A well known London street

Next time you are out shopping in Central London take a break and look up and around you at some of the gorgeous architectural details.
These images were all taken in a 500 metre stretch of one busy street.

The Dandy Warhols, Sunday 8th August, Koko, Camden

As ever, they made a wonderful noise.

And what a lovely venue.

All the letters below can be found in Camden.

Blokes and fellas and birds and babes

If I said to you "I was talking to a bloke in the pub..." or "I met this fella in the street..." you'd have no idea whether he was aged 18 or 81 or anywhere in between. But it seems to me that we are missing equivalent female words.

Please be sure that this is not some feminist 'men vs women' thing, and neither is it about age; I just think that 'bloke' and fella' are such great non-specific words. I even like the word 'geezer' too, though to certain people that word describes a certain particular type of blokey fella.

I have discussed this subject with friends and the best female counterparts we can come up with that have no equal and opposite, as in man/woman, gentleman/lady, boy/girl are [sadly] 'bird' and 'babe', both of which are bound to upset a lot of people.

So, until someone can think of a good, inoffensive, ageless word for a female between 18 and 81, here is a collection of birds.

Click anywhere on the montage to see it at a bigger size.

Row 1: Vulture(?) on a closed down pub, Brook Drive, SE1; T Bird, Blackstock Road, N4; The Eagle, City Road, N1; The Falcon (now Waxy's Little Sister) Wardour/Lisle Street, W1; weathervane, Tanner Street, SE1.

Row 2: Truman pub lantern, Coldharbour Lane, SW9; The Swan (no more), Bethnal Green Road, E1; The Old Eagle, Royal College Street, NW1; window shutter, Hanbury Street, E1; coal hole cover, Earls Court.

Row 3: Pelican House, Peckham Road, SE5; Ashmount Primary School, Hornsey Lane, N19; The Swan Hotel, Hammersmith, W6; Eagle Terrace, Shepherd's Bush Road, W6; The Swan, Vauxhall Bridge Road, SW1.

Row 4: Bird sculpture, Stoke Newington Church Street, N16; The Junction Arms (no more), Praed Street, W2; Weathervane, Holloway, N7; The Swan, Gracechurch Street, EC3; The Spread Eagle (now the Jackdaw and Stump), Homerton High Street, E9.

All of the above can be found here.

Happy birthday to me

It's my birthday on Saturday, something I share with Princess Anne, Napoleon, and my friends Julie and Val.

I don't really 'do' the star sign thing but I'll use any excuse to put a collection of London images together, so here are some Leos.

There are some weird ones about. A lot of them appear ugly or confused when I think they were meant to look ferocious. Others look dim or fey. You might recognise a few of them. Here's my complete set.

Anyway, it looks like the weather is going to be sunny this weekend so my previous posting about sun motifs seems to have worked...

Doorway mosaics

Here are some of the pictures I have taken of the wonderful mosaic floors that can still be found at the entrances to old pubs and shops. Modern efforts at this kind of thing aren't ever up to this standard.

More photos like these can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/janepbr

Pubs with Original Names

Some pubs still use the same name that was embedded in the fabric of the original building in the form of lettering or a motif. Some of these motifs, as in the cases of the Yorkshire Grey and The Bull and Gate, are lovely.

Below is a selection of my favourites, so far...

A larger collection of my photos can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/janepbr

Ghost pubs – residential

There are lots of lovely old pubs that have closed down and been converted living accommodation. Pubs and bars are in decline these days probably due to the price of alcohol and the smoking ban. It’s much cheaper to buy your booze and fags at the supermarket and enjoy them at home. All rather ironic if your home is part of an old drinking establishment. There are far too many of these to take a photo of every one I see, so below is a just small selection some of which even have the old pub’s name still visible.

Row 1: An old Truman pub in Clarence Road, E5; Barnsbury Street, N1; Market Road, N7, The Lion, North Road, N7; Roman Way, N7.

Row 2: Bromley Arms, Cleveland Street, W1; Market Tavern, York Way, N7; The Tollington, Tollington Way, N7; The Rainbow, Liverpool Road, N1.

