Express Yourself

In Hampstead, there are some great Edwardian buildings, such as this old Express Dairy building; Dairies then were all about delivering milk to your door, as fresh as possible, It's somewhat ironic that it is now occupied by a Tesco Express, whose idea is to get you in and out as quickly as possibly, depriving you of money along the way.

Take the Left Fork

Round the corner from the fish shop, in Greenwich Market is a stall selling jewellery crafted from forks. If you like the idea of that, you can buy some yourself.

The Fish is in the Shop

After yesterday, I could only follow up with a photo of The Greenwich Fishmonger who sells some of the best fish. Mostly caught by British fishermen, too, which is nice.

The Fish is in the East

I thought you might enjoy the weathervane on the top of the old Billingsgate Market building.

Royal Society of Arts

As they have been championing the Arts in the UK for the last 250 years, you would expect them to have a decent building. And indeed they have: situated in John Adam Street and designed by Robert Adam towards the end of the 18th Century.

Ticket to Ride

As the Olympics draw ever closer, I illustrate this with a picture taken of the site early on in the development (largely because I can't get out and take one now). The Olympic tickets application system is now open, and if you thought you could just click on the website and order a few tickets without any issues, you are sorely mistaken. If you are considering buying tickets (and you have until April 26th to enter the ticket lottery) I very strongly recommend you make use of Diamond Geezer's research here. Some of the issues he highlights you may well find surprising.

Spring is Sprung

A Chelsea street with the magnolias in bloom - spring must have arrived. Well, to be strictly accurate, spring arrived five years ago in this photo, but given the wonderful warm weather I'm sure they would be out again if I was able to go and photograph them. As an extra bonus, a Victorian post box.

Quality Air

You may see this strange machinery by the side of the road, it is there to measure the air quality. You can see the results here.

Life on Water

Little Venice sounds tremendously exotic, but is actually barge moorings in Maida Vale, just up the road from Marble Arch, where people live on houseboats. Still rather nice.

Memento Mori

A rather grand but somewhat dilapidated memorial in Kensal Green Cemetery, Victorian London's answer to Pere Lachaise in Paris.

London Gryphon

The gryphons mark the boundaries of the City of London, in this one you can see the spike on the south of London Bridge commemorating the spikes that used to bear the heads of the executed.

Buckingham Palace by Night

Don't know why I didn't use this shot previously, quite atmospheric, only a very little bit Christmas-y. And, the queen is at home.

The Royal Exchange

The Royal Exchange was founded as the centre of commerce in the City during the reign of Elizabeth I, this is the third building to house it erected in the middle of the 19th century. Back when it started, stockbrokers were banned because of their bad manners! The inscription in the middle reads "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof"

Micro-Gastro

If you find yourself in Hampstead, you might fancy a pint and a bite in the Horseshoe, a retro conversion from a Wetherspoon (hurrah!). Although ostensibly a microbrewery, as far as I can see the brews all came from the Camden Brewery just up the road, and none the worse for that. The food is good, with tendency to the pretentious, a plate and a drink is likely going to cost you £12-ish.

Keeping up Standards

This photo is taken in Trafalgar Square, and the feature of interest is the brass plaque in the centre. That was put there in 1876 and are the standards for Imperial measures: One foot, two feet and one yard. I've always wondered if they have ever been used to check dimensions.

Blind Justice

The Roman's god Justita turned into Lady Justice, who turned into blind justice we see commonly now, with a blindfold around her eyes. Unusually, the statue above the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court has her eyes open and uncovered. Apparently, her status as maiden guarantees her impartiality. I was playing around with this double-vision reflection, not sure it worked out which is why it has taken a long while to appear.

The City Lives Beyond

When I saw this, I couldn't make up my mind whether it was clever or just trite. Then, because I couldn't get a decent photo it got sidelined (but desperate times call for desperate measures). What it says, to save you clicking through to the large image is:

"The city lives beyond
Before
All its possibilities

Like a crafty
Mean old bugger

Always asking for more
Before
Pissing it away"

The Royal Albert Hall

The Albert Hall was first going to be called the "The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences", conceived as a partner to the Crystal Palace (which was first erected in Hyde Park, not Crystal Palace. Confused?) But as Victoria's husband, Albert, had died and he had been a champion of the sciences, it was conveniently turned into the "Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences". Victoria went onto mourn him for another 50 years. This is the view from Prince Consort Road, with his statue on view at the top.

St Barthomew the Great

The Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great ("Great St Barts") in West Smithfield managed to survive the Great Fire of London and the Blitz. So, this piece of Tudor woodwork may be amongst the oldest in London. But it does look to me as if he is holding something odd - and possibly rude - in his hand.

Westminster Bridge & Big Ben

It's not that often I take tourist shots, but I suppose I ought to from time to time.

Bullrushes

With Spring around the corner, these rushes that have brightening a local lake through the winter are looking a little bedraggled.

Ninja Knitting!!

Guerilla Street Knitting is striking in the heart of London! (OK, Streatham) Although I am confined to barracks at present, I couldn't let that stop me from telling you about this when I found out, so grateful thanks to Alex for the pictures. Well, trees get cold, too! (and see the barriers in the background) You can read more about them and see the video here and see the rest of Alex's photos here.

Enthusiasm

I came across this bunch of guys a while back, the guitarist was having a smoke in the street and they were all putting together a track in the studio with a video, and quite liked the idea of having their photo taken. Their enthusiasm was infectious.

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale is undisputedly one of the great female figures of the 19th Century, and many that would otherwise have died owed her a debt of gratitude. The exact nature of her contribution is open to discussion by revisionists, however what is little realised is that she was a mathematician, and her strength lay in being able to statistically analyse data and use that result to substantiate her arguments. In an age before Powerpoint, here is the diagram she drew to show how many deaths could be prevented.

The Old Naval College, Greenwich

The Old Naval College is a grand piece of London architecture, seeming very fitting into the feel of the city. Which of course it does, as it was designed tby Christopher Wren, the man whose hand shaped our city more than most.

Never to old to protest

This gent was there when we were protesting against the SOCPA legislation that has proved as damaging and as misused as expected.

The Diptych

By request, I reproduce another two part photo set from 2006.

In and around London, up and down the country, for many years the boot fair has featured large. Flea market? no - nothing that interesting. But come rain come shine, people turn up to sell and buy - - - stuff.

And here is one such ... stuff. Doesn't the poor soul look apprehensive? What is going to happen to me? Have you ever seen such a worried hippo? The end of the story is here.

Everything Changes - Part 2

As I said yesterday, these two shots were taken seconds apart.

Everything Changes - Part 1

A repost of my two favourites - this one and tomorrow's are taken seconds apart.

Abstract London

You may think this is an abstract, but it is the view up the stairwell in the Daily Express building, and another of my all time favourite shots.

March Theme Day - Favourite Part of Town

March theme day is my favorite part of town, which is really the most difficult one I have had to decide on - what one part of London would I say was favourite? I decided that it had to have the Thames in, but it is still hard to choose. The Southbank? The House of Parliament? The London Eye? The Tower of London? The London Skyline? Instead, I decided on the Limehouse Dock, as I think it is where I would start a walk if I had to see London for the last time, and then carry on down to Teddington.

If you want to see how this theme has been interpreted around the world click here to view thumbnails for all participants