St Pancras Hotel, London

Which is the most notable Gothic Revival building in London? Most people might, not unreasonably, nominate the Houses of Parliament, even though A.W.N. Pugin, one of its two architects disparagingly described it to an acquaintance as "All Grecian, sir; Tudor details on a classic body." My vote would be split between Alfred Waterhouse's Natural History Museum (1881) and the St Pancras Hotel (1876). The latter was built by George Gilbert Scott after he was, surprisingly, declared winner in the competition for the project. Why surprisingly? Because his design was much bigger and much more expensive than was stipulated in the competition rules. This would usually have ruled him out of contention but here the judges were overpowered by the magnificence of Scott's vision. One can still feel that today.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

King's Cross facade

During the two periods when we lived in the east of England we frequently visited London using the east coast mainline railway connection with the capital. The terminus of the trains was (and still is) King's Cross and this, in time, became my favourite railway station. I liked it for its simple, relatively unadorned "form follows function" facade where, in the manner of the west end of a cathedral, the external arches express the internal arched spaces - in the former the nave and aisles, in the latter the arches above the lines and platforms. It helped, of course, that King's Cross is next door to my second favourite London terminus - St Pancras!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

London's waste

Today's photograph shows the tug, "Recovery", on the River Thames in London. It is towing two barges loaded with waste containers. These are probably full and are being taken to the waste disposal site south of the Greenwich Peninsula. In the background is the Albert Bridge, a crossing that connects Chelsea in Central London on the north bank to the Battersea area on the south. I recall photographing a tug with barges years ago in Rotherhithe. On checking, I found that it was eleven years ago and the very same tug as the one above! I also found a shot of a tug at work in the evening.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Trees and the city - 2

"The Chelsea Barracks masterplan set out to create traditional Belgravia garden square living with an unprecedented five acres of Central London green space". It also claims to be "the most significant development in Central London for decades, combining state of the art contemporary living in a historic setting, but is also the most sustainable development in Europe, and one of only 16 developments in the world to reach this standard" i.e. LEED Platinum. I'm sure that the residences of this development cost an arm and a leg, and possibly a kidney too. So, I wondered as we walked by the edge of these wonderful homes, what's with the big metal tree?

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Trees and the city - 1

Walking past 100 Liverpool Street, the multipurpose new edifice near Liverpool Street railway station, London, I looked up and noticed a young tree peeping over the top of the building. I imagine there is a space on the roof open to some of the occupants where people take a break, eat lunch, or have a coffee. The contrast between the natural form of the tree and the man-made form of the building was stark. Perhaps in the fullness of time it, and its companions will take root and soften what is currently an expanse of concrete, glass and steel. As I looked at the tree I couldn't help but compare it with the tree in the next post.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

More City towers

The skyline of London has altered dramatically in the past twent years or so. Tall towers have proliferated initially in two main areas - Canary Wharf and The City. In both cases what began in a modest and relatively unintrusive manner has gone mad and now towers rise next to each other with no apparent thought given to the appearance of the clustering of these glass and concrete monsters. The Shard seems to be the catalyst for more towers south of the river, and St George's Wharf and Battersea Power Station are magnets for towers in the west of central London. One of the South Bank viewpoints for The City is a specially constructed spot at New Globe Wharf by Bankside Pier. I took this photograph of some tourists enjoying (?) the view.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The London tourist trail

A commonly followed London tourist trail involves a walk along the South Bank. One of the optional forks in this trail is the Millennium Footbridge that crosses the River Thames between Tate Modern and St Paul's cathedral. The bridge is a good point from which to photograph Sir Christopher Wren's fine building. I've taken a shot (or two) from this point before and on our recent visit I got myself in position to take my photograph. But, too slow! The act of raising my camera to my eye here caused a few people around me to notice the view and stop to get their shot - as you can see.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Hazy London view

Whether you are an analogue or a digital photographer you will probably know about and use filters with your camera. I loved a red filter with black and white photography to produce high contrast skies. I'm also partial to a vignette and a neutral density filter, and I've used polarising filters for decades. But sometimes I think weather is the best filter of all. Shooting against the light (contre jour) gives great silhouettes and contrast. Snow gives strong emphasis to line in a scene and fog mutes colour and gives the effect of layers of different shades. Haze offers some of the same qualities as fog, but less so. This photograph of Tower Bridge taken from London Bridge has muted colours and objects become less definite with distance. The distant towers of Canary Wharf are depicted almost as if painted by a water colourist.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Evening cherry blossom, Islington

Several days in and around London presented both familiar and new subjects for my camera (and phone camera). I noticed this one as we got out of the car and, because we were laden with bags, I took out my phone to get the shot. At our previous home we had a cherry that produced this type of blossom. I took plenty of photographs of the aged tree but not once did I photograph it during the hours of darkness. That's probably because the darkness of a village is so much deeper than the darkness of a capital city. Here the street lights and reflections made for a better image.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Scala lighting

When we lived in Lincolnshire and travelled by train to London we would arrive in the capital at King's Cross station. This is  a marvellous location for photography next to several other marvellous locations for photography, including St Pancras station and hotel. At night, one of the lesser attractions is the lit-up facade of Scala outside King's Cross on Pentonville Road. This is a former cinema that has been turned into a nightclub and live music venue. It looks unremarkable during the day. But, when lit up at night, the white paintwork, windows, columns, arches, cornices and rustication, as well as the well-judged neon sign, make a splendid sight.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10     2017

Shell Centre, London

Over the  years I've taken quite a few photographs of the Shell Centre on the South Bank, London. The building, which after its completion in 1962 became Britain's tallest, is an early example of the facelessness of many corporate towers. I took this photograph in 2013 when the half moon and a passing airliner suggested to me a different kind of image.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100     2013

Lockdown, photography and Big Ben

The UK has entered a period of lockdown that will severely curtail my photography by limiting how often I can be outdoors and how far I can travel. Consequently, once again, I will be dipping into my archives and resurrecting photographs that were passed over for the blog. In the main these will be shots that I think are, and were, good enough for inclusion but were taken at a time when I had a surfeit of images and so didn't make the cut.

