Dragons' Den

It seems like every time I put the TV on lately there is that trailer for BBC's Dragons' Den, which starts again tonight.

I have question... if Deborah Meaden is so bloody wealthy, how come that in the trailer it is evident that she is suffering from very bad VPL? Euch! Surely, in her position, she should be able to find either a skirt that fits her properly or some better knickers?

Sadly, I cannot find the trailer anywhere on the web to be able to link to it here in order to enlighten those of you who don't live in the UK, but according to this link Deborah likes to look good but, though she really likes clothes, she has no time or inclination to go shopping herself, so it's all down to Minty, her personal stylist, who "pushes the boundaries" for her. Thanks Minty.

Shown above is a repeat of a mosaic of dragons I have used before with captions.

More dragons here.

Stratton Street dragons

Stratton Street runs round the back of Green Park Station. At the far left/northern corner, high up on the on No.15 there is a hopper that I have always admired that takes the form of a grotesque bird. I often stop to admire it, but it appears I've never taken a decent photo of it, so here it is on streetview with a screen grab below from that link: 

It's a pretty impressive and unusual bit of metalwork. The building also sports some other intriguing architectural details and embellishments.  

But, until last week, I had never properly looked at the red brick house at No.17 to notice that the metalwork in front of most of the windows is topped with little dragons' heads.

I need to use a better camera for things like this, sorry, but you get the gist!

It's a residential block. What's all that about then?

This reminds me of The Soup Dragon in The Clangers. 

More architectural dragons for your delectation here

Devils, Demons and Dragons

Oh how my eyes roll when I hear that daft story about why these delightful demons leer down over Cornhill in the City of London. If you don't know what I talking about, go google. I mean, really, eh?! If true, why did the clergy leave them in place? They are indeed unique in form, possibly one-offs, but they aren't the only sculptures of this type in London – you need only to look up and around you to see that London is splattered with fabulously devilish embellishments akin to these fellas. And I'm not here talking about gargoyles and grotesques on churches and the like.

To illustrate my point, I've put together here a selection of some of my favourites, starting a few minutes' walk from these little demons. And I'll start at the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Cannon Street where there are lots of strange lumpy lizards:

At first glance the building resembles a triangular wedding cake, but look closer and see that between the windows on the upper floors there are many different dragon-like beasts, each one totally unique as if made by a different person. 

From here, continue along Queen Victoria St to The Blackfriars public house where you'll find these two spooky fellas in amongst all the other marvellous embellishments there:

Next, to another public house, and probably my favourite London demons. Every time I am near Paddington Station I have to make a detour to check that this old Truman's pub with its its unusual adornments is still intact:

 

Many residential properties built in the late Victorian to Edwardian era feature baying dragons above the front windows. These, I think, would have been available from the equivalent of today's Wickes or Travis Perkins builders supplies store:

And then there are serpents and mythological beasts on door knobs in Marylebone, under windows in Kensington and climbing up many different kinds of buildings, such as here in Chancery Lane:

You'll find them on tiled shop fronts in Kensington, splattered liberally across the exterior of St Pancras Hotel, or lurking within panels and friezes as per here (below) on a Fulham pub, or sitting atop other watering holes in Earls Court and Clapton: 

Aren't they fabulous?! Fantastically fabulous!

Dragons!

April 23rd is St Georges Day so my latest post for Londonist is on the theme of dragons.

Here is a montage of some of the pics I have used:

Top: Smithfield, EC1; West End Lane, NW6; Caledonian Park, N7.

Middle: Earls Court Road, SW5; Strand, WC2, Smithfield, EC1; Upper Clapton, E5.

Bottom: Cleveland Street, W1; Inglewood Road, NW6; St James', Bermondsey, SE16.

My previous Urban Sightseeing articles on subjects such at chemists, pawnbrokers, gasometers and foreign travel are listed at the bottom of the above link, or click here

Chelsea Harbour and Imperial Wharf

On Saturday I went down to the Chelsea waterfront to check out access points for a future foreshore forage*.
God, it's dull down there. Back in the late 90s /early 00s, I had the misfortune to occasionally freelance at an office within the Chelsea Harbour development. I found it devoid of any life and it made me feel trapped and alienated. It was just expensive furnishing emporiums, expensive boxy apartments, expensive boats and one or two places where you could get some over-priced snacks and drinks. I would breathe a sigh of relief when I reconnected with reality every evening.
I hoped things might have improved over the years and it would now be more of a go-to area vis-a-vis St Katharine Docks etc. But no.
I was in the vicinity for just over an hour and apart from a street cleaner, two people getting into a car, another two looking hungry, one man on one of the many apartment balconies with a river view, one lady with a cute little dog and one jogger, that was it.

Chelsea Harbour still looks like something the props department made for Howards Way. It's accessed via Lots Road, an area now standing mostly empty or derelict, waiting to be transformed into the next set of glass boxes for people who occasionally need a London pad. 

