London,UK 2017 - Ruud Leeuw

WALKABOUT in LONDON, 2017

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Photos © Ruud Leeuw

Last august I spent a week in London (England), on a general walkabout but also a few subjects to pursue.
This is my photoreport, read on!

ROOTS

London 2017
Skyline seen from London City airport (LCY).
London City Airport is an international airport in London, UK. It is located in the Royal Docks in the London Borough of Newham,
approximately east of the City of London and a shorter distance east of Canary Wharf. I have travelled now through most of the London airports.

London 2017
National Archives at Kew

We had arrived with a few plans and this was one of them.
My father arrived in 1946 as a WW2 refugee in London and he had a brief stay in London (Feb.-Mar.'46) before he travelled to his home country, the Netherlands. He never talked about this stay (while there was plenty of cause for I travelled to London and/or England often) and only learned from this after his death.
I only have a small piece of paper that included several prison camps in Indonesia, the ships he worked on to England, his arrival date and reference 'Cadogan', the date and name of ship to Holland.
'Cadogan' can mean several things: street, small park, buildings, etc.
Unfortunately the records, in transition from WW2 (meticulous & detailed) to civilian authority (chaos ruled in it sstate of transition), are a problem.
Our visit to The National Archives was interesting but inconclusive, except a suggestion to try the records at the Metropolitan Archive in Islington.

London 2017
Going through the records at the Metropolitan Archive in Islington.
Trying to find a connection between 'Cadogan' and post-WW2 relief. To be continued...

An inquiry with the Cadogan Estate (www.cadogan.co.uk) brought a reply: "There were a number of military establishments in Chelsea during WW2 where troops may have been stationed – from the Royal Hospital, to Chelsea Barracks and the Royal Military School at Duke of York Square.
Housing was requisitioned for the stationing of troops too, and they were even camped out on garden spaces and parks in the area during the war. There are a number of places and sites in the immediate area bearing the name Cadogan.
The Cadogan family has had an interest in Chelsea for 300 years. The 7th Earl Cadogan was a tank regiment commander during World War 2 and saw service at El Alamein and Monte Casino, among other places.
The 7th Earl’s uncle, Sir Edward Cadogan also served, I think with the RAF.
Unfortunately without further information, it really is difficult to say how ‘Cadogan’ might have been related to your father.
A large quantity of records from WW2 are kept at the National Archives in Kew, who may be able to help further."
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Next time I'll head for Kensington & Chelsea Archives and perhaps archives of newspapers..?

LONDON, THE MORE OBVIOUS SIGHTS

Visit to London, 2017
Big Ben (being renovated), double-decker busses: this can only be London,England.
en.wikipedia.org:_Double-decker_bus

Visit to London, 2017

Visit to London, 2017
Downing Street, but captured less in a less obvious, tourist fashion

Visit to London, 2017
No visit to London is complete without regular visits to pubs

Visit to London, 2017

Visit to London, 2017
Imagine, 'Brewing since 1845'; how different the world looked then.

Visit to London, 2017

BOOKS

Visit to London, 2017
Wherever I go I have a shopping list for books and I made 2 visits to Foyles' Flagship Store on this trip. Some
purchases need deep consideration! They have an excellent collection of photobooks and I had to make tough choices.
The adress is 107 Charing Cross Rd, Soho, London WC2H 0DT, UK and on Charing Cross one will find various
(secondhand) bookstores (e.g Quinto Bookshop, Koenig Books, Henry Pordes Books and anyamountofbooks.com).

Waterstones had less for me but I did not leave empty handed here either.
Visit to London, 2017

Photography & Art

Visit to London, 2017
For my interest in photography my aim is to visit galleries and museums, such as the National Portrait Gallery

Visit to London, 2017

Visit to London, 2017
I like taking photos that show an interaction between viewers ('looking') and what whatever they are looking at.
Here the portrait ignores the onlookers and directs his gaze to the photographer with a penetrating stare!

More of my LOOK-serie see PAGE 2

Visit to London, 2017

And not to be missed: The Photographers' Gallery (TPG)
Visit to London, 2017
Adress TPG: 16-18 Ramillies St, Soho, London W1F 7LW, UK (tpg.org.uk)
I had hoped to visit the nearby Getty Images Gallery, but found it closed.

Riding the 'Underground Trains'... The Oyster card is handy to use.
Visit to London, 2017

Visit to London, 2017

Visit to London, 2017
'The men from the service of The Metropolitan Railway Company whose names are
inscribed... War Memorial, Metropolitan Railway Company

Visit to London, 2017
'12 Inch High Explosive Shell. Presented by Messrs Vickers Ltd. Barrow Works
Donations to the Railway Benevolent Institution for Disabled & Distressed Railwaymen, Widows & Orphans'

Visit to London, 2017

Visit to London, 2017
Note how many are consulting their smartphones

Visit to London, 2017
Music in 'the Tube'. Probably not allowed for he was cagey and was quick to move on.

