More lovely maps

Max Roberts is holding another exhibition of Underground Maps – his last one was in Southend, but this one is much more reachable from London; it’s at The Minories, Colchester. Wriggling squiggling Underground - an early tube map ‘Underground Maps Unravelled’ explores the basic design rules formulated by Harry Beck, who designed the iconic London Underground map. The chaotic, squiggly, unevenly spaced stations of geographical reality are replaced by straight lines, 90 or 45...

September 16th, 2010 | London | Read More

Peter Ackroyd Writes About London

Some writers are forever associated with a particular place or time. Think of Jane Austen – absolutely Regency, and the inspiration for the entire genre of Regency Romance. Think of Rankin’s detective Rebus, and it’s Edinburgh that springs to mind (though there is actually one Rebus novel set in London). Christ Church Spitalfields, one of the locations in 'Hawksmoor' Peter Ackroyd is a Londoner himself, and I love the way he conjures up the city in its different moods...

September 15th, 2010 | London | Read More

Coming up – Savoy re-opening

The Savoy, one of London’s finest hotels, will be reopening on 10th October after a major refurbishment. From previews so far, it seems that the Savoy has taken notice of Ikea’s appeal to “chuck out the chintz”, with a less frilly, rather cooler design than before. Edwardian and Art Deco styles have been recreated, so the hotel shouldn’t lose its particular flavour; lovers of the American Bar and the Savoy Grill can also expect to find them pretty much as they remember...

September 12th, 2010 | London | Read More

Alfie’s Market – Vintage Shopping

I’ve sung the praises of Portobello Road and the Bermondsey antique markets before, but a friend of mine has just reminded me that for serious vintage lovers, the place to go is Alfie’s, near Marylebone station. Find a Clarice Cliff original at Alfie's Alfie’s has been going since 1976, and it’s still going strong. It occupies what used to be Jordan’s department store, a striking Art Deco building on the corner of Church Street, and over the years it’s spawned...

September 11th, 2010 | London | Read More

High Victorian Style: St Mary Magdalene, Paddington

I was lucky enough on a recent stroll along the Grand Union Canal to find the church of St Mary Magdalene open – not only that, although the lady looking after the church had been just about to close it, she took me on a special guided tour. A symphony in red brick and white stone This seems an odd place for such a palatial building; it’s never been a particularly upmarket area, and in 1865 when the church was built it wasn’t far off a slum district. However, the Anglo-Catholic...

September 4th, 2010 | London | Read More

Roses and Castles – English Canal Traditions

I’ve always loved strolling along a canal, particularly an English canal with its brightly painted narrowboats. While some boats are strictly functional, narrowboat owners have always prided themselves on the decoration of their vessels; bone china plates, ribbons, satin cushions, and above all the painting of both the outside and the inside of the boat. Traditional roses decorate a canal boat on the Grand Union canal The traditional styles are ‘roses and castles’, and on a recent...

September 2nd, 2010 | London | Read More

The Ugliest Building in London

It’s official. The Strata tower in Elephant and Castle is the ugliest new building in Britain – it has just been awarded the Carbuncle Cup , sponsored by Building Design magazine. Strata House under construction, flaunting its turbines It attracted particular condemnation from the critics for its ‘greenwashing’. It prominently features three wind turbines mounted in the top of the building – but these will only provide 8 percent of the building’s energy needs....

August 31st, 2010 | London | Read More

Coming up: Olympic Photoshoot

Shoot Experience keeps coming up with good new stuff! Next month, there’s a chance to visit the Olympics site on a bike trip with photographer Ed Robinson, former picture editor of the Financial Times and a keen cyclist. Starting off in Shoreditch, the tour heads off along the canal, then along the Greenway through the Olympics site all the way to the Viewtube, where lunch awaits. The whole area is interesting – you get some lovely canal views, post-industrial wasteland, fine parks, and...

August 29th, 2010 | London | Read More

Henry Moore Walks in London

Tate Britain’s Henry Moore exhibition has ended, but you can still use the gallery’s self-guided tour to get to know the sculptor’s works in London. 'Locking piece' on Millbank - big, bold, and enigmatic The ‘Moore Outside’ project include maps to locate eight works by the sculptor. What I really like about the project is that they’re not bland tourist office maps – John Deedham, a of collector and advocate for Moore’s work, has written up...

August 27th, 2010 | London | Read More

Palmers Lodge – Hotelling in Splendour

Fancy staying in a millionaire’s house? For £15 a night? It can be done! Palmers Lodge (map), in Swiss Cottage, was the home of Mr Palmer, of Huntly and Palmer’s biscuits. He was immensely rich and he didn’t spare the expense when he commissioned a new house – wood panelling, stained glass, it was meant to be splendid and show off his wealth. And now it’s a great backpackers’ hostel. Could this be a swish country house hotel? No, it's Palmers Lodge reception It...

