Walking the City of London

Category: Animals Page 1 of 18

Mosaic Magic … bringing beauty to new places.

A quiet mosaic revolution has been taking place in London and a new book is planned to celebrate its success. I would be incredibly grateful if you could consider giving some support to its publication, of which more later.

In the meantime, here is some background information on the achievements of the wonderful Hackney Mosaic Project.

My interest started back in 2022 when I visited Shepherdess Walk in Hoxton and headed down steps to what must be one of the most spooky and best-concealed alleys in London …

With a promise of something really special …

Emerging through the alley into the park you’re met with these stunning artworks. The mosaics were designed by Tessa Hunkin and completed over two years by a huge team of local volunteers (over 150 in total!) …

Unveiled in 2012 to coincide with the London Olympics, the scenes are a celebration of life in Hackney’s parks.

Taking the lyrical name of Shepherdess Walk as a starting point, the first mosaic portrays the shepherdesses that once drove their sheep through here when Hoxton was all fields …

A double wall panel illustrates park life throughout the seasons of the year in the East End …

What could be more Summery than buying a Mr Whippy ice cream, having a picnic or a swim in the lido wearing your smart goggles …

Tessa and some of the Shepherdess Walk team …

Why am I calling this a revolution? Well, it used to be the case that, when I heard the word ‘mosaic’, I just thought of the Romans and the floors of so-called high status villas in places like Pompeii.

Not any more.

Here is the Hounds Of Hackney Downs mosaic. Dog owners – just imagine the thrill of having your friend and companion immortalised for all to see …

Panels give credit to the volunteers who created the work …

The playground shelter on Hackney Downs …

Tessa’s team were commisioned by the Zoological Society of London to make two mosaic panels for either side of the main entrance to London Zoo. They show Humboldt penguins and Squirrel monkeys, both popular attractions. What a great job to get!

Another London Zoo project was for the lions’ enclosure …

You can read more here.

Regent’s Park commissioned a circular mosaic under an octagonal shelter in the newly refurbished playground. The theme was play and the brief to include the wildlife that lives in the park (they are particularly proud of their colony of hedgehogs). As well as the playful mammals the Jersey Tiger Moth is represented in its full lifecycle on the leaves around the border …

A fox balances a ball on his nose …

Mural on Somerford Grove Estate …

Two of the seven panels designed for Tower Court, Stamford Hill …

Lift lobby numbers …

On the Packington Estate, Islington …

You can find more about the projects along with a helpful map here. Click this link for some of the Project’s Greatest Hits.

What I love about the Project is that it aims to help people with addiction and mental health problems and at the same time to improve neglected corners of the city. They engage volunteers, recruited both from the Hackney Recovery Services and the local community, in making large mosaics in Hackney Parks and other locations. They also teach and encourage them to create their own artworks.

‘The Project does not just make colourful pictures out of broken fragments – it also helps to piece back broken lives, and build a new community by bringing people together around a shared vision’.

You can watch and listen to Tessa and some of her volunteers here. ‘For people who have worries in their lives, if you are concentrating on a mosaic it’s difficult to think about anything else – it’s like taking a holiday from your head’.

‘In a bold reinvention of the classical tradition, designer Tessa has assembled a passionate and diverse team of makers, creating dozens of breathtaking mosaics that have become cherished landmarks, celebrating community and elevating the streets of East London’.

My friend The Gentle Author wants to publish a book that takes the story of Hackney Mosaic Project to the widest audience and inspire a flowering of community mosaics across the land …

The book will include high quality photographs of all the major mosaics, an interview with Tessa Hunkin outlining the nature of the project, commentary on the background to each mosaic by Wendy Forrest, illustrations of the working process by which the mosaics are created and the names of everyone involved. It will honour the work of the hundreds of local people who have come together over the past decade to contribute their time and creativity to this magnificent collective endeavour.

To do this some money needs to be raised! Do please consider making a donation – however small.

Click here to contribute to the Tessa Hunkin Hackney Mosaic Project crowdfunder

If you would like to follow me on Instagram here is the link …

https://www.instagram.com/london_city_gent

 

Special Spring edition – a visit to the Barbican Conservatory (and a few images of local flowers).

