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urban75 blog...rainy streets, neon signs, disused stations and broken lines... | |
Sunday, September 06, 2009Some London snapsA few photos taken during my wander around town yesterday.
The Tree House Gallery, Regents's Park
Billed as "an innovative public project featuring a free daily program of events, arts, discussions, musicology and activities," the Treehouse Gallery in Regent's Park tasked itself with acting, " as a catalyst to ignite the collective imagination, encouraging adults and children alike to explore a variety of creative responses to nature." We're not entirely sure what all that means, but we definitely enjoyed our visit and found it a pleasant place to hang out for a while. Looking like a road protest site transported into a central London Park, the Treehouse Gallery put on daily activities, talks and workshops, focussed around two large treehouses. More photos here: The Tree House Gallery, regent's Park, London Thursday, August 06, 2009New York street photosNew York street scenes. Some photos of graffiti, skylines, neon shopfronts and fallout shelter signs from our travels around Brooklyn and Manhattan last winter
More photos here: New York street photos Labels: brooklyn, new york, photos Wednesday, August 05, 2009Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC photosLast winter we paid another visit to Red Hook, Brookyln ? a down-at-heel, former industrial port which was once dubbed the 'crack capital of America.'
More photos here: Red Hook photos part one Labels: brooklyn, new york, photos Monday, July 13, 2009Philadelphia photosI've just posted up a few more photos from my trip to Philadelphia last winter:
More here: Philadelphia scenes Labels: philadelphia, photos Tuesday, July 07, 2009Cilgerran and the River Teifi, west WalesWe stayed at Fforest which offers posh camping in the middle of a lovely ancient wood near the lovely village of Cilgerran. Carmarthen & Cardigan, Wales - photo featuresHere's some pics from our recent holiday in south west Wales. I was astonished how beautiful and picturesque the area was. Sunday, May 10, 2009More morris dancing mobs!
Saturday, April 18, 2009Rolling Easter Eggs down Hampstead Heath Just got back from an urban75 walk around Hampstead Heath. The weather was fantastic, the company delightful, the stroll relaxing, the pubs welcoming, the ale tasty and just about everything was perfect....apart from the Cardiff City scoreline. 6-0? Eeek! WTF!
The eggs are released! More pics coming soon. Labels: london, photos, walk, walks Monday, April 13, 2009Utrecht, NetherlandsI finally found a bit of time to post up some more photos from our trip to the beautiful town of Utrecht last month: Labels: europe, netherlands, photos, utrecht Sunday, March 01, 2009South Street, Philadelphia
Here's a few more photos from our recent visit to Philly.
South Street is a lot like a mini-Camden.     Labels: philadelphia, photos Link Wednesday, February 18, 2009Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes
We've always been fans of this venue under the Tavistock Hotel on Bedford Way by Russell Square, so when we were invited by some lovely friends to come down on a Saturday night, we made it a date.
Unfortunately, they'd hired out one of the private karaoke rooms and were all squashed into a little room with a flickering LCD screen screen displaying the lyrics. The sound was truly dreadful even before the drunken singing started up, so we discretely shuffled our way out to the busy dance floor and bar. There was an excellent rock and roll band playing onstage as well as some performance. Here's a few camera phone snaps from the evening. We had a ball!    Labels: bowling, london, photos Link Wednesday, February 11, 2009The Thames, theatres, Tate Modern and a tutu
A Saturday walk around a sunny, but freezing cold, central London:
     Get the full story behind these pics here: London street and river scenes Link Thursday, January 22, 2009Stars and stripes, New York.
Americans go berserk for their national flag - wherever you look in new York, you'll see a giant size Stars and Stripes or two flapping away in the wind.
Here's a few from central Manhattan.     New York photo gallery Labels: flags, new york, photos Link Tuesday, January 13, 2009Cardiff city centre photos
Central Cardiff is changing so fast, I have trouble recognising some parts now, especially in the area where the monolithic St Davids Centre 2 is going up. I can't say I'm feeling the love for that vast temple to consumerism either.
Here's some pics from my late December stroll on a sunny but freezing cold afternoon. You can see the full photo feature here: Cardiff city centre photos.      Link Tuesday, January 06, 2009Space 1026 gallery, Philadelphia
Situated in the heart of Philadelphia and only a short walk from the City Hall, is the Space 1026 gallery and workshop.
It's not an 'official' gallery as such, but more of a collective space used by artists, although even their own website seems confused as to what they actually are: Space 1026 is a community - a creative community - not an institution. Or you could try and pull some postmodern shit and say Space 1026 does not exist; but then you‘d have to do some explaining to the mice that eat our leftovers every night. Space 1026 is not a collaboration! Yes it is! No its not! Yes it is! Exactly. Whatever it is, we popped in to say hello and have a look around and found a friendly bunch of artists inside. Anyway, here's some photos.      More Philadelphia pics here:: Philadelphia photos. More to come soon! Labels: philadelphia, photos Link Tuesday, December 30, 2008Ogmore-by-sea, south Wales
Some photos from a brisk - nay, chuffing freezing - Boxing Day beach walk on the south Wales coast.
The weather was fantastic and the gale force wind sure sorted out my hangover!      Link Christmas Day walk, Graig Llanishen, Cardiff
By gum it was freezing cold, but I still managed my traditional Christmas Day walk up Graig Llanishen, to the north of Cardiff.