Victoria & Albert Museum

Visit to London, 2017

The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A), is the world's largest museum of
decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects.
It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Visit to London, 2017
Always a pleasure to roam this museum.
Alas, V&A's photo exhibition area was in renovation. Next time..

Visit to London, 2017
The V&A is located in the Brompton district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area that has
become known as "Albertopolis" because of its association with Prince Albert, the Albert Memorial and the major cultural institutions with which he was associated. These include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum
and the Royal Albert Hall. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Like other national British museums, entrance to the museum has been free since 2001.
Our stay was just around the corner, at the Imperial College London (Princes Gardens).

Visit to London, 2017
Cute, isn't it? Made me laugh.

London, Here & There

Visit to London, 2017
Other locations, such as (above) Swiss Cottage
Swiss Cottage is a district of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is part of Hampstead and is centred on
the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road. The district is named after an inn called The Swiss Tavern that
was built in 1804 in the style of a Swiss chalet on the site of a former tollgate keeper's cottage, and later
renamed Swiss Cottage. en.wikipedia.org:_Swiss_Cottage

Visit to London, 2017
Shopping as 'True Religion': Carnaby Street.

Visit to London, 2017
A 'find' in Soho: Herman Ze German

Visit to London, 2017
Don't miss Camden Town!

Visit to London, 2017

Visit to London, 2017
Rock on..!

Kensington Gardens for some peace & quiet.
Visit to London, 2017
From a plaque: "Diana, Princess of Wales lived at Kensington Palace for 15 years. She admired the changing floral displays in this garden and would often stop to talk with the gardeners. This year the garden team have created a
White Garden to mark 20 years since her tragic death."

Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London.
The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde Park, in western central London. The gardens cover an area of 270 acres.
The open spaces of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, and St. James's Park together form an almost continuous "green lung" in the heart of London.

Our lodgings were in South Kensington, nearby. I had misgivings about its isolation, for lack of pubs and
restaurants but I needed not to worry. E.g. a good place to dine, we found: Khan's of Kensington a long-standing
Indian curry house. And around the corner you'll find fine Italian icecream, at Scoop South Kensington...

Notting Hill Carnival

Notting Hill Carnival and the friendly police force. Everybody was out to have a good time.
The British police force, as far as my experience go, is an example for most countries (e.g. the United States).

It was not always this friendly between the police and the celebrating people.
Since the carnival did not have local authority permission, initial police involvement was aimed at preventing it taking place at all, which resulted in regular confrontation and riots.
A change of policy came after a confrontation in 1987, which saw the Carnival being allowed to take place with police adopting a more conciliatory approach. During the 2000 Carnival, two men were murdered and future policing, while conciliatory, resulted in police deployment in large numbers - upwards of 11,000.
The 2008 Carnival was marred by rioting at the very end of the weekend, involving about 40 youths battling with police, and more than 300 people were arrested.
In recent years, the event has been much freer from serious trouble and is generally viewed very positively by the authorities as a dynamic celebration of London's multicultural diversity, though dominated by the Caribbean culture.
en.wikipedia.org:_Notting_Hill_Carnival

Notting Hill Carnival
Lots of fun!

The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event that has taken place in London since 1966 on the streets of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Takes place each August over 2 days (the August bank holiday Monday and the preceding Sunday).
It is led by members of the British West Indian community, and attracts around one million people annually, making it one of the world's largest street festivals, and a significant event in Black British culture.

More NOTTING HILL photos, see PAGE 2

Notting Hill Carnival
Lots of smiles!

Notting Hill Carnival
What an optimistic, joyful event!

Notting Hill Carnival
Shortly after lunchtime I found it almost impossible to penetrate the crowd and left.

More NOTTING HILL photos, see PAGE 2

Streetphotography

Into the streets for the weird and wonderful...

Visit to London, 2017
The New York based brand, Samer Halimeh, opened a £10 million store in glitzy Knightsbridge, back in May.
The store is now considered among the hottest jewellery shops in London. Samer Halimeh, who was born in Beirut, created a brand that is cherished by celebrities and the world's super rich.
The new shop in London displays jewellery including necklaces, rings and diamonds worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

London,England - 2017
Cause for celebration

London,England - 2017
I hate selfies!

More STREETPHOTOGRAPHY, see PAGE 2

London,England - 2017
'The World needs Truth, Compassion, Tolerance' - perhaps now more than ever!

London,England - 2017

London,England - 2017
Street artists

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Created: 12-Nov-2017