Photos of London in October, Not Your Typical Autumn Walk

As a keen photographer, London as a city offers many interesting opportunities. There is a mixture of past and present architecture, combined with the busy life of Londoners, tourists and birds. For this photography trip I choose to visit the heart of the city (and the country), have a quick tour through Theaterland, after which I walked part of the Thames path, before ending the day with a great dinner around Covent Garden.

After arriving at Paddington station, the quickest way to get to Westminster was by underground. As it was relatively early, I had hoped for an easy journey. But it seemed many people had the same idea, probably driven by the school holiday, which meant the underground was crowded.

First call, Westminster. The first thing you see when you get out of the tube station is St Stephens Tower with Big Ben hidden inside. It is funny to see how many people take the same type of picture. Stand far in front of the Tower and try to “catch” it in your hand, between your fingers or between people. Deciding to take advantage of the relatively dry weather, the first real attraction to see was the London Eye. There are many attractions between Westminster Bridge and the London Eye, like the Dali Universe, Fright Club, London Aquarium, Movieum (Movie museum), Jubilee Gardens and of course the London Eye itself. This meant a lot of activity, whereby the different attractions try to get you into their premisses. It gives some great amusement, especially when someone is not aware they are being followed by a “zombie”. For today I choose to stay outside.

It is no wonder the London Eye is such a tourist attraction. It is beautifully built and the closer you come towards it the more amazing it looks. Although originally only planned as a temporary attraction to mark the change of the century, I am glad that the government agreed on a permanent lease. It is a masterpiece of engineering, using the knowledge and sources from across Europe to build it. It would be really a shame if it would go. The cable support box at the base of the London Eye is a glass exhibition box. As it is close to Halloween, the box was filled with a suitable forest scenery, including a green toxic pond, owls, rats and many other creatures. The surrounding trees were all decorated in similar style.

Walking back towards Westminster Bridge we come across a pirate skeleton in front of the Movieum. Taking pictures of it I suddenly realised what is behind it in my view - the Houses of Parliament! Now I am not sure if the people of the Movieum did this on purpose, but it seems quite appropriate after the pre summer stories on British MP expenses.

From the bridge we walked towards Westminster Abbey. On our path we come across some amazing Red phone boxes. You have to see them to understand it. But the clue is the size of them :-)

One of our plans of the day was to visit Westminster Abbey, but to my surprise they charge a hefty admission fee of £15 per person. As it is a place of worship I am a little surprised at this and we decide not to enter the Abbey. I can understand that donations are needed to support the ongoing restoration and conservation of the Abbey, but £15 per person seems to be a bit high.

However the outside is still lovely and instead of visiting the Abbey we decide to enter the smaller St Margaret’s Chapel. It is a lovely little building with gorgeous stained glass windows. Because it stands in the shadow of its big famous neighbour, it is a relatively quite and tranquil place in the heart of London.

From the Chapel we make our way around the Houses of Parliament, walking past the statues of Oliver Cromwell and Richard the Lionheart on horseback towards the Sovereign’s Entrance. The portcullis is also printed on the old ‘new penny’. From the entrance we decide to walk to Trafalgar Square.

The route takes us through Parliament Street and Whitehall. On the way we pass the Cenotaph, the central place of remembrance of those fallen during conflicts. Just past the Cenotaph the entrace to Downing Street can be found. Unfortunately the entrance is heavily baricaded and guarded so we cannot see nr 10.

Walking onwards we come across the Horseguards Barracks. It is difficult to get a picture of the guards without tourists, but patience finally pays off. Even the horses seem to be a little nervous but one is really cheeky. It bumps his head on peoples shoulders when they do not pay attention to him when their photograph is taken.

Before continuing our tour through London we decide to go for a tradditional English Lunch. We are hungry after 3 hours of walking, so we re-energise at the Silver Cross. As it is lunch time it is extremely busy, but we finally manage to grab a table. A lunch roast and Fish and chips will give us the energy we need to continue.

When we walk onto Trafalgar Square the area is filled with Anti-war protesters, including the former MP, Tony Benn. We take a moment to listen and have a look around before we continue towards Theaterland.

At the heart of Theaterland is Leicester Square. Famous for Dr Hunters house situated next to the main Odeon. Although Dr Hunter might not be familiar to you, the names Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde probably are. Dr Hunters house was the inspiration of the story and is the last of the original buildings left in the area. Of course you cannot leave Leicester Square without having a photograph taken of Charlie Chaplin.

From Leicester Square we decide to walk onwards to Piccadilly Circus were we take the tube to Monument. The Monument is designed by Sir Christopher Wren to commemorate the Great Fire of London of 1666. Unfortunately the Momument is closed when we arrive, so we continue our walk towards the Thames.

From where we start on the Thames Path we can see the Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast across the water to our left. On the other side of Thames we can see the Golden Hinde, a full-scale reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake’s world-famous sailing galleon. Close by is The Globe Theater, which is associated with William Shakespeare. The original Globe Theater can be found in the basement of the Financial Times building. The Globe Theater, or Shakespeare’s Globe is a modern replica of the building, championed by actor Sam Wannamaker. We pass some very interesting architectural buildings before we finally arrive at the Millenium Bridge, locally know as the Wobbly Bridge. From the bridge we have the first great view of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Although we originally planned to walk back to Covent Garden, we decide to take a bus. We have already done another 3 hours since lunchtime and to get to Covent Garden would have taken us about another hour. We are lucky in catching an old Routemaster bus (nr 15) to Charing Cross station. It’s a little adventure to get into the back of the bus and up the stairs. Normally we catch the “modern” busses, but these old ones have more character. It seems the top floor is “owned” by tourists this evening.

From Charing Cross we walk past St Martin’s in the Field to Covent Garden. As usual Covent Garden is filled with people and buzzing of energy. After looking around for a nice place to eat, we settle on Carthage, a Meditteranean style restaurant.

After dinner we make our way towards Covent Garden Tube station, via the Royal Opera House and Bow Street Magistrates Court. At Paddington station we have a little hunt to find the statue of Paddington Bar. It is hidden next to the escelators in the main shopping area. Of course, we cannot leave Paddington Station before taking some pictures of Paddington Bear!

We finally catch our train home after a long, exhausting but rewarding day in London.

Simone van Bergen is an international photographer and artist, with a keen interest to take unusual views of familiar places. The more accessible places are often just a step away from the normal tourist view points. Some of the most requested prints together with their story are now available through http://simonevanbergen.com.