Category: London
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The Quiet Enchanting on London’s Strand
Shhh… you’ll have to listen even harder at the moment to hear the artwork whispering to you outside King’s Strand campus because it disappeared yesterday. I know. I know. It’s infuriating when that happens. In fact, I thought I probably should never post this, too late again, but then I remembered that things in gardens…
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Poor Susan and the sounds of the city
This week I was lucky enough to go on a guided walk around the city of London with Rosie from Dotmaker Tours. She was concentrating particularly on the sounds of the city – we walked without talking, just listening (almost too intense, was the verdict), we talked how the city would sound in the future…
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A visit to The Library of the Birds of London
The complete joy of hearing birdsong again is making up for a stop-start spring this year. And thinking about birds, I had a joyful visit to the Whitechapel Gallery in London last week, mostly to visit the giant aviary created by American artist, Mark Dion. Only four visitors at a time are allowed in the…
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On the anniversary of Lancelot Brown’s death
Lancelot – Capability – Brown is best known as the creator of our current vision of the English landscape, so would it surprise you to know this is where he died? It happened on the 6th February 1783, 235 years ago today. Apparently the night before he’d collapsed on the doorstep of his daughter Bridget Holland’s…
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Papermaking in the garden
Back in the summer (remember that far back, when the sun shone and everything?), I went on a day papermaking course at Morley College in London. I was drawn to it by the fact we were going to be using natural plant materials, but what I hadn’t expected was that I would fall in love…
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Not just a tree – John Evelyn’s Mulberry in Deptford
We spent the day in Deptford recently, taking photographs of various street names for a family project, but I also wanted to explore a little of John Evelyn’s history, and his lost garden, Sayes Court. We didn’t find the garden exactly but… I love street names for the quirky glimpses of history they give into…
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Searching for silence in The Phoenix Garden
I’ve found a new favourite spot to read and think. Beautiful, eh? A haven of peace, probably miles away from anywhere noisy or busy? Well, no. The Phoenix Garden is a minute off London’s Charing Cross Road and just two minutes away from Tottenham Court Road. Best of all, it’s right opposite Foyle’s Bookshop, so…
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Fancy a London garden mooch?
There are some beautiful, interesting, inspiring, almost secret gardens in London. I did a virtual tour of them a couple of years ago for the Chelsea Fringe, and although some may be out of date now, you can find the full list here Five I would particularly recommend, and which are a little bit different, though…
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Hidden in central London, a garden for peace and reconciliation
Although I was looking out for the St Ethelburga’s Garden for Peace and Reconcialition, even so, walking down busy Bishopsgate, I missed this tiny passageway to the garden first time round… Doesn’t look very promising, does it?! But luckily I retraced my steps, and entered into a beautiful little corner that let me time travel ……
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If you have a garden and a library,
… you have everything you need. So said Cicero, and so, it seems, the Carnegie Library in London… I visited this library on Wednesday to sit on a session of the adult literacy group, the Ruskin Readers. But first, I couldn’t resist a quick peek at the ‘Reading Garden’. Admittedly it wasn’t the perfect day…
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Five Woodland Walks
1. Every Sunday afternoon the family goes to the woods. ‘But doesn’t Mum want to come?’ It seems not. Besides she’d spoil the fun by getting nervous as you balance like an underage drunk, a tightrope walker tottering along fallen tree trunks to collect that coin Dad puts out to tempt you on to the…
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Crossbones Garden of Remembrance, London
I was taking a short cut to Borough Market when I came across these gates above in Redcross Way. I’d thought they might be an art installation at first, but then read some of the inscriptions, and knew I wanted to research further. The Crossbones Cemetery was originally an unconsecrated burial site for prostitutes (aka…