Camden sky scene

This morning’s sky over Camden Town looked wonderfully dramatic as I left home this morning.

Camden Town, Goodbye London

I’ve lived in and around Camden Town for about eight years now. I’m not a born and bred Londoner, but I’m certainly a Camdenite. It feels like my part of London. Who knows what it is, the grit and grime (like East Berlin perhaps), music, culture, excitement, the fact that it’s a transient tourist trap but after quite a while here there are people I know, see in the street, recognise (the short lady who wanders around with her trolley full of bags all day then boards the 253 bus north/east late at night)…

I saw a video for Goodbye London today and being quite substantially based in and around Camden Town I thought it was a brilliant tour around my part (and other parts) of London. Here’s some bumf from DigitalUrban:

Babelgum Metropolis is looking for the globe’s best and edgiest artists for what is being termed’the world’s biggest art show’. Winners will have their work shown on giant advertising screens this December in Times Square, the neon heart of New York City. Out of the notable nominees is Luke Jackson’s Goodbye London video, directed by Murray John. The video features a mix of stop motion photography and drawn 2-D animation using After Effects. Having just moved to the heart of Camden Town ourselves we really like the video, in fact we love it.

And what better time than to also show you a quirky sight I walk past in Camden each day. Introducing Electrocute:

European Election Day

This morning I left home and went to work via my local polling station
in order to vote in the European elections. There are no local elections
this year. I hadn’t had a single European focused leaflet through the
door from any of the main parties. The Lib Dems sent something but it
was only focused on them cutting council tax: perhaps they forgot that
it’s European and not local elections here.

I did get leaflets from the greens, christians, socialists, christians
and an independent. The first leaflet I got, however, was from the BNP.
Now I cannot go into the detail of who I voted for, or why, but I did
change the habit of my voting life.

Of course people have rather varied feelings about the European
parliament, but one thing is clear: there are things we need to work
together on. We live in a globalised world with global problems and
often tense relationships, we cannot always stand alone. Tomorrow, it
seems to have been forgotten in the UK, is World Environment Day:
there’s a great example of where we need to work together and, if we are
to get anywhere in tackling climate change, it perhaps cannot always be
by voluntary global discourse. And, we shouldn’t forget, it is only 60
years ago that the second world war started in Europe. As my old German
friend’s father used to say, if we’re talking at least we’re not
fighting.

Importantly, I did vote, and urge everyone who can to do so, regardless
of who for. Apathy is, although arguably more understandable than normal
right now, one of the biggest risks to democracy. Even if you cannot
stand to vote for anyone it’s better to go to the polling station and
spoil your paper to register disapproval over apathy.

The things you see…

I decided it was time to post some of the random photos I have taken out and about on my mobile phone. These are all from London over the last year.

Sunset from Hungerford Bridge

Dinner on Southwark Bridge

Fake Club

Giraffe on wheels, St Pancras/Camden Town

Police art

Underground car park?

Religious followers

Rooftop religion in King's Cross

Wait here, I have gone to get help in neon

Recovering Doric

Living fairly close to Euston station, and having known it for the last few decades as my gateway to London from my home in the midlands, it’s history fascinates me. The unlovely functionalist 1960s station is practical and large, it serves its function well, but it’s not got the romance, history or stories of other London stations. The Times art columnist said

“It gives the impression of having been scribbled on the back of a soiled paper bag by a thuggish android with a grudge against humanity and a vampiric loathing of sunlight. And the fact that it replaced a much-loved old station, wiping out the Classical portico of the Euston Arch, only compounds its offensiveness.”

Which is why I was fascinated to read that the Doric arch, or what remains of it (or most of it that didn’t end up forming a rockery in the back garden of the guy that demolished it), is being recovered from it’s subsequent resting place, thanks to the London Olympics.

Developing Prescott Lock to enable construction materials to be transported to and from the Olympic site in a more sustainable way than dirty road lorries has meant that the remains of the arch, which since 1962 have been basically blocking a hole in the tidal riverbed, are finally being recovered. More on the story here, here and here.

Although I am a town planner, I don’t have a strong conservationist streak. But the story of Euston, and the threatened near-by St Pancras, make you realise what a sense of pride and sense of place architectural history can give you. After one of the most shocking pieces of architectural vandalism it’s now hoped that the arch can be reconstructed, not in it’s original place (somewhere near Platform 8, apparently) but perhaps in the redevelopment of Euston station (possibly looking like the image below), or elsewhere. Even if you cannot stop progress, meeting the needs of future generations, and the ability to integrate architectural history into developing places, is an important challenge we need to grasp.

Bull! Lies!

The last week hasn’t been a good one for British politicians. The expense scandal, whether claiming for bath plugs and feather dusters, second homes, moat clearing, swimming pools or porn, the Daily Telegraph has been ‘exposing’ the lies and bullsh*t of politicians claiming expenses within, or beyond, creating plenty of public anger.

Not a good week for politicians, especially when the European and local elections are coming up in June. Norman Tebbit even advised the public to protest by not voting for the big parties in the European elections.

Which is why I was interested to see the juxtaposition of a poster saying “make sure nothing stops you voting” with two posters for a mobile phone company in Camden Town station pronouncing simply BULL and LIES.

Of course, one of the biggest risks of the expenses story is disillusionment with politicians in general, politicians of all parties, and voter apathy caused by lies and bull. But voting is an essential way of exercising you democratic right – so maybe we shouldn’t let lies, bull, or anything else, stop us doing so on Thursday 4 June.

