Ok, so I’ve been slack…

…and yes, suggesting I might post stuff while I was away was more than mildly hopeful, especially considering the state of internet access in the towns I visited. 

Here’s some pictures of a very famous landmark in London and its neighbours.

Lovely blue skies in this direction

Dark skies forming at the National Gallery

Looming clouds edging towards St Martin's

The plinth with its current resident

I used to have a posting schedule that I roughly kept to, but that was before the coming to the UK.  I was trying to get back on track the other week before I found out I had to go away for few days.  I’ve got heaps more pictures to post, so, must try harder.

Canterbury Tales

Not the most original post title ever but that’s what I’m working with.  I took a day trip to Canterbury for an appointment a while ago and although I’m not moving there, it was a nice day out. The town is lovely and it was interesting to see how it had changed since I visited it briefly nine years ago. I originally went to Canterbury while on a two week (I think) car trip around some of the more southerly parts of Britain with my Grandfather and Canterbury was one of our early stops on the drive from East Anglia.  This time I had a more work oriented reason for my journey but still had a look around.  The weather was really good - here’s what Canterbury looks like.

Royal Museum and Free Library (as per the sign) found on one of the main streets

Main gate of Canterbury Cathedral

This is the main entry point for the Cathedral. I didn’t get the time to visit on my latest trip but have been before and can highly recommend it (especially if you like Cathedrals). The building is stunning and the shrine dedicated to the murdered Thomas Becket is worth a look.  I would like to go again but that will have to wait for another visit.

There was a crooked house...

...and a crooked terrace of houses

The old city walls, now part of a carpark

The Canterbury Tales

And this beauty is the outside of a tourist attraction everyone should visit. It’s The Canterbury Tales - an animatronic rendering of the classic tale for everyone’s enjoyment. Sadly, like the Cathedral, I didn’t get to go in on this visit but I have been before. In fact, on my last visit to the UK I patronised a number of similar exhibits, a sort of oddly smelling, jerkily puppet-like tour of British history. I also visited the Robin Hood Tales in Nottingham because I am all class.  I do recommend it, they put a lot of work into it and they’re always amusing.

punting on the river

And last but not least, I finished the day off with a visit to Tiny Tim’s Tearoom for a delicious cream tea (also highly recommended) before catching the train back to London.

delicious afternoon tea

Westminster Abbey

So these are the pics I took the other day at Westminster Abbey.  As I did not deign to pay the entry price, they are only of the outside.  That said, I don’t tend to take pictures inside churches anyway because it doesn’t usually feel right to do so.

main entrance

the entrance plus some extra

decorated alcove

it's a long way to the top

clocktower from another angle

alcove detail

A trip down memory lane…

…or more accurately, Kings Road Chelsea.  It was a fine and sunny Saturday here and I’d been wanting to revisit some of my old haunts. My first trip to the UK was about 8/9 years ago now and I spent six months living and working in a pub on Kings Road Chelsea. It’s a posh area, no denying that, so in some ways I kind of lucked out when I got that job.

But that old saying to do with never really being able to go home again started to ring true. As I wandered down the road I spotted some old shops and buildings, some new ones in place of those I remembered and I looked for a few that I couldn’t find anymore. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve been here but it was a strange sort of day and I’ve been left with mixed feelings about my trip down memory lane.

I started my journey on the tube mid morning and decided that I would walk down Kings Road from Sloane Square station because it was a walk I had done so many times before.

Sloane Square station

The first good surprise was the Duke of York’s HQ which was just a building site when I last saw it.  Now it is home to a small weekend market full of delicious food (the Jamaican jerk chicken pastry and pasteis de nata – Portuguese custard tart – that I had were soooo good).  There is also a free Saatchi gallery with a display of modern American art.  I took a small detour off Kings Road to the National Army Museum (which is free). Despite living in in the area I had never been there before and it’s worth a look especially if you’re into Empire or military history, or even if you just have a thing for military uniforms and guns.

Chelsea Old Town Hall steps

These steps lead out of the registry area of the Old Town Hall which a lovely, venerable structure on the road.  It must have seen the most amazing variety of weddings in its time. I remember passing by on my way to the supermarket seeing South Asian weddings with heaps of guests and decorated taxis, people doing the traditional white dress thing and of course the couple who wore matching black leather just to mention a few.  They must still have ceremonies here, as there’s still confetti on the steps.

Chelsea Old Church

This is the Chelsea Old Church (though clearly some of the structure is new) which back in the day was the Church of Sir Thomas More, whose statue can be found nearby. My roommate at the pub and I, while a wee bit tipsy on Christmas Eve, decided at the last minute to run down the road from the pub (a couple of blocks away) to attend midnight mass here with it’s posh demographic. I’d never seen anybody wear a purple velvet suit and matching top hat to Church before, and I haven’t since. The fact I rarely go to Church services is irrelevant.

This is no longer the poky old bookstore from whom I procured obscure books

not The Man in the Moon

This smart looking wine bar/bar used to be a black clad, boarded up edifice know as The Man in the Moon. The story went that one night some gang of football supporters (possibly Chelsea fans) were kicked out of our pub and proceeded on down the street to the next likely looking boozer – The Man in the Moon – where they proceeded to wreak havoc and ripped out a number of the bar fittings. Hence its closure at the time.

not The Water Rat

And this lovely pastel palace, if I have the right building, used to be The Water Rat. This is where some of our regulars went when they wanted a livelier night out. It was the scene of a couple of stabbings during my time in the area. Suffice to say, this is not how it looked then.

