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Loxit in London

March 2020 - March 2022
A very different sort of trip, limited to London for the time being Read more
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  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 731

    South Bank revisited

    March 7, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Almost on my doorstep, the South Bank carries its charm through the seasons even in the depths of winter. It's a good opportunity for back-lighting at a low angle. The elegant arches of Waterloo Bridge are ever-present and and the bookstall is coming back to life.

    Slightly upstream, the Covid memorial wall is constantly being updated, with the hearts of last year already fading, to be replaced by memories of the recent departed. The final picture with the red roses makes a particularly poignant statement.

    As I write this, regarding the C word we are in a much better place than this time last year. But those who didn't fall ill or die somehow survived punishing lockdowns and the fear of infection. And now there's war raging in Europe. Let's hope we can all learn from what's gone wrong.

    It is 2 years to the day since the return from my last long-haul trip, so it's perhaps a good moment to close this blog, for no other reason but that I spent 9 days in Spain recently. More of that later........    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 670

    A foggy day......

    January 5, 2022 in England ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

    .......in London town, as goes the song by Billie Holiday. Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington and many others! This winter so far, the weather has been too breezy for fog but an appeal from the Camera Club to submit photos of it for a competition got me digging through the archives. These views are taken from slides from many years ago before I took up digital, but they show how beautiful London can be, even in what train announcers call "adverse weather conditions". (Why don't they just say "bad weather"?

    The first couple come from my beloved South Bank with an appropriate poster for rum, and the next one shows Queen Boadicea's horse. At the time this photo was taken, Big Ben was free of scaffolding. More recently, it's been wrapped up in it for years, but they've just released the clock face again and perhaps the rest will follow before 2022 is up.

    The other three come from down river on the Isle of Dogs, the final one showing the Canary Wharf tower looming above some former warehouses now turned into apartments. While some might oppose the gentrification, at least they've escaped the wrecking ball and put to another use.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 621

    TTOTY.....

    November 17, 2021 in England ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    .....stands for That Time of the Year, which it is, with November showing off the finest of autumn colours. The first scene is a fine avenue in Hyde Park, followed by a back-lighting shot in St. James's Park. The bagged-up of leaves come from one of the finest small open spaces in central London, Lincoln's Inn Fields.

    Crossing the river to nearer home, I'm in the gardens of the Imperial War Museum, with the falling leaves complementing the fallen Russian people in WWII. Kennington Road weaves abstract patterns in the tarmac, and another back-lighting view through the trees lends it an almost Continental air.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 601

    The Terpsichorean muse

    October 28, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Not a lot of people may want to know this but Terpsichore is the muse of dance and music and gets a mention in the Monty Python cheese shop, with the customer praising the eccentric dancers in said shop! But quite a lot of people MAY want to know that with a thaw in lockdown which we fervently hope won't freeze over with the forthcoming winter, musicians are out in the streets again.

    Back in the spring I spotted a young lady with guitar outside Holborn tube station playing a tune by Erykah Badu called "On and on".. Badu is a wonderful "nu-soul" singer who started in the late 1990s with an intriguing fusion of soul, funk and jazz and is influenced by Billie Holiday. Need I say more? Singer no. 2 beings us 20 years forward and is an aspiring Adele.

    From then on, if we can't travel the world, at least we can hear its sounds. The male trio plays the sounds of Morocco which mix Arabic melodies with the percussive beats south of the Sahara. And from outside the Royal Festival Hall come the even more insistent beats of an Brazilian "bloco"---with Nelson Mandela looking on.

    Finally on home ground to Cleaver Square, we are treated to kletzmer sounds, which survived the Holocaust to reach western Europe and beyond. The pentatonic scale may not be all that familiar but anyone who knows "If I were a rich man" from Fiddler on the Roof will get the idea......    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 576

    In the long run..........

    October 3, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    It's been a long time---30 months in fact---since the last London Marathon. It's also the 40th anniversary of the first such event. Starting in Greenwich, the route winds through south-east London, crosses the river at Tower Bridge, does a loop around the Isle of Dogs with the home straight taking the runners along the Thames Embankment to St. James's Park.

    Quite apart from the competition of the elite and wheelchair contestants, it's the chance for many thousands of ordinary people to have a good workout, raise money for charity and perhaps have some fun as well. About 40,000 altogether took part.

