Sunday, 20 October 2019

Autumn in Wandsworth Park, South London

Unlike Battersea Park, you can cycle alongside the river in Wandsworth Park, a small, but lovely patch of green next to the Thames.

Harrods Furniture Depository, South West London


A Grade II-listed building completed just before the First World War, Harrods Furniture Depository now houses high-end apartments. Fully restored, the grand facade overlooking the Thames is as impressive echo of the luxurious Knightsbridge store.

Friday, 18 October 2019

Master Harold...and the Boys, The National Theatre, The South Bank, Central London

Image from the National Theatre web site
Set in 1950 in apartheid South Africa, Master Harold... and the Boys is a powerful play that unpicks the contradictions and cruelty of a society in which people aren't perceived to be equal. While often light on the surface, Athol Fugard's incisive script explores big themes, dissecting everything from the qualities we look for in great people to the subtle nuances that can undermine respect and friendship and the nature of beauty and conflict.  Although the action never leaves a park cafe and the set is unchanging, the wider world casts a dark shadow over the three characters wiling away a wet afternoon. Across the 100 minutes of the play, a figure we never see - an alcoholic cripple - exercises an extraordinary amount of influence over the events on stage.

Saturday, 5 October 2019

The Thames Barrier, East London

First operational in 1982, the Thames Barrier spans 520 metres across the River Thames near Woolwich, and protects 125 square kilometres of central London from flooding caused by tidal surges. It has 10 steel gates, each weighing 3,300 tonnes, that can be raised as high as a five-storey building.


King William Walk, Greenwich, South London

One of the links between Greenwich's handsome hillside park and its historic riverfront