Post by Jem on Sept 7, 2014 17:58:41 GMT
Just got back from a weekend in London. Haven't really had a 'proper' look for about 15 years. I spent summer time of 1985 working and living down there and various wild weekend there as a youngster.
My first response is 'wow' they really have spruced the place up. Maybe the 'Olympics effect' was a boost to make it a city that could really welcome visitors? And things like the refurbished station at Kings Cross and that whole area look amazing now the scaffolding is down (in my mind that has been undergoing much needed work for the last 10yrs or so?)
Anyway, the other thing that struck me was it has a real bike culture and community. Everywhere I looked there was some very tasty bikes. They take it very seriously, and spend a lot of money on their bikes don't they? I noticed that at a guess, over 50% had single speed. They seem very much in to the vintage bikes and cool looking extras (Go-pro's etc). They are a fashionable bunch and their bikes seem like a status symbol? I went in a very 'trendy' bike shop called 'Look Mum No Hands' which was also a coffee bar. I must admit I liked it but wondered where 'ordinary' folk go to buy bikes and have their bike fixed? They did have a little 'bike jumble' outside that tempted me to look.
I took a trip down memory lane and visited Brick Lane and Spitalfields Market this morning- I hadn't been for 15 years and I liked that area. It has gone so up-market that I thought I might be charged entry fee at the gates for this East End Theme Park!!
There are still some great food stalls and places to eat but the multi-nationals seem to be edging in and making it a place that looks great but is losing it's own community feel and uniqueness. In fact the new housing around there looks like it is for the super rich, not the youngsters who grow up there.
I suppose this kind of thing happens the world over, where a place has a great feel and a great community spirit and the developers want to commercialise it and capitalise on the desire to live in a 'cool' place, but just not with the actual people who live there or the messy, nasty bits. By sanitising it and making it 'safe' they also take the heart and soul out of it. Also- where do all the locals go to live then?
So, here's some pictures of bikes, and some buildings of which London has many and is rightly up there with the best architecture in the world in my humble opinion.
NB. I will put the none bike photo's in the 'off topic' section
London by Sooper 8, on Flickr
image by Sooper 8, on Flickr
London by Sooper 8, on Flickr
image by Sooper 8, on Flickr
image by Sooper 8, on Flickr
image by Sooper 8, on Flickr
image by Sooper 8, on Flickr
My first response is 'wow' they really have spruced the place up. Maybe the 'Olympics effect' was a boost to make it a city that could really welcome visitors? And things like the refurbished station at Kings Cross and that whole area look amazing now the scaffolding is down (in my mind that has been undergoing much needed work for the last 10yrs or so?)
Anyway, the other thing that struck me was it has a real bike culture and community. Everywhere I looked there was some very tasty bikes. They take it very seriously, and spend a lot of money on their bikes don't they? I noticed that at a guess, over 50% had single speed. They seem very much in to the vintage bikes and cool looking extras (Go-pro's etc). They are a fashionable bunch and their bikes seem like a status symbol? I went in a very 'trendy' bike shop called 'Look Mum No Hands' which was also a coffee bar. I must admit I liked it but wondered where 'ordinary' folk go to buy bikes and have their bike fixed? They did have a little 'bike jumble' outside that tempted me to look.
I took a trip down memory lane and visited Brick Lane and Spitalfields Market this morning- I hadn't been for 15 years and I liked that area. It has gone so up-market that I thought I might be charged entry fee at the gates for this East End Theme Park!!
There are still some great food stalls and places to eat but the multi-nationals seem to be edging in and making it a place that looks great but is losing it's own community feel and uniqueness. In fact the new housing around there looks like it is for the super rich, not the youngsters who grow up there.
I suppose this kind of thing happens the world over, where a place has a great feel and a great community spirit and the developers want to commercialise it and capitalise on the desire to live in a 'cool' place, but just not with the actual people who live there or the messy, nasty bits. By sanitising it and making it 'safe' they also take the heart and soul out of it. Also- where do all the locals go to live then?
So, here's some pictures of bikes, and some buildings of which London has many and is rightly up there with the best architecture in the world in my humble opinion.
NB. I will put the none bike photo's in the 'off topic' section
London by Sooper 8, on Flickr
image by Sooper 8, on Flickr
London by Sooper 8, on Flickr
image by Sooper 8, on Flickr
image by Sooper 8, on Flickr
image by Sooper 8, on Flickr
image by Sooper 8, on Flickr
