Urban Wanderings around London

During my various Psychogeography inspired urban wanders over the past months, I have inevitably amassed a fair number of individual pictures which I have not included in a coherent blog post, or series of posts. However, not wanting them to be left on the digital shelf, I have decided to combine a few into one or more blog posts. Some may follow a theme whereas others may be more random and follow a drift of their own. I can recall where some were taken, but others remain a bit of a mystery.

I do remember this first one though. We had spent pretty much all day wandering the streets and were most definitely flagging by the time we reached this café, somewhere near Clerkenwell. A comfy sofa, sustained by a flat white coffee and some cake, 30 minutes later we were ready to hit the streets once more.

Tap Coffee, London

I have walked past this sandwich bar near Kensington Olympia endless times, but only ever ventured in recently. Just over the wall is the railway line running south from Olympia station. Not only is it a great life café, but it also acted as a good wind up for one of my friends who works for Pepsi.

Frank's Sandwich Bar, Kensington Olympia, London

Frank's Sandwich Bar, Kensington Olympia, London

Making a nice segue from food to cars, here's a food van parked up during the University open day at Queen Mary's, East London.

Food van, Queen Mary's University, East London

A lovely old Morris Minor convertible, somewhere in Shoreditch if I recall rightly. Only just spotted the wonderfully distressed looking door in the background. Shame I didn't see that at the time as that would have made an interesting picture.

Morris Minor, Shoreditch, London

No distressed doors in this picture.

An MG near Shepherd's Bush, London

    

An Urban Wander around Islington, London N1 (part 3)

So finally, here's the third and final installment of my recent urban wander around Islington, London N1. Follow the links to read part one or part two if you missed them. Before I start, and before someone points it out and embarrasses me, the pictures towards the end of this final post are not technically in Islington and you'll see a bit of Finsbury and Clerkenwell appearing, but I decided against changing the post title as it would have become a bit of a mouthful. Also it's a bit longer than the previous two installments, but I was determined not to stretch the wander to a fourth.

Narrow passageway, Islington, London N1

Beyond the main street that runs through Islington, it really does have a bit of everything. I was particularly impressed by this work of urban topiary on Cross Street. 

Urban Topiary, Islington, London N1

Narrow passageway, Islington, London N1

I'm always a sucker for an old car, and Citroens in particular. I am however not any sort of car officiando, so apart from telling you it's an old Citroen I can offer no further information.

Old Citroen, Islington, London N1

There is so much street art in London, and a lot of it not photo worthy, but I did like this one. A Warhol-esque which I assume is Madonna, but I could easily be wrong, complete with its own, overlaid installation of what looks to be some sort of fencing.

Street Art, Islington, London N1

I had to stand in the middle of the road to get this picture, but I think it was worth it. Fortunately most of the ghost sign is legible, but alas the left hand side has disappeared completely.

??? ZALIA

??? NIGHT CURE FOR

CATARRH

COLDS IN THE HEAD

??? INFLUENZA

???

Ghost sign, Islington, London N1

This is quite possibly my favourite ghost sign, spotted on a café in Islington.

Old sign, Islington, London N1

I'm not sure if these are actually bird boxes, and if they are whether they are functional or simply artistic. Either way they caught my eye and I like them.

Bird boxes, Islington, London N1

I had no idea what LATE BLAND was, but a bit of internet research suggests that this was previously a butcher's shop, owned by John Bland.

Old sign, Islington, London N1

This next selection of pictures are all from the same building, Lloyd's Diary on the corner of River Street and Amwell Street. Not only is there some fantastic signage above the windows and doorway, but there was also a doorway mosaic.

DAIRY FARMERS

Ghost sign, Islington, London N1

LLOYD & SON

Ghost sign, Islington, London N1

HIGH CLASS DAIRY PRODUCE

Ghost sign, Islington, London N1

LLOYD'S

DAIRY

Doorway mosaic, Islington, London N1

My wander had by now definitely drifted into Finsbury, as can be seen by the Sign above this café in Pine Street.

Café Postou, Finsbury, London EC1

These next three old signs in Clerkenwell Close are interesting. They are on the former, central storehouse of the Works Department of the London School Board.

STATIONERY DEPT

Ghost sign, Clerkenwell, London

NEEDLEWORK DEPT

Ghost sign, Clerkenwell, London

FURNITURE DEPT

Ghost sign, Clerkenwell, London

And finally for this wander, is an old sign for the

YANNEDIS & CO

BRASS

FOUNDRY

LOCKS

but I struggled to find any information about this ... and it's lunchtime.

Ghost sign, Clerkenwell, London

    

Urban Wandering: London's Painted Ladies

One of the great things about really cold weather, is that when you get a cold but sunny day, it's fantastic. This was true of yesterday when I took my new favourite lunchtime stroll west of Paddington out towards Westbourne Park and Ladbroke Grove. The first picture is of the magnificent, painted houses on the crescent part of the Lansdowne Road. These are almost as good as the Painted Ladies in San Francisco. Interestingly it looked as though most of these had been recently painted, and some were still being worked on.

