29 Monday Jun 2020
Posted in Diversions, Down by the river
Every couple of years I seem to find myself at Thames-Side Studios in Woolwich with a few minutes to kill (today visiting a man to see about getting a guitar pickup changed in my Gretsch). The Royal Iris – former Mersey Ferry and venue for early Beatles shows – has looked close to sinking for a long time now, and I can’t believe she’s for this world much longer.
Chart the decline of the Royal Iris through past posts here:
26 Sunday Jan 2020
Posted in Diversions, Down by the river
≈ Comments Off on January’s nearly done
A sculptural skip arrangement in Charlton, southeast London
Some items, actions and events of note from the last week (some good, one bad)
02 Tuesday Oct 2018
Posted in Diversions, Down by the river, London
The Woolwich Free Ferry has been taking people across the Thames for centuries, most latterly as a key route for lorries to avoid the Blackwall tunnel. The current roll-on, roll-off boats, built in 1963, are to be taken out of service this week to be replaced by new vessels which promise hybrid diesel-electric power (check out the exhaust fumes in the picture above to see what the current boats produce), and magnetic berthing. One striking feature of the soon-to-be-redundant ferries is the large space for foot passengers under the car deck, not barely used, but a reminder of the ferry’s past role in getting dock and factory workers back and forth before containerisation and deindustrialisation arrived.
I thought I should get some pictures before these boats bow out, and went down for a trip to North Woolwich and back on a bazlingly bright late September day. See the full album ‘Last days of the old Woolwich Ferry here’.
16 Sunday Sep 2018
Posted in Down by the river, Photography
Viewed from the top of the ramp leading the Thames Path up the relatively new ‘missing link‘ east of Thames Side Studios on the Woolwich-Charlton border, the Thames Barrier and the former Mersey ferry ‘Royal Iris’. The latter, which has featured here before, looks a little sadder each year. I saw a rumour on Twitter that it is likely to be cut up soon, but haven’t been able to confirm it – if you know better, get in touch!
03 Friday Aug 2018
Posted in Down by the river, London, Photography, Uncategorized
Tags
cruise ship, dusk, Fuji XT20, Fujifilm, graffiti, Greenwich, london, River, signs, Thames, Thames Barrier, Thames Path, Viking Sky
A dad joke at dusk. Spotted on the Thames path, between the Anchor & Hope pub and the Thames Barrier, while out on a Sunday evening admiring the sunset and the sailing skills of the Thames tug captains piloting the Viking Sky cruise ship out of Greenwich.
14 Saturday Oct 2017
Posted in Diversions, Down by the river, Photography
An hour free to take photos around Deptford Creek and all my Fuji gear in the camera bag…but no memory card. I suppose I should be grateful it doesn’t happen all that often. Here’s an iPhone shot of a particularly low tide, looking down the creek from the Laban centre towards Ha’penny Hatch.
Recent diversions:
Alec Soth’s Sleeping by the Mississippi at Beetles & Huxley: stunning prints, on display for free just off Piccadilly.
Giles Duley interviewed on A Small Voice podcast: Ben Smith’s podcasts rarely disappoint, but this one I thought was outstanding. Giles Duley tells his extraordinary story incredibly articulately, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Brian David Stevens’s Beachy Head photobook – a somber but not melodramatic look at a difficult landscape; fine work at a democratic price point.
The new Four Tet album: maybe his best to date (though maybe I’ll revert that accolade to Morning / Evening in a while).
21 Friday Jul 2017
Posted in Down by the river
A brief Thursday morning walk along the Thames from Greenwich heading east, dressed over-optimistically in shorts and t-shirt. Before the rain set in properly I managed to get a few shots looking along the river towards the Dome, and the thought occurred that these views may not last too much longer, if development on the west side of Greenwich peninsula picks up pace as it has on the eastern side. The power station jetty endures, though, and long may it do so.
10 Friday Feb 2017
Posted in Down by the river, London, Photography
Tags
aggregate wharf, angerstein wharf, burnt out car, Charlton, Down by the river, East Greenwich, Thames Path, vandalism
A freezing cold February morning on the Thames path revealed a dumped and burnt-out car under one of the (possibly disused) chutes for transferring aggregates between boats and the Angerstein branch railhead in Charlton. Almost all the plastic and rubber had burnt away; some of the paint on the wall melted off with the heat.
06 Monday Feb 2017
Posted in Down by the river, London, Photography
Tags
Charlton, Down by the river, Fuji XT10, iphone video, london, photography, Semi-submerged shopping trolleys, Thames Path
A Saturday afternoon interlude spent peering over the edge of the Thames path near Charlton.
See the full set of ‘Semi-submerged shopping trolleys of the Thames foreshore near Charlton, south-east London: a study’ on my portfolio website.
PS. I’m working towards making a much wider range of my pictures available to purchase as prints (all on high-quality, archival paper). If there are any photos on this site that you’d like to own as a print (prices start at £40), please get in touch.
(I’m also always interested in print swaps, if you make paintings/photos/linocuts/woodcuts/screenprints/similar – just get in touch!)
05 Sunday Feb 2017
Posted in Down by the river, London, Photography
A quick trip across the river to Trinity Buoy Wharf to see Stephen Turner’s Exbury Egg and surrounding exhibition. I’d strongly recommend you go, but unfortunately it’s already moved on…Go and see it on its travels if you can!
The video above shows the Thames where the river Lea joins next to Trinity Buoy Wharf, looking downriver to the Emirates Airline cable car; the sound comes from Floodtide, a tidal sonification installation by Seth Guy (below).
