Angel Canal Festival 2018 – Sunday September 2nd

Wow! How can it be almost September already?
Angel Canal Festival is upon us again.
This colourful one-day event happens on and around City Road Lock and Basin with lots to see and do. Sunday September 2nd, 11am–5pm.

Find these lovely mosaics adjacent to City Rd Lock. They were created by the children at Hanover Primary School working with Carina Wyatt and Cathy Ludlow in partnership with Cally Arts and Islington local2global project. They celebrate the journey of people and goods into Islington and the way we use the canal today.
Top: The Working Canal and The Layered City. Bottom: Tools and Trades and The Living Canal. there are also some benches in the shape of fish.

Find me at my stall (see right) on Danbury Street bridge above the canal selling cards and prints, made from my photographs of local places and signs, and clay pipe jewellery, all as seen in the photo, right.
Discounts for my walking tours will also be on offer – approx 10% off – vouchers can be allocated at a later date – lots of walks to choose from – see here.
What's not to like?!!
See here for more info.

To find out more about Regents Canal, why not come on guided tour on a narrowboat – see my previous post.

FOUND at the Foundling Museum – curated by Cornelia Parker

Here's interesting... in amongst the lovely historical artefacts and artworks at this small but evocative museum there are exhibits by sixty modern artists that respond to the theme of 'FOUND'.
Cornelia Parker (no relation) has brought together an eclectic panel of people who have all come at this idea from different angles. The exhibition runs until 4th September.
The Foundling's website will tell you more, but not too much or else there'd be no surprises.
Seeing Cordelia's image of a piece of an old leather shoe brings to mind a post I wrote two years ago when I FOUND (see what I did there) lots of bits of shoe leather on the foreshore near Blackfriars Bridge south side.
Here's a pile of other stuff I FOUND on the foreshore at Limehouse.

At the Foundling gift shop there is a selection of my jewellery made from clay pipes which perfectly fits in with the FOUND theme.
Some pics of the museum here.

Crouch End Festival 2016

It's local festival time.
North London is awash with them lately, in Caledonian Road, Barnsbury, Highgate, Stroud Green and more. (Go Google... I am feeling lazy!)

But, never mind all of them... I will be at the Crouch End Festival, specifically within Hornsey Town Hall on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th where I will have stall selling my cards featuring my photographs of local landmarks and signs (the latest one shown above), plus a selection of my Amelia Parker clay pipe jewellery and cards.
Hope to see you there – please bring some of the sunshine into the hall with you.

IWA Canalway Cavalcade, this Bank Holiday Weekend, 30April–02May, Little Venice

Three days of colourful boats, entertainment, food, stalls and music.
See the website for more info.
Come and find me at my stall at the far end of the row above the towpath on Warwick Crescent where I will have a broad selection of items for sale:

Greeting cards (blank inside with envelopes) featuring some of my canal and Cavalcade images. More cards here.

Clay pipe jewellery,  Thames glass pendants,  Clay Pipe Pete and Smokey Joe greeting cards,      London landmark cards,  upcycled leather accessories,  tins and small bric-a-brac

Warwick Crescent – What a lovely location!

On the Foreshore at Limehouse

Earlier this month a few friends joined me for a forage on the foreshore at Limehouse.

The tide was particularly low that day and the sun was shining on us too. Afterwards we went to a nearby pub for food and chats. All-in-all a very nice day out.
If you'd like to come and join me sometime please do get in touch via email (see above).  The next meet up will be the morning of Sunday 10th April.
Please note that I hold an official Port Of London Authority Foreshore Permit – there are restrictions to what you are allowed to do when accessing the Thames beaches.

The Old Royal Naval College and Christmas lights at Greenwich

The Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich is a fascinating place. Lots of interesting artefacts, art and information. Be sure to check out the Painted Hall.

On the way to take another consignment of my clay pipe jewellery to the ORNC gift shop last week I stopped to admire the Christmas decorations in Greenwich Market, on the Cutty Sark and the colour-changing dome on the entrance to the foot tunnel that joins Greenwich with the Island Gardens on The Isle of Dogs. 

Ah... lovely.

Find the jewellery display to the right of the till near the main door facing the Thames

Cards cards cards

I am really pleased that greeting cards featuring my photos of places of interest in north London have been selling well.
A selection is shown here:

Greeting cards 135mm square supplied with envelopes in cello bags. 