Here's some photos:     Link Sunday, December 14, 2008A rainy December walk in London
Some photos from my rainy walk around central London and Brixton yesterday...
 Beheaded Belisha beacon, Atlantic Road, Brixton. Named after Leslie Hore-Belisha (1895-1957), who was Minister of Transport responsible for introducing them in 1934, they can be seen all over the UK, Ireland and in the former British crown colonies of Singapore and Hong Kong.  Oxford Street.  Oxford Street trader.  Brixton Station Road. Labels: brixton, london, photos Link Sunday, November 23, 2008Christmas decorations, central LondonOffline - ukuleles, rappers and protest singersSaturday, November 22, 2008'Taking Liberties' at the British Library
There's a fascinating exhibition at the British Library revealing Britain's "1,000-year struggle for our freedoms and rights."
 A tour of historic struggles for freedom, there's over 200 iconic documents and objects on display including the well known - like the Magna Carta of 1215, and the 1649 death warrant of King Charles I - and lesser known documents like the hand-written minutes of the Putney debates, recording the arguments between Cromwell's New Model Army and the radical Levellers.     It's free and well worth a visit. Finishes March 1st 2009. Link Friday, November 21, 2008North Wales walk: Glyn Ceiriog, near Chirk
I've finished posting up the photos from our fabulous walking holiday in north Wales.
Here's a few of the photos from the report. Check out the rest here.  View from where we were staying. Not bad, eh?   Most of the urban crew get ready for a walk to Llangollen.  Walking over the mountain to Llangollen.  Llangollen Railway.    We were lucky with the weather except on Sunday afternoon when it pissed down. So we went back to the bunkhouse and got pissed instead!  Walking over the Chirk aqueduct.  Through the long and very dark tunnel!  Heading home along a shorter tunnel.... Link Brixton autumnal sunsets
There's been some fantastic autumnal sunsets around Brixton over the last couple of days.
Here's a few pics:      Link Sunday, November 16, 2008A London stroll
Here's a few swifty snaps I took on my new Lumix X3 camera while wandering around London yesterday.
The light was grey, the weather damp and I had a thumping hangover, but the camera did a grand job!       Link Thursday, November 13, 2008Walking to Llangollen
On the weekend, I stayed with the urban75 walk club massive in a lovely bunkhouse in a remote part of north Wales.
Here's a photo from the walk from Glyn Ceiriog to Llangollen.  Full feature coming soon! Monday, November 03, 2008A rainy day in London town
A few photographs taken from a very wet walk around Soho and Oxford Street on Saturday. It was a miserable day!
 Great Newport Street, Leicester Square  Foyles bookstore, Charing Cross Road  Wet and windy on Oxford Street  Red brolly and puddles  Umbrellas by Oxford Circus tube More London photos Sunday, October 19, 2008Kings Cross Gasometer
Following on from my photo feature in September last year, I grabbed a few more photos today of the Grade II listed gasometer.
You can clearly see the parts of the other dismantled gasometers stacked up for storage in some of the pics.   Gasometer, Kings Cross Link Manette Street artwork
Wandering past Soho, we were surprised to see the buildings along the short stretch of Manette Street (off Charing Cross in Central London) having giant photocopies of people's faces slapped all over them.
The work is by paste-up supremo  JR and features photos of women from Morro da Providencia, Rio de Janeiro, "for whom crime, violent loss of loved ones and arbitrary repression are part of everyday life."   Link Sunday, September 21, 2008Nick Drake photos @ Proud Galleries, London There's a great free exhibition of rock photos by Keith Morris at Proud Galleries, 32 John Adam St, WC2 (back of The Strand). There's excellent archive photos of the Damned, John Cale, a disarmingly youthful-looking Elvis Costello, the Stones, The Who, Tom Petty, Led Zep and others, but it's the Nick Drake collection that really stands out. There's a host of unused photos from album cover shoots and you can really see that Drake was every bit as shy, uncomfortable and as troubled as his music suggests. It's well worth a visit. Friday, September 12, 2008Hooligan Night, Jessica Delfino, Severed Limb at Offline
Ouch! My head! Last night was fantastic at JAMM with a great line up of acts. Here's some pics:
       Link Thursday, September 11, 2008Lake District: three walks
We managed to get in a few good walks while we were staying in Cartmel in Cumbria, right on the edge of the Lake District.
Here's some photos:       Cartmel To Hampsfield Fell walk Cartmel to Haverthwaite walk Dalegarth station to Dalegarth Falls walk Labels: cartmel, dalegarth, lake district, photos Link Friday, August 22, 2008Nottingham photos
I've been in Nottingham twice in the last few weeks - once en route to the Indietracks festival, the second time in rather sadder circumstances as we travelled up for the funeral of the lovely Maria, a marvelously brave and strong woman who will be missed by all.
Here's a few photos:         Labels: Nottingham, photos Link Friday, August 15, 2008Old and new, Elephant and Castle.Monday, July 14, 2008Battersea Power Station
We went along to a rare open day at Battersea Power Station where ambitious new development plans were being shown off.
