….Toby had a walk around the Tower of London!!!

I am sure everyone knew that Toby was at the Tower of London. Here are some more pictures from his walk around the Tower:

Where will Toby visit next?

Where’s Toby?

Can anyone tell me where Toby went to yesterday?

Poppies at the Tower of London

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One, The Tower of London has commissioned an art installation titled “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red”. Created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins, 888,246 ceramic poppies will progressively fill the Tower’s famous moat over the summer. Each poppy represents a British military fatality during the war.

Already, some 200,000 poppies have been planted, giving this fantastic view:

The last of the 888,246 poppies will be planted on Armistice Day, 11th November 2014.

To help with the project, you are encouraged to buy one of the many poppies. You can buy one of the ceramic poppies for £25. As well as getting a poppy sent to you at the end of the event, you will be helping to raise money for six service charities. To buy your poppy, please visit this website.

 

Buzz, buzz, buzz

Sometimes you have to be very lucky to get “that” photograph. On this occasion luck was on my side. Walking around the gardens at Polesden Lacey, I was attracted to my favourite flowers, Dahlias.

With very little breeze, and no movement in the air, it made photographing flowers a little easier. This was my first bit of good fortune, but to spot a bee pollinating one of the flowers, my luck was really in:

The bee also remained still long enough to take this picture. How lucky was I?

More Meerkats

Readers of this blog must know that my favourite animal is the Meerkat. At Colchester Zoo, they have a lovely big enclosure, which gives visitors like me great opportunities to get some wonderful pictures:

What’s in the Box?

Located outside the Gherkin building in London, and as part of the Sculpture in the City festival, a mysterious black box has appeared.

The box sized “Die” by Portuguese Artist João Onofre, is a cross between a sculpture and performance art. The box is totally inclosed, with no air in or out of it, but when closed, you can here a faint drumming noise, and when up close to the box, you can feel it vibrating. It was quite interesting watching peoples’ reactions to the sealed box. I’m not too sure many people knew what was going on inside the box.

So what is in the box?

The band trapped within the box is London-based Unfathomable Ruination, who describe themselves on their website as “unrelenting brutal Death Metal from the United Kingdom.”  Today, they managed to play inside the sealed box for 19 minutes.

Flypast

As we finished Toby’s walk, there was a loud noise in the distance, that got louder and louder. Was it possible, that the RAF were staging a flypast to celebrate Toby’s successful walk?

At the time I didn’t realise what the flypast was for, but have since discovered it was for the Queen, who had just completed the Trooping of the Colour ceremony to celebrate her “official birthday”. The flypast was quite spectacular, and luckily I had my camera ready to capture the following:

The Red Arrows:

It’s amazing how close together the planes get, I’m not sure I would want to be aboard one of these planes.

Save the Bees

Graffiti, or Street Art is abundant around the Shoreditch area of London. Some of this has a series point, and is a lot more than “just art”. This series of work, lead by Louis Masai, is meant to bring awareness of the plight of the bees, and to educate on the vital role they play in our environment. The bumble bee is in serious decline, and if they were to become extinct, the result could be rather bad, as we rely on them to pollinate the crops we eat.

Masai, and the other organisers of the project believe, “When art is placed in the public domain, or in the streets, it can interact with a much wider audience than when hung in galleries.” The result of this is a colourful mural, which definitely catch the eye”

If you would like more information about the Save the Bee project, please visit their Facebook page.

I declare the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Open!!!

It is less than 2 years since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but today saw the opening of London’s new park. One of the many legacies we have left to us in London is the Olympic Park. Parts of the park opened last year, but today, the remaining half of the park was opened up to the public. I was one of the first to enter, being watched by TV news crews.

We were lead into the new park by drummers:

So what is there to see in the new park? Well there is the Orbit, which is now open to the public. If you have read this blog regularly, you know what this looks like, so here I have included a reflection picture:

To mirror the Orbit there is a Helter-Skelter:

New seating:

…and a water fountain to play in:

The park really does look good. Plenty of places to sit, play and walk. Let’s hope the park is the success it deserves.

Manchester’s Climbing Men

I have been trying to find out more information about these climbing men, spotted in Manchester. If anyone knows anything about this art installation, can you please let me know:

Thanks in advance!!