Tag: London

North side of Broadgate Circle, EC2M

Broadgate Circle is undergoing massive redevelopment. Here is the view looking North.

View of the North side of Broadgate Circus, 2 Finsbury Avenue under construction.
Sketched, 30 December 2024 in sketchbook 15.

The concrete cores in the background are 2 Finsbury Avenue under construction. The previous building was demolished. On the left is 1-2 Broadgate, replacing previous buildings. The steel-clad building on the right is 5 Broadgate which replaced 4 and 6 Broadgate and sealed up the access road that led between them.

Building replacement: after 40 years, all change.

Broadgate Circle was constructed in 1985-7 on the site of the former Broad Street station. Here is what the 1980s buildings looked like:

4 and 6 Broadgate, on the North side of Broadgate Circle, before 2012.
From: https://knowyourlondon.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/broadgate-circle/

5 Broadgate, on the right of my sketch, replaced the two buildings in the photo above. It is occupied by the bank UBS. The building has its own Wikipedia page:

The two lowest storeys contain a 200-seat auditorium, restaurants, a gym, and a dry cleaner. Above those are four trading floors which can fit 3,000 people each, as well as seven storeys of offices above. The superstructure is divided into a grid of 13.5-by-12-metre (44 by 39 ft) sections, arranged around the trading floors. Three of the building’s four utility cores are placed along the site perimeter to increase the amount of space on each trading floor.

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Broadgate

The new 2 Finsbury Avenue “consists of a 12-storey podium with a 21-storey West Tower and 36-storey East Tower.”1 It is due to be completed in 20272 and will look like this:

The new 2 Finsbury Avenue, from the website of the architects 3XN.
For scale: 5 Broadgate Circle is on the right of this picture, with the >< signs on the side.

Broadgate Circle is owned as a joint venture between British Land and GIC3. It is adjacent to Liverpool Street Station on the East side of the City of London.

Sketch map showing the location of Broadgate Circle, and my viewing line for the sketch

Here are photos while I was sketching:

Here are links to more views of the 1980s buildings:

Liverpool Street Station on the right, 4 and 6 Broadgate are in the centre . You can see the access road between 4 and 6, which existed at that time.
From: https://www.meinhardt.co.uk/projects/4-6-broadgate/
https://www.frieze.com/article/broadgate-and-city-londons-architecture-inequality

Sketchbook 15
  1. Pictures and descriptions of the new 2 Finsbury Avenue are from the architects’ website: https://3xn.com/project/2-finsbury-avenue-broadgate ↩︎
  2. 18 April 2024 Press release from British Land and GIC. See the press release on this link, file attached below in case the link has expired. https://www.britishland.com/news/broadgate-secures-landmark-pre-let-at-2-finsbury-avenue/ ↩︎
  3. British Land is a UK property developer and GIC is “a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to secure Singapore’s financial future”. GIC is “the manager of Singapore’s foreign reserves” Quotes are from press release below. ↩︎
broadgate-secures-landmark-pre-let-at-2-finsbury-avenue-pr-1Download

The Market Café, Broadway Market, E8

Here is the Market Café, which is at the South end of Broadway Market, near the canal.

Market Café, Broadway Market, Hackney E8, sketched 12 November 2024, 12″ x 9″ [sold]

I’ve sketched the Market Café before, and written about it on this post. This latest sketch was a commission to celebrate a happy event which took place there.

Here are some details from the sketch:

It was a bright and cold day. I did the pen and ink on location.

preliminary sketch
Packing up.
Working on location

The photographer Nick Hillier came by and took some photographs of me working, which he kindly sent me later.

Sketching on location, image credit: Nick Hillier. Pen is a Lamy Safari.

I added the colours at my desk. The colours are:

  • for the brickwork: Fired Gold Ochre
  • all the greys and blacks are: Ultramarine Blue plus Burnt Umber
  • the sky is Phthalo Blue Turquoise
  • the green tiles are Serpentine Genuine
  • there’s a bit of Permanent Yellow Deep on some of the highlights and some dots of Transparent Pyrrol Orange
  • the fine white lines are made by using a rubber resist gum. I use Pebeo drawing gum.

For my current palette see this link. I have 12 colours in my palette. For most pictures I fewer colours. This picture used about 7 colours.

Thank you to my client H for the commission and for allowing me to post this image here.

I’ve sketched around the Broadway Market area before. See this link for a sketch of Climpson Coffee, and here is a sketch done at E5 bakery on the other side of London Fields.

