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Monday 12 September 2011

London

I was going to write this post yesterday but somehow it didn't seem appropriate 10 years after 11 September became 9/11.

I want to show you some of the photos I took in London last week. They're mainly of the South Bank's 60th anniversary celebration of the 1951 Festival of Britain. The festival was a countrywide event to boost morale and promote British industry, ingenuity and art in the wake of the Second World War. It was billed as "a tonic to the nation".




The urban fox on the roof of the Hayward Gallery is made from straw. It's difficult to imagine the scale but if I tell you it was brought to London on the back of two lorries you can begin to see what I mean. It fits into the Land of Britain theme, bringing countryside to London.



These are the backs of the beach huts that celebrate seaside life. I took the backs because even on a dreary day in London there are crowds everywhere.


The huts are there because believe it or not the foreshore of the Thames can be a surprisingly sandy. People use it to build sandcastles particularly near the Oxo Tower. In collaboration with Southend the beach huts have been erected and all have mini exhibitions inside.


As you can see the sun almost broke through the cloud making it a typical British day at the seaside.

Don't you just love the British weather? After the European monsoon we now have Hurricane Katia. No worries though. I've just watched the lovely Liam Dutton downgrade it to a very nasty storm!

I don't care Liam. I'm still not going out!

7 comments:

Marilyn said...

oh dear...it's raining??? hope it passes by fast and becomes just a memory...the sun will come out tomorrow...hopefully!!
love the huts...wouldn't mind one in the garden facing the lake maybe... :)

Unknown said...

Sounds like our Oregon Coast, never very warm but fun all the same!

Unknown said...

I love the fox!
I've stayed home today, decided not to risk the potential 75mph gusts!

Lizzy Love said...

Thank you for sharing this, the huts are so cool and seems like a great place to visit, would love to see it!!!!!

The Dotty One said...

Lovely pictures. I've been to the Southbank a few times this summer and haven't managed to get a decent picture of the beach huts or the fox despite several attempts!
I hope you had a lovely day :o)

MadScientistsDesigns said...

Nice photos! Thanks for sharing!

Wendy said...

Brilliant photos, I live so close to London and yet hardly ever venture in. It's nice to see things like this going on.