London Storybook

That's a wrap

2010-10-22T12:18:00.000+01:00

After three and a half years in London, the time has come to move on.

I'm heading back to Australia for the summer. As much as I love the change of seasons here in the UK, the change into winter is always a particularly tough one!

Living in one of the biggest and most exciting cities in the world has meant a lot of ups and a few downs. But it has always been an amazing place to take photos.

I plan to leave this blog as is, to provide a photo album of my time here. And hopefully to inspire anyone else to come and visit or live here. Just bring some warm clothes!

My neighbourhood #2

2010-10-21T06:39:00.002+01:00

Some more photos from my other neighbourhood: West London. I've only lived here in Chiswick for the past six months, and West London for around a year in total, but its undoubtedly my favourite part of the city.

It's leafy and has enough parks and open spaces by the river to satisfy the Australian need for the great outdoors. But there's enough going on not to need to come into town on the weekend for adventure and excitement.

The pubs around here are among the best in the world. A big call, but an afternoon spent at the Roebuck or the Angelsea Arms is a very enjoyable experience indeed.

Fullers Brewery

2010-10-20T13:14:00.002+01:00

One of the last things I wanted to do before leaving London was a tour of the Fullers Brewery.

I'd often jogged and ridden past it on the river and was never sure if it was a proper working brewery. I mean, it looked so picturesque, so historic. Wasn't beer made in industrial parks in the Midlands these days?

Turns out the site in Chiswick has been brewing beer for over 350 years. On the two hour tour we learned that the men that used to shovel the malt from the vats drunk beer continuously throughout the job. And a daily beer allowance for Fullers employees was still in effect up until the 1980s.

A highly recommended and very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon in West London. You can book your own tour here.

My neighbourhood #1

2010-10-01T10:00:00.014+01:00

Some photos from the neighbourhood I've worked in for the past 3 years: Whitehall.

It's a place of two halves. In one, the tourists mill around Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Palace, 10 Downing Street and the other famous landmarks that stand in such a small area.

For the workers, its a place of huge government buildings, some faceless like the 1960s-era Department for Business, others majestic and historic like the Foreign Office. And on the streets scurry the civil servants, politicians and journos, rushing between meetings, Starbucks runs and trips to Pret a Manger.

OccasionallyI have to remind myself to look up and enjoy the view.

Some people have saved up thousands of pounds to come here and see these buildings. And I'm fortunate enough to walk past them every day.

West London

2010-09-17T12:55:00.002+01:00

Kent day trip

2010-08-22T21:34:00.001+01:00

Deal jetty, 1.06pm

Brighton

2010-07-26T09:51:00.002+01:00

A day trip to Brighton to celebrate my birthday. I took along a Holga medium format camera I've been borrowing to shoot some of the faded seaside grandeur this place does so well.

Devon

2010-06-28T22:18:00.001+01:00

Croyde Bay, 11.08am

I'm in the West Country for four days enjoying the sun, sand and cider that this part of England does so well.

More photos and stories at my travel blog Backpack Storybook.

Dorset weekender

2010-06-13T00:00:00.000+01:00

Hengistbury Head, Dorset 12.49pm

World Cup

2010-06-06T23:46:00.000+01:00

The World Cup has arrived in London. I arrived home one weekend to find the place adorned with English flags. There was flags on each balcony railing, bunting flying high above and flags stretching across the entrance gates.

I wonder what the French couple above us made of it. Or the Spanish family living next door?

First XI

2010-06-05T21:51:00.004+01:00

Chas, Vice Captain

For the past two or three summers I've been lucky enough to play cricket with a fantastic bunch of Englishmen. Their stroke play is incredible. All flashing blades and well placed shots.

I just wish they'd work on their sledging and their fielding! Sometimes I think they could benefit with a season out in Australia. They're too nice.

The highlight of the season is the annual grudge match at the Old Alleynians ground in Dulwich, a leafy suburb in south London. This year we played on a top notch grass track and won by a comfortable margin.

