Scruffy Signs

As you can probably tell; I tend to favour the old and battered to new and shiny. This road sign caught my eye- partly because of its enameling but also because it has so much more character than its newer counterpart. I also find it interesting that the older street signs are almost always placed higher up, maybe they are lower nowadays because you need to be able to see them from car level. If this is the case then its strange how technology makes everything adapt just that little bit.

Friendly Buddhist

Blue-tacked up high in a shop in Wood Green, this sign makes a nice change from the ones threatening you about breaking stuff (which always makes me certain that I am going to).

Street Style

On the corner of Church Street, Brighton is a prime example of why graffiti is often really under-appreciated. Brighton is covered in amazing street art and a lot of it is actually commissioned by the council. This spot on the corner is one of them and changes every couple of months. I always look forward to seeing what will go up next. Loving the colours in this one and its industrial feel.

Stylish Builders Merchants

Lovely shiny tiled sign for a builders merchants round the corner from my local tube stop. I love how something so stylised and pretty is advertising something usually perceived to be very rough and practical.The light bouncing off the black makes me think of a sign outside a theatre for a really camp musical production.

All's Fair in Love and Football

I live quite near to the Arsenal stadium and silently curse whenever there's a home game on as all the supporters clog up the tube and buses. This pub, round the corner from Finsbury Park Station, is obviously very patriotic about their team but I can't help but think that this sign sums up everything I dislike about football culture in this country. It's not the game I take issue with, it's the mentality of some of the supporters, giving it a bad name, that puts me off.

A Fine Duo

Albert and Pearl sound like a 20s jazz dance duo-but they were in fact 'purveyors of fine foods'. What would just be called a local corner shop or greengrocers nowadays had a much grander name back in the day. You can tell that these two took great pride in their work.

Russell's Chambers

Near Holborn station I spotted this blue plaque, right on the side of a block of flats/'chambers' named after their previous occupant. For more info on this buildings namesake click here...

British Museum

An impromptu meet up yesterday with a lovely friend of mine resulted in a trip to see the mummies at The British Museum. The last time I set foot in here was on a school trip when I was about ten and I really don't remember it looking like this. What a fantastic ceiling! Perhaps this is a more recent fixture,or maybe I was just very unobservant as a child. Probably the latter! 

Big Buddha

Not sure whether the notion of a massive Buddha keeping its beady eye on me puts me at ease or not, but either way- nice punning. And nice use of colour!

Steel Snakeskin

I saw this view whilst wandering past the Hayward Galleria today- it appears to be a shopping arcade, with lots of shops selling expensive nick knacks and Cafe Rouges. Oh well. Anyway, myself and a friend, who is actually an architect, stood for a fair few minutes and marvelled at this view. Like a big metal snake curving off into the distance, it combines our typical tough British steel with a touch of elegance to form an intricate yet industrial looking structure overhead.

Gormley?

Reminiscent of the fantastic Anthony Gormley, who I love, this wooden women watches over an entrance to London Bridge. 

12 Thousand Souls Under The Sea

I must admit- despite being a 'Londoner' I have never been to the Tower of London before and so I've never seen this memorial right by it. It's not long after Armistice Day and maybe that's why this inscription grabbed my attention. It's funny because when you think of 'troops' you often think of those on land or in the air. It's nice that there is a remembrance here for those who fought and died on the waves, no one who fought, or indeed still fights, should ever been forgotten in my opinion.

At the tours end

My theatre internship is sadly over now. I'll miss it greatly, both because of the people and all the places we've got to visit along the way. I'm not sure what's on the horizon next for me, but something equally artistic and enjoyable I hope. This endearing chap (Hermes perhaps??) was mounted on the top of the last place we played at. Onwards and upwards I say...and either way, I always do love a bit of bronze!

A late Halloween treat

I meant to put this up last week-in time for Halloween! Simple, yet effective and far less tacky than most of the decorations you see around this time of year.

All along the shopfront

Above a pretty cool vintage clothes store in Brighton is a second hand guitar shop. This image of Hendrix sitting amongst the butterflies, guitar in hand, seems a pretty fitting tribute to the guitars and 70s clothes inside.

Mad Hatters

As I mentioned before-quite a while back now-Brighton seems to have a strange sort of affinity with Alice in Wonderland. Dotted around the Laines and the high street are shops, pubs and bars all with some kind of connection. Wandering through the shops I spotted a new display had appeared since I last was there. This sprawling tribute to Alice in Wonderland is pretty impressive and I love how they are very similar to the original illustrations from the book.

Another Alice reference- this time above Mad Hatters hat shop, a favourite haunt of mine when I still lived nearby.

