Lines and sculptures in the City

Last week I shared some of the City green spaces we wandered through on our most recent visit. We know the City has changed since the time we commuted there everyday, for me that’s seven years ago now - I’m not sure how, but it is, and as well as having a new space to walk we were keen to see how things had changed. It was one of those walks where my phone wasn’t out of my hand for long, as there was something to see - and snap - almost around every corner. Only later when I was scrolling through my photos did I realise that themes were apparent - green spaces, and today’s post - lines and sculptures.

The building above is at the corner of Cannon Street and Walbrook so my phone was out almost as soon as we left the station. It’s the first time I’ve seen it properly in daylight. I’ve walked past it on evening trips to meet friends (not recently obviously) and so it was good to take a slower, closer look. As you’ll see, not all of the lines are straight - some are curved.

This post is another which could fit in the “if you look, it’s amazing what you can see” category - but it’s so true. At a quick glance you see a huge building, office space but looking closer at the detail, there’s much more to it. But that’s not new, as the railings outside St Paul’s Cathedral show.

There’s plenty of colour too, it’s not all drab grey and beige office buildings - though there are a lot of those too. At 88 Wood Street there’s an injection of primary colour at the entrance for people and the exit for air, in a way that reminded me of parts of the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

I have some favourite spots in the City and was able to sneak in a good few into our route. The Barbican is one of those places that I think each time I go I see something new, or enter/leave via a different way - and it’s great. On this visit we found ourselves recalling memories from the long-gone Pizza Express on the walkway and found ourselves pausing and admiring this view. To the left is the green space which is the penultimate image in my earlier post, but I couldn’t exclude this photo from a post about lines. Look carefully under the stairs at the ornate iron gates, and it could also be a contender for my next post in this series - where old meets new.

I mentioned colour before and I’m going to mention it again. This sculpture, called Chromorama and is by David Batchelor proves my point. It is made of 35 illuminated light boxes using the entire colour spectrum which face all directions and is just outside Broadgate. I’m not sure how long it’s been there, but it’s the far side of Broadgate and not the entrance I’d usually use, so if it’s been there a while that explains why I’d not seen it before.

Now I need to go back one evening to see it illuminated. And as if to prove my point about lines, as I turned round the office buildings behind me shouted lines, and so did the zebra crossing.

As we headed over behind Liverpool Street the skyline was dominated by these diagonals, which I’m sure have more purpose than design.

We also bumped into more sculptures than you’d think you would. I liked these neon signs outside an office block in St Mary Axe - You’ve gone touching leaves in the moonlight. The work is by lumiere artist Elisa Artesero is called Garden of the Floating Words, and has previously been on display in Canary Wharf.

I also liked how it reflected in the lights in the office building it was outside, whose reception lights gave a kind of bokeh effect.

On our way towards Fenchurch Street we passed more ‘funnels’ these ones covered in a bright geometric design. Once there we found ourselves looking up, and up again and being slightly bamboozled by all of the lines.

Our last stop in this post is in Old Broad Street with this City Wing Sculpture, which I had seen before and when it was installed a year or so before I stopped working in the City. It’s by Christopher Le Brun and is way larger than it looks - I think you’d easily be level with its tip on the third floor. I’ve one more post to come in the themed posts from our City Walk, so look out for that in the next week or so.

City green spaces

You don’t think of the City as having green spaces, but it does - and plenty more than you think. We headed into town over Easter to visit some old haunts to see how they’ve changed, and if I’m honest for some different views. Before this visit, our last trip into town was a wet Monday evening for dinner at Blixen, in gold trainers no less, back in March 2020. We were long overdue a visit.

Arriving into Cannon Street we first headed up towards St Pauls, through Paternoster Square over the road and past the small green space above before heading over to Postman’s Park, which I first visited back in 2014, having failed to find it in all the time I worked in the City.

The camellias were in flower and I could’t help but stop and admire them and read some of the heroic memorials.

I was quite taken with how the moss is creeping along the girders, softening them. From here we headed towards the Guild Hall, which as a sign of the times is now a Covid test centre, so no photos from there. We headed around towards Wood Street and found another pocket garden, this one with a fabulous magnolia tree in full flower.

And some hedges which reflect the state of the nation’s hair.

