A Tube of Poetry

The series of Poems on the London Underground has been running since 1986, an alternative to the incessant advertising and a counterpoint to the crush of the rush hour, somewhere your mind can expand. Even if you don't travel on the tube, you can read the poetry archive here.

The Shard Takes Its Place

It is interesting to see London's skyline change from places such as this vantage point in Waltham Forest. The Shard is more clearly taking its prominence here than is visible when you are closer.

Wild Horses

I can't quite make out the reason for these horses in the front garden of a house in the Mile End Road. It looks a bit as if the house has been taken over by an artistic collective, but there is no evidence either way. Whatever the reason, their presence is comfortingly eccentric.

London's Elephants - No 39 in a series

Ahhhhh, another elephant. About time, I hear you say. I saw this on my way home, in Hanbury Street by Brick Lane. It looks to me as if there may be others around, too.



The elephants series is here.

Rising Orbit

Just along from the stadium, the new sculpture by Anish Kapoor is rising. Doesn't llok like much at the moment, but it is probably going to be fun to climb.

Very Staid

The Greenway is still accessible by foot and cycle, and gets you up close and personal to the Olympic stadium, looking very finished from here. Hard to imagine how busy it will be a year from now - I hope I've been successful buying at least some of the tickets I applied for.

Ooooo Look at me plumage

Probably an effective chat up line, just as long as the object of your affection is a Peahen (or possibly even a Peacock in these enlightened times). While you have to pay £17.60!!!! to enter the zoo, the magnificent Snowdon Aviary is visible from the canal path (on my way home) for free.

The West in the East

It is now only a few months away from the first of the Olympic site facilities opening - Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford. And for those who thought that the Olympics would do nothing for the area, look at the 1,000,000 sq ft of office space in an area where you would only have found council offices a couple of short years ago.

(Photographic note: a lot of my pictures over the last days have been from my Samsung phone, this is the first where its shortcomings are painfully obvious)

I wonder what it looks like from the top?

Wonder no more. Just click here and you will be transported to the top of Centre Point, and able to mess around with an 80 Gigapixel image of London. That's 80 and a very lot of zeros. HAve a play with it, the zoom is astonishing.

Scoot round for food

One of the more original options for seating is here, at Camden Lock. There are a whole host of generally attractive looking eateries where you can buy your food, and sit and watch the canal flow b.

Wind on!

Until I started riding home along the canal path, I knew nothing about this restaurant - Feng Shang. It looks as if it is well worth a visit, and it is on my list of places to visit, now. My pidgin Chinese translates Feng Shang as Wind On (as in, wind blowing) but I suspect that it might have lost a little in translation.

What do you think of it? It's rubbish.

To be more exact this mural is made out of rubbish, by Kevin Herlihy in conjuction with a local youth club. You can find it on the Grand Union Canal by Kensal Green.

I'm Not Angry

Not his most well known song, but "I'm Not Angry" immortalised Elvis Costello's time working at Elizabeth Arden in song: "Spent all my time in a vanity factory, wonderin' when they're gonna come and take it all back". This is possibly the most noteworthy part of North Acton - I'd be interested if others have more suggestions. If you want to hear the song, youtube video is here.

As it says in the words, Elvis has left the building.

A Cabbies Window

Anyone following my comments recently might have chanced upon a new blog. Cabbieswindow. There are some great photographs in there and some, if not all are shot from, well, the cabbie's window. I love the feel it gives, the way the cab helps form the shots and gives a subtly different perspective. So I nicked one of his photos, hope he doesn't mind. Check out his his archive here and click on a few.

How was your journey home from work?

My journey home from work is normally a bit of a cross-town slog on the bike, with lots of people and traffic. But today, I discovered the Grand Union Canal, which took me very pleasantly indeed from Acton to Camden Lock, which you can see here. The 7-ish miles took just less than 25 minutes, and that included slowing down for people time. It was brilliant.

Lawd Luv a Duck

Or goose in this case. I happened across these proud parents in the park just up the road from my house, and thought it would be nice to share.

Crystal Palace

The tower in the picture is the transmitting tower for the TV signal for most of London, and it has the distinction of until recent years being the tallest structure in London, currently demoted to fourth highest.

Just Another Brick

Well, following yesterday's Blogger meltdown, hopefully we are back to normal, or what passes for normal in this corner of the Internet.

This is much more like what you expect for sculpture in Leytonstone. It's a seat in the train and bus station, depicting various busses in brick. And, according to the Shady Old Lady, "At the heart of the central core of concrete and reinforced steel, and unknown to anyone other than the artist, Mr Pretor placed two items - a kitchen sink and a roll of wallpaper

The Honourable Artillery Company

Strange that this army unit isn't "Royal", especially since their Captain General is the Queen herself. But, as they are the oldest regiment in the British Army, they might be allowed some idiosyncrasy. This castle like building is in the heart of the city, on City Road near London Wall.

Beyond B-Leaf

Leytonstone is not the most salubrious of London Boroughs, although hey do have the benefit of quite a bit if forest. Leaf Memory is an unexpected sculpture, found near and possibly inspired by the Green Man roundabout (so named after a pub).

The weight of the world

Sometimes doesn't it feel as if it is all on your shoulders? You can find this road atlas in Poultry.

Some-Fin Funny

It's a while since I featured any graffiti, so a cheerful image for a Monday.

Old Father Thames

As you walk around London, it's interesting to see how often you come across the image of Old Father Thames, reflecting how deeply the Thames is bedded in the minds of all Londoners. This is on a building in Cecil Court off St Martin's Lane (and yes, his mate the Green Man is nearby, too)

Brassed Off

If you keep polishing your handles for a hundred years or so, it will begin to look like this, almost abstract, version at the English National Opera

London Rush Hour

This is one of the main reasons I prefer cycling to work, why would you put yourself through this day after day if there is an alternative. Stuck inside this metal tube chugging its way in tunnels hidden deep underground, or spinning along the streets in touch with... just about everything if you're not careful. Simple choice.

The Light Fantastic

The fountains at Marble Arch are much neglected, as they too are hidden on the central reservation, with four lanes of traffic steaming around all the time. However, the light made great play with them the other night, turning them into something unworldly

Jelly Babies!

This Jelly Baby family is installed in the central island at Marble Arch to cheer people up, and it certainly did it for me, especially with the light shining through.

Getting Ready... too late

Well, hello all. As Nic mentioned I was away over the weekend and pictures should have appeared in my absence, but a spanner seems to have got jammed in the works. This might have been a timely picture before the wedding, but is now just a very small part of history. Oh well.