Did They Build This Hideous Church To Match The Underground Ventilation Shaft?
This church just has to be seen to realise how awful it is.
Perhaps they built it to match the ventilation shaft for Warwick Avenue station?
The Marble Church
I visited this church, popularly called the Marble Church on my way back from the Design Museum.
It was the first place I’d come across except for the DSesign Museum, that was well and truly open. Consequently, it was busy.
Ulm Minster
Ulm Minster is the tallest church in the world and the spire dominates the city.
I effectively walked in a circle round the city and was never out of sight of the Minster.
Exploring Ulm
The train station at Ulm is close by the centre and I walked in a circle round the city.
I finally got a bit of sun, but as before, I didn’t find anything to eat. My chosen restaurant was apparently a long walk from the part of the city I was in.
Uncommercialised Santiago de Compostela
The first port of call on the cruise was Corunna, where I went on an organised trip to Santiago de Compostela.
The trip across the Bay of Biscay had been a bit choppy, but that didn’t bother me, as I haven’t ever suffered seasickness since I went gluten-free. Before that, a couple of times, I had real problems, especially in small boats.
I took these pictures at Santiago de Compostela.
You will note that it wasn’t raining, but the weather couldn’t be described as anything but freezing. I was starting to regret, that I hadn’t brought more cold weather clothing.
What surprised me was how uncommerialised the city was. There was perhaps one stall selling trinkets outside the parador, but compared to some famous places, I’ve been it was refreshing to see so little junk on sale.
Admittedly, it was cold and March, so perhaps it had kept the vendors inside.
The main cathedral is magnificent and it is true to say that I like Romanesque and Norman churches, like St. Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield. They seem to have a certain dignity of a very old age. The London church is on my list of must see places in London.
Winding Through The Crossrail Works
Crossrail are building their rail line along the line of the old North London Line to North Woolwich. Their blue fences were everywhere.
Some of the pictures were taken from a pedestrian bridge over the site and others were taken on that excellent photographic platform, a London double-deck bus. In this case it was a 473, that goes from Canning Town station to North Woolwich, where the Woolwich Ferry berths.
Note how the Brick Lane Music Hall dominates the first part of the route.
The Brick Lane Music Hall
The building which used to be St. Mark’s Church, Silvertown, is certainly impressive, but it was designed by the well-known S. S. Teulon
It is certainly better it has a proper use, rather than just being a ruin.
St. Mark’s Church, Silvertown
This picture shows, what I think is St. Mark’s Church, Silvertown.
St. Mark’s Church, Silvertown
It is just one of the many distinctive churches you can see from the DLR.
No visit to London is complete without a ride on London’s unique DLR. It may have been built on the cheap as a stopgap, but like Topsy it has grown and now is one of the stalwarts of London’s transport system. These are stations and local areas worth visiting.
Abbey Road for Abbey Mills and the Greenway. But not the recording studio!
Canary Wharf for the walks by the water and the shopping
Canning Town and East India for the River Lee and The East India Dock Basin
Greenwich for the Cutty Sark and Maritime Greenwich
Pontoon Dock for the Thames Barrier
Pudding Mill Lane for the Greenway and some of the best coffee in London
Royal Victoria for the Emirates Air Line
Woolwich Arsenal for the Royal Arsenal
My Father Was A Real Cockney
My father was born in Islington and although he had all the rhyming slang and other knowledge, he never called himself a real Cockney, who was born within the sound of Bow Bells. Today, he wouldn’t have been, but when he was born in 1904, he would probably have been born inside the area, as indicated by this map.
I went past the church of St. Mary-le-Bow today and took some pictures.
According to the map, I think that both my maternal grandparents and possibly my paternal grandfather, were all born in the required area. So I could be three-quarter Cockney.
Would You Live In A Church?
The Church of St. Andrew in Rodney Street in Liverpool has been a ruin for years.
Would You Live In A Church?
But now it’s being converted into a hundred student rooms. For a city with a deep religious feeling, it does seem to be very happy to use old churches for secular purposes. Many of my university exams were taken in redundant ones.
I do like this piece from Wikipedia about the church.
Adjacent to the church in the churchyard is a monument to William Mackenzie, a railway contractor who died in 1851. It is in the shape of a pyramid, is constructed in granite, and was erected in 1868. Facing the street is a blind entrance flanked by uprights supporting a lintel containing a bronze plaque. The structure is a Grade II listed building.
There is a tradition that, as Mackenzie was a gambling man, he sold his soul to the Devil, and that his body was placed in a seating position above ground within the pyramid, in order that the Devil may not claim him. His ghost is said to haunt Rodney Street.
So will Mackenzie be surprising students in their beds?
The Anonymous Widower 
