This was an unexpected and most welcome surprise, discovered while walking to Vauxhall tube station after attending a large team meeting at the Oval in London recently. Because of who I am, I always have an eye out for anything even slightly resembling graffiti or street art wherever I go. It must be most annoying for the people I am with, that I might appear to be distracted or uninterested. The truth is that I am always looking, searching for the ‘out of the ordinary’ whether that be street art or architecture and the like.
Stewy, The Cricketers, London, March 2023
The extra surprise was that this stencil piece of Ian Dury is by Bristol’s Stewy, and I felt rather at home finding it. My colleagues weren’t particularly interested, which was regrettable, in fact I think they found my desire to investigate and photograph the piece a little weird.
Although I was never much of a fan of Ian Dury, his impact on the music scene was undeniable and his subversive glance at society certainly chimes for me. The significance of the location of this stencil is that The Cricketers pub was a venue at which Ian Dury and the Blockheads played some of their early gigs. The venue is now a shuttered and disused building, but one with a great history. Thank you Stewy for making my day in London.
Doors 209 – Doors of Westminster with blue plaques
I am having a break from Croatia doors today, but will return to them next time.
I had a meeting in Westminster last week, and as always when I am there I took a few door photographs (some might say I am obsessive, I prefer to think that I am curious and interested). When I was downloading the pictures, I noticed that there were a few blue plaques adjacent to the doors and decided to do a themed set of doors this week.
Front door, 55 Tufton Street, Westminster, February 2023
I start with a notorious building, 55 Tufton Street, which is the geographical hub for a raft of right wing “think tanks”. I have stressed the name think tank, because it is a term used to give some kind of credibility to organisations with strong agendas who disproportionately influence government policy. These organisations, such as the Taxpayer’s Alliance, the Centre for Policy Studies, Institute for Economic Affairs, The Free Market Forum, the Global Warming Policy Foundation (climate change denial group) and the Adam Smith Institute, are not remotely transparent and their funding cloaked in secrecy and yet they have extraordinary power over our right wing politicians. 55 Tufton Street is known as the birthplace of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-budget that crashed the economy.
So what does this have to do with blue plaques? Well, a left-leaning campaigning organisation called “Led by Donkeys” pulled off a stunt about 4 months ago in which they erected an enormous blue plaque on the front of the building stating “The UK Economy was Crashed Here”, and they filmed the whole thing, describing what happens behind the doors of 55 Tufton Street and the influence it has over our current Tory Government. You can watch the YouTube video here, and if you are interested in UK politics I cannot recommend it enough.
Other blue plaque doors I encountered follow:
Black front door, Sir John Gielgud blue Plaque, Westminster, February 2023
This one was the home of Sir John Gielgud, one of our great actors and luvvy, whose acting career spanned 70 years. I once named a fish (a tilapia) after him.
Black front door, Lord Reith blue Plaque, Westminster, February 2023
This next place was the home of The Lord Reith, who established the tradition of independent public service broadcasting in the UK
Black front door, TE Lawrence blue Plaque, Westminster, February 2023
Finally this building was the home of TE Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia, who was played by the magnificent Peter O’Toole in the film of the same name.
Lots of links and reading in this post for those with the time, and some nice pictures for those with less time. May I wish you all a wonderful weekend ahead.
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.
I have been very challenged in recent weeks with finding time to write Thursday doors posts and equally frustratingly I have neglected my reading of other bloggers’ posts, so I apologise for the radio silence and promise to catch up on my reading when I get a moment.
This post will necessarily be quite brief and is the third instalment of Westminster doors from visiting my London office back in May. I hope you enjoy this little selection:
A fine pair of doors with an impressive shared awning, Westminster, London, May 2022
Bold wooden door and stone surround, Westminster, London, May 2022
Stunning and austere period door, Westminster, London, May 2022
Nice wooden door with glass panels, Westminster, London, May 2022
An extraordinary door and carved wooden surround and awning, Westminster, London, May 2022
Three doors, including a tradesman’s entrance, Westminster, London, May 2022
That pretty much rounds it off this week, and for Westminster doors for a little while – my next series of posts will feature doors from Porto, Portugal, and you are in for a little bit of a treat.
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.
Still the pressure of work prohibits as full a post as I should like to write this morning for Thursday doors. The selection I have for you this week is another batch of doors from Westminster, where I have to work about once a month. On my work trips, I take the opportunity to photograph a few doors, to spice up the walk from Westminster station to the office.
I guess I am fortunate that the walk takes me through some extraordinary and historic places, and it is all too easy to take such things for granted. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy today’s selection:
Westminster door with beautiful fanlight, Westminster, London, May 2022
Westminster Mansions door, Westminster, London, May 2022
Enormous doorway to Romney House, Westminster, London, May 2022
Ghost door at Phillimore Chambers, Westminster, London, May 2022
Beautiful arched nine-panel black door, Westminster, London, May 2022
So that is it for another week. No doors from me next week as I will be on a mini-break with my daughter. Of course, I will take the opportunity to go on a couple of doorscursions!
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.
You may recall that I occasionally have team meetings in London. Well, with a return to blended working, occasional has turned into regular monthly meetings, the most recent of which was last Friday. The office is in Westminster, and this time I decided to change my normal route to work from the tube station, to give myself a bit of a doorscursion through some of the more interesting bits of the City of Westminster.
No visit to Westminster is complete without at least a glance at Westminster Abbey, but there are many other notable buildings in the area, and some extraordinary offices and private homes too. I think that this selection shows off some truly magnificent doors that Westminster has to offer. I hope you enjoy these gems.
Westminster Abbey doors, Westminster, London, May 2022
Westminster Abbey doors, Westminster, London, May 2022
Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, May 2022
Doors on a building adjacent to the abbey, Westminster, London, May 2022
Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, May 2022
The Supreme Court door and doorway with stunning carvings, Westminster, London, May 2022
There will be more doors from Westminster next time, but until then, may I wish you a very enjoyable 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.
Doors 180 – Some doors from the city of Westminster, Greater London
I work as a civil servant, and my department is based in London, although I report to an office in Bristol. As we emerge into a new normal, my immediate team (four of us, each located in different parts of England) have decided to get together for meetings once a month in London at our main office. The most recent meeting was last Friday, and the walk from Westminster underground station to the department takes me past some rather grand doors. Here are some of them I thought worthy of sharing:
Number 3, carved wooden door with a superb masonry door surround, Westminster, London, April 2022
Blue door with a fine stone arc, Westminster, London, April 2022
Black door and fine steps, Westminster, London, April 2022
Blue door with white iron work above, Westminster, London, April 2022
Gateway doors, back entrance to Westminster School, Westminster, London, April 2022
Ecliastical door with castellated surround, Westminster, London, April 2022
Black door with a stunning carved timber surround , Westminster, London, April 2022
Perhaps I can bag another clutch of doors next time I return to the London office, that’s yer lot for now though.
May I wish you a pleasant 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.
Natural adventures 