What with rail/tube strikes, Extinction Rebellion/Just Stop Oil/Free Palestine demonstrations etc., it’s been over 10 months since my last Bimble around London so when I booked a hotel room (half price, no refund) for an overnight stay on Monday, there was no indication or inkling that it would turn into the hottest day of the year. Why Monday?. In the past, London has been relatively quiet, tourist/visitor wise, on a Monday but I hadn’t factored in the school holidays. It was heaving. Due more to the humidity than heat and old age, I didn’t get to bimble to most of the locations I wanted to visit. Next time.
Liverpool Street Station, City of London.
A permanent art installation consisting of highly reflective spheres linked with twisting metal cords called ’Infinite Accumulation’ by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, has been installed in the plaza between Liverpool Street Station and the entrance to the Liverpool Street Elizabeth Line underground entrance.
Ludgate Hill, City of London.
Over Saturday night, Sunday morning, a new Banksy art work of swimming piranhas appeared in a City of London Police sentry box on Ludgate Hill, just a short walk from St Paul’s Cathedral. A Banksy installation that’s not going to get nicked or vandalised as the City of London Corporation, who own the police box, installed barriers around it and there were two security guards hovering nearby.
All Hallows Staining Church, nr Fenchurch Street, London EC3.
A short walk from Fenchurch Street Station are the remains of the 14th Century All Hallows Staining (meaning brick built) Church. Survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 but collapsed in 1671 when the foundations gave way and was rebuilt in 1674. The church was demolished in 1870 leaving the tower standing which survived the second world war although buildings around it didn’t and was then surrounded by office blocks in the 1950’s. Survived the demolition of those office blocks to be surrounded again by a new build 36-storey office block
Butlers Wharf, Shad Thames SE1: Monday 12th August 2024.
Tied up opposite Butlers Wharf, next to Tower Bridge, was the Motor Yacht ‘SCOUT’. 63.72M long with rooms for 10 guests and 21 crew. Built in the Netherlands, and delivered to its current owner in 2019 at a cost of US$85 million. The owner has a passion for dogs and animal welfare hence the Great Dane golden statue on the forecastle.
Covent Garden, City of Westminster, London WC2: Monday 12th August 2024.
A temporary art installation of 40 inflatable ‘floating clouds’, called ‘Little Cloud World’ by Los Angeles-based artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III - FriendsWithYou, are on display in and around Covent Garden Market Buildings. It runs until the 1st October.
Rather than lugging around a heavy camera and lens in the hot and humid conditions, I was using my lightweight shirt pocket-friendly Sony RX100M6 with its 20.1MP sensor and 24-200mm equivalent zoom lens.
