22 July, 2013

Fortress Wapping - Taxi sign

Fortress Wapping taxi sign
...a little bit of vanishing history spotted on the corner of the old Wapping Print Works site (now a construction site), a sign that illuminated (in bright red) the message "Taxi Wanted" over The Highway to summon black cabs to reception...I'm guessing from the days before one could simply call and book one...?

18 July, 2013

Trying to spot Saturn last night...

Moon
...as apparently it's very easy to spot right now with the naked eye...got a nice picture of the moon (which shows off how good my zoom lens is, quite incredible really)...but it was just too overcast to see anything much else, in fact, at 11pm I did a quick scan of the entire sky and counted exactly one visible star...might give it another go tonight if it's less cloudy... ;) Moon (cropped)
Update (@16:00hrs) - looking good so far! ;)

17 July, 2013

Volunteering with @GroundworkLON - Clara Grant School

Had a very hard (32 degrees!), but extremely rewarding time yesterday, volunteering to help out clearing a site at the Clara Grant School in Tower Hamlets and helping some of the kids to build Insect Hotels as the first stage of turning an old playground into a wildlife garden...I now have (aches in muscles I didn't know I owned and blisters on top of blisters, but) a big smile on my face from having done something so tangible to help out the local community...enjoy just a few pics that I took during the day (I will definitely be volunteering again!) -
Clara Grant Primary School
Clara Grant primary School
Clara Grant primary School
Groundworks
Groundwork
Groundwork
Groundwork
Groundwork
Groundwork
Groundwork
Groundwork
Groundwork
Insect hotel
Groundwork

16 July, 2013

Goodbye Thomas More Square...

Thomas More Square
...as of next year we (my office and I) are moving to "The Place"...or as it is better known - "The Mini Shard" from Thomas More Square (pictured)...so a few things to look forward to -

A zero minute commute from London Bridge station to the office (rumours of a secret, private entrance direct from the station into work's private underground shopping complex, even though that would hardly be necessary considering how close it is anyway, would just be a very welcome cherry on the top!)...so, thank you free shuttle bus, but I won't be needing you quite so much from now on (amazingly cool as you have, and will continue to be in the meantime!)...A large private roof plaza (in fact, you can already see all the huge plants up there if you peer up from ground level), amazing views from most sections of the office over central London (including the Thames, Tower, Tower Bridge, London Eye, St Pauls etc. etc.), air conditioned comfort...excellent proximity to Borough Market and Bankside...and a blank canvas inside as we are the first tenants...so everything will be laid out exactly as is required!

Things just keep on getting better!  Roll on next year! :)

15 July, 2013

11 July, 2013

Greenpeace on the Shard...

Greenpeace on the Shard
...this morning, apparently its 6 women (that's them in the middle of my shot above), climbing to raise awareness about Shell's plans to drill for oil in the Arctic...anyway, very kindly, one of them is wearing a webcam, so you can join them in the attempt (it's mostly showing the trousers of members of the London Fire Brigade through the office windows at the moment)... ;)

07 June, 2013

Fortress Wapping

Fortress Wapping
Fortress Wapping
Fortress Wapping
Thought I had better grab a couple of pictures of "Fortress Wapping" (as it was known), as it looks like it's going to be demolished fairly soon and replaced by houses, shops and a secondary school!  A little bit of history vanishing from this part of London...


30 May, 2013

St Katharine Docks - Boat level crossing

Boat level crossing #1
Boat level crossing #2
...when a boat needs to get in or out of St Katharine Docks there are a couple of these bridges that raise (completely blocking the Thames path on this side of the docks) - complete with railway level crossing style traffic lights and drop down gates...not quite sure how I got so lucky as to be trapped by this in my extremely short time here (already)! ;)

29 May, 2013

Coffin Car...

Coffin car?
...(complete with petrol tank full of blood!) spotted this morning while I was sat waiting for the (free) shuttle bus to whisk me from London Bridge station to the office across Tower Bridge...not quite sure what it was doing there (now the London Dungeon has moved)...maybe something to do with the Tower Bridge experience?

23 May, 2013

Pirate Ships?

Pirate Ships!
Spotted this near the office today, might be something a certain young person might like to explore?  The Pirate Ships, not the Tobacco dock (obviously)... ;)

22 May, 2013

View from the new office!

View from the office
...featuring Tower Bridge, the Thames, St Katherine's Dock, the Shard (etc.)...very nice indeed! ;)

09 April, 2013