Tag Archives: london

The Shard

Vibrant cities are constantly changing. It is over ten years since I left London so it is no surprise that the skyline has changed a bit. The City is always prone to change. The architecture of the new buildings is always supposed to be distinctive and the buildings get names that reflect their appearance. I’m sure the Swiss Re building did not intend to be known as The Gherkin but it is. The tallest of the new buildings has embraced its shape. When first conceived it was known as the Shard of Glass. Now it is just The Shard.

I first saw The Shard a couple of years ago when taking a helicopter flight over the city. I blogged about that trip in this post. At that point I was looking at the building from an elevated position. On this trip we wanted to check it out from up close. Like any really tall structure (and it is currently the tallest in Europe) there is a market for people to go to the top and see the surrounding view. We met up with my brother to see what it was like.

We visited at the end of the afternoon. This meant the light to the east was very nice but the view towards Westminster was a little compromised by looking into the sun through the usual London haze. This wasn’t a problem but it did limit some photographic opportunities. Then again, the layers of glass are not great for avoiding reflections anyway.

A few years ago I was on the roof of the Sears Tower for sunrise and got to watch the shadow of the building move across the landscape. I wrote about that here. We were able to do something similar this time. The shadow of the Shard is a neat point which, while we were there was pointing straight at Tower Bridge. A nice effect!

London is a city that is built around railway lines. They weave through many parts of the city and London Bridge station is directly below The Shard. In the evening light, the tracks reflect the sun in a way that makes them very visually interesting. Only when the trains come along do you remember why they are there. From that height you can see several of the different rail routes into the city. Even though it was Sunday evening, there was still plenty of traffic moving along the tracks. Weekday mornings are very different of course.

A high vantage point gives such a different perspective on what would otherwise appear large. The various buildings in the City are all below you. Tower Bridge looks like a toy. The Tower is dwarfed by the buildings around it. Monument is easily missed in amongst the multitude of large structures that came after the calamity it recalls. The London Eye – previously one of the best spots to view the city from – is well below you.

If you look further afield, you can see the old Maritime School at Greenwich or the Olympic Stadium in one direction or Wembley in another. To the south you can see Crystal Palace and on to the North Downs. (Yes, they are south of London but at least they are north of the South Downs!). You can see small housing areas squeezed in between the commercial buildings. Even small parks and sports grounds show up. There was even a tall ship coming up the river under sail. I was curious as to whether it would come up to the Pool and have Tower Bridge raised or not be we didn’t have enough time to wait and find out.

It took a while for us to work out that there is a second level to the public area. We went up the stairs to the area that is open to the air. It was quite interesting that they had this spot without enclosure. Sadly, apparently people do try launching stuff out of the gap. Not sure what piece of brilliance they think this will achieve but there you go. Having the fresh air is a nice feature though.

Once we were done we headed off to dinner. I couldn’t resist getting a few extra shots as we went away. Once it was dark, I took a few more because it looks pretty dramatic in the dark. Overall, a cool addition to the city I think.

Tower Bridge

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London is full of iconic landmarks but possibly the most famous one is Tower Bridge – even if not everyone knows what it is really called. When taking a walk along the South Bank, it would be rude not to head to the bridge to see it in the evening light. The area also includes the London Assembly building which looks like a giant egg. The comparison with the modern architecture and the gothic style of the bridge is pretty interesting. I have never managed to get a shot of the bridge when it is open and this trip was no exception. If you want to do so, they do publish the opening times in the paper so you can make an effort to be there.

Our time by the bridge was just before we went up the Shard so we had a chance to get a different perspective on the bridge from above a little while later.

Kings Cross Redevelopment

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Times change! When I was still working in London, Kings Cross was a dump. I would often have to transfer trains from Thameslink to what was then GNER and would walk a short distance through the area. You could often experience some unusual people doing unusual things. One Sunday I rode through the area because the train I was on was not going the whole way due to maintenance. I found myself weaving through some interesting people who looked like they were still dealing with the previous night. All in all, it was not a great place to hang out.

