Reset search
Loxit in LondonLoxit in London
SatelliteEdit route

Loxit in London

March 2020 - March 2022
A very different sort of trip, limited to London for the time being Read more
  • 29footprints
  • 1countries
  • 731days
  • 174photos
  • 0videos
  • 96kilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 293

    London: Christmas past

    December 24, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    And now for something completely different. These oldies were taken in 1972 and 73 with a medium-format Rolleiflex---which I still have. The black and white film brings out the bleakness of the surroundings. They show a London which has changed in some ways while others have stayed the same. Thus the world-famous landmarks are intact but many of the surrounding scenes have gone.

    This was when I started to be fascinated by buildings ravaged by time, some of them so much so that they had to be destroyed. One can still find places like this in England but only in the north. Most of these were taken around what was then Docklands---Southwark (numbers 1 & 2) and Wapping (3, 4 & 5). Of course the sites have now been converted into shops, restaurants and bijou apartments. No. 5 shows a warehouse in St. Katherine's Dock where the fire might have been an insurance job. The final image is from Islington. The "LEB OFF" notice is not a command but advice that the electricity supply has been turned off.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 301

    2020 revisited: Mexico comes to London

    January 1, 2021 in England ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    2020 has finally been binned but the days of fledgling 2021 have been anxious too, with Covid cases rocketing and the hospitals under great pressure. Help is on the way with the Oxford vaccine joining the Pfizer jab into willing arms, if only it can come fast enough. The country is in a third lockdown with schools closed and all but essential shops open. It's going to be a hard grind to recover any normality.

    So a bit of nostalgia as I return to New Year 12 months ago with the annual parade in Westminster. Countries of the world proudly showcase their cultures: an Afro-Caribbean group here, a Chinese procession there. Latin America is prominent, with a Bolivian team giving a surreal but colourful air to the sober Houses of Parliament. And finally Mexico, a foretaste of the carnivals I am due to see only a few weeks ahead. Let's hope that next year they'll be able to perform again, both in their home country and in London.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 324

    January brings the snow

    January 24, 2021 in England ⋅ ❄️ 1 °C

    January is always a time for reflection on the past and planning for the future. Books are tremendous companions and I have used the hidden walks guide for many finds in forgotten corners of this city. "Leadville" is a quirky account of a road-widening scheme to Western Avenue, in which the author interviews the residents of houses along its route who were blighted by fears of a development which took years to happen. "Estuary" and "Mudlarking" reveal hidden treasures of our river---anywhere from Teddington Lock to Canvey Island. And the David Gentleman book has been an inspiration to explore the stucco terraces of Camden Town.

    The recent snowfall was a relatively mild one but shows a very different room with a view from my window, to that of last spring. Usually this weather brings on the fear of travel disruption but this time we're deeply in lockdown and there's nowhere to go outside one's immediate locality. But a five-minute walk takes me to the beautiful Cleaver Square, with residents and visitors making the most of it.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 354

    Green shoots, yellow blooms

    February 23, 2021 in England ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    We are almost in full circle and the seasons pass with proud unconcern for lockups and lockdowns. Earlier in the month we had what was dubbed (why do people only write "dubbed" but never say it?) the Baltic Beast. Now in late February the weather has become much milder---practically spring already.

    My local area is not shy to proclaim the approach of spring. Walcot Square (which is actually triangular) has a lovely collection of what would have been artisans' cottages. They are now much sought after, in estateagentese, even though they come down with a bump with the big high-rise at the Elephant at the end. Courtenay Square (no. 2) is another exquisite little garden that looks Georgian but is actually an Edwardian revival. No. 3 is a detail of Bonnington Square, an oasis of peace from the traffic horror of Vauxhall Cross. For 4 and 5, the camera is poked wistfully through the fencing to show an allotment for local gardeners.

    It comes to an end at this former churchyard, the wonderfully named Old Paradise Gardens, but even here there is life and the promise of spring.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 366

    The year round, round the Shard

    March 7, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    It's been a full year since my return from Mexico, and quite an extraordinary one. Lockups, lockdowns.....spring is arriving and with it, some hope that the plague that has impacted so many people and the restrictions that have affected all, may be receding.

    Going round in time as we have, I decided to go round in place, seeing the London Bridge Tower from all angles. Now known as the Shard, it was completed in 2012. The tallest building in the UK and rising to 1,012 feet (310 metres), its pencil-like profile punches the skyline from all points of the compass.

    It's nice to position it with other tall buildings, new and old. No. 1 is a view from Waterloo Bridge, including another nicknamed building, the Boomerang on the left, and the Art Deco Oxo Tower. In 2 it rises behind the Greek Revival tower of Trinity Church in Southwark. No. 3 is a view from the waterfront of the City, and 4 is from Tower Bridge, itself a monument of great appeal. No. 5 returns me to Leathermarket Gardens in Southwark, which I found last spring when the trees were in blossom, while 6 is downstream in Rotherhithe which used to be an important shipping quarter and now provides a pleasant amble along the Thames Path.

