free of cars.

I loved seeing the families enjoying themselves and learning that it was possible to cycle up to London. The experience itself was a bit of a mixed bag, here are how some others found it. 1 2 3 4 5 6

My London Workplaces - No 11

A series of photos from the places I have worked over the years, allowing me to reminisce and chart the changes to London over the years.

After five years, in 1999 I decided to shut up shop and go and work for someone else, and I've been working for IBM since then. All things being equal, not too shabby a location to work.

This series has been about London, not about me. Looking back I reckon I've worked in some great places, but then that's London.

Grays Inn

While we're waiting for the last (!!) workplace picture, here's a view of Grays Inn, one of the Inns of Court. Given how interesting some of the buildings are, it's a shame you can't visit, but he won't let you.

My London Workplaces - No 10

A series of photos from the places I have worked over the years, allowing me to reminisce and chart the changes to London over the years.

We are coming up to date, now it is the mid 90's. The TV Channel had been bought by a US megacorp, and the Chief Exec & myself found ourselves surplus to requirements. So, I set up an IT business working from a small office just off Queens Square & Great Ormond Street. At the time I had a dog, so there were long walks around Bloomsbury & Fitzrovia, it was a good place to be. As that period saw the rise of the Internet, here's the dog's web page for old times' sake.