A few months ago on my regular cycle into town, I was overwhelmed by the smell of manure in close proximity to an industrial warehouse...and on an uphill stretch, which meant I was inhaling deeply. Fellow cyclists and I eventually made this extraordinary discovery: a real horse, in a field, in a (urban) park just off the Old Kent Road. It's a remarkable sight. And makes me think of the working horses that worked this canal since the early 18th century. The Grand Surrey Canal - of which the Peckham branch was opened in 1826 - was used to transport coal and timber using tugs and barges, and horses of course!
I don't know why - it could have been the rain - but the sight of this flag hanging forlorn from the arches of the Old Canal bridge was quite touching. I wonder who put it there, and - why?
Peckham Library is a Will Alsop design - Will being the weird and always surprising architectural genius of a few of my favourite buildings in London and elsewhere, including the Palestra building in Southwark, the flexural covers of the airconditioning system at Guy's Hospital in London Bridge and the Ontario College of Art and Design. Finally, spaces that we can play with - the Library is a friendly orange and multicoloured beacon on those cold dark nights in winter.
This is another extraordinary sight - a book installation cut through the glass front of this house. I discovered it a few years ago when first moving into the area, when it was inhabited as a 'normal' house. It has intrigued me ever since. I have never seen anything like it anywhere else. I discovered on Friday that this is the home of the John Letham Foundation (of which more at http://www.flattimeho.org.uk/project/16/) I had a chat with the Foundation's friendly archivist on Friday, admiring his hard work - I was cycling home after a long week, he was about to go into the office! I look forward to attending some of their events and reporting on them.
I caught this gentleman cleaning the wall of this bunker art space in close proximity to the Library - of what appeared a Banksy-like poster of a tank with the name of a major supermarket on it. The guy seemed to be wearing full soldier's outfit, complete with hood, and brandishing a semiautomatic gun - which was only to blast the fresco off the wall. The paper and glue dissolved under my eyes.
A final note on this garden fence, made in what looks like grey steel...reeds. It's quite beautiful. I hope to be eating my own tomatoes soon - thanks to Alex, who gave me my very first tomato plant... which I carried home marsupial like, on my bike.
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