|
London
I'm posting some of the photos I'm quite pleased with,
even if they're not that special. To start with, carry
on down this page for some thoughts on, as well as pictures
of, London. Options for other photos are listed above
(more places to be added when I get round to it).
Maybe I'm unusual, but I don't complain about living
in London. A born-and-bred Londoner, I'm still fascinated
by this bag-lady of a city, with the scraps and remains
of her history festooned around her and buried beneath
her sometimes grand, sometimes tatty surface. I love
travelling, but it's hard to imagine living anywhere
else for any length of time. Boosterish 'local patriotism'
may not be the English style (what other world city
has so few songs praising it - and the best known begins,
significantly, with the word 'Maybe'); but I feel it
when think of the Thatcher government's outrageous theft
of County Hall from Londoners. The new City Hall (whether
you call it the Headlamp, the Jelly Mould or the Glass
Testicle) is a much less imposing symbol of municipal
presence, though it is environment-friendly - apparently,
the hot air arising from the debating chamber will make
a significant contribution to saving on the gas bill.
'Nuff said.
I live on the Isle of Dogs in Docklands - about as
far to the east of central London as I used to live
to the west, in Putney: but still close to the river
(I don't have to lean too far out of the window to see
it, and there's something both reassuring and mysterious
about it - the power of the tides perhaps). The glass
and steel of modern Docklands may be self-consciously
'sophisticated', but the equally self-aware down-to-earth
East End is still in evidence. Not long after I moved
here, I got on to a DLR train late one evening to find
the train 'captain' (a generously-built woman of a certain
age) telling the passengers about the ups and downs
of dealing with difficult customers. Having got their
sympathy with the tale of the man who spat at her, she
went on - with perfect timing - 'E called me a big fat
ugly old whore - I said, don't you dare call me oId......'
On to the photos: put the mouse over the thumbnail
for a better view (be patient !).. More
of my photos of London
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Old landmarks from the
new: Westminster from the London Eye, and the Tower
and Tower Bridge reflected in City Hall |
Ravens in the Tower |
Speakers' Corner |
Upriver: Greenwich and
Canary Wharf on a summer morning |
Downriver: the Thames
Barrier, and a replica of Peter the Great's Royal
Yacht passing Greenwich |
 |
 |
 |
| When the Cow Parade came
to London |
 |
 |
| Spring in Kew Gardens |
 |
| Fireworks at the Lord Mayor's Show |
| |
|
