You haven’t been to London yet

I have been asked recently to reveal my top 5 places someone should be visiting in London in 2018. London is not just about the Big Ben (whose tower will be wrapped in scaffolding for another 3 years) or the Tower of London (I make some allowances, though, for those who like ravens), or even… Read More

The Walking City

“…emerging through a cloud of fumes, the Hayward Gallery rose up on its giant insect-like legs, dust and debris crumbling around it, water from the severed pipes and electric cables crackling in the darkness below. Then a primal roar sounded from the building’s massive ventilation shafts, the sound of a concrete and steel beast, rising… Read More

The Other City

“The river sweats, oil and tar, the barges drift, with the turning tide, red sails, wide, to leeward, swing on the heavy spar. The barges wash, drifting logs, down Greenwich reach, past the Isle of Dogs” The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot   We look, but we don’t see. We listen, but seldom hear. We feel,… Read More

A Clockwork Cabbage

I recently visited the V&A Museum of Childhood in London : The old Victorian purpose built structure used to house the Bethnal Green Museum since its inception in 1872 ,  but by the 1970s it had become a museum dedicated to children : It currently contains the largest collection of toys in the United Kingdom… Read More

Le Châtelet Vanishings

As the night falls and shadows grow longer, I make my way towards the Place Du Châtelet from the backstreets off the Hotel De Ville, smartly avoiding the shopping and tourist crowds of rue de Rivoli while taking in the majestic views of the riverside. The person I’m looking for, is monsieur Jacques Sirgent, researcher… Read More

Rust and Revelry in Charleroi

The scenery change is striking as I leave Nivelles behind, the quaint urban landscape giving way to the electricity pylons and rotating wind turbines that mark the industrial heartland of Belgium.  Before you know it, the track is running alongside the county’s canal and I am already surrounded by the grey black hills locally known… Read More