Buy them for £2.50 each from The Only Place For Pictures in Upper Street, Islington (opposite the Union Chapel), Arts and Vintage (opposite Highgate tube station) and Oxfam Bookshops in Highgate and Crouch End.

Snowflakes 135mm square. All others A6/postcard size.

Or buy direct from me, either by contacting me, or finding me at one of my stalls where I will also have my other cards showing my images created from clay pipes; Pete and Joe, London Landmarks, Christmas trees and snowflakes.
Buy four get one free – get five for £10 for any cards when purchasing in person.
Many are also available on Etsy (free p&p).

The Foundling Museum

The Foundling Museum sits tucked away on the north side of leafy Brunswick Square Gardens in Bloomsbury.
Hidden within you will find many time-absorbing items of interest. As well as artefacts illustrating the moving stories of orphaned and abandoned children, you'll see artworks by Hogarth, Gainsborough and Reynolds, and a huge collection of manuscripts, recordings and books relating to Handel, including his will and the manuscript of The Messiah.

And, as shown above, in the reception area there is a small gift shop. Take time to check out the truly unique jewellery made from clay pipes (plug! plug!*).
There is also a very good cafe there.

*see other outlets here

A Forage on the Foreshore in Rotherhithe then a walk around Surrey Quays along the Thames Path to Greenwich

On Sunday 23rd August I met up with a group of friends for a Forage on The Foreshore. This time we met late morning outside The Angel pub at Rotherhithe with a plan to walk east towards.
The weather forecast had not been favourable and so we were not surprised that soon after we hit the foreshore the clouds broke. We managed to stay beachside for just over an hour before the rain set in and retired to The Mayflower for lunch where we assessed our finds including the usual bits of pottery, clay pipe, glass and metal fragments, plus an old leathermakers awl.
The sky cleared so we continued eastwards along the Thames Path to Greenwich...

Start point outside The Angel / lunch at The Mayflower / Old Salt Quay / Malcolm and Graham admiring the view 

A short stop at The Blacksmith's Arms for excellent coffee. It's a lovely old wood-panelled pub with multi-hinged hooks for coats and bags on the walls and under the bar (take note modern pub designers!) and a restaurant at the rear. I enjoyed chatting to Stuart/Stewart, one of the locals, at the bar. I also spotted a great old photograph of how the Surrey Quays area used to look in its docklands heyday – compare that with how it looks today. 

We then popped in to Surrey Docks Farm; I will post about that separately sometime soon.

Continuing along the Thames Path – there are a few bits of unlabelled metal chain and what look like discarded anchors here and there but nothing to explain them. A prime example is an old crane near Custom Reach House. Note the strange net curtaining in the cabin window! I could see no information about this one piece of preserved history and wonder if people actually know why it is there or what it used to be used for. It's the same on The Isle of Dogs.
Click here for info about the history of London's docks.

A few minutes along the path is Helsinki Gardens with its expensive modern riverside apartments. A pretty friendly cat was keen to enhance William Pye's Curlicue. But we had no idea why it was there or what its relevance was so thanks to Tom for doing the research.

There are many different types of dockers' mistresses along the path and you can clearly see why they are so affectionately called by by looking at some of the ones along this stretch! Others though, like the ones at South Dock Marina, look more like Wellington boots.
This is the only area along the route where signage is used to explain about the historical features left behind as hints of the past; the hydraulic lifting gear, the swing bridge (not shown here), the lock keeper's cottage,etc. I also noticed a couple of lovely old Victorian lamp posts.

Further along the signage stops. A Pair of gateposts just stand there with no explanation, ditto a badly repaired obelisk. These must, I am sure be remnants of long-ago dismantled wharves. And I often wonder if anyone else knows what those freestanding crumbling manmade constructions in the river were used for. Read on...

More unlabelled things as we advanced on Deptford.
A gridded orb sits on one of the stuctures. A wooden board is all that remains to explain it; the plaque that used to be screwed to it having been been removed. I photographed it years ago and can here tell you that it's called Circumsphere by Chris Marshall and Stephen Lewis and was erected in September 1998. The plaque read: "The [red] discs [on its surface] show the route of Sir Francis Drake's circum-navigational voyage around the earth which was completed at this waterfront in 1581." It went on to explain that it is mounted on a 'dolphin' which is the name given to many small mooring structures that sit by the River Thames and provided low tide moorings for ships, barges, tugs and liners. So there you go.
Faded, scratched, unkempt boards show an attempt at generic historical information near the old Royal [Navy] Dockyards buildings (now the Pepys Research Centre) and Convoys Wharf (at the time of writing, a huge empty fenced-off wasteland awaiting redevelopment).
We also spotted a signpost with six pointers on it each none of which have anything written on them. Who knows, perhaps this is also art. It's hard to tell. Ditto the set of raised stairs that Malcolm climbed "just cos they were there". 