Expect a full photo report soon, but here's a photo of the fabulous old building:  Labels: battersea power station, london, photos Link Tuesday, July 08, 2008A stormy afternoon in Brixton
The weather continues its un-summer like path (which is fine by me seeing as I prefer the golden browns of Autumn and the crisp air of wintery mornings!)...
Here's some pics taken from my window:  Red chimney pots and Crystal Palace transmitter.  Rainbow against a dark summer sky, Denmark Hill.  Tulse Hill church spires. Wednesday, July 02, 2008Greenwich Park and Royal Observatory We enjoyed a lovely picnic* in Greenwich Royal Park, which covers 183 acres of land originally laid out in the 17th century. (*before the braying yuppies turned up) Greenwich Park was once a hunting park and now forms one of the largest single green spaces in south east London. Enclosed as far back as 1433, it's now part of the protected Greenwich World Heritage Site.  Looking down at the The Queen's House, Greenwich, which was built in 1614-1617 by architect Inigo Jones Subsequently altered by Jones around 1635 for Henrietta Maria, the House is now regarded as one of the most important buildings in architectural history, being Britain's first consciously classical building. The Queen's House is now both a grade I listed building and a Scheduled ancient monument.  Lurking inside this 45-ton bronze-clad truncated cone is the new Peter Harrison Planetarium, a 120-seat digital laser planetarium, opened in May, 2007.  Old and new. Canary Wharf with the Royal Naval College in the foreground. More photos here. Labels: greenwich, photos, walk Link Greenwich - Naval College & Market
Continuing our walk from the O2 dome around the Greenwich Peninsula, we walked around the Royal Naval College, before popping into the excellent Greenwich Market for some fresh bread, cheese and olives:
 Formerly occupied by the pre-Tudor 'Palace at Greenwich' of 1428, the current buildings were planned by Sir Christopher Wren with various big name architects like Hawksmoor, Vanbrugh and James 'Athenian' Stuart completing the job during the first half of the eighteenth century .  Old fella checking out the sights.  In the food market.  The temporary 60m high Greenwich Wheel in front of the Pepy's Building Visitor Centre stands taller than Nelson's Column and offers panoramic views across London.  Greenwich Church St. Labels: greenwich, market, photos Link Tuesday, July 01, 2008Millennium Dome to Greenwich walk (part two)
Here's some more pics from our wander along the Thameside path from the Millennium Dome into Greenwich. More photos soon!
   It was nice to find what felt like a piece of 'old' London - it reminded me of when I walked along the old docks before Canary Wharf sprung up.  More photos here Link Sunday, June 29, 2008Return To The Dome  Millennium Dome main arena, 2000. Now rebranded as The O2 and part of the 'O2 entertainment district' (you what?!), I've always rather liked the structure and even enjoyed visiting it back in 2000. We took a stroll around the area yesterday as part of a lovely walk into Greenwich - here's some photos of the redeveloped O2 site.   More pics and feature Link Thursday, June 26, 2008Around Leicester and Trafalgar Squares
Some snaps from my wander around central London yesterday:
 Street artist in Leicester Square.  The half-demolished 1962 Swiss Centre in Leicester Square. The building was originally designed to provide a showcase for Switzerland and hosted a Swiss bank and the Swiss National Tourist Board.  The original Empire Theatre opened with a production of 'Chilperic' which was a 'Grand Musical Spectacular' by Florimund Herve in 1884. Just three years later it had been become 'The Empire Theatre of Varieties,' reverting back to The Empire Theatre in 1898 before finally closing and being demolished in January 1927. The second Empire Theatre opened as a cinema in November 1928, although it still put on occasional ballet and dancing shows before closing in May 1961 after a 76 week run of 'Ben Hur.' After a major reconstruction, the third incarnation of the Empire Theatre opened in December 1962, and now hosts a cinema and casino.  The 20 feet tall tower of the art deco Odeon Leicester Square, once the 'flagship' cinema of Oscar Deutsch's Odeon Theatres Ltd. Built on the site of the Alhambra Theatre (1883-1936), the Odeon opened for business on 2nd November 1937, offering 2,116 seats - and all of them covered in mock leopard-skin!  Trafalgar Square at night.  More photos Labels: leicester square, london, photos, trafalgar square Link Somerset House: London's Largest Living Room I went along to what was billed as 'London's Largest Living Room' in the courtyard of Somerset House on Saturday and have to say as I was a little underwhelmed.    Somerset House is till a great place to visit and a lovely peaceful retreat in the heart of central London. It's even better in the summer when the fountains are working.  Echoing its naval heritage, there's some elaborate and rather bonkers nautical stone carvings on the exterior walls of Somerset House. More photos. Labels: london, photos, somerset house Tuesday, June 24, 2008Along the Strand over Waterloo Bridge to the Southbank
Some more photos from my Saturday stroll:
 This elaborate piece of punctuation-untroubled stone lettering informs passers by that: "In this court in the 18th century stood the Fountain Tavern where the political opponents of Sir Robert Walpole met using the title of the Fountain Club, also the Coal Hole the meeting place of the Wolf Club of which about 1826 Edmund Kean was a leading member". In case you didn't know (and I certainly didn't) external link Edmund Kean (1789- 1833) was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever. I'd heard of external link Sir Robert Walpole (1676 - 1745) of course - he was a bigshot statesman in Georgian times.  The 'Armchair Theatre' space outside the National Theatre.  I continue to be baffled by the growing collection of bizarre 'human statues' that line the South Bank between Hungerford and Westminster bridges. Why do people do it? And why do people give them money?  There's no sign of the sun, but that didn't stop these folks in Victoria Embankment Gardens. More Labels: london, photos, southbank Link Love Music Hate Racism demo On Saturday, I popped along to what was billed as a "national demonstration and carnival parade against fascism and racism" in Trafalgar Square put on by Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) and Unite Against Fascism (UAF).  It wasn't exactly packed...    Labels: london, photos, protest Link Tuesday, June 17, 2008Cambridge photos
A few snaps taken from my stroll around Cambridge before Strawberry Fair.