The arrival of the Eurostar services at St Pancras seems to have been the trigger for some significant regeneration. We decided to check the area out while we were in London and I am glad we did. Aside from the changes to St Pancras itself and some expansion of Kings Cross Station, the surrounding area is undergoing a lot of change. The whole program is a work in progress with some elements done and others still being worked on. The area between the two stations has been transformed. It is now a nice walk up to the canal and beyond.

Restaurants and cafes have sprung up and new housing developments are shooting up. Some of it is very high end but there is also affordable housing. There is a swimming pool that uses a natural, chemical free filtration process. There is a limit on how many people can swim each day in order to manage the water quality. There is also a garden that is quite innovative. Apparently, it was hard to get permission for an allotment system (that might also be to do with the contamination of the earth around the station – I don’t know) so instead they filled a bunch of skips (dumpsters) with earth and they are used as the garden instead. Very thoughtful.

There is obviously still some work to be done in developing the area but the start that has been made is impressive and I imagine the whole place will thrive in the coming years.

Millennium Bridge

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I don’t think I need to let you know when the Millennium Bridge was built. It had a tricky history with the initial configuration experiencing some oscillations as the number of people walking on it increased which resulted in it getting some nicknames involving wobbling. Modifications were made and it is now a great addition to the river. Since it is a pedestrian bridge that connects St Paul’s with the South Bank at Tate Modern, it is very popular.

I find the shape of the bridge very interesting. The cable arrangements that support the bridge are very cool and the ramps at each end add to the interest. While we were there, a few people were using it as a location for filming their own activities which requires them to ignore the vast number of people who are invading their scene! I like the number of people that are there since it really gives an impression of just how popular a bridge it is.

St Pancras

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When railways were first being developed, the companies that built them were very competitive in creating terminal stations that would impress. Sadly, over the years many of them were knocked down and redeveloped. Thankfully, not all of them were destroyed and now the approach is to take the existing infrastructure and use it as the basis for a modern facility.

St Pancras in London is a great example. I used to use it in the late 90s and early part of the 21^st century when it was the terminal for Midland Mainline. At that time, it was not a terribly busy station. It had the original hotel fronting the station and the roof structure over the platforms. It had an air of faded glory at that point.

Then the big changes came. Pancras was chosen to be the terminus for the extension of the channel tunnel rail link. A major rebuild was started that involved the new high speed lines coming in, the addition of the international facilities, opening up the lower level of the station, rebuilding the Thameslink station and generally turning the place into something far more impressive. Most of this took place after we had left London so, when we were back, I was interested to see how things had changed. Also, Nancy had never been to Pancras before so I thought she would like the architecture.

The hotel fronting Euston Road is still as it always appeared. It is a fantastic gothic structure and something that is probably worth exploring if you have the chance. Inside, the roof has been beautifully cleaned up. The clocks are also really cool. There are statues around the concourse too including one of the poet John Betjemen who was instrumental in a campaign to save the station.

The lower level redevelopment is very impressive. This area used to be a storage location but now there is retail and dining on a far larger scale which should suit the significant increase in customers with the Eurostar business as well as the new commuter services that make use of the high speed link. Of course, there are also the customers for services on the Midland routes. The changes are impressive and are connected with e overall redevelopment of the Kings Cross area of which more will come.

The London Eye

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I had in mind to make a post about the London Eye a while back. This was going to be based on some old pictures I had taken when we lived and worked in London. Since then, we made a trip to the UK and ended up staying very close to the attraction. I remember when they were initially building it. The whole structure was laid out flat on the river and, only when it was complete, did they winch it up into the vertical position.

It was a huge hit when it opened and it remains so today. The opening of The Shard has provided a new location for people to get an elevated view of London but this hasn’t stopped the visitors lining up. While we were visiting, England was preparing for the start of the Rugby World Cup and the pods on the Eye had the flags of the competing nations applied to the undersides. This added some color to the structure.

Shortly before we left London, I headed out early in the morning to get some shots of the Eye. It was interesting to see the different shapes it offers depending on where you view it from. It wasn’t in use at the time so things were being readied for the day with some of the mechanisms being tested and the pods were stationery. I didn’t get a chance to shoot it at night which was a shame but that wasn’t why I was there. However, it was nice to see it again and to see that it is going strong, long after its original out of service date has passed. I hope it will remain a feature for a long time to come.

