Here are some of the subjects that made me smile during 2024 – not all of them made it into a blog.
Sugar dispenser and friend dressed for the festive season …
A Dandy preparing to face the world …
Can’t imagine this appearing in shops nowadays …
Daytime duck patrol on the City wall …
Night duty on the highwalk …
A Christmas present I would have liked as a child (in fact, I’d probably enjoy getting it now) …
Illustration from the Transport Ticket Society newsletter (yes, I confess to being a member!).
The St Mary Woolnoth 1810 ‘price list’ …
Note the fees for ‘Churching a Woman’ …
Childbirth was seen as dangerous for both mother and child so the churching ceremony was viewed as a way to give thanks for a successful delivery. It was performed even when the child was stillborn or had died unbaptised.
Concert Hall delivery, I think I can guess what’s in them …
What could those wriggly white things possibly be?
It’s an art work by UrbanSolid. The premises were once an art gallery but are now a nail bar.
Morning visitor to my office …
At Liverpool Street Station …
A joyful doorway in Kensington …
Sweet meeting place idea at London Bridge Station ..
Pretty door and heart combined at 65 Banner Street – surely the same artist …
One of my favourite paintings at the Guildhall Art Gallery, The Carlyle Hotel, Bayswater …
It’s by the wonderfully talented Doreen Fletcher. As is this print, Hot Dogs, Mile End Park, which I’m delighted to own …
Disgruntled ULEZ objector …
Memento Mori – a lady dances with Death in St Stephen Walbrook. Like the lady, Death also wears a skirt …
Stunning stained glass at Two Temple Place, commissioned by and built for William Waldorf Astor in the 1890s …
An owl casts a worried glance at a woodsman doing some drastic pruning …
Unusual figures at London Glassblowing …
… where you can watch the artists at work …
Rather explicit warning sign …
And another …
I really, really wanted to push that door!
Tracey Emin sending a powerful message as usual …
Dramatic skies over HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge …
He’s had a tough day at the office and now just wants to get home but, sadly, he’s been trying to grab that cab since 2014 …
Read more about him here.
Tasteful gifts for tourists to take home after a holiday at Lake Como …
Nearby, Betty Boop and alien friend …
Spitalfields Market sculpture …
Animal Spirit – How Sir Grayson Perry sees the City of London …
Taking a nap …
Can you spot the daredevil squirrel?
Here he is …
48 inch waist I reckon …
West Hampstead post box …
The City Model Exhibition on Aldermanbury …
The Banksy Police box …
The Lock Gate sculpture on City Road …
My favourite Bunhill tombstone …
Man-eating Agavi plant on the Peabody Estate …
‘Red and Blue’ images at Trinity Buoy Wharf …
Smithfield Market phone boxes …
My friend Baaarbara …
And finally, my book launch at Daunt Cheapside …
You can find details of how to buy your copy elsewhere in the blog.
Happy New Year!
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