 Cambridge is stuffed full o'history - among the great and the good who have attended their hoity toity universities include William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood in 1628; Isaac Newton, who worked on gravitation in 1687; Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory in 1859; Ernest Rutherford, who split the atom in 1903; and scientist Professor Stephen Hawking who wrote the best selling 'Brief History of Time' book in 1988 (like many others, I failed to see that particular book through to the end).  The former home of Jim Ede - formerly a curator at the Tate Gallery - houses a superb collection of 20th century art including works by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Alfred Wallis, Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Christopher Wood and Henri Gaudier-Breszka.    Faced with an urgent need for a new water supply, Thomas Hobson constructed a causeway in 1614 which transported water from springs at Nine Wells near Shelford outside Cambridge into the city centre. Although the conduit head has been moved from the market place to the corner of Lensfield Road, the water channels still run along Trumpington Street. Incidentally, Thomas Hobson gave the world the expression, 'Hobson's choice' (meaning there's only a take-it-or-leave-it option available). Hobson (1544–1630) was also a livery stable owner at Cambridge, England who, in order to rotate the use of his horses, offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in the stall nearest the door or taking none at all. Cambridge photos Link Sunday, June 15, 2008Barrington Road, tower block sunsetCovent Garden old market photos We popped in to see this exhibition by photographer Clive Boursnell documenting the last days of the old central London fruit, vegetable and flower markets at Covent Garden. It's only on till June 21, so hurry!  We got talking to an old bloke who worked at the market and he pointed out some of his old mates in the photos, ruefully adding, "Most of them are now dead."  I also took some photos while ambling around Bloomsbury and Holborn. Here's a few:  Pearly King of Thornton Heath browsing a bookstore on Charing Cross Road.  Lovely Georgian terrace on Southampton Row.  We popped in The Enterprise pub, 38 Red Lion Street for a swifty. It's a lovely traditional boozer. A walk around Bloomsbury and Holborn Labels: bloomsbury, covent garden, photos Link Sunday, June 08, 2008Strawberry Fair, Cambridge. Police harassment galore.
The British Transport police at Cambridge Station were heavy handed last year, but this year they managed to add even more layers of harassment for people coming to town for the annual free festival.
 Arriving passengers were herded through a long, slow moving cattle run of zig-zag fencing, and then past a sniffer dog. Some were taken out for body searches.  The BTP operation at the station was completely out of scale, with something like 50 officers - a mix of regulars and PCSOs - backed by dogs, screening pens, fences, operations trucks and specially erected search tents.  It was a ludicrously over-the-top operation - even tourists visiting for the day were subjected to the same treatment. It felt like we'd arrived at a police state. Labels: cambridge, photos, police Wednesday, May 14, 2008PG Wodehouse Picnic, Russell Square To celebrate the reissue of PG Wodehouse's books by Arrow Books, a picnic was held in Russell Square on a delightfully warm spring Sunday afternoon.  I popped along for a nibble before heading off to take the photos at a friend's wedding in Marylebone. Labels: london, photos, wodehouse Link Monday, May 12, 2008Ladyfest at Camden Underworld
This was a heap of fun.
 The lively Betty and the Werewolves.  Actionettes getting it on between band sets.  The Priscillas giving it large.  The sensational Peggy Sue and the Pirates. They were absolutely awesome - a bit like a younger, more chaotic Be Good Tanyas. Be sure to check 'em out if you can . I'm trying to get them to play Offline but they replied (nicely) with the the worst words a free gig promoter can hear: "Talk to our agent." That invariably translates into, "not a chance, chief!" Link Wednesday, April 23, 2008A walk around Ashtead and Epsom Commons
A few photos from a short (6 mile) birthday walk around Ashtead and Epsom Commons on the borders of Surrey and London.
 Ashtead station faces right out into the countryside, so you're straight off the train and getting down with nature in seconds.  It was pretty much deserted for the walk, but the ground got very muddy later on, forcing us city slickers to delicately tip toe over deep, troublesome puddles.  Groovy stripy tree.  Cast iron London boundary markers were situated in amongst the trees. Which was a bit odd. Read the full story of the walk here: Ashtead and Epsom Commons - a short six mile, birthday walk Link Tuesday, April 08, 2008FA Cup semi final: Barnsley 0 Cardiff 1
I've just posted up my photo report of this glorious day. And there's also a short video of delirious Cardiff fans after we scored the winning goal too. Oh yes indeedy!
