Rainy Romance and Winter Wildlife

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.

Warning: Love Trees

A subtle warning for the heavy London traffic on Exhibition Road, South Kensington.

Sun on South Bank

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, W and I took a long walk down South Bank and Bankside to soak up the sun.

Instead of walking along the pavement, we went down onto the strip of sand and rocks that is as close to a beach as you find in London. Here are a few pics from our walk:

I nearly stepped on this little guy who got caught up in the rocks when the tide went out without him.

I love the way this is hidden until the tide goes out. I never knew it was there until this weekend.

Ah, no stones here!

We walked slowly, stones shifting under our feet, stopping to look at bits of rubbish washed up on shore – cable ties, wet pieces of clothing, bottles and cans and ragged abandoned tires.  

A bit of history in the form of a brick.

This, for some reason, reminds me of a different European city, and a lazy day floating on the river.

Despite the washed-out hues of wet rock and sand, there were still vibrant colours to find.

Ghost Forest in the Square

I managed to catch the last day of Angela Palmer’s Ghost Forest exhibition in Trafalgar Square before it was shipped off to Copenhagen. Giant tree stumps from a commercially-logged rainforest in Ghana were set up in an attempt to highlight the issue of deforestation. Their roots stretched, like gnarled fingers toward the National Gallery, Big Ben, St. Martin in the Fields. In real life, they would have reached so high into the sky that they would have been about even with the height of Nelson’s Column.

The Telegraph posted a short clip that shows it off pretty well.

Here are a few photos I took last weekend.

 

Ravenscourt Park

Autumn in Ravencourt Park, W6.