    These images show the closing stages, with the Houses of Parliament peering from beneath Waterloo Bridge. With the race for the mass start having started around 9.30, most of the runners look exhausted when I arrive at 4 p.m. It's a great free day out for spectators however and a huge achievement for all those who complete the course.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    1
    Day 516

    The Dog and Hedgehog

    August 4, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    It could be the name of a pub! These pictures were all taken within 10 minutes of my flat and go to show that while I miss long-haul travelling hugely, it's still possible to spot curiosities on one's doorstep. The Black Dog sign in a window shows the reflection of a block of flats opposite. Not sure why it's so-called; surely nothing to do with Churchill's infamous "black dogs" of depression, let alone the superb Led Zeppelin opener to their fourth album! In contrast, the hedgehog mosaic sits near St. Mary's Church, standing in the shadow of Lambeth Palace and soon to open as an eco-church.

    The Oxymoron, a.k.a. the Royal Oak, stands on Doorstep Green. The vintage Younger's sign goes back to days when "good beer" often WAS an oxymoron. There seem to be people living upstairs but whether the pub will be able to reopen after the pandemic is an open question. The NHS picture gives a more hopeful message outside another local pub, the King's Arms.

    Charlie's Patch in Bowden Street is a reminder that Charlie Chaplin was brought up in poverty around here, his family moving house several times before he made it big across the Atlantic. And finally, just when I thought that all open spaces had a name---Doorstep Green, Old Paradise Gardens etc., here's a nameless one off Kennington Road. An oddly irregular layout which may have been created after wartime damage.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 454

    Regent's Canal: if this is Thursday.....

    June 3, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    ......I must be in Little Venice, again. The beautiful early summer weather continues and it's time to sport a new weapon of choice, a mirrorless Canon camera. Besides having an increased resolution on my previous Canons, its electronic viewfinder provides an accurate exposure check before shooting---very useful.

    Little Venice is at a junction with an arm leading to Paddington Basin. It was always the poshest part of the canal but now most other stretches have become gentrified as well. Even the Trellick Tower (image 3), a prime example of brutalism from the time I first discovered this canal, has become a Grade II listed building. But Ian Fleming hated this style so much that he named one of James Bond's villains after the architect, Erno Goldfinger!

    Image 5 takes me to Camden Lock, once moribund but now a challenge to the social distancing which is supposed to continue for at least 6 more weeks. And finally to the King's Cross area, where acres of railway yards have been replaced by hipster apartments and sleek offices for multinational techie companies.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 452

    Regent's Canal: that was then

    June 1, 2021 in England ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    This is by far from being my first walk along the canal. I first got to know it in the 1970s, having found my first post-graduation job (which I hated) in London. Weekdays involved the daily trudge from Chelsea to Holborn, wearing a suit for 5 days a week and proof-reading international scientific patents.

    Weekends were a blissful escape to explore what was then a very run-down city but in a good way, or so I felt. My weapon of choice was a Rolleicord twin-lens reflex, using medium-format 6 x 6 cm. film. In black & white of course, to enhance the grittiness.

    While Little Venice in the first image was always upmarket, most points east of there didn't seem to have changed since 1945. Any damage from the Blitz was heightened by the running down of Britain's waterways. The docks became redundant and boating for recreation was unheard of then. Image 2 shows Camden Lock; 3 & 4 move east to Islington, and 5 is where the canal empties into the Thames. 6 is not strictly the canal but sums up the general dereliction of docklands in those days.    Read more

  • TravelerLoxit in London
    Day 452

    First time on the canal

    June 1, 2021 in England ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    The Thames isn't the only waterway that adds presence and beauty to London; there's also the Regent's Canal which snakes a more northerly route. It links the Grand Union Canal with docklands downstream from Tower Bridge, and was opened in the early 19th century. Canals have been the venue for numerous holidays and much messing about in boats gave rise to the "first time" remark by some amused bystanders. (I deny all involvement in that particular trip but salt was added to the wound by said bystanders not being locals or even English).

    The eastern stretch of the Regent's Canal emerges from a tunnel at Islington and passes through a delightful stretch which has been called the Hanging Gardens of Islington. Continuing through the edge of Hackney, it swerves towards Old Ford and Bow, where traces of old industries remain. Regrettably the request to respect the residents isn't always observed.

    The home straight, running past some landscaped greenery, yields a panoramic view of the Canary Wharf towers before emptying into Limehouse Basin and finally the Thames. An excellent 6-mile workout in perfect weather with more canal walks to follow.    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

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