 Snowball fight in Brixton to start the day.  Behold! The majesty of Wembley!   Check out the full match report by our roving ace reporter Paul Davies here: Barnsley 0 Cardiff 1 Labels: cardiff city, FA cup, photos, wembley Link Tuesday, March 25, 2008New York photo updates
I'm slowly getting through the huge backlog of photos from our December 2007 trip to New York. Here's some updates - hope you like 'em!
  New York street photos part 1   New York street photos part 2   New York street photos part 3 Link London photos
A few snaps from around London town, taken with my trusty Ricoh GX100 camera.
 Man with a hat, Bedford Square.  Penguin and passer by.  Bins, Ogle Street. More London photos Link Monday, March 17, 2008Fox & Goose, Hebden Bridge We've just come back from a fantastic walking weekend in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.  Once scattered with corduroy and worsted mills, the area has retained a rugged northern beauty and now thrives as a major tourist destination with a very healthy 'alternative' community.  We loved the place and the people. Above are some photos from a lovely night in the excellent Fox & Goose boozer. Expect some more photos soon! Labels: hebden bridge, photos, yorkshire Tuesday, March 11, 2008Philadelphia photos update Thanks to the lovely Siobhan in Philly, the Philadelphia photo gallery has now updated with in-depth captions detailing the history and local quirks of this fine city.  These curious hand made tiles with weird messages could be found all around Philly - check out the link to find out more. Philly photos Labels: philadelphia, photos Link Sunday, March 09, 2008Storm ahoy! There's severe gales and heavy rain blowing in from the Atlantic tonight.  Here's the view over Brixton right now. Wednesday, March 05, 2008A train trip up the Valleys, 1989 I've scanned in a few photos from a train trip I took nearly twenty years ago.  Travelling out of Cardiff with my then girlfriend Debbie, I doubt if we knew just how quickly this scene would be transformed. Now there's barely any industry left in the Welsh Valleys, thanks to the Evil Thatch and her Tory cohorts. More pics Labels: photos, railways, wales Link Friday, February 22, 2008Time Out Top 50 Site!
Woot! It was great to see urban75 being listed in Time Out's "Top 50 London Websites," especially as were number one in the 'communities' section. Nice!
 Elsewhere on the site, I've been obsessively updating the Brixton History features, posting up old billboards and adverts and taking a modern day look: 2-4 Atlantic Road, Brixton 58 Atlantic Road, Brixton 80 Atlantic Road, Brixton Walton Lodge, Brixton  There's also a big feature on Quin & Axtens, a long-gone grand department store in Brixton Road.  If proof were needed that perhaps my obsession is going a little too far, my recent feature on the Public Toilets in Tate Library Gardens could be it!  Sadly the Lost Pubs section keeps on growing, with new features on the Loughborough Hotel and the Hammerton Brewery. Still to post up are pictures from the fabulous Actionettes night at the 100 Club, Oxford Street. I'll sort them soon - honest! Labels: brixton, london, photos, pubs Sunday, February 10, 2008Hanway Street, London W1 I've just finished a photo feature on this quiet little street in the centre of London.  Rumoured to be named after Jonas Hanway - the man who introduced the umbrella to the streets of London and faced of a ton of grief from hackney cab drivers for his troubles - it's a fascinating little backstreet. See: Hanway Street feature  On a sadder note, I've had to add another entry to my growing list of Lost Pubs Of Brixton.  The beautiful Loughborough Hotel at 39 Loughborough Road, Brixton, SW9 7TB had already lost its famous ballroom to developers, but it now looks like the pub has gone too. Read the full story here: Loughborough Hotel, Brixton closes Labels: brixton, london, photos, pubs Friday, February 01, 2008Crystal Palace photos Two (overdue) updates to the photo gallery, with pictures from a summer and an autumn walk around Crystal Palace park and nearby Sydenham.  I went along on the Sydenham walk (called the 'Fungi Forage'), wooed by the prospect of a walk through the old railway tunnel, but it was not to be.  But I learnt a bit about picking wild mushrooms: don't, because I'm too stupid to work out the difference between tasty 'shrooms and poison-laden instant-death dealers.   I love Crystal Palace Park - all over the huge park there's remnants of its glorious Victorian past and bonkers things like Egyptians sphinxes, concrete dinosaurs and grand stairs going nowhere.  I discovered a pedalo half stuck in a tree, a considerable distance from any water, and there's headless statues scattered all over the park.  More photos here: Palace photos Sydenham to Crystal Palace park An autumnal walk around Crystal Palace Park Labels: crystal palace, london, photos Monday, January 28, 2008Offline club and a visit to the Marquis Despite falling foul of what seemed like a bona fide case of the lurgy on Thursday, I felt well enough on Friday to check out the Marquis Of Lorne pub with some friends.  It's definitely not a pub for thrill seekers, party heads or ravers, but it has a certain retro charm. See: Marquis of Lorne feature  Saturday night was our first Offline of the new year at the Albert and it was a fun night as usual.  The delightful Ms Feelgood DJ'd again and made the usual mess all over the decks! Offline pics Labels: brixton, offline, photos Saturday, January 19, 2008Brixton Vigil A big, mixed crowd turned out to pay their respects to Khalil Nasseri, exactly a week after his brutal murder.  Family members, customers, officials and friends gave short talks emphasising community, racial harmony and the positive aspects of Brixton. The crowd then took a short walk around the market where he worked.  It was very moving and very, very sad, but hopefully the family found some comfort in the size of the crowd who showed up. Brixton stabbing Canal Street NYC: photos Visitors keen to find a piece of untamed New York should check out Canal Street, in lower Manhattan. It's stuffed full of counterfeit handbags, suspect jewellery, fake Rolex watches, knocked off goods and other iffy merchandise, with 'nuff dodgy, suitcase-toting blokes lurking about. Here's a couple of snaps:   Canal Street shops and street traders Friday, January 18, 2008New York subway scenes
Some more photos from last month's New York trip...