Atop the Barbican’s main theatre, wrapped around the fly tower, sits a two-story conservatory filled with lush greenery, somewhat at odds with the dull grey of the rest of the estate. This conservatory is the second largest in London (after Kew Gardens) and home to over 1,500 species of plants, but is one of the city’s lesser-known green spaces …

It was opened in 1982 and was intended to be a major visitor attraction and indoor green oasis for Londoners. However, visitor numbers were low. Over the years, the City Corporation reduced opening hours and instead leased the conservatory out as a venue for private parties and corporate events. Visiting is restricted to Friday evenings from 6:30 to 9:30 and Sundays from mid-day to 7:00 pm and you need to book a timed ticket. I went last Sunday at 1:00 and it was quite a comfortable viewing since ticketing has obviously led to good crowd control (you can book here).

Here are some of my images, starting with a resident terrapin (apparently ‘liberated’ from Hampstead Ponds) …

Images from the main tropical house …

I thought this was quite spooky and serpentine …

Some rather shy coi carp to finish with …

There is also an arid house, which is filled with cacti and succulents, but this was closed, so here are some pictures I took there when I visited back in 2018 …

Now, a few local flowers to celebrate Spring.

Tulips in Silk Street …

Little beds at the junction of Gresham Street and Wood Street. So nice when building owners plant flowers and look after them …

Work by the wonderful City gardeners on London Wall …

Finally, I couldn’t resist this shot of the Moon …

If you would like to follow me on Instagram here is the link …

https://www.instagram.com/london_city_gent

Things that cheered me up!

It’s a bit of an understatement to say that these are not very happy times but, being an optimist by nature, I have been looking for things to cheer me up. Here are some of them (organised totally at random).

This year the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch commemorates the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. If you are able, do pop along to the Guildhall and view the super garden that has been created there to recognise the occasion …

I think it is sweet that people still leave small tokens on this memorial to William Blake in Bunhill Burial Ground, even though his grave is now marked out elsewhere …

His actual burial place (photographed shortly after a marker was placed there) …

A couple of my attempts to photograph both the new Moon and the planet Venus (the slightly smudged light in the sky on the right) …

A better picture from early January …

Our Orchid Christmas present from 2023 has flowered again …

High point of the week, the arrival of a fresh set of cards from brilliant local artist Jill Green …

Check out her website for lots of other handcrafted goods, including lovely leather items : www.shopjill.com

I visited the Threadneedle Hotel for the first time and encountered this magnificent glass dome …

I’m going to visit again and write more about its history (and the cocktail bar looks tempting) …

Another splendid dome at 10 Trinity Square …

Read more about it, and the building it is in, here.

A time-travelling office worker from the 1970s would look at this picture and wonder why everyone in the office seemed to be watching TV …

The power and attraction of sporting competition. Advertising board outside a bar/restaurant in Madeira in Febrauary …

Funchal Botanical Gardens …

I found this ice cream cone really scary …

Portuguese knick-knacks …

City church weathervanes glimpsed from a distance.

St Giles Cripplegate …

The St Lawrence Jewry gridiron weathervane …

St Lawrence was martyred in San Lorenzo on 10 August 258 AD in a particularly gruesome fashion, being roasted to death on a gridiron. At one point, the legend tells us, he remarked ‘you can turn me over now, this side is done’. Appropriately, he is the patron saint of cooks, chefs and comedians.

The Minotaur at dusk with the Roman/Medieval wall in the background …

A cormorant glides past Mrs Coot sitting on her nest …

Mr Coot is pottering about nearby at the top of the picture.

Aquatic themed corridor in Tonbridge Grammar School …

A favourite ghost sign at Finchley Road Underground Station …

The Bryant family produced three generations of chimney sweeps and the family history is, according to one researcher, a tale of ‘intrigue, betrayal and bigamy’. You can find their research on Instagram. Another person was curious enough to trace the family history using various databases such as Ancestry UK. You can read what they discovered here. A visit to Finchley Road Station will never be the same again!

The London Jewish ‘Mural’ on Finchley Road …

Spooky charity shop models …

48-inch waist, I reckon …

Six’, the musical, at the Vaudeville Theatre, put us in a great frame of mind. And they allow pictures to be taken of the finale …

I’ll finish the blog with a laugh from one of the best political cartonists …

If you would like to follow me on Instagram here is the link …

https://www.instagram.com/london_city_gent

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