Photoblog and image gallery
Let’s hope not. Camden Town street scene August 2011 after street scenes of a very different nature at the beginning of this week. A wake up call. But will us sleepy heads get out of beds and to use an unfortunate phrase, “take stock of where we are” or let the wool get pulled over our eyes?
A leisurely cruise from Little Venice passes the London Zoo and turns into the final stretch down to Camden Lock. A great thing to do for visitors and locals alike on a brilliant sunny summers’ day in London.
Another shot along Regent’s Canal, this time in Primrose Hill. At the moment around these parts the canal is a ribbon of colour winding its way through north London. It is particularly vibrant now as a covering of duck weed stretches for quite some distance. But it is the houseboats and canoes that provide much of the colour.
Yesterday I went to the Soho Food Feast in St Anne’s Church Gardens in Wardour Street with some friends. It was the first one and I hope it won’t be the last. Clearly a lot of thought and organisation went into it. The purpose was to raise funds for the Soho Parish School. From my primary school days these sorts of events were to raise money for “nice to have” equipment. Yesterday’s event was to raise funds to pay for school lunches and after school clubs. The school is facing further staffing cuts including one-third of its teaching assistant hours this year and has lost 80% of its maintenance budget. Education in the post-modern world! Goes to show what a long way we’ve come from my day at primary school when the staffing and maintenance was certainly covered by the state and fund raising fetes bought some extra books for the library! Stalls at the Soho Food Feast were provided by a lot of famous central London eateries including The Ivy, Brindisa, Arbutus, Polpo, Terroirs, The Wright Brothers who very generously supported such a good cause. Two of my favourite dishes sampled at the feast: Moroccan Lamb Stew from The Groucho and Ricotta and Sour Cherry gelato from Gelupo. Hits with my friends included oysters from The Wright Brothers and noodles from Kopapa.
Taken in St John’s Lodge Gardens in Regent’s Park, this Allum bud was in a dark corner of the gardens with a few rays of light shining through the fence from the private villa behind, one of two villas remaining in the park from John Nash’s original plans.
Nearby buildings and late afternoon traffic reflected in Poured Lines, the painting by Ian Davenport under the railway bridge leading into Blackfriars Station close to Tate Modern. The painting is the length of 5 London buses (not of the bendy variety) and consists of straight lines in 300 different colours.
Spring was gently doing its bit for the flora and fauna when suddenly summer popped its head around the door. The combination was an electric week of sunshine and freshness in London that showed off the new growth in a stunning fashion as evidenced by these cherry blossoms in Regent’s Park.
Siesta time in Regent’s Park for these three. Not totally oblivious to the surrounding humans but not really interested in them either. Regent’s Park Birds has extensive galleries of birds and waterfowl found in the park.
If I had to answer the question “when were you happiest?”, the answer would be “every year about this time”. Spring has that effect on me and I can’t let the week go by without a spring picture. There were other things happening this week so there is another picture of the week. See Silent Protest..