Moving

I hate packing. I hate packing for holidays – I can never decide what to take. I especially hate packing to move home – which is what I am doing right now (well, when I get some more boxes it will be). And moving house will mean lack of internet, for a short while, until I manage to get the new place hooked up. But, hey, I’m moving to a much better flat The big haul starts tomorrow.

Saturday Afternoon, South Camden (PhotoBlog)

After the fun and enjoyment of a Shoreditchy night out at Kill Your Pets and Trailertrash I needed a more relaxed Saturday. This involved wandering around the southern end of Camden Town, mostly, after a strong coffee at the Market (so strong the spoon stood up in it: see the picture).

Strong Coffee

Chester Terrace. I like the attention to detail – there’s a full stop after the word Terrace

At Regent’s Park Estate

Different architectural styles at the Regent’s Park Estate

New housing development on the edge of Regent’s Park Estate

London Snow Blog: My Snowday in Pictures

Well, I say snow day – I actually went to work. So did the people at the Guardian (apparently) who have brought us SNOW BLOG LIVE (really) all day long… including useful advice, such as how to walk in snow (like a penguin in case you wondered)

Here’s my day in photos, more here:

Camden Town, morning, 2nd Feb

Millbank, Pimlico and Westminster in the distance

Green Park

Camden and St Pancras, afternoon

London Snow Blog: Snowman on Millbank

Following Snow Blogs last night and this morning and the snow hysteria in the city I made my way into work this morning. At lunchtime I had to venture across Millbank to get lunch where this quite impressive snowman watched me slip-sliding along the pavement to get something warm to aet. I’ve never seen snow this thick in London before, just a few minute away from the Palace of Westminster and right next to the Thames…

London Snow Blog: The Morning After!

Following last night’s post we’ve had the heaviest snow in decades overnight. I think the last time it snowed this year Bob Cratchit lived round the corner…

Here’s what I woke up to…

London Snow Blog!

It’s very rare that you get snow sticking in London. The last time I recall snow sticking was 2001, on Vauxhall Bridge Road (ironically when I last worked at the place I returned to as my ‘new job’ last week)…

These photos were taken just a few moments ago, hopefully before the snow disappears once rush hour in Camden begins…

On London

I recently received a link to the Boston Globe’s website, oddly enough, which – thinking about the end of the Beijing Olympics – has been looking forward another four years to London 2012. They have published some amazing photographs by aerial photographer Jason Hawkes which show my city at it’s best:

I must admit, I am very much a city boy. I love the way cities look and feel, even if they’re not seen in such a beautiful way as the nineteen pictures on the Boston Globe website. They’re places of surprise, where you never know what will be around the corner. They’re places where people have to mix, where you’ll share the same space, the same air, as someone you would never normally associate with. The heterogeneity of cities brings together a diversity of people creating a dynamic social mixture and cultural variety all of its own.

Even the least loved – not that agree that Birmingham, where I spent a lot of time growing up, is an ugly city – have relationships with people. But the relationships are not neutral. They’re personal. An individual’s relationship with the city is not just the physical. It’s about people, and places, and their interaction.

I love living in London – where children speak over 300 different home languages, where people come to find not just their fortune, but themselves. It’s easy to forget, stood on the Northern Line each morning – especially in a world of economic upheaval - that the city is more than just bankers and lawyers (and each of them has their own identity somewhere beneath the pinstripes).

It’s the yummy mummys of Knightsbridge, the suburbanites of Bromley, Brent and Barnet, the Indians of Brick Lane, goths of Camden, indies and dirty-fashionistas of Shoreditch, gays of Soho (and older gay men of Earl’s Court and lesbians of Stoke Newington), the Pechkamites, Claptonites, Kentish Towners and riches of Richmond. And it’s about how they all interact with where they are, as well as each other.

I never fail to be fascinated, walking along the street, who I see. I sit in a coffee shop, look out and wonder where the old lady’s going, what the schoolkids have been up to today, and why the rich bald man’s driving a 4×4 down Camden High Street, speeding through the red lights – what’s he got to rush to?

Try it sometime. Change your perspective.

A sign of the times?

In a window, on my street, neon sign:

I tried it. Nothing. Then I wondered what it was all about.

Food: London Tapas

We finally got around to checking out a Tapas Bar just a short walk from our flat last night, and were very impressed. In some ways I don’t want to post about it as it would be great to say “i know this little tucked away place”. From the outside El Parador doesn’t look like anything very special. Time Out said that it doesn’t look like the kind of restaurant you’d travel across town for, until you try the food, and I agree. Located round the back of Mornington Crescent station, it’s small restaurant interior hides a much bigger outdoor patio. Seeing as it’s “summer” (erm) we ate inside. It’s a good quality family run tapas restaurant – although they wouldn’t book tables for two booking’s not a bad idea for bigger groups.

A wide selection of vegetarian tapas gave me a lot of choice (plenty of meat and fish too). Especially notable was the resfreshing Arroz con Guisantes y Puerros (Risotto style rice with peas, mint, leek, butter and manchengo peas) and Alcachfas al Argelino (Chargrilled artichoke hearts with broad beans, caramelised red onions, garlic & Harissa oil – for a bit of spice). Being used to Spanish prices when I eat Tapas this seemed a little pricey – but not compared to any other decent restaurant in London – the portions were sufficient for four tapas between two people. In fact, eating Spanish Tapas on a cold August Friday evening gave me a feeling of a bit of summer – Cost del Camden!