Big Eyes

Just a quick post today. I've been away and lots of catching up to do.  But I saw these two pairs of beautiful eyes at the weekend and wanted to share them with you. (Sorry for the slightly weird colours  - that's my iPhone camera for you)...

The first pair of eyes belongs to an owl - I think it's a Eurasian Eagle Owl but I forgot to check its tag.   It was sitting on a stand at at a fund-raising stall run by the Midlands Bird of Prey Rescue.    It is one of several hand reared owls which the organisation takes round to various summer fetes and public events to raise cash and awareness.   They must look after the birds very well. All of them were bright, glossy, healthy and alert, and I couldn't tear my gaze away from this owl's amazing eyes.  The owl was obviously quite happy meetnig the public, and actually seemed quite interested in what was going on. (It took a particular interest in any small dogs which passed its perch.  I suspect it saw them as potential prey. )

The little cat with the stripe on its face was one of two, living in a run-down garden centre. The garden centre was frankly pretty sad, with flappy, torn plastic polytunnels lined with white plaster board ,and droopy plants. 

I thought it had such a friendly gaze - if a cat can have such a thing, (Can it?)

But both cats, which the owners had rescued from a shelter, were enchanting and full of life, in total contrast to their surroundings.   Wish I could have got both of them together but most of the time they were frisking around too happily to look at me.  Here they are in a brief pause between jumping on each other.

.   

Architecture, Housing, Making Communities, Grrr....

Managed to catch the final day of the "50 Years of London Architecture"  organised by The

Architecture Club, at a funky exhibition space called AMBIKA P3, just off Baker St. in the centre of London.  I think it used to be an underground service area or car park, but it is quite impressive, and this is  a part of it.

 The exhibition consisted of over 350 huge images of architecture built in London since 1960 and to be honest it made me feel proud of London, to see how many people have spent so much effort and money on  making it look good and work well.

I was specially impressed by a photo of Broadwall, part of the social housing at Coin St. on the South Bank (which I blogged about last time). Here's a snap of the exhibition picture which shows it off well.  (A picture of a photo - weird!)

I was also impressed by the gorgeous looking St. Mungo's homeless hostel in SE London - read about it, and see a photo,  here.

I'm interested in social housing, so last night I watched the BBC4 television documentary "The Great Estate, the Rise and Fall of the Council House."    If you live in the UK, I recommend taking a look on the BBC iPlayer.

If you're not in the UK, and aren't interested in housing per se, then you might consider stopping reading here, because I'm about to embark upon a rant.

Ever since watching this programme, I have been fuming about the Government's plans to limit the length of social housing tenancies instead of offering them to people for life.   What the programme pointed up (and of course it is echoed in real life), is the way that most people blossom when living in a COMMUNITY, where everyone has not only rights but responsibilities - the right to a secure and decent home and the responsiblity for keeping that home in reasonable order, for behaving well towards neighbours and making an effort to fit in with others.  

I'm lucky enough to live in a part of London with reasonable sense of community, largely due to an innovative mutual housing society which owns many houses in the the  area,  and the fact that the gardens of several areas of local flats have been mostly blended into one large traffic free, communal garden, locked against outsiders, each garden serving about 50 or 60 houses and apartment blocks.  Here's an example in this picture.  

The permanent residents are what keep these places going - either they have bought or have long term tenancies. They are the ones who maintain the gardens, and keep the housing society running. The short term tenants are very nice people but I have not known any who take part in community activities.  And yes, believe me there are people in the established community who only cause trouble, complain, criticise, grab all they can and try to trash the place.  But if everyone else behaves okay, the destructive behaviour of the relatively few, can generally be dealt with person-to-person, and doesn't get out of hand.

I think that the government's current idea of turning Britain's council estates into vast swathes of temporary housing, with residents constantly having to be re-assessed for eligibility,but not expected to repay that in any way (like by keeping things clean and behaving well)  is utterly destructive of any sense of community.  It's hard to see how any collection of temporary tenants can care about their estate, its public spaces or its sense of order when they have absolutely NO incentive to identify with it.   And if decent behaviour is not even expected of them, either, it all becomes totally nihilistic.  What on earth sort of environment is that to raise kids in? 

I know the arguments against subsidising people who can afford "better" housing, but having estates that are only for the extremely poor, extra needy, anti-social and vulnerable, is surely condemning the kids who live there to difficult, dysfunctional upbringings and much more trouble and expense for everyone in the long run.

 

It seems to suggest that the official priority, despite all the fine talk and hot air,  is not actually about building communities, and so it is not about helping poorer people to live decent and pleasant lives and therefore can not be about fixing the kind of social tensions which helped fuel our recent riots.  Policing and social work intervention alone will not create good places to live. The people themselves do that, and they should be helped to establish themselves, not uprooted as soon as their income gets above a certain level. 

Well, I could rant on about this for ages but I won't ... normal service wll be resumed shortly.