The photograph above shows Westminster Bridge and part of the Houses of Parliament. Both are famous London landmarks. The bridge has seven ornate, cast iron, arches and dates from 1862. The clock tower of Parliament was called, very appropriately, the Clock Tower, until 2012. In that year it was renamed the Elizabeth Tower. However, it continues to be often, incorrectly, called Big Ben, a name that should apply only to the largest (16 tons) bell that chimes the hours.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10     2017

Cinema or gasholder?

I remember the evening I took this photograph. We had left St Thomas' Hospital in London and were walking to the Tube line that we needed. I hadn't thought we'd come upon the British Film Institute IMAX cinema. I had never seen its illuminated exterior before, but once seen I saw the potential for a shot or two. I posted what I considered to be my best shot on my PhotoReflect blog of the time: the one above is the second best. Looking at it again as I prepared it for posting it occurred to me that the cinema has the look of an illuminated gasholder, right down to the lattice-work supports.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Canon 5D2     2013

Gloomy city

This photograph was taken at the end of January when we had a few days in London. It was taken in the early evening as the daylight was fading and man-made lighting was starting to appear in the streets and offices of the city. Looking at it I'm reminded how hideous most of the new towers are at an individual level, and how they are even worse collectively. I chose to put this shot on the blog now because today, unlike the day I made the image, it seems to capture the gloom that is descending on the city and country as the spread of coronavirus quickens daily.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Moorhen

Familiarity, it is said, breeds contempt. As far as birds go there is some truth in this observation: common birds are not looked at with the attention that is given to those that are less familiar. Consequently few see the "stars" and beautiful iridescence of the starling. The humble house sparrow is given only the most cursory of glances and so the similar but clearly different tree sparrow is unknown to the man in the street. Most stretches of water provide a home for the familiar moorhen and therefore its charms go unseen. This bird was on the narrow ribbon of water known as the New River where it is above ground in Islington, London. The camera allows us to study its striking beak, colourful legs and subtle brown, blue-grey and white plumage.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Terrace, Amwell St, London

London has magnificent and historic houses a-plenty, but, being a major city of long standing it also has a wide variety of lesser houses, buildings for middling and lower incomes. On a recent walk through streets I've never been down before I came across this Late Georgian terrace in Amwell Street, Islington. It is on a slight slope, dates from 1828-29, and is the work of William Chadwell Mylne, Surveyor for the New River Estate. Like many houses of this era they feature yellow stock brick in Flemish bond. Each is three storeys with a basement and the roof hidden behind a parapet. The iron railings and balconies look original, as do the fanlights of the two leftmost houses, and most of the glazing bars. It is unremarkable housing, not without utilitarian charm, and still providing homes nearly two hundred years after they were constructed.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

The Soul Fixers

On a recent trip to Blackheath, London, I tried my hand at what I think of as "minimalist concert photography". We had gone to see the rock/blues/soul band, "The Soul Fixers". Why these London-based part-timers? Well, the bass player is not unknown to my wife and I! The camera I used was the Sony RX100 (the first of the series) and I was grateful for its bright lens that allowed me workable shutter speeds in the dark

concert environment. Had there not been professional photographers at work I'd have moved from my seat to get some shots. But, I didn't want to add to the distractions for band and audience so I took my shots from my front row seat. They are better than I expected, though I'm sure they would have been eclipsed by my Olympus camera and lenses. Perhaps I'll use these next time. And the band? Excellent as ever!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Up and down the City Road

In recent years I've been "up and down the City Road" many times. However, it wasn't until recently that I discovered it is the very same City Road that features in the children's nursery rhyme, "Pop Goes The Weasel". The Eagle pub is round the corner that is below the two new towers on the left of the photograph, on a bit and on the right near the top of the street named Shepherdess Walk. The character in the nursery rhyme wouldn't recognise City Road today, nor would he encounter many shepherdesses. On our recent visit I quickly snapped this shot because it seemed to represent everything that is London in the evening rush hour.


photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The Shard from below

Over the years, during my visits to London, I've documented the construction of the skyscraper known as The Shard. From the appearance above its neighbours of its services core, to its growth to a prominent skyline "under construction" feature, to its completion as a constantly changing, well-named tower, I've regularly added to my stock of photographs of the building. I've photographed it at night, from the streets, in low cloud, from below etc. But one view I hadn't got until my recent visit is a shot from below taken at night. The need to use London Bridge Railway station to travel to Blackheath put me in the right position for the photograph above.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony RX100

Shell Centre, London

The 27 storey Shell Centre was built in 1957-62 and was the first London building to exceed the height of the Victoria Tower of the Palace of Westminster. On completion it was the UK's tallest building, surpassing the Royal Liver building in Liverpool. It is faced with Portland stone, has bronze framed windows, and is the work of the architect Sir Howard Robertson. At the time of its construction it was derided by modernist architects who saw it as echoing the pre-war style of other London buildings. However, though it may be dull and backward looking its exterior has lasted better than most of the buildings erected during those years.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2