The Thames Path leads west from the harbour, via Imperial Wharf, under the beautiful brick-built Wandsworth Railway Bridge, and on to Wandsworth [road] Bridge. I only walked about three quarters of it before I turned back again.
Despite what Imperial Wharf's website says, nothing is happening there. This 'sought-after location' is dull dull dull. Or perhaps people who can afford £1000 a week rent money are also dull.
Along the path there are a few dockers' mistresses and metal ladders preserved within recesses in a modern fence designed to resemble an ocean liner indicating that this was once a lively and commercial stretch of the river. On the other side of the path there are overly-landscaped and manicured gardens in front of Imperial Wharf's imposing apartment blocks. It certainly doesn't look like a park to relax in. I very much doubt you can kick a ball about there. Ooh, sorry, just remembered I also saw two people sitting in the park, so that's a total of ten.
Next to a identikit riverfront pub there is a restaurant called the Blue Elephant; I think White Elephant might be a better name.
I also spotted near the harbour a few lamp stands with dragons on them and, moored at the river taxi jetty (closed), there was a gilded barge. Who owns this? Is it Royal?
A sign on the old power station gates reads: Chelsea Waterfront – Quintessentially London. Eh? Discuss.

*Sorry, fellow foragers, but there are no easy steps available, so this area won't be an area we'll be visiting in the future.

Stanley Arts, Norwood Junction... plus an ironmonger, a clocktower, a ghostsign and a canal

There are are areas of London I don't know so well including the South east corner that forms part of Croydon. A guided tour of Stanley Arts afforded me the opportunity for a quick snoop. Quick, because this week has been unusually cold for the time of year – it was snowing when I opened the curtains on Tuesday morning, something I have never before seen in London in November. The following day, I wrapped up warm and travelled almost the full length of the soon to be renamed Overground line from Highbury and Islington to Norwood Junction.

On exiting into Station Place I was greeted by a magnificent clocktower with a weathervane on the top and some inaccessible public toilets below ground. I found out later that this clocktower has a direct link to Stanley Arts centre. More later.

Cold weather has its benefits, as regards lovely blue skies! I explored the immediate area and found a ghostsign for Boots the Chemist above the convenience store on the corner of Belgrave Road...

... and a couple of nice coal hole covers bearing the name J G Stidder of Boro, SE London – that's an abbreviation for Borough in Southwark, a name and cover design I haven't seen before, even in Southwark. 

Within the pavement between the Boots sign and Portland there is a panel that tells the story of the Croydon Canal which opened in 1809. I could barely read it and so took a photo to enhance it. 

This canal was news to me and when I got back home I spent quite some time finding out more about it and comparing maps etc. The canal became redundant by 1836 and has since been replaced by railway lines.

And so to Stanley Arts. Wow wow wow, what a building – a superb example of Edwardian exuberance.

It's slathered in the best examples of architectural styles of the 1900s – elaborate metalwork, niches for sculptures (mostly lost or stolen during decades of neglect), fired tiles (probably, I suspect, Doulton of Lambeth), moulded ceiling roses and decorative panels, carved wood and more... 

The building comprises three parts, basically a school, a theatre and a hall. On the exterior there is a blue plaque to the man who built it and a lovely sign with a manicule directs punters to the stage. This leads into the gallery café area past a vestibule where a recessed carved panel hints at the how beautiful this building would have been a century ago.  

  

The panel is covered in rose gold paint which I think is Hammerite, a product chosen as a quick cover-all that has also been applied to many areas in the auditorium. This paint will, over time, be removed to reveal the original plasterwork or metal underneath. 

To the right of the gallery entrance there is a staircase with some beautiful handrails above which sits the only remaining carved marble bust here. Strange how only this one remains being as it's almost in reach yet others that were sited in higher recesses within the hall and on the front of the building were removed. This example is exquisitely carved and I wonder who carved it and where the others are now?  

In the  ceiling about the gallery café area there is a repeat motif of what at first looks like a dinosaur of some kind. But look closely and see that it's a fire-breathing dragon. I doubt there's any real relevance as dragons and demons were used as decoration on many buildings during this period.

The second two pcs above are within the lovely theatre space – wooden benches and a beautiful clock that reads"Time Flies / Mind your Business" which, rather than meaning 'don't be nosey' is actually reminding us that time is precious, to manage it wisely. 

Either side of that stage there are depictions of tragedy (as Medusa!) and comedy.

Almost every surface of the building boasts embellishments in the best products of the day. Glass, marble and fired tiles changing from deep red in the theatre to green in the hall areas. The staircase up to the hall is sublime and I wonder if the fired ceramics were created by Doulton Lambeth being as the design and colours is very similar to other examples I have seen.

The final three pics with the very Art Nouveau bluebell tiles repeat are all visible from the street in the corner portico here. And, I almost forgot the clocktower – it turns out it was erected in commemoration of the Stanley's 50th wedding anniversary hinting at how well loved the couple was.  

An absolute delight. I walked towards Annerley thinking to go exploring, but being as it was sooo cold I hopped on the first bus that came along which took me to Crystal Palace station. Rather than go straight home, I took the first train and enjoyed the line to Victoria followed by a wander around the backstreets of Belgravia and Knightsbridge because I recalled the was an exhibition of Underground maps I wanted to see... join me again tomorrow for that.

Dinosaurs and devils and angels and dragons

The latest fabulously entertaining video adventure from The Lost Valley of London is about dinosaurs. It's packed full of information.
Watch it here.
I haven't any pictures of dinosaurs myself but I do have plenty of pics of mythical and mythological creatures in and around London – yeah yeah dinosaurs are/were real, but they are/were pretty weird.

Top: Nat History Museum, West Hampstead, City of London, St Giles
Middle: Bermondsey, W1, Blackfriars, Highgate
Bottom: Soho, Paddington, Kensington, Vauxhall