An Oasis of Calm

The courtyard of the Priory of St John Clerkenwell is well worth a visit. Sit and contemplate the monks who trod this ground, alongside the knights preparing to go on Crusade. Gives you something to think about.

Art In Action

Graffiti being graffed.

Strike a Light

These arms are for the Chandlers Livery Company, the candlemakers, their motto "Truth is Light". Above the arms you can see the beehive motif, beeswax was used for the best (and most expensive candles), the poor had to make do with tallow, which was animal fat.

City Cars

Today I had my first sighting of the Renault Twizzy, I was quite taken with it. Reading more it is clear that there are problems to address, but even so I think it is the shape of things to come. It will take more than this to persuade me off my bike, though.

A Sprouting Seat

Can be found in St John's Square, Clerkenwell.

Mansion Blocks

Mansion Blocks were purpose built at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century, intended for the upper middle classes they make for pleasant living conditions. If you want to live in this one, Cardinal Mansions in Westminster, you'd have to pay £1.2M to live in the basement - sorry, lower ground floor, £1.9M to live on teh Ground Floor and £3.4M to live on the top floor.

Not Quite PC

I love London't Victorian cemeteries and the way they open a window into a different time. I can't imagine anyone responding kindly to being called "Jolly Jumbo" these days, dying at 52 might well have been linked. His wife, if that's who she was (sister?) as she is listed as being the wife of Sol Goodman by contrast lived to the grand old age of 89. The monument places them firmly in the upper middle class, through its size and prominence. Plus I rather like the photograph.

Here kitty kitty...

A small detail of the gate above the entrance to the churchyard of St John Zachary in Gresham Street, City of London. Probably explained as the land belongs to the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.

St Lukes and Christ Church, Chelsea

This fine looking church was built at the start of the 19th Century in the Gothic style, in fact it was one of the very first of this type.

Now is the time to drink!

Which is the translation of the phrase "Nunc est bibendum" from which the Michelin Man got his name. The building in the Fulham Road was built in 1911, and has seen many changes in its fortunes. Rebuilt in the late 80's it now houses the excellent Conran Restaurant.

Blue Sky Thinking

This enigmatic sculpture can be found in South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park, see it in context with Google Street View here.

Roll Up, Roll Up!

Anything from the top shelf! The ride yesterday is part of a very self conscious effort to turn the corner of green by the London Eye into a mini Colney Island. The cost of the rides is a little off putting (a couple of minutes on the high roundabout costs £7) and your chance of winning anything at this stall is as likely as at any fair, but I have to confess the cooking at the food stalls really smelled good.

Round and About

This vertiginous ride can be found up near the London Eye at the moment, I'm told the views from the top are fantastic.

Smarten Up Your Act

The problem for Leyton was that they expected the world to show up on their doorstep, (at Leyton Station) from where the route to the stadium took you through a shopping centre where all the smaller shops had shut up. So, what to do? The answer was to brick them up and paint cheerful shop frontages over them. Crafty, eh?

Wheelchair Tennis

Bringing the shots from the Paraalympics to an end is this from wheelchair tennis. Again, it shouldn't be possible. The rules are as normal tennis, except that the ball is allowed to bounce twice. It doesn't take long before you almost forget about their disability and concentrate instead on the entertaining sport. Anyone that feels at all sniffy about the quality of the sport at the Paralympics, that only means you haven't seen it.

The Shape of Dreams

I was most taken with the visual impact of the Basketball Arena, all the more so since it is a temporary structure. They're not quite sure what they are going to do with it next, though. You can see a time lapse video of its construction here and a less mucked around with image here.

Slam Dunk!

Still rolling with the Paralympic photos, the wheelchair basketball was a thing to behold. The team players are graded according to mobility and given a handicap value, there is a maximum value any team can field at one time. These guys roll and shoot, mostly with stunning accuracy, and play the game with 100% commitment. If you thought disabled sports would not be as engaging and thrilling, think again.

Keep it Quiet!

Several of the parlympic games and events had to be played in silence, where the players are blind and rely on their hearing to locate the ball. The organisers achieved this very effectively by these video hushes - where the severe instruction was made acceptable by a smile at the end. It worked.

New World Records

The world records in the Paralympics were tumbling like ninepins, 251 in all. Everybody has a theory as to why this was, I think it has more to do with the relatively recent understanding by disabled people that they can compete, and the way many more people are now participating. Add to that the power of the crowds and wonderful things happen to human performance; mostly these athletes get to perform in front of a handful of people - here there were thousands. And that's another record for which London can be proud - 2,700,000 people visited the Paralympics.

Murderball Action

This image is from the Wheelchair Rugby, one of the most full-on contact sports you will ever see. The player's chairs have different designs, too. Attackers have round bases, like most, defenders have very square shopping-trolley style (like the right hand player) used for blocking in attackers.