The Wicket (real turf too!)

A comfortable win

The skipper, Sam

The tunnel

2010-05-16T22:31:00.000+01:00

Ravenscourt Park 1.24pm

Narrowboating

2010-04-20T19:01:00.000+01:00

Somewhere on the Kennet and Avon Canal, Devizes

Spring

2010-04-17T23:15:00.000+01:00

Gloucestershire, 12.04pm

Wat Buddhapadipa

2010-04-11T22:59:00.001+01:00

I visited the Thai Buddhist temple in Wimbledon, south London, recently.

It was to see a friend who had spent the past six months in Thailand studying as a buddhist monk. His return had coincided with songkran, or Thai New Year, celebrations at the temple.

With the aromas from the food stalls, picnicking Thais and tranquil gardens it reminded me of my time in Thailand in 2006/07. Back then, encountering these sort of ornately decorated wats was almost a daily occurance in Thailand and Laos.

So it was slightly surreal to be photographing a wat in the middle of the leafy suburbs of south London!

Lomo store

2010-04-05T22:56:00.000+01:00

Carnaby Street, 4.11pm

Cambridge on film

2010-03-06T18:11:00.000+00:00

Punting on the Cam, 3.34pm

At the wharf

2009-12-17T00:27:00.006+00:00

I got up early(ish) on Sunday morning to stroll through Canary Wharf, hoping to get some different angles with a Yashica film camera I'm borrowing.

Unfortunately, I chose one of the coldest mornings in London this winter. It was freezing! These photos are shot with my Nikon, the film is still in the camera.

Fast cars

2009-11-26T22:31:00.001+00:00

Williams F1 car

More auto action, this time at the Williams F1 facility in Oxfordshire.

I was there to shoot a photo call with a Government Minister for work. As usual, it was at a hectic pace with only a couple of minutes in each spot to grab photos. Luckily, afterwards I got to hand around and grab a couple of frames of the car in the spotless workshop.

I don't know what impressed me most: the car itself or how neat the whole workshop was.

November update

2009-10-29T00:28:00.010+00:00

Royal Institution, London

I haven't posted much here lately, but that's not to say I haven't been shooting a bunch of photos.

I was in France for two weeks earlier this month, surfing and exploring the towns of Capbreton, Bayonne, Biarritz and San Sebastian. You can check it out at my Flickr page here.

And I've also been doing a lot more corporate work with my day job, which has included visits to colleges, conferences and events around London.

Goodwood Revival

2009-09-25T22:10:00.001+01:00

Historic F1 cars from the 1960s

The Revival at Chichester is something I've always wanted to attend, even before I moved to London. Somehow I missed the past few years' events, but I finally managed to get down there this year.

I took both my D80 with a 70-210mm zoom and a borrowed Holga film camera, loaded with Kodak Portra 12o film. The shot above is with the digital on the main straight. I've yet to organise scanning the film but I'll post the results here if I do.

For more shots, see the Goodwood Flick album here.

Le Mans Series

2009-09-11T08:18:00.000+01:00

Silverstone race track, 2.14pm

Bristol

2009-08-29T22:44:00.003+01:00

By the River Avon, 3.59pm

Return to The Oval

2009-08-24T21:42:00.004+01:00

The Oval

Almost two years and week previously I visted The Oval in Vauxhall, south London, to watch India play England in an inconsequential test match.

It rained on and off and my sister and I decided to leave halfway through.

This year I lucked into a ticket to watch Day three of the final Ashes test - Australia versus England. I watched almost every ball and as I relcutantly left with the crowd in the sunny evening I had the feeling that not even Australia could chase down 500-odd runs on a deteriorating track.

Still, it was a great day in the sun and the English spectators surrounding us were remarkably polite about the thrashing they were giving us.

On the hill

2009-08-09T22:12:00.000+01:00

Primrose Hill, 7.45pm