    And here's how it looked when I first visited New York in 1986. Scary or what? I was terrified!  New York subway scenes Tines Square at night, NYC Here's some pics taken when we walked through the tourist-tastic neon eyestorm of Times Square.  It's bonkers but fun - like Piccadilly Circus on steroids - but it's not a place to tarry unless you're a fan of the Big Brand Corporate American Shopping Experience (TM) - with added Disney-power.   More photos here: Times Square at night - neon signs, taxi cabs and billboards Wednesday, January 16, 2008Murdered: over a 20p orange This is hopelessly, desperately tragic. Last Saturday a 24 year old man helping out in his cousin's shop in Brixton Market was stabbed to death by a gang of men in a 'revenge' attack - over a row about a 20p orange two days earlier.  The market traders are planning a vigil this Saturday (19th) on the corner of Atlantic Road and Electric Avenue at 6pm. We'll be there. Fatal stabbing in Brixton Market Monday, January 14, 2008Winter walk in NY
I've posted up a few more photos from trip to New York last month - but I've still got loads more to work though.
 Sat on top of a residential block facing on the Lower East Side is a 19-foot statue of Lenin, posing with his right arm raised victoriously towards downtown Manhattan.  Snow face and passing cyclist, E. Houston St., New York.  Snow and magazine boxes. More photos: Winter walk in NYC Wednesday, January 09, 2008Sailors' Snug Harbor, Staten Island, NYC When we were in New York last month, we took the free ferry out of Manhattan to Staten Island and braved an icy walk to visit the Sailors' Snug Harbor - an old institute for 'aged, decrepit and worn-out sailors.'  The site - which was nearly flattened in the 60s - now serves as a Culture Centre, and is a fun place to visit. We had a fantastic meal in the cafe below. Sailors' Snug Harbor Cultural Center  We also took a walk around Staten Island, which has its pretty and its not-so-pretty parts.   More photos: Richmond Terrace, Staten Island Staten Island walk Labels: new york, photos, staten island Sunday, January 06, 2008Piccadilly to Vauxhall walk
The weather wasn't great, but we shook off some of the festive lard and lingering hangover with a short (4.3m) walk around town yesterday.
Here's some of the pics:  Christmas swing ride in Leicester Square.  Georgian terraced houses of Northumberland Street.  Walking along the south bank of the Thames  Houses of Parliament. Central London and River Thames walk -photos Friday, January 04, 2008Cardiff at Christmas
Just a few snaps from my brief stay in my home town over Christmas. It's getting hard to reconcile the city with my memories as it's being redeveloped so fast.
  Cardiff at Christmas - more photos Labels: cardiff, christmas, photos Thursday, January 03, 2008City Island, Bronx, New York
Amazingly, this island - with its New England architecture, wooden houses and fishing boats- is in the Bronx, New York!
    Loads more photos: City Island, Bronx, New York Labels: bronx, new york, photos Wednesday, January 02, 2008Monster party for the New Year!
Blimey. The Offline party at the Albert last night was such a big one I've spent all day recovering. Here's some pics - more to follow when my head gets vaguely back to normal (I fear that may take some time).
    Oh, and a Happy New Year to all my readers - if there are any out there! (I suspect I'm talking to myself most of the time, but what the hell!). Labels: brixton, offline, photos Monday, December 31, 2007Christmas in Wales
We had a fabulous time in Cardiff. Here's some pics:
 St Fagans National History Museum is an astonishingly good place to visit, with the open air site containing over 40 lovingly rebuilt buildings from Wales' history.  The row of workmen's cottages from Rhyd-y-car were my favourite. St Fagans National History Museum   A little less easy on the eye was Nant-y-moel and Ogmore Vale, two down-at-heel former mining villages, still struggling to find a purpose after Herr Thatcher finished off the local industry in the mid 1980s. Nant-y-moel and Ogmore Vale Monday, December 24, 2007Christmas Lights, NY/London
Putting Oxford Street's desperate offering to shame is the gloriously over-the-top display at the Rockefeller Centre, New York:
 And here's the feeble lights on London's Oxford Street.  Brixton: rubbish Xmas decorations This year's effort -both by the council and local shops - looks even worse than last years paltry offering.   Only Brixton Station Road looks in the least bit festive, while most shops haven't bothered at all (save for some Yuletide-themed, product shifting advert or another). More Brixton Christmas photos  Check out how it looked a hundred years ago: Brixton, Christmas, 1908. Sunday, December 23, 2007Goodbye New Piccadilly cafe
A much loved London cafe lost forever.