Sketch location

North entrance to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, E16

The North entrance to the Woolwich foot tunnel stands isolated on a traffic island.

North entrance to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, sketched 26th November 2024 in Sketchbook 15

The Woolwich Foot Tunnel opened in 1912, and is still open today, 24 hours a day. It connects the North and South sides of the River Thames.

I walked through the tunnel on an adventure exploring Docklands, inspired (once again!) by a fascinating article on the “London Inheritance” site.

My expedition started at London Bridge pier, with a trip down the Thames on the riverboat. This seemed the simplest way to get to the docks. It takes about 50 minutes to go from London Bridge to Woolwich.

The route of the riverboat from London Bridge to Woolwich.

Everyone gets out at Greenwich, but it’s well worth going a bit further. The boat is empty, the Thames is huge, and the sky opens out.

The City of London seen in the distance, from the Woolwich Royal Arsenal Pier

The river boat pier at Woolwich is on the South side of the river. I was keen to explore the North side, so I walked a little way to find the entrance to the foot tunnel. There is also a ferry, but I wanted to experience the foot tunnel.

The South entrance to the foot tunnel is hard to find. It’s crammed into a dark space behind the leisure centre. It looks somewhat dingy and derelict.

South entrance of the Woolwich Foot tunnel, hemmed in by 1970s buildings.

You have the option of the lift or the stairs. I followed the arrow to the stairs. The stairs are round the back. You have to find your way in, sidling between the wall of the leisure centre and the columned entrance to the tunnel. I can’t help feeling that the constructors of the tunnel would be appalled that their ornate entrance had been obstructed in this way.

Entrance to the stairs, under the canopy. Leisure Centre is the blue part on the left.

By this time I was rather doubting the wisdom of this undertaking, as the old building seemed so abandoned, and the entrance was so dark. However, the stairs were brightly lit, and it all seemed feasible. So down I went.

The tunnel itself is marvellous: all bright and clean, with amazing acoustics. I could hear the distant voices of people ahead of me.

Inside the Woolwich Foot Tunnel

On the North side there is a different world. The North entrance, unlike its Southern counterpart, stands proud and isolated on an expanse of concrete. I sat down and sketched it.

The building stands on a traffic island which is a junction of many routes. The A117 takes heavy traffic onto the pier, to load onto the Woolwich Ferry. There’s a bus, the Superloop SL2 ,which goes to Walthamstow. People walk from the bus to the foot tunnel.

North entrance to the foot tunnel. The Superloop bus from Walthamstow is in the background.

The signpost on the left of my drawing indicates the long distance footpath “The Capital Ring”. I followed this route along the Thames a little way. The path is cut off after the Galleons Point Housing development. Signs say that the lock gates are being maintained. So the route returns to the main road and passes over the spectacular bridges across the docks.

The bridges offer a view directly down the runway of London City Airport. When I walked past, some boys were enthusiastically photographing the aircraft on their mobile phones.

Plane spotters on the bridge over the Royal Albert Dock. City of London in the distance.

The other direction from the airport, looking toward the Thames, is a scene which seems to define what we mean by “brown field site”.

A brown field site: Albert Island, North Woolwich. This photo was taken from the same spot as the one above, but looking the other way.

In the distance on the left, you see the housing developments round Gallions Reach. The quantity of space round here is astounding. And the docks are enormous.

Royal Albert Dock from the Steve Redgrave Bridge. The dock is about a mile long. The University of East London is on the right, City Airport on the left, City of London towers in the distance.

I walked on over these immense bridges over the docks. An oncoming bus tooted cheerfully. I looked up to see the driver smiling a friendly greeting. Perhaps I looked a little lonely and cold. The bus rushed on. I felt warmer.

On the other side of the bridge I warmed up in the “Wild Bean Café” (recommended) and then made my way to Gallions Reach DLR station and thence to central London.

If in need of wide open spaces and a bit of distance from the problems of the City, then a trip downriver is definitely the thing.

Sketching the North entrance to the foot tunnel
Signpost by the North Entrance
The river at North Woolwich
Looking downstream, North Woolwich
Pumphouse in Gallions Reach
Sketchbook 15 spread

Climpson & Sons – Broadway Market E8

Here is a sketch of the coffee merchant Climpson & Sons, on Broadway Market in Hackney.

Climpson & Sons, 67 Broadway Market, London E8, sketched 22 October 2024 in Sketchbook 15

I was sitting at a table in the café opposite, which is called “Route”.

