London in February

I spent several days down south this month – in London and Oxford. On two different visits – so I am concatenating them

The first was a very good, though very emotional, visit.

For starters, I was met at King’s Cross by frankie_ecap, which was very good indeed.

After dropping my stuff off at the hotel, we decided to pay a visit to the Natural History Museum – or, if the last time you visited was in a professional capacity in the mid-1980s (to talk about ferns, if you are interested), the British Museum (Natural History). It is the same place, anyway.

( Lots of pictures and words behind the cut... )

London in February

I spent several days down south this month – in London and Oxford. On two different visits – so I am concatenating them

The first was a very good, though very emotional, visit.

For starters, I was met at King’s Cross by frankie_ecap, which was very good indeed.

After dropping my stuff off at the hotel, we decided to pay a visit to the Natural History Museum – or, if the last time you visited was in a professional capacity in the mid-1980s (to talk about ferns, if you are interested), the British Museum (Natural History). It is the same place, anyway.

( Lots of pictures and words behind the cut... )

Oxford, February.

The day after the memorial celebration frankie_ecap and I spent wandering around Oxford. She had been staying with white_hart and I met them in Broad Street, being dragged down the road until I saw one of Anthony Gormley’s sculptures balanced precariously on the corner of the roof of Blackwell’s art shop. Although not one of his series Event Horizon, it could have been: a human figure perched on the roof. It is very disturbing – a figure, silhouetted, stock still, almost as if waiting to fall. It is unnerving.

( Read more... )

Oxford, February.

The day after the memorial celebration frankie_ecap and I spent wandering around Oxford. She had been staying with white_hart and I met them in Broad Street, being dragged down the road until I saw one of Anthony Gormley’s sculptures balanced precariously on the corner of the roof of Blackwell’s art shop. Although not one of his series Event Horizon, it could have been: a human figure perched on the roof. It is very disturbing – a figure, silhouetted, stock still, almost as if waiting to fall. It is unnerving.

( Read more... )

A weekend in London

I was staying in Euston, near the station. I was in London to go to the Convention on Modern Liberty, which was taking place on Saturday, and to go to a party on Saturday night. On the corner opposite my hotel was a disused tube station – the original entrance to Euston underground station. This was abandoned when the mainline station was redeveloped in the 1960s and the tube station integrated into the new building. (By the way, this is a fascinating website giving the history of some disused tube stations… but not Euston, which is still in use, except for this bit.)

Meeting up with frankie_ecap gain, we walked through Bloomsbury – past Maynard Keynes house – and down through Holborn to Lincoln’s Inn Fields, to go to the John Soane Museum. This was a wonderful place, crammed full of paintings, sculpture and architectural remnants, all seemingly random. I can’t imagine why I hadn’t been here before – it was just my kind of place.
( Read more... )

A weekend in London

I was staying in Euston, near the station. I was in London to go to the Convention on Modern Liberty, which was taking place on Saturday, and to go to a party on Saturday night. On the corner opposite my hotel was a disused tube station – the original entrance to Euston underground station. This was abandoned when the mainline station was redeveloped in the 1960s and the tube station integrated into the new building. (By the way, this is a fascinating website giving the history of some disused tube stations… but not Euston, which is still in use, except for this bit.)

Meeting up with frankie_ecap gain, we walked through Bloomsbury – past Maynard Keynes house – and down through Holborn to Lincoln’s Inn Fields, to go to the John Soane Museum. This was a wonderful place, crammed full of paintings, sculpture and architectural remnants, all seemingly random. I can’t imagine why I hadn’t been here before – it was just my kind of place.
( Read more... )