 April 2006  December 2007 The New Piccadilly Café, 8 Denman Street, Piccadilly, London Actionettes at the Tate  This was fun last week - a party with The Actionettes inside one of the Tate Britain's art galleries! Labels: actionettes, photos Tuesday, December 18, 2007Offline Club - New York and London!
There's been no less than four Offline Club nights since I last updated this blog. Here's a couple of snaps from the nights:
  Nov 29th: JAMM, Brixton. Thirty samba drummers, Freddie Stevenson and more! More club photos   Dec 8th: Boulevard Tavern, New York More photos   Dec 14th: Alma, Crystal Palace, south London More photos   Dec 15th: Punk Rock Special, Albert, Brixton, London More photos Next Offline is this Friday, 21st December at the Albert. It's our Christmas party and we've got a great punk/ska band and a nine piece ukulele orchestra! Offline club website Labels: brixton, club, new york, offline, photos New York: Central Park in the snow
We've been away in New York for the past couple of weeks, and as soon as we got back to London, I had to run two Offline nights, so things have been very, very busy.
New York was fantastic fun, but it's going to take me a while to sort out all the photos, but here's a few from a lovely morning spent crunching through the Central Park snow.     More photos here: Central Park in the snow Friday, November 16, 2007Brixton Living Bar shut down Formerly the Coach and Horses, Brixton's Living Bar was suddenly closed down yesterday.  It hasn't enjoyed the greatest of reputations with some locals, but it's a striking building and I hope it reopens as a pub soon.  Lost pubs of Brixton Sex Pistols, Fireworks, Ramones....
Been a bit slow updating my blog recently, so here's a bumper pack:
Sex Pistols at Brixton  It was fun but a bit odd. Johnny was brilliant - part pantomime dame, part Olivier's Richard III, part Norman Wisdom, part sneering punk and a total showman throughout. Steve Jones looked like an over inflated inner tube, Paul Cook was lean and committed and Glen Matlock looked like he'd just stumbled in from a pub gig somewhere.  The band were tight and it was LOUD. Johnny looked fit, tanned and healthy, sang the songs with gusto, running through a wide variety of hilarious facial expressions and movements. Viewed as a gig it was a bit strange, but as a piece of theatre it was well worth the money. And if nothing else, you can always bore people in the future by saying: "I saw the Pistols." Fireworks, Brockwell Park  With t'local yoot relentlessly bombarding the 'hood with bazooka-style fireworks over the preceding three months, I have to admit that my appetite for going up the park to watch the display had diminished somewhat.  Thankfully, we have a great view from our balcony, so I grabbed a few shots. Halloween  For Halloween, I went to a great party at a local squat/arts venue and saw a friend's Ramones tribute band.  Normally, I hate any kind of tribute band but this lot are my mates and they have a girl singer so it was fun to watch. Talking of gigs, on Saturday I'm putting on a Rock'n'Roll/Big Band special at the Albert with 4 hot rocking ladies on the decks and the fantastic Hightown Crows playing live. Come on down - its free! Saturday 17th Nov ROCK'N'ROLL SPECIAL, BRIXTON Labels: brixton, offline, photos Friday, November 02, 2007Hammersmith Palais RIP
It's taken me ages to get around to posting these pics up but here's some shots of the very last days of this much loved music venue.
My own band headlined there once, although it's fair to see it probably wasn't a stand-out moment in the venue's prestigious rollcall of bands.  Hammersmith Palais Thursday, October 25, 2007A lighthouse in London I love this old building right by Kings Cross station.  The story is that the building originally served as an oyster house - oysters being the fast food of the day - with eateries often being marked by a lighthouses, much like McDonalds (spit!) uses the familiar Golden Arches to catch the eye of hungry punters. More photos: Oysterhouse Lighthouse, Kings Cross Monday, October 22, 2007Autumn in Regent's Park
I spent a lovely hour walking around Regent's Park on Saturday afternoon, grabbing a couple of autumnal scenes on my trusty Ricoh GX100 camera (long term test review coming soon!) as I kicked through the leaves:
  Couple more pics here Labels: brockwell park, london, photos Sunday, October 21, 2007A walk around Fitzrovia, London Had a nice walk around W1 and Fitzrovia on Saturday - interesting to see so many buildings closed and the huge development taking place by Great Portland Street.  Photos of Fitzrovia Tuesday, October 16, 2007A walk around Brick Lane, East End
Blimey, the place is gentrifying so fast you can almost feel your accent changing while you stand there.
