Quite a few of these fox stencils have popped up around Northwest London – Queen’s Park, Kilburn and these three I spotted around Portobello Market and Ladbroke Grove. The third one has already been painted over, I noticed this morning.
Does anyone know who the artist is or if she/he has work in other areas of London? What’s the significance of the foxes? I’d love to know!
Rainy days, rainy days.
Hopefully today is a sunny bank holiday! Enjoy 🙂
Who’s heading out to the carnival chaos today?
Listen to a Londoner is a weekly interview post with people who live (or have lived for a while) in London. If you fit the bill and want to be interviewed, give me a shout at littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk. Always looking for new volunteers.
LLO: How long have you lived in London?
CK: I have been living in London since September 2008.
LLO: Where are you from originally if not London?
CK: I am from Karditsa (it means ‘heart’) and it is located in Central Greece.
LLO: Best thing about London?
CK: The fashion and the gigs.
LLO: Worst thing about London?
CK: The tube when it’s packed because I run out of oxygen and space!
LLO: North, south, east or west?
CK: North cause I live there.
LLO: Best restaurant?
CK: Rules!
LLO: Best shop?
CK: Beyond Retro, close to Carnaby Street.
LLO: Best place to escape the city?
CK: It is IN the city-St. James’ Park
LLO: 2012 Olympics – stay or go?
CK: Would like to stay and be a volunteer, or better – a reporter.
LLO: How do you spend your time on the tube?
CK: Noticing peoples’ outfits!
LLO: Best place to catch a gig?
CK: The Brixton Academy
LLO: Best local band?
CK: The Stayaways! ;D
LLO: Favourite book, song or film about London?
CK: London Calling – The Clash
LLO: Best place to spend a Sunday afternoon?
CK: Having a cup of coffee at the Somerset House.
LLO: Best museum or gallery?
CK: The Tate
LLO: Favourite market?
CK: Portobello
LLO: Best London magazine, newspaper or website?
CK: Stylist, Shortlist and The Guardian
LLO: If you were to dress up as one of the tube station names for a costume party, which would you be?
CK: Liverpool Street – My favourite English team.
LLO: Best time of year in London?
CK: Whenever it’s sunny!
LLO: First place to take a visitor?
CK: A long walk along the river.
LLO: Favourite place to be on a Saturday night?
CK: Camden
LLO: Best and worst things about tourists?
CK: Good for the economy, bad for the tube (too much noise, too crowded!)
LLO: Boris is…
CK: …still the Mayor
LLO: What would you change about the city if you had the power to do so?
CK: I would bring some sun from Greece!
Thanks Lia!
For more Listen to a Londoner posts, click here.
Listen to a Londoner is a weekly interview post with people who live (or have lived for a while) in London. If you fit the bill and want to be interviewed, give me a shout at littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk. Always looking for new volunteers.
Colleen Wagner, 33
Colleen moved to London for her husband’s job three months after getting married in 2008. She’s a high school English teacher who is at present working part-time for a London relocation agency rather than duke it out in the city schools (hey, it’s not like she didn’t give it a try…), and while she wouldn’t recommend undergoing three major life changes in one summer to even her worst enemy, her and her husband have come to truly, ecstatically enjoy their new life together in London.
LLO: How long have you lived in London?
CW: A year and a half.
LLO: If not London, where are you from?
CW: Chicago, Illinois
LLO: What is your favourite London discovery?
CW: Brompton Cemetery, a 40-acre plot of solitude among Victorian graves. I almost don’t want to promote it, as I’d hate for it to become too populated with the living…
LLO: Where in London do you go to get a taste of “home”?
CW: Partridges on Gloucester Road provided us Stove Top stuffing on Thanksgiving Day. Also picked up some Kraft Mac-n-Cheese and Golden Grahams–basically, a 10 USD box of cereal, but worth every darn pence.
LLO: What’s the coolest part about living in your postcode?
CW: On the SW10 / SW5 border, the Troubadour is ideal for coffee or cocktails and live music in the club downstairs (Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Paul Simon, and Joni Mitchell played there in the ’60s). We attended the BRIT Awards last week just a 10-minute walk from home, and my bookish self particularly adores that Beatrix Potter lived only a few blocks away * sigh *
LLO: Heard about any interesting places you’d like to check out but haven’t had the chance to yet?
CW: After going to Proud last Saturday, I’d like to revisit the Camden Stables Market in the daytime. Otherwise, after reading the book Longitude, my inner dork would really like to see the sea clocks at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
LLO: If I had one day in London and wanted to go “off the beaten path”, where would you send me?
CW: I would send you first to one of my trusted pubs like the Drayton Arms on Old Brompton Road for a proper English Breakfast. Then, so you can get at least one London museum in, you’re off to the Cabinet War Rooms–its right by Westminster and St. James Park, but its low profile renders it easily overlooked by other tourists. If you’re thirsty, I’m sending you deeper into the city to at least gawk at St. Paul’s Cathedral from the outside before you wander over to the hidden shops and pubs around Bow Lane and/or to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese tucked away off Fleet Street (during the day, though, before the work crowd filters in). Or, if you’d prefer a quiet, leisurely day, scrap all that and head to Hampstead for the village atmosphere and rolling heath. Regardless of the daytime itinerary, by night you are being sent to Edgware Road for Middle Eastern cuisine and shisha.
LLO: Favourite London shop?
CW: Zara, but for non-high street shops, the stalls at Portobello Road Market.
LLO: Tell us about the most random thing you’ve seen in London.
CW: Feathers stuck to my store-bought eggs, as though straight from the chicken’s va-jay-jay.
LLO: Best place to try to meet new people if you’ve just moved to London?
CW: [insert shameless plug here] Why, the new London Living social network at http://www.londonrelocation.ning.com!
Thanks Colleen!
For more Listen to a Londoner posts, click here.
Little London Lunch Break posts will appear every Wednesday around lunch time. I’ll ask a questions or start a discussion, give my answer and leave the comments open for the rest of you the same when you have a minute or two. If you would like to suggest a question, please email me at littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk.
Question: What are your favourite bits and pieces to pick up at London’s many markets?
My Answer: I can’t resist the racks of dresses, rows of shoes and tables of jewellery if I’m in Camden, Spitalfields or Portobello. Sometimes you find some good secondhand books as well. If it’s Borough, it’s got to be the cheese and olives. At any of them, mulled wine in the winter and freshly squeezed orange juice in the summer. In Spitalfields or Camden, always a stop at the food stalls for some lunch! Camden food goes cheap (about £2 for as much as you can fit in the silver tin) after about 6pm and Spitalfields has the best variety of choices from around the world in the Sunday UpMarket.
Speaking of markets, I came across a photographer who loves to take his camera over to Camden and has been at it since 1966. Being a bit of a rebel himself, he enjoys the vibe around the market. Here are a few of his photos (the bottom ones from the ’70s!) that he posted to the Little London Observationist Flickr pool. His name is Graham and you should check out the cool collection on his Flickr page.
Fascinating to see how the Camden crowds have not changed too much in the past 40 years…
And your favourite market buys?
If you’ve got London photos to share, stick ’em here.
Cheers for the photos, Graham!
Little London Observationist 