Lansdowne Road, London W10

I continued west up to Pottery Lane and Portland Road. Having recently seen a documentary called The Secret History of Our Streets (London) I was keen to see Portland Road, and witness for myself the contrast between north and south. I had walked this way a couple of weeks ago but was drawn to Pottery Lane instead so this was the first time I'd really looked at Portland Road in any detail. Walking back towards Paddington I came across this curious building, Bonham House. I assume it's residential but it has the look of an old hospital or asylum about it. I particularly like the chimney stack.

Bonham House, Ladbroke Road, London W10

Inevitably as we approach Christmas there are lights and decorations everywhere. I quite liked this display as it was tasteful as opposed to some of the garish sights around.

Christmas lights, somewhere near Bond Street, London

    

Have you checked out my vintage postcard blog or my vintage magazines blog ?

Urban Wandering: Oldbury Place, London W1

Despite the train chaos in and out of Paddington today, caused by flooding and landslides in Somerset and Devon, I managed to escape for an hour at lunchtime to make the most of the beautifully crisp, clear day. I tramped my way through some pretty familiar territory around Marylebone High Street but stumbled across a small street I must have walked past many times but never explored, Oldbury Place. I particularly liked the curve of the street as it opened up to reveal a broader area, not quite a square though. Unfortunately the area was full of parked cars so no pictures of that I'm afraid.

Oldbury Place, London W1

I also liked the contrast of the orange (perhaps rusty?) roof girders against the blue sky that greeted me as I made my way down the street and looked right just before it curved away.

Oldbury Place, London W1

 Oldbury Place, London W1

 

    

The Watercress Line

Although I am finding it increasingly difficult to devote any time to this particular blog, I am determined not to give up as this is my only real outlet for things which I cannot neatly pigeon hole in any of my other blogs. I suppose on a positive note, it's been great that I have been so busy getting out and about doing the things I enjoy that I've struggled to find time to blog about them.

A couple of weeks ago we visited the Watercress Line, which is a heritage railway in Hampshire, running between New Arlesford and Alton. The weekend we went saw the line, its building and occupants all rolled back 70 years to what it would have looked like in 1942. As well as the steam trains there were vintage cars, people dressed in 1940's fashion, soldiers, spivs, and even a remarkable match for Churchill and Monty. The station cafes were selling cakes made to 1940's recipes, although hopefully not with 1940's ingredients.

 Steam train pulls out of Medstead & Four Marks Station

 Steam train pulls into Medstead & Four Marks station

Vintage cars at New Arlesford station

I particularly like this next picture which shows a vintage railway poster with the great strap line of Ease the Strain, Go By Train. If all the train journeys I took were as clean and peaceful I'd use the trains a lot more than I do. I can only imagine what the equivalent picture would have to look like today to match today's rail environment ... dirty windows, overcrowding, litter, annoying people shouting into their mobile phones.

Vintage railway poster at New Arlesford station

If I'm honest I have become a bit obsessed with rail travel, both vintage and modern, over the past few months and have started reading several accounts of train journeys that you can still take today which do take you away from the hustle and bustle of the daily commute, and also some books whioch document the rise and sad demise of our once great rail network. A few favourites are featured below.

    

So, I seem to have some spare time this weekend in amongst the ususal child related taxi services, so I may even get to complete another blog update before next week, when I am travelling to India on business for a few days.

Vintage petrol pump in Buckingham

Having attempted to make the most of the long, double bank holiday weekend, by taking 3 days leave, I have been somewhat annoyed that the weather has been dreadful. Despite this we have managed to get out and about between the showers. So far this week, the town of Buckingham has been the surprise of the week. We ended up there after having spent the day at Bletchley Park, home of the code breakers. Bletchley Park is of course very well known, so I don't think I need to say anything more about that here, but on the way home we stopped off in Buckingham to get a cup of tea. As a teenager I remember being driven through Buckingham on the way to see relatives, but cannot remember whether those 30 years ago there was a bypass or whether we drove through the town. Either way, I don't remember the town at all so it was a fantastic surprise. I guess I had assumed that it would just be one of those non-descript towns, with the usual shops, awful 1950/60's architecture and a picture of urban decay. However, the reality painted a very different picture with the river running through the centre, several old churches and lots of narrow streets line with old and interesting buildings. The weather was not great for taking pictures, so please excuse the poor quality of some of the shots below, but hopefully the convey the look and feel of the town.

St. Peter and St. Pauls Church, Buckingham

Buckingham

Vintage petrol pump, Buckingham

Vintage petrol pump (close-up), Buckingham

    

Theme Thursday: Escape

I know I only featured this magazine advertisement on my vintage magazine blog last week, so apologies for the repitition but it does fit this week's Theme Thursday, 'escape' perfectly.

Back cover of vintage Air Mail magazine, c.1963

As usual, lots of vintage magazines and vintage postcards can be found on my web site