Here's a few pics:    More photos here: Brick lane, East London Monday, September 24, 2007Harvest It FestivalThursday, September 13, 2007A walk around Lincoln's Inn Fields & Holborn  This is a great area of London to wander about in. The park is London's biggest public square and there's some fascinating architecture all around. See more pics here: Lincoln's Inn Fields   The surrounding area is fascinating too, with lots of quirky buildings and interesting sights. Well worth a visit! Holborn, the Strand and Fleet Street Tuesday, September 11, 2007Behold! The majesty of Tottenham Hale! Welcome to Tottenham Hale. All cars, roads, railings, roundabouts and concrete. Easily one of the ugliest places in London. This was taken on my route from the tube, a walk that involved trudging over a large concrete bus station concourse (busily transporting people to the Ikea in Edmonton), passing a hideous block of corporate food chains and then walking along a busy one-way road. Just before this scene, the ever decreasing pavement was eventually pushed completely off the road, making me walk through a run down council estate before I rejoined the road at this charming spot. Nice, huh? Sunday, September 09, 2007London Rollergirls Rollerderby That was a whole heap of fun: on Saturday I braved the bleak wastelands of Tottenham Hale (surely the ugliest, most road-tastic area of London?) to check out the London Rollergirls.  More photos: The Great Rock'n'Rollerderby Swindle Labels: photos, Rollergirls Wednesday, September 05, 2007Salisbury city and cathedral Some snapshots around Salisbury in Wiltshire and its fab cathedral, taken with my trusty Ricoh GX100 and with minimal post-processing.  More: Salisbury City Salisbury cathedral  The photos were taken while we waited for the bus to take us to the madness of the fabulous Endorse-It Festival Monday, September 03, 2007Petts Wood walk, sth London Just 20 mins train ride out of Brixton is Petts Wood, a 1930s 'new town' surrounded by ancient forest.  Walking through Park Wood. See more photos here: Petts Wood Walk  By a happy coincidence, we walked past the site of the moated Tudor Scadbury Manor on the one day a year it was open.  Scadbury Manor feature Thursday, August 30, 2007Slogans on Police Plant Pots
Lined up outside Brixton Police station can be seen this strange selection of plant pots, all bearing bizarre, God-squad-tastic hand painted slogans. WTF?!!
  Full feature here DJing, drinking and photographing
Blimey. What a week. Last Saturday I went to the Windmill, Brixton for the leaving bash of two of my friends, Scott and Jo. It was a fabulous night that involved a lot of drinking, although it's always a bit bitter sweet when your chums are leaving the country for good.
I'd prepared a special set of old time country bootstompers for Scott, but he spent most of the time lying on the floor drunk in front of the DJ booth. His boots may not have stomped, but I'm sure I saw a few twitches...  The next afternoon I was DJing at the excellent Stumbleworthy event at the Duke of Sutherland Pub, Lorrimore Road, SE17. I was still nursing a king size hangover, so all those buttons on the mixer confused me for quite a while, but I stayed on for a drink with some urbanites. The Sutherland is a great, old-school boozer with cheap beer, pool table, Caribbean Soul food, board-games and a beer-garden. Well worth a visit.  On my beer-exuding walk over to the venue, I noticed this unusual sign, and posted up a page about it. Thanks to the folks on the urban75 boards, I discovered the background to its unusual name: "It's called the Onion Shed because until the early 1980's it was used by a group of Breton Onion sellers. You used to see them cycling round south London with their bicycles heavily laden with strings of onions and garlic. If I missed them in the street I would call round and buy my onions from the shed, where they would be stringing then together. I always suspected that they slept in the loft, although it was all fairly derelict."  Wandering around town today, I came across this lovely old Welsh chapel, Capel Bedyddwyr Cymreig. Find out more here. I've finally made a start on the Brixton section and have posted up an all-new homepage which I think looks loads better.  I've posted up a piece about Brixton Water Lane which has some beautiful Regency and early Victorian villas, as well as a dark secret: MYSTERIOUS MURDER IN BRIXTON, May 1900 Other new features and updates on the site include: Goodbye to the Hobgoblin boozer Adam and Eve Court, London W1 London's narrowest alley Vauxhall Cross Transport Interchange Camberwell Submarine Labels: brixton, london, photos Wednesday, August 15, 2007Festival of the year! Just got back from The Endorse it in Dorset Festival and had a fabulous time.  It's a lovely little festival with a great vibe, lovely people, top bands and a real old-school attitude which means no corporate bollocks.  And after the horrors of Glastonbury, it was great to spend a weekend free of mud and rain. The Endorse it in Dorset Festival, 2007 Sunday, August 05, 2007Brixton Splash street festival    A few early shots from the free street festival. We'll be DJing by the Albert from 5pm onwards! See more photos here: Brixton Splash 2007 Thursday, August 02, 2007Winter comes early to the BT Tower This was a good blag because I: (a) love the BT Telecom Tower (b) love wintery things and (c) love freebies ...and all three were on offer today as I'd been invited to the launch of BT's winter range of tech goodies.  It was a tad odd to be looking out over London from a mock up of Santa's grotto, but I was happy as could be scoffing strawberry champagne jelly sat next to a Christmas tree looking over the mighty metropolis. I was given a press pack as I left containing a very strange DECT phone which I'll review later. BT Telecom Tower photos Sunday, July 29, 2007Offline at the Alma. Blimey! Now that was a fun night. We were DJing the Bowl Festival after-party at the Alma, Crystal Palace and it was a lively one alright. At one point, it was like a scene from a madhouse with some woman belting out weird squawking noises over the songs onstage, people shinning up and down the columns and a drunk bloke thumping the drums with his hands. I couldn't stop grinning.  I loved it! Oh, and the band Ashok were fantastic. I can't get enough of their "happyslap" song! Unfortunately, I was too busy drinking, DJing and laughing at what was going on around me to capture some of the mad antics going on - but there's a few pics here. Friday, July 27, 2007Josie Long and ukuleles galore at Offline   Fantastic night at Offline last night with some great bands and the fabulous Josie Long. Check out the photos here: Offline
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