January 2011

NYC street scene: Block drug stores and feather top hat

Mon 31st January, 2011Mon 31st January, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

Night scene at Block drug stores, 101 2nd Ave (between 5th St & 6th St) in the East Village, New York. [More New York photos]

Places

The mystery of the Toynbee Tiles in Philadelphia – and Planet Jupiter

Mon 31st January, 2011Mon 31st January, 2011 - by editor - 1 Comment

I spotted this curious message on a Philadelphia sidewalk in 2008, and found that it was one of many located around the city. Known as Toynbee tiles (also called Toynbee plaques), the tiles …

photos / Places / railways

The châteauesque glory of Box Hill railway station

Mon 31st January, 2011Sun 30th January, 2011 - by editor - 2 Comments.

I’m a big fan of Victorian railway architecture, and although a lot of fine vernacular buildings have been senselessly destroyed since the 1960s, it’s always heart-warming to find some inspiring examples still standing.

London / photos

Pic of the day: feeding the pigeons, Trafalgar Square

Sat 29th January, 2011Mon 23rd April, 2012 - by editor - Leave a Comment

I’ve no idea why anyone would willingly invite flying rats to clamber all over them, but I snapped these two guys photographing each other in Trafalgar Square.

Brixton / Clubs & Nightlife / Places

Drink, dance and the Fallen Leaves at Offline

Sat 29th January, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

In the words of Richard Keys, we smashed it last night at Offline, with a great band and a fantastic crowd. Here’s a few pics:

music / stuff

Musikki music search engine could be a winner

Sat 29th January, 2011Sat 29th January, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

As a hard core music lover and enthusiastic but accident-prone DJ of little renown, I’m always checking out new ways to discover great new artists, and I’ve recently been spending some …

Brixton / Clubs & Nightlife / Places

A Thursday night in Brixton: indie and industrial

Fri 28th January, 2011Fri 28th January, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

Thursday is the new Friday (or something) and in Brixton’s there’s no shortage of ace free entertainment on offer. First stop was Brixton JAMM to check out an excellent four band bill of indie …

Places / Wales

A winter’s walk around Llangollen and Chirk, north Wales

Fri 28th January, 2011Fri 28th January, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

The recent announcement of the untimely demise of the wonderful Wrexham & Shropshire railway prompted me to look up some photos from my last trip with them.

Brixton / Places

Save Lambeth Libraries – please sign the petition

Fri 28th January, 2011 - by editor - 3 Comments.

The evil Tories and their pitifully useless lapdog chums in the Lib Dems have got another great idea up their posh, public school-educated sleeves: close down the libraries!

London / Places / stuff

Meet the last glass eye maker in Britain

Thu 27th January, 2011Thu 27th January, 2011 - by editor - 1 Comment

Here’s a beautifully shot film about the last glass eye maker in Britain. Directed by Tomas Leach and filmed in 16mm by Ben Todd, the film tells the story of …

railways / wales

Wrexham & Shropshire railway company closes

Wed 26th January, 2011Sat 29th January, 2011 - by editor - 3 Comments.

This is really sad news. The Wrexham & Shropshire railway company – the best railway company I’ve travelled with for years – has just announced that it is closing for …

London / Places

London’s most common surnames listed by area and origin in a natty map

Wed 26th January, 2011Wed 26th January, 2011 - by editor - 1 Comment

Data-chewing whizzkid James Cheshire has imbibed a ton of facts from the 2001 electoral register to create an interactive map showing off the most common surnames in London by area.

London / photos / Places

London Eye and EDF Energy lights up London, 2.30am

Tue 25th January, 2011Tue 25th January, 2011 - by editor - 4 Comments.

Looks like someone’s quietly testing out a big lighting rig near the Thames tonight, ready for the London Eye’s snazzy relaunch before sunrise.

New York / Places

Into Manhattan with a stunning Brooklyn Bridge sunset, NYC

Mon 24th January, 2011Sun 23rd January, 2011 - by editor - 3 Comments.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan one November evening, we were greeted by this absolutely stunning sunset.

Brixton / photos / Places

Incredible sci-fi Brixton robot future imagined

Mon 24th January, 2011Wed 29th June, 2011 - by editor - 2 Comments.

Wow. I’m loving these Bladerunner-esque dystopian images and ‘work in progress’ video (below) by Kibwe X-Kalibre Tavares‘ showing a future Brixton full of robots, including a revamped Barrier Block.

