A lunchtime wander to West Brompton

Despite the grey skies, and menacing clouds, I braved the elements and ventured out. A round trip to West Brompton is just about possible within a lunch hour, and there are fortunately various routes to get there, so plenty of scope for wandering along new roads. I have previously visited West Brompton but I think only from the opposite direction.

London has plenty of Peabody housing, courtesy of social visionary George Peabody. As well as being architecturally striking, many have interesting signage. I'd like to have taken a few more pictures here but I felt I was intruding too much into people's personal space.

Signage on the Peabody houses, Lillie Road, London

Along the same stretch of road was a former school, with the segregated school entrance signs still visible. Just a few yards away from the Girls & Infants entrance was the Boys entrance.

Girls & Infants entrance to former school, Lillie Road, London

When I first saw this ghost sign, I had assumed that I'd seen it before, but then realised that the one I had seen was at the other end of Lillie Road. I can only assume I'd never spotted this massive one before as I had always walked in the opposite direction. Quite pleased with my find though.

Brymay safety matches ghost sign, Lillie Road, West Brompton, London

With the Empress State Building to the left, and the London Overground railway approaching West Brompton station to the right, this piece of open land is in the process of being redeveloped. I'm sure next time I visit it will look completely different.

Wasteland between Empress State Building and London Overground line, West Brompton

On my return route I spotted this ghost sign on Chesson Road. I am fairly sure I had walked this way before but never noticed it. On closer inspection though, the fact that the main part of the sign is a different colour to the rest of the walls suggests it has, until recently perhaps, been covered by a more modern billboard. Unfortunately I cannot make out what it says. Maybe the last word is Hall?

Ghost sign, Chesson Road, Fulham, London

As often seems to happen, when I'm out hunting for ghost signs, almost anything can look like one. I originally took this photo to showcase the boarded-up shop, but also noticed above the shop what could perhaps once have been a ghost sign. Having blown the picture up though, I now think I was imagining it.

Boarded-up shop, Turneville Road, London W14

    

A lunchtime urban wander around West Kensington and Baron's Court, London W14

For what will probably be my last 2015 blog post from an Urban Wander, I return to the Baron's Court / West Kensington area of London, that I managed to not only squeeze in during a lunch break, but also managed to avoid the rain. In fact there were a few rare moments when the sun was actually shining, allowing me to take a couple of pictures of some mansions in Baron's Court with the brickwork beautifully lit.

??? Mansions, West Kensington, London

Faraday Mansions, West Kensington, London

A little further through my wander I came across a mews which I don't recall having seen before, or if I have seen it then I certainly have never photographed it. This is Comeragh Mews, looking magnificent with its cobbled road between the two arches at either end. Unfortunately the light is not too good in either of these pictures, so they look a little drab.

Comeragh Mews, Baron's Court, London W14

Comeragh Mews, Baron's Court, London W14

Occasionally I take pictures of street names, but mainly to remind my increasingly failing memory of the place where I took the photo. However, I thought this was quite an unusual sign so have included it here.

Comeragh Mews, Baron's Court, London W14

In other news, one of my Christmas presents has completely renewed my interest in psychogeography, and that was A London Trilogy: The Films of St. Etienne. It's a great DVD comprising 3 short films, with extra features, of footage from various place in London from the Lea Valley to the South Bank, all set to a wonderful St. Etienne soundtrack. For anyone interested in London past and semi-present, I can't recommend it enough. It's also provided me with a few new references to check out, including Nairn's London, published back in 1968, and also to revisit a DVD I bought in the Spring but have not watched for a while, The London That Nobody Knows.

    

An Urban Wander near Holland Park, London W14

I was delighted late last week when not only did I manage to find time to take a lunch break, but also the weather was reasonable, and I found a few nearby streets that I'd not wandered around before. This particular wander took me to a collection of roads to the north of Kensington High Street, east of Addison Road, but west of Holland Park itself. Unlike a lot of my wanders which take me off in search of abandonment, decay and ghost signs, this drift was very much the opposite as I found myself drifting through tree-lined streets of magnificent houses, no doubt with a price tag to match.

Doorway on Holland Park Road, London W14 

As always I'm pleased when I discover something new to me, so here was a museum I never knew existed for an artist I'd never heard of, Frederick Leighton, perhaps meriting a return visit one day to look inside. Also, many of the houses in this area bear plaques stating that various artists had lived in the area, known as the Holland Park Circle. 

Leighton House, Holland Park Road, London W14

Doorway on Holland Park Road, London W14 

Doorway on Melbury Road, London W14 

 Doorway on Melbury Road, London W14 

 Doorway on Melbury Road, London W14

Melbury Road, London W14

 Doorway on Melbury Road, London W14

The only part of this wander which did veer slightly off-piste and down a side road was here, where intrigued by the shapes of the back of the buildings, I turned into a service road for the flats in Oakwood Court.

Back of flats, Oakwood Court, London W14

Presumably these elevated, zig-zag stairways are some sort of fire escape, although strange that they don't come all the way down to ground level. Made for a good picture though.

 Back of flats, Oakwood Court, London W14

 Back of flats, Oakwood Court, London W14

As my wander drew to a close, I spotted this curious building on Napier Road. Little evidence though to suggest what it perhaps once was.

Napier Road, London W14

I think there are a few more side streets heading up towards the park itself which I didn't have time to explore, so will definitely be returning soon.

    

Urban Wandering around London W14

So, as my Psychogeography inspired Urban Wanderings continue, I managed to escape for another lunchtime urban wander again this week. I shouldn’t complain about the weather but it was blisteringly hot. My wander took me towards Kensington Olympia station where, what I assume was once an impressive motorail terminal, is now a car park. As I walked through the residential streets to the west to the railway line, trying as best I could to keep into the shade, I eventually crossed over the London Overground line and was rewarded with this quite spectacular mews running along the side of the train line. As with many London mews, this really could have been anywhere and I was quite surprised when I exited out of the northern end of the mews to be back on a main London A road.

Hansard Mews, London W14

Street lamp on Hansard Mews, London W14

Hansard Mews, London W14

As I drifted back in the general direction of Olympia I came across a ghost sign, or more accurately two ghost signs, in Richmond Way. The one on the left needs no deciphering and clearly says DAIRY but the one on the right is a bit more of a mystery. I can just about make out the words PASTRY, CRESSWELL, HOME MADE and BAKERY

Ghost sign in Richmond Way, London W14

Ghost sign in Richmond Way, London W14

 Next find on the wander was this little road which, despite sitting close to some high rise housing, still had a village feel to it, and also a reminder of colonialism, but perhaps should have now been renamed Sri Lanka Road.

Ceylon Road, London W14

As I neared the end of my wander, I walked past Blythe House and the West Kensington Post Office. Blythe House is a huge and impressive looking building, originally built as the Head Quarters of the Post Office Savings Bank but now used as storage for the Victoria and Albert, and Science museums. The post office is still very much in use, but this stamp machine inset into the wall outside is clearly not.

Disused stamp vending machine, West Kensington

 I would have liked to get closer to Blythe House but access seemed restricted so the best I could manage was this shot, from a distance, of some sort of chimney tower.

Blythe House, London W14

Finally, as I neared my destination, I found this ghost sign. All I can make out of the lettering behind the new sign is that whatever the sign was, it started with a “C” and ended with an “S”. I only managed time for the briefest internet research but could find nothing obvious to suggest what this once said, but I’m sure the words beneath the new sign have no relation to “Permanent House”, somewhat ironically appearing on what looks like a temporary sign on top of the original signage.

Ghost sign in Hammersmith Road, London W14