Cycle Laine

'The Laines' in Brighton offers up loads of high up treats. A winding mass of tiny, independent shops are all decked out  in all their glory, many of which stretch up to the rooftops. This upright bike particularly caught my eye last weekend; a lovely flash of colour on a slightly dismal and cloudy day. 

Something for Movember

I'm a bit of a moustache fan, which is why the idea of 'movember' appeals greatly to me. Lots of blokes growing facial hair for charity? Fantastic! Two days ago I was walking through Dalston and saw this awesome looking bar. If its logo is a 'tache it's sure to be good!

Looking at me?

Above a very grand looking building in Cambridge were this row of plaster (I think) heads. I found it amusing as they all seemed to be looking at each other- as if in mid conversation!

Make-shift Mosque

An ingenious way of turning a house into a place of worship with some stencils and a lick of paint. I love this.

Funny Face

Another railway finding.

Post, by horse

Lovely scene above a pub in Guildford, previously the home of both the posting house and a livery stables. Did post get delivered by hoof in those days? I guess all 'post vans' would have been powered by horse...

Symbolism much?

A pretty apt representation of who runs the country these days. Used to be the monarchy, now it's just the banks.

A poor alternative

Something rather sad about the fact that this old pub- complete with this awesome sign- is now a fancy suit shop. Save our pubs, that's what I say!

Intoxication Initiation

A humorous sign for a local student pub in Oxford.

Full of Fancy

I walked past this pub every day for a solid week before noticing this sign. I hope it is legible (I have made this photo bigger in the hope that it is, my camera zoom is getting rapidly more rubbish) but this old enamelled sign reads 'Toys and fancy goods'. Sounds delightful! 

Faun in a doorway

Oxford still, a gold painted faun above someone's open porch.A little gaudy and strange but then...why not?!

Time Keeper

Above a pub in Oxford, this white dog is propping up the time.

Skylight detail

I spent the last week in Oxford (more pics to come) working on a fantastic touring play. For the majority of the nights I stayed in a youth hostel near the town centre. This particular one was very noisy, involved me sharing with several snorers and oddballs which wasn't so fun. One thing I did enjoy about this place though was these minimalistic looking creatures, I'm guessing that they are horses but they do also look a little like dragons too, surrounding the skylight in the corridor. I took the picture very surreptitiously as I didn't want anyone thinking I was a weirdo, though maybe people thought I was one anyway!

Boatiful (please pardon the terrible pun!)

 A sudden heat wave last weekend meant that a visit to the beach was the height of priority for a Sunday afternoon. Above a convenience store in Walton on the Naze, right near the beach front, I found this abundance of boats. A glorious find on a sunny day.

Steel Scales

As you can probably tell by now- I use the trains a lot. Living in London doesn't really necessitate a car and, as much as I'd love to, it's impossible to walk everywhere. Therefore I spend a lot of time lurking around train stations waiting for inevitably late trains and staring skyward. This photo was taken outside of my nearest tube stop, near where the buses line up. I love the way that the pattern of the metal looks a little like scales.

Lethal

I spotted this on the barrier above Harringay Rail station. After trying to fathom what it was, why it was there and what it does, I concluded that it was probably a human version of those spikes that get put on shop fronts to stop the pigeons settling. If anyone knows what it really is- do get in touch. It looks pretty sinister to me...

Anger from up above

Dangling above a side road in Shoreditch, I can only make out a couple of the scribblings on these wooden tags. I can read: Taxxx, police and power. An interesting mix. From where I was when I photographed this scene I assumed that they were inspirational messages. Or perhaps good luck charms, like the Japanese display them. Apparently not!

Super Fantastique!

Peeking over the grey concrete surrounding Angel station, another brightly coloured superhero is in mid flight. I said I'd find another one, and now I have. Super happy. Now to find more...

Cool Moon and Fiery Saturn

The lampshade in my room often looks like a big, round moon, but from below looks more like Saturn. Two planets in one...

And it was all yellow...

I love the summer; I adore the heat, eating outdoors, paddling in the sea and everything that goes with these things. But there's something beautiful about when autumn hits. It seems like the world momentarily bursts into colour- a final flash of life before winter turns everything grey and washed out. It's scenes like this one that makes me appreciate nature all the more, I am forever awed that colours as strong and vibrant as this exist outside of the Dulux colour chart!

Painted Ladies

The painted window scenes depicted above are only the second of their kind I have seen, but I actively look out for such a thing. The first time I saw these 'fake windows' was in France and I was so delighted by it I took a couple of photos with the disposable camera I had with me. Since then, I noticed this very similar scene in Colchester a couple of weeks ago. Very creative, and also a great way of decorating any bricked in windows.