August 26th, 2010 | London | Read More

See the Olympics Site from the View Tube

I get very bored with the Olympics. Yes, I love Zaha Hadid’s aquatic centre, but the corporate sponsorship and gleaming Brave New World of the Olympics site generally leaves me cold. It’s a Pepsi-and-Nike world. So thank goodness for the ViewTube, a bit of good old East London make-do-and-mend anarchy where you can see the Olympics from the other side! In a grey world, the View Tube stands out The View Tube is a bright lime-green painted construction made out of old transport containers...

August 25th, 2010 | London | Read More

Stunning night photography

Toby Smith’s exhibition ‘The Renewables Project’ recently opened at the Printspace gallery in Shoreditch. These photos document the renewable energy industry in Scotland – and also include some beautiful empty landscapes. There’s a particularly atmospheric photo of an island by night, both the island and its reflection caught in a clear pale light, but the pictures of the underground tunnels and conduits of hydroelectric plants are equally poetic. Toby is a great exponent...

August 24th, 2010 | London | Read More

Last Chance: The Emery Walker House

They say ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’. The sober Georgian exterior of this riverside terraced house makes you think the inside will be restrained, classical, elegant. It isn’t; it’s a riot of pattern and colour, one of the best Arts & Crafts interiors you will ever see. A de Morgan tile - luscious and full of life It was commissioned by the printer Emery Walker, who was a friend of William Morris and Arts & Crafts artists, and you’ll find their work...

August 23rd, 2010 | London | Read More

New Hotel: Park Plaza Westminster Bridge

The Park Plaza Westminster, which opened earlier this year, is a stunning building. Sitting opposite the Houses of Parliament, it couldn’t be more different – curvy modernity instead of prickly Gothic, black glass instead of brown stone. Walls of blue glass hide a thousand hotel rooms. Yes, literally. I’d have to say that on arrival, the hotel is impressive rather than intimate; it doesn’t feel at all comfortable, as you arrive at a huge and rather minimalist foyer. It’s...

August 16th, 2010 | London | Read More

Baker Street Tube: Sherlock Holmes Teasers

The Underground isn’t just a way to get around; sometimes it can be an educational experience, or an artistic one. There’s Eduardo Paolozzi’s multicolour mosaic at Tottenham Court Road, for instance – or if you stop at Baker Street, a chance to acquaint yourself with Sherlock Holmes. What I love about these posters is that they don’t quite tell you the whole story. There’s a picture, and there’s a very brief paragraph which is just enough to get you interested...

August 15th, 2010 | London | Read More

Weekend Away: Bath, Regency City

Anyone who ever fell in love with Mr Darcy or squealed in delightful horror as the plot of Northanger Abbey unfolded really owes themselves a visit to Bath. You don’t have to admire Jane Austen, though, to want to make the trip – Bath is England’s most charming city, and full of history, from the Romans onwards. The Royal Crescent is one of the best examples of classical townscape - elegant and rational Modern Bath was born in Georgian days and flourished in the Regency, when ‘taking...

August 14th, 2010 | London | Read More

Paris Latin Quarter: Too Much, Too Good

The thing I love about the Latin Quarter is that it’s such a marvelous mixture – a real motza pudding of a place. A bouquiniste displays his wares on the banks of the Seine Some Paris neighborhoods are absolutely clear cut in character. Montmartre is all picturesqueness and seediness, the Marais all style, the Champs Elysees all posh. But the Latin Quarter hasn’t made up its mind; it mixes up posh shops and poor students, ladies in Chanel and street markets, museums and movie houses. Kick...

August 13th, 2010 | Baby Boomers, Paris | Read More

Graffiti War: Team Robbo Versus Banksy

There’s a war going on in the world of London street art. It’s all very elegantly handled, and quite amusing, but it’s war none the less. Team Robbo is taking on Banksy – and I’m taking pictures. Looks like a real Banksy to me, with the paint-roller-head heron, a lovely visual conceit. But Team Robbo has a comment to make. (I hope you will all recognise the reference to Monty Python’s Life of Brian.) This is in Camden, quite near the lock; further down the canal,...

August 13th, 2010 | London | Read More

After Dark: Taking Great Night Photos with Shoot Experience

I recently attended Shoot Experience’s ‘After Dark’ workshop in London, focused on taking better night photos. Shoot Experience has been going for a while with its innovative photography treasure hunts, and it’s now built up a range of courses. A deserted Spitalfields - no one about, except a dozen mad photographers The first hour or so of the workshop is class based tuition, and to my surprise there was a fair amount of theory to learn. Everyone had brought their tripods...

August 12th, 2010 | London | Read More

Coming Up: The Poshest Street Party in Britain

I’ve just been invited to a party. It’s a street party. It’s a very posh street party – because it’s being held in Jermyn Street, home to the British tailoring establishment and the Cavendish Hotel. Beau Brummel, the nonpareil of fashion, an an elephant, enjoy a little conversation in Jermyn Street There’s something very British about street parties – many Londoners celebrated the end of the Second World War by closing off the street and having a knees-up,...

August 12th, 2010 | London | Read More