And so to Paynes Wharf which in the past five years has been transformed into apartments and exhibition space. All that's been retained of the old wharf buildings are some of the boundary walls including the arched river frontage though I can't understand why 'they' decided to paint white the landward-facing side of the building opposite Twinkle Park (what a lovely name!). The charming cobbled street that leads down to Watergate Steps is still intact.   

These are older pics. The first two pics are mine taken in 2009. The archive pic (sorry, I can't now recall where I got this from) shows how the name along the top is not the same as it appears today.    

Left, the shell of the Princess of Wales pub in a back street.
The Dowell's Coals depot at Deptford Creek is now long along with this sign which used to sit on the gate at the junction of Creek Road and Norway Street. When I was there in 2009 the mouth of the creek was more visible from the Thames and there was a lot of mud and remnants of old piers and landings to be seen. I now wich I had photographed that. Now we've got 'swanky', 'luxury' apartments wrapped around keep fit centres, restaurants and supermarkets.
The last two pics show me on the throne (thanks to Meike). I can't recall who that fella with the small head is but he's holding a clay pipe.
And finally... Greenwich.

What a great day out. Thanks to all who came along!

More Info
Please note that finding specific info on the area for the above has proved difficult and I have as good as given up. Googling the streets and squares tends to results in lists from estate agents. Wikipedia gives a rough outline of the general area here. 

CityShowcase Market at Embankment Gardens

Warning!!!  This is a blatant plug!!!

Those of you who have followed my clay pipe creations will be aware that I have been promising to produce a range of London landmarks to complement the Pete and Joe cards.

Well... (drum roll please) ... I can announce that they are hot off the press this week and will available to buy from Yours Truly this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Embankment Summer Market.

Also see the #CityShowcase website.

If you can't get to the Embankment Gardens please see my online store.

Boston Manor House

Earlier this month I went on a tour of the lovely Boston Manor House with a group from London Historians.
It's hard to believe that I had never visited this gorgeous Jacobean house before.
The house with its adjacent walled garden is set within beautiful parkland just a short walk from Boston Manor tube station and is a stark contrast the neighbouring modern constructions, particularly the elevated section of the M4 and the huge glass tower of GlaxoSmithKine.

It was a lovely surprise to find that Janet, our guide, was wearing one of my clay pipe necklaces – she said it was a present from a friend at Christmas. How lovely.

Boston Manor House has a rich history and has had many owners who have had extended, remodelled and renovated it over the centuries. The rooms inside are a joy; intricate carved and moulded walls and ceilings, trompe l'oeil up the stair case walls and some very special hand printed wallpaper on the upper floor.
I'll leave it at that – go see it for yourself!

Interior details including a date in the ceiling and a not very bog standard toilet.

Canalway Cavalcade 2015 – Little Venice, May Bank Holiday Weekend

Three days of colourful boats, stalls, music, demonstrations, food, dancing and lots more this weekend 2nd, 3rd and 4th May at the canal basin at Little Venice.
More info here.
Hope to see you there – come and find me at my stall on Warwick Crescent overlooking the boats.
Oh, I almost forgot – please bring a pint of ale with you ;-)

Bottles and bricks on Battersea beach

Every now and then I get a group of friends together and we go for what I call "A Forage on the Foreshore".
Yesterday the weather was forecast as 6ºC but bright and sunny, so a few of us including Caroline and Malcolm met up under the south side of Battersea Bridge. Having enjoyed it there last time, this time we did the same walk in reverse, continuing westwards almost to the railway bridge and then retraced our steps halfway back again to return to street level via the slipway next to the old church.
The beach at Battersea is mostly shingly and pebbly but there are some interesting old things to be spotted by the eagle-eyed.
As seen under my shadow here, the foreshore is littered with old building bricks, and many of them have names embedded in them. At first, seeing so many with the name RAMSAY on them we thought there must have been a brick-making factory on that site, but moving on we found lots more names, including NETTLE and THISTLE (nice) so I now think these are the remains of some demolished buildings, especially as some of the fancier shaped pieces had numbers on them which, I'd assume, were identification codes for the builders as to where they should be placed. More ideas about this are welcome.