Climpsons are a coffee merchant and roastery based in East London. They roast their coffee in Walthamstow, and their HQ is just the other side of London Fields from Broadway Market.

They were doing a brisk trade as I sketched, and people drank their coffees on the benches outside.

I did most of the sketch on location and finished it at my desk.

Sketchbook 15

2 Morocco Street, Bermondsey, London SE1

Bermondsey is an area of London just to the south of London Bridge. I had tea at the bookshop and café called “Morocco Bound”. From a table outside Morocco Bound, I sketched the building opposite.

2 Morocco Street, sketched from “Morocco Bound”, 18th October 2024, 2pm in Sketchbook 15

As you see, on the ground floor there is a motor repair shop, “R.W. Auto’s”.

RW Autos is Southwark’s top garage offering a range of car services including MOT’s, repairs and servicing. Our Southwark garage has been established since 1969 and serves a plethora of private and corporate clients. Our team provide you with a friendly, reliable, personal, efficient, and affordable service.

RW Autos website

The names of the streets round here indicate the historic industry of the area: tanning and leather making: Leathermarket Street, Tanner Street, Morocco Street.

A 1967 Webster’s dictionary, morocco bound. Source: for sale on James Cummins bookseller website (30 Oct 2024)

I was sketching on Morocco Street. Morocco is a type of soft leather. It is used for gloves and wallets, for example. It is also used for book bindings, hence the name of the café: ‘Morocco Bound”. According to the “Medieval and Early Modern Orients (MEMOs)” scholarly site1, Morocco leather was originally “a kind of extremely fine, soft, hard-wearing, and richly dyed sumac-tanned goatskin, originating in the Sokoto region of northern Nigeria, transported across the Sahara and exported to Europe by Maghrebi, particularly Moroccan, merchants.”. This was in the 16th and 17th centuries.

This luxury product was greatly imitated over the following years, so that “by the turn of the nineteenth century, nearly all obvious distinctions between imported and locally produced morocco leather had been erased, and to many modern curators, ‘morocco’ refers either to the distinctive grain, or simply to goat leather bindings, whatever their origin.”

Books are still bound in “morocco leather” today.

The phrase “Morocco bound” occurs in a song from the 1942 film “Road to Morocco” with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. Here is an extract:

We may run into villains but we're not afraid to roam
Because we read the story and we end up safe at home
Certainly do get around
Like Webster's Dictionary we're Morocco bound

We certainly do get around
Like a complete set of Shakespeare that you get
In the corner drugstore for a dollar ninety-eight
We're Morocco bound

Or, like a volume of Omar Khayyam that you buy in the
Department store at Christmas time for your cousin Julia
We're Morocco bound....

It was only when I started looking at the building carefully that I noticed the horses’ heads. It turns out these are a bit of a mystery.

The mystery of the Horses’ Heads

I found this 1976 photo in the London Picture Archives, reproduced here with permission:

1976 photo, Building in Morocco Street, record number 51956
image source: (c) The London Archives (City of London Corporation), picture used under licence reference #007089
https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/view-item?i=54304&WINID=1730309548612

You see Number 2 on the right of the photo, looking very much as it does today. Except that there are no horses’ heads. When did they appear?

Various websites2 suggest that Number 2 Morocco Street was “once a smithy”. If this was a smithy with horses’ heads in (say) the early twentieth century, then someone removed them before the photo was taken in 1976, and has put them back some time afterwards. Or the building became a smithy after 1976, in which case it must have been one of the very few left in London at that time. Or the horses’ heads are a recent decorative addition and not related to the original purpose of the building atall. It’s a mystery. Next time I am in the area I will go and enquire at R.W. Auto’s.

Photos of work in progress on the drawing, and the mysterious horses’ heads.
  1. Medieval and Early Modern Orients (MEMOs) is an AHRC-funded decolonial project that seeks to further knowledge and understanding of the early interactions between England and the Islamic Worlds. AHRC is the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The quotations come from an article on their site entitled “Morocco Leather and Material Understandings of the Maghreb in Early Modern Britain” dated 14 November 2022 on this link: https://memorients.com/articles/morocco-leather-and-material-understandings-of-the-maghreb-in-early-modern-britain ↩︎
  2. Various websites suggest that this building was once a smithy. Here are the links:
    Layers of London: https://www.layersoflondon.org/map/records/morocco-street. “2a R.W.Autos with horses heads was a smithy/farrier”
    Bermondsey Boy: http://www.bermondseyboy.net/viewtopic.php?t=260. This website includes a photo from 2015 – with horses heads, and the commentary. “RW AUTO’S The two horse heads above the front of this garage workshop are the last clue that is was once a smithy – a blacksmiths.” This website also includes a 1968 photo which has no horses heads. ↩︎
Sketchbook 15 page spread

