Still daylight when leaving the office? Wow!
Chinatown always looks amazing at this time of year. Busy too!
London Sight-lines 2009, these are the places where construction is restricted to protect the most interesting views of famous landmarks. (via headlessness)
I was reading DiamondGeezer earlier, and on his trip to Richmond he mentioned that there’s a certain point on top of one of the hills in Richmond Park that has a view of St Paul’s Cathedral, 10 miles away. The view from this point is apparently protected, and no buildings may be erected which could in any way block the view of St Paul’s along this sight line, by order of the mayor’s office.
This piqued my interest, and a little bit of googling took me to iamdanw’s tumblr, which links to the above gorgeous map of protected sight lines across London. Most of these are centred on St Paul’s Cathedral and the Palace of Westminster (AKA the Houses of Parliament), but others are protected too.
I find this kind of thing absolutely fascinating, I really do. I like that central London’s skyline is really low, when compared to places like New York and other American cities, and it’s these kinds of planning restrictions which have helped maintain the views. And it’s not that we’re completely anti-skyscrapers: look at Canary Wharf, and at other buildings being built, like The Shard. It’s just that London restricts them in the very middle of the city, particularly around St Paul’s.
Reblogged from: iamdanw
Originally posted on: Dan W, Web App + Mobile Developer in London
13.01.10
10:25:21 - Comments (View)
10:25:21 - Comments (View)
photo, photoset, snow, snowpocalypse, weather, london, landscape,
Temple Bar
Wimbledon Common
Putney Bridge Station
The Thames, at Putney
We had another dumping of snow overnight, a couple of inches in the Wimbledon area, and it was still coming down pretty heavily when I left the flat this morning. As ever, the snow meant a juxtaposition between “Ain’t it pretty?” and “Why is it taking so long to get anywhere?!”.
Temperatures are just above zero, so it probably won’t hang around too long, which hopefully means fewer lethal pavements, but it’ll be a shame to see it disappear quickly.
I really like the photo looking along the Thames at Putney. Usually you can see for a hell of a long way from that point, but today it was bloody foggy, and the snow was fall quite intensely too.
Whilst today’s snow isn’t settling in central London, in my part of town it definitely is. Only about 3-4 inches deep, but that’s good enough for me!
As you can see, I wasn’t the first person home to my building this evening…
I’m posting this one separately because it’s probably the best photo I’ve ever taken.
As high as the sun gets each day
Ships in Reykjavik harbour
Minke whale skeleton
Freezing our asses off at night
9:30 in the morning. Still dark...
Gulfoss waterfalls
Geyser!
Stuffed cat is surprised
The landscape was unbelievable
And a gorgeous sunset to finish the day
A few photos from Iceland. They don’t even begin to tell the story of just how amazing a time we had, or how fantastic a place it is. Absolutely stunning views in every direction, and untouched landscapes for miles around.
There was a pretty stunning moon last night, which my abysmal photo doesn’t really capture at all.
Looking Out From Waterloo Bridge
(via my Vimeo)
Filmed from the top deck of a bus the other evening, as we headed south across Waterloo Bridge. London looks freaking awesome lit up at night.
St Paul's, Tower 42 and the Gherkin
The National Theatre
London's City by night
I found myself walking across Waterloo Bridge this evening, and stopped to snap a couple of photos. I’m a massive fan of how London looks by night, and today was one of those crystal clear days when you can see for absolutely miles around.
The first photo is looking back into the City, with the three main buildings (L-R) St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower 42 (the old Natwest Tower), and the Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe, technically).
The second is the National Theatre, on the south bank of the Thames directly next to Waterloo Bridge. This is part of a little collection of brutalist-style buildings in the area, which many people think are an eyesore because they are very simple concrete geometric shapes, with no real features. I’m a big fan, to be honest. I like the simplicity, and especially now that they are lit up at night they look pretty spectacular.
The final photo is a wider view of the City skyline, of which the first is a crop.
