The weather last week was truly, truly awful but I waited until the sky brightened a little to go in search of some natural colour and some signs that nature was reasserting itself beyond the gloom.
What could be a better start that these spectacular red berries …
Here they are in their context outside St Paul’s Cathedral …
Some more berries peep out in Brewers’ Hall Garden …
Nearby Karin Jonzen’s Gardener (1971) toils patiently …
Postman’s Park has splashes of colour if you look carefully …
Along with a curious goldfish …
Congratulations to the owners or tenants of 30 Gresham Street for these displays …
There are also some pretty beds alongside St Paul’s Underground Station …
It’s nice to return home where our Car Park Attendant has created this wonderful little garden …
Incidentally, on my way back from St Paul’s this plaque caught my eye. I think the wording gives us a hint of the pride of the Kingdom when imperial power was probably at its height: ‘British Dominions beyond the Seas’ …
You might also like to read The Gentle Author’s blog on Winter Flowers.
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Sometimes it’s just nice to set out without a specific theme or objective in mind and see what turns up.
Last week I was very lucky almost straight away because I came across these two members of the City of London mounted police perfectly posed outside the Royal Exchange …
The riders and horses are based in Wood Street police station where there is a custom made stable block. The station was built in 1965, when mounted police were a much more common sight, but the officers and horses will be moving out at the end of December and the building converted to accommodation. The ladies told me that they would be temporarily based with the Metropolitan Police in the West End but will still be returning regularly to patrol the City. You can read more about the horses’ training etc. here.
Watching out over a very quiet City …
Now that Autumn is here I try to capture the changing foliage and light whenever I can. Here’s St Giles Cripplegate as seen from the podium …
And here’s a view looking north west from Aldgate …
I paid a visit to the lovely little Goldsmith’s Garden on Gresham Street which used to be the churchyard of St John Zachary (destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666) …
It was fun to encounter this pigeon taking a leisurely shower …
He also meticulously washed under his wings – clearly a bird keen on personal freshness …
A little further along the road at St Anne and St Agnes red bricks meet Autumn leaves …
The Barbican often provides some interesting shadows, colours and reflections …
St Paul’s Cathedral with the Firefighter’s Memorial in the foreground …
I am not a great fan of some of the new City architecture but the colours on these buildings in Old Bailey are rather jolly …
The tower of St Alban in Wood Street, all that remained of Wren’s original church after the Blitz …
Next to St Paul’s is the only surviving part of the Church of St Augustine, also badly damaged in the War and partially rebuilt in 1966 …
Here St Botolph Without Aldgate is framed by trees and some Art in the City …
A closer view …
There is also some really good news in these difficult times. The gardens at Finsbury Circus have been handed back to the City now that the Crossrail work there is finished and the Mayor has launched a competition as to how they might be redesigned. You can find details here. As you can see from my picture, it really is a blank canvas …
Some of the offices on the Circus have worked hard on their flower displays …
These merge nicely with the floral decorated stonework …
Finally, a few quirky items.
Caught in mid-air – Parkour at the Barbican …
… and how on earth did these quad bikes end up in a skip on Beech Street?
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The City has an abundance of window boxes and small gardens, the latter often the site of old churchyards. Here is a collection of pictures I took over the last few weeks whilst the weather was nice.
I have entitled this one ‘white tulip’ …
The remains of the old Roman/Medieval Wall is host to numerous Valerian plants …
That’s the 17th century tower of St Giles Cripplegate in the background.
This is the view from the raised pedestrian walkway …
Next to the Museum of London plants cling on in one of the last remaining World War II bomb sites …
Nearby is the Barbers’ Physic Garden, partly sheltered by another section of the Roman/Medieval wall and adjacent to the Barber Surgeons’ Hall …
This leopard’s head (the symbol of the Goldsmiths’ Company) guards the entrance to The Goldsmiths’ Garden, once the churchyard of St John Zachary, a building destroyed in the great fire of 1666. You’ll find it on Gresham Street (EC2V 7HN) …
There’s a good selection of flowers in the garden …
Callistemon Bottlebrush.Roses and Clematis.Osteospermum.
And a pretty little fountain with an Arum Lily …
Postman’s Park boasts a substantial banana plant with a big tree fern growing out from it (EC1A 7BT) …
… along with a thriving bed of Hostas …
… and some Hardy Geraniums …
Their fountain is not working and is covered in moss …
A nice corporate window box on St Martin’s le Grand, someone must be watering it during the shut down …
Christchurch Greyfriars was designed by Wren and completed in 1704. In 1940, Blitz incendiary bombs destroyed the body of the church and only the west tower now stands. The blue plaque in the foreground commemorates Christchurch School, which I have written about before in City Children …
The 1989 rose garden reflects the floor plan of the original church and Clematis and climbing roses weave their way up 10 tall wooden towers which represent the pillars that once held the roof …
On the Barbican Highwalk I came across an army of Alliums, sadly a bit past their best …
I also encountered two ducks fastidiously socially distancing …
Water lilies are opening up on the Barbican Lakes …
And Barbican dwellers have been working hard on their window boxes …
I hope you enjoyed this little flower-filled excursion.
