Category: Watercolour

watercolour, pen and wash

Russell Square Cab Drivers’ Shelter, WC1

Continuing my series on Cab Drivers’ Shelters, here is the shelter on Russell Square. It was built in 1897, restored in 1987, and listed in 1988.

Russell Square Cab Drivers’ shelter, WC1, sketched 9th March 2026, in Sketchbook 16

This little building is on the North side of Russell Square, not far from the British Museum.

Location of the Russell Square Cab Drivers’ Shelter

I sketched from a convenient bench, fortified by a sandwich and cake from the marvellous Fortitude Bakery, just to the east – marked on the map above (and recommended).

On the other side of the road is a school for young children. Adults stood about, ready to collect the school children. Between them flowed a current of workers, students and people of all nations. “SOAS”, the School of Oriental and African Studies, is nearby, as is the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and many other academic institutions of the University of London.

A cheerful woman swathed in scarves bustled up to me and examined the picture. She glanced up to to the shelter and looked back down again at my picture, comparing. She then delivered what I took to be a speech of encouragement and admiration. But it may equally have been closely argued constructive criticism. Her words sounded garbled, she had no teeth, and I think she was speaking a language unknown to me. However we smiled at each other, I held up the picture so she could better compare it to the building. She nodded curtly, as though putting a confirmatory flourish at the end of her expressed opinion. We smiled again, she waved, and off she went.

A woman with a large handbag came and sat down right next to me on the bench. She placed the handbag on her lap, and took no interest in my picture whatsoever. After a few minutes she took off again. Perhaps she had spotted the pupil she had come to collect.

I photographed various details of the shelter. Note the bird on top of the bell. I had tried very hard to show it in my drawing, but at that distance it was very small.

The shelters were built by The Cabmen’s Shelter Fund. Its monogram “CSF” is in the fretwork. This charity set up the shelters in the 19th century, and still exists.

Russell Square Cab Drivers’ Shelter – fretwork showing “CSF” for “Cabmens’ Shelter Fund”

I finished the drawing back at my desk. Here is the sketchbook spread.

Russell Square Cab Drivers’ shelter in Sketchbook 16

Temple Place Cabdrivers’ shelter, WC2

Here is the Cab Drivers Shelter near Temple Station.

Cab drivers’ shelter, Temple Place. Sketched 5th March 2026 2pm in Sketchbook 16

There are 13 of these shelters surviving. All are now listed. This one was built in around 1900 and listed in 19871. Here’s a map from the Historic England site showing the location of all the shelters in London. interestingly they are all to the North of the river.

Map of the 13 listed cab drivers’ shelters. Temple place circled. Map from Google, on https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/13th-cabmens-shelter-in-london-listed/
Eager diners queue at the shelter before it closes.

I sketched this one on the first sunny day in spring. I’d arrived there at around 1:30pm. There was a long line of people outside and several tables. While I was doing the sketch, the manager closed the window and the queue dissipated. Then she came out and packed up all the tables. I just managed to sketch one table before they all disappeared. This shelter closes at 2pm.

Two men walked past me, engrossed in a conversation about a colleague. “He has a strong survival component” observed one of them, somewhat ruefully.

Then there was a man pushing a bicycle. “Ah!” he said, noticing me, “ink. Real ink!” I was indeed using real ink. I held up the fountain pen to show him. “I love the sound of ink on paper!” he said. I hadn’t thought about the sound of ink on paper. I noticed it, from that moment on.

Here’s a map showing the location of the shelter. As you see, it is near Temple Station, which accounts for the flux of people passing.

Here is the sketchbook spread. My aim is to sketch more of these shelters – maybe even to sketch all of them.

Sketchbook 16
  1. Historic England listing: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1357301?section=official-list-entry ↩︎

Postcards from Paris and Switzerland, February 2026

The waitress in the Paris café was tolerant. My painting things were all over the table. I’d finished my meal some time ago. But she did not hurry me away.

Sketching in a cafe, Rue Montorgueil Paris 2e

I was travelling by train, arriving many hours later in Geneva.

From café “Oh! Martine” next to Geneva Cornavin railway station

Trains from Geneva to Lausanne were disrupted because Swiss football supporters had, I learned later, thrown lighted fireworks out of the train windows, onto the tracks. These fireworks had landed in the one place they could do damage: communications cables temporarily exposed while track works were carried out. In local papers there was much finger pointing: the train company condemning irresponsible football supporters, the football club maintaining that it was foolish to have train windows that opened on such a train, and then the train company pointing out that the it was the person behind the lighted firework that was the problem, not the open window.

I reached my destination by a zigzag route involving unfamiliar buses through increasing fog.

Sainte-Croix, Vaud, in the fog. The streets were littered with damp confetti. It had just been Carnival. Some of this confetti found its way onto my picture.

Higher up, it was snowing.

Looking towards Lake Geneva, from the Jura hills above Sainte-Croix. The Alps are invisible.

The snow fields had geometric simplicity.

The snow field above the sports stadium, Sainte-Croix, Vaud
Rue des Chalets, Sainte-Croix. See the crane, right-hand side.

Sometimes, sketching from my room was a better idea.

These sketches are all postcards, which I dropped into letterboxes as I travelled. My friend kept them all, and the envelopes.

Postcard selection: February 2026

Le Thoronet Abbey, Var, Provence, 83340 France

On a perfect day in Provence, I leaned against a wall and sketched a view of Le Thoronet.

Le Thoronet Abbey, Var, Provence, 83340 France sketched 15th February 2026 on Arches 300gsm watercolour paper, size A5

I loved this place because of its mathematical precision. As I sketched, I noticed that the tower is an isosceles triangle on top of a square. The windows are semicircles on top of rectangles. Some of the windows are circular.

The whole building has similar satisfying geometry.

Le Thoronet Abbey, 7×5 photographs on Ilford XP2 film with an Olympus XA2 point-and-shoot camera, film developed by filmprocessing.co.uk. Film reference 201.

This is a Cistercian abbey, founded in 1136. It was built between 1160 and 1230. “restoration work began in 1841 and continues today” says the leaflet. The building is now State-owned. While we were there, a service was taking place in its austere geometric chapel.

Le Corbusier visited the Abbey in 1953.

He wrote of the Abbey of Le Thoronet: ” Light and shadow are the loudspeakers of this architecture of truth, calm and strength “.

Quoted on the Abbey website on this link
Le Thoronet Abbey, photograph on Ilford XP2 film with an Olympus XA2 point-and-shoot camera, film developed by filmprocessing.co.uk. Film reference 201.

References and links:

Novel, by Fernand Pouillon (1912-1986), about the building of the Abbey, and the struggles faced by the construction workers: “Les Pierres Sauvages” (1960)

An article in the Journal “Drawing Matter” about the drawings of Fernand Pouillon: https://drawingmatter.org/fernand-pouillons-survey-of-the-abbey-of-le-thoronet/

Reference to Le Corbusier’s visit in 1953 from the website of the Abbey shop: https://www.boutiquedupatrimoine.fr/en/content/58-abbaye-du-thoronet.html

Click below to download a scan of the leaflet from the Abbey.

Leaflet from Le ThoronetDownload
Sketching at Le Thoronet Abbey
A glimpse of the unadorned interior. Digital photograph.

Donnybrook Quarter, Old Ford, Tower Hamlets, London E3

I saw this group of Mediterranean-style buildings on a long peregrination around East London. I went back to have a closer look. This is the “Donnybrook Quarter” which stands on a corner of Parnell Road, in Tower Hamlets. I arrived just as the sun was setting.

The sketch shows a pale modern building against a sunlit sky. At street level there is a shop with a canopy.
Part of the Donnybrook Quarter, Parnell Road, Tower Hamlets London E3, sketched 29 January 2026 in Sketchbook 16

The Donnybrook Quarter was completed ready for occupation in 2006. The architects were Peter Barber Architects.

The architects write: “The scheme is laid out around two new tree lined streets which cross the site creating very strong spatial connections with adjacent neighborhoods and a handy cut through for their residents” (Peter Barber Architects.)

Here are snapshots of the tree-lined streets they mention. These pictures were taken in January 2026, so the trees aren’t perhaps as flourishing as they might be in the summer.

A photo-essay on the “Tower Hamlets Slice” website has some beautiful pictures by Yev Kazannik from April 2000. The essay provides interesting background to the development. It quotes Peter Barber as saying:

“…the style came about at the request of local residents during community consultations in the early to mid-2000s before the project was finished in 2006. 
‘The residents were thinking, “Spain! Holidays! Marbella!” I’m completely happy with that,’ Barber said in an interview.”

Peter Barber goes on to say:

“…’This project is a celebration of the public social life of the street,’ ..
‘A worrying amount of building in London is done as a gated community. This is a counter-blast to that.’ “

Yez Kazannik comments:

“Walking through the lanes of Donnybrook, you will feel this neighbourly intimacy. Uniquely, the building units themselves have no corridors, entrances or ‘connecting’ spaces. Each room simply opens out into another. The streets themselves are meant to be the corridors, where neighbours can amble across each other. “

The concept is perhaps better understood from the air. Here’s an image from the architects’ website:

Image credit: Peter Barber Architects (https://www.peterbarberarchitects.com/donnybrook-quarter)

Here’s my snapshot of one of the streets:

I’d be interested to know how it works in practice.