Considering how many Ramsay bricks we saw it's hard to fathom how I didn't capture one. Of the others, Thistle, Nettle, Sneyd, Douglas, Brandon and Stephenson were easy to read but the last three aren't so clear – Cliff(something)–Worth(sonething), Phorpres? and John Steve(ns/son)?

Further along, near four house boats moored parallel to the shore, we found a lot of glass – big chunks with metal bits embedded within, etched fragments, broken and tide-tumbled pieces, little medicine bottles and jars, and one ink bottle with its stopper inside.

Here are some of the finds I brought home including four clay pipe stem fragments that will probably end up in a necklace, and some nice old bits of pottery which I have yet to date.

If you'd like to join us for a forage just contact me via my other site here.

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday

Today is Black Friday, so named because as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving in the States it marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. The word black here meaning the start of business being in profit, rather than in the red (debt).
So I thought I'd mark the day with another collection of nice black boot scrapers that I have spotted around central London.

To see some of my earlier posts about boot scraper please click here and here and here.

Then next weekend, 6th December, sees Small Business Saturday, a day to promote and buy from small traders and independent shops.
I will be selling my clay pipe creations at markets on both of these days. Today at Camden I will be offering a 20% discount. See my full market list here.

Me me me!

Nicola Baird writes Islington Faces, a blog about creative people in Islington. We met when I had a stall selling my clay pipe jewellery and Holloway photo montages at a Rowan Arts event earlier this year and shortly after, she contacted me to ask if I'd like to be interviewed too.
Here's a link to it. I'm not sure about the gurning portrait in there so, seeing as that pic's available to the masses, you might as well see some other pics of me too; all taken in London including four self portraits:

Whitecross Street Party 2014

The Whitecross Street Party 2014 – Rise of the Non-conformists is a fab fun colourful central London street festival for all ages. and it's happens this weekend 19th and 20th July.
It doesn't seem like a year since last year's great event which is shown in the pics above.
See you there – I will have a stall again – if I get time I will be also selling some photographic collections of the local area as well as the usual clay pipe stuff.

Museums and Heritage Show, Olympia 14th & 15th May

This show, taking place over two days within the West Hall at Olympia, will be packed full of cultural, archaeology, heritage and historical info.
Free to enter – pre-register on the M&S site.
Find me at stand L2.
And speaking of history, there is a fabulous old shop just around the corner, at the eastern end of Blythe Road. Now sadly closed, it's a mix of Edwardian, Art Deco and the Swinging Sixties:

A Rotherhithe Forage

Last Sunday I met up with a group of like-minded friends for what I call 'A Forage On The Foreshore'.
This is the second of these gatherings I have organised – I check the tides for the best day with a late morning low tide so that we can end up in a nearby pub for drinks and food.
Last November we met in Wapping. This time the start point was on the opposite side of the river at Cumberland Wharf, Rotherhithe. We made our way slowly west along the foreshore, ending up quaffing pints of Sam Smith's and eating lunch in The Angel on Bermondsey Wall.
I now plan to do this approximately every month, visiting a different stretch of the Thames each time. If you'd like to come along for the next one on February 5th then please email me and I will and send you meet-up details in due course.

The 12 Days of Christmas

By the 6th January there will be a lot of birds flapping about, making a lot of bird poo when they are scared by the noisy pipes and drums.
The Lords, the dancing ladies and the milkmaids will be slipping over in the stuff as they try to get to the fruit and the jewellery.
It won't be a pretty sight.

Top: Highgate, Waterloo, Highbury+Islington, Charterhouse
Middle: Hoxton, Camden, Pimlico, Stroud Green
Bottom: Victoria, Clerkenwell, Wapping, Notting Hill

Pipes and books and interesting things

Whilst doing a stall at Old Spitalfields Market a couple of months back a man stopped to chat about my wares and we stood for ages chatting about all things Thames foreshore-y and mudlark-y.
Turns out that John is one of the 50 or so people with an official licence to use a metal detector and do more than pick at the surface (like me). He has found all sorts of interesting things over the years. In addition to this he also provides a service helping people find their lost property for just the price of the reward offered, i.e. no result, no fee. See here for more info.
John also makes and sells an interesting and useful product – he hollows out books to create secret compartments for hiding keys, money, jewellery and the like. Aptly named Hollow Books.
John and I will both be trading at Spitalfields on Saturday 22nd. More info here.

Below are some Thames foreshore images by yours truly: