When I leave the station at Waterloo and walk across Waterloo Bridge, I go past this old hospital building. It has now been converted to other uses, but the façade shows it origins, and I think the detailing is really cool. During the winter, the building seems to be in the shade whenever I am walking either to or from work. However, the summer means that the evening light catches the front of the building and the details are far more photogenic. Here is a look at this lovely design.
When I lived on the west coast of the US, I came across Waymo a few times. They were operating in LA and San Francisco and were starting up operations in Seattle around the time we left. I never got to try them out although I was quite interested in giving it a go. Recently I have seen a few self-driving cars in London, most of which belong to Waymo.
They use Jaguars for the programme with plenty of sensors around the outside of the vehicle. One was passing my in Tavistock Square and I grabbed a few shots of it. I’ve seen a bunch more since. I will have to look up what their plans are for starting service. I have also seen a different configuration vehicle with the name Wayve on the side. Know nothing about them!
London used to have a load of little green huts that were for the use of taxi drivers. They could park up nearby and head inside for a brew and a rest. This was a big feature of the taxi driver routine. Now these huts are seemingly few and far between. They also seem to have been repurposed. This example is in Russell Square. It is still providing a brew but now it is a small business catering to everyone in the area. I wonder whether any of the huts are still in use in their original form?
I was walking through St Pancras on my way to catch a train north and, while I have looked at the roof of the main arch many times, I was caught by the long view of the various frames along one side of the station. They looked interesting so I made a quick stop and grabbed a quick image before continuing on my way to my platform.
One weekend afternoon I was photographing at Heathrow watching the inbound airlines. I heard a bit of noise from above and looked up to see what it might be. It was an Islander passing overhead the airport at some altitude. I grabbed a few shots at significant distance. A bit of research suggests this airframe is used for a variety of surveillance missions of a more formal nature. I wonder if they got anything of me while I was photographing them?
I can take a number of routes to the office in the morning but most of them will end up taking me across the front of the British Museum. The light is not always great; there are often delivery vehicles in front or staff busy prepping the building for the day. On this morning, though, the light was really nice, and the frontage was remarkably clear. It would have been rude not to stop and take some quick images. You get blasé about passing these iconic locations on a daily basis and it is good to occasionally stop and appreciate them. (On the walk home, though, the clueless pedestrians that emerge can really drive me nuts!!)
There is a gallery at the RAF Museum at Hendon that is focused on the Great War. This was the early days of aviation, and the development was so rapid that an aircraft might have an operational life of less than a year before something newer and better would replace it. Because so little was known at this point, experimentation with all sorts of ideas took place. Consequently, the types in this gallery have some wildly varying configurations. Pushers and tractors are on show. The sizing of some surfaces is huge compared to what would be expected now. They are really interesting to look at and see what ideas look relevant now and what has been abandoned. Here are some of the various types on display.
I had been to an event in the east of London which finished late and required an overnight stay up in town. Instead of staying near the venue, I stayed back in Lambeth to be located conveniently for getting home the next morning. When I got back to the hotel, I went up to my room. I hadn’t really paid much attention to the view from the room when I had been there earlier but, now that it was dark, the illuminated view of the city caught my eye. The view across to the Palace of Westminster looked really nice and the blocks of flats in front looked far better. Getting shots through multiple layers of glazing with such contrast is always a bit of a mess but the overall result was not too bad.
I was attending an event in Docklands for work, and my hosts were gathering for a drink in a bar upstairs at the hotel prior to the dinner kicking off. The view across Docklands at night was really nice but I was there for work so had to try and ignore the view for a bit. However, as we got our stuff together to head down for the main event, I figured I was going to be fine getting a quick picture through the glass. Normal reflection issues but you have to take advantage of the opportunity.
I was at a petrol station just south of Heathrow picking up a snack from the shop when this vehicle pulled in. When living in the US, the idea that the police would have some vehicles that looked like they were due to assault a small town wasn’t so unlikely but, in the UK, that is not the expected thing. I guess Heathrow has some higher security requirements but, even so, this vehicle really did look quite anachronistic as it came in amongst the cars getting fuel.
