.
Near season climax
one last chance to see the boys
on London-bound train
.
by Scooj
Tag: London
Thursday doors – 2 May 2024 – Doors from Highgate, London
Doors 263 – Doors from Highgate, London, November 2023 (Part II)
The trip to my old stomping ground of Highgate Village in November last year, where I spent my teenage years, was both surprising and nostalgic. Naturally in my youth one door seemed to be much the same as another, and I never looked beyond their functionality, so ‘discovering’ these Highgate doors as an older and wiser person was more than a passing pleasure.
This second selection of doors hints at the time of day, early afternoon, as the low autumn sun was casting shadows, and the light was fading. There is no theme to the doors this week, just another eclectic display captured during an hour-long walk. I sound the whole thing a slightly ‘out of body’ experience, struggling to get to grips with the fact that I walked these streets most days of my life to and from school.
I hope you enjoy this week’s doors as much as I did.
There is a bonus story about the Highgate Pantry, which used to be Wylies Bakers Shop, when I lived there. A school friend and I used to run the school Zoological Society, which was a very grand name for a brick out building where we used to house small pets, such as rabbits, mice, gerbils, rats and an Axolotl called Wobert. We looked after school pupil’s pets during the holidays too sometimes.
Feeding the animals was always a bit difficult and supplies would run low, so we hatched the idea of asking Wylies bakery if they had any leftover food which we could use to feed the pets. To our utter surprise, they were more than happy to give us ‘stale’ bread, buns, pastries and the like at the end of the day in a large brown paper sack. So roughly twice a week we’d collect our sack to feed the animals. Naturally, being teenage boys with a creative streak, we’d select out the best buns for ourselves, which we’d eat and share with school friends, the rest went to the small mammals. For a couple of years, the Zoological Society became very popular indeed.
Another week draws to an end. More to come from Highgate next time.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
by Scooj
St Totteringham’s Day
.
Bragging rights resume
North London is red and white
upwards and onwards
.
• St Totteringham’s day is the day of the football league season when it becomes mathematically impossible for Tottenham Hotspur to finish above Arsenal. Today is that day.
Waiting
.
I’m outside the door
if you’d care to take a look
it’s been a long time
.
by Scooj
Thursday doors – 25 April 2024 – Doors from Highgate, London
Doors 262 – Doors from Highgate, London, November 2023 (Part I)
Last November I went to London to visit one of my uncles who has been rather unwell. He lives in Highgate in North London, where I lived for much of the first eighteen years of my life. After paying my uncle a visit, I thought I’d nip up to Highgate Village which was once so familiar to me when I was growing up, and where I went to secondary school.
Of course when I lived there I never really took in the special place, the architecture and of course the doors – I think appreciation of doors is something that comes with age. This post is the first of several selections of doors that I managed to snap in the space of an hour, before a rapid retreat back to Bristol. My uncle, in case you are wondering, is recovering well albeit quite slowly. I hope you enjoy this week’s selection:
Spending time in Highgate and writing this post now fills me with nostalgia. There will be plenty more doors to come from Highgate in the next few weeks. May I wish you a very happy weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
by Scooj
5904. Southampton Row, London
Serendipity is real – some things are just meant to be. I recently ran a workshop in Holborn, London and had engineered enough time, after the event, to walk from Holborn to Bedford Square where I lived with my parents for a few years when I was home from University. I simply wanted to see the old place and feel that nostalgia for a time when I was in my prime. To get there, I did a spot of psychogeography, knowing roughly where I was heading, but taking a random route to get there. My reward was to stumble across this Dan Kitchener extravaganza on the NYX Hotel in Southampton Row. I had no idea of its existence.
I imagine that Dan Kitchener charged a hefty sum for this extraordinary commission incorporating a collection of pieces. The first section features one of his incredible rainy urban Tokyo scenes full of nocturnal buzz and bustle – a scene that he has perfected over many years.
Adjacent to this is a beautiful portrait, stunningly painted, of a woman wearing a see-through plastic coat and pink neon glasses, straight out of the dystopian world of Blade Runner. Indescribably brilliant.
Next up, opposite the entrance to the hotel, is this concrete column painted with an outstanding ‘wet window’ effect piece. This is such a clever technique that leaves you wondering, how on earth does he do this?
Finally, and on a huge elevation, Dan Kitchener has painted a piece which extends from the top of the hotel to the ground, a total of eleven floors I think – a truly world-class piece.
The top section of the mural features some stylised views of the city, while the bottom is a busy wet London scene, complete with red buses and black cabs – perfect for a tourist audience. Rarely does one get to see such a collection of artwork, and yet here it is in the centre of London – I wonder how many people simply walk past it without so much as a glance – more fool they. A perfect end to a great day in London.
E and R
.
You kept us waiting
twenty three years a couple
tied the knot at last
.
by Scooj
Journey
.
Bristol to Bath Spa
Swindon and Didcot Parkway
London Paddington
.
by Scooj
* I know. A rather lazy haiku today.
A new dawn
.
Passing through fog banks
glimpses of sunrise between
train trip to London
.
by Scooj
Roo
A gallery of outstanding animal characters from London artist Roo.
Instargram: @roo_art
All photographs by Scooj
