We expected to arrive directly at Elephant and Castle, but were chucked off our train and had to wait for another.   Fortunately we were on the beautiful Blackfriars Bridge and the light was excellent so it was a pleasure to admire the view..

Secondhand bikes for sale

The Strata

Appealing high-rise

St George's RC Cathedral

Imperial War Museum

The guns, while each was mounted on Royal Navy warships during the conflict, those were actually from different vessels.

The first was from the HMS Ramilles (07), which was one of five Revenge-class super-dreadnoughts constructed during World War I. Completed in late 1917, Ramilles arrived too late for the war effort and took part in no combat operations against Germany. However, she was deployed to Turkey twice in response to the crises arising during the Greco-Turkish War, while she also saw limited involvement during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The battleship then took part in escort duties in the Atlantic during World War II and was the flagship for the Allied invasion of Madagascar in 1942—the British-led campaign to capture the Vichy French-controlled island.

The other gun at the entrance of the museum was from the HMS Resolution (09), a sister ship of the Revenge-class. She also saw service in the Greco-Turkish War and supported the Franco-British intervention in the Russian Civil War. The gun was removed and remounted, where it was used on HMS Roberts, the lead vessel of a World War II-era monitor that provided bombardment support during Operation Torch in North Africa in 1942, and during the Operation Husky Invasion of Sicily followed by the Allied landings near Salerno as part of Operation Avalanche. The 15-gun was also employed during the D-Day landings at Sword beach.

Thus while one of the guns likely was only used in limited operations, the other was fired in support of crucial Allied landings. Both were installed in front of the Imperial War Museum in 1968.

Unusual animal poses

Harrier suspended over the atrium

Land Rover

Baghdad Car destroyed in 2007 in Iraq

Japanese Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka and German V2

Nevinson - French troops resting

John Nash

Anthony Davies from series 'Wasteland'

Gassed by John Singer Sargent

Wartime cameras

The Doctor by Nevinson

Travoys arriving with wounded at Smol Macedonia 1916 by Stanley Spencer

The Korengal Valley Kunar Province Afghanistan Sept 2007.   USA soldier on surveillance

Memories of Berlin

Gadaffi and a ferret

Blair

Don't know what this is about

Chevrolet truck

St George's RC Cathedral Southwark

Pièta

Myers was born in 1803 in Kingston-upon-Hull. He first met Pugin in 1827 while working as an apprentice to the Master Mason of Beverley Minster, William Comins. Myers completed his apprenticeship in 1829, and returned to Kingston-upon-Hull where he set up as a builder, specialising in factories, mills and terraced housing, with his business partner Richard Wilson. In 1837, Pugin commissioned them to build St Mary's Catholic Church in Derby for him.

Myers followed Pugin to London, settling in St George's Road, Southwark in 1842. From here he executed many important commissions for Pugin, including Newcastle, Birmingham, Nottingham and Southwark cathedrals. He also worked for many other architects, and it has been estimated that he built on average three churches a year. In 1852-1854 they were the builders contracted to complete Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire for the Rothschild family. The Rothschild family frequently employed George Myers builder for building projects.

Good colours, pity about the Bus Stop

A collection of large mosaics were installed in the railway arches at Centaur Street, which are more usually filled with rubbish and pigeon poo, over a period of 7 years by Southbank Mosaics with Future’s Theatre and Southbank Sinfonia supported by Heritage Lottery.   The location is surprisingly apt though, as William Blake lived nearby from 1890-1800 in the a decade that is often thought to be his most productive years. It’s when he started work on Jerusalem, which is today far better known for the Hymn than the original book — even though in fact, the hymn Jerusalem uses text from one of Blake’s other books. The title of the book and the Hymn are coincidental.   But, 200 years after he moved here, a project was set up to decorate the railway arches in his memory, and now a decade or so later, most of them are still there, rather dusty now, seemingly slightly forgotten, but that’s part of their appeal.   They are not art that shouts or demands attention in a public space. Hidden down inside passages that few choose to walk through, it’s happy to simply be spied out of the corner of eyes of people hurrying through the arches to cleaner places.   You are required to seek out the art down here in its dark lair.

The Wheel

Pink cat

Graffiti

Phoenix

Graffiti

McLaren 720S Mansory picture from the web