St Alban the Martyr

I came across this church completely by accident the other week. I thought I knew Holborn pretty well - I've been walking from Holborn to London Bridge for over three years now - but this was still a surprise.

It was built in the 1860s by William Butterfield, although a large part of the current church dates from the 1950s as it was bombed in 1941.

The exterior of the church is mostly red brick, and the interior benefits from large windows and a gorgeous ceiling and a Hans Feibusch mural at the altar end.

It's hidden away from the main roads around Holborn (on Brooke Street - near Chancery Lane tube), and it's beautifully peaceful.

Stave Hill

Stave Hill is out near Canada Water, which is in the borough of Southwark. It's a very odd place, the kind of thing you don't know is there unless you a) live there or b) find it by accident when you're wandering and have failed to look at a map (ahem). 

(actually, Wikipedia tells me it's part of Russian Dock Woodland, so I've learned something new today!)

The hill itself is constructed from rubble left over from the clearance of the docks (it dates from 1985), and from what information I can find, it pretty much looks like it was created to give people a good view of the buildings at Docklands and of the surrounding area. I appreciate this a lot - it can be quite hard to find places above street level to get decent photos. 

When you go up the hill to the viewing platform at the top there's also an awesome relief map of the former docks (by Michael Rizzello). 

And when you've come back down you can go for a walk around the woods and Stave Hill Ecological Park, although I'm not entirely sure where one ends and the other begins (that's the problem with not looking at maps until after you've been somewhere...). Still, here are a few photos from one or the other:

Lloyds Building

The Lloyds Building on Lime Street (very near the Gherkin) is an interesting one. It used to be one of my least favourite buildings, but I guess over time I've just got used to it and now I can appreciate the structure and I like the shapes (also, much like the Barbican, it's good for those times you want to pretend you're in a sci-fi film). 

It dates from 1986 (you could probably have guessed the decade, right?) and was designed so that as much infrastructure as possible was on the outside - lifts, air con, plumbing etc. 

                                           

PS: I looked up where the name Lime Street came from in case it was something interesting, but like most of the streets around there it just refers to what was sold there. 
  

The Monument

The Monument was built between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London. It's a 61 metre high Doric column designed by Christopher Wren, with inscriptions on three of the four sides of the plinth and a sculpture on the west side. It has a gilt-bronze flaming urn at the top, which looks fantastic on a sunny day (first pic not from today - the sky wasn't quite this blue!).

I walk past Monument about once a week, and I have been meaning to go up for years. As the weather had finally improved and it was a lovely day, I thought today might as well be the day. What I didn't realise is that there are three hundred and eleven (!!!) steps up to the top. This is not for a) those scared of heights or b) those who don't see the appeal in walking up a neverending narrow spiral staircase. 

However, if you are ok with heights and can put up with the stairs, the views from the top are amazing. I'm just a bit annoyed I couldn't get a decent shot of the Shard because of where the sun was. Still, at only £3 (!! View From the Shard is £25!) all this complaining is a bit churlish, so let's get on with the pictures. 

In case it isn't obvious, I highly recommend this activity. Preferably with some maltesers ready for when you get back down. 

More info: http://www.themonument.info/history/

20 Fenchurch Street

This is the building that is bigger at the top than the bottom, in case anyone's wondering which of the newest London skyscrapers I'm on about. I'd read about it and seen it from a distance, but today was the first day I got up close. I did this by going up The Monument, which is a MASSIVE bargain compared to The View From The Shard. Pics and rambling about that later. 
     
20 Fenchurch Street is also known as the Walkie-Talkie, and (surprise surprise) is quite unpopular. Possibly equally unsurprisingly, I rather like it. It's an odd addition to the skyline, but it has a sort of charm. The curve of the building does make it rather look like an optical illusion in real life. 

The Walkie-Talkie, which in fact looks more like a brimming pint glass, is the most incongruous thing to have appeared on the London horizon for some time – quite an achievement in a city that has recently seen the erection of the Strata, a three-eyed Mordor tower at Elephant and Castle with its trinity of rooftop turbines; and a giant shard of glass at London Bridge.

- from http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2012/dec/12/walkie-talkie-fenchurch-street-architecture

When it's open, the building is due to have a three-level 'skygarden' which will be open to everyone for free (looking forward to that already), so that's a big big point in its favour. There are the usual arguments about blocking views and buildings not being in keeping with their surroundings, but this is London. Nothing ever stays still for long. 

(there are other issues about companies building towers as vanity projects - I believe the Shard still doesn't have a single tenant - but that's a whole other issue)

London Ice Sculpting Festival

What I learned from the Ice Sculpting Festival:

a) it's pretty difficult to take decent photos of ice sculptures
b) apparently if you give ice sculptors the theme 'wonders of the universe', a fair few of them will go 'hmmm, I know, semi-naked woman'
c) it gets REALLY FRICKING COLD out at Canary Wharf
d) Balkan street food (specifically cepavi) is lush

We went on the day of the doubles competition, so sadly I don't have any pictures from the rest of the weekend. (countries that entered these pieces under the pics)

Hungary

Belgium

Bulgaria

Latvia

apparently failed to note this one so who knows?

Netherlands (I don't understand this one)

Spain (with model in the front!)

Another one I failed to note, but here's a picture of the judges looking at it

UK (this one won the competition)

USA

The website of the festival is here: http://www.londonicesculptingfestival.co.uk

There is a gallery at the site but it's not comprehensive enough for me to work out those two sculptures. I'll do a bit of searching tomorrow.