The City and Waverley

City skyline with Waverley at Tower Pier

On the evening when I took my camera up to town to take a look at Waverley, I took some wider shots which showed The City skyline. It was the first time I have looked at the City skyline in the dark since the Willis Building was finished, and I notice that it has a vertical light going up one side of its tower.

Waverley is tied up at Tower Pier down in the river part of the shot.

City skyline with Waverley at Tower Pier

I zoomed in closer, excluding the Swiss Re “Gherkin” building from my second shot. I liked the composition a bit better.

Waverley at Tower Pier

Then I went in closer again. Plantation Place is at the top of the skyline of this picture.

I think that I did better about four years ago with my Pentax *ist DS than I did with the Pentax K10D and these pictures, but I wouldn’t blame the camera. I’m out of photographic practice; and I was about a half hour too late for the best light.

Maybe I’ll do better next year…

One for the more flamboyant City gent

Pink shirt with jacquard flower pattern

While walking along Fenchurch Street in the direction of Subway on a mundane quest for lunch, I passed a shop selling shirts. My eye was caught by a colourful lilac floral number in the window, and as I slowed down to try and figure out whether it really was a shirt for a man to wear, I noticed that the same garment was also available in a pink colourway.

It is on a male model in the window, and as far as I can tell, it buttons in the male way, so I think this really is a shirt meant for a man to wear.

It would be a braver man than my Stephen who would appear in public in a pink floral shirt though!

Website update: Monument pictures

I’ve been on a hunting and gathering expedition around my hard drive and I’ve brought together a number of pictures I have taken of The Monument over the past couple of years.

This structure commemorates the Great Fire of London. It\’s open to the public (although not right now, as it’s under refurbishment and closed until December 2008 for that reason) and my daytime pictures show people standing on the observation platform near the top.

Click here to view the pictures.

I’ve been on a hunting and gathering expedition around my hard drive and I’ve brought together a number of pictures I have taken of The Monument over the past couple of years.

This structure commemorates the Great Fire of London. It’s open to the public (although not right now, as it’s under refurbishment and closed until December 2008 for that reason) and my daytime pictures show people standing on the observation platform near the top.

Click here to view the pictures.

Website update: Swiss Re (Gherkin) window cleaning

I’ve moved another album out of Yahoo! Photos.

This one contains some pictures of the Swiss Re Building (a.k.a. “The Gherkin”) in The City of London, photographed on a day when the window cleaners were working on the building.

Click here to view the pictures.

The picture above shows the arm used for cleaning the domed top of the building.

Website update: Ocean Majesty and Seabourn Pride, 3rd July 2005

A couple of years ago, we were lucky enough for a Tower Bridge lift for a cruise ship to coincide with City Hall being open to the public and we went and took advantage of the opportunity.

We were surprised that there weren’t more people up on the observation balcony to see a really big ship passing through Tower Bridge, but we had the place almost to ourselves. There was one other person up there who had come specially to see Ocean Majesty pass through Tower Bridge; and a few tourists for whom the event was an unexpected bonus.

Click here to view pictures of Ocean Majesty, and also Seabourn Pride, a second cruise ship, who was berthed in the Lower Pool, plus tugs Cobham and Sun Thames, who were in attendance on Ocean Majesty.

Here are links for City Hall – weekend opening, Port of London Authority Cruise Ship Diary and Tower Bridge Lift Schedule, which are the websites to monitor if you want to try and find a day when you can see this sight for yourself.

Website update: Leadenhall Street Pictures, November 3rd, 2006

Last year I took some pictures of the autumn foliage in the Aviva Plaza, right in the middle of The City of London. There are also some night time pictures of the Lloyd’s Building and Leadenhall Market on the page.

Click here to view them.

Entry for June 28, 2007 – The City revisited

I’ve just spent a couple of days up in The City of London working in one of our customer’s offices.

There are a few changes to The City in the five months since I was banished to Basildon:

• Jessop’s in Cannon Street has closed.
• A building has disappeared across the road from Cannon Street Station.
• The exterior of the new Willis Building is complete.

…and by far the best…

• A building on Leadenhall Street is being demolished from the ground up!

I’ve included a picture of this building, which looks for all the world like a giant tree house.