If you’d like to find it, the development is just south of Victoria Park.

My sketch map of the locality of Donnybrook Quarter and my sightline for the sketch above

The number 8 bus goes along Old Ford Road, and took me back to the City after I’d done this sketch.

Towards central London on the number 8 bus Image credit: TfL website https://tfl.gov.uk
Page spread Sketchbook 16

More about Donnybrook Quarter and the architect Peter Barber:

This Guardian article describes his work and has more quotes: “Washing line warrior – the architect who wants to get the neighbours singing”

Here’s another Guardian article: “Marbella on Thames”

This technical report contains plans of Donnybrook Quarter and many photos, as well as a list of references: Westminster Research

See also Peter Barber’s website here (about Donnybrook) and here (all projects) and his instagram

The Royal Oak, Columbia Road, London E2

Columbia Road flower market is famous. It takes place on Sundays from 8am to 2pm “whatever the weather”. This magnificent pub, The Royal Oak, is about half way along the road.

The Royal Oak, Columbia Road, sketched 22 January 2026, 2pm

Columbia Road has its own website. It says

“We are one of the few streets in the country composed of sixty independent shops. Small art galleries sit next to cup cake shops, vintage clothes stores, English and Italian delis, garden and antique shops. There is also a wealth of great pubs, cafes and restaurants.”

This is true, although you need to know that many of these shops are open only Friday-Sunday. I was there on a rainy Thursday. This was probably just as well, because it meant I had a good view of the pub from the doorway of the shop opposite.

Sketching “The Royal Oak” from outside “Bob and Blossom” on Columbia Road

It was the nicest-smelling location for sketching. There was a coffee shop opposite distributing coffee-and-croissant aromas into the damp air, and somewhere nearby must have been selling soap, because there were wafts of tangerine, cedar, and lavender, smelling clean and unusual.

The pub is Grade II listed, listing reference 1426765. The present building is from 1923, built to the designs of Arthur Edward Sewell, for Trumans Brewery. The listing notes “Trumans distinctive green mottled tiling” which you can see in my sketch. According to the listing, there was a previous pub here, of the same name, from before 1842. The listing also maintains that this is an “early pub” with a licence to open from 9am on Sundays to serve the market-goers. This doesn’t seem to be the case any more, according to the pub website. But if you know different, or if you are the pub, please correct me!

It is now a Youngs pub, open every day from 12 noon.

The Royal Oak, sketchbook spread, Sketchbook 16
What it looked like before the colour went on

61 Hackney Road, E2

Along the Hackney Road stands this building with a turret:

61 Hackney Road, E2 7NX, sketched 12 January 2026 in sketchbook 16

This on the corner of Waterson Street and Hackney Road, at the western end of Columbia Road.

After I’d sketched it, I walked into the picture, and had a look at the building from the Waterson Street side. It was a pub called the Duke of Clarence.

There is deep green tiling, characteristic of 19th century London pubs.

It was listed in the London Street Directory of 1940 as a pub. Other online references have it trading from 1802 up to 1944. For many decades it’s had retail premises on the ground floor.

Now it is home to “Colours of Arley” on the ground floor, which offers “bespoke striped fabric and wallpaper”. Other floors are occupied by tenants of “Fount London”, which provides small office spaces in quirky buildings.

It’s still standing on its corner, still noble, still useful, while the businesses and the district change around it.

Canterbury Cathedral, December 2025

In December I visited Canterbury Cathedral.

Canterbury Cathedral, sketched 16th December 2025 in Sketchbook 16

I was sketching the cathedral from the south west. The Tower in the centre of my sketch dates from 1478. The Trinity and Corona chapels on the right of the picture were built in 1175 and 1184. The magnificent nave, under the grey roof in the centre of my sketch, was built in 1377-1405. The cathedral was founded in 597 by St Augustine.

The horse in the foreground of my drawing is the “Canterbury War Horse”. It is made of pieces of wood, offcuts donated by the local fencing business, Jacksons. It was created in November 2018, marking Armistice Day, and the centenary of the end of the 1914-18 conflict.

Image and text from the website of Jacksons Fencing, Kent

The days are short in December and the light was fading while I was sketching.

I managed to get the pen and ink done sitting on the bench outdoors, and added the colour at my desk.

