Horse Guards

What is now Horse Guards Parade was built on the site of Whitehall Palace and has been used for various parades and ceremonies since the 17^th Century.  It is also the official entrance to the Royal palaces (Buckingham Palace and St James’s Palace) which are a mile further down the road.

The front of the Horse Guards Parade is on Whitehall, and is where many tourists flock to take pictures of the guards in their full dress uniforms sitting on their horses. I have taken the “typical tourist shot” previously, and on a recent visit, thought I would take one from a different perspective. In the end, I settled for this one:

Not quite the guards-man’s perspective, but pretty close. I wonder though how many tourists I upset by standing in the back-ground and getting into their pictures.

Richmond Park

I had to think hard when asked, “when was the last time you came to Richmond Park?” on a visit to the information centre. Then I was shocked at the answer, “30 years ago”!!!

The park itself has not changed a bit – why would it? It has been around since 1637, when King Charles I decided to enclose the area to stop the general public from using the land. The park was a hunting ground, with deer the main prey. Today, the deer are still the main draw for people, but instead of guns, cameras are used to shoot these magnificent animals:

It took 3 hours walking around to find this herd of deers. I was quite surprised how close they let you get to them. I guess they are so used to us humans now, that they have become oblivious to us. However, I have since read, that at certain times of the year, this is not the case, especially in the rutting season.

Come on Barca

Come on Barca, originally uploaded by gary8345.

London was full of Barcelona supporters. Officially 25,000 people made the trip from Barcelona to London to see their team play in the Champion’s League final against Manchester United.

Being English, I should cheer on Manchester United, but I think I will be cheering on the team from Catalonia – Come on Barca!!!!

Commuter of the Week #16

Commuter #254, originally uploaded by gary8345.

This is my favourite of this week’s bunch of commuter shots. I was quite pleased with the angle I managed to get, and to get a row of three fellow passengers.

To see more of my Commutergraphy pictures, click HERE

Ancelotti Sacked

I must admit, I am shocked!!! I was so sure that the media rumour mill regarding Carlo Ancelotti’s demise as Chelsea manager was based on Chelsea’s recent history regarding “unsuccessful” mangers rather than any substance.

However, within hours of Chelsea’s last game of the season against Everton, Ancelotti was called to a meeting and shown the door. It all seemed rather ruthless to me, especially as last season Ancelotti managed what no other Chelsea manager has done before, winning the domestic double.

This year, was the first time in a while that Chelsea have ended the season trophy-less, but more importantly for Ambromavich was yet another failure in the Champions League.

It had been a topsy-turvey season. The beginning saw quite brilliant, free scoring football, and after 6 games everyone thought that the season was destined to be Chelsea’s. Things soon changed with the unexpected departure Ancelotti’s assistant, Ray Wilkins (it still hasn’t been made public as to why the Chelsea board decided to terminate his contract), and injuries to key players, Frank Lampard, Dider Drogba and Michael Essien, meant the mid-seaso saw a very inconsistent Chelsea.

When players like Lampard and Drogba returned, it coincided with a start of a winning run, which saw them move from 6th in the Premier League, to 2nd. Therefore, as I touched upon earlier, the drive for European success must have been the only motive behind today’s decision.

Today, is a very sad day for Chelsea.

Nunhead Cemetery

I visited Nunhead Cemetery on it’s annual open day. I wasn’t too sure what to expect, and it turned out to be a mix of things. There were stalls about family trees etc, but the overwhelming feeling was that this was a day for the local community.

There were a number of things that you wouldn’t associate with a cemetery. There was a wood turning display:

As well as a bird of prey display:

 

 

As for the cemetery itself, situated in South East London, only one of two magnificent seven cemeteries situated south of the River Thames.  The cemetery appears to be split in two parts, with the Victorian cemetery making way for a more modern cemetery. This actually allows us to see the way death is viewed and the contrast between the grand monuments left by the Victorians to the more modest funeral architecture of more recent times.

 

 

 

Quiet a bit of the Victorian Cemetery is overgrown, but going off the cleared paths, you get to discover some interesting tombs and memorials, and found this little gem, a statue of an angel which had a message left in its hand:

 

 

The cemetery also has part of its original chapel, although now in ruins. In the 1970s, it was the scene of an arson act. However, the outer shell of the chapel still remains:

 

 

For the open day, the area inside the chapel was used for musical performances, and we caught the end of the Strawberry Thieves:

 

 

This is an Acapulco choir, and despite the poor acoustics – the chapel has no roof, they gave a very good powerful performance.

 

To see more pictures from the Open Day, please click HERE 

Commuter of the Week #15

Commuter #249, originally uploaded by gary8345.

This week’s commuter looks like she is posing for this photo. When I looked back on this one, I thought that she had the qualities to be a modern Mona Lisa. What do you think?

To see more of my Commutergraphy pictures, click HERE

Inspritation

I have been a member of Flickr for six years. At first it was to share my pictures with family and friends, but over time I became aware of the wider community. Now I find Flickr a source of inspiration, and often gives me a reason to go out with my camera.

Recently I have found myself drawn to pictures that fill the frame with part of a building. The results are of a more graphical looking photograph, with lots of lines, paterns and sometimes reflections, which I think make for an interesting composition. I also learnt a long time agao, that you don’t have to capture the “whole” to know what the picture is, and sometimes it is best to leave the viewer to use their imagination and think for themselves.

I am rather pleased with the following photograph:

Office Windows, originally uploaded by gary8345.

 Despite not seeing the whole of the building, you can tell how big it is. I also like the grey tones here. It looks like a black and white image, but is in fact in colour.

Post 100

A new record for me.  As you may have read previously, I have blogged before. However, I have never really managed to keep with it. This time, I have really enjoyed writing, and in-particular researching items. For example, I had no idea who Earl Alexander of Tunis was. I had taken a picture of his statue, which is outside the Guard’s Museum in London, and liked his statue so much, I decided to do find out more about him to share on this blog. So, in fact, it is helping me enjoy more the photos I have been taking.

I hope dear reader, you are enjoying my posts, as much as I enjoy posting them.

83% Complete

I don’t know why, but I actually feel quite proud that the Olympic Park is already 83% complete, and will be ready a year before the games are due to start. Considering all the negative press about how we were bound to fail, admittedly, they did have examples such as the New Wembley Stadium as reasons to doubt that the Olympic Park would be ready on time, this is excellent news.

Here are some details of what is currently going on:

• The 7,000 seater Handball Arena is now complete
• The Basketball (temporary) venue is near completion
• The Aquatic Centre is running behind schedule and should be ready at the end of July, 2 months late. Apparently this was due to heating problems.
• The athletes’ village is also behind, and is currently 10 weeks behind time, but should still be completed in November 2011.
• The estimated cost of delivering the games has now dropped by £35 million.

Many of the above facts come from a press statement by the Olympic Minister, Hugh Robertson MP, which can be read here.

I have just comeback from one of my regular visits to the View Tube on the edge of the Olympic Park, and there are some changes since my last visit:

The first sign of greenery has appeared. Also the front of the stadium is now clear.

Most of the building work that you can see from the View Tube, is centred on the Aquatic Centre.

Its all looking good to be ready for test events to be staged during the summer.

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