Out this morning in the glorious sunshine on a recce for the Thames Bestiary. It’s a walk that I’ve developed for Viewfinder Gallery’s Thames Trail project, but will be leading again this autumn sans Viewfinder. Passed Aerosol Can Man, about to be whitewashed by Greenwich Council’s anti-graffiti team … … pigeons sun-bathing … … a […]
On the Greenwich Bestiary we chuckle at John Reardon’s Monument to a Dead Parrot. It’s a bird (a cockatoo, to be precise) with a marvellous story that I won’t go into now – you’ll have to come on the walk! Lately, it has put me in mind of Trafalgar Square. Partly, that’s because of the […]
On the Chimneys & Tunnels walk we visit the launch ramp of SS Great Eastern, Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s massive iron sailing steam ship. Faced with a rather sad row of wooden sleepers in a quiet backwater of the Isle of Dogs, it’s hard to imagine the astonishing spectacle of the boat’s construction there in the […]
Out on the Greenwich Peninsula once again, this time in the biting cold (see On the edge). My purpose today: all things animal. I’m researching a Thames Bestiary walk that I’ll be leading later in the year. It’s one of a series of riverside trails organised by Viewfinder Gallery. More details coming soon…
Deep sea diving with my zoom lens this morning, waiting for the autumn light to shine on the puffer fish (last week’s Big Discovery). No joy. It seems the earth may now be tilted too far away from the sun. Strangely consoling, then, when this lone magpie flew into the frame: a black-and-white vision of […]
On the Greenwich Safari we studiously ignore any animal that moves. But as we’re not on safari now, I thought I’d share a clip I took today of swans on the Thames at Gravesend foraging for crumbs.
Nearly 500 years after Henry VIII’s riverside jousting tournaments, horses have returned to Greenwich for more equestrian pageantry. Where once knights in full armour thundered towards each other intent on breaking their opponent’s wooden lance, yesterday’s dressage was all top hats and tails, highly controlled impulsion and submission. In place of the Tudor tilt yard, viewing […]
Laid out on the grounds of the Queen’s House yesterday. What a pity the giant elephant has gone! (See 4 April post Giant elephant appearing in Greenwich.) They would have made a lovely pair.
Leading the charge of international horses to Greenwich for the 2012 Olympics is an unlikely character: Benson The Talking Topiary Horse. His athletic pose is the result of 10 years intensive training at a nursey in Italy. But rather than compete with the equestrian mob in the park stadium, Benson is here on a charitable […]
