Another view of Little Ben

Val Thorens

The view from my chalet! more to come over the week.

The London Eye by Night

A little more experimental shot than on London Daily Photo I hope you like it.

This, is Charlie

This is Charlie the window cleaner, who has been cleaning windows in the Liverpool Street area for ovevr thirty years. What is more, when he started he was working with someone who had been cleaning windows in the 20's.

It was he who gave me the bits of information about the bakery in the London Daily, and he also put me onto Dennis Sever's house, which will be making an appearance on these pages, soon.

The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street

Here is the Threadneedle Street view of the institution that made the Empire possible. All UK banknotes have "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of X pounds", signed by the Chief Cashier. I always what would happen if I went and asked him to keep his promise.

Just another shot of Lloyds building

Following on from a "London Daily" post

All dressed up and nowhere to go

I was going to blog a pic of the place I got my tree, which was a quite spectacular display (and, a 2m Nordman for £20/30€) but when I asked them if I could take a pic, after pushing the decision up the line two times the uber-manager said "ooo....that'd be difficult". OK, I thought, I can understand that - no telling when there might be a terrorist strike on a garden centre. No skin off my nose. So, no tree emporium for blogdom.

To join in the festivities, here is our tree all dressed up for the season.

Happy Christmas, everyone.

More Angel

Another view of the Angel

The Angel ofthe North

This sculpture by Antony Gormley is probaly the biggest in England, one of the biggest in the world. It stands by the road just outside Tyneside, an area that used to be full of shipyards, mines and steelworks and now has.... call centres. Here is some more information

Wedding Coach

Another shot of the wedding coach on the London Daily Photo

The Lost Paris

This isn't my photograph, I include it here because it is interesting and here is a link to a page where I will post more. What it is, is one of the photographs taken by Charles Marville in the years 1852 - 1870, before Paris was demolished to make way for the boulevards.

It was Eric on this post that made me think of these. Quite a few of the photos in my book have ghosts, too.

The automata exhibition

This is really one of the most fun exhibitions ever. These are some other pictures from the exhibition, from my London Daily Photo. To see some animated models, here or here

Drifting Apart

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And now what happens?

Just Fascinating

Dobbin & Friend

Here are Dobbin and his friend, following the picture on London Daily Photo They seem quite happy here and the worn turf by the lowest part of the fence (and Dobbin's eagerness? suggest that there are more peole that stop by with the odd carrot than you might suppose.

Just on the other side of the Tidal Basin Tavern (long derilict) is the Royal Victoria Dock and the Excel exhibition centre.....

No passing trade

These derricks stand on the side of the Royal Victoria Docks. They are some of the last pieces of machinery left from the time the docks was the pulsing heart of London trade. Thankfully, these last few are now preserved. Here are some pictures from teh 80's when it was empty, but before they tore it all down.

I was here in 1988 when Jean Michel Jarre played his Destination Docklands concert. Funny how a frenchman had the vision to see London's Docklands. His introductory greeting in the pouring rain set the scene "It's OK.... frogs love the water!" The sides of the warehouses that were to be knocked down were his screen, Thames barges launched the awe inspiring fireworks (How did they keep them dry?)

Now they stand empty, waiting for boats that will never come.

Sideview of hungerford Bridge

To go alongside todays London Daily Photo shot of the Hungerford Bridge, here is a another.

Eco Friendly

Eco Friendly 
(esp. for Tomate!) Sign: New! Runs on alcohol! Woman: That's funny, so does he.

Accidental Abstract

I think it is kind of appropriate that the first photo in the blogdomain from my new Olympus E500 is an accidental abstract, I kinda like it though.

Then there is always the Rialto...

Top tip number 3 - visit it when there's nobody around! it may mean getting up at 5 or staying up till 2.... buti t is worth it. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Are they worth it?

You can't get away from the gondoliers, are they worth it? you decide.

Nice place to stay

Recently I stayed here, at the Ai Mori D Oriente Hotel, it was brilliant. Top tip no.2 for any prospective visitors is, stay in Canareggio if you can. It's the area that the locals live in; only 10 minutes from the Rialto bridge but really quiet. Mind you, you do have to put up with the Venice problem - our room window opened onto a brick wall. Still with a four poster and velvet drapes, did we care?

More reasons to go to Venice

In answer to a (probably provocative) question, here are some more reasons to go to Venice. Top tip number 1 - look in the guidbooks for the best masks, don't just buy anywhere, there really is a lot of difference.

Destination Belgium

This is photo of The Begijnhof, a thriteenth century nunnery in Bruges, still occupied by Benedictine Nuns and a haven of tranquility.

Tyne Cot Cemetery

Tyne Cot is the largest of the First World War Cemeteries in Flanders. Not only does it contain the earlthly remains of nearly 12,000 solldiers, but on the wall on the back are another 35,000 names - part of those they couldn't find any bits to bury.

It is built on a ridge that saw particularly bloody fighting. There were some pill boxes that looked to the soldiers from a Northumbrian regiment like cottages back home on the Tyne.

I wanted to take a picture that reflected what it feels like to see. Maybe I ended up with a cliche, maybe there is no other way. 

Tyne Cot Cemetery

There has to be some way to convey the horror.

Tyne Cot Cemetery

Look, and remember.

Stories of France.... no.1

Eric's Christmas dog on Paris Daily Photo reminded me of a time I was travelling in France, in the summer, and I had stopped in Grenoble.

Now, I am the human equivalent of the truffle pig when it comes to sniffing out restaurants, and I don't often have difficulties in France (although, more these days than used to be the case) but Grenoble had me beat. Serried ranks of mediocre brasseries lined the main street, none looked appealing. I carried on walking. Just as I was about to despair, I turned into a little street behind the station and saw a little cafe which I thought I might check out. Only, outside on the pavement was this socking great alsatian dog. As I approach he got up, hackles rose and started barking.

Ay sensible person might have turned away. As it was, I looked at him more closely. I am a doggy kind of person,and I just didn't think that he meant it - not really - so I walked in, unsavaged.

It turned out, I'd found the cafe where large numbers of locals came - the owner's wife's homemade pasta was excellent, and by three in the morning I was sworn brothers with each man there. So I turned to the owner and asked him, "what's with the dog?". "Ah," he said, "poor thing is getting old, can't see so barks at everyone... at least he keeps the tourists away"

Take a break

Taking a break from a climb in the Alps.

What is to come...

Although technically not excellent, this is probably the one shot I am most proud of catching. This is because I realised and managed to catch the old couple with the man definitely following the woman, with the "A Suivre" (to follow) sign in shot, with the double overtone of "what is to come"....

Ile d'Oleron

This is anothe old favorite, taken many years ago of the bridge to the Ile d'Oleron.

Ground Zero

My homage at Ground Zero, taken about a year after the event. I wanted to try to capture some of the shock that remained onto film. I'd be very interested to hear your opinion. It was taken using multiple exposures, hand held, rotating the camera for each shot.

A Slice of Life

Just a very interested Venetian citizen....

Venice takes a bow

This is one of my favorite photos I've taken of Venice, because I feel that I have captured some of the magic. Technically, I would have liked to avoid the flare, but it doesn't detract too much.