Clubs & Nightlife / Places

Drinking and stripping the willow at a Burns night ceilidh in Stockwell

Sun 23rd January, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

There was a feast of fiddles, banjos, dancing, clapping and, indeed, some falling over to be had last night at the Grosvenor in Stockwell as the No Frills Band put …

London / photos

The Bromley Arms, Cleveland St NW1 and the case of the bad shilling

Sun 23rd January, 2011Sun 23rd January, 2011 - by editor - 2 Comments.

Rather cruelly dismissed as a “late building of no interest,” in the Survey of London: volume 21 (1949), the Bromley Arms used to be at 84 Cleveland Street (corner of …

London / Places / stuff

The 52-storey Cheesegrater tower at 122 Leadenhall starts

Thu 20th January, 2011Thu 20th January, 2011 - by Crispy - 3 Comments.

Work has started on what will be become the tallest skyscraper in the City of London (at least until the Pinnacle tower is completed). Leadenhall Building (aka The Cheesegrater) will …

photos / Places / railways

St Erth for St Ives railway station – a country junction

Thu 20th January, 2011Thu 20th January, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

Although it’s a station on the busy main line from Paddington to Penzance in Cornwall, St Erth retains the air of a Victorian country junction.

London / photos

Walkie Talkie tower, Fenchurch St crackles into life

Wed 19th January, 2011Thu 20th January, 2011 - by editor - 14 Comments.

Construction has started on a new skyscraper in the heart of the City of London, and it’s certainly an odd looking thing, with the controversial top-heavy tower quickly earning itself …

stuff

The best hangover cure of them all is….

Wed 19th January, 2011Wed 19th January, 2011 - by editor - 3 Comments.

I’ve tried just about every hangover cure invented during my long years dedicated to imbibing the amber nectar, but scientists have discovered what they say is the ‘best hangover cure’ …

New York / photos / Places

Battery Park, New York City in the driving autumn rain

Tue 18th January, 2011Tue 18th January, 2011 - by editor - 4 Comments.

I love walking through cities in the rain, and when it’s New York in late November, there’s rarely any shortage of the stuff.

Brixton / Places

Stockwell Studios under threat again

Mon 17th January, 2011Mon 17th January, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

Formerly the Annie McCall maternity hospital, the Stockwell Studios have provided a local cultural educational resource for the past two decades. Sadly, the studios are once again facing an uncertain future, as detailed …

London / photos / Places

Half naked, unicycling knife-juggling street performer, Covent Garden

Mon 17th January, 2011Sat 29th September, 2012 - by editor - 7 Comments.

The tradition of street performers at Covent Garden dates back to the 1600s, but the area has changed dramatically after the famous covered fruit and vegetable market closed in 1974.

Brixton / Places

Fujiyama Japanese restaurant, Brixton, serves up a winning meal

Mon 17th January, 2011Mon 17th January, 2011 - by editor - 5 Comments.

With Saturday night’s hangover still biting damn hard, I stumbled off in the direction of Brixton’s finest Japanese restaurant, the New Fujiyama, in a quest for hot’n’tasty nourishment.

London / photos / Places

Pic of the day: Hats, Covent Garden

Sat 15th January, 2011 - by editor - 3 Comments.

The Blue Nile named a wonderfully melancholic album after them, Frank Sinatra was never seen without one, Tommy Copper wore a particularly fine example, and after decades in the fashion wilderness, it seems …

London / photos / Places / railways

Accumulator tower, hydraulics and bonded stores, Royal Mint St, E1

Sat 15th January, 2011Sat 15th January, 2011 - by editor - 2 Comments.

Abandoned for at least 30 years is this old ‘accumulator tower’ at Royal Mint St, by Tower Hill, London E1, which had been used for storing hydraulic power. “An accumulator …

London / photos / Places

Derelict shops, Toynbee Street, Spitalfields, London E1

Thu 13th January, 2011Thu 13th January, 2011 - by editor - 5 Comments.

Looking unlikely to ever come back from the dead is this block of derelict shops along the east side of Toynbee Street in the Spitalfields district of east London, E1.

London / photos / Places

Whitechapel Gallery – buzzing light bulbs and coffee

Wed 12th January, 2011Wed 12th January, 2011 - by editor - 1 Comment

Founded in 1901 as one of the first publicly-funded galleries for temporary exhibitions in the capital, Whitechapel Gallery is a free gallery, located right next to Aldgate East tube station, …

Brixton / Places / stuff

Brixton Roller Skating Rink – memories from the late 1950s

Tue 11th January, 2011Mon 14th July, 2014 - by editor - 72 Comments.

For over half a century Brixton had its own roller skating rink, located on the corner of Effra Road (opposite the George Canning/Hootenanny). Opening in 1910, contemporary reports say that dance bands …