Tag: Walking

All is not as it seems

Six word Saturday The hazards of walking London’s streets. If it’s not bumping into fellow pedestrians, lamp posts, tripping up kerbs and dodging the traffic, it’s falling masonry! Despite the jeopardy it presents this pile of falling concrete offers no danger. “Square the Block” by Richard Wilson was installed in 2009 on the corner of… Continue reading All is not as it seems

Milestones

While poking around Smithfield recently I had occasion to take a break in a local hostelry and over a pint started reading an old guidebook. First thing I learnt was that the Great North Road that links London to Scotland and was the main route of travel from medieval times until the 20th century begins… Continue reading Milestones

Bucolic Bonnington Square

Bonnington Square in Vauxhall was built during the 1870s. Only a “six” away from the Oval cricket ground it comprised compact neat rows of London brick houses surrounding a central double terrace primarily used to house railway workers who were employed at Nine Elms Goods Yard close by. Booth’s map has the square marked as… Continue reading Bucolic Bonnington Square

Let’s play “Blind Chivvy”

I was unaware of the game Blind Chivvy or psychogeography* as it is sometimes known. That was until I started to read a book called London Pilgrimages written in 1928 by Robert Thurston Hopkins. The book is quite a niche guidebook with seventeen chapters, one entitled Charlie Chaplin’s early days. I’d never heard of Hopkins… Continue reading Let’s play “Blind Chivvy”

Evocative

When I have a few minutes to spare I do like to just stand (or sit with a pint) in a location, let my mind wander and try to imagine what the area was like fifty, a hundred, a hundred and fifty years ago. Sometimes this can be quite difficult as modern life always tries… Continue reading Evocative