Vauxhall Tea House Theatre, SE11

The Vauxhall Tea House Theatre is one on my favourite places. It is a “tea house by day, theatre by night”. Here is a sketch of the outside:

Vauxhall Tea House Theatre, 12″ x 9″ pen and wash original. [sold]

Here is a sketch of the interior by day:

Vauxhall Tea House Theatre, interior with cat. 12″ x 9″ pen and wash original. [Sold]

There are winged chairs you can sink into, wooden tables you can work at, magazines and newspapers you can read. There is tea. There is cake. There is at least one cat.

It’s a short walk from Vauxhall station. Definitely worth a visit.

Above is from their Summer 2024 programme.

From the Tea House Theatre website:

“We are trying to be different. We will not hurry you. If you visit us on your lunch break, then have one, you will be more productive in the afternoon. If you want to have a meeting, we will not disturb you. If you are ‘working from home’, we have wifi. If you have children, we have highchairs, a chest of toys, and milkshakes. We always have the daily papers, so please, relax, and share in what we are trying to create, take a load off, and have a cuppa.”

Magnificent!

Hoxton Trust Community Garden – Clock Tower, London N1

Hoxton Street is busy with market stalls, shops, cafés. People walk to and fro. If you walk North, there’s a small garden on the right, behind a fence. Above the trees there’s this odd white tower. What is it? The gate is open and you can go in.

Hoxton Trust Community Garden N1- Clock Tower, sketched 29 August 2024 in Sketchbook 15

This is the Hoxton Trust Community Garden. Their website tells me that the Clock Tower was rescued from the Eastern Fever Hospital which was built 1869-1871. It is made of wood, and is possibly older than the hospital.

The clock tower sits on a framework made of steel girders. On the day I was there, the clock had stopped at half-past six. So in a timeless interlude, I sketched from a wooden bench amongst the trees.

Near the bench is a small monument to the “Hoxton Five”. Who were they?

“One was stabbed, and his four friends were killed in a car crash returning from the funeral.”

The Hoxton Community Trust is a registered charity “working to make Hoxton and Shoreditch a better place”. According to their website, they provide free legal advice and assistance to people who need it. They maintain this community garden for the benefit of everyone. The charity was established in 1983: “At the time, Hoxton was very unfashionable, with high levels of poverty and a very poor quality urban realm”, their website says. They bought and renovated three buildings, 150-156 Hoxton Street, adjacent to the garden. These buildings are now let out. Rents from these buildings supplement the income of the Hoxton Trust, which is also funded by grants from the National Lottery, Hackney Council, and other sources (2023). The work of the Trust is also supported by volunteers, some of whom work in the garden.

The garden is lovely. There are fruit trees and a herb garden, and plenty of seats. A sanctuary.

Sketching in the Hoxton Community Trust Garden.
Sketchbook 15

Tower of St Anne’s Church Limehouse, E14

This is the tower of St Anne’s Church Limehouse, seen from the south.
St Anne’s is a church designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, consecrated in 1730.

St Anne’s Church Limehouse tower, sketched 28 August 2024 in sketchbook 15

This tower shows the marine connections of this church:

The prominent tower with its golden ball on the flagpole became a Trinity House “sea mark” on navigational charts and the Queens Regulations still permit St Anne’s Limehouse to display the White Ensign”.

Wikipedia (1 October 2024)
White ensign

The White Ensign is definitely flying. In my drawing the flag is blowing away from me, so you can’t see it well. It is the flag flown by British Navy ships and certain navy-related buildings on land, of which St Anne’s in one.

The golden ball is clearly visible on the flagpole, the “sea mark” mentioned in articles about the church. I had a look to see if I could find St Anne’s on a navigational chart. The Port of London Authority offers navigational maps of the Thames – but sadly St Anne’s is not shown as a “sea mark” on any of them.

Detail from Chart 319 from the Port of London Authority. The red circle where St Anne’s is, but it’s not shown as a “sea mark”.

The church has a lovely quiet garden. I sketched from the wooden seat, watched by a robin.

Sketchbook 15

Here are other sketches I’ve done around Limehouse and Wapping, near here:

Limehouse Accumulator Tower, E14

This is the Limehouse Accumulator Tower, seen from Mill Place, London E14.

