Can you guess where these are from (don’t look at the tags!)? I’m sure you can. The last picture definitely gives it away… Yes, you guessed it. Good ol’ Kew Gardens. Went there a couple of weeks ago and took too many pictures as usual, so I’ll probably have to split them into three posts. This is the more arty textural one. More to come!
You know me, I can’t be at the Barbican and not take pictures of the actual Barbican. It’s too photogenic and it’s nigh on impossible to take bad photos there. So on my way out from the Jean Dubuffet exhibition I of course took some snaps.
I MUST do one of the architectural tours here when they start again. I want to know everything.
Stood and watched the fountain drops in the fountain basin for a little while. Like you do.
I also marvelled at the typical mishmash of London architecture. I mean…
Love these balconies so much.
And I also love how you can see the Barbican Towers from most vantage points in London. They don’t look anything else in the city. Apparently they weren’t supposed to look like this originally (they were to be regular square towers, but as they were to be made of concrete and not metal framed, they had to be designed like this with the structural supports beams on the exterior. I for a millisecond just now thought that maybe it would be cool to move into a flat when we downsize as old diddies, but then I saw how much the flats go for! As if.
Hello lady in red.
It started raining at this point. I wonder if I can get down to this garden or if it’s for residents only. I’ll investigate next time I go, and report back.
My exploration of architectural London continues. On Monday I brought D with me to Highbury to have a look at the buildings around Highbury Fields. My other friend H brought me here in the summer as I’d never been before, so I thought I’d pay it forward. But before getting to the Georgian houses (again! I know! I like them! a lot!) this caught my eye. I couldn’t really translate what I saw in this into a picture, and sometimes that’s just how it goes (oh the many times I wished my eyes could take pictures where I’ve not had a camera). Shrug.
Birthday remnants I reckon. 81 on the outside, 18 on the inside.
You guys know what Georgian houses look like right? They have a brick facade with a bricked arch above the fanlight window on top of the front door. They do not look like this. Well someone decided to change the front in the late 1800’s in a Queen Anne style. Altering the front on a Georgian house would never be allowed today, but in a way I’m glad this one is different as it really stands out and makes you wonder. And then when you blog the picture, you remember to Google the house and you find out why it looks like it does. In a way I preferred not knowing. Mysteries are so much more fun than facts.
It’s been raining a lot this month and it’s been great for our urban nature - everything is so lush and intensely green at the moment.
Speaking of which, this is what all of May has been like, sunny one minute then heavy rain/hail the next. It feels like the longest winter ever.
Tucked behind Highbury Terrace is Highbury Terrace Mews, where there is a row of much more modern houses in different styles, but as it was raining at this point I couldn’t really take the pics I wanted. The Mews is gravelled which gives it a totally different feel, like a bit of the countryside in the city - which I think is the perfect combo. I’m all for country life in the city.
Wisteria season is upon us, and white wisteria is always so beautiful.
Regular ol’ wisteria ain’t half bad either.
A classic fanlight window - so nice aren’t they?
Wooden window frames are my favourite (I know, I keep going on about them), and they suit a Georgian house so well. We got proper drenched in the many rain showers that fell in the two hours we were walking around - well, the parts of us that weren’t shielded by our brollies.
Noice noice noice.
We continued on to Aberdeen Park, a street around the corner from Highbury Fields, where this amazing church built in 1866 stands. The last time I was here it was open, and inside are artist’s studios, and there was cool little exhibition on. Sadly I didn't have my camera with me, and this time it was closed. The interior is absolutely amazing, with the decorative brick work you can see on the exterior being just a small indication of what the inside looks like. I found some pictures of it online here. I implore you to have a look!
The rain stopped and we continued walking around the street (it’s in a loop) where there is a mixture of architectural styles; Victorian, Edwardian and post war. I haven’t really documented it that well here. I’m already annoying enough as a friend who’ll stop mid conversation to take a picture, but luckily lots of D’s friends are photographers, so she’s used to it. Still, walking and talking is better than walking and talking and stopping and clicking.
And finally, walking through Highbury Fields to head home, the sun shining as if the rain never happened. How very very London.
On Tuesday evening I went for my first meal out since last summer. It was a slightly surreal experience, as the streets were pretty empty of people, but the outdoor tables of all the restaurants and pubs that were open were busy (we’ll be allowed to eat/drink indoors from Monday next week). There were no shoppers or people leaving work, something I wouldn’t pay any attention pre-Covid, but their absence was very noticeable. Walking across Waterloo Bridge towards the restaurant looking eastwards felt both familiar and unfamiliar.
I had dinner with my dearest G & D, my old work colleagues who’ve I now known for exactly 20 years. We were too busy talking, laughing, eating and drinking for me to take any pics, but I took this as we were walking back across Waterloo Bridge, seeing them match each other with their accessories.
We stopped to look at the Shard framed by the National Theatre, and felt our love of London swell. It was nice to be back in the centre of it.
G showed us a picture of these carriages that he’d taken on his way over to meet us, and we walked back briskly to see if they were still there. Luckily they were still there. There was a night shoot about to start, either a movie or a TV-series, obviously set in pre-car times. We stood looking at them agog, feeling like we’d travelled back in time.
Nothing like a selfie to bring you back to the present though. Loved the contrast of it all.
Had to crop in here, I mean look at that expression! Brilliant.
We chatted to one of the guys in a top hat, who opened one of the carriages up for us so we could have a look inside. I wanted to take a picture, but I also wanted to take it in. Sometimes it’s difficult to do both. It was a four seater, and clearly people were smaller then - it would be a really tight squeeze these days. Apparently half of the carriages were over 150 years old, and the other half were new builds. Not sure what this one was (did the real ones have mudguards I wonder?). Sadly the guy didn’t know what they were filming, but maybe he was fibbing.
Trust G to show us this old gas street light around the corner. He’s a fountain of knowledge, and knows so much about London and its history (like a true Liverpudlian - haha). He told us that it ran on the fumes of the sewers below which sounded a bit bonkers.
He was absolutely right of course. I mean, wow, just wow! I need to show this to Oomoo, I don’t think he’d ever believe me if I told him that there’s a street light in town that is powered by poo.
On Wednesday morning my friend M took me on a 28k bike ride along the River Lea, somewhere not that far from where we live, but somewhere I’ve never been before.
We hadn’t established beforehand whether the bike ride was to be a workout or a pleasure ride, so M was all kitted out for exercise and I was in my jeans and jumper. Also, my bike is a 6 speed step through with a basket on the front.
It’s a bit strange how I haven’t explored the east part of London that much, considering I’ve lived in the city for 28 years, and don’t actually live that far away from it. It’s probably because it became the place to be just as I stopped going out. As a result, being there feels like being in a different city. Handy in these times.
We stopped for a hot drink on top of the neighbouring Dutch barge to this boat. This area is heaving on the weekends and evenings normally, but at 10am it was really nice and quiet.
Funky details on a house boat.
We continued on to Stratford and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, but as I’ve said before, cycling and taking pictures is tricky, and I feel bad about wanting to stop all the time to take pictures. I had to take one here though, as it felt like we were suddenly in the countryside. We cycled along the other split of the River Lea on the way back home, where you could sense huge industrial estates beyond the tree lines and the water, but they were hidden well enough that we could pretend we were somewhere much further out.
I did make an exception at one point and made us stop to have a look at these guys for a little while. So ridiculously sweet.
I’m definitely going back here soon; I want to show the guys what we have so near us. Thanks London for constantly surprising me! It’s nice to know that I still have so much here to discover.