Row 3: The Falkland Arms, Falkland Road, NW5; Richmond Avenue, N1; The Montague Arms, Benwell Road, N7; The Rising Sun, Barnsbury, N1; Roman Way, N7.

Row 5: Southgate Arms, Southgate road, N1; Caledonian Road, N7; The Turks Head, Wapping, E1; The Builders Arms, St Paul’s Road, N1.

A larger collection of my photos can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/janepbr

Ghost pubs

Many pubs have changed identity over the years but the ones I am particularly interested in are those that have the original name embedded in the fabric of the building, either as the name itself or a motif. Sometimes they are new pubs, but quite often another type of business has moved in downstairs, or the whole building has been converted into private homes. There are thousands of examples in London alone and shown below is just a selection.

Other pubs with historic value such as The Nag's Head, Holloway Road, N7 have no visual stamp on the pub to hint at their former identities, which is a shame. The Nag's Head was once the main pub of the area and lends its name to the local shopping centre. It is shown as a destination plate on LRT buses.

During the past 20 years the pub has changed owners and names a few times. In the 1990s for a short period it was The Mustang and then O’Neill’s took it over and gave it their nasty yellow and blue livery, complete with pretend post office. Then all the pub fittings were ripped out and for a while it become a shop selling household stuff like glass coffee tables and throws. These days, despite a campaign against the idea by local residents, it's an Agora gaming centre. But there's hardly ever anyone in there so I can only speculate that very soon a new name will appear over the door.

I find it all quite sad. But hey, perhaps it will return to being a pub one day...

Shown above is a selection of these 'ghost pubs'.

The current name or use in shown brackets.

Row 1: The Frying Pan, E1 (balti restaurant); The Queen’s Head, WC1 (empty); St Martin’s Tavern, NW1 (Kaz Kreol); The Nevill, N16 (residential); The Swan, E2 (grill); The Unicorn, N1 (Papa John’s pizzas).

Row 2: The Elephant (or Elephants’ Head?), E5 (Fitzgerald’s);

The Old Farm House, NW5 (O’Reilly’s); The Green Man, N1 (Nailworld); The Prince of Wales, NW1 (Positively 4th Street);

The Half Moon, N19 (The Quays).

Row 3: Princess Beatrice, NW1 (Tommy Flynn’s); The Anchor, N1 (Polsmak restaurant); The Hare and Hounds, N1 (Albert & Pearl); The Grafton Arms (The Swimmer); The Old Parrs Head, N1 (Jigsaw); The Wheatsheaf, W1 (Langoletto restaurant).

Row 4: Crown and Castle, E2 (noodle bar); The Three Wheatsheaves, N1 (The Outback); Hoxton Distillery, N1 (The Macbeth); The Robin Hood, W3 (Connolly’s); Cock Tavern, N19 (Nambucca);

Row 5: The Norfolk Arms, N19 (Chris Stevens DIY); The Spread Eagle, E9 (The Jackdaw & Stump); The Alexandra Coffee House, N19 (locksmiths); Royal George, N1 (The Bombay Bicycle Club); The Duke of Edinburgh, NW1 (Green Light pharmacy); The Griffin (?), E5 (Hackney Building & Plumbing Supplies).

Row 6: The Tam O’Shanter, WC2 (Scotch Steak House); The Duke of Sussex, N1 (Fredericks); The Weavers Arms, N16 (newsagent); The Huntingdon, N1 (empty); The Rainbow, N1 (private home); The Intrepid Fox, W1 (empty).

Row 7: An old Truman pub, E5 (residential); The Pembury Tavern E5 (residential); The Southgate Arms, N1 (residential) ; The Montague Arms, N7 (residential); The White Hart (empty).

A larger collection of my photos can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/janepbr

Architectural motifs

The quirky details that make a building interesting. Again, these are all to be found along the A1 in Islington

A larger collection of my photos can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/janepbr

London's old pub signs

All of these old pub signs are along the A1 Holloway Road, Upper Street and Islington High Street. Some are now pubs by another name and others have become shops.

A larger collection of my photos can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/janepbr