Limehouse Accumulator Tower, sketched 21 August 2024, in Sketchbook 15

In the 19th century, this building provided hydraulic power to machinery in the Limehouse docks. Hydraulic power is a way of transmitting energy from one place to another.

The problem at the time was that steam engines could generate motive force, but only where they were. You could build a big powerful steam engine, but you couldn’t put a steam engine next to every crane, capstan, or set of lock gates. You also didn’t want to fire up a steam engine every time someone wanted to use the lock gates. So you had to find a way of transmitting the power from the steam engine to the machinery which used it. And you had to find a way of storing the power so it was available on demand. Before the use of electricity was common, power was transmitted using pressurized water.

The steam engine located in this building was used to pump water into the adjacent accumulator tower, by lifting a heavy weight. The heavy weight was a neat fit on top of the water inside the tower and pushed the water down. Water does not compress. So the weight just sat there, applying pressure to the water. The pressurised water was distributed around the docks in thick cast-iron pipes. When the lock-keeper wanted to operate the lock gates they opened a tap and the force of the pressurized water opened the gates. Then they closed the taps. Far away, the weight moved down very slightly in the accumulator tower. Eventually the steam engine was used to pull the weight up to the top again.

That’s 19th century hydraulic power. Power is transmitted by pressurised water in cast-iron pipes: the original, functional, steam-punk.

I find it marvellous. I’ve drawn the much bigger London Hydraulic Power station here. The Limehouse building is smaller. It was built in 1869, one of several in the area at the time. It was restored in 1994/5, but sadly the weight and machinery are removed. There is a detailed history of the building on this link from the Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society.

Sketching the Limehouse Accumulator Tower. The modern Docklands Light Railway lines run over the Victorian bridge to the left, the bridge to the right is disused.

Standing in Mill Place to make this sketch, I became aware of all the history that is embedded in walls. The one in front of me had been altered, rebuilt, and amended several times. A bit had been added on top. Plants lived there. A graffiti artist had made their mark on the crumbling stone.

I was standing under two bridges, both 19th century. Both survivors. One holds the modern Docklands Light Railway. The other had wonderful strong vaulting. But it held no railway. I walked around trying to find out where it went. The Google aerial view confirms what I suspected: it is a ghost railway. On the bridge there is verdant greenery where the railway used to be. It goes across a second sturdy bridge, over the A13, and then stops.

Vaulting on the bridge
Verdant greenery, but no railway. (Accumulator tower in the background)
A sturdy railway bridge across the A13 carries no railway.
The railway bridges with no railway

Here are some maps which show the position of the Accumulator Tower and the absence of a railway (click to enlarge).

In this whole area the works of Victorian engineers make themselves felt. Each bridge is a triumph of the bricklayers’ skill: not only strikingly beautiful, with clean curves and neat detailing, but also enduring, powerful and functional 150 years later.

Sketchbook 15
map (c) OpenStreetMap contributors: click to go to the map

Map for 4G wines

This was a fun project!

Vanessa from 4G wines saw one of my maps online, and contacted me to ask if I could do a special one for them – for a wine label! I was thrilled at the idea of having my artwork on a wine label, and set to work.

Vanessa was somewhat mysterious about how the map was to be used. I was curious. She invited me to the London launch of their vintage so I could see it in person, when the bottle design was to be unveiled.

The event was at the Banksy gallery on the Charing Cross Road. On display was the 2018 vintage named “Going, going, gone”. The name is a reference to a 2018 event at an auction house. A Banksy painting, “Girl with a Balloon”, apparently started to self-destruct by feeding itself through a shredder embedded in the picture frame. The shredding process started immediately the auctioneer’s hammer came down to mark the sale of the work, hence “Going, going, gone”.

4G make their bottles into intriguing works of art. The label on the bottle is a beautiful design by the artist Sebastian Blinde, showing elements of South African nature.

label design by Sebastian Blinde

The secret in this vintage is the map – my map! – made visible by shining ultra-violet light onto the label.

Secret map behind the label

It was such fun to see it. There is an X on the map to mark the position of an original Banksy mural “Girl with a Balloon”.

The inscription below the map reads:
“EN WAT MET LIEFDE GEDAAN WORDT, DAT WORDT GOED GEDAAN”

This is another subtle artistic reference. It is a quote from a letter of Vincent van Gogh written on 3 April 1878, according to the website of the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam on this page of his letters.

“And what is done with love, is done well.”

An excellent motto, for both wine and art.