Viewing The Poppies In The Rain
I went to The Tower today to see the poppies.
Seeing them in the rain, might have made the whole thing more poignant in a way.
But certainly rain or not, the field of ceramic poppies is truly spectacular.
Constable Also Did Portraits
It surprises a lot of people to know that John Constable painted portraits.
Constable Also Did Portraits
I think he painted three of these.
Christchurch Mansion and its art is good value st a free entry museum.
Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich
Christchurch Mansion is another of Ipswich’s Grade 1 Listed buildings.
Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich
One of the highlights of the museum is the paintings by John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough.
In the next few weeks one of the John Constable painting is going to be cleaned publicly. This could be a must-see event.
The Tate At St. Ives
The Tate St. Ives is one of those buildings, like the Guggenheim in Bilbao, that make me want to get my camera out.
At the Guggenheim, I photographed the building as the light played with the building in the evening sun.
As these pictures show, the Tate all about the sea.
The Tate is a building totally suited to its surroundings.
Before Crossrail – Maidenhead
Another Station Almost Ready For Crossrail – Rating 7/10
According to Wikipedia, Maidenhead needs some updating for Crossrail.
The station will undergo significant modification, including the replacement of the existing passenger waiting facilities, a new ticket hall, lifts, a new platform for Marlow branch line services, the introduction of overhead line equipment and the construction of new stabling and turnback facilities to the west of the station.
The expensive lifts have already been installed into the subway.
The statue is of Sir Nicholas Winton and it is good to see a statue of the man. It is also good that it is displayed in such a public place, which is probably almost safe from metal thieves. I have long believed that more works of art should be placed on stations, as you’d generally need a train and a large crane to steal them. This Google Map shows the layout of the station.
Maidenhead Station – Downloaded 6th July
Note the Marlow Branch Line
Art At Spitalfields
It is always good to walk through Spitalfields to get to Liverpool Street station.
The goat has been there for some time, but it’s the first time I’ve looked at Cecil Balmond‘s work!
Is There Space On The Overground For Large Art?
In November 2013, I had a letter published in The Times entitled Underground Art.
As I had a bit of time to waste, I checked out some of the stations near where I live, as to their suitability of placing a large sculpture on the platforms.
Dalston Junction, Highbury and Islington and Caledonian Road and Barnsbury stations have space for the right piece of large art, but the space at Canonbury is such, that you could position a small tank engine there, if the platform was strong enough.
Other stations might not be suitable, as most do not have the large island platforms of these four stations.
I have no idea how much suitable sculpture would be available. I have read or viewed reports that a lot of art is now in store, because of the danger of theft. So why shouldn’t it be safely on display on stations?
Obviously, it would need to be installed using a maintenance train. But that in itself is a big deterrence against scrap metal thieves, as they’d probably have to get the art out that way.
Searching For The Kelpies
On my visit to the Commonwealth Games, I had to travel back to Glasgow, so I thought I’d go via Falkirk and see the Kelpies. On looking it up before I left London, I found that the web site was rather vague This is what it said.
From Edinburgh to Falkirk High (25 minutes) or Falkirk Grahamston (35 minutes)
From Glasgow Queen Street to Falkirk High (20 minutes) or Falkirk Grahamston (50 minutes)
From Stirling to Falkirk Grahamston (15 minutes)
From London direct to Falkirk Grahamston (5 hours) or change at Edinburgh or Glasgow
There are also services to Polmont Station, Larbert Station and Camelon Station.
It mentions several stations but which one is the nearest?
On the way up Princes Street, I got talking to a young lady and by chance, she said she’d been and had taken the train to Falkirk Grahamston station and then walked.
I though I’d check in the Tourist Office at Waverley Station and they said to go to Falkirk High station.
As I’d got one vote for each Falkirk station, I decided to ask a Scotrail Customer Service Agent. He gave me exactly the same story as the young lady, so I went to Falkirk Grahamston.
I took these pictures at Falkirk.
You will notice that none show any information on how to get to the Kelpies. One does show a distant picture of the Kelpies (?) from the train as I approached.
So in the end I walked back to the station and got another train to Glasgow.
Give Falkirk this, they have got the station name in Gaelic and two good maps, even if neither shows the Kelpies or the Falkirk Wheel.
Artwork At Bowes Park Station
Bowes Park station is one in my old haunts around Southgate and Wood Green.
I found a story that there had been some artwork put up at the station, so as I’ve never been to the station, I went to look.
I wasn’t that impressed with the artwork. But we do need some stations to be brightened up.
The station itself is of a rather unusual layout, but is clean and tidy, although the disabled entrance is possibly one of the worst in London. However, adding a lift, wouldn’t necessitate a major rebuild.
In fact, the station is one of those, where a clever architect could turn a bad station into an extremely good one, as it has spacious platforms and walk up access from both sides to the footbridge across the station and the tracks.
According to the latest news, the line which currently uses Class 313 trains, is going to be provided with new trains in the next few years.
A good disabled-friendly station coupled with the new trains and good cycle parking might almost make make the station improvements self financing, through more traffic.
Later when I returned to London from my visit to New Southgate, nearly all the passengers who got off the train at Highbury and Islington, crossed onto the Victoria line for trains to Central London. So would an upgraded Bowes Park station take customers away from Bounds Green tube station, which will probably never have lifts?
Art On The U-Bahn
The U-Bahn is Berlin’s underground railway and just like some of the older lines on the London Underground, it has some appropriate artwork.
The one thing that I didn’t like was the stick on decoration of some of the trains, which meant you had difficulty seeing out to read the station names.
The Anonymous Widower 