    Yes, 2020/21 has been a most peculiar year but not all bad: I've discovered a lot about myself, and others........and London.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 367

    Onwards and eastwards

    March 8, 2021 in England ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Back to east London and forward into year 2 since the last stamp in my passport. But in this shrunken world, London continues to be fascinating, in fact delightful. The days lengthen as March advances and in gorgeous sunlight I cross the river and head east, enjoying the silhouettes of the Shard and Tower Bridge (although some other visitors seem more interested in what's happening on their phones---no change there). Since my visit last autumn, the churchyard at St. John's Wapping has shed its leaves but is magical as ever.

    With both the sun and the tide out, it's time to explore the foreshore. I climb down a wobbly ladder with the help of a kind person who's already down there and steadies it for me. Into my head swims a 1950s song "James, hold the ladder steady" by Sue Thompson (no, I hadn't heard of it until a friend told me but yes, it's on YouTube). As I write this, Thompson (b. 1925) is still alive. The things you find on Google!

    I've been reading the marvellous book "Mudlarking" by Lara Maiklem, who collects antique artefacts from the Thames foreshore, anything from Roman coins to Edwardian perfume bottles. At some sites she takes a portable ladder and waterproof clothing to get shoreside. While enjoying the book, I leave this to the experts but marvel at the other-worldliness 12 feet below street level. It's a fleeting world which can be appreciated only around low water, and preferably at spring tides. The architecture is fascinating too: most of Docklands has been flattened for post-1960s blocks but some of the ancient warehouses survive. The majority of these have been converted into upmarket apartments but a few pockets of 19th century grit remain.

    Wapping offers a view of the river's south side. I double back for an alternative sighting of Tower Bridge and the Shard but will leave the Rotherhithe foreshore for another time.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 391

    Lives remembered

    April 1, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Something remarkable is happening on the South Bank. On the wall underneath St. Thomas's Hospital, scene of many Covid patients including the prime minister this time last year, thousands of hearts are appearing. To date there are an estimated 150,000. They form the National Covid Memorial which appropriately faces the Houses of Parliament. Most are anonymous but some commemorate the loss of a loved one and others are grouped into a pattern. An admirable way to reflect on the damage the virus has wrought over the past 13 months.

    Meanwhile Britain is still in lockdown but a road map provides a possible route out as vaccination proceeds. Much has been learnt since April 2020. Yes, it's been grim but there have been gains: keeping in touch on Zoom and for me, those little gems such as Red Cross and Tabard Gardens.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 404

    Secret gardens

    April 14, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    A year since I began with some gardens around Lambeth and Southwark; now I'm over the river in Kensington. SW7 has royal connections with the Albert Hall and nearby Memorial, plus KP (Kensington Palace). It's packed with mid-19th century mansions and rising to five storeys, they throw up all sorts of interesting angles. This first picture is Emperor's Gate off Gloucester Road and the next two are nearby, with Queen's Gate Gardens (4) lurking behind the jungle-like foliage. Being in Kensington, entry is for key-holders only.

    A sliver of SW7 pushes into Westminster, where this beautiful garden (public this time) hides behind Holy Trinity Brompton. The blossom of early spring brings out its best.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 413

    Spring surprise

    April 23, 2021 in England ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    However indifferent or downright bad the news may be, spring never fails to return to us. March was a fairly chilly month but the daffodils were out early. This first image comes from Albert Square: not the soapy, fictional scrubland of East Enders but a noble garden in Vauxhall that could have been transplanted from Belgravia.

    By April the sun was out and with it, the cherry blossom of West Square on the edge of Southwark. And deeper into S.E.1, back to Tabard Gardens with a faintly spooky view reminiscent of Hitchcock's "The Birds" although here, the main threat is besmirching your coat or worse, hair!

    The other three shots come from north of the river, in W.C.1. Granville Square is a perfect oblong with a flight of steps (Arnold Bennett's Riceyman Steps) leading down to the King's Cross Road. The nearby Lloyd Square, a secret garden with no public access, harks back to the Greek Revival. The final picture, on the edge of Coram's Fields, revels in the pure lime-green shades of early spring.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 450

    Crawling the Bermondsey Mile

    May 30, 2021 in England ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    It's common for the weather to be awful for a long weekend---it was rubbish on the first May bank holiday---but at last the sun has chosen to do us a favour. Since mid-May it has been permitted for the pubs to open indoors although on this sunny Sunday, many people are enjoying the great outdoors anyway.

    Bermondsey, the eastern part of Southwark, found its way to 21st century fame after "Bridget Jones's Diary", much of which was filmed there. It's best known for its dockland connection as in Rotherhithe and Surrey Quays but now another transport link has put it on the map---the railway. The main line runs out from London Bridge towards Kent and in recent years the arches, long favoured by bicycle repair shops and hand car washes, have been taken over by microbreweries. By now there's a good dozen of them, seeming to have pulled through the long lockdown. Beer doesn't mix well with photography so I stay sober, but I know from a pub crawl before Covid how good some of them are.    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English