We crossed London Wall rising up onto the walkways of the Barbican, which even on its outskirts has some fabulous architecture and is more than just concrete.

Even on the walkway there were pockets of green, and more. As you can see below the space is much more interesting with what looks like a historic ruin, places to sit and sculptures too.

And many of the walkways were edged with living walls similar to this. There’s way more green spaces in the City than you’d expect - if you get to visit, look out for it, I’m pretty sure you’ll be surprised.

From Woolwich to the Peninsular

Yesterday I shared pictures of the ‘Hundreds and Thousands’ rainbow art installation by Liz West which was at the end of our six mile walk on Sunday. Today I’m sharing a selection of the pictures I snapped as we made our way along the Thames Path, revisiting part of our route from last August. Looking back at that post I’m sure I’ve taken some of the same pictures, but it seems I know what I like, and the same views still call out to be captured.

There’s new views too, as this time we started in Woolwich heading from the town centre to Woolwich Arsenal. The buildings there are full of character and I’m sure many have stories to tell. As we made our way towards the Thames a couple of traditional buildings stood out, the one below because it was completely on its own.

After meandering around some of the public areas - much of the Woolwich Arsenal has been redeveloped for private dwellings - we once again found ourselves at these sculptures. I’ve seen them several times before, but this may be the first time a photo has made it onto here, I’m not quite sure why. They are just fabulous, and it’s as fun to watch other people explore and discover them and their form, and if you’re lucky pose for photos with them. A truly great spot for people watching!

They look like Antony Gormley, but are in fact by Peter Burke - the piece is called Assembly - thank you to the commenter below for helping me correct this information.

As it had been a while since I’d been this far down the Thames Path instead of heading left and back towards Greenwich and home, instead we turned right and headed towards Erith and Thamesmead, taking in the views and then realising there was just one way back, so it wasn’t too long before we retraced our steps.

The views for the whole walk were a mix of industrial Greenwich mixed in with some more modern additions, though as you’ll see they might not have lasted quite as well. This mosaic is one of those. Right in the middle of the Thames Path, unfortunately it’s past its former glory, though still charming.

Further along the tiles have moved onto the walls, or rather they had. As you’ll see the middle section no longer are, but intriguingly they’ve been left in place where I assume they fell. My feeling is if this was vandalism they would be smashed and removed, and it’s unlikely that some would still remain. Or maybe that’s my optimistic view.

Along the path, as you’d expect, there’s street furniture with a nautical theme - these steps were my favourite example, and I’m sure has seen many a Titanic moment, at the ‘bough of the ship’ end.

We walked through the area of the Faraday Works which I first saw and wrote about last August. Not much had changed, except I think the plants had grown.

We paused briefly at the Thames Barrier. Its structure is iconic and both amazing and awesome. It clearly plays an important role in protecting London and when you think of it like that it’s hard to imagine how it can be so effective. I’ve not been on one of the tours, much preferring to k eep my feet firmly on the ground.

This part of the path is more familiar, and that’s not just down to the number of repeat shot photos, I’m sure. If we start walking at Greenwich, it’s about as far as we can get comfortably and from here there’s a way to cut through, and up the hill back home. It’s where we first came when we first bought our bikes, a good few years ago, when I wobbled along reminding myself that of course I could remember how to cycle. Exploring the Thames Path is great, and we really should do it more as you can get so much further along, but for me the downside is the hill back home. Any way we go, there’s a hill - none of which I can cycle up right now I’m sure, and very few that I could before in any case.

The sheer scale of the structures in this part of the river is amazing, and these included here are very much still working. Even as we walked past something was being unloaded with the conveyor belt in use. This view through the ironwork towards the more usual views of Greenwich and Canary Wharf beyond is probably one of my favourites.

It’s the contrast I think, the ironwork and industrial setting in the foreground with the built up, high rises and cable car in the distance. How the traditional sits with the new, and how both have their place in the river’s history. We walked up to the O2, or The Dome in old money, where we headed inland tempted by a coffee and a look at the rainbow art installation I shared yesterday.

A walk along the river was just what was needed, and while Greenwich Park and its surrounds are great places to walk, I’m enjoying some new views for a change. Hopefully it won’t be that much longer before we can head much further afield, and will make it to Norfolk and to our rearranged cottage holiday in the Lake District. Fingers crossed.