Paris on a Bike

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When we still lived in the UK, I took part in a charity bike ride. The ride was from London to Paris and was in aid of the Royal British Legion. Spread over 4 days, the first leg was from London to Dover and over on the ferry to Calais, the second leg was from Calais to Abbeville, the third was Abbeville to Beauvais and the last was Beauvais to Paris. The first leg was not a lot of fun. Eighty miles through the south east on some busy roads when you were pretty much left to your own devices was not too relaxing. The trip through France was a totally different story.

For our whole ride through France we were escorted by motor cyclists. It was like being in the Tour de France. As we approached, the traffic pulled aside and the motor bikes cleared our path. Red lights and stop signs meant nothing. In each town at which we stopped, the town would turn out to provide us with food and wine (not a good idea when there is a big climb straight after lunch) and entertainment. Everyone was unbelievably welcoming and we were constantly being cheered along by anyone we passed.

Each town we stopped overnight in would have a parade. The remembrance ceremony each time would be a really well supported event and I felt like I knew the Marseillaise by heart by the end of the trip. The first two days were eighty miles each, the third was a slightly easier seventy miles and the last day was under sixty. I had always thought of northern France as quite flat. I will never make that mistake again.

The final day was pretty impressive. We rode through the outskirts of Paris coming through areas I had heard of before but never visited. Then we were running in to the center of the city itself. The run up to l’arc de Triomphe with all of the traffic was an amazing feeling. The whole group together with our police escort stopped Paris traffic. We rode around the monument before parking our bikes and then walking up the Champs Elysée before holding a final remembrance ceremony under the arch itself. Quite an impressive event and one that really meant something after the effort to get there.

I only had a small film camera with me so there aren’t too many shots and they were taken while on the move. Hopefully they will convey something of what was a really cool trip.

RAFM Hendon

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A recent project a colleague was working on involved some shots from the RAF Museum at Hendon. I had made a visit to this museum when I was a student living in London and had taken some photos at that time. I took a look through the old films to see whether I had anything that they needed. As it turned out, I didn’t have a shot of what they were after. As is so common when going through film archives, I find that I took a ridiculously small number of shots of interesting things and I am disappointed by the lack of shots and the quality of some of them too.

However, it was kind of interesting to see what was there at the time. Having never been back since, I have no idea how it is currently laid out and what is there that wasn’t before and what has gone. However, I do know that the Blackburn Beverley that was outside when I was there was scrapped not too long after that as the airframe had deteriorated in the outdoor storage. These shots are just a couple from that visit.

Helicopter Over London

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My Dad’s 70^th birthday seemed like something that deserved a decent present. What to get him though? As someone who spent his entire working career in London property, he has seen all parts of the city many times. However, I know he hasn’t seen it from above so much. Therefore, a helicopter ride over the city seemed like a good idea. The fact that I thought it would be really cool too is neither here nor there!

I asked a friend of mine who flies helicopters who he would recommend for this and, being an outstandingly good fellow, he volunteered his services. A very generous gesture. Having someone I know flying the trip meant it was a lot easier to discuss exactly what we wanted to do.

The helicopter corridor across London runs along the River Thames. You join it at Greenwich to avoid the London City Airport airspace and then head along the river through the city and out to the west until you reach Fulham at which point you peel off to avoid Heathrow – always a good idea if they aren’t expecting you!

The weather was not quite what we had hoped. The day started very nicely but the haze built up as we went. Flying early was probably a good idea since it didn’t clear up again until the evening at which point the birthday party was underway. I saw a few buildings that have sprung up since I left including The Shard. I do love London and seeing it again from such a great vantage point was a lot of fun. I hope Dad enjoyed it as much as I did!

Hailing a Cab

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As we drove along the south side of Maui, we passed through a small settlement. At the side of the road was an old London cab. This was of the vintage of Austin built cabs where there was an open space beside the driver where trunks could be stored. These are a rarity anywhere but to find one so far from London was a surprise. I guess you can always get a London cab if you need one!