Streets Of London With Diversions

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Rain on French windows 1Rain on French windows 2

Torrential rain and gale-force winds were again the order of the day. Soon after noon, the French windows onto the patio

Rain on kitchen window

and the view from the kitchen were like this.

Naturally I took a trip back to my photographic archives from October 2004. The colour slides were primarily the next batch of the Streets of London series.

Culworth Street NW8 10.04

The 2011 census informs us that there are 175 purpose built flats in Culworth Street NW8 which runs into Prince Albert Road and is therefore a stone’s throw from Regent’s Park. A fair number of them must be in this block.

Lodge Road NW8 10.04

Lodge Road NW8 lies parallel to St John’s Wood Road which houses Lord’s Cricket ground, the world famous test venue and headquarters of Middlesex County Cricket Club. Across the Lord’s roundabout, stands St John’s Wood Church, of which Wikipedia tells us

‘St John’s Wood Church started life as a chapel of ease to St Marylebone Parish Church, and was constructed in 1814 by Thomas Hardwick, who was simultaneously constructing the current St Marylebone Church.[2] Although the church originally had extensive burial grounds, these were closed in 1855 and opened as a public garden, St. John’s Wood Church Grounds, in 1886.[3] In 1898 the building became a chapel of ease to Christ Church on Cosway Street, and increasingly became the centre of administration for the parish.[4]

After bomb damage during the Second World War rendered St Stephen’s, Avenue Road unusable, St John’s Wood Church became a parish church in its own right in 1952.[5] As well as holding regular services for the community, the church has hosted the wedding of Peggy Cripps to Joe Appiah in June 1953,[6] the blessing of the marriage of Paul and Linda McCartney in 1969,[7] and the funeral of Ursula Vaughan Williams in 2007.[8]

A Church Hall complex was constructed in the 1970s, the completion of which was marked with the erection of a statue of the church’s patron, John the Baptist, by Hans Feibusch.[9] Restoration of the church interior took place in 1991 under the supervision of Michael Reardon, when the chancel pavement was relaid in limestone and the present central altar replaced the high altar at the east end of the church.‘

Ivor Place NW8 10.04

Canon Reverend Francis Holland, an Anglican clergyman, who was keen to advance and extend the provision of single-sex education for girls established his eponymous Trust in 1881. The Francis Holland school in Ivor Place NW1 is one of two managed by the trust. Ivor Place runs from Park Road to

Boston Place NW1 10.04

Boston Place NW1, lying alongside the platforms of Marylebone Station.

Greenland Road NW1 10.04

From St John’s Wood and Marylebone I walked on to Camden Town through Greenland Road

Georgiana Street NW1 10.04

and Georgiana Street NW1.

Rembrandt Gardens 10.04 1

These family groups were, on this day, the first of my diversions from the theme of including street names in the images. The bench offers a view of the Little Venice canal basin, on the other side of which stand the erstwhile Council blocks of Warwick Crescent which were largely sold off to tenants in the ’80s and ’90s, and on further to others during the next decades.

Woman and child on bench 10.04 1Woman and child on bench 10.04 2

Narrow boats travelling along the canal surface at a maximum speed of four miles an hour glide past the park. I forget the name of the man who lovingly tended these gardens for 25 years. Upon his retirement he was replaced by sessional, irregular, maintenance staff seconded from other Council gardens.

Rainbow over Paddington Basin 10.04 1Rainbow over Paddington basin 10.04 2

The other diversion that attracted my camera lens was a double rainbow over the Paddington Basin development. The wrapping on the buildings in progress reflected the colours of the meteorological phenomenon.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s sumptuous sausage casserole, crunchy carrots, crisp cauliflower, and boiled potatoes. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden, and I drank Parra Alta malbec 2016.

 

 

58 comments

  4. A beautiful look back at London and the history of the church. Our rain is back to typical Florida – every afternoon without fail!!

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  5. My mother-in-law lives in Little Venice (next door used to be Michael Flatley who I disappointingly never saw Irish Dancing up the street) – my favourite pictures therefore, have to be the little girl with the heavenly haloed hair on the bench with the canal boat behind. And the rainbow. Who can honestly, hand on heart, resist a rainbow (or two) 🌈

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    1. Thanks very much, Osyth. Where exactly in Little Venice? I’ll probably know it, given that my counselling room was in Warwick Crescent on the canaolside

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      1. Park Place Villas … her place is actually the propery of a Wig Magnate whom I must write about some time …. she minds it for him when he is in Beverly Hills or Manhattan which is 98% of the time and these days gets really annoyed if he hints at coming over to London. She’s a scream!

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          3. I did. And it led me to finally reading your ‘branch of the family tree’ post prompted by the pictures of a younger Jackie in the post. I am glad I did. I am glad you shared this post with me and I will share it with MiL when next I see her.

  6. Rain and rainbows are featuring in posts by UK bloggers today Derrick – it must be something in the atmosphere reaching back and forward in time. I love the photo of the little girl with the haloed hair.

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  11. Your pictures are definitely getting better..mind you, there was always room for improvement! Keep trying, Derrick, you will eventually succeed. Patience is a virtue!

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  13. Lovely rainy day photos, which makes me feel a little more comfortable this morning, as they’re predicting snow in my area today, and “It never snows in Geelong”.

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  20. Talk about being influenced. I was blown away by the two at the top. The window with the rain spots. If I try it and it works it’ll be all your doing.

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