IMS_Blog

A May Day bank holiday Monday saw Jan and I wandering into old London town in the sunshine. We were there mainly to see the Museum of London (more below) but managed to have a bit of a wander round too.

Coming into London Bridge station we headed along the Thames towards the Millennium Bridge. Along the way we were treated to a traditionally English display; men and women flinging handkerchiefs around as bells jangled in a display of Morris Dancing (which is of course, actually quite scary).

We made it past the scary dancers though and over the no longer wobbly bridge. Around St Pauls and up to the said museum (a strange building reached by a footbridge over the roundabout in which it seems to sit. General impression was that it’s similar in feel to the rejuvenated Hancock in Newcastle. A walk around history from the origins of the city (Romans etc) through medieval period (disease) and on to the industrial victorians and the swinging ’60s. Interesting in parts, a little dull in others; about what one would expect. The reason for visiting (other than never having done so before) was my desire to see a London street photography exhibition on show there (which should have been under the promised ticketing system given the lengthening queue). That was pretty much a run through of photography, with an obvious emphasis on the immediatey of street photography. The really early stuff was of course more just impressive for getting anything at all out of the camera more than a distinct style but the theme did emerge with time, so to speak. I think Jan and I agreed there was just about enough good and interesting stuff in there, such as Lolesworth Street, E1 by Paul Trevor

Lolesworth Street, E1 by Paul Trevor

After the museum it was a wander back along the river, stopping off at the Mudlark for a bite to eat (Jan’s chicken burger looked alright, while my gammon and chips were fine once the barmaid understodd me). We took the obligatory photos to show Tower Bridge in the background and then ended up in the Pommelers Rest where we saw the strange faced man and the explorer.

All in all a good day!