Headed for the Houses of Parliament first for some record shots before it becomes covered in scaffolding and as from midday on Monday 21st August the bells of Big Ben fall silent until 2021 as restoration work on the Elizabeth Tower the clock face and mechanism takes place. Apparently the silencing of the bells is a Health & Safety issue to protect the hearing of the contractors working on the tower.
A not unusual sight around London with Chinese couples having their pre-wedding photos taken around the landmarks of London. It’s apparently a Chinese custom for couples to have their wedding photos taken before the wedding ceremony so on their wedding day back in China/Hong Kong/Taiwan they can show them to their guests. As least they had blue sky and sunshine. I have seen them doing this in the wet and the bottom of those white dresses turn black with the rain and muck. I came across two other wedding groups that day.
Fountain Sculpture called ‘Waterfall’ from 1991 by Anthony Donaldson in Horselydown Square, Shad Thames.
Greenpeace UK ‘Plasticide’ Sculpture, Queen’s Walk, near HMS Belfast. Publicising the problem of plastic objects being discarded into the oceans by humans and being ingested by marine wildlife.
On my Bimbles around London I’m always on the look out for bits of Hidden Historic London. I say hidden but nearly all of it is in plain sight but unless you know what you are looking at, then it’s hidden. The street bollard below, on the South Bank next to Southwark Bridge, is a good example. Thousands of visitors pass by it every day without so much as a second glance. It is in fact a French cannon taken from one of the ships defeated at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. As war booty, they were brought back to London and to rub the French noses in it, they were used as street bollards around the east End of London. The bollards proved so popular that when they ran out of canons they made replicas which is why most street bollards today are roughly canon shaped.
By the time I got to St Paul’s the clouds had rolled in and you really do need the sun shining on the stonework of the Cathedral to get the best out of it otherwise it looks dull and flat.
After Lunch, Mmm McDonalds, I headed up to Covent Garden where the seven roads to Seven Dials had been closed off for ‘Spotlight17’ a free music and entertainment festival.
Camera Used: Sony RX1R MII
Brian
