Bankside - Then and Now

(1997, not even that long ago)!

...and now...How things have changed!

Marlborough Playground Grafitti

Used to walk past this all the time but never really paid much attention to the site itself, wandering round it looks like it's an initiative by Bankside Open Spaces Trust to get all the local kids involved in outdoor activities, the site itself was set aside (all the way back) in 1919 by the Duchess of Marlborough purely for kids to play in (but until recently it was just a large tarmac square)...now, however -

- it's got beach volleyball -

- a very nice 5-a-side football pitch (didn't take pics but) - basketball hoops, a few objects to grind off if you like skateboarding, a very large bag stand (presumably for kickboxing) and this -

- a "Growup box" (complete with "Shutterpatch") -

- looking at the BOST website, it's been *extremely* successful (like 3000 users successful)...the Duchess would be proud... ;)

The Banksy in Borough Market...

...well, the site where (it is claimed) he originally stencilled "This is not a photo opportunity" that then got a (fairly poorly done, but carefully varnished) "Laugh now" when the first work was removed, seems to have been updated with a little note -
 

What a load of rubbish...

What a load of rubbish
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

What's happening on the River today, Daddy?

Only a little bit of time to look, but peering one way (West-ish)...
...peering the other way (East-ish)...

...lots of buses zooming past...

...lots of bikes...

...lots of coaches full of tourists...

...and a skull and crossbones!!

Bear Gardens

I found myself passing this wonderful chalk drawing (you'll have to zoom in to see it) on the corner of "Bear Gardens" in Southwark, however, checking it out on the interweb it looks like it isn't just a cute name for a road...a "Bear Garden", according to the "Shakespeare Quarterly" is defined as "a place originally set aside for the baiting of bears, and used for the exhibition of other rough sports"...

Pepys' Diary entry from 14 August 1666 contributes - "After dinner with my wife and Mercer to the Beare Garden...and saw some good sport of the bull's tossing of the dogs - one into the very boxes. But it is a very rude and nasty pleasure. We had a great many hectors in the box with us (and one, very fine, went into the pit and played his dog for a wager, which was a strange sport for a gentleman)"...

The OED notes that many historic theatres actually started off as "Bear Gardens"...which is interesting, as barely (sorry) 10 paces from "Bear Gardens" is a housing development that is built on top of the site of the real foundations of the original "Globe Theatre"...interesting neh? So we've learned something today... ;)