Yes, it's the South Bank - Van Gogh, Sunflowers, Cycling Lizards and the Eye

No, it wasn't a flat picture. This is a life sized 3D painted SCULPTURE of Vincent Van Gogh and it is based on his own famous self portrait.     I saw it the other day in Gabriel's Wharf, in London's South Bank.   It was really disconcerting, and the reflections in the glass make his head seem a strange shape, which adds to the odd effect.

Gabriel's Wharf is just East of the National Theatre, and is part of the Coin St. development.  The good people at Coin St. were the first to spot the potential of this area.  It's strange to think that others didn't, because these days, the walk from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge is a highlight of any trip to London.

There is so much to look at - from ingenious street entertainers and "human statues" 

to major attractions like the London Eye (which we went on.)

In summer and at weekends there are often festivals and all kinds of free entertainment on the South Bank.  We saw a free street dance class at the National Theatre. You could participate yourself, or else sit on deckchairs or on giant astroturf armchairs

and relax, and/or watch everyone having fun.

The folks at Coin St. spotted the potential of the area when it was semi-derelict, back in 1984.  This was before the developers of expensive restaurants and fancy apartments moved in, and frankly you'd have had to be mad to want to live there in those days, because it was a wasteland of broken down factories and abandoned enterprises. 

The unimaginative plan at the time was to redevelop the riverside site as office blocks (and one or two did get built - they're now dead zones).   But a group of far sighted local people formed the social enterprise and development trust of Coin Street.  They developed a neighbourhood of public housing, with space for families and children to live and play, and with space for small businesses.

Gabriel's Wharf is full of small (and good) craft shops reasonably priced (and fun) places to eat and other things.

And that's great - places like this are always fun to browse around. But what makes this place special is that it's the stretch of riverside which also has many major national entertainment venues and national attractions. As well as the little enclave of Gabriel's Wharf, and the National Theatre, you'll find Tate Modern, The British Film Institute, the South Bank Centre, which is London's major concert hall venues of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room. There are cinemas, including a large IMAX, many renowned restaurants, good eateries and splendid shops, an amphitheatre and ... oh, all kinds of other things, temporary and permanent.   

Very near Gabriel's Wharf, the South Bank Centre is holding its 1951 festival, based around the Festival of Britain. I will try and blog about this later, because it's very interesting - and there's also a very nice gourmet food market currently in residence on the space behind the hall.

Meanwhile, though, their seaside and countryside celebrations include a beautiful temporary garden of fruit and vegetables amidst the concrete canyons by the Hayward Gallery (oh, yes, I forgot to mention that - currently showing one of my un-favourite artists, the self-publicising Tracey Emin, but it does have some spectacular shows at other times) .   In the garden,  I admired the gorgeous double hollyhocks, which seemed particularly beautiful in bright sunshine, as it was a lovely day.

And, since this post started with Van Gogh, here are some sunflowers from that little nearby garrden. 

 You can see Van Gogh's actual sunflower painting in the National Gallery which is not too far away.  Although I love Van Gogh's paintings, I myself prefer real sunflowers.

I think we're very lucky in London to have a space like this, where a short walk along the river can reveal so many new, unexpected and ever-changing delights.

Not that anyone's paranoid around here....

Snapped in Paris.

Mondaye Abbey

Saw some magical and almost theatrical effects of the light at Mondaye Abbey, near Calvados, in Normandy.   The blaze of light was so great that we almost felt that an angel must be inside the abbey, just out of sight, waiting to emerge and amaze those outside.  Or, if not an angel, at least a very large and imposing light. .

The brilliant light cast a semi circle onto the grass beyond

The ducks inside the abbey courtyard faced this way and that, casting shadows.

 

Liberty's of London, and Totoro Bun

I apologise if I haven't visited everyone recently, or posted much in the last week.  I've been away from home, or been at home and had guests ... and it will continue next week too.  But I thought you might like to see where we took one of our guests on Saturday - Liberty's.

This is the big shop in Regent Street, famous for its artistic and unusual wares (and high prices).  A couple of years ago it had a revamp, and I didn't like it, but it's all settled down now, and so a trip there is just as much (free) fun as it always was. 

I didn't snap any of the fab selections of clothes and accessories and scarves from top designers, so you'll have to imagine these. I got my camera out in the homewares section.  We specially enjoyed the "bargains" corner (that is, prices merely high rather than sky high) and found the strangest things. 

I liked the visual impact of these fluorescent pink garden chairs (plastic and painted metal.) Best for a minimalist city garden, I guess - the sort of garden that has just a few well chosen and strange looking plants. 

Elsewhere, were original takes on familiar things.  I feel a "crafty" person could probably copy some of these ideas.  

I mean, why chuck away the rusty old lawnmower when you can convert it into a garden light? 

. 

The chest below was beautifully finished with a white lacquer, but the idea of putting lots of interesting handles on it could be easily copied.

A tiger skin rug for those who don't like to kill animals

One collection of tin trays, panels, etc. had a combination of animal pictures and Tudor portraits. The animals look as if they are dressed up like Henry VIII and his court.  The lady duck is holding her baby ducklings.

Since our friend is Japanese, we then went around the corner to the Japan Centre and bought some very good Sapporo beer, and a Totoro bun.