And then there’s my old place - The Cadogan Arms Tavern – on the corner of Kings Road and Old Church Street.

Cadogan Arms Tavern

It’s undergone more than one makeover since I worked here and I think it even closed for a little while. It doesn’t appear to be owned by a brewery anymore but by a company that runs … gastropubs.  I didn’t take any pictures of the inside because it’s not the Cadogan Arms I lived in. It’s rather swish with pressed metal ceilings and dark leather couches, not too sure about the stuffed animal heads on the wall.  It’s a tidier (non smoking) space but it doesn’t have the comfy well worn feel it used to. The pub was a good middle of the road for local workers. It wasn’t so upmarket as those closer to the Square but didn’t have knifings either. Blokes who worked in the loading docks in the Conran outpost Bluebird used drink here, as well as a couple of picture framers from the shop across the street. The bar here now may have stools but it doesn’t have that regular boozer feeling.  We also used to get a lot of the local Art college students, and they might still be around but the customers I saw today didn’t reflect its former diverse charms. It was a little unsettling and, I can admit, upsetting to be somewhere so familiar yet so alien.  My pub may have been a bit rundown about the edges but it was the focal point of my existence on this road, in this city, but it’s not really there anymore.

A day trip to the country

Yesterday I had an appointment to keep in Dorchester which for those in the know is in Dorset.  Approximately a 2.5 or more usually 3 hour train trip from London Waterloo into the West of England. The train trip wasn’t too bad despite some delays. It’s amazing how taking a long plane ride make even a three hour train trip seem easy. The countryside was lovely, all green rolling hills dotted with hay bales and sheep or cows and the occasional pony. Dorchester is a lovely county town that was bustling with people when I visited.  It’s biggest claim to fame is being the home of Thomas Hardy and it played the setting in a number of his books including The Mayor of Casterbridge. It has some beautiful stone buildings and a mostly pedestrianised shopping area.  Here are some of my pictures (which also prove that it is sunny in England on occasion)

Mr Hardy

stone cottages

High Street

beautiful church doorway

The old brewery - development happening here

Cornhill shopping precinct (with generous ad for costa)

I had lots more pics but you get the idea. Just for fun here’s one last one back in London at Waterloo station – if you look real hard you can see a tiny bit of the London Eye (really, really hard).

See, I am in London - taking blurry pictures

Ghost town – Mt Bokor

During my trip to Cambodia in 2007 I travelled high up one particular mountain to the former French hill station of Mt Bokor.  Located in the south, Mt Bokor was a summer resort for the French thanks to its cool weather and stunning views.  Not much is left now in what has been designated a national park (or similar) but there is accommodation, just not in the old hotel. 

 The buildings left behind when the French departed are ghosts of their former selves.  Impressive in size and design but with flaking paint and plaster, windowless facades hint at the dark, unlit, unfurnished interiors.  It was a fascinating place to visit.  The old hotel was possibly the eeriest structure.  It was huge.  The facade hinted at its former grandeur, but the inside was gutted, dark and empty.  The one hitch to visiting Mt Bokor?  The lengthy and somewhat uncomfortable trip up the mountain.  The road has not been maintained in many places leading to ute sized potholes and a very bumpy ride.  Our trip in the back of a pick up took many, many hours (pretty much all day) and at least one person ended up with fist sized bruises from the bumps.  The views however, were totally worth it.

Did I mention the ever present mist? - adds to the eerieness...

 It was certainly impressive up close and we got to have a really good look inside – provided you remembered your torch.

Close up of entrance - note the lovely orange fungus

 The orange fungus was on quite a lot of the buildings.  The near perpetual misty air probably helps it along.

old Catholic Church wreathed in mist

 It was nice and creepy inside the Church too.  All the fixtures were intact, it was just all left to rot.

view to the coast - yes it was a long way down off the edge

So, as mentioned, it’s a long uncomfortable journey (and some on my trip disliked it) but if you’re in the neighbourhood - I highly recommend it.

Top of town images

A few weekends ago I visited my family in the town I grew up in.  I decided that I wanted to go take some pictures of the business area known as “The Top of Town”.  Back in the day this area was the place to have your shopfront. But the years have not always been kind to the commercial centre of Ipswich and it’s had its ups and downs financially and popularly.  There have been makeovers and redevelopments but in my memory, there has also been a palpable sense of decline.  Some towns have been lucky (or canny) enough to keep their original commercial centres alive, but despite many efforts Ipswich struggles with this.

Voglers - home to every hobby and model kit known to man - still going after all these years

There does seem to be an upswing going on at the moment.  Buildings have been renovated and painted, new businesses have moved in and a couple of old stalwarts are still going (the open air mall just down the road is another matter entirely).  Cafes are opening and staying open longer than 12 months.  I liked wandering through the Top of Town as a teenager because it held all the interesting shops.  There was Lifeline and Vinnies (home to a few choice bargains I still possess including my treasured vintage fake fur coat – it’s like a teddy bear, but it’s a coat) and Beatbox music with its selection of secondhand vinyl records and CDs among others (alas Beatbox no longer calls its old shopfront home).

Lifeline on left, Artshop in Goleby's building on right

There are changes afoot still.  The oldest Baptist Church in Queensland is soon to be home to community centre of sorts and the proud possessor of McDonalds drive through – very handy for all the lappers in town.  I took a few photos of this building because even though it’s heritage listed, its environs are going to change substantially.

Can you picture this with the Golden Arches in the background?