Since everyone adores Stik, here’s another bit of work featuring our favourite androgynous street character. Alex Ellison captured Stik having a little mid-Winter snooze in Eastern Curve Garden, Dalston Lane, London E8.
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Climb to the top of Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath and you’ll see a stunning view of the city.
But the best part is, that if you turn around and look the other way without moving at all, you’ll be in a different world, a green and peaceful place.
Turn to the side and you look down on what appears to be a happy little village.
Even in the rain, the Heath is lovely. This couple, with a typical English mindset, refuses to let the blustery rain spoil their romance.
It’s a place to gather your thoughts, to contemplate life, to take a few strong gulps of fresh air before heading back into bus fumes and Kebab shop smells of the city.
In a city of 8 or so million bodies pressing into small spaces and fighting for air, it’s unusual to catch one person alone and nothing but emptiness and a few trees and the greatness of a vast and open sky.
This little guy was there to have a rest as well. He just stood still, watching. Waiting for something. Or nothing.
If you stroll down the hill back through the Heath, there are some lovely scenes and wildlife to take in.
I stared at this bridge for a long time. You can not walk over it, but watch the ducks swim underneath leaving quiet ripples in their wake.
When it’s not raining, the cool Autumn weather is nice for a walk in the park. I caught the few hours of sunshine this weekend to do just that. Here’s a few photos of Green Park with its pretty Autumn leaves starting to change.
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Built on the site of the old St. Giles Leper Hospital which existed from 1117-1539, Phoenix Gardens has quite an interesting history. It was also once the site of a charity school, a tragic WWII bombing and a car park. It’s also the perfect place to escape Covent Garden crowds and find yourself a nice patch of shade.
It’s now a beautiful little sanctuary full of sweeping wildflowers, wooden benches with quirky inscriptions, a lively little fish pond and, as I was pleased to discover, some Stik figures standing guard over the far end.
It was only a few weeks ago that I discovered this little garden, lovingly looked after by a team of volunteers. My friend J and I were walking back from a documentary screening in Leicester Square about the Forgotten Women of India. This has nothing to do with the garden itself, but here’s a preview of the documentary we had been to see before discovering it.
We were on our way to find some dinner in Covent Garden and discuss the film.
His trusty iPhone map isn’t always so trusty so we managed a slightly wrong turn down New Compton Street and ended up here. There were a few people dotted about reading or chatting with a friend, but it was peaceful.
We walked the winding little dirt trail through heaps of pretty flowers and made a note of its location – at the end of Mercer Street – sure we would come back.
The garden has its own website, blog and facebook so the public can follow its events and planting workshops.
A subtle warning for the heavy London traffic on Exhibition Road, South Kensington.
Little London Observationist 