Open House London 2014 Day 1 Part 2

After Bloomsbury I went off to Liverpool Street to visit Broadgate City of London: Behind the Scenes, which is a model showing the huge amount of work being done at Broadgate (Broadgate Circle to reopen in 2015!). I like models showing building works and in fact visited a different one at a previous Open House. I also visited New London Architecture and blogged about it here ages ago (http://metropolithan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/new-london-architecture.html).

A very nice lady explained the model to me, and then I forgot to take any photos of it. However I think that the visitor centre is open to the public so it's worth popping in if you're near Liverpool Street. The lady (I didn't get her name) also gave me some leaflets about what's going on at Broadgate, which is how I found out that the Finsbury Avenue floor lights up at night, so obviously I need to get down there post haste (http://www.broadgate.co.uk/art/LitFloor). 

As I failed to get any pictures of the model, here is a link to the architecture part of the website: http://www.broadgate.co.uk/Architecture.

I then went off to 10 Exchange Sqaure for a rooftop tour (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) which was miraculously being offered without pre-booking. Sadly it was quite cloudy by this point BUT SERIOUSLY, ROOFTOP TOUR. So yes, there was a tall building, you could go up it, I went up it, HURRAH. 

Outside and inside the building:

Roof views:

I thought I had gone to six places but looking at my photos and notes it seems to be five. I'm now trying to work out whether I've accidentally counted the Embassy of Belgium (I did go there but their spaces were filled) or whether I went somewhere and forgot about it. I did go past quite a few of the sites in the city but didn't actually visit them. 

Open House London 2014 Day 1 Part 1

Open House is a weekend that runs in September where buildings in London are open to the public. For the past three years I've been away during Open House BUT NOT THIS YEAR. This year I am here and I have been planning. 

There are over 800 sites taking part and the maximum I have ever managed in a weekend is 9, so first I had to narrow it down. Then I had to narrow it down again. And then again. There were custom maps involved, it was GREAT. I got it down to 19, but even that is mostly a guide as yesterday I visited 6 sites, two of which weren't even on the list (I tried to go to another 4 but two had big queues, one was full and on the way to the third I realised I'd get there too late to get in). 

I started off at Friendship House, which is an hostel accommodation place near Borough tube station. The guy who gave me a tour seemed to be a little confused as to why I had turned up for a tour when I wasn't looking to stay there, but hey, if you open up a building, someone like me will turn up. 

It turned out to be one of those buildings I'd passed on the train hundreds of times but had never really thought about (I presumed that it was flats because I presume everything on the way in to London Bridge is flats). The rooms are self-contained, with mini fridge and mini freezer, there are self-catering kitchens on every floor, a communal quiet space (not quite sure how that bit works tbh) and a gym. It was interesting to have a nose around and if you are looking for somewhere to stay in London it's actually pretty smart and pretty cheap: http://lhalondon.com/friendship-house/

After that I went to the Swedenborg Society on Bloomsbury Way. Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish philosopher and inventor, and the Society is a publisher and bookseller. They also organise events and film screenings (their next showing is a Jim Jarmusch double bill). However I didn't know anything about him or the society but I was interested in the Doulton tiles on the staircase mentioned in the programme*.

The building is a Grade II listed Georgian domestic building that was refurbished in the 1920s. It was a very calm, quiet space and the tiles were lovely. 

(as per usual my camera is weird with light; thinking of getting a new one even though this one still works)

After the Swedenborg Society I went to St George's Bloomsbury, which wasn't on my list but was very close by. I think I might have been before with my sister but I'll have to check with her. 

St George's is the last of Nicholas Hawksmoor's London Churches and it was conscrated in 1730. The chandelier (see below) was once in the V&A (which reminds me, V&A-related update coming up after the Open House stuff). 

There are so many photos I'm going to do the next lot in another entry (especially as they are rooftop photos). 

*Yes, I did so much narrowing down that tiny details like that helped me make the decisions!

Thames Tunnel at Rotherhithe

...or Wow, My Camera Is Terrible In Low Light.

So the Thames Tunnel at Rotherhithe is not normally open to the public, for the very good reason that it's usually the tunnel London Overground (/East London Line) trains use to travel between Rotherhithe and Wapping. However! For some reason they decided to open it this Bank Holiday Weekend, so I jumped at the chance and managed to convince my stepmum to come too ('will I need my camera?' 'well, it depends if you want to take photos of a brick tunnel. I mean, obviously I do, but you might not.' 'I think I'll leave it here.'). It was really interesting to visit and I'm quite pleased that I have now walked through the Greenwich, Woolwich and Rotherhithe foot tunnels. 

Construction started in 1825, and it was the first tunnel under a river anywhere in the world. The tunnel was designed by Marc Brunel and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and it took almost 20 years to complete (workers could only do two hour shifts because of the conditions). When they ran out of money during construction a banquet was held in the tunnel to raise funds.

The tunnel was opened to the public in 1843, and quickly became a very popular tourist attraction, with shops opening in the tunnel and fairs etc being held there. However after twenty years the tunnel was sold to the East London Railway and used to run trains. The East London Line was eventually extended and then became part of the London Overground network.

Photos from the walk: 

Some of the original arches, and some that were replaced after Rotherhithe was bombed during WW2. 

Views down the tunnels:

And some other miscellanous pictures of things: 

Sort of a doodle

There were regular signs on the floor showing the distance to the nearest station.

The thing with the two wires running over the circles is the tunnel telephone system for drivers to use. 

View of Rotherhithe platform from an unusual angle.

The view down into the tunnels as we were leaving. 

Camley Street Natural Park

It being a bank holiday weekend I thought I'd a) try to get out and then b) try to get up to date with some of my internet stuff (most of my posting will probably be at emptylondon.tumblr.com). Luckily I chose to go out on Friday when the weather was half-decent. 

As my dad was driving to Euston to pick up my aunt, I looked for somewhere in the area to go and noticed Camley Street Natural Park on the map. Clicking on the website, I found that apparently there's an organisation called the London Wildlife Trust who run a number of sites around London (http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/). This is super exciting because now I have a list of new places to go (although I'd failed to realise they were involved with Sydenham Hill Woods, and I went there lots when I lived in Forest Hill). 

Anyway, Camley Street Natural Park is a two-acre site near King's Cross/St Pancras. It's a nice gentle walk and would be great for kids - it felt a little bit easy to me, though I compensated by going for a long walk along Regent's Canal afterwards.

I was also a little bit disappointed that I didn't get to see much in the way of birds or interesting insects, but that may well be down to the time of year. However as it was a sunny day it was very pretty surroundings for a wander. 

Inside the park there's a meadow, a large pond and a woodland walk.

You can also see part of Regent's Canal

And there's a mix of cultivated and natural plants around the park

And finally, the only insect photo I managed to get at the park