The bench commemorated the lives of George and Lilian Culmar, 1912 -1985.

It was a wonderful experience to sit calmly on this bench and contemplate the cathedral, as night fell.

Sketchbook 16

Rotherhithe Tunnel, South Entrance, London SE16

Having sketched the North entrance of the Rotherhithe Tunnel, I then went to have a look at the South entrance. Here it is:

Rotherhithe Tunnel South Entrance, and St Olav’s Church, Rotherhithe, London SE 16 7JB, sketched 18th November 2025

The church is St Olav’s, the Norwegian Church in London. It was designed by John Love Seaton Dahl, and the foundation stone was laid in 1926 by Prince Olav, later King Olav V, of Norway.

The steel arch over the tunnel approach road is part of the equipment used to cut the tunnel, as on the North side.

Sketch detail showing the steel arch.

Below is a photo taken from the front courtyard of the church, looking back towards my sketching location. You can see the steel arch above the wall of the Church courtyard.

View of the arch above the Rotherhithe Tunnel Approach road, from the front courtyard of St Olave’s church

As you see, there were many trees. I was sketching from a traffic island, between major roads.

Map showing my sketching location (red dot and arrow)

Above me there were parakeets, the green ones. I think this is the furthest east I have heard parakeets. They seem to be migrating slowly across London, West to East, and North to South.

Sketching amongst greenery, Rotherhithe Tunnel South entrance

I enjoyed the weathervane on the church: a viking boat.

For completeness, here is a map showing the entire route of the Rotherhithe tunnel.

Background map (c) OpenStreetMap contributors

I reached the South entrance via the “Brunel Tunnel”, which is now used by the Windrush Line.

I’ve now sketched both entrances and two of the shafts. Here are the other posts. Click on the image to go to my article about it on this website.

North Entrance
Shaft 3
Shaft 2

Here’s my sketchbook with this sketch:

Sketchbook 16 page spread

Sketchbook: Arches Aquarelle 300gsm, book made by Wyvern Bindery

Paints: Roman Szmal

Pen and ink: De Atramentis Document Ink, Black, in a Lamy Safari fountain pen with Extra-Fine nib.

Rotherhithe Tunnel North Entrance, London E14

The Rotherhithe Tunnel carries road traffic in both directions between Limehouse on the north of the River Thames, and Rotherhithe on the south side. It was constructed between 1904 and 1908, for horses and carts. The designer was Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice.

The tunnel links Limehouse on the north of the river to Rotherhithe on the south. Built originally for horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians, the tunnel now carries far more traffic than it was designed for, which requires careful day to day management by TfL to ensure safety.

Transport for London press release 20181

Here is the North Entrance of the Rotherhithe tunnel, near to Limehouse DLR Station in the east of London.

Rotherhithe Tunnel North Entrance, sketched 18 November 2025 in Sketchbook 16

The arch in the picture is made of steel. A notice on one of the columns explains that this arch is part of the equipment used to construct the tunnel.

You can see the steel structure in the photo below. The tunnel is narrow. As you see in my sketch, there are just two lanes. The tunnel is heavily polluted from exhaust fumes. Even so, as I sketched, some people cycled into the entrance. Cycling in the tunnel must be very unpleasant and scary. I feared for them.

Cyclist entering the Rotherhithe Tunnel, under the steel arch.

Because of the limited space in the tunnel, there are size restrictions on traffic, including a height restriction. To indicate the safe height, there are long vertical tubes over the approach road, as shown in the photos below. These photos were taken looking back from near the tunnel entrance, towards Limehouse DLR Station, which you can see in the background.

While I was sketching, I heard the banging sound as an overheight van struck the metal tubes. This happened three times during the 45 minutes I was there. Each time, the vehicle carried on past me into the tunnel.

On the road island where I stood to sketch, there are two red telephone boxes. Amazingly, one of them still had the phone inside.

Despite the bright company of the phone boxes, it wasn’t a great place to stand. I could smell the pollution from the tunnel and its approach roads and I didn’t think it was doing me any good. Also it was cold. So having made my pen sketch, I went off to cross the Thames in search of the south entrance.

Sketching the North Entrance

Here are maps, click to enlarge them.

I used Roman Szmal watercolours for this picture. It appears in an article on the Jackson Art Supplies website, reviewing these colours. Here are the colours I used:

Sketchbook 16 spread
  1. Transport For London Press release 12 June 2018 contains data about the number of vehicles using the tunnel: https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2018/june/rotherhithe-tunnel-celebrates-110-years-of-